“Remember me…”
Nehemiah 13:14
Beloved in Christ,
Greetings to you in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ!
In life, we see that men think about one another in various circumstances. Couples who are to be married, think about each other. They think what the other person will be doing at that time and communicate through telephone or other technically advanced communication modes. The basis of this is the love they have for each other. Our Lord Jesus Christ is the same unchanging One, yesterday, today and forever more. He remembers us and thinks about us. He remembers us because of His love. He had formed us when we were in the womb. He has seen us from then. He is watching us constantly so that we receive good things in our life and everything goes well with us. He blesses us because He remembers us. His thoughts are far more different from our thoughts. Isaiah 55:8 says “‘For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,’ says the Lord.” It is written “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.” Our Lord who has thoughts higher than ours, remembers us. Our God knows us. Psalm 103:14 says” For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust.” Though we are dust He still remembers us and blesses us. We receive a lot of good things in our life when He blesses us. Let us meditate on what are the blessings we receive when He remembers us and how we should live for Him to remember us.
The Blessings We Receive When God Remembers Us
1. When God Remembers Us He Turns Our Lack into Abundance
“Then she made a vow and said, “O Lord of hosts, if You will indeed look on the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, and not forget Your maidservant, but will give Your maidservant a male child, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life…” I Samuel 1:11
There might be a lot of trials and difficulties in our life. We might lack many things. Amidst all this, our God turns our lack into abundance and exalts us. We read about Hannah in the Bible. She was humiliated as she was childless. She had to face awkward situations. She was with tears whenever she was in the presence of the Lord. She would not eat. She used to come to the tabernacle of the Lord regularly and give offerings to the Lord. Despite that, she was childless. She poured out her heart at the feet of the Lord. Though she was worried about her situation and felt humiliated, she made a vow to the Lord and placed everything at the feet of the Lord. She wept in anguish and prayed to the Lord. She made a vow saying if You will indeed look on the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, and give Your maidservant a male child, I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and no razor shall come upon his head. Think about this, she was childless, but she made a vow that if God would give her a child she would give that child back to God. Our God is a God who blesses us. He remembers us. Whenever our God remembers us He does miraculous things in our life. God heard the prayer of Hannah and removed the grief from her heart. I Samuel 1:19, 20 says “…and the Lord remembered her. So it came to pass in the process of time that Hannah conceived and bore a son, and called his name Samuel, saying, “Because I have asked for him from the Lord.” Samuel was born because of the vow that was made to the Lord. In the lives of many childless couples we see that they go for medical treatment in a worldly way. But, beloved in Christ, our Lord is faithful to do wonders in our lives. He who hears prayers, will hear our prayer and call the things which do not exist as though they did. We see that Hannah, who was childless, gave birth to a male child who was given to the Lord to be in the tabernacle of the Lord. When our God remembers us He turns our lack into abundance.
2. When God Remembers Us He Heals Our Diseases
“and said, “Remember now, O Lord, I pray, how I have walked before You in truth and with a loyal heart, and have done what is good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.” Isaiah 38:3
We experience a lot of physical weaknesses . We see the work of evil spirits behind these weaknesses. As we live amidst these evil spirits, evil people and unlawful people, our God must remember us for us to be untouched by them. God gives a message to king Hezekiah. He told him that he would not live long and that he would die in his sickness. Hezekiah was heartbroken and he cried to the Lord saying remember now that I have walked before You in truth and with a loyal heart and have done what is good in Your sight. God heard his cries. Our God is a God who hears prayers and performs miracles. We read about that miracle in Isaiah 38:5 “Go and tell Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father: “I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; surely I will add to your days fifteen years.” Isaiah gave God’s reply to Hezekiah. God gave a new lease of a life to a man who was in his deathbed. Hezekiah received a new and complete life as God had remembered Him. Dear Brother/Sister, when you submit yourself to search God and to be remembered by Him, your physical weaknesses will be removed and you will be healed.
3. When God Remembers Us He Gives Us the Strength and Happiness That We Had Lost
“Then Samson called to the Lord, saying, “O Lord God, remember me, I pray! Strengthen me, I pray, just this once, O God, that I may with one blow take vengeance on the Philistines for my two eyes!” Judges 16:28
We see that Samson had called upon the Lord. He prayed to God asking Him to remember Him. He prayed with faith and hope. Samson was a very strong man. He had overcome the enemy in a mighty way whenever the Spirit of the Lord came upon him. He had come into this world in a miraculous way. There was a tribulation in his life. Samson went behind a harlot. Judges 16:1 says “Now Samson went to Gaza and saw a harlot there, and went in to her.” He who was supposed to be a Nazarite and lead a holy life had become a slave to the lusts of the flesh. Dear Brother/Sister, if your acts are against the name of the Lord and if your acts defile the name of the Lord, you will lose all your blessings. Afterward Samson loved a woman whose name was Delilah. But she was very cunning and wanted to find out the reason behind Samson’s strength and make him powerless. When Samson told her what he shouldn’t have told anyone, the secret of his strength, she shaved off the seven locks of his head and that made him weak. The Lord had departed from him but he did not know that. His life became a pitiful one and was filled with sorrow. When the Philistines came upon him, he thought that he would go out as before but he was powerless and couldn’t do anything. His life became bitter. The Philistines caught him. They put out his eyes and bound him with bronze fetters. He became a grinder in the prison. He served his enemies. His life, which was supposed to be for the glory of the Lord, was no more like that. He who was imprisoned was asked to perform for the Philistines. He performed for them and was stationed between the pillars. With the help of the lad who held him by the hand, he leant upon the pillars that supported the temple. God had enabled him to do so. He prayed a heartfelt prayer to God asking Him to strengthen him. He asked the Lord God to remember him. Samson took hold of the two middle pillars which supported the temple and braced himself against them. He regained his strength and pushed with all his might and the temple fell on the lords and all the people who were in it. They were all killed and so was he. The people that he killed at his death after regaining his strength were more than he had killed in his life. When God remembers us we get back what we had lost. Dear Brother/Sister, you might have lost your work, health, strength, peace, happiness or unity in the family. Your relationships might be filled with problems. But, if you change your life per God’s word for Him to remember you, He would give back whatever you had lost and bless you. Let us submit ourselves at the feet of the Lord today. Let us plead Him to bless us. We will see miracles.
4. When God Remembers Us He Will Relent From Doing the Harm that He Had Intended to do
“Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants, to whom You swore by Your own self, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven; and all this land that I have spoken of I give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.” Exodus 32:13
The Lord said to Moses “I have seen this people, and indeed it is a stiff-necked people!” God wanted to consume the people in His wrath and He told Moses that He would make him a great nation. Moses pleaded with the Lord asking Him to remember them as we see in Exodus 32:13. So the Lord relented from the harm which He said He would do to his people. Beloved Brother/Sister, when we do evil things which are not pleasing in the sight of the Lord, it kindles the wrath of the Lord and He orders harmful things in our lives. But, when Moses pleaded to the Lord as an intercessor, He relented from doing the harm that He said He would do. Beloved child of God, Jesus Christ intercedes for us and He has paved a way for us to lead a life without committing sin. He intercedes for us so that we need not face the penalty and the consequences of the sins that we had committed. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world. So, we have an Advocate with the Father. We see that Moses had done the same for Israelites. Beloved Brother/Sister, if you had committed sins in your life repeatedly and you are under the wrath of God, our Lord Jesus Christ will intercede for you and bring good things in your life if you humble yourself in the presence of God and plead him to do so. The Holy Spirit whom He had given us will help us when we pray and remove the judgement that had to come upon us because of sin. Sister/Brother, we should humble ourselves in the presence of God and pray knowing that we have an Advocate with the Father. Once, God showed the face of a person to a servant of God and asked him to pray for him. The servant of God was perplexed as he did not know that person. When he prayed for that man, he was healed of a terrible disease. After a few days, the servant of God got a chance to meet the family of that person. He shared with the family about how God had showed him that he was suffering and that God loves him. When the Brother heard about this, he was amazed. He shed tears thinking about his suffering. He was overjoyed hearing that he was remembered by God. Many a time, God shows His servants about the sufferings of others and asks them to pray for them. Through that prayer he protects those people as the apple of His eye and He stops the evil that was to befall them. As children of God, we need to have fellowship with each other. When the members of the church have fellowship with the pastor, the Spirit of God, performs miracles like this.
5. When God Remembers Us He Enables Us to Inherit the Kingdom of God
“Then he said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.”” Luke 23:42
We see that when our Lord Jesus Christ was hanging on the cross and was about to die, one of the criminals blasphemed Him. He mocked at Christ saying “If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us”. But the other criminal said that we are being punished justly, but this Man has done nothing wrong. Then he said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom”. And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise”. Beloved child of God, when we submit ourselves to be remembered by God, we receive blessings both in the present life and in the life to come.
What Should We Do for God to Remember Us?
1. We Should Have the Fear of the Lord
“Then those who feared the Lord spoke to one another, and the Lord listened and heard them; So a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the Lord and who meditate on His name.” Malachi 3:16
Our God listens attentively to the conversation between those who fear Him and He records it in a book of remembrance. We should stay away from evil things if we have the fear of the Lord. Proverbs 8:13 says “The fear of the Lord is to hate evil;”. If we live with the fear of the Lord, our God will remember us and bless us in everything.
2. We Should Pray
“So God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God acknowledged them.” Exodus 2:24, 25
The Israelites looked unto God with groaning. Groaning is a way of petitioning God in our prayer life. Many a time, we do not go to God with groaning. Romans 8:26 says “Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.”. When we pray in the Spirit with Christ, we participate in prayer with groaning. We can see miraculous things happening in the lives of those who pray with groaning. We should submit ourselves to pray in such a way. When we plead in the presence of the Lord, after confessing our sins and leaving them behind, our God will answer our prayers and bless us just as he had relented from doing harm when Moses had pleaded for the children of Israel. We should pray with groaning for our God to remember us.
3. We Should be Pious and Give alms
“And when he observed him, he was afraid, and said, “What is it, lord?” So he said to him, “Your prayers and your alms have come up for a memorial before God.” Acts 10:4
Cornelius was a devout man and one who feared God with all his household. The Lord had sent Peter to the Gentiles for them to receive the Holy Spirit. An angel of God told Cornelius that his prayers and alms had come up for a memorial before God. This was a memorial before God to pour out His Spirit on the Gentiles. We should give alms and give offering to God for God to remember us. The people of Corinth, gave generously to God amidst their lack and poverty and were therefore blessed. Let us live like that and be blessed!
4. We Should Have the First Love
“…Thus says the Lord: “I remember you, the kindness of your youth, the love of your betrothal, when you went after Me in the wilderness, in a land not sown.” Jeremiah 2:2
He remembers the love that we had when we were betrothed and blesses us. Our life should be how God expects it to be. Let us submit ourselves to Him to be like that. Let us not leave the first love. Revelation 2:4 says “Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love.”. Let us be careful not to leave our first love. He will remember us and bless us!
May the Lord Bless Us!
In the service of Christ Jesus,
Bro. C. Ebenezer Paul.