Last week, I shared what I learned from session one – Meditate – of Illustrated Faith’s Word Nerd devotional kit. This week, I’m in session two which is titled Remember.
It talks about the importance of remembering what God has done and said. It also relates back to session one because meditating on God’s word helps us to remember it.
Another important part I took note of is that knowing that God is unchanging, we can trust him with the future because of what He’s done in the past. The prompts in this session reminded us to make a record of God’s faithfulness so we that don’t forget his goodness.
The definition we’re given in the devotional for Remember is “to have in, or be able to bring to one’s mind, an awareness of something that one has seen, known, or experienced in the past”.
Give thanks to the Lord… sing praise to him; tell about all his wondrous works!
1 Chronicles 16:8-12
Boast in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice…
Remember the wondrous works he has done, his wonders, and the judgments he has pronounced..
One of the suggested passages to study is 1 Chronicles 16:12. King David tells us to give thanks and sing praises to God, to tell of and remember the wonderful things he has done. I took away that giving thanks and praising god is one way that we remember who He is and, also, who we are as result. Remembering this gives us hope, because, I mean, He’s God and He’s amazing and calls us His children! Also, when we do this, when we give thanks and praise Him, we help others to remember the same.
The devotional mentioned that Bible journaling is one way of recording what God has done in our lives. I obviously enjoy doing that as well. Another way I do that is in my journal. I’ve found it so helpful to go back and read what God has taught me. This is especially helpful whenever I feel like I’m in a similar situation. I can go back to see what was the resolution or how He guided me through that, so that I can do the same now.
In addition to the word Remember, I also did a bit of a study on the opposite word which is Forget. The definition is essentially to stop caring about something. It’s to be oblivious about something from a lack of memory or a lack of attention to it. This was a cool contrast and added to my understanding of remember.
Be careful that you don’t forget the Lord your God by failing to keep his commands, ordinances, and statutes that I am giving you today.
Deuteronomy 8:11
So Remembering is also caring about God and His word. It’s about having God and His word in our memory and paying close attention to both. This essentially takes us back to meditating. Like He instructed in Joshua 1:8, we should do this day and night. It’s something we do continually; a rhythm that is built into our day.
This book of instruction must not depart from your mouth; you are to meditate on it day and night so that you may carefully observe everything written in it. For then you will prosper and succeed in whatever you do.
Joshua 1:8
Now, I don’t have the best memory. One practice I’ve had to employ is repetition. That is, reading it several times, writing it out several times, in different places and in different ways. I’ve also found the same to be true with my kids when I’m teaching them new concepts; being repetitive helps to solidify their understanding.
So for my entry, I stamped the words gratitude, praise and remember several times just to emphasize repetition. I used the TRUTH card to make a note of what scripture says about remembering. Then I wrote a prayer asking God to help me to recall and reflect on his Truth, as well as to give thanks and to sing his praises as a way to remember.
In what practical ways do you remember God and His word?
