From Trash to Treasure

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By Major Gaylene Yardley
Divisional Women’s Ministries Secretary – Southwest Division

From Trash to Treasure – Acts 3:1-26
It was, is, and will be only through Jesus that…

  1. The lame man was restored – v. 6-10
    a. Physically Restored

Illustration: Many years ago, I found myself in a new appointment with upholstered dining room chairs. They were, of course, white and they were no longer white. I felt bad when I looked at those chairs. They were so dingy, distressed, and dirty. The Lame man was I am sure, all those things, dingy, distressed, and dirty. After being carried to the city gate called “Beautiful” every day to beg, I ‘m sure he looked a little like my chairs. I decided one day that I was going to do something about the look of those chairs, they were nice chairs, they just needed to be physically restored. Therefore, they were restored and now look like they have a new life. Restoration of trash to treasure is like this…Jesus takes our trash that we make of our lives with the decisions we make, and He alone can make our trash into a treasure.

  1. You can be restored – v. 17-20
    a. Spiritually Restore

Verse 19 tells us that we need to repent and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out! What a great promise that if we accept Jesus as our Savior and God, we can have our sins taken completely away.

Illustration: I have a big whiteboard in my office that I put all kinds of notes on. I even use my windows for notes. When I am done with one of those things on my list, I just wipe it off the window or whiteboard. It is gone if I use whiteboard markers. If I do not use those, it stays there a bit longer until it wears off. We do not have to wait for the wearing off with Jesus. He takes it off immediately and it is gone!

  1. All things will be restored in the end – v. 21-26

We are heirs of the kingdom due to our adoption into His family and as we continue to follow His will in our lives, we have the assurance of being with Him in the end. We will be restored to a new heaven and in new bodies and in perfect fellowship with Jesus forever.

Trash to treasure is in the eye of the beholder.

What can you do today with any of these things I have brought into the program? The treasure is in your creative mind. Let us see what we can make today from this “stuff.’

Directions
I found these at a thrift store, and I like mushrooms so I wondered what I could do with it. Thanks to Pinterest, I found some great ideas. I picked this one as I love wind chimes. The Hat was my creation as I doodle all the time.

I also made a dirty felt hat into something fun to wear. I used sharpie markers and hairspray to set it.

This is what I found and wanted to make into something I liked. I paid $3.00 for it.

Supplies needed. I bought the long-beaded garlands from Hobby Lobby for half price and got two times as many beads from that.

I got the buttons from the thrift store.

For attaching the beads.

The bells were half price at Hobby Lobby and on a garland of their own. I cut them apart.

This is the finished project. I really like it. It is fun and a bit funky like me.

Use gloves if you have problems with your skin and jute. It can mess you up.

Download printable directions:

From Trash to TreasureDownload

You are His Precious Child

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By Colonel Genevera Vincent

I was very blessed in my life to have two very godly grandmothers who always made me feel special. There was never a doubt in my mind that I was precious to them-that I belonged to them. My paternal grandmother was outgoing and involved in every aspect of our little corps, taking the position of YPSM for many years while my maternal grandmother was a very shy, quiet lady who would never speak in public. While she never learned to read or write, the love of God was evident in the way she lived her quiet life. I saw Jesus in both my grandmothers and felt special to God because of their godly influence in my life.

On April 28, 2023, I became a grandmother…affectionally known as Nana! My prayer for Callum is that he will grow up knowing he is precious, to his family and to God. When we visit, it warms my heart to listen to our son and daughter-in-law read Bible stories to Callum at night before bed. He will know at the very start of his life that he is God’s precious child.

The scriptures give us many wonderful reminders of our worth in Christ. The book of Isaiah is broken into two themes. Part one, which includes chapters 1-39 is known as the book of judgement and part two, which includes chapters 40-66 is known as the book of comfort. Here, in part two, Isaiah prophecies about the exiles being brought home, and restoration of the nation begins. In Isaiah 49, beginning with verse 8, God is promising the restoration of the nation which he loves and cares for even though they are feeling forsaken and forgotten by God. Verse 15 gives us a beautiful picture of God’s love and care for us. It’s impossible to read verse 15 without feeling precious!

“Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands.”

What a reminder of our worth! While we can’t possibly fathom a mother who can so easily forget her baby, this scripture reminds us that it can and does indeed happen. Not so with God! A mother may forget and not show compassion, but God will not forget you. God will not forget me. We have been created in the image of God and we are precious to him…engraved on the palms of his hands.

Psalm 139 is yet another reminder of how precious we are to God. The whole psalm speaks of our being known and loved by God. Verses 17-18 from the Living Bible reads, “How precious it is, Lord, to realize that you are thinking about me constantly! I can’t even count how many times a day your thoughts turn toward me. And when I waken in the morning, you are still thinking of me!”

Have you ever had someone remark to you, “I have been thinking about you a lot lately?” How has that made you feel? I would assume that it made you feel loved, cared for and precious. While on summer vacation this year, I was able to connect with a cousin I have not seen in over thirty years and a school friend I have not seen in over forty years. In our conversation we remarked that reconnecting after all these years was the “icing on the cake” to our vacation. Reminiscing and reflecting on our growing up years, reminded us of how precious our time was together and how precious our friendships were. I left my hometown this summer following vacation, feeling blessed to be able to reconnect after so many years with people who are precious to me.

I recognize that there may be people reading this blog whose upbringing left you feeling unloved and uncared for. Like the nation of Israel while in exile, you may have even felt forgotten by God at times in your life. I want to assure you again that YOU ARE HIS PRECIOUS CHILD! You are loved, you matter, you belong in God’s family. In God’s family there are no favorite children. Someone has aptly said, “There is nothing we can do to make God love us any less and there is nothing we can do to make God love us more.”

Please hear this, GOD LOVES YOU! You are precious to him and there is nothing more beautiful than watching people flourish in their identity in Christ as his precious and dearly loved child.

October 2024 Newsletter

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Welcome to the third year of the Flourish Newsletter. This year we are going to focus on flourishing in our identity in Christ. You are priceless to God!

What is identity? Identity is the unique set of characteristics that can be used to identify a person as themselves and no one else. The word can be used in different ways in different contexts. On a personal level, identity often refers to a person’s sense of self, meaning how they view themselves as compared to other people. The concept of identity in Christ is a Christian belief that a person’s identity is rooted in their relationship with Jesus Christ, rather than in themselves. This month the newsletter focuses on our identity as children of God.

Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God – children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. John 1:12-13

Included in this month’s newsletter is a devotion, prayer idea, conversation starters, and Bible reading plan to help you focus on your identity as a child of God. New this year is a column entitled, “Identity Statements,” verses from Scripture that proclaim who you are in Christ, for you to memorize, meditate on and claim in your life.

Also this year, we have a Spotify Playlist filled with over 50 songs that speak of who you are in Christ – your identity because of Him: WM 2024-2025 Priceless

Download this month’s newsletter:

October 2024 NewsletterDownload