REMEMBERING WHAT THE LORD HAS DONE

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk.com.

In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

He is the Lord our God; His judgments are in all the earth.

He remembers His covenant forever, the promise He made, for a thousand generations, the covenant He made with Abraham, the oath He swore to Isaac. He confirmed it to Jacob as a decree, to Israel as an everlasting covenant: “To you I will give the land of Canaan as the portion you will inherit.”

When they were but few in number, few indeed, and strangers in it, they wandered from nation to nation, from one kingdom to another. He allowed no one to oppress them; for their sake He rebuked kings: “Do not touch My anointed ones; do My prophets no harm.”

He called down famine on the land and destroyed all their supplies of food; and He sent a man before them — Joseph, sold as a slave. They bruised his feet with shackles, his neck was put in irons, till what he foretold came to pass, till the word of the Lord proved him true. The king sent and released him, the ruler of peoples set him free. He made him master of his household, ruler over all he possessed, to instruct his princes as he pleased and teach his elders wisdom.

Then Israel entered Egypt; Jacob resided as a foreigner in the land of Ham. The Lord made His people very fruitful; He made them too numerous for their foes, whose hearts He turned to hate His people, to conspire against his servants. He sent Moses his servant, and Aaron, whom He had chosen. They performed His signs among them, His wonders in the land of Ham. He sent darkness and made the land dark — for had they not rebelled against his words. He turned their waters into blood, causing their fish to die. Their land teemed with frogs, which went up into the bedrooms of their rulers. He spoke, and there came swarms of flies, and gnats throughout their country. He turned their rain into hail, with lightning throughout their land; He struck down their vines and fig trees and shattered the trees of their country. He spoke, and the locusts came, grasshoppers without number; they ate up every green thing in their land, ate up the produce of their soil. Then He struck down all the firstborn in their land, the firstfruits of all their manhood. He brought out Israel, laden with silver and gold, and from among their tribes no one faltered. Egypt was glad when they left, because dread of Israel had fallen on them.

He spread out a cloud as a covering, and a fire to give light at night. They asked, and He brought them quail; He fed them well with the bread of heaven. He opened the rock, and water gushed out; it flowed like a river in the desert.

For He remembered His holy promise given to his servant Abraham. He brought out His people with rejoicing, His chosen ones with shouts of joy; He gave them the lands of the nations, and they fell heir to what others had toiled for — that they might keep His precepts and observe His laws.

Praise the Lord.

Psalm 105:7b-45

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Have you ever sat down and just took time to remember all the things God had done for you in your life?

For me, I think it would read a little bit like this:

In the midst of hardship and heartache, I remember how God introduced me to the woman who He would use to change my life forever. He moved me from being a rough, salty Sailor to become His caring, loving servant and ordained my marriage to the lady He wished for me to spend my life with.

Right after that, He chose to bless me with a military promotion, knowing that I would be able to be a role model and witness to many. He changed my uniform and increased my responsibilities, helping me go beyond what I thought I was capable of and showing me that I could truly do all things if I would just place my full faith and hope in Him.

A few years later, He decided that I was fit to once again be a father to the two daughters He had blessed me with. And so He made the way for them to once again live with me, allowing me to spend more time in raising them with a knowledge of Jesus Christ as their Savior.

He then showed me His amazing healing power as He took my wife from the brink of death and brought her back to health again, placing her disease in remission. Through it all, He reminded me that He was in control and that my wife, as well as the daughters I loved so very much, belonged to Him and would return to Him at His appointed time, not mine.

The Lord revealed Himself again to me through several other promotions to include advancement to the highest senior enlisted level possible, that of a Command Master Chief. Again, He knew I was ready to be a light for Him as I was placed in charge of many people. The change in authority brought a multitude of challenges but I made it through them all because I never had to walk through them alone. He was always with me.

And now He had taken me successfully from a separation of naval service into a new civilian job, one that has been a rich blessing. My new life has allotted me more time to donate to my church and He has used me to His glory in more ways than I could have ever dreamed of. I don’t know what the future holds, but I do know God will be there, every step of the way. May He ever receive all glory, honor, and praise.

What would your story sound like if you wrote it?

Well, the Bible contains excerpts where the people of Israel were reminded about what God had done for them. Look at the remaining verses of the 105th Psalm:

He is the Lord our God; His judgments are in all the earth.

He remembers His covenant forever, the promise He made, for a thousand generations, the covenant He made with Abraham, the oath He swore to Isaac. He confirmed it to Jacob as a decree, to Israel as an everlasting covenant: “To you I will give the land of Canaan as the portion you will inherit.”

When they were but few in number, few indeed, and strangers in it, they wandered from nation to nation, from one kingdom to another. He allowed no one to oppress them; for their sake He rebuked kings: “Do not touch My anointed ones; do My prophets no harm.”

He called down famine on the land and destroyed all their supplies of food; and He sent a man before them — Joseph, sold as a slave. They bruised his feet with shackles, his neck was put in irons, till what he foretold came to pass, till the word of the Lord proved him true. The king sent and released him, the ruler of peoples set him free. He made him master of his household, ruler over all he possessed, to instruct his princes as he pleased and teach his elders wisdom.

Then Israel entered Egypt; Jacob resided as a foreigner in the land of Ham. The Lord made His people very fruitful; He made them too numerous for their foes, whose hearts He turned to hate His people, to conspire against his servants. He sent Moses his servant, and Aaron, whom He had chosen. They performed His signs among them, His wonders in the land of Ham. He sent darkness and made the land dark — for had they not rebelled against his words. He turned their waters into blood, causing their fish to die. Their land teemed with frogs, which went up into the bedrooms of their rulers. He spoke, and there came swarms of flies, and gnats throughout their country. He turned their rain into hail, with lightning throughout their land; He struck down their vines and fig trees and shattered the trees of their country. He spoke, and the locusts came, grasshoppers without number; they ate up every green thing in their land, ate up the produce of their soil. Then He struck down all the firstborn in their land, the firstfruits of all their manhood. He brought out Israel, laden with silver and gold, and from among their tribes no one faltered. Egypt was glad when they left, because dread of Israel had fallen on them.

He spread out a cloud as a covering, and a fire to give light at night. They asked, and He brought them quail; He fed them well with the bread of heaven. He opened the rock, and water gushed out; it flowed like a river in the desert.

For He remembered His holy promise given to his servant Abraham. He brought out His people with rejoicing, His chosen ones with shouts of joy; He gave them the lands of the nations, and they fell heir to what others had toiled for — that they might keep His precepts and observe His laws.

Praise the Lord.

The psalmist goes to great lengths to remind the people of Israel about how good God had been to them from the times of Abraham though their entry into the Promised Land of Canaan under the leadership of Jacob.

He reminded Israel how He had blessed and protected them through their earliest years wondering from kingdom to kingdom. He shared with them about how He had used Joseph to display His sense of mercy and grace and compassion through providing his family with food to help them survive a famine, even through his brothers had turned him over to be a slave.

He went to great lengths to remind the people of Israel of how their ancestors had been under the oppressive reign of Pharaoh in Egypt and how His power was on full display through the curses He placed on Egypt who stubbornly refused to let His people go.

He then asked Israel to recall the journey their prior kin had made through the wilderness to reach the land God had promised. Along the way, they became hungry and thirsty and so God provided manna and quail and water produced from a rock, miracle after miracle to show that He indeed was God and would care for their needs.

And the culmination of what God had done for them was revealed when they inherited the very land that God had promised.

Yes, there is a story to be written by us all about what the Lord has done in our lives. We should all capture it and not keep it to ourselves but follow the lead of the psalmist and put in down in writing for others to grasp just how wide and long and high and deep is the love of the Lord for us all.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.

Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com