REMEMBER

 

 HE CHANGED MY LIFE

Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom He has redeemed from the hand of the enemy. —Psalm 107:2

Following the death of computer pioneer Steve Jobs in 2011, more than one million people from around the world posted tributes to him online. The common theme was how Jobs had changed their lives. They said they lived differently because of his creative innovations, and they wanted to express their appreciation and their sorrow. The screen of one tablet computer said in large letters: iSad.

Gratitude fuels expression, which is exactly what Psalm 107 describes: “Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom He has redeemed from the hand of the enemy” (v.2). The theme of this psalm is people in great trouble who were delivered by the Lord. Some were homeless and in need (vv.4-5); some had rebelled against God’s Word (vv.10-11); others were at their wits’ end when they cried out to God (vv.26-27). All were rescued by God. “Oh, that men would give thanks to the LORD for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men!” (vv.8,15,21,31).

When we consider the greatness of God’s love, His grace in sending Jesus Christ to die for us and rise again, and what He has delivered us from, we cannot keep from praising Him and wanting to tell others how He changed our lives!

O God, my heart is filled with praise for all that You have done for me. You have changed the focus and purpose of my life because You sent Your Son. Thank You.

Our gratitude to God for salvation fuels our witness to others.

God Promises He Will Fight For Us.

Then I said to you, "Do not be terrified, or afraid of them. The Lord your God, who goes before you, He will fight for you, according to all He did for you in Egypt before your eyes, and in the wilderness where you saw how the Lord your God carried you, as a man carries his son, in all the way that you went until you came to this place." Deuteronomy 1:29-31.

Here in these passages Moses is speaking to the children of Israel; however this is the generation which will enter the promise land after the forty years of wandering. This particular generation did not see first hand the acts of God on their behalf, but they were told the stories and saw the manna, Aaron's staff which budded and the tablets of the Ten Commandments.

And Moses here is telling them if God did this for your fathers, He did this for you. Therefore they were to trust the Lord God not only for who He is, but also for what He did for them. And this is the same for us, we have the word of God which tells of everything God did for those before us; we also have the works of Christ in our lives. Jesus brought us from death into life, and secured it with His resurrection, therefore we have faith in Him to accomplish His promises toward us.

CAN HE COUNT ON YOU? 

And the Lord said, Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his lord shall make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of meat in due season? – Luke 12:42

We often praise God for His faithfulness. We're thankful that we can always count on Him to be there for us. But we rarely consider the fact that He needs us to be faithful too.

It's true. God needs people He can count on. He needs faithful and wise stewards He can trust over His household. In this final hour, He needs faithful believers to team up with, to manifest Himself in the earth more than ever before.

"Oh! God doesn't need me!"

Yes, He does. Ever since the Creation, when He gave man dominion over the earth, He's needed people to work with Him to get His will done here. You can see that all through the Bible. When the children of Israel were in bondage in Egypt and He wanted to lead them out, He teamed up with a man, Moses, to get the job done. Moses' responsibility was to stretch out his hand in the earth and command the will of God to be done.

Why did He choose Moses? Because He needed someone who was faithful and would dare to act on His Word. He needed someone He could count on, and He knew Moses was that kind of man.

Psalm 103:7 says, "He made known his ways unto Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel." If Moses hadn't been faithful to know God's ways, the children of Israel would never have seen God's acts!

God needs you just as He needed Moses. He needs you to be faithful and alert to spiritual things. He needs you to be someone He can trust to know His Word and be obedient to it. He needs you to be a steward who will stretch out his hand like Moses did so that He can perform signs and wonders before the people.

Will you be faithful? It's a decision you have to make. No one can do it for you. Right now, commit yourself to be that wise and faithful servant. Say in your heart and with your mouth, "God, You can count on me."

PEACE WITH YOUR ENEMIES :

When a man’s ways please the Lord, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him. - Proverbs 16:7, ESV

What does it mean to please the Lord? In the book of Hebrews, it says that faith pleases God. Faith is simply believing that God is who He says He is and that He rewards those who seek after Him. The Bible also tells us that faith without works is dead. In other words, our faith is expressed through our actions. For example, when you go to sit down in your favorite chair, you don’t stop and wonder if it’s going to hold you up. No, you have faith in that chair because you’ve sat in it hundreds of times. If you didn’t have faith that the chair would hold you, you wouldn’t sit down.
Your actions are affected by your faith. In the same way, when we have faith in God, we follow His commands. We don’t wonder; we don’t wait. We just obey Him.

Today, know that you please Him when you seek Him by faith. You please Him when you read His Word. You please Him when you follow His commands. And, when you please Him, He makes even your enemies be at peace with you!

GOD DOESN’T REMEMBER HOW BAD YOU WERE :

HEBREWS 8:12 - For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”

Perhaps you have heard people say of others: “Oh, if only you had seen my husband in the early years of our marriage. He had such an explosive temper that I used to seek shelter in my mother’s house!”

“No one would have ever guessed that she had such a promiscuous past.”

“As a young boy, he would always lie through his teeth and not even bat an eyelid!”

Man looks at you and remembers what you were like in the past. But when God looks at you through the new covenant, He declares, “I will be merciful to your unrighteousness, and your sins and lawless deeds I will remember no more.”

He states it plainly in His Word as if to assure us: “When you come to Me, don’t think that I am thinking about your sins. Don’t think that every time I look at you, I am reminded of your sins. Not only am I not keeping a record, but I am also not mindful of your failures and shortcomings. I am telling you that I will remember your sins no more, never again!”

God can say that all our sins He remembers no more because there was a time when He remembered them and punished every one of them—in the body of His Son at the cross. He punished every single one of them until Jesus cried out, “It is finished!” (John 19:30) That is why today, God can justly say, “Your sins I will remember no more.”

We all know that we sin from time to time. But the good news is that all our sins have already been dealt with at the cross. They have been washed away by Jesus’ blood. Now, when we come into God’s presence, He sees us without our sins. So beloved, forget your past failures. Believe that God remembers your sins no more and be the righteous man that you already are in Christ!

REST AND RE-FIRE :

Mark 6:31, "And he said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while: for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat."

Jesus often separated Himself from others so that He could spend time with the Father. Here, we see Jesus calling His disciples apart for rest and leisure. Many zealous Christians have neglected the needs of their physical bodies and have, therefore, cut their ministries short through death or severe illness. Likewise, many have failed to take the time to be still and know God (Ps. 46:10). This will also cut your ministry short through non-effectiveness. One of Satan's deadliest weapons against those involved in ministry is busy-ness. We must balance our time ministering to others with our time of being ministered to by our Father. If the devil can't stop you from "getting on fire" for God, then he'll try to stop you by getting you "burned out."

Remember, the reason Jesus and His disciples were going to this remote place was to get away from the multitude for awhile and rest. This rest was not optional, but rather, a necessity. Jesus and His disciples were taking a much needed vacation. However, the multitude followed them and their vacation ended even before it began. Surely, Jesus and His disciples were just as disappointed as you or I would have been. But instead of anger or bitterness, Jesus was moved with compassion.

Later on in the evening, Jesus went up into a mountain and prayed until the fourth watch (3 to 6 a.m.). The Lord intends for us to take care of these physical bodies as can be seen by Jesus' actions in taking His disciples aside for rest. But when this purpose was frustrated by the demands of the ministry, Jesus gave priority to the spirit man and stayed up all night praying and getting the spiritual rest He was needing. We should follow His example and always put the needs of the spirit ahead of the needs of the flesh.

PRAYER FOR THE DAY :
“In the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before You and wait in expectation.” (Psalm 5:3)

Dear Lord God, I praise You. I honor You. I thank You God for another beautiful day. Let Your unfailing love come upon me and make me more valuable in Your hand. I humbly pray for Your kingdom come and Your Will be done in me as it is in heaven for I am Your chosen servant and wonderfully made child. Bless me O God, remember me with favor for all I have done in Your name.

Gratefully, in Jesus’ holy name. Amen !!!