upgradeyourlife

Entries in Revival (3)

Thursday

Feb112016

Ways to Remember God's Goodness

In this Spiritual Life UPGRADE, Janet Thompson says our forgetfulness of God needs to stop with this generation!

“If we don’t remember what God has already done, we won’t believe what he is capable of doing in the future.” Janet says. “Memory builds faith.”

I (Dawn) am excited with Janet’s new book on this topic—Forsaken God?—not only because I shared a story in the book*, but also because each story encourages us to remember our good and faithful Father God.

Janet continues . . .

Today’s culture is quickly forgetting the goodness and power of our Great God.

The Bible describes the potential destruction through all generations to people who forget God. The dangers are paramount. We read the Old Testament and lament at how forgetful the Israelites were of God’s goodness.

Every time He did something good for them, they started grumbling that they needed something else. They repeatedly rejected God, even though He:

freed them from bondage and slavery by miraculously parting the Red Sea for them to pass through on dry ground,
provided manna from heaven,
guided them with a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night,
never let their shoes wear out even after walking for 40 years,
and he offered them a land flowing with milk and honey.

God was only as good as the next miracle or provision. A forsaken God.

“But watch out! Be careful never to forget what you yourself have seen. Do not let these memories escape from your mind as long as you live! And be sure to pass them on to your children and grandchildren” (Deuteronomy 4:9 NLT).

We wonder at how the Israelites could be so blind and ungrateful. Why couldn’t they trust that a God who provided and protected them in the past, would do the same in the present and future?

But their memories were short. As often as Moses and God tried to help them remember, still they forgot. And at great sacrifice. The original generation freed from Egypt never got to see the Promised Land because they doubted God’s goodness. Even Moses wasn’t able to enjoy its beauty because at a crucial moment, he took matters into his own hands and forgot that God was in control.

We shake our heads at how dense and blind they were. But wait . . . can’t we be guilty of the same forgetfulness?

God has done amazing things in our lives too, but when the next crisis arises, we panic that He might not show up for us this time. Or when prayers are answered, we take credit ourselves or offer praise to someone else instead of giving God the glory and recognition He deserves.

But forgetfulness needs to stop with our generation. We live in a world that is quickly trying to eliminate God from the public square and even in the private domain.

Christians need to help a lost world remember God, and that starts with remembering Him ourselves.

In Forsaken God?: Remembering the Goodness of God Our Culture Has Forgotten, there are suggestions for ways to remember all that God has done in your life and then experience the power of sharing those memories in your sphere of influence and with the next generation.

One effective way is to share our testimony. As a Christian speaker, I give parts of my testimony every time I speak. “Feed my sheep” is my testimony of God clearly speaking those words to me. When I said an obedient “OK,” he revealed the "sheep" were women and "feeding" was mentoring.

That was 20 years ago, and today God has taken Woman to Woman Mentoring around the world as women enjoy the blessings of being in Titus 2 mentoring relationships. I still stand in awe as I write that story and every time I tell it from the stage. I will never forget how God used me to start a worldwide ministry and I give him the glory for the blessing it has been to so many.

But you don’t have to be a speaker to share your story.

Someone today needs to hear how Jesus changed your life. Our hurting world needs to hear from the Christian world the source of our joy and peace. Mentoring is a great way to share our testimony to encourage other women to know the Jesus of the Bible that we know.

In Forsaken God? there are over 50 ways to help us remember God.

Here are just a few:

Taking pictures
Journaling
Reading our Bibles
Receiving Communion
Making a thankful list
Joining a small group

What are some ways that help you remember God’s goodness?

Note: This article includes excerpts of Forsaken God: Remembering the Goodness of God Our Culture Has Forgotten, shared with permission. Dawn’s story appears on pages 121-122.

Janet Thompson is an international speaker, freelance editor, and an award-winning author of 18 books including Dear God, They Say It’s Cancer and Praying for Your Prodigal Daughter. She is also the founder of Woman to Woman Mentoring and About His Work Ministries. Each chapter in her new book, Forsaken God?: Remembering the Goodness of God Our Culture Has Forgotten, includes questions and conversation starters for discussion in small groups, Bible study groups, book clubs, mentors and mentees or with family and friends. It is available at Christian bookstores, Amazon, Christianbook.com, and signed at author’s website.

Graphic adapted, courtesy of pixabay.com.

Real Freedom

Dawn Wilson

My prayer today for all of us on this July 4th - that we may seek the Lord with all our hearts.

How to Get Rid of a 'Little g' God

Dawn Wilson

Paula Hendricks is an amazing young woman with a heart for God. She recently wrote the book Confessions of a Boy Crazy Girl, and one chapter in particular caught my attention.

In the midst of stressing to singles how a guy can be an idol, she wrote about “little g” gods in general that become idols, versus pursuing the “big G”—God Himself.

“I’m not the only one tempted to turn back to my idols,” Paula wrote. “Over and over in the Old Testament, God’s people crushed their idols only to remake them and go right back to them.”

Paula’s insights about idol-making make me question why I sometimes allow idols to linger, unsmashed, in my own life.

She continues …

Turns out, crushing idols and turning to God isn’t a once-in-a-lifetime experience but a moment-by-moment journey. That’s why, nearly every morning, I pray Psalm 90:14: Satisfy [me] in the morning with your unfailing love, that [I] may rejoice and be glad all [my] days.

Thomas Chalmers was a pastor in nineteenth-century Scotland, and his sermon “The Expulsive Power of a New Affection” captured my heart immediately.

The gist of it is that you can’t talk yourself out of loving someone or something. Your emotions simply won’t cooperate. But you can find someone or something even more lovely to delight in.

I experienced this principle firsthand the month my doctor put me on a strict diet without sugar, bread, and lots of other yummy foods. It sounded like torture, pure and simple. I honestly didn’t know how I’d survive. I was certain I’d spend the entire month dreaming about and drooling over iced sugar cookies, Nerds, and chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream.

But an astonishing thing happened. I didn’t even miss my beloved sugar. You know why? Instead of snacking on raw broccoli all month (yuck!), I went to the health-food store, researched interesting recipes, and spent hours in the kitchen preparing unique dishes.

Was it a lot of work? You’d better believe it. But was it even tastier than processed, refined sugar? Absolutely.

That, my friend, is how you get rid of an idol—by investing your time in relishing something (or Someone!) better.

It’s what Psalm 34:8 tells us to do: Taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man [and girl] who takes refuge in him!

As you pursue Christ with everything in you—as you put extra effort into tasting and seeing His goodness—you’ll find that your “little g” gods don’t appeal to you like they once did.

What can you start to do today to pursue Jesus with everything in you so that your “little g” gods start to lose their appeal?

Paula Hendricks graduated from the Moody Bible Institute in 2005 with a degree in Print Communication. Two weeks later, she began working at Revive Our Hearts, where she currently serves as Writing and Editorial Manager. Her first book is Confessions of a Boy-Crazy Girl. When Paula isn’t blogging, you’ll find her hanging out with people, indulging her insatiable curiosity by asking lots of questions.