The nation of Israel was repeatedly warned to remember God, to remember His commands and promises and, especially, to remember Who He is. We, too, are called to remember. Forgetting weakens our faith and our ability to trust in Him and can make their downfall ours.

So, what is one major way we can tell that we have ceased to remember God in all His fullness? And how can we be purposeful about “remembering” when we realize we have fallen into that trap?

Today’s Readings:

Deuteronomy 7 & 8
Psalm 37.5-11
Proverbs 12.9-10
Luke 1.39-56

Remember God’s Power, Promise & Presence

Deuteronomy 7 & 8:

Remember Who You Are

Here in Deuteronomy, God is preparing His people to go into the Promised Land and, as He does, He repeatedly exhorts them to remember.

Remember who you are … a chosen people.

For you are a holy people to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth (Deut. 7.6).

Remember God Has Called You to Be Obedient

They were to remember who they would encounter and respond in obedience.

² and when the Lord your God delivers them over to you, you shall conquer them and utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them nor show mercy to them. ³ Nor shall you make marriages with them. You shall not give your daughter to their son, nor take their daughter for your son. ⁴ For they will turn your sons away from following Me, to serve other gods; so the anger of the Lord will be aroused against you and destroy you suddenly. ⁵ But thus you shall deal with them: you shall destroy their altars, and break down their sacred pillars, and cut down their wooden images, and burn their carved images with fire (Deut. 7.2-5).

Remember God’s Promises

They were to remember His promises.

¹² “Then it shall come to pass, because you listen to these judgments, and keep and do them, that the Lord your God will keep with you the covenant and the mercy which He swore to your fathers. ¹³ And He will love you and bless you and multiply you; He will also bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your land, your grain and your new wine and your oil, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flock, in the land of which He swore to your fathers to give you. (Deut. 7.12-13).

⁷ For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, that flow out of valleys and hills; ⁸ a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey; ⁹ a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing; a land whose stones are iron and out of whose hills you can dig copper (Deut. 8.7-9).

Remember God Is in Control

They were to remember that while God tested them, He was always in control and always taking care of them.

¹ “Every commandment which I command you today you must be careful to observe, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land of which the Lord swore to your fathers. ² And you shall remember that the Lord your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. ³ So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord. ⁴ Your garments did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these forty years (Deut. 8.1-4).

Remember Who & Why

They were to remember Who enabled them and to remember the reason.

¹⁸ “And you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day.

Remember God’s Warning

And they were to remember God’s warning.

¹¹ “Beware that you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping His commandments, His judgments, and His statutes which I command you today, ¹² lest—when you have eaten and are full, and have built beautiful houses and dwell in them; ¹³ and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold are multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied; ¹⁴ when your heart is lifted up, and you forget the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage (Deut. 8.11-14).

Sadly, as we continue through the Old Testament narrative, we will find that the nation of Israel repeatedly forgot. Their forgetting was not a lack of memory regarding their history. It was a lack of remembering what it meant. God warned them that their forgetting would be demonstrated by their lack of obedience (8.11).

We, too, are called to remember. Forgetting weakens our faith and trust in God (Matt. 16.9-10) and causes us to think we no longer need to follow God’s instructions for living. We begin to believe we can figure things out for ourselves. We can decide what’s right and wrong. And like our spiritual ancestors, one of the ways we can tell we have ceased to “remember” is our lack of loving obedience (Jn. 14.15).

Choosing to Remember

So how can we be purposeful about remembering? I believe there are several things we can do.

First, we can do what God commanded Joshua as he prepared to lead God’s people into the Promised Land.

⁸ This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. ⁹ Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go (Josh. 1.8-9).

If we’re to remember that God is with us wherever we go so we can consistently obey Him, we must spend time in His Word … reading it, memorizing it, and meditating on it.

Second, we can share our testimony. We can and should remember to give glory to God for what He has done and is doing in our lives.

Third, we need to cultivate a thankful heart. Look around. Count your blessings. Make a list of them, if necessary.

Last, we need to walk in obedience. When we disobey God, our guilt and shame will drive us from Him and cause us to avoid anything that will convict us of our need to repent and go His way.

This isn’t an all-encompassing list. Perhaps other things come to your mind. How do you “remember” God’s power, promises, and presence? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

Today’s Other Readings:

Psalm 37.5-11:

Commit, Trust, Rest & Wait

There is so much packed into these few verses. Twice we are told to “Fret not …” In other words, don’t worry! Instead, we are to commit our way to God, trust Him, rest in Him, and wait patiently for Him.

We’re not to get focused on evil doers and how they seem to prosper. Instead, we’re to keep an eternal perspective and remember that those who wait on the Lord, who cease from anger, and who humbly trust in Him shall inherit the earth and have an abundance of peace!

Proverbs 12.9-10:

Love Your Pets, But …

We hear a lot about “animal rights” these days. It has become a cause for celebrities and others—almost a religion with some.

Animals certainly are a part of God’s creation. And as verse 10 says, “A righteous man regards the life of his animal …” A righteous man will treat his animals well, but animals are not on equal par with people! We are not just higher forms of animals. We were made in the image and likeness of God (Gen. 1.26-27). When He breathed His Spirit into us (Gen. 2.7), He gave us an eternal soul.

1 Corinthians 15.39 says:

All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of animals, another of fish, and another of birds.

So love your cat or dog, your hamster or gerbil, and take good care of them as part of God’s creation. I know we love ours. But let’s not lose sight of God’s truth as we do.

Luke 1.39-56:

Celebration!

Mary has had an angelic visitation. The angel Gabriel explained that she would have a child who would change the course of history (Lk. 1.26-38). Her amazing response:

“Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word” (v. 38).

Verse 39:

³⁹ In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah, ⁴⁰ and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. ⁴¹ And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, ⁴² and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! ⁴³ And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? ⁴⁴ For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. ⁴⁵ And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord” (Lk. 1).

What a celebration Mary and her cousin Elizabeth must have had! They knew something miraculous had happened to them both. Elizabeth who had been barren was expecting. Her son would become John the Baptist, God’s messenger sent to prepare the way for the Christ. And Mary would be the mother of Jesus.

They shared a bond few could even imagine. They would have to rely on God. Soon Mary’s pregnancy would be revealed to everyone … tongues would wag … Joseph would need to know … how would they respond? But for now … celebration!

Coming Up:

In the coming days, we’ll look at self-righteousness and what can keep us from becoming discouraged. We will, also, look at warnings about fortune tellers and their lot, talk about how trusting God applies to our choices, and discuss when to help (especially our grown children) and when to get out of the way.

I hope you’ll sign up so you don’t miss any of them. 

This year I’ve added a couple of new features. First, check out the “Free Resources” tab at the top. You’ll find a downloadable, printable PDF with “Going Deeper Study Questions” for each day’s readings and a list of all the Bible readings so you can check them off as you go. You’ll also find the readings for each day on YouTube. The daily emails now have a link to both these Soul Survival posts and the YouTube videos. If you’re not already signed up, you can do it here.

Blessings as you grow in Christ,
Donna ♥

Note about this post:

I began blogging through the Bible in 2012 and have done so every year since then. These posts are the product of many edits and additions throughout those years. Some days I make major changes, other days fewer. 

A while ago, I read Jen Wilkin’s book None Like Him about the attributes of God. One is His incomprehensibility. In it, she says, “God is incomprehensible. This does not mean that he is unknowable, but that he is unable to be fully known.”

I have found that to be true each year as I’ve gone back through the Bible. Sometimes I find myself feeling as if a passage just appeared there for the first time. I’m reminded that no matter how many times we read through the Bible, we have only scratched the surface. I hope you feel the same.

Indeed these are the mere edges of His ways,
And how small a whisper we hear of Him!
But the thunder of His power who can understand?” (Job 26.14)

I sometimes LINKUP with these blogs.