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Wednesday,
January 8,
2020
Safely
arriving home yesterday afternoon during the first snow of
2020!
"Take
Care To Remember"
Message summary: Today, as we begin 2020, let us heed the warning of Moses and take the necessary measures to remind ourselves never to forget the Lord our God or fail to observe His commands. This is of foremost importance!
"Take care lest you forget the Lord your God by not keeping His commandments and His rules and His statutes, which I command you today" (Deuteronomy 8:11). "Remember, then, what you received and heard" (Revelation 3:3).
Many of
us deal with a little problem this time of year;
the tendency to absent-mindedly write down the
previous year on checks, letters, etc. Yesterday I
was logging into a company and wrote 1/7/19 till I
caught myself and corrected the year on the entry.
I also tend to do it when I date these messages
the first couple of weeks into a new year. We once had a little
cartoon book that described this phenomenon as
"checkuary". The term comes from writing a date on
checks early in the year. After 12 months of
habitually writing down 2019 it's very easy to
continue to do so in the new year of 2020 when we
write out the date on a check or other forms as
well. Have
you done that this year yet?
This is only one of
many areas in our lives in which we may find
ourselves forgetful. In fact we find forgetfulness
tends to increase with age! Many memory lapses,
like "checkuary" are merely nuisances. I'm sure
more than a few checks have the old date scratched
out at this time of year and I even wonder if the
bank would pay that much attention. Yet many other
issues regarding our memory are very important.
The one of foremost importance is expressed in our
first daily text as though Moses was issuing a
caution to the Israelites, "Take care lest you
forget the Lord your God".
Deuteronomy is a record of Moses' final sermon before he died and the people of Israel went on into the Promised Land under Joshua's leadership. Moses stresses throughout the message the importance of remembering the Lord and warns of the dire consequences in failing to do so. This is a timeless message!
The words "remember" and "forget" are used 26 times in Deuteronomy. We may wonder how these people could ever forget after seeing the hand of the Lord revealed in such mighty ways under Moses' leadership. Later they witnessed the mighty victories with Joshua.
But early in the book of Judges we read this stunning assessment, "The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD; they forgot the LORD their God" (3:7a).
Deuteronomy is a record of Moses' final sermon before he died and the people of Israel went on into the Promised Land under Joshua's leadership. Moses stresses throughout the message the importance of remembering the Lord and warns of the dire consequences in failing to do so. This is a timeless message!
The words "remember" and "forget" are used 26 times in Deuteronomy. We may wonder how these people could ever forget after seeing the hand of the Lord revealed in such mighty ways under Moses' leadership. Later they witnessed the mighty victories with Joshua.
But early in the book of Judges we read this stunning assessment, "The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD; they forgot the LORD their God" (3:7a).
Among our ministry
venues is periodically leading a service in a
nursing home on a Sunday afternoon. Most all of
the people have failing memories especially a
group that comes over from a special memory care
unit. But we have noticed two elements that are
often remembered as we share God's truths with
them:
1) Hymns they have sung all their lives. In a
service I led the final Sunday of 2019 a resident
loudly whistled the hymn tune as we sang! At first
I couldn't figure out where it was coming from but
looked around and saw an
older man in attendance (likely in his nineties)
whistling along in perfect pitch (to the extent I
understand what perfect pitch is!)
2) Scripture verses
that they have often heard and committed to
memory like John 3:16.
Forgetting is such a danger
that Moses reinforced the importance of
remembering the commandments of the Lord in a
family household in Deuteronomy 6:6-9. Moses
instructed parents to strongly impress the Lord's
commandments on their children by talking about
them when sitting down and walking along the road
(which would have been their way of getting around
every day, rather than an occasional leisurely
walk). They were to talk about them at bedtime and
when they arose. They were to be visually reminded
of these commandments by displaying them on their
hands and their foreheads. They were to be written
on the doorframes of their houses and their gates.
This commitment to follow God is not for the faint
of heart nor the casual observer.Today, as we begin 2020, let us heed the warning of Moses and take the necessary measures to remind ourselves never to forget the Lord our God or fail to observe His commands. This is of foremost importance!
Be encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily
prayer: Father, the commandments that You
give are to be impressed upon our hearts. When
our acts of obedience come from a heart of love,
we are anxious to heed Your Word and align our
desires with Your own. As we love You with all
our heart and with all our soul and with all our
strength we will never forget our miraculous
deliverance. For You delivered us from the
domain of darkness, and transferred us to the
kingdom of Your beloved Son in whom we have
redemption, the forgiveness of sins. May we ever
be mindful so that we never forget You, what You
have done for us, and thereby walk humbly with
You all our days. Amen.Selected
portions of verses implemented into our daily
prayer:
Deuteronomy 6:6, Colossians 1:13,14
Deuteronomy 6:6, Colossians 1:13,14
Yesterday
while we were out during the course of our
chaplaincy calls we had our fist covering
snow of the new year.
Hard
to get a good photo when it's snowing
heavily but this farm with an old brick
farmhouse is along Carmany Road on our way
home.
Today's
Suggested Music and Supplemental Resources
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Scripture references are from The Holy Bible: New International Version. © 1984 by International Bible Society; NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, New King James Version (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. and the King James Version.
Personal Mission Statement: "I am created by God to bring Him glory. Through God's Son Jesus Christ I have been redeemed and make it my life's goal to please the Lord. My mission in life is to honor God through my faith and obedience and prepare myself and all whom I may influence for eternity."
Scripture references are from The Holy Bible: New International Version. © 1984 by International Bible Society; NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, New King James Version (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. and the King James Version.
Personal Mission Statement: "I am created by God to bring Him glory. Through God's Son Jesus Christ I have been redeemed and make it my life's goal to please the Lord. My mission in life is to honor God through my faith and obedience and prepare myself and all whom I may influence for eternity."
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Weber - All Rights Reserved
Daily Encouragement Net - 495 Kraybill Church Road - Mount Joy, PA 17552 USA
Daily Encouragement Net - 495 Kraybill Church Road - Mount Joy, PA 17552 USA