Reminders~Mark Balmer

Reminders

Posted:

Based on “Our God Is Still Able” by Pastor Fidel Gomez; 7/11-12/09,

Message #GS71; Daily Devotional #3 - “Reminders”

Preparing the Soil (Introduction): Casting the whole of your care [all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully. (I Peter 5:7, AMP)

Planting and Watering the Seed (Growth): Why do we sometimes so easily forget about the goodness of God? Why does our focus turn to things of this world instead of fixing our eyes on Jesus (Hebrews 3:1)? When our gaze is on our problems, we lose sight of what God has promised for those who follow Him. As Pastor Fidel taught us, we need reminders of Who God is and how He relates to those who belong to Him.

Harvesting the Crop (Action/Response): First, we need to remember that He cares for us affectionately. When we ponder God’s thoughts toward us, affection may not be the first thing that comes to mind, but perhaps judgment or indifference. But God loves us with an everlasting love, a love that moves Him to seek out a relationship with, and be emotionally connected with, everyone who follows Him. Next, He cares for us watchfully. God is not sitting at a distance, indifferent and inactive toward the plight of His children here on earth. He is watching. He sees. He acts on our behalf. Yes, we live in a sinful world. Yes, there are consequences to our wrong choices. Even so, God is working and directing our lives to accomplish His will. Knowing that, we can cast our anxieties, our worries, and our concerns on Him once and for all. I love that. Once we’ve given it to God, there is no need to take it back. He’s got it covered. The enemy of our souls wants us to listen to his voice and believe his interpretation of the times. But we can choose to look at God, read His Word, know His character, and trust Him to work all things for our good (Romans 8:28). We all need to be challenged to take an inventory of what’s going on in our thought lives. Do our thoughts reflect God’s Word and what it says about our lives, or is the world, with its desires and worries, taking center stage? If your thoughts look more like the world’s then remember, new thoughts are only a prayer away. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. (Matthew 7:8)

Cultivating (Additional Reading): 2 Corinthians 10:5; Matthew 15:19; Psalm 139:17-23

NLG

Calvary Chapel of Melbourne; 2955 Minton Road; W. Melbourne, FL 32904; 321-952-9673

All Bible references are from the New International Version (NIV) unless otherwise noted.

Amplified Bible = AMP

When God Forgets~Fidel Gomez & (Mark Balmer)

When God Forgets

Posted:

Based on “Our God Is Still Able” by Pastor Fidel Gomez; 7/11-12/09,

Message #GS71; Daily Devotional #1 - “When God Forgets”

Preparing the Soil (Introduction): Then he adds: “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.” (Hebrews 10:17) Henry Molaison lived for five decades with profound amnesia. At the age of 27 in an attempt to correct seizures, an experimental brain operation left him with the inability to form new memories and the loss of all but a few scant recollections of his early childhood. Every time the psychologist who worked with him for years walked into the room, she reported that it was like they had never met. Every experience seemed new to him, and tasks performed the day before were never remembered from one time to the next.

Planting and Watering the Seed (Growth): We all forget things from time to time. Memories stored in the file folders located between our ears sometimes seem to slide between the drawers. A face will look so familiar, but there seems to be no ability to pull up a name to go with it. School assignments get forgotten. We walk into a room and stand there trying to figure out what in the world we were just going to do. We may not be as handicapped as poor Henry Molaison, but let’s face it, our brains leak. The children of Israel needed constant reminders of God’s goodness and power. The experience of walking through the Red Sea on dry ground was quickly forgotten the first time they came up short on water. The walls of Jericho looked impossible to breach even after watching manna appear from nowhere every day that they walked in the wilderness. A heathen prostitute living in the city had to remind the Israelite spies of the power of their own God. The disciples were no better. They watched Jesus heal the sick and calm the storm, and then fretted over the lack of a Publix when faced with a large and hungry crowd. We are much the same. When we face impossible walls in the circumstances of our lives, we tend to forget and often need a reminder that God is bigger. God has a plan, and He is at work. When we see an impossible need, or a seemingly unanswered prayer, patience evaporates and panic looms large. We need a reminder that God’s methods do not fit our earthbound expectations.

Harvesting the Crop (Action/Response): Unless you suffer from the severe amnesia of Henry Molaison, there are some memory files that don’t seem to diminish with time. Those things you wish you had never done, those choices you wish you had not made, and those words you should have never used. Remorse and guilt don’t seem to fade into the forgotten places. They keep coming back to remind you of just how undeserving you are, how foolish, how selfish or fearful. They convince you that you are not usable material in God’s plans. In such instances, it would be easy to envy Henry’s disability. When a Christ follower comes to God with one of those already forgiven shameful, paralyzing memories, God develops amnesia. He scratches His head. He replies, “What sin? What blunder? I don’t have a recollection of that at all. Your sins are all under the deepest sea, but I do have something in mind that you can do for me today. Now why don’t you step out in this area and see what I will do?” What seemingly impossible walls are looming before you? Have you exhausted your resources to no avail? Are you stressed and ready to panic? In the midst of trials is the time to remember: These have come so that your faith – of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire - may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. (1 Peter 1:7) What memories do you feel disqualify you from serving God today? If He has forgiven and forgotten them, why not leave them in His Recycle bin and move ahead by faith today?

Cultivating (Additional Reading): Philippians 3:13-14; Psalms 103:12; Hebrews 12:1-3

cm

Calvary Chapel of Melbourne; 2955 Minton Road; W. Melbourne, FL 32904; 321-952-9673

All Bible references are from the New International Version (NIV) unless otherwise noted.