March 27th blog

Action Steps

Something I have started to do when reading verses to help gather strength, encouragement, hope, peace, etc. is to not just look for God's promises but to look for action steps on my part.  I've been learning that God has so much good stored up for me that he wants to bless me with, but often times he first invites me to have a part in it.  What I do is underline the words or phrase that speaks to my role in the verses (promises) I am reading.

Today one action word stood out on 3 separate occasions (a 4th was implied) in our OT reading.  That action word is: REMEMBER!!!

Deuteronomy 7:18, the Lord was letting the Israelites know that battles lay ahead that will be bigger then they are but he said not to worry (action step #1) and to "remember" well what the LORD your God did in Egypt, your God is great and awesome (vs 21).

Deuteronomy 8:2, the Lord reminds the Israelites to be obedient in their lives lived for the Lord.  He encourages them to remember that their obedience (and disobedience) is not unseen and God guide and he will bless them just as he did for those 40 years in desert.

Deuteronomy 8:10-11, the word remember is not used here but the line, "Be careful that you do not forget the Lord" is.  In my book do not forget and remember pretty much mean the same thing.  The Lord is warning them that when things are going well be sure to remember, do not forget, the Lord who sees us through and gives us the blessing.

Deuteronomy 8:18, this goes along with vs. 10-11 as the Lord is telling us that when things do go well it will be easy for us to take credit and say that it is with our own hands and strength that we have what we have so we need be sure to remember that it is God who gives us abilities and provides for us.

This action of remembering is something I have tried to practices as daily as possibly for a few years now.  I do it in the form of a gratitude journal.  It is a small spiral bound notebook that I use to reflect on my days or day and write down all the different ways God has blessed me. Looking at everything and anything and seeing it all as gifts to me from God.  I assure you that I have been challenged the most when I face Deuteronomy 7:18 days, when battles in my life seem overwhelming and bigger then myself.  But when I sit in the quiet and remember, when I look at my day I see God in so many little things that it often causes me to be able to sit back and start to reflect and remember the other times in my life when God saw me through and provided.  Sometimes I just can't seem to remember or see God in my day.  That is when I read through my journal and remember all the things I have been and truly are thankful for.  Things that I know God has blessed my life with and if he has given me a notebook of things in the past why should I doubt that he doesn't have many more notebooks of blessings for me to remember and be thankful for in the future.  Reading these memories of past gratitude's helps me start to see clearly the blessings that are around me that life has blinded me to.

You know what happens when I sit and remember and write down the blessing God has shown me?  My battles are put into perspective.  My pride is brought down and I am humbled (in a good way) before my God.  Each day becomes sufficient because I remember the bounty God has already given me and I don't doubt that he has so much more.

You know what happens when I have forgotten to remember and haven't written in my journal for a while?  My problems will cause me to fear and I begin to feel overwhelmed.  That's when I the small gentle voice of the Holy Spirit whispers, "When was the last time you remembered?  When was the last time you thought about and wrote in your gratitude journal?"  After a day or two (sometimes more) my life begins to fall into a proper perspective with the great and awesome God taking the center stage over the difficulties and remembering the bounty and blessing God has been and will continue to pour into my life.

Just to clarify, I don't live in a big house and I don't have a large bank account.  The bounty and blessing that I am speaking of are in the things that I can so easily overlook.  The everyday things I can take for granted or chalk up as nothing special.  The more I write in my journal the more I see around me that I want to record, that I want to remember.

Below are literally just a few of the things, a snapshot, from my gratitude journal over the years that help me to remember that I have a great an awesome God who loves me and will always see me through:

Generator's
Watching and laughing at old cartoons with my son
The miracle of Kym Smith not dying
Petting my dog after he sit in the warm sun
Birds
My umbrella keeping me dry
The still small voice of the Holy Spirit to guide me
The privilege of prayer
Zip lining
Laura Ignarra and all she has done for Valerie Johnson
Carrot Cake
Bic Razors
Hope
My grill
Reading Glasses
Green grass
The healthy birth of Everest Zion Coetzee
Air Mattresses
The beauty of a blackberry
Sunlight sparkling on the water
Camera's - they allow us to capture moments
A working furnace
Carollton's song "Tell Me"
Diversity
Knowing that God is never worried
Melina's body accepting her brother's marrow and that she in now his blood type - God continues to heal
Struggles that draw us to a deep faith and knowledge in the Lord
Exercise
My thankful journal (I really put that in there)
Toothbrush and Toothpaste
My hearing
Bug spray
Vanilla and Chocolate ice cream cups
A day dedicated to gratitude and giving thanks (Thanksgiving)

I want to always see and remember that I have a great and awesome God who is not just in the big events of life (the struggles and challenges) but who I can see and remember in all the little day to day things.  When I accumulate things to remember and be thankful for each day I have a store house to lean on when those big challenging moments arrive.  I know that since God has provided for me in such great abundance in all these little things how much more he is ready to help me remember and trust in him during the harder times.  It also helps keep me grounded and I remember that all I have is from the Lord. 

I encourage each of us to spend time each day looking around us at the all the blessings, especially the little easily overlooked ones, and thank God for them.  Let them fill you up with joy, peace, a knowledge of how much you are loved, and a hope that you have a great and awesome God who is and always will be there to help see you through.  Let's not stop remembering.