“Can you get out that thing you have on your phone?” he asked me as we made our plans.
“Do you mean my calendar?” I laughingly replied.
“Yeah, that,” my husband said, in all seriousness. 

If you were to take a peek at my phone calendar, then you would see my life plans.  Today includes a list of seven items—everything listed from giving blood to work tasks to sweeping my vehicle.  You know….The BIG things.
Yet, in reality, our calendars do include day-to-day life items we strive to remember, plans we make, as well as birthdays & anniversaries we wish to remember & memories we cherish.  If someone were to look at my calendar, he would see past journeys when I traveled to see those I love who live far away in Europe—(dates and journeys I wish to recall each year, when the memory reappears–on my calendar). My phone calendar has this neat feature (like yours too) called “Repeat,” and we can decide if we desire for the event to be remembered daily, weekly, monthly, annually, or forever.
So cool indeed!!!

So today, I wonder what we wish to remember, to be reminded of DAILY?
WEEKLY?
MONTHLY?
ANNUALLY?
FOREVER!!!

Go with me a moment into our memory. See our past.  Consider those moments that have been lived, the moments we cherish most and the moments we most wish to never forget.
Without a calendar, we would still remember the moment, but with the calendar reminder, we become even more cognizant of the precise moments.

• Birthdays.  As I age, I have found that placing the birth year next to a person’s name helps me so much.  Maybe you too.
• Anniversaries. Again, the marriage dates help me remember specifics that would for sure be lost in my mind.  Maybe you too.
• Appointments.  For sure, I need those listed, as well as—Without the who & what, we may not remember the appointment nor the time we are to meet.
• Daily Tasks.  Those things we hope to accomplish today, items that can easily be pushed forward to tomorrow, but also items that we might naturally forget if not placed upon our calendar.
• Then there are coffee & lunch dates.  Truly those are events that we NEVER WISH to forget, so most definitely, we list them on our calendar.

Yet, there are some things we will never need reminders of because we will never forget those exact moments.

• March 11–Forever engrained in my heart & mind.
• March 3rd, 1984 & 2019–Forever engrained in my heart & mind.
• Spring 1998–Forever engrained in my heart & mind.
• February 1986–Forever engrained in my heart & mind.
• November 23 & December 5–Forever engrained in my heart &  mind.
• January 30, 1999 & My 13th Wedding Anniversary–Forever engrained in my heart & mind.
• February 2005—My 19^th Wedding Anniversary—Forever engrained in my heart & mind.
• Summer VBS & 3^rd Grade—Forever engrained in my heart & mind.
• Fall 2015 & now October 21st–Forever engrained in my heart & mind.

Yesterday, my pastor said, “I remember the moment when I asked the Lord to save me, to come into my heart.”  He recounted the miracle that occurred, the change that permeated throughout his whole being.
Then he asked, “Do you remember a time when you asked the Lord to become your Savior?”
Immediately, I thought of Fall 1981–Forever engrained in my heart!!!

At that moment (standing next to my friends, at that fall revival, 1981), a miracle happened, a change came over me and through me.  I became brand new.   That moment is so clear to me.  Truthfully, I do not remember the calendar date.  However, that’s not why the moment resonates with me; rather, the change sticks with me because who I once was——no longer was who I would be.  I remained Nancy, a 15-year-old teen, and now I remain Nancy, a 55-year-old “teen at heart” (one who now has grey hair and walks in a far-more achy body).  Yet, that 15-year-old girl and this 55-year-old girl is Forever–A CHANGED–Individual. 

God’s Word assures us of this change, and it’s as clear as the night is to the day & as the dark is to the light.
Once walking in darkness, now the light permeates through, and we walk in the Light of God.
Once walking dead, we now walk in the newness of life everlasting.

Read with me God’s Word.

“And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. 
Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.
But God,…”  [YES, BUT GOD CREATED A MIRACLE—AT THAT MOMENT]
“being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ  (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated is with Him in the heavenly places of Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”

(Ephesians 2:1-7)

We who are saved, who have asked Jesus into our hearts, who are children of God….Have a past.
We (who are saved, who have asked Jesus into our hearts, who are children of God)…Have a Present.
We (who are saved, who have asked Jesus into our hearts, who are children of God)…Have a promised future.

WE DO NOT NEED A CALENDAR TO REMIND US OF THE EXACT MOMENT OF OUR CHANGE.
WE KNOW.
WE REMEMBER CLEARLY—THAT MOMENT.
WE WILL FOREVER REMEMBER—THAT MOMENT.

As God’s Word states, “Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest” (Ephesians 2:3).

We WERE like the rest.
All mankind begins the same—“by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.” Lost.
All mankind has an innate desire to know God.
All mankind must make a choice—“even when we were dead in our transgressions,…” (Ephesians 2:5).

In fact, at this moment….we are living within our choice!

“But God,…”  (Ephesians 2:4)YES, BUT GOD CREATED A MIRACLE….for each one of us to choose.

We are dead in our sins…walking according to the course of this world toward our death and separation from God.
OR
We are rich in God’s mercy and grace, having accepted God’s great love, and now walk with Christ Jesus.

In fact!!!!!!!!!!
The Bible says He has ALREADY “seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus…” (Ephesians 2:6).

That’s Right.  We Don’t Need A Calendar Date.
We Are ALREADY THERE…in our spirit  because by God’s grace, we have been saved.
What about you?
Do you know…that you know…that you know…You have been saved?

Christ Jesus, Himself, tells us—“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word [God’s Word], and believes Him who sent Me [who believes in Christ Jesus], has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.” (John 5:24)

Are we STILL—“just as the rest”?—OR—Are we CHANGED!!!