Remember Me

Remembering someone is what many of us do in many situations of our life.  Whether it be because they have gone on before us, or because of something we are doing which makes us think of them, or just a memory that creeps up every once in a while; remembering is something that we all face daily; whether it be a loved one or a lunch date, we all have something to remember.  Scripture talks of two types of remembrance that are key in our lives as Christians; God remembering us, and us remembering Christ.

In Genesis we see one of the first of many instances where God remembers one of His children, in the story of Noah.  God made the decision to destroy the world by flood; but then the scripture says that God remembered Noah.  Does that mean that God had lost touch with Noah?  Never!  What that meant was that God was thinking about Noah, He was looking out for Noah, God was with Noah.  We see again a time where God remembered Noah and his family, after the flood; did that mean that God had forgotten Noah during the storm?  No Way!  He was right there with Noah, through the flood, and brought Noah and his family out of the flood.

Another example of God remembering one of His own is the story of Lot, Abraham’s brother who was living in Sodom; but God remembered him, allowing him to run from the town under the instruction to never look back.  Or the story of Abraham himself, when we see that God remembered Abraham and Sarah who were in their old age but wanted a child.  Did that mean that God had forgotten about Abraham or Lot?  Not at all!

God over and over through scripture is seen remembering His children; He is over and over showing compassion on those He loves.  He is always in their midst, always there in the tough times…Always right on time.  Look at the story of Job…Job’s friends thought God had forgotten him…but Job knew that God would remember him in his time of need.  We also see that Satan had to ask God’s permission to test Job.  So not only do we see that God remembers us, God has to allow Satan to test us!  God knows what we can handle, and if the test will be too much, God won’t allow Satan to bring it against us.

Probably the greatest example of God’s remembrance is seen on the cross, where Jesus hung for our sins.  Let’s take a look at the scene:  Three crosses, with Jesus hanging in the middle; a sign above Jesus’ head that stated, “King of the Jews” and a thief to either side of him.  Why is it important to mention the two hanging on his right and his left?  Because that is where we see the love of God reflected…in a man hanging on a cross, between two others…dying for their sins as well.

The cross was the site of the greatest message of Jesus’ ministry…remembrance.

In Luke 23 we see this story…we see where those on the ground were ridiculing Jesus; calling him names, laughing at his claims, making a spectacle out of the one who came to save them.  Then we see the central message of Jesus’ life played out in a few short statements.  We see the first thief join in with the crowd…something many of us do daily; joining with the ones who are around, because we’re afraid to go against the flow.

We join the first thief in his failure to understand what is going on right before his eyes…

Enter the second thief…the one we should be like…the one hanging on a cross of his own doing, dying because of the sin he has committed.  The one who turns to the other and says to him, “Don’t you see what is happening here? Don’t you get what is going on?  Don’t you understand that we’re dying for what we’ve done, and this man has done nothing?”

The second thief came to a realization…that he was hanging on a cross next to a man who was dying for his sins.  Dying on a cross, putting his sin on two crosses…the man was bearing his own cross, right next to the one who was bearing his sin.  This thief not only understood who Jesus was, he also understood the message of remembrance.  He finished scolding the other thief, turned to the one who was bearing his sin, and simply said, “Remember me.”

The thief repented of his sin, realized why he was hanging on a cross, and then asked a question that many of us need to ask, “Jesus, will you remember me?”   To which Jesus responded, “You bet!”

The thief knew that he needed to be remembered by the Lord, by the God of the Universe, by the King of Kings; and God remembered him…just as He does each of us.

But that is only half of the equation…the other half is our remembrance of Christ.  Why is that important?  Because He remembered us!  John 17 tells us that, he remembered each of us in His prayer to His father…asking for a blessing on our lives…the least we could do is remember Him.  It is also important because He is the central focus to the life of a Christian; at least He is supposed to be.

The name Christian is used too lightly in this day and time…

People use the name of Christ, because it makes them feel good about themselves…but too many times we are too blind to see that we are not focused on Him, but on ourselves…too many times we use Him as a crutch, rather than using Him as an example.  Why in our lives do we want to use the cover of Christian?  How does that cover sometimes make us feel that we are better people?  Especially when our lives don’t reflect the life that Christ Himself lived.

Romans 8:28 tells us that God works all things together for good for those that love Him…not those that claim to love Him…those that DO love Him.  He knows your heart…He knows the true feelings…He knows where you stand…even if the world doesn’t.  Remembering Christ doesn’t mean that we remember the story…it means we remember the reason for the story – that we are all sinners and without His death and resurrection, our lives mean nothing.

Remembering Christ starts in our hearts…it starts when we realize that because we love God, that he has formed us into the image of His Son.  It means that because we love God, He has made us pure…that if we could see ourselves the way that He sees us, we would be tempted to worship ourselves (not because of being self-centered, but because of the purity and the glory that He sees us in).  But too often we only remember Christ when it is convenient…we only remember Christ when we feel we can no longer strive through it ourselves…why?  Because we didn’t remember Him from the beginning, because we forgot to remember the one who died for our sins.

But Jesus also instructed us to remember him…think about communion; “Do this in remembrance of Me; every time you drink the cup, every time you eat the bread…Remember Me.”

But He is also speaking to us today…not only in the emblems of communion, but in our everyday life.  He is telling each one of us, “Remember me when the day doesn’t go your way, because I remember you.  Remember me when you seem to be at your rope’s end, because I’m hanging right there with you.

“Remember me when you get that good news you’ve been waiting for, because I’m rejoicing right there with you.  Remember me when you get that promotion, remember me when you get fired; remember me when you meet that person you can’t live without, remember me when you are looking up from the depths of despair; remember me when you feel like nothing could get any better, remember me when you think nothing could get any worse; remember me in everything, because I promise you…I remember you….I think of you daily.

“I’m right there beside you when you get life altering news, I’m right there when you don’t want me to be…and because of that…I’ll be right there when you’re finally ready to talk.  I’ll be there through thick and thin, when the going gets tough…when life gets you down…when you feel like you can’t go on…because I know what you’re going through…I feel it too!  All I ask, don’t forget me in the good times…because I’m always there…I remember you…do you remember me?”

Isn’t it great that God remembers us?  The question is…do you remember Him?

The Pursuit of Happiness

I remember watching the Will Smith movie “The Pursuit of Happiness” a few summers ago and thinking when it was over about how that movie can be something we each face daily.  No matter the circumstance that we face…no matter what struggles come our way, how we handle those situations can dictate our attitude.

Happiness (according to Webster’s) is defined as “a state of well-being and contentment”.  I think of the words Paul shares with us in Philippians 4:11 (NRSV), “Not that I am referring to being in need; for I have learned to be content with whatever I have.”  Those words give us all we need to know about happiness…that no matter what we are facing WE determine the outcome of our attitude.  Our attitude is something we control, something we choose, and depending on our choice determines how we handle the situations that we face.

I speak to this because I have been facing it up front and personal these past few weeks.  I have come to realize that my bad days at work are based on the choice that I make…I have found myself more often then not sitting there during a bad day and realizing that I made the choice to let things get to me the way that they did.  I have realized that my struggles were self-inflicted, and something that could have been avoided altogether.

By looking forward a couple of verses we realize that Paul not only gives us the secret of happiness, but also gives us a reason to believe that we can achieve it.  He continues on to tell us in verse 13 that, “I can do all things through Him who gives me strength.”  The continued promise that no matter the circumstance we are facing all we have to do is turn it over to Christ and His perfect strength will pull us through.

So, as you go through this day, this month and even the rest of the year, I want to offer encouragement to you in this…reminding you that true happiness comes from the strength of Christ that we have alive in us.  A strength that we achieved the day that we turned our lives over to Him and made it known that our lives are not our own; and also that no matter the trial placed before us, we make the choice of how to handle it.

Case of the Monday’s

You have probably heard it before, and truthfully, I can think of a number of times I’ve used the statement, “Looks like someone has a case of the Monday’s,” or “its Monday…”  This statement is usually delivered with a glum look and a less than positive attitude, or is made because of the foul mood that someone may be in.

This statement, likely made famous by the movie “Office Space” is something that many folks look to as a reason for their day not going as planned.  The truth about this statement is likely in that Monday tends to be a disappointing day, but I believe that it comes from an attitude that we choose rather than a disease or condition that many make it out to be.

Bear with me for a moment on this…

Monday, for many is when they go back to school or go back to work, and the outlook is bleak due to the anticipated long week ahead.  We naturally tend to look at life in a negative fashion at times, it just happens, especially when something is not fully to our liking.  This is the case for many when it comes to returning to work or school.  Think about it – there are many who do not enjoy their jobs, and because of that they dread the week ahead.  Many students may know of tests or other stressors that could come up during the week, and therefore do not want to experience the week ahead in the classroom.

Whatever the case may be, having a case of the Monday’s can be a difficult chapter in many of our lives.  I want to present a solution to each of us today…you may have a bleak outlook on life, you may not want to face the week, or weeks, ahead, but there is hope for each of us.

The solution? Take that Sunday feeling with you all week long!

Many of us are members at church, and how many times on a Sunday afternoon or evening do you hear or take part in a conversation about how great that service was?  Take it with you…if you do not attend church, I would encourage you to get into a body of believers and get active in the church.  That feeling after a great worship service can be just the ticket to curing your case of the Monday’s.

We as Christians are asked to take Christ with us wherever we go anyhow…we are to carry him to the hurting, the suffering, the hungry, the sick…”whatever you did for the least of these, you did for me!” (Matthew 25:40)

The feeling we get when we serve others is the same feeling that we can get in a good worship service…it is the same feeling we get from a great quiet time with our Savior…and it is something we can apply to our lives each day…and in doing so, cure a case of the Monday’s in our life, and possibly cure a case of the Monday’s for someone else along the way.

Today, help cure that Monday feeling by taking Christ with you everywhere you go!

What’s in a Name?

I have been focused a lot lately on a number of different topics that continually run through my head.  One that has continued to come up lately is the value of a name or title.

Your name is what you are known by, what others call you.  Some shorten it, others choose to go by initials, but it becomes your identity.  In the same way, a job title can become like a name in the corporate world.

You know certain people by their positions in the working world, maybe the head coach of a prominent sports team, or president of a company…even the President of the United States.  Each person is known by what they do or what they have accomplished in this modern society.

In looking at this from a Christian perspective, we have to take a closer look into this issue.  As Christians we have accepted a name.  We call ourselves Christian, which in every sense of the name should mean Christ-like.  We are to exemplify Christ to a broken world.  Many will look to us for answers because of the name we claim…others will look for the mistakes and blunders for the same reason.

The name that we have taken on is the name of Christ.  The title we assume is Child of God.  When we tell the world that we have taken these into our lives, we are to make the changes necessary to make sure the world sees us as they would have seen Christ.  Christ was unafraid to stand in the gap and show others what His father was trying to accomplish here on Earth.

In the same way, we are to do as Christ would have done for those around us.  Christ was always looking for a ministry opportunity when it came to those around him.  If he was able to show how great the love and power of God is, he did.

Are you being like Christ to those around you today?  Take a good look at yourself and see where you fit in…are you showing the world what is in your name?  How will others know or remember you?

Rest, Part Two

Last week I spoke about a rest that God gives us.  Rest is a vital part of our Christian walk if we want to fully experience the blessings that God has for us.

The importance of this rest is seen in Hebrews 3 and 4 where the writer explores the words of Psalm 95 and then details the importance of this rest.  As we look deeper into this topic, we see that we must find the time to relax and separate ourselves from the world to fully clear our minds.  Today, too many times, we find ourselves fully wrapped up in the hustle and bustle of life, filling our schedule with so much that we barely have time to sleep.

Rest is valued by God.  We see this in Genesis in the story of the Creation.  God worked for six days and rested on the seventh to sit back and reflect on all He had done, seeing that it was good.  God felt that rest was important, and it gave Him time to look over His work.  We should take this same approach to our lives.  If we never rest, we never have time to reflect on where we stand.

We see in Hebrews that those who do not rest will not find rest.  God places this rest as a way for us to renew and refresh, but if we do not help ourselves find this rest, we will never find the rest that God gives.

The writer of Hebrews reflects on the Psalmist’s words, “Today, If you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts…”  He then recounts the story of Joshua and states that there is a Sabbath rest for the people of God, because anyone entering God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did.

The final plea comes in encouraging the Hebrews to enter that rest so that none will fall into disobedience.  The writer then proceeds to discuss the change in the old law, stating that Jesus is now our high priest.

“¹⁴ Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. ¹⁵ For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. ¹⁶Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4:14-16 ESV)”

Find your rest today, draw near to the throne of grace in full confidence and receive the blessings you need in your time of trouble.  We have everything we need in Christ Jesus, our Lord and Savior.