Let us remember

"God heard their groaning and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob." - Exodus 2:24

In a week that focuses on 'Remembrance', (both the call to mark Remembrance Day, as well as some people choose to remember Guy Fawkes), it is important for us to note that God always remembers his people, and so we are challenged to remember Jesus and his call on our lives.

Luke 24:8 - Then they remembered his words.

Acts 20:35 - In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ 

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Panic. Breathe. Remember. Pray. Move

Panic. Breathe. Remember. Pray. Move.

These 5 words could help us when we are confronted by difficult situations in our lives. In reality, most of us are tempted to hit the panic button when we come up against challenging circumstances. The idea of running away seems a lot more plausible than standing our ground.

In these moments, we are tempted to focus on our immediate circumstances instead of remembering God’s power. In Mark 8:14-21, Jesus reminds us that faith is about trusting what we have already seen of Him. The disciples had seen tangible proof of Jesus’ power, yet they struggled to trust Him fully. Does this sound familiar at all?

It was clear that Jesus' past faithfulness hadn't helped them realize that God's help would be available in the present. They failed to understand this, which revealed their shaky faith. It would be good for us to look back at uncertain moments in our lives and to remember how God stood with us.

If you would like to listen to a podcast about Mark 8, then you are welcome to click here. 

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Speak up for the rights of the destitute

 

As we remember Human Rights Day (in South Africa) on the 21st of March, it is good to remember a few important things: 

Proverbs 31:8 - Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute.

Proverbs 31:9 - Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.

“When we struggle for human rights, for freedom, for dignity, when we feel that it is a ministry of the church to concern itself for those who are hungry, for those who have no schools, for those who are deprived, we are not departing from God’s promise. He comes to free us from sin, and the church knows that sin’s consequences are all such injustices and abuses. The church knows it is saving the world when it undertakes to speak also of such things.” - Oscar A. Romero, The Violence Of Love

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Don't you remember?

Lent is time for remembering. We should remember all that Jesus has done for us and all that we are invited to be a part of. We should also take the time to remember how God has taken care of us in the past and how he will continue to be with us in the future. When Jesus was trying to teach his disciples about trusting in his provision, he seemed to get a little exasperated at time. In Mark 8 we read:

And don’t you remember? 19 When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?”

“Twelve,” they replied.

20 “And when I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?”

They answered, “Seven.”  (Mark 8:18-20)

They had recently witnessed these great miracles and yet they still doubted whether Jesus could meet their needs in the future. Their forgetfulness reveals the immaturity of their faith.

Question: What has God helped you with, in the past? Is there a reason why God can't help you in the future?

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Please Remember and then please Forget!

"Remember, Lord, your great mercy and love, for they are from of old.
Do not remember the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways;
according to your love remember me, for you, Lord, are good." - Psalm 25:7-8

These words of David are beautifully honest but may also seem a little confusing at first. He is asking God to remember, but then he is asking God to forget. What is going on in his mind?

In truth, we imagine David standing before the Lord, about to be scrutinized and judged. David begs God to remember God's love and mercy - to focus on all the compassionate elements of his nature. 

And then at the same time he asks God to forget David's sins, especially the sins of his youth. Not to hold them against them and to offer his unfailing love towards him. 

Thought: I am grateful that God chooses to forget our sins, because of the work of the Cross. God looks upon his Son, Jesus and chooses mercy.

"Remember your compassion and grace, Adonai;
for these are ages old.
7 Don’t remember my youthful sins or transgressions;
but remember me according to your grace
for the sake of your goodness, Adonai." - Complete Jewish Bible

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It is a good thing to have hope

When reading through the book of Lamentations, I couldn't help stopping at chapter 3 again. As you read through these words (in the modern paraphrase), I pray that they may be a blessing to you. 

It’s a Good Thing to Hope for Help from God

I’ll never forget the trouble, the utter lostness,
the taste of ashes, the poison I’ve swallowed.
I remember it all—oh, how well I remember—
the feeling of hitting the bottom.
But there’s one other thing I remember,
and remembering, I keep a grip on hope:

God’s loyal love couldn’t have run out,
his merciful love couldn’t have dried up.
They’re created new every morning.
How great your faithfulness!
I’m sticking with God (I say it over and over).
He’s all I’ve got left. 

God proves to be good to the man who passionately waits,
to the woman who diligently seeks.
It’s a good thing to quietly hope,
quietly hope for help from God. (Eugene Peterson) 

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Forget me not!

 

According to the Green Thumbler (a garden blogger), the story behind the "Forget-me-not" flower goes like this:

"It is said that while God was walking in the Garden of Eden, He came across a blue flower and asked for its name. The flower, being shy, whispered that it had forgotten its name. In response, God named the flower “forget-me-not,” promising that He would not forget it."

This ties in nicely with the words of Isaiah 44:21-22, which remind us of the promise that God never forgets us.

“Remember these things, Jacob, for you, Israel, are my servant.
I have made you, you are my servant; Israel, I will not forget you.
I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist.
Return to me, for I have redeemed you.”

May these words offer you great comfort today.

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Remember, remember the 11th of November!

As I child, I distinctly remember the phrase, "remember, remember the 5th of November." This was always said in conjunction with Guy Fawkes, and it was such a catchy little ditty that I still remember it to this day. 

However, as today is Remembrance Day, I would like to offer a variation of the phrase and encourage us to sing: "remember, remember, the 11th of November!"

It is always good to pause and remember all who can gone before us, especially those who paid the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom. In many ways, War reminds us of the evil of humanity (on one hand), while also teaching us about the resilience of human beings. Sadly, we never seem to the learn the lessons that War teaches us and, even today, we feel the global impact of another war - the Russia-Ukraine conflict. 

“There are perhaps many causes worth dying for, but to me, certainly, there are none worth killing for.”
― Albert Dietrich

Remembrance Day is also a moment where I stop to consider what Christ has done for me. Jesus took the worst that humanity could throw at him - including my sin - and paid the ultimate sacrifice, in my place. For this, I am deeply grateful and indebted to him. As I remember this, I pray that my response is not one of apathy but rather is motivated to honour what He has done for me. 

Wouldn't it be a miracle if all humanity could remember the pain, loss and destruction of War and then commit to never repeat that evil again? 

Isaiah 2:4 - "He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore."

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God's purpose fulfilled

Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve me against the wrath of my enemies; you stretch out your hand, and your right hand delivers me. The LORD will fulfil his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O LORD, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands. (Psalm 138:6-8)

When the Psalmist remembers the favour of God, he is adamant that the Lord will fulfil his purpose in his life. He even goes on to plead with the Lord not to forsake the 'work of his hands.' 

Do you still believe that the Lord has a purpose for your life? What is that purpose and how are you allowing God to work in your life?

How does the last line of the reading make you feel?

“The mystery of human existence lies not in just staying alive, but in finding something to live for.” – Fyodor Dostoyevsky

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What is Epiphany and how does it change my life?

We have the word before, but what does it really mean? Epiphany!

Epiphany is the English form of word that means 'manifestation' in Greek. It is directly related to the occasion where Jesus is presented to the Magi and they offer him their gifts. It symbolises that the message of the Good News is 'manifest' or 'offered' to the Gentiles for the very first time (Matthew 2) and so this becomes a historic moment. If you would like to read a good source on the background to Epiphany you can click here. 

In our Church tradition Epiphany is also linked with the Baptism of Jesus, which is remembered at this time of the year. God's love and delight in his son are clearly made manifest in the proclamation from the heavens which says, “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” (Luke 3:23) 

So, how does this change my life and should I even bother remembering this feast day? The answer to this question is really up to you, but I find it helpful to mark this day as a day of Gratitude. As a non-Jewish person I am delighted that God's gift of salvation is also offered to me. I am overwhelmed that God delights in us and that God made a way for us to know Him. Of course, I don't need to wait for the 6th January to remember this glorious gift, but it does make sense to mark this occasion just after the birth of Jesus.

What are your thoughts on this? What gifts can we bring to Jesus. 

Luke 2:32 - "...a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel.”

Acts 11:18 - “So then, even to Gentiles God has granted repentance that leads to life.”

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Is forgiveness possible?

This weekend has been a significant reminder of the atrocity of 9/11. I really can't believe that twenty years has come and gone so quickly and it is hard to imagine what our world was like before then. Of course the pain of remembering loved ones is always there for each one of us, but when your family are killed in such brutal ways, it must be hard to even contemplate forgiveness. 

This is the truly difficult part of Jesus' teaching on forgiveness and loving our enemies. It sounds good in theory, but when we have to put it into practise it is a mammoth task. Paul offers us this suggestion and it is a helpful starting point for us: 

"If you want to keep from becoming fainthearted and weary, think about his patience as sinful men did such terrible things to him. After all, you have never yet struggled against sin and temptation until you sweat great drops of blood." (Hebrews 12:3-4)

May you know the love of Jesus as you seek to love those around you.

"To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you." - Lewis Smedes

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Remember Him

If you are following this series of blogs from Ecclesiastes then you may be as surprised as I am with the different versions of chapter 12. I am going to include some verses from chapter 12 (v.5) and you will see what I mean. The overriding message is still the same for today - we must REMEMBER the Lord in everything that we do. Time is short and we need to honour the Lord.

"Remember him before you become fearful of falling and worry about danger in the streets; before your hair turns white like an almond tree in bloom, and you drag along without energy like a dying grasshopper, and the caperberry no longer inspires sexual desire. Remember him before you near the grave, your everlasting home, when the mourners will weep at your funeral." - New Living Translation

"....when people are afraid of heights
    and of dangers in the streets;
when the almond tree blossoms
    and the grasshopper drags itself along
    and desire no longer is stirred.
Then people go to their eternal home
    and mourners go about the streets." (NIV)

What does it take for us to Remember the Lord today?

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It Slipped my Mind

                                                

I am sure that we have all used this idiom before - "It completely slipped my mind!" In fact, I just used it a few minutes ago and this is what prompted me to write this post. I am not sure of the origins of this idiom, but according to google it first came into use in 1340 - that is a long, long time ago.

I was intrigued with the 'slip' part of the idiom and apparently it originated from a connection with when you are walking and you slip. When this happens you end up falling over. And so, when something 'falls' from your memory it was said to 'slip your mind.'

There are a number of times in the Scriptures where people forgot the Lord and allowed important things to slip their minds. Take poor Joseph as an example - "Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but forgot him (Genesis 40:23). The Israelites also forgot the ways of God on more than one occasion - "But they forgot the Lord their God" (1 Samuel 12:9).

I am most grateful that even though we may forget God at times, that the Lord never allows us to fall from his memory. That is incredible news for us today.

Isaiah 49:15 - "Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you."

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Remembering the Titanic

The 15th April 1912 was a day that many people of that generation (and those since) would never forget. It was the day the unsinkable Titanic hit an iceberg and sunk to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, taking around 1300 lives with her. Many survivors shared their insight on how that day changed their lives, one of them being Jack Thayer, the son of a railroad millionaire:

“There was peace and the world had an even tenor to its ways. From time to time there were events — earthquakes, floods — which stirred the sleeping world, but not enough to keep it from resuming its slumber. It seems to me that this disaster not only made the world rub its eyes and awake, but woke it with a start, keeping it moving at a rapidly accelerating pace ever since, with less and less peace and happiness. To my mind, the world of today awoke on April 15, 1912.”

I find his words haunting.

If you had to read his observations from the viewpoint of our time - being stuck in lockdown and the global impact of Covid-19, then they sound even more scary. I pray that this would not be true for our generation. We can't simply go back to living life as normal - let alone, allowing life to accelearte away from us. And what we desperately seek is 'peace' and 'happiness' not turmoil and more heartache.

The writer of Proverbs was right when he called out to us...

²⁰ Listen! Wisdom is calling out in the streets and marketplaces, ²¹ calling loudly at the city gates and wherever people come together:
²² “Foolish people! How long do you want to be foolish? How long will you enjoy making fun of knowledge? Will you never learn? ²³ Listen when I reprimand you; I will give you good advice and share my knowledge with you. ²⁴ I have been calling you, inviting you to come, but you would not listen. You paid no attention to me. ²⁵ You have ignored all my advice and have not been willing to let me correct you." - Proverbs 1:20-25 (Good News Translation)

What do you think?
 
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Remember and Keep

 

December is usually such a busy time that stopping for a while to reflect and remember is not always possible. However, I do believe that it is such a important discipline for us, that 'making time' for it should be a priority (in my humble opinion.)

In his final word to the people of Israel, Malachi records the voice of the Lord saying:

“Remember and keep the revelation I gave through my servant Moses, the revelation I commanded at Horeb for all Israel, all the rules and procedures for right living." - Malachi 4:4

We remember the REVELATION of God as he sent Jesus into the world.

We reflect and remember what his Salvation means for us.

We remember how far we have drifted from God's grace.

We remember our need to return to the way of God (right living).

We remember those who have passed away, along the journey of life.

We remember the 'WORD made FLESH' so that we can KEEP his message in our hearts.

"Remember God's goodness,

O thou Man, O thou Man, 
Remember God's goodness 
 And promise made. 
Remember God's goodness, 
How his only Son he sent 
Our sins for to redress. 
 Be not afraid." - Thomas Ravenscroft

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Forget it

I stumbled across this lovely piece of writing today and I wish I could acknowledge the author, but they are unknown. It is about the power of 'Forgetting' or perhaps, 'choosing to forget' things that are hurtful and remembering things that are uplifting.

Forget each kindness that you do as soon as you have done it. 

Forget the praise that falls to you the moment you have won it. 

Forget the slander that you hear before you can repeat it. 

Forget each slight, each spite, each sneer, whenever you may meet it. 

Remember every promise made and keep it to the letter. 

Remember those who lend you aid and be a grateful debtor. 

Remember all the happiness that comes your way in living. 

Forget each worry and distress; be hopeful and forgiving. 

Remember good, remember truth, remember heaven is above you. 

And you will find, through age and youth, that many will love you.

May God bless you with the gift of 'forgetfulness' for those things that have hurt you in the past and may God grant you the gift of Memory for those things that make you feel Blessed.

"Of course, my friends, I really do not think that I have already won it; the one thing I do, however, is to forget what is behind me and do my best to reach what is ahead." - Philippians 3:13

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Remember

"It is ironic how often we forget the things worth remembering, but remember the things worth forgetting." - Anon

On this day, a day of Remembrance for all people who have died in wars across the globe, I feel it is important to stop and remember.  The key for me is to stop! To pause! To reflect and then to remember. Having a 'set' date, like the 11 November helps us to focus on our loved ones and friends who have gone before us. These people are ones worth remembering!

“To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die.” - Thomas Campbell

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Mark my words!

There are many biblical sayings that have become part of our modern language. The phrase "mark my words" is one of them.

1 Kings 22:28 - But Micaiah replied, “If you return safely, it will mean that the Lord has not spoken through me!” Then he added to those standing around, “Everyone mark my words!”

Matthew 26:29 - "....Mark my words."

I guess the saying came from a time when people literally "marked" (recorded) words onto a tablet, as as a form of official documentation. This was done so that people could witness to a certain event or fulfilment of a prophecy or command. In today's language we could use it as a form of challenge, saying to people things like: "If you don't do this, then you will end up in trouble. Just mark my words!"

Marking words, could also be done in a helpful way, as we pass on important advice to loved ones or to those in our communities.  If you wanted to pass on some very important words to a friend or loved one, so that they would remember them (or mark them), what would you say?

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Leaving an imprint - Dr. Neil Oosthuizen

I have just returned from sharing in the Sessions on the Youth Pastors Gathering in the Eastern Free State. It was a wonderful time of connecting with young leaders from around South Africa, who are passionate about sharing Jesus in their communities.

What was significant for me was that it marked 20 years since I went along on my first Youth Pastors gathering. That year we were lead by the inspiring Rev. Dr. Neil Oosthuizen, who tragically died 3 weeks ago. In fact, Neil was asked to lead the sessions at this years gathering, but he died before he was able to share with us.

I remember that gathering in 1995 as if it were yesterday. I was a young man entering into the world of ministry. I was overwhelmed by many changes in my life, wrestling with God's calling and trying to find my feet in other areas of life. Neil provided solid teaching and incredible GRACE in pouring out his heart to us. He gave us hope for the Church and for sharing Jesus with the next generation. It was through his love and care that many of us continued in our ministries.

As I tried to emulate Neil's heart this last week, I was taken aback at the huge responsibility we all have. We are like runners in a relay race - we are given the baton and asked to run our leg of the race, but we also need to pass on the baton to someone else soon. I count it a privilege to have shared the baton with Neil (and now with my colleague Rev. Andrew Evans), as we seek to inspire the next generation of leaders.

Neil, we want you to know, that your labour was not in vain and we will do all we can to hold the torch for the next wave of pastors and leaders. May we be as faithful as you were. May we serve Christ as passionately as you served him.

Psalm 127:1 - "Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labour in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain."

1 Corinthians 15:58 - "Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labour in the Lord is not in vain."

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Remember being Young?

As we celebrate Youth Day (16 June) in South Africa it is nostalgic thinking back to your childhood. I have many fond memories of growing up in South Africa, but I recognise that not everyone has good memories of their youth. What are some of your childhood memories?

Please share a memory today - what do you remember about your Youth?

I remember the freedom of being able to play until dusk, in the forest near our home. We would fish in the dam, build forts, shoot katties (slingshots) and come home for supper - safe and sound!
Going to the "Drive-In" for the first time.
Riding my BMX everywhere!
Walking down Church street on a Friday evening with the Youth group.
Hiring a Video Machine and a video for the evening.
And many, many more.


Proverbs 20:29 - "The glory of the young is their strength; the gray hair of experience is the splendor of the old."

"Forty is the old age of youth; fifty the youth of old age." -Victor Hugo

Of course we need to pause today and remember all the children who have had their lives cut short by war, violence, abuse and neglect. Even though our world claims to be the most progressive and civilised generation EVER, we still have to deal with child-trafficking, child soldiers, child prostitution, child headed households and the abuse of our children.

What happened in Soweto on the 16th June 1976, should have been a lesson to us as a generation, but sadly we continue to repeat our mistakes over and over again. Every child has the right to be protected, respected and educated. As adults we need to do all we can to honour our young.


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