"Song" by YOU!

You don't need a good beat or a good chorus to create one of your favorite songs of the past year! Join me today in creating it for yourself!

"Song" by YOU!

This week's devotions are written by my son, Bryant Forshee, Lead Student Pastor for Cross Church, Springdale, AR campus.

- Pastor Danny

"Then Joshua set up in Gilgal the twelve stones they had taken from the Jordan, and he said to the Israelites, 'In the future, when your children ask their fathers, 'What is the meaning of these stones?' you should tell your children, 'Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.' '"

(Joshua 4:20-22, CSB)

Happy Friday! Maybe you know this, or maybe you don't, but normally for my week of devotions, I like to end the week with a great song! Well, I am going to change it up a little bit this week. These verses from Joshua 4 are from one of my favorite stories in the Bible! These verses are taken from when Joshua leads the nation of Israel across the Jordan river. What Joshua has them do is to make a monument out of 12 stones so that when people see the stone structure, they know how God provided for the Israelites.

For today's devotional, I am inviting you to create your own song! Now, some of you might hate this idea already because you are not a singer or a songwriter, but that's not the point! The point is for you to look back on 2023 and remember and praise God for all that He did.

So here is my song challenge for you:

First off, look introspectively at your 2023. Think about all the times that God came through. Think about all the answered prayers. Think about all the ways in which you saw God show up in your life. As you think about those things, write them down. After you have compiled a list, begin praising God for what He did in those situations. After your praise break, have a thanksgiving break where you thank God for showing up in your life in 2023.

Secondly, gather some loved ones and do the same! It can be your spouse, your children, your grandchildren, your closest friends, or a combination of any of those listed above. Once you have them all together, do the same thing! Begin looking back and sharing all that God did in your lives in the year 2023. After you have spent some time telling of what God has done, praise and thank Him for those sweet memories.

Third and finally, if you haven't already, write everything down that you have praised and thanked God for. Once you have done this, either put this in a place that you will see often to be reminded of God's favor and goodness in 2023, or put the list in an envelope and tuck it away until 2025 rolls around, and look back through the years at God's faithfulness!

You don't need a good beat or a good chorus for this to be one of your favorite songs of the year! Spend some time praising and thanking God for all that He did in 2023.