Romans 8:32-39

We all experience hardship, and trials can shake us unless we cling to truth. Let me share three assurances to remember when troublesome circumstances arise.

First, God will always meet our needs. This doesn’t mean He provides everything we want. Instead, the Lord will bless us with all that is necessary to fulfill His purpose for our lives. His goal is to sanctify us, not simply to satisfy each immediate desire.

Second, we’re never alone. God promised to be with us always (Heb. 13:5). Loneliness often accompanies hardship, so we may feel deserted or opposed by family and friends. But our Father has sent His Spirit to be with us and in us, until the day He brings us to heaven (John 14:16-17). He is all we need–our advocate, guide, helper, and comforter. Recognizing His intimate presence gives us confidence in the midst of trials.

Third, God’s love is eternal. Regardless of our circumstances or poor decisions, His care is unconditional–even when He reprimands us. Loving parents allow disobedient children to experience the consequences of wrong choices; they recognize the benefit of learning from mistakes. Of course, there are also times when we are negatively affected by others’ wrong actions. Even then, God is sovereign and allows only what will bring good in His followers’ lives.

In difficult times, we can remember that God will meet all of our needs, is always with us, and loves us forever. Though Jesus said we would face troubles in this life, He offered encouragement: The ultimate victory is His. So keep in mind that trials are fleeting, whereas our Father’s love is forever.

The word “souvenir” comes from the French word meaning “to remember.” Browsing through crowded airport souvenir shops or overstuffed booths of t-shirts in tourist-likely places, it is hard to remember the almost romantic origins of the word. A fuzzy magnet bearing the words of my latest destination may serve to remind me of a another land, but I still feel like I’ve sold myself out as the prototypical, easily-targeted, junk-buying tourist any time I leave a souvenir shop receipt in hand.

Creators of a souvenir shop in Buchenwald, Germany, claim, though controversially, to be bearing the less-materialistic origins of the word. The shop opened in time for the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the Buchenwald concentration camp where an estimated 56,000 people were murdered at the hands of the Nazis. Their souvenirs range from plaques embedded with stones from the camp to sprigs taken from the surrounding forest to be planted elsewhere. Moneymaking was never the point, the founders maintain; the project has always been about building bridges of memory, actively confronting history, and hoping to extend the somber lessons of the Holocaust to future generations.(1) From outrage to appreciation, reactions have been understandably varied. My own are admittedly mixed. Can materialism be set aside in a souvenir shop? Can history only be “actively confronted” with an object in hand? More notably, how do we best go about the vital act of remembering?

I remember looking at the gold cross around my neck differently after spending some time in the tourist-ready sites of Jerusalem. Amid the constant sounds of bartering beside some of the holiest places of history, the image of Jesus turning over the moneychangers’ tables was easy to bear in mind. But it was my own tables that were being overturned. Remembering had become for me an action I had taken as lightly as the delicate cross I put on each day.

A great amount of Christian Scripture calls the world to the act of remembering: remembering the story we are a part of, the moments God has acted mightily, the times humanity has learned in tears. “Remember this,” God uttered in history, “Fix it in mind, take it to heart, you rebels.  Remember the former things, those of long ago; I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me. I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come.”(2) The story of faith is one that requires memory. God has moved; God is moving. Remember.

But how?

“Actively,” the answer seems to come, and with great weight, for it is possible to forget. “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.  These words that I command you today shall be on your heart.Teach them diligently to your children, talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise.  Bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.  Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”(3) Memory plays a vital role in the story God continues to tell.

On the night he was betrayed, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it. “Remember me,” he asked, “as often as you do this.” Whether we are holding again the bread that tells of his broken body, clasping again the chained cross that remembers the death of God, or reconsidering this story of God coming near, as often as we do this, let us remember.

Jill Carattini is managing editor of A Slice of Infinity at Ravi Zacharias International Ministries in Atlanta, Georgia.

(1) Andreas Tzortzis, “At the Gift Shop: Souvenirs of Buchenwald,” The New York Times (September 15, 2004).

(2) Isaiah 46:8-10a.

(3) Deuteronomy 6:4-9.

 Morning “No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper.” / Isaiah 54:17

 This day is notable in English history for two great deliverances wrought by

God for us. On this day the plot of the Papists to destroy our Houses of

Parliament was discovered, 1605.

 “While for our princes they prepare

 In caverns deep a burning snare,

 He shot from heaven a piercing ray,

 And the dark treachery brought to day.”

 And secondly–today is the anniversary of the landing of King William III, at

Torbay, by which the hope of Popish ascendancy was quashed, and religious

liberty was secured, 1688.

 This day ought to be celebrated, not by the saturnalia of striplings, but by

the songs of saints. Our Puritan forefathers most devoutly made it a special

time of thanksgiving. There is extant a record of the annual sermons preached

by Matthew Henry on this day. Our Protestant feeling, and our love of liberty,

should make us regard its anniversary with holy gratitude. Let our hearts and

lips exclaim, “We have heard with our ears, and our fathers have told us the

wondrous things which thou didst in their day, and in the old time before

them.” Thou hast made this nation the home of the gospel; and when the foe has

risen against her, thou hast shielded her. Help us to offer repeated songs for

repeated deliverances. Grant us more and more a hatred of Antichrist, and

hasten on the day of her entire extinction. Till then and ever, we believe the

promise, “No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper.” Should it not

be laid upon the heart of every lover of the gospel of Jesus on this day to

plead for the overturning of false doctrines and the extension of divine

truth? Would it not be well to search our own hearts, and turn out any of the

Popish lumber of self-righteousness which may lie concealed therein?

 

Evening “Be thankful unto him, and bless his name.” / Psalm 100:4

 Our Lord would have all his people rich in high and happy thoughts concerning

his blessed person. Jesus is not content that his brethren should think meanly

of him; it is his pleasure that his espoused ones should be delighted with his

beauty. We are not to regard him as a bare necessary, like to bread and water,

but as a luxurious delicacy, as a rare and ravishing delight. To this end he

has revealed himself as the “pearl of great price” in its peerless beauty, as

the “bundle of myrrh” in its refreshing fragrance, as the “rose of Sharon” in

its lasting perfume, as the “lily” in its spotless purity.

 As a help to high thoughts of Christ, remember the estimation that Christ is

had in beyond the skies, where things are measured by the right standard.

Think how God esteems the Only Begotten, his unspeakable gift to us. Consider

what the angels think of him, as they count it their highest honour to veil

their faces at his feet. Consider what the blood-washed think of him, as day

without night they sing his well deserved praises. High thoughts of Christ

will enable us to act consistently with our relations towards him. The more

loftily we see Christ enthroned, and the more lowly we are when bowing before

the foot of the throne, the more truly shall we be prepared to act our part

towards him. Our Lord Jesus desires us to think well of him, that we may

submit cheerfully to his authority. High thoughts of him increase our love.

Love and esteem go together. Therefore, believer, think much of your Master’s

excellencies. Study him in his primeval glory, before he took upon himself

your nature! Think of the mighty love which drew him from his throne to die

upon the cross! Admire him as he conquers all the powers of hell! See him

risen, crowned, glorified! Bow before him as the Wonderful, the Counsellor,

the mighty God, for only thus will your love to him be what it should.

Give thanks to him; bless his name!   Psalm 100:4

 Our Lord would have all His people rich in high and happy thoughts concerning His blessed person. Jesus is not content that His brethren should think poorly of Him; it is His pleasure that His people should be delighted with His beauty. We are not to regard Him as a bare necessity, like bread and water, but as a luxurious delicacy, as a rare and ravishing delight. To this end He has revealed Himself as the “pearl of great price” in its peerless beauty, as the “bundle of myrrh”1 in its refreshing fragrance, as the “rose of Sharon” in its lasting perfume, as the “lily” in its spotless purity.

As a help to high thoughts of Christ, remember the estimation that Christ has beyond the skies, where things are measured by the right standard. Think how God esteems the Only Begotten, His unspeakable gift to us. Consider what the angels think of Him, as they count it their highest honor to veil their faces at His feet. Consider what the blood-washed think of Him, as day without night they sing His well-deserved praises. High thoughts of Christ will enable us to act consistently in our relationship with Him. The more loftily we see Christ enthroned, and the more lowly we are when bowing before the foot of the throne, the more truly shall we be prepared to act our part toward Him.

Our Lord Jesus desires us to think well of Him, that we may submit cheerfully to His authority. High thoughts of Him increase our love. Love and esteem go together. Therefore, believer, think much of your Master’s excellencies. Study Him in His pre-incarnate glory, before He took upon Himself your nature! Think of the mighty love that drew Him from His throne to die upon the cross! Admire Him as He conquers all the powers of hell! See Him risen, crowned, glorified! Bow before Him as the Wonderful, the Counselor, the Mighty God, for only in this way will your love for Him be what it should.

1Song of Solomon 1:13, KJV

Family Reading Plan Hosea 11 Psalm 134