A Prayer of Remembrance

God brought me out of slavery. He healed me from the inside out. He restored my life. He gave me manna in the wilderness, water from the rock.

Even though I still struggle, I know I am redeemed. Lord, help me to not forget you.

Deuteronomy chapter eight was hitting me hard today. Let’s read the full passage together:

“Be careful to follow every command I am giving you today, so that you may live and increase and may enter and possess the land the Lord promised on oath to your ancestors. Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years. Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the Lord your God disciplines you.

Observe the commands of the Lord your God, walking in obedience to him and revering him. For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land—a land with brooks, streams, and deep springs gushing out into the valleys and hills; a land with wheat and barley, vines and fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil and honey; a land where bread will not be scarce and you will lack nothing; a land where the rocks are iron and you can dig copper out of the hills.

When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you. Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. He led you through the vast and dreadful wilderness, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock. He gave you manna to eat in the wilderness, something your ancestors had never known, to humble and test you so that in the end it might go well with you. You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today.

If you ever forget the Lord your God and follow other gods and worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely be destroyed. Like the nations the Lord destroyed before you, so you will be destroyed for not obeying the Lord your God."

Oh Lord, I confess I am quick to forget you.

So quick to forget the slavery you brought me out of, and to even wish things were as they used to be. Just the Israelites, who wished they were back in Egypt where they ate good food – forgetting that’s where they were slaves! I look at the manna you have given me, God – food to eat, an apartment to live in, a loving husband and a stable job for him, two beautiful children – and I long for other provisions. Why can’t I have better food, a better home, more alone time, more money, the ability to travel, etcetera, etcetera?

I turn to other gods in worship. I want my own comfort, my control, my security. Yet, Yahweh alone is worthy of my worship. He gives me my daily bread, every day. His mercies are new every morning.

How quickly I forget.

If I had all the desires of my heart, all my sinful desires for a more comfortable life, a more robust bank account, a perfectly mapped-out five-year plan, how much easier would it be for me to abandon God altogether?

“He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.”

Help me to remember, God, that you are all I need. That, in fact, I deserve nothing. I am a sinner, and I deserve death. But God, you gave Your Son’s life for me. You made a way in the wilderness, streams in the desert. You started something new!

When I hold my baby, hold a bag of groceries, and hold my toddler’s hand as we walk up the stairs to our apartment, Lord, give me a heart of gratitude.

Thank you for my squirmy baby.

Thank you for my rambunctious toddler.

Thank you for this bag of food to eat.

Thank you for strong arms to carry these things.

Thank you for strong legs to walk up and down stairs.

Thank you for a roof over my head, heat to keep us warm, and beds to sleep comfortably each night.

Thank you for saving me and giving me a seat at the table You’ve prepared for me.

Change my heart, God. Remove my heart of stone and give me a heart of flesh.

Help me praise you in all circumstances.

In Jesus’ name, I pray.

Amen.

Love With All Your Heart

I’m jittery. There are butterflies in my stomach, and I feel somewhat nauseated. My heart is pounding. My palms are slick. A slight sweat forms across my brow (and definitely in my armpits).

I’m totally enraptured. I can't focus on anything else but that one thing. That one person. I think my heart may have actually skipped a beat.

Do you know the feeling I’m talking about? Do you know that sense of excitement and adoration? It’s love, and there’s simply nothing else like it.

“Listen, Israel: the LORD our God, the LORD is One.

Love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.

These words that I am giving you today are to be in your heart. Repeat them to your children. Talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Bind them as a sign on your hand and let them be a symbol on your forehead. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates…

Be careful not to forget the LORD who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery.”

— Deuteronomy 6:4-9, 12

You’ve probably heard this passage before. It’s quoted all the time. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength.

But as I read it today, the words carried more weight for me. I saw the full context of this command for the first time, and I could grasp why it’s so very important.

Moses spoke these words after God brought the Israelites out of slavery and gave them a new life. He’s about to bring them to the Promised Land! Moses has been leading the people, and he’s instructing them to obey the Lord before they enter the land. He’s telling them the greatest command: Love God. This is no small task. He tells them to feel this deep in their hearts and souls. Teach your children. Wear this feeling proudly for all to see. Display it daily in the way you walk. Let your home be evidence of your love for God. And don’t ever, ever forget the darkness and the slavery that God delivered you from.

This is deep, life-changing, soul-enrapturing love.

This is the kind of love that changes your whole life and forms the core of your very being. This is called the greatest command for a reason.

What’s even more amazing is the fact that God loves us a million times deeper than the kind of love we’re capable of. We’re fickle humans; we love, and we forget. We love other things more than God. But God, He actually is love. He loved us so much that He made His son, Jesus, fully man to take on our sins and die the horrific death we deserved. He took on the cross for us. He rose to heaven and grants us eternal life!

Matt Chandler says,

“Listen to people talk all the time. They fell out of love. ‘I just don't love him anymore.’ In fact, the thing that's probably most frowned upon in predominant culture when it comes to love is someone who loves by will, what the Hebrews called ahava. It was a love of the will. It was ‘I'm not going anywhere.’ Don't romanticize that. That's not rose petals and violin and candles being lit and, ‘Oh, honey, I'm not going anywhere.’ All right? That's something on fire over here, a knife flung past your head, you're hunkered down, there's chaos everywhere, and you say, ‘I'm not going anywhere.’

Ahava says, ‘I've seen the ugly side of you and I'm staying.’”

Ahava is what Jesus did for us, and it’s the love we are privileged to receive if we accept it and believe it.

We have to love Him in return. That’s the greatest command.

I love my family. I love my friends. I love taking walks, I love drinking coffee, I love watching This Is Us. I love all these things, and I’ll talk about them all day long. Where does Jesus fit into that? Are we willing to talk about Him the way we talk about these lesser things? Do we love Him and look at Him with that jittery feeling we do when we’re in love?

I know I often fall short. I get way more excited about stuff that ultimately doesn’t matter. I let my other loves come before my love of God. There’s nothing wrong with loving your family, your friends, or even This Is Us. But when the order of our loves is upside down, we’ve made a mistake. We’ve forgotten the ultimate commandment.

With the world we live in, it’s so easy to get caught up in cultural commands. Man’s commands tell us to make money. Be successful. Find a spouse and have a nice family. Be healthy. Be pretty. Be strong. And make sure you have it “all together.” Achieve balance.

I don’t see those commands in the Bible. I see God telling us to love Him and to let our love for Him pour of our lives in everything we do.

Remembering the darkness that the Lord redeemed me from is what allows me to love Him first and foremost. He brought me, just like the Israelites, out of slavery. He made me into a new creation. Praise God for that. He loves me with ahava love. He changed my life; He called me into His Kingdom. I want to tell about His goodness all the day long!

My prayer is that I never forget the love God shows me and the freedom He gives me. I pray you won’t either. Think about the depths He called you out of and the new life He’s granted you. If we realize God loves us that much, how could we not love him with all our hearts, all our minds, and all our strength?

And if you are reading this and you’re thinking, I don’t know if I have been given a new life, then will you tell God that? Will you ask Jesus into your heart right here, right now--will you profess Him as Lord and Savior, and let His love transform you from the inside out?

Read my story. Read the stories of these beautiful women. Watch my pastor’s story. God is powerful, and He changes people’s lives every single day.

He loves you, and He wants your love in return.