Lest I Forget: the Gift of Salvation

This morning I was reading through Exodus 16-18. I have read this passage of scripture many times, however each time the same lesson jumps out at me. It is a lesson that I continue to reach for. It is the lesson of not forgetting all the miracles, blessings and provisions of God in my life. I am so much like the Isrealites!

The Irealites, only 8 weeks prior, had been set free from 400 years of bondage and slavery. This is reason enough to rejoice, right? However, within two months they begin to grumble and complain because they are hungry and are lacking food. Now I must be honest at this point. After 8 weeks of walking through a wilderness I probably would have also been complaining. One of my biggest pet peeves is being hungry! It is right up there with being cold, I hate that too! God heard their cries of hunger and provided food for them. The Isrealites gathered what they needed, they ate, and by the end of the chapter, they seem to be content again. But keep reading! By the next chapter, thirst sets in and the grumbling and complaints begins all over again. They begin to doubt whether or not God is with them. Never once did anyone stop and say, "hey, remember how God delivered us from Egypt and Pharoh? Do you remember how our God sent all those plagues on the Egyptians!? That was awesome! We serve a wonderful and caring God who fights our battles for us and delivers us from our enemies! Oh, and remember how when we were hungry He provided us with mana?! That was really cool too! God has never let us down and I know that even now in our need He is going to once again provide for us. Let's praise Him and thank Him for all He has done in our lives!" Nope, instead the Isrealites seemed to have forgotten all the many times God had provided for them, blessed them, and cared for them. I wonder what the out come would have been if they would have been praising God instead of complaining?

It sounds familiar to me though. The forgetting, the complaining, and wondering whether or not God is still around. I can become that way so very easily. I forget the miracles He has done in my life because at that very particular moment I have a need that He doesn't seem to be filling. I need to remember, God has never failed me and He is not going to begin to fail me now. Let me repeat that, God has NEVER failed me, and He is not going to begin to fail me now!

So, I want to begin today remembering to praise and worship Him for all He has done in my life! I desire that it becomes a daily anthem in my life, lest I begin to forget all that He has done!

Today, I praise you Father for the biggest and greatest gift you have given to me, the gift of your Son Jesus Christ. You have given to me the gift of salvation! You provided for me a father and a mother who took the time and made it a priority to place inside of me the seed of faith. You gave to me a prayer warrior mother who prayed for me before I was born and who has continued to pray for me since the day of my birth. I thank you for the day that I asked you into my life and the assurance you gave to me, after the third time I asked you into my heart, that my sins were truly forgiven. I will never forget the feeling of peace and assurance that rolled over my body that night as I laid in bed. I thank you because that night was only the beginning of learning to walk in a relationship with you. I thank you and praise you because you have never left me alone even in my many moments of imperfection and weakness. Instead, you have lovingly fathered my through those times, picking me back up to my feet, dusting me off, and encouraging me to continue on. You have carried me through! I can't wait to see what you will continue to teach me and I look forward to a future of walking with you! I love you Holy Father! Thank you for your awesome gift of salvation!!!!

Worship

This morning, in my prayer time, I did my usual of asking God to please take care of some of the concerns in my life.....the details I have no control over. As I prayed, the words of a song by Kari Jobe began to play through my mind, "I just want to wait on you my God". I went to YouTube and looked the song up and began to listen to it.....and worship, and Gods peace began to wash over me. It is amazing to me, that when I lay it all down at His feet and focus completely on Him, the details no longer begin to matter. Peace pours over me. He is an awesome God! He will care for the details of our life and as I lay them down at His feet all that is left in my vision is Jesus. All that is left is worshiping Him. I encourage you today to lay it all down at His feet knowing that He will work all things out for good in your life. Focus completely on Him and His beauty. Worship Him and allow Him to fill the deepest need in your heart....a beautiful relationship with Him.