1 Corinthians 11:24-25

P3454 Remembering Helps!

/ DVH

“…and when He (Jesus) had given thanks, He broke it, and said, “This is My Body, which is broken for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same way also He took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”” 1 Corinthians 11:24-25 ESV. 

People participate in this scripture in a number of ways – all of them are wonderful and worth doing. From blessing our food and drink daily, to taking communion together, and reminding ourselves that Jesus’ broken body and shed blood makes a way for us to be able to run to the Lord any time we need to, or want to do it! He is here to help us.

Remembering the Holy Spirit is a great daily aim. The thing that stood out to me, in 1 Corinthians were the words … “remember Me.” These verses are a prompt to help us to value our memories of good, moment by moment, during each and every day. I liked that thought. So much crowds in on us during our daily lives, lots of things that demand our attention, it means that Jesus sometimes becomes an after-thought — if He is even a thought at all … and I’m not condemning anyone! Let’s pull our focus off the situations around us, and back onto the One Who is here to help us – the One Jesus relied upon.

Many years go, I had 3 children under 5. Trust me, you are lucky to be able to think at all when you have babies or toddlers. It was over 50 years ago, and yet I still remember the endless  wailing and feeling powerless to help the child! Not to mention the futility of trying to quiet an infant when you have no clue what caused the problem in the first place. New mothers, take this from me, please — these days will pass away and you will look back at them with bitter sweet sadness… especially the part where they hadn’t learned to say “NO!” yet. Whenever you can, enjoy the little ones.

Parenting is not about perfection, it simply requires plenty of  participation. We can’t prevent the lumps and bumps of this life happening to our kids – it’s all prep for adulthood – yours and theirs! One day soon all the intense work that goes into raising an infant will go away, and you are left with raising a brand new human being, with its own will and preferences. Parenting is not as much fun as the magazines pretend it is, and, trust me, we all fail at it – despite our dedicated efforts. Remembering Him helps us keep our cool when we can’t cope with our inadequacies.

I am learning that reflecting on the things that the Lord helps us with — successful times from the past — can often help us get through the things happening right now. David did it in 1 Samuel 17:34-36  “But David said to Saul, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God.” Please let us remember, David is talking about two really really bad things … a lion and a bear. This is not a kitten or a cuddly toy!

And he took the past, his own personal experiences with God, and used it to do two things. It gave him courage and confidence for now. And then he used it as a weapon so he could carry out the next thing. Remembering is a very valuable tool, when Jesus Himself asks us to do it. When we are hurting, sometimes we need to be our own cheer squad. Some people enjoy writing a journal, my hubby does it periodically, and it blesses him to go back over the things that the Lord has said, and done, in the past.

Jesus asked us to remember Him when we take communion, when we eat, when we sleep, when we wake up — even as we are going about our normal lives. His Presence goes before us, and comes behind us as we walk this walk of faith. “Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you; He will neither fail you nor abandon you.” Deuteronomy 31:8. 

Nothing happens to us that the Lord Himself doesn’t know about. “I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember Your miracles of long ago.  I will consider all Your works and meditate on all Your mighty deeds.” Psalm 77:11,12. It is so beneficial to our faith to remember the things He has done, especially when we feel oppressed,  ill, or even a bit depressed. You know, it is of no use to pretend that Christians don’t struggle with mental disease … that’s what it is …. mental DIS-ease. Something inside our thinking is not helping us, and we are no longer at ease. 

One of the best ways I know to help that, is to phone a friend, or if you pray in tongues do that. And if you are locked in then please don’t beat yourself up. Life may seem to be suffocating you and you do not need “ought to” and “must” sitting on your heart and mind as well. God loves us as we are. If we could perfect ourselves we would not need a Saviour! Maybe we have allowed some squirrelled up ideas about appearances and expectations to put even more pressure on our faith. These things deny our humanity. (2 Corinthians 1:8; Matthew 26:36-46.) 

I urge everyone to cultivate the remembrance of good in your life. Was someone kind? Thank them, and tuck that kindness in your heart, you might need it someday. Remembering helps us to keep on pressing on. Bye. 👋.

P3446 Let’s talk about Psalm 23.

/ DVH

“Because the Lord is my Shepherd, I have everything I need! He lets me rest in the meadow grass and leads me beside the quiet streams. He gives me new strength. He helps me do what honours Him the most. Even when walking through the dark valley of death I will not be afraid, for You are close beside me, guarding, guiding all the way. You provide delicious food for me in the presence of my enemies. You have welcomed me as Your guest; blessings overflow! Your goodness and unfailing kindness shall be with me all of my life, and afterwards I will live with You forever in Your home.”

This Psalm was written by David, who was a shepherd – so he knew what he was talking about! I sometimes wonder how a plumber or a taxi driver would write it? Moo-ving on … I enjoy watching a Scottish shepherd and his dogs at work on Youtube. The thing that hits me every single time I watch it, is that those dogs never take their eyes off their Master, and he never takes his eyes off the sheep, or the dogs.

David knew all about sheep, that was his job. His part in his large family was pretty minor compared to his big deal brothers who were allowed to join the army and help their Dad run the family property. The blessing of doing unnoticed things well, is a huge asset. It helps form character in us, when we are prepared to leave acknowledgement from others, behind us. It teaches me regularly how needy I am regarding praise!

David did what he did well. He knew how to care for his sheep, protecting them from harm, and when they needed a rest, he took them to a green, well-watered safe place. Jesus makes sure we are rested and ready for hard parts of our journey. Some tasks may look very small and insignificant but they teach us to rest. The Lord knows what comes next, and He will provide us with a safe place, right near Him. Jesus Himself taught us about faithfulness – it matters! “He who is faithful in a very little thing is also faithful in much; and he who is dishonest in a very little thing is also dishonest in much.” Luke 16:10.

Psalm 23 tells us we can learn about fear, whether real or imagined, WHILE we are walking through the valley of the shadow of death! Our Heavenly Father often ‘trains our hands for war and our fingers to fight,’ in difficult, dark places, where we want to curl up into a ball and hope we die. Why would He do that? Theory in the Body of Christ doesn’t benefit anyone … but using our faith changes our view of things. The bigger the resistance, the stronger the muscles. Faith is a spiritual muscle – it needs to be resilient, because bad things happen unexpectedly.

We can theorise all we want, but the truth is – when the stuff is going down, and all hell breaks loose, that is THE very best time to practice what we believe. When we feel paralysed by our circumstances, then we can choose to lean on Him. HE becomes our  hope – not our changed circumstances. Our God is training warriors, not Tinkerbell! Later on, David himself became a mighty warrior, but when he was a youth caring for sheep, he had already learnt to fight with God on his side. That’s why he ran at Goliath.

The Holy Spirit, daily walks with us, guiding us, teaching us … He does not leave us. Instead He says: ‘put your foot here, put your hand there … stand on this scripture … do that other thing now.’ Our Shepherd doesn’t only lead us, the goodness of God in Jesus and His Word, glows right in front of us, lighting up the way ahead of us. Today’s Word, from the bible is our light for this day. “Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.” Psalm 119:105.

The Lord releases His word to show us HIS pathway through our trials. When this happens, He is not punishing us, nor has He forgotten us. He took our punishment, once and for all. We can’t ever be forgotten because He carved us on the palms of His hands! This Psalm also tells us that the Lord prepares a table for us in the presence of our enemies.

So let’s look at 1 Corinthians 11:24,25 it says: “… and when He had given thanks, He broke it, and said, “This is My body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same way also He took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”” This is the Lord’s table! His broken body and His blood willingly poured out for our sake, made a way for us to survive everything that comes at us. In Jesus’ mind what we need is already done, and we have been given His mind. 1 Corinthians 2:16.

Christ’s death and resurrection on our behalf made a way for us to be certain that no matter how things look – God will not fail us. And then the Holy Spirit assures us that God’s goodness and mercy runs after us. He follows up our times of difficulties, to the point where we are so blessed we run out of words to thank Him! We won’t always feel it, instead we choose to believe what Jesus said, and live our lives depending on it. We are His people, and He knows when we need to lie down. Plus He knows the way through anything that comes against us to make us afraid and He will lead us through it.

Psalm 23 is an example of the Lord’s purposes in our lives, it is not just for funerals. It teaches us that He leads, guides, and travels with us every step of the way, every single day. He feeds us with Himself, and blesses us. His all-consuming desire is to walk with us, forever. Bye 👋.