PRECIOUS MEMORIES

Philippians 1:1-8 “Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy, For your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now; Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ: Even as it is meet for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart; inasmuch as both in my bonds, and in the defence and confirmation of the gospel, ye all are partakers of my grace. For God is my record, how greatly I long after you all in the bowels of Jesus Christ.”

When I was younger, there was one song that I heard at every funeral I attended: “Precious Memories”
Precious memories, unseen angels
Sent from somewhere to my soul
How they linger ever near me
And the sacred past unfold

There are many memories that are precious to us. On this past weekend our children hosted a 50th Wedding Celebration for our family and a few close friends. We wish we could have invited everyone but I didn’t want a real big formal get together. That’s just not me. We really did enjoy the day. Our son Tony and wife Melanie, along with our daughter Janet had flown in on Thursday from the Kansas City area. And of course, our daughter Paula, who lives locally, was also here with her two children. Since Paula is close by she had done a lot of the leg work for the event. They, along with Grace’s sisters, Fern and Wrenettte, worked very hard getting things ready for the big day. But it was not all work, we laughed about a lot of things that had happened through the years. Paula had put together a slide show of many pictured memories. We also laughed at a lot of pictures that were not used in the slide show. It was a great time with many “Precious Memories.”

A couple of weeks ago, I traveled with my Uncle Gene and one of my cousins, Billy O’Brien to Theodore, Alabama for the funeral of my Uncle D.O. Thompson. It was a Christ honoring service where I had the privilege of singing. During our stay there we had a great time of reconnecting with three of our other cousins. And of course, there was a lot of time spent talking and laughing about the “Precious Memories” of years gone by.

Since I have moved back to my home town of Oxford, Alabama, I have reconnected with family and friends I haven’t been around for over 40 years. Again, all this has brought back “Precious Memories” from my years at Coldwater, where I was born and raised, and Oxford, where I lived from 8th grade until I left for Bible College. It has been good to reflect upon so many people and events of my life.

When you read the words penned by Paul here in the book of Philippians, remember where Paul was at the time of writing. He was locked up in a cruel Roman prison. His memory of those precious believers at Philippi was flowing from his mind to the parchment. He had such fond memories of them and longed to be able to again fellowship with them over spiritual things.

As I consider Paul’s thoughts, let me point out three things about his memories:

1. NOTICE HIS REMEMBRANCE – After his normal greeting in verses 1-2, notice his statement of gratitude in verse 3 “I thank my God upon every remembrance of you,”

Notice the two words, “every remembrance.” The word “remembrance” has the idea of “thinking of someone or something” while the word “every” has the idea that he did it often.

In my over forty years in the ministry Grace and I have developed some very good relationships with people. Sometimes we just sit and talk about how much they mean to us and would love to see them again. We are so appreciative for what they have done for us. We should never take lightly what people mean to us. We may be many, many miles apart, but memories know no boundaries.

2. NOTICE HIS REQUEST – Notice verse 4 “Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy,”

Paul prayed for those dear friends of his. Notice also that he prayed “always” which means that his prayer for them was continual. He also mentioned that he made requests “in every prayer” which meant that he lifted them up in every prayer he made.

It is easy for us to get caught up in our own needs that we pray with a “catalog list” and selfishly leave out the needs of our dear friends. I try to make a habit of praying for my friends every time I think of their need or see their need on facebood or an e-mail. That’s a good way of continually praying for our friends.

3. NOTICE HIS RELATIONSHIP – Notice verse 7 “Even as it is meet for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart; inasmuch as both in my bonds, and in the defence and confirmation of the gospel, ye all are partakers of my grace.”

You can see very clearly how deep his feelings were for these Christian brothers and sisters. They were in his mind, heart and prayers. You can sense his deep love for them. Remember, one of the greatest commands in the word of God is that we “love one another.” You can see that the Apostle Paul practiced what he wrote.

I’m an only child, so I do not know what the love of a brother or sister feels like. But I have heard some people say, “I love my brothers and sisters in the local church as much as I do my own brothers and sisters.” I do know that I have come to love and appreciate the dear people God has graciously allowed me to serve with in these last 40 years. They have truly become my family.

You that are reading this CHALLENGING CONCEPT are part of those I have had the privilege of knowing. You are very special to me and I do pray for you and long to see you again. Maybe God will give me that opportunity one day.

That’s my view; how about you?