Monthly Archives: September 2022

September 2, 2022 · 5:36 AM

Remembering God’s Faithfulness

Nothing makes you forget the past like the present. The Old Testament shows how we as humans go through cycles of seeing God do something amazing, allowing it to change us, facing something new, forgetting what God has done then panicking. Over time, we tend to forget all that God has done and brought us through. God gave instructions to the Israelites to do different things in order to remember what He did. When we remember, we have faith in Him to do it again. When we forget, our problems seem insurmountable. God will not abandon you. He has a history of meeting whatever you’re facing head on and beating it. Don’t let your present cause you to forget God’s faithfulness. Remember today what He’s done for you in the past.

Here are some Bible verses on remembering God’s faithfulness.

1. You shall not be afraid of them; you shall remember [with confidence] what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt.

Deuteronomy 7:18 AMP

2. Remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me.

Isaiah 46:9 ESV

3. Remember the wonders he has performed, his miracles, and the rulings he has given.

Psalms 105:5 NLT

4. I remember the glorious miracles of days gone by, and I often think of all the wonders of old.

Psalms 143:5 TPT

5. Yet hope returns when I remember this one thing: Fresh as the morning, as sure as the sunrise.

Lamentations 3:21, 23 GNT

Photo by Aravind Vijayan on Unsplash

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September 1, 2022 · 5:30 AM

Choose Joy

I’ve been a sales trainer for a few years, and one thing has been consistent. When some people show up for training, they’re not happy. They want to know if class is really going to take the full time. By the end of class though, many of them change their attitudes. They’ll walk out and say, “Thanks. I didn’t think I needed this, but I learned something.” Our attitude towards training is much like our attitude towards troubles in life. We don’t want them or see a need for them. However, when we’ve made it through them, we find ourselves stronger.

I think James was trying to make that same correlation for us in James 1:2-3. He wrote, “Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow” (NLT). Joy is usually the last emotion that I pair with troubles and trials, but James says they’re an opportunity for us to have it.

I’ve said before that joy is not dependent on your circumstances, happiness is. Joy comes from deep within. It looks at your big picture, while happiness looks at the little one. Joy is something you choose to have no matter what. Each of us choose our attitude in our circumstances. If we don’t, our circumstances will choose our attitude for us. In most cases, it chooses the wrong attitude. Choosing Joy gives you the strength to endure whatever comes your way.

The second part of that verse is where we get our Joy from. We don’t look at the current trouble, but the end result. What do trials produce in us? Endurance. Verse 4 says, “So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.” If you can train yourself to keep the end in mind, you will learn to handle troubles a lot better. Don’t waste your times of trouble. Use them for what they’re for: growth and endurance. By choosing the wrong attitude, you prolong your time in them, and miss what God has for you. Keep the end in mind, and choose Joy.

Photo by Jackson David on Unsplash

Throwback Thursday is a feature I’m using to help build some margin into my schedule to pursue other ventures. Each Thursday I’ll be bringing you a previously written devotional that still speaks encouragement to us from God’s Word.

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