Lord I Remember by Sylvia Gunter

[shalom-dodi]

Sometime…there are times, days, moments or even entire seasons where we need to remember what is true.

Not what we “think”, nor what we “feel” but solely what is true.

Truth is found in the Word.

In fact one of Jesus’ names is “Faithful and True.

Tonight we are using a devotional by Sylvia Gunter called, Remember This, as our starting point.

When you wake up in the morning where does your mind go?
Dodi Note: Or in the middle of the night?

Is it the list of things that need to get done?

Regrets of what happen the day before?

Or perhaps before you get out of bed you reach for your phone to see what you missed out on while you were asleep?

Nothing like a list of emails and notifications to greet you in the morning.

Slyvia says, “I have to admit I am guilty of doing it.”
Dodi Note: I have done that too.

What if instead of reaching for the phone or running through the to-do list we took a moment to pause to reflect on another list?

How would the day unfold differently if it started from this point...

God, today I will remember...

You are eternal

You have always been and always will be. You see the beginning and end simultaneously; therefore, Your people can trust Your leading. (1 Tim. 1:17)

1 Tim 1:17 ESV 17 To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
AMP 17 Now to the King of the ages [eternal], immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
Dodi Note: This reminder reminds me that nothing, not one thing that concerns us is apart from God’s presence. He knows our past, he is with us now and he know our future. He will be with us, has always been with us and forever will be with us. God is immortal….he is eternal…always existent and although we do not see him with our literal eyes, just as we don’t actually see the wind..we do see the effects.
One thing that can help us remain stable is hard times, is remember that in previous hard times, God was with us…(after all we are all still alive and functioning)…and he will FOREVER be with us.


You are unchanging
You are the same yesterday, today, and forever. In Your eternal permanence we find stability and peace. (Heb. 13:8)
Heb 13:8 8 Jesus Christ is [eternally changeless, always] the same yesterday and today and forever.
Dodi Note: Now think about this… God IS LOVE…Jesus was with God and is God from before creation…we know this from Genesis 1:1 and John 1.

Genesis 1:1 AMP<1> In the beginning God (Elohim) created <by forming from nothing> the heavens and the earth.
Elohim is PLURAL. Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

John 1:1-3 AMP <1> In the beginning <before all time> was the Word (Christ), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God Himself. <2> He was <continually existing> in the beginning <co-eternally> with God. <3> All things were made and came into existence through Him; and without Him not even one thing was made that has come into being.

You are love (Meaning God is love, remember this was written in a prayer/talking to God format originally.)
You know us best and still love us, in spite of our frailty and sin. Your love is incomprehensibly vast, measureless in its length, depth, width, and height. (Eph. 3:17-19)

Ephesians 3:17-19….17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Let’s pick up a bit more context for this one because it starts with, “so that”.
Paul has been talking about the trials he has endured. Then in verses 14-21 he says:

14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, 16 that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

20 Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

We also see this clearly in John 1:7-12 7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.

Dodi Note: Because God IS love, all he does is done from the heart motive of love.

You are wise
You are the source of all truth and wisdom. You give wisdom generously to all without finding fault. (James 1:5)
James 1:5 ESV If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.
AMP 5 If any of you lacks wisdom [to guide him through a decision or circumstance], he is to ask of [our benevolent] God, who gives to everyone generously and without rebuke or blame, and it will be given to him.

Dodi Note: Do you need daily wisdom? Direction? Guidance? Reminders? I do for sure. Why not ask for it?

Two verses came to mind when pondering this.
Jeremiah 6:16
Thus says the Lord: “Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls. But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.
I LOVE this verse. We the same as the OT people are invited to stop and ask for the “ancient paths”. Our country could use some ancient path, “one nation under God” guidance. But then so could I and probably all of you as well.
Notice…if/when we do look to God and the ancient (Biblical) ways the reward we reap is peace/rest for our souls. And when we refuse..well…we are being rebellious. We talked about that in depth last week.
The other one is similar…
Isaiah 30:21
And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left.
Aren’t those comforting? We don’t have to guess, we simply have to know the Word then “trust and obey”.

Psalm 139:24
And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!
Dodi Note: This is powerful prayer. One, I believe God LOVES to answer and even enable us to do. We are not responsible to search the heart of another. We are responsible to invite God to search us and direct us. The end outcome is very healing although at the end the result is much personal healing and growth.

You are infinite
Your judgments are unsearchable, and Your ways are past finding out. (Rom. 11:33)
AMP 33 Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and decisions and how unfathomable and untraceable are His ways!
Dodi Note: I had trouble understanding how this meant infinite. But It does say…we won’t understand…
Just for fun, I pulled up MSG version. It says, “<33-36> Have you ever come on anything quite like this extravagant generosity of God, this deep, deep wisdom? It's way over our heads. We'll never figure it out. Is there anyone around who can explain God? Anyone smart enough to tell him what to do? Anyone who has done him such a huge favor that God has to ask his advice? Everything comes from him; Everything happens through him; Everything ends up in him. Always glory! Always praise! Yes. Yes. Yes.

You are omnipresent
You are completely everywhere at all times. I am never alone. (Psa. 147:5)
Psalm 147:5 Great is our [majestic and mighty] Lord and abundant in strength;
His understanding is inexhaustible [infinite, boundless].
Dodi Note: Remember earlier we said…he knows our past, present and future. We really are never alone even if/when we feel like we are. Even when we can’t tell what on earth God is doing. We can be sure He is doing SOMETHING and it is GOOD.

You are faithful
You are my covenant-keeping God. You are always true to Your Word. Great is your faithfulness. (2 Tim. 2:13)
2 Tim. 2:13
AMP If we are faithless, He remains faithful [true to His word and His righteous character], for He cannot deny Himself.
Dodi Note: I think Coram Deo is going to teach on what those covenants God is keeping with us are. I studied that a long time ago and ALL of them are huge blessings. Slyvia and this verse remind us that God KEEPS his promises to us.

You are gracious
In Christ Jesus, You deposited grace to my account when I was bankrupt and declared my debt paid in full by Your Beloved Son. (Psa. 116:5)
Psa. 116:5 AMP
Gracious is the Lord, and [consistently] righteous;
Yes, our God is compassionate.
MSG <1> <1-6> I love God because he listened to me, listened as I begged for mercy. He listened so intently as I laid out my case before him. Death stared me in the face, hell was hard on my heels. Up against it, I didn't know which way to turn; then I called out to God for help: "Please, God!" I cried out. "Save my life!"God is gracious—it is he who makes things right, our most compassionate God. God takes the side of the helpless; when I was at the end of my rope, he saved me.

Dodi Note: I love the way she said it… God deposited grace to our account when we had and deserved none.
Ephesians 2: 1-10 details it for us. 2 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But[c] God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.


You are sovereign
You alone have all authority. You said "I am the first and I am the last; and beside Me there is no God." (Isa. 44:6)
Isa. 44:6 AMP
6 “For the Lord, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts says this,
‘I am the First and I am the Last;
And there is no God besides Me.
Dodi Note: Remember Gen 1:1 and John 1? Elohim has always been and always will be. We see that again in Revelation 1:8
“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

You are majestic
Your holiness is beautiful beyond comprehension. Your glory is too marvelous for words. From all of eternity, You have been working wonders in creation, redemption, and providential care. (Psa. 29:2)
Psa. 29:2 ESV
Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;
    worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness.

AMP
Ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name;
Worship the Lord in the beauty and majesty of His holiness [as the creator and source of holiness].
Dodi Note: Or what if we began our day asking God to order it for us?

Dodi Note: Once I read that devout Hebrew people begin their day with something similar to:
Blessed art thou oh Lord our God who….guarded me while I slept, who woke me safe and sound, who gives me bread in due season, who sent Lord Jesus my Messiah….
Sometimes I remember to start my day like that, our pray like that if I wake up and am having trouble going back to sleep at night.

Because of these reminders we can pray with Sylvia” I choose to face whatever comes my way today with You, my glorious and awesome God.”

By Elizabeth Gunter © 2018. Attributes taken from Prayer Essentials For Living In His Presence, Volume 1, page 66-67, © Sylvia Gunter 2000