Advent - "R" - "Remember"

December 17, 2011

“Remember your Creator (that you are not your own, but His property now) in the days of your youth.” (Ecclesiastes 12:1)

They say that once you have "learned" something it will be engraved and stored somewhere in the recesses of your mind, and will never be truly lost. Sometimes those things will emerge unexpectantly, maybe a face, a name or a reoccurring event will spark that memory from the past. In my "old age" my memory is becoming more and more faulty (bring on the Ginkgo; I hear it helps your memory?*!). But, I believe this one thing you never truly forget, are the Truths from God’s Word that you have learned and hid in your heart, then practiced. I certainly haven’t learned the entire Bible so Strong’s Concordance is my memory helper. There are many Truths we are told to remember and I have listed a few of them below.

Secular society is not going to let us forget it is Christmas time, with all their "in your face," "can’t-live-without" advertisements, bells, baubles, bangles, sparkles, whistles, parties, end-of-year sales, tinsel and big/little, real/artificial trees. Although sincere Christians take part in all of these, our real focus should be to remember “the Reason for the Season” – Jesus Christ.

We should meditate on and remember the incarnation and all its’ scope: the miracle of the virgin; Jesus was born to be our sinless Savior and He came to reveal and show us the Father God to us.

We must remember the price that Jesus paid for us: the humiliation at becoming a man (one like His own creation), being rejecting by his family, friends, church leaders and people in general. He took the humiliation of coming from sitting on His throne in heaven to hanging on a cruel cross on earth with two thieves on either side - just like a criminal. Part of the price of His humiliation was the mockery and beating He endured at the hands of the church leaders. Remember, He died, was buried, but rose from the dead and ascended into heaven – FOR US! . We are told to remember this price when we take the “bread and the cup” – (Communion). Don’t ever forget the price that was paid!

We should continually and in every circumstance remember and think on how great our God is! Remember, He knows everything, He is forever with you, He is all powerful and can do all things abundantly, above all we could ask or even imagine. Remember, He loves you, that He is patient, kind, merciful, faithful, forgiving, and full of grace.
Remember, that He is our Provider, Sustainer and Keeper. Remember, that Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life!

Never forget that when Jesus ascended back into heaven He gave us and sent the sweet Holy Spirit to stand beside us as our supporter, guide, teacher, comforter and enabler. And even more - He lives in our hearts forever. Remember, this most wonderful Gift!

We don’t like to think about our enemy, but we must remember that we have an enemy with whom we are fighting. His name is Satan, the deceiver, the father of lies and the accuser. He comes as an “angel of light” to deceive us. He comes “like a roaring lion” to make us full of fear and dread. Satan has come to steal, kill and destroy us. But, we must also remember that “Christ has come to give us life and life more abundantly” (John 10:10). Against Christ no foe (even Satan) can stand. We must remember as Christians, we have been given the full armor of God with which to withstand all the wiles of the devil (Ephesians 6:11-18).

All of the Word of God is to be remembered, but I will end this writing with the two of the greatest things to remember: to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind, this is the most important. The second is to love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:37-40). If we remember to keep these two greatest commandments, we will be keeping all the Ten Commandments in Deuteronomy 5:6-21.

If we rememberlove no any other gods above Jehovah God; or we are not to have a likeness of anything in heaven or earth to which we bow down and worship. Nor should we speak His name without purpose; and we must remember to keep the Lord’s Day set apart and special for our worship of Him. These four Commandments have to do with loving and showing respect and allegiance to God above all else.

The next six Commandments are about how we are to "love" our "neighbor." If we love our father and mother, we will honor them – there is a promise of prolonged life if we remember to keep this one (v.16). If we love everyone, we will not murder anyone (v.17). If we love our "neighbor" we will not commit adultery with them; neither will we steal from them; neither will we lie about them; nor witness falsely against them; nor covet their spouse or anything that is our neighbor’s (vs.18-21). It will be well with us if we remember all of these Commandments.


Love Was When
John E. Walvoord

Love was when God became a man locked in time and space without rank or place;
Love was God born of Jewish kin, just a carpenter with some fishermen.
Love was when Jesus walked in history, lovingly He brought a new life that’s free.
Love was God nailed to bleed and die to reach and love one such as I.

Love was when God became a man down where I could see love that reached to me.
Love was God dying for my sin – and so trapped was I my whole world caved in.
Love was when Jesus rose to walk with me, lovingly He brought a new life that’s free;
Love was God – only He would try to reach and love one such as I.
Remember, God's love!