Dan Rife writes “What if to discover wholeness in the present we had to remember the past, not figure out the future? In fact, maybe our obsession with the future is actually an attempt to find a past to belong to. Maybe all our answers are found in remembering?”
All throughout the Bible much of Scripture is recounting to us today all of the ways that God is faithful. Many times we become more excited about the possibilities of the future than all that we have experienced so far in our lives. Let’s face it, we tend to forget all the things that God proved to us over and over again.
Another act of worship is remembering.
Worship does not simply remember stories; it brings those stories to the present. It is in the enactment of a past saving work of God that we ourselves experience that same salvation in the present. This re-enactment, or re presentation, is seen throughout the Old Testament in the altars built to signify a place God had done a significant work (not just a place to set the enormous flower arrangement or the giant bible), in stones that were placed to remember miracles and promises, feast that would be had all to remember and enact the work of an
active and present God.
In Jesus’ last meal with his disciples, he asks them to remember him when they come to the
table together. It’s in these acts of remembrance that we worship a true and living God!
Read through Joshua 24 & Watch Video
https://www.rightnowmedia.org/Content/Series/309460?episode=1
Questions
- What got your attention as you were reading Joshua 24 and watching the video?
- Take turns sharing with one another where you were and where you are now.
- Spend time in prayer—worshipping as you remember God’s significant work in you!
Practice
Meditate on Psalm 103:
Psalm 103
Praise the Lord, my soul;
all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
2 Praise the Lord, my soul,
and forget not all his benefits—
3 who forgives all your sins
and heals all your diseases,
4 who redeems your life from the pit
and crowns you with love and compassion,
5 who satisfies your desires with good things
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
6 The Lord works righteousness
and justice for all the oppressed.
7 He made known his ways to Moses,
his deeds to the people of Israel:
8 The Lord is compassionate and gracious,
slow to anger, abounding in love.
9 He will not always accuse,
nor will he harbor his anger forever;
10 he does not treat us as our sins deserve
or repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his love for those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
13 As a father has compassion on his children,
so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;
14 for he knows how we are formed,
he remembers that we are dust.
15 The life of mortals is like grass,
they flourish like a flower of the field;
16 the wind blows over it and it is gone,
and its place remembers it no more.
17 But from everlasting to everlasting
the Lord’s love is with those who fear him,
and his righteousness with their children’s children—
18 with those who keep his covenant
and remember to obey his precepts.
19 The Lord has established his throne in heaven,
and his kingdom rules over all.
20 Praise the Lord, you his angels,
you mighty ones who do his bidding,
who obey his word.
21 Praise the Lord, all his heavenly hosts,
you his servants who do his will.
22 Praise the Lord, all his works
everywhere in his dominion.
Praise the Lord, my soul.
Pamela Haddox writes: “Memory is a powerful motivator. What we focus on most often will obviously fill the forefront of our minds. But of those, the things that we cherish the deepest will compel us the greatest.
God tells us over and over in His word to remember. Remember! Even things that we should never conceivably forget, still we’re told again, remember. Why? Because our all-knowing, all-wise God knows how easily we forget – how easily we’re distracted and even deceived. And He knows far better than we do the importance of what we hold in our minds.” As you think about the diagram below write down significant times in your life where you
experienced each of these areas: eruptions, erosion, earthquakes, and times of excavation.
- the dark line represents your life landscape
- the red line denotes God’s presence
In community, share with your spouse, family, group, or community your landscape.
Remember!
