Have you forgotten?
When our ancestors were in Egypt, they gave no thought to your miracles; they did not remember your many kindnesses, and they rebelled by the sea, the Red Sea. Psalm 106:7
How quickly we too forget…..
If you look back in the Old Testament from Exodus through Deuteronomy, you will find the story of the Israelites as they were delivered from bondage and journeying to the promised land. They got stuck in the wilderness as we often we get stuck in our wilderness thinking and forget that there is a way out. There are lots of lessons to be learned from the Israelites and their mistakes, too often the same ones that we make.
They wandered around for a long time in stuck, going through the motions but going nowhere. Then we see Joshua and the new generation that decided to take a chance, a leap of faith to go in to take the land which God had promised them! This is where we too must decide what we will believe and remember, and which direction we will take. If you are going through a season where you feel like God has forgotten His promises or that you have gotten off track and forgotten His, know that He hasn’t forgotten (even if you have).
God is faithful even when we aren’t. Let us not neglect or forget but let us remember what He’s promised. Let us seek His direction and will. We must heed and keep in line with Him. That’s the only way to go through...... It takes courage and trust just as it did with Joshua, but we must remember what He’s done and believe for what He’s wanting to do.
He remembers his covenant forever, the promise he made, for a thousand generations, the covenant he made with Abraham, the oath he swore to Isaac, He confirmed it to Jacob as a decree, to Israel as an everlasting covenant: “To you I will give the land of Canaan as the portion you will inherit."Psalm 105:8-11
He Remembers, we must recall.
He is all about covenants but covenants are agreements between 2. We must do our part and get in agreement with God.
The Israelites were miraculously delivered only to quickly forget what God had done for them. Ever been there? They didn’t understand His miracles nor did they remember the kindness that He had shown to them. They not only forgot to be thankful but their forgetfulness soon caused them to be ungrateful and ungratefulness caused them to sin. As they begin to sin, they began to live the way they were used to seeing instead of seeing what God was trying to do in and through them. They refused to pay attention to His works. They gave no thought to any of it. All they could see what was right in front of them and what they were lacking.
I don’t only consider the Israelites as having a want it all now mentality but more-so a down right critical complaining attitude, and a spirit of nothing being good enough. Attitudes determine our spirits status. I can’t fault them for this because it’s often the way I and many have lived. It’s no wonder we miss out. God provided for them SUPERNATURALLY and at that, EVERY SINGLE DAY, so that they NEVER went without. Yet their attitude and forgetfulness caused them to cease in their wilderness state. They didn’t recognize or appreciate anything that God did. Instead of allowing His mercies to be new daily, daily they forgot them.
They had a rebellious attitude and that always causes sin. The Bible refers to that kind of attitude and behavior as witchcraft and God rejects it. We cannot be in the position that God would have us to be if we buck Him constantly. Gratitude keeps us in His will, whereas unthankfulness and forgetfulness keeps us out.
For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He also has rejected you from being king.” 1 Samuel 15:23
God literally saved them from those who hated them and tried to keep them in bondage. He had to supernaturally deliver them, that was their way out. God drowned their enemies as they chased them, He made a way through the sea by means of parting it so they could walk over on dry ground. It was an unforgettable moment. He took them through the wilderness to protect them. What was only supposed to be a few days journey, turned into 40 years! As they got to the other side of the red sea, it didn’t take long to start forgetting and start complaining. It’s as if they put their bags down and got mad because they expected something differently. They weren’t excited that they had just been set free because their mindset was wrong. They were free in body from bondage but not in the mind. In their thinking they were still bound.
They had gotten so use to this bondage physically that it became engrained mentality. This happens but they wanted 3 hots and a cot. They got comfortable, if you will, in their own misery. They didn’t want to be bound but they didn’t want to be free, they were somewhere in between. They knew what to expect everyday in slavery but they didn’t know what to expect when living and walking by faith and obedience. They’d rather go back to knowing what would happen instead of trusting, they said so! Had they have gone back to what was comfortable, they’d have surely never experienced God’s provision much less a promise or even a glimpse of it! God doesn’t just want us to recognize and know what He has for us but He wants us to experience and walk in His promises. All of the promises of God are “Yes'‘ and “Amen”, in and through Him. That’s why He gave them to us. Let us not forget in our own lives, to never settle for comfort, that doesn’t require faith!
Faith is being sure of the unknown because it knows God’s got us!!! It simply believes and so it acts on that which it believes!- Leah
We have sinned, even as our ancestors did; we have done wrong and acted wickedly. Psalm 106:6
It’s not only wrong to forget and rebel, it’s wicked! God had done all these miracles and they proceeded to ask their leader, Moses: “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt?” (Exodus 14:11)
They go on to say:
“Is this not the word that we told you in Egypt, saying, ‘Let us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the wilderness.” Exodus 14:12
This is some serious stuff! Serious talk and issues. They not only spoke against Moses but against God. Moses was their leader but God was their deliverer! He is our deliverer too. When we speak out against God, we put ourselves in a position to defy and sin against Him. We only bring angst to ourselves by doing so. Did you just bring us out here to die? Let us return to being slaves and bound to those who hate us?
Our thoughts determine our attitudes, our attitudes determine our behavior, our behavior determines our outcome and so we are governed by our thoughts if we don’t govern them. -Leah
It all starts with a thought…. It’s all an attitude of the heart. Proverbs 23:7 says, For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he.
The Israelites acted like they were hated by Moses because they had to endure a few tough times. Going through to the promise isn’t easy, it requires effort, faith and action. They were delivered supernaturally but then they wanted everything to be handed to and done for them. They didn’t want a to lift a finger or have a hand in anything. They were unappreciative, forgetful, wrong-minded, victimized, complainers. Like I said, I’ve been there but it’s time to get a new mindset, a new attitude and fresh faith eyes to see what we’ve too soon forgotten.
Behold, I will do a new thing, Now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness And rivers in the desert. Isaiah 43:19
They believed when they saw but they always quickly forgot! I say that word a lot because I want to make a point. The problem was, their desires and where their affections were set. Because they insisted on their own way, they stayed in their in-between state, the wilderness. Jesus says, “I am the way, the truth and the life.” Outside of our own will, is a better way. God had a few things to teach and show them but they only rebelled and sinned more as they tempted and tried God. We can’t restrain or control God. He is God and we are not, fact! We mustn’t even try, it never ends well. But yet, He’s willing to show us mercy as He did them, time after time again.
They lusted after what they wanted; their way, their food, to please their flesh. They wanted their flesh to be served, they did not desire to serve God. That’s where the trouble lies.
They didn’t lack anything. God didn’t even let their clothes wear out after all those years. There came a point to where enough was enough. They weren’t concerned about their needs but their wants. We won’t be satisfied with what we want until we recognize and appreciate what we have. God gave them over to their request and sent leanness into their souls!!!! They were thinned out by disease. It’s a different kind of leanness that comes to our souls than to our bodies. We should be hungry and thirsty for God to fill the longing and desires of our souls just as much as our body, if not more. That’s why He says that ‘He is the bread of life and living waters’. Those who come to Him shall never hunger or thirst AGAIN! But we must rely on Him!! Those who truly hunger and thirst for righteousness (what is right in His sight) SHALL be filled! He doesn’t will to leave us hungry, He wants us to hunger and thirst for Him and the things of God so that He can fill us. You won’t seek after, therefore won’t be filled by, what you’re not hungry and searching for. When I’m hungry, I go straight for that which I crave, not necessarily what is best. What God has is available but will totally be passed over unless it is recognized and willed.
I think it’s fitting to note a line from Matthew Henry’s commentary for he explains it so well.
“Those wretchedly forget themselves, that feast their bodies and starve their souls.” - Matthew Henry
Be careful what you lust and hunger for. For God often gives us over to our request if we continue to rebel. He tries to show us but will we see and heed, or will we ignore and forget? That’s how we are fed, accordingly.
There comes a time where we must decide, like Joshua; to trust, believe and enter in by faith. OR… like the Israelites; to resist and see ourselves as the enemy sees us instead of how God sees us. Do we focus on what He says we can be or do we forget what He’s promised us and want to go back to our old ways of sin? Joshua says to choose you this day whom you’ll serve (what and whom you will believe, and what you will do). It’s time to choose. In or out, our choices make. We must be decided and firm, irresolute. It will determine which direction we will go.
Here’s a few lessons that we should heed and correct.
The Israelites ENVIED. Never happy with what they had.
They EXCHANGED God’s glory for the image of an ox that eats grass and had no power. (Idols and stuff that can’t bring us joy or help us when we are in trouble. Temporary comforts. Powerless to save.)
They FORGOT God their Savior Who had done ‘Great Things’.
They SPURNED and DESPISED the pleasant and desirable land.
They MURMURED and COMPLAINED amongst themselves in their tents (homes). God heard and saw their inward attitude. (Mark 2:8) He sees the heart and it’s a heart attitude. It’s a heart condition and spiritual sickness.
They ANGERED and PROVOKED God. They didn’t destroy or do away with what was destroying them.
They MINGLED amongst those that they should have stayed away from and so learned their ways and got entangled by them. We cant compromise and flirt with sin and expect for it not to change us. “If you dance with the devil, then you haven’t got a clue, for you think you’ll change the devil, but the devil changes you.”- J.M. Smith
They SERVED IDOLS and not God and it became a snare to them. What or who is your allegiance to, who or what do you follow?
They SACRIFICED their sons and daughters to devils shedding innocent blood and were defiled by THEIR OWN WORKS! God wants our hearts, that’s the thing He’s truly after. For if He has our hearts then He has our attention and our service, because our eyes on Him. The sacrifice that He desires is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart. One that will turn fully to Him. That’s the only way we will truly and fully follow and serve Him.
Again: Let us not forget.
They forgot what he had done, the wonders he had shown them. Psalm 78:11
They were a stubborn and rebellious generation that didn’t set their hearts right nor prepare their hearts to know him. Their spirits were not steadfast within them and they were not faithful to God. Though He provided they still went on to sin against Him. All sin is against God when He has given us clear instruction on what to do. They simply did not believe or rely on God for His wonderful wondrous works. He earnestly remembered them, that they were only flesh. He forgave them but they still continued to forget each and every tine that He delivered them. We must learn to be like David and have an upright heart, one that’s wants to please God. He often recalled Gods goodness when his soul got down!
Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and FORGET NOT all his benefits:Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies;
Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's. Psalm 103:1-5
We must bless the Lord for all He’s done and therefore not forget! Recall and recount daily!
Many times He delivered them; But they rebelled in their counsel, And were brought low for their iniquity. Psalm 106:43
This might sound far off from how we handle things today but really, it isn’t. They played the harlot and practiced idolatry by their own works. What started off as forgetfulness and ungratefulness soon turned to wickedness and more and more increased sin! It don’t take long to quickly turn when we quickly forget. What we allow, takes root and soon begins to grown into full grown fruit for good or bad. They cried out many times and many times God heard and remembered His covenant. He doesn’t forget even when we do. It’s because of our own sin and works that keep us out of the promises.
God doesn’t bless or condone sin but He does will that we turn around. He told us early on that He sets two ways before us. One leads to life and blessings, one to death and curses and they all hinge on obedience and loyalty vs. disobedience, rebellion and defiance. It’s up to us which way we go and what we choose to recall!
Let us choose to give thanks and recall the Lord’s many mercies and goodness so we won’t sink low through our own doubts and actions. May we continue to go though to all that He has prepared for us , even if we got sidetracked along the way. You might just be on the edge of your miracle as they were! Start by Looking at what is right in front of you and not what isn’t. Step by step. That’s how you and I get there. Don’t give up. Don’t faint. Remember and it’ll encourage you to move forward in faith.
KNOW:
It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.
They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22-23
This is my prayer: It is a new day. A new dawn. Don’t miss it! Remember what He’s done. If you can’t recall anything, Remember the cross. It’s time to Reclaim His promises!
There is hope! Look up child.
O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.
Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy;
And gathered them out of the lands, from the east, and from the west, from the north, and from the south.
They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way; they found no city to dwell in.
Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them.
Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses.
And he led them forth by the right way, that they might go to a city of habitation.
Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!
For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness. Psalm 107:1-9
Remember me, O LORD, with the favor You have toward Your people. Oh, visit me with Your salvation, That I may see the benefit of Your chosen ones, That I may rejoice in the gladness of Your nation, That I may glory with Your inheritance. Psalm 106:4-5
