Dave Kraft » God Scripture Prayer Heart Devotions Gospel Counseling

Forgetting and Remembering

I recently read through the book of Deuteronomy; a book of remembering. It reviews Israel’s history with a strong admonition to not forget. A couple of examples are Deuteronomy 4:9, “Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your children’s children.” Deut 4:23 goes on to say, ”Take care, lest you forget the covenant of the Lord your God, which he made with you.”

Every time the Lord did something awesome for the Israelites, he encouraged them to remember it and sometimes they would even declare it a holiday to never forget the occasion. Consider the number of Jewish holidays on the calendar.

Remember Who Jesus Is

When things are not going well for me, either at home, in my personal life, or in my work, I tend to forget God’s promises, his power, and his faithfulness. I remember my inadequacy and forget his adequacy. I remember my finiteness and forget his infiniteness. I remember what I’m doing and forget what he’s doing. I remember the stupid and sinful things I do and forget his forgiveness and mercy. It causes me to be discouraged and lose hope. One of the devil’s main jobs is to get me to take my eyes off Jesus and put them on myself. He tempts me to forget all that he is and remember all that I’m not!

Forgetting What Lies Behind

Paul makes an interesting statement in Philippians 3:13, “brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do; forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead.” Sometime it is flat out hard to forget the things that should be forgotten and remember the things that should be remembered. I should forget the sinful things that have been confessed and forgiven and not let the devil rub my nose in it, but constantly remind myself of what is under the blood of Christ.

"He has been and will forever be the accuser of the brothers…who accuses us day and night before our God” (Revelation 12:10). A friend once told me that when the devil knocks at the door send Jesus to answer it.  I go to the door by myself way too often and mostly get defeated.

One of the devil’s main jobs is to get me to take my eyes off Jesus and put them on myself.

Are you experiencing the enemy's reminders of things you should be forgetting, things from your past that he keeps bringing up? Do you, like me, easily forget God’s gracious promises to you? Peter refers to them as precious and very great (2 Peter 1:4).  Jump into the middle of these thoughts and share with me and others who respond about your experiences in remembering and forgetting. What has enabled you to live more in Jesus' victory and less in your defeat?

 

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