Memorial Stones

One Believer’s Testimony

In Remembrance of the Lord

Joshua 4:1 -7 ESV When all the nation had finished passing over the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua, “Take twelve men from the people, from each tribe a man, and command them, saying, ‘Take twelve stones from here out of the midst of the Jordan, from the very place where the priests’ feet stood firmly, and bring them over with you and lay them down in the place where you lodge tonight.’” Then Joshua called the twelve men from the people of Israel, whom he had appointed, a man from each tribe. And Joshua said to them, “Pass on before the ark of the Lord your God into the midst of the Jordan, and take up each of you a stone upon his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the people of Israel, that this may be a sign among you. When your children ask in time to come, ‘What do those stones mean to you?’ then you shall tell them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it passed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. So these stones shall be to the people of Israel a memorial forever.”

Having read the Bible scripture above prompted writing out “Memorial Stones,” (plural) in my life. Some of the testimonies shared over the next few weeks many of you have heard so please bear with me as these testimonies may be something someone else needs to hear. Many times when I’ve shared people have often only seen what wasn’t there and missed out on seeing how God was working in it. With that being said Please also know that these testimonies are shared to glorify God alone.

Provision of Food

Matthew 25:35-40 ESV For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me. Then the righteous will him, saying, Lord when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?” And the king will answer them, “Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the lease of these my brothers, you did it also to me.”

Recently, I was fixated on the Bible verse Revelation 3:20 (ESV).  “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door I will come in to him and eat with him and he with me.” The New King James Bible version of this verse says it this way: “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door I will come in to him and dine with him and he with Me.”

Have you ever considered sitting around a table, at home, or conference, a meeting, or a girls or boys night out with friends, on holidays, or for no particular reason at all while around a meal? How is that food and drink enhanced with the company you’re in? Now consider a meal at a food pantry, a fellowship dinner, a church or evangelical event. Each day brings its own problems and in my case a lot of loss, loneliness, and more. However, becoming hungry, not hungry like it’s lunch time, but hungry like I don’t know where my next meal is coming from, is the way I was brought into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. First starving for sustenance, but man cannot live on sustenance alone. I was starving for that which was lacking, which is hope and hope having the name of Jesus Christ. 

I was thousands of miles away having fled from comfort with the naïve notion that the man I followed would take care of me like my daddy did. My dad had passed away recently and that relationship if you could call it that lasted a whole two weeks once I arrived in Arkansas from California.  I was far from the comforts of home and barely surviving alone, hungry, and without a roof over a place to lay my head.

I worked the graveyard shift as a cashier at a local grocery store so I had a place to stay during the evening and convinced myself I was justified in stealing day old fried chicken from the deli and candy bars near the register because it was food and surely God knew I had no money and was so very hungry.

Soon after I began working, a young buck toothed African American young man wearing a tan trench coat and his Sunday best entered into the grocery store I was working at and to my surprise he inquired knowingly and asked if I was hungry. He then proceeded to invite a stranger into his home without question and made us lunch. I remember this being a Saturday because he invited me to church the following day. The church was having a picnic and he knew I would attend.

This gentleman continued helping by taking me to the Salvation Army, which provided a roof, but unfortunately did not allow me to keep the grocery store job.

God sent a helper in my time of need and fulfilled His promise as stated in John 14:26: “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” And so it passed as the Lord God said and to my remembrance came the following verse: Matthew 22:36-40 ESV “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And He said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.