Today's Word 🌱

"Remember what happened long ago, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me."
-Isaiah 46:9

105 years ago, on  November 11, 1918, a truce was signed by Allied Nations to end the first World War. It was called Armistice Day (armistice (n): an agreement made by opposing sides in a war to stop fighting; a truce).

The date has since been adopted and acknowledged yearly on November 11  (the 11th day of the 11th month) by Commonwealth nations. It is now called Remembrance (or Memorial) Day, as a way to honour the memory of the thousands of fallen soldiers and victims who died during this dark period of History, and the courage and sacrifice of the armed forces as they fought for the peace and freedom that many benefit from today. Curiously enough, the year after the truce was called, the large field of Flanders in Belgium where thousands of the bodies of soldiers would have tragically once lain, was now covered in millions of beautiful scarlet poppy flowers. The poppy has since become the symbol synonymous with this yearly memorial.

Has someone ever told you to remember something and you forgot? Sigh. Then when the person realized you forgot, they feel a bit disappointed. There are many things we probably should make more of an effort to remember. 

In the same way we seek to remember and honour important events in human history as well as dates for celebration of birthdays and anniversaries, our Creator highlighted some things close to His heart that He wants us to remember too. He calls our attention by using the word "Remember" several times in His Word. Here are some well-known examples:

• Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. (Exodus 20:8). God himself set aside one day of the week for us to spend quality time remembering Him as Creator. There is something special about reminiscing about our beginnings.

• Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits. (Psalm 103:2). The psalmist David encouraged himself by remembering the track record of a faithful and beneficient God in his own life. It surely is something to praise God about! 

• Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, “I find no pleasure in them" (Ecclesiastes 12:1). Solomon, the wisest man, appeals to the young person to not waste away their youth in frivolous meaningless pursuits but rather, to earnestly strengthen connection and service to God.

• Remember Lot's wife. (Luke 17:32). Lot's wife was a timeless example of how attachment to and valuing earthly possessions and lifestyle over spiritual purity and safety can be the cause of ones demise.  

• ....and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” (1 Corinthians 11:24). Christ instituted what we now term as the Communion service as a memorial to his death and sacrifice of love on our behalf, and the importance of being spiritually one with him.

• Remember therefore how you have received and heard; hold fast and repent. Therefore if you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you. (Revelation 3:3). This reminder is a warning of judgement, if we don't get our act together, and live humbly in harmony with our Father, and in rememberance of what He has taught us.

and last but not least, our scripture verse for tonight....

• Remember what happened long ago, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me. (Isaiah 46:9). God has proven His commitment to, and vested interest in humanity throughout history. He deserves our love, trust and respect.

*Red letters text have been recorded as being directly spoken/written by God.

While searching for all the special places where our Father placed 'Remember', it was interesting to see that there were many more mentions than I previously thought. It leads me to the conclusion that He knows we have a tendency to be forgetful. When we forget, our faith and trust in Him becomes weak, for we do not recall just how big, powerful, capable, and wise He really is. We forget the lessons he wants us to learn from, his guidelines, his commands, his direction, his warnings, his patience, his mercy and most importantly, his love toward us. The whole Bible essentially is a memorial to whose and who we are, and that is something we can only remember as we read, listen and meditate on God's past, present and future record, as communicated through His Word. As we go through our day and lay in our bed at night, let us meditate on some of these 'Remembers', as we seek to walk circumspectly and in close union with our Father.

“We have nothing to fear for the future, except as we shall forget the way the Lord has led us, and His teaching in our past history.” 

-Ellen G. White.

Prayer:

Our Creator and Father, thank you for all the reminders in Your Word. We know You have placed them there for us, out of love and a desire for us to experience You and the life You desire for us, in fullness of joy, faith and trust. We submit to You, in all humility, asking forgiveness if we have neglected or forgotten the things that are important to You. We ask that Your Holy Spirit continue to speak to our hearts and mind, and cause us to walk in the way You have set out for us, Bless us, keep us, guide us, and save us, for eternity. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Be blessed by the song below 🎧😊🙏🏼

Remember [Brian & Katy Torwalt]