Dancing in the Light

I John 1:7 "If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses us from all sin."

Name:
Location: North Platte, Nebraska, United States

I am a christian wife, mother and grandmother. I am a licensed Social worker and a licensed Christian counselor. I am most proud of the relationships I have with God, my family and friends all over the world. I have been blessed beyond my dreams.

Monday, June 04, 2007

A Time To Remember

June 19, 2001; April 4, 2002; September 3, 2003; August 4, 2004; June 3, 2005; and May 20, 2007. Six dates and to most of you nothing more than just that, six dates. But to at least one set of parents, two sets of grandparents, and several sets of great granparents, these dates are very important. Each of these represents the day our lives were blessed with a new child, grandchild or great grandchild. Those days were days of life-changing blessings and we will not forget. Lots of days and things are easy to forget but because these little lives are important to us, and effect us on a daily basis, we do not forget.
In my daily Bible reading, I have been reading the Minor Prophets. Whenever I find myself in these books, I think about the range of emotions the chosen people have to go through. At first they are consumed with sin, so much so, that they have pushed Yahweh right out of their hearts. Even while enjoying the fruit of His blessings, they have forgotten that He is the source. God sends His prophets in an attempt to remind them. I am sure the prophets were frustrated as we can almost imagine the blank looks on the faces of the people, "who us?" "the blessings God gave us?" "we are not doing what?". Then to see that look turn into recognition and then to follow in their father Adam's steps and begin blaming, "Well, the king . . . " or "you can't really blame us when the priests . . . " and even everyone's favorite, "Everybody else is . . . " And once again they would not repent and God would cause them to be taken into captivity, taken away from the land they were not grateful for, taken away from the temple where they had been too busy to worship, taken away from their families and cities where they were abusing and defrauding one another. They would be held there, in a foreign land, reminiscing about the good old days and remembering what it was like when God was blessing them. The remembering would lead to repentance and ultimately to rescue. But they would repeat this cycle over and over, not remembering what happened last time, not remembering God's promise to do it again.
If you are like me, you have a difficult time understanding how they could continually repeat this cycle. It is easy for us to look back at their history and wonder how they could fail to learn in spite of lesson after lesson after lesson. Imagine if our Christian walk was being chronicled step by step, written down in a book for future generations. In four hundred years, would Christians be looking back on my life and saying, "why could she not learn?" "Couldn't she remember what God promised? How could she forget where her blessings came from?" "Couldn't she remember her covenant with God for longer than just a minute?" How easily we forget! Without a conscious effort to remember, we fall, we stumble, we forget and we sin. We need to be a remembering people. We need to be the kind of Christians who have not "forgotten our first love", who "remember from where we have fallen", who remember Him and His sacrifice every hour, every day, every minute, not just during communion. We remember that which is important to us and when we place God and His things at the top of our lists, remembering is easier. We are a forgetting people by nature, but the old nature has been put to death and the new one---well this new one has a memory, enhanced by the blood of the Lamb. This new man, he knows that now is the time to remember.
Peace
Neva

21 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

I find myself reading the Minor Prophets when I am feeling "picked on" and then eventually I realize that I don't have it all that bad.

Maybe I should try listening to them rather than empathizing with them.
But then don't all preachers think they are misunderstood prophets for God :)

8:27 AM  
Blogger preacherman said...

Neva,
Great post.
May we never forget the blessing that God poor richly upon us. Thank you again for reminding to starting of my week in such a wonderful way.

9:09 AM  
Blogger Kathy said...

Imagine if our Christian walk was being chronicled step by step, written down in a book for future generations...

Thank You, Gracious LORD that this humiliation will not come to be about my walk!!

And thank YOU, Neva for reminding us to not forget.

10:10 AM  
Blogger Liz Moore said...

Thanks for a great post. My toes are a little crushed right now :)

And aren't those dates in our lives simply the Best!

11:13 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Amen, and amen.
We need to remember. Forgetting can be fatal.

Carlos

11:51 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"We don't forget the things that are important to us"--wow! That is a powerful and true statement. How easily we forget.

Good post

Pat

12:42 PM  
Blogger The Preacher's Household: said...

What no anniversary dates?
:) K

2:26 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Remember from where you have fallen,
Remember your first love,
Do this in remembrance of me.
Almost sounds biblical doesn't it?

:)
Good post sister
Dan

3:50 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Neva,
I often am guilty for not remembering the things I need to. Perhaps I need to prioritize so I can remember the important things. Thanks for the post.
Rachel

3:52 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

You are so right we are pretty quick to condemn the sinful cycle of the Israelites and yet we do the same. Great post today.

Yvonne

4:34 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Yes this is true. We need to remember. We just have to decide to do it.


Dean

6:01 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Neva,
I cant tell you how many times I have repented of the same sins, fully intending to do better, and I do better for awhile and then I get complacent and I take His grace for granted. I completely relate to the Israelites and am very grateful my life is not chronicled for future generations.

Shari

7:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Great reminders for all of us.

Jean

7:05 PM  
Blogger Bill Williams said...

2 Timothy 2:8...

Remember Jesus Christ...

7:22 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Catch myself following in my father Adam's footsteps all the time---trying to get better.

Thanks friend,
Kel

7:58 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Too many times we die to sin and keep sinful behaviors. That needs to change. We cant be new and act like the old.
I like this post.

Carol

8:22 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

thanks for the many reminders in this post....Blessings

donna

8:36 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi Neva
Havent been here for awhile--graduation stuff kept me busy. Wanted you to know the quality of your blog has stayed very high. I recommend this to my friends and family.
Keep up the good work.

Jeneane

8:39 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Neva,
I am amazed at your insight and the way you write what will help me work on the areas most needy in my life. You are a good friend and your site is a good place to grow.

Karin

8:58 PM  
Blogger Monalea said...

My precious Neva,

I love you 2-3-6

Monalea

9:50 PM  
Blogger Danny Wright said...

Neva

Your historical perspective is refreshing. I thought history began on MY birthday. :-)

2:00 PM  

Post a Comment

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]

<< Home