{"id":436,"date":"2020-08-01T20:42:25","date_gmt":"2020-08-01T08:42:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sonbeamsandshadows.com\/?p=436"},"modified":"2020-08-01T20:42:25","modified_gmt":"2020-08-01T08:42:25","slug":"precious-treasures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sonbeamsandshadows.com\/index.php\/2020\/08\/01\/precious-treasures\/","title":{"rendered":"Precious Treasures"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>As I held it carefully in my hand, the heart-shaped, lavender soap was extremely special to me. It brought back many wonderful memories of years and special times with my daughter. \u201cIt will not be used.\u201d I said within myself with confidence as I held back a few tears. This little soap is precious. My daughter created it with her hands especially for me and it is of great sentimental value to me. My daughter now lives over 10,000 miles away. The distance is heart-breaking; but it is wonderful at the same time to have special memories of her around the house. I look at certain photos and remember special times together. I even have a black, round rock on a step at our front door. Every time I see this rock, I think of a special family hike we took to a hidden waterfall. We came out from the hike and there in my daughter\u2019s hand was this roundish, black rock she had packed all the way back to the car. It is of great value to me. To others it is just a rock, but to me it is ever so special.<\/p>\n<p>We all have those special trinkets that are irreplaceable if lost. We take them, hold them, roll them around in our hands, maybe smell them, maybe cry, and think of the special times spent with that special person so dear to our hearts. These trinkets hold no monetary value. To others, these seemingly worthless things would be overlooked. Many people would think of this stuff as junk and throw it out. A rock and a soap, they are worth nothing, just collecting dust; but I will keep dusting my rock and soap off as they hold great value of memories to me. These things are some of my treasures.<\/p>\n<p>We all have many valuable items in life. They may not be valuable in monetary standards, but they are valuable to us. If we are a child of God, we have treasures that may get overlooked sometimes. Like my rock and soap that are overlooked by others. We do not want to overlook the treasures of God.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Salvation \u2013 We are a treasure to God and he has given us a great treasure to enjoy. He looked down upon us and felt sorrow and sadness when he saw we were without hope; so he sent his Son so we could have eternal salvation with him in heaven and not suffer for eternity in hell.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 80px;\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">John 3:16 \u201cFor God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<ol start=\"2\">\n<li>Forgiveness of Sins \u2013 No matter what we have done, God forgives us because we are so special to him. We are his treasure! What a treasure from him that he casts away our sins into the sea and forgets them forever.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 80px;\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">Micah 7:19 \u201cHe will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<ol start=\"3\">\n<li>Prayer \u2013 God loves us so much, he made a way for us to talk to him. When his Son, Jesus died for us, the veil in the temple was torn. This is of great significance because it means we can sit anytime, anywhere and pray directly to the Lord. It is a treasure from God because we can have fellowship with him anytime.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 80px;\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">Luke 15:38 \u201cAnd the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<ol start=\"4\">\n<li>Church Service \u2013 What a treasure God created when he made it so we, as believers, could all come together and enjoy one another\u2019s company. God knew we would be lonely, sad, joyful, happy, hurt, etc., so he created church services. This way we can come together and get help and encouragement from the preacher and other believers.<img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-450 alignright\" src=\"http:\/\/sonbeamsandshadows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/8425-church-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"421\" height=\"280\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sonbeamsandshadows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/8425-church-scaled.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/sonbeamsandshadows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/8425-church-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/sonbeamsandshadows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/8425-church-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/sonbeamsandshadows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/8425-church-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/sonbeamsandshadows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/8425-church-700x465.jpg 700w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 421px) 100vw, 421px\" \/><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 80px;\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">Hebrews 10:25 \u201cNot forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<ol start=\"5\">\n<li>Strength \u2013 I do not know about you, but there are some days, I just do not know how I am going to make it through. Praise the Lord though for his continual strength he gives daily. This is a special treasure that I do not understand, but he gives it and it helps to keep me going.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 80px;\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">Isaiah 40:29 \u201cHe giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<ol start=\"6\">\n<li>God\u2019s Friendship \u2013 There is no need to ever feel sad and lonely because God is always with us each moment of every day and night. The Holy Spirit comforts and guides us daily. Remember, we are never alone.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 80px;\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">John 14:16 \u201cAnd I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 80px;\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">Hebrews 13:5 \u201c\u2026I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<ol start=\"7\">\n<li>God\u2019s Word \u2013 What a treasure to have the written w<span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-454 alignright\" src=\"http:\/\/sonbeamsandshadows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Bible_7330-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"370\" height=\"278\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sonbeamsandshadows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Bible_7330-scaled.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/sonbeamsandshadows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Bible_7330-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/sonbeamsandshadows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Bible_7330-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/sonbeamsandshadows.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Bible_7330-2048x1536.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 370px) 100vw, 370px\" \/><\/span>ord of God-The Bible. We can open it anytime, day or night and be encouraged and uplifted. If there is a Bible in the house, make it special. It should be the most precious item we have in our houses. Treasure the Bible. Hold it ever so dear to the heart.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 80px;\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">Psalm 12:6-7 \u201cThe words of the Lord are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O Lord, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Take time today and think about the trinkets and treasures that are special in one\u2019s heart.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As I held it carefully in my hand, the heart-shaped, lavender soap was extremely special to me. It brought back many wonderful memories of years &hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":438,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[3],"tags":[36,128,127,129],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonbeamsandshadows.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/436"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonbeamsandshadows.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonbeamsandshadows.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonbeamsandshadows.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonbeamsandshadows.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=436"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/sonbeamsandshadows.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/436\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":458,"href":"https:\/\/sonbeamsandshadows.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/436\/revisions\/458"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonbeamsandshadows.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/438"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonbeamsandshadows.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=436"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonbeamsandshadows.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=436"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonbeamsandshadows.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=436"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}