Reflecting on God's Faithfulness: Lessons for 2025

"Remembering is exceedingly important, especially biblically. Biblically, in the Bible, in the Old Testament, there are so many things that challenge us. To remember. You have, you remember the rainbow in Genesis chapter 9? When God said, every time I see the rainbow, I'll remember that I will not flood the earth again. You have the rainbow. And so there's a rainbow. And you have the Passover lamb. Remember in Exodus chapter 12, where they were supposed to sacrifice a lamb. And so the plague wouldn't kill, the plague that killed the firstborn child, the firstborn son. Remember that? And that every year they were, it was perpetual sacrifice. That they were supposed to always remember." [00:34:07] (43 seconds)


"Let's look at this passage out of Deuteronomy chapter four. Be careful and watch yourself closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them fade from your heart as long as you live. Again in the book, be careful. Do not forget. The covenant that the Lord your God made with you. Again in Deuteronomy, be careful that you do not forget. One, the covenant. Two, the Lord who brought you up out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. Again in Deuteronomy, be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God. Again, he says, do not forget." [00:44:06] (44 seconds)


"Before you take possession of the promised land, Moses says, I have some things for you to reflect on. I have some things for you to reflect on. And Moses in chapters one, two, and three, what does he do? What does he do? He takes and remembers. He helps them remember some hard times, the challenging times, the times of rebellion, and also the beautiful times, the wonderful times. When they went to the mountain themselves and they heard the voice of God, he helps them remember the good times. And the hard times. That's what I want you to do. I want you not just to reflect upon the blessings, but reflect on the hardships and see how the Lord brought you out of those hardships and prepared you for this moment." [00:45:50] (56 seconds)


"First thing we notice, first thing is remember the instructions of the Lord. Remember the instructions and then do not add to them. Don't add. And so here are the instructions and, oh, look, here's some more instructions you need. Don't add to them. Don't make them harder to follow. Oh, and isn't that what Jesus wrestled with? When he entered the land of Israel, he gave them to him. When he entered the land, when he, we just celebrated his birth, when he walked the land and the Pharisees and the religious leaders, they, they, they wanted to constrict him to the laws that they added to. Do not add to them, nor subtract from them." [00:48:43] (39 seconds)


"for this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations who will hear about all the decrees and say surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people this is great we're gonna look at this in a second what other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the lord your god is near us when we pray to him and what other nation is so great as to have such a righteous decrees and laws as this body of laws that i am setting for you today oh there there's no other nation that does that oh church church there's some great truth in those couple of verses one when you put the laws and you put the things that you have learned and you instead of treasuring them and putting it on the box and hiding them you look at them you reflect on them and they change your life others will be attracted to the lord because of you see here's the truth are you ready for the truth honest truth people are watching you people are watching you here's a cartoon the cartoon says don't worry it's only marketers collecting personal data so that they can create more relevant advertising for us and that's what that is true while that is true that's not what i'm talking about that's not what i'm talking about i'm not talking about people snooping in you people following you i'm talking about the fact that if you you claim to be a Christian and you follow the ways of Jesus, then you know what? Then you know what? People will be watching. And when they watch and as they watch, will they be attracted to the Lord? Or will they think you're just an ordinary, regular person who happens to go to church on Sundays?" [00:51:22] (105 seconds)


"Verse six says, observe these carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding to whom? Whom? Those people who are not part of the covenant promise. Those people who are not part of the church, if you will. Those people who are not part of your community. They are watching you and you will show your wisdom and God's wisdom and God's understanding and your understanding of him by remembering and reflecting and obeying what he's told you to do. Ha, isn't that great? Number three. Number three, keep his activities fresh. Keep his activities fresh in your mind. That has been a theme today. What happened in January? What happened in February? What happened in March? Keep God's promises, keep his things close by your heart. Deuteronomy 9 through 14. I'm only going to read a couple of these verses. Look what it says. Only to be careful and you watch yourself closely so that you do not forget the things that your eyes have seen." [00:53:08] (69 seconds)


"And more importantly, so that you don't let them fade from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them. Do you catch that? Do you see that? Don't forget. And how do you forget? You let things fade. You let things fade. And how do you let things fade? You neglect it. You just put it in the sun. And pretty soon, it looks like that storm where you've just put the promises, you've put the answers that God has given you. You've put your story. Remember your story when you first became a Christian? Remember that story that the people that were around your life, when you first believed? How often have you told that story? Tell the stories so that they are always fresh in your mind. Keep His activity fresh in your mind." [00:54:18] (72 seconds)


"Don't forget what you've encountered. The things that you've seen and done. How has God worked in your life this last year? It says, remember the days you stood before the Lord. And so he brings up, he brings up a passage. Remember the day you stood before the Lord? You came near and you stood at the foot of the mountain with the blazing of heaven. And Moses was bringing up very specific things. That when God was going to, when the God of the universe was going to speak to the people, remember that day? Remember when God spoke to you? Remember the promise that he made to you? Remember the hope that he said he would give? Remember? He doesn't change. His word never changes. Think about and reflect upon those words, that moment." [00:58:08] (52 seconds)


"Until I do the things that I've heard, I haven't heard anything at all. Wow. Here, intertwined with obedience, intertwined with action, here. And so let's turn from the book of Deuteronomy into the book of Romans. The Apostle Paul is writing to a church in Rome. Filled with all the worldliness of Rome. And Paul is going to make some great points. And I'm leading us to what he, being a Jewish man, would be thinking when he writes these words. In Deuteronomy 10 .5, it says, Moses writes, this about the righteous, that the law, wait, about the righteousness that is the law. The person who does these things will live by them. The word is near to you. It is in your mouth and it is in your heart. That is the message concerning the faith that we proclaim." [01:02:52] (72 seconds)