No products in the cart.

Remembering Is Holy

HomeRememberingRemembering Is Holy

A month ago, my husband Ceaser and I got dressed up for an eighties-themed birthday party. Days before, we had to figure out what we would wear and try to source items that were not in our regular wardrobe. On the day, we got dressed up and had fun taking some random pictures in our bedroom before leaving. Upon arriving at the party, excitement began to build as guests arrived, each with their rendition of what the eighties fashion was. We complimented each other’s efforts and laughed as some guests took on the eighties vibe in how they walked and even how they posed for pictures. The décor screamed the eighties with its bold colours and disco balls. Once the music started playing, everyone kept saying how different songs ‘took them back.’ I’m not an eighties baby, I was born in 1990 but I am very connected to the music of the eighties because my mom, who loves music, would play her jams around the house as I was growing up. Whitney Houston and Celine Dion were the staples and listening to that music takes me back too, to a time when I was an itty-bitty carefree girl, watching my mom sing along to her music while she cleaned the house or cooked. I got my love for music from my mum, that’s for sure. It’s amazing how scents and sounds have that power, the power to take you right back to the time they demand. So, while my adolescent years are memorialised by Super C, Destiny’s Child, jiggies and autobooks rather than Neon colours, Cindy Lauper or Rubik’s cubes, I appreciated the opportunity our friend’s birthday party created, an opportunity to remember.

“Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.” ~ Psalm 103:2-5 (ESV)

“He’s God, our God, in charge of the whole earth. And He remembers, remembers His Covenant—for a thousand generations He’s been as good as His word.” ~ Psalm 105:7-8 (MSG)

Remembering is important. Our enhanced capacity to remember is what forms the foundation of our culture and identity and is also what sets us apart from all other living creatures. Memory is a gift, however, because of the entrance of sin into the world, our memory, like many other things, can be used against us by the enemy. The Bible tells us that the devil is the accuser of the brethren, always pointing his finger at us in accusation of our past wrongdoing hoping that we will get bogged down by it. One of the devil’s oldest but most effective tricks is making us relive our past mistakes. By bringing up memories of sins we committed in the past or sins committed against us, his motive is to keep us trapped in the fog of the past, unable to see God or ourselves clearly. Once he has us pinned down, he cheekily recruits us to be his co-prosecutor against our souls, tormenting us into believing that God is the angry judge waiting to execute us.

Even though the gift of remembering can be used against us, God wants us to know that He has the power to redeem all things, including our remembrance. As the year comes to a close, I would like to encourage you to tell the devil to, “Take that!” by purposefully remembering. I am doing a lot of this too and these are the four areas I am focusing on. I hope they can get you started on your path of remembrance.

Remember who you are

When my children misbehave, one of the things I do is ask them if they have forgotten who they are. Especially if they have done something that I know they know better about. I remind them who they are and that because of who they are, that behaviour is contrary. I won’t always be with them and my hope is that later on in life, while they are away from me, they will hear my voice asking them, “Do you remember who you are?” Our identity in Christ is a spring from which everything in our lives must flow, including our perspective as we remember. Recounting who we are in Christ will keep us firm-footed even when the devil tries his twisted tricks on us. Remember who you are and the stuff you were made of, it’s the stuff that disarmed the powers and authorities of our enemy, making a public spectacle of them and triumphing over them by the cross. That is who you are.

Remember what God has done

Recounting the miracles God has performed in our lives should be a consistent habit. I know it’s easier said than done. Somehow as minutes turn into days and those days fill with the pressures and busyness of life, it’s easy to simply focus on the challenges at hand. This is what the enemy hopes for. He wants to control the narrative of our remembrance because he knows that if we remember how good God has been to us, we will know that the same God who did it then will do it again. The devil knows that if we recount how wonderful God has been to us, it will raise praise within us, wielding weapons of warfare that will make him tremble in his boots. Hallelujah! That makes me want to shout in praise right now! God is good. No matter what you are going through, what happened in your past, or what you did or didn’t do, God is good and He loves you! Remember that goodness! Remember His provision. Remember His protection. Remember His faithfulness towards you. Remember what God has done for you.

Remember what you lost

Our bodies were never designed to interact with pain. When sin entered the world, it brought with it its friends and relatives, pain among them. More often than not, when we remember the past it brings up some painful emotions. It’s easier to just shove those parts of our lives into a closet of our soul that no one ever opens rather than going back there to unpack the pain with God. God wants your pain. He knows you can’t hold it on your own and so He wants you to give it to Him. Remembering what we avoid thinking about will help us process our pain. The key here is to do it healthily, with the Holy Spirit, by journaling and with a counsellor or a trusted friend. Take the time to grieve what was lost. It may be a person you lost, a dream, your innocence, your voice, your time, the list is endless. God still has a plan for you. He is sovereign and if He saw fit to allow such a chapter to be part of your story, He has plans to redeem that in ways you can’t even begin to imagine. Remember so you can let go. Remember so you can move forward. Remember so you can heal.

Remember who you are becoming

As children of God, we are supposed to be constantly evolving. Constantly being filled with the Spirit of God as the process of sanctification works in our lives. Being taken from one level of glory to the next until we get to our prize. Our prize is Jesus and our race is to become more and more like Him. Nothing more and nothing less. As you run you will see a lot along the way, some things will inspire you, egging you on your race while other things may distract you or discourage you. It is when you are faced with such things that you must remember who you are becoming. Why are you running and whom are you running after? Your answer must always be Jesus. There will be times when it’s not. There will be times when an honest inventory will reveal that you are chasing after fame, money, relationships, or approval. In such moments you will discover that the person you are becoming is not whom you intended. It’s okay, it happens to all of us. Use the Word of God as your mirror and get back on track. Stick a figurative Post-it note of Jesus near your mirror to help you remember your goal. Acknowledge how much you have grown and evolved, behaving more and more like the Lord and let that motivate you to keep going.

Don’t allow the devil to take your ability to remember. Use it as a weapon against him by recounting how good God has been in your life, even through painful or challenging times. Allow the Holy Spirit to redeem your memories, keeping you firmly settled in the truth that remembering is holy. As you go down memory lane, count your blessings, and name them one by one.

Share:

Leave A Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Popular Posts

Blog 110

Got You Covered

Blog 109

Assembly Process

Blog 108

Ready to Assemble