“Are You Satisfied With Where You Are Today Spiritually??”

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“Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure:

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Introduction to the Lesson:

In the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy 6:5-25, we read these words spoken by God through His servant Moses to the people whom He has chosen to be His own, stating, “And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates. And it shall be, when the LORD thy God shall have brought thee into the land which he sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give thee great and goodly cities, which thou buildedst not, And houses full of all good things, which thou filledst not, and wells digged, which thou diggedst not, vineyards and olive trees, which thou plantedst not; when thou shalt have eaten and be full; Then beware lest thou forget the LORD, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name. Ye shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the people which are round about you; (For the LORD thy God is a jealous God among you) lest the anger of the LORD thy God be kindled against thee, and destroy thee from off the face of the earth. Ye shall not tempt the LORD your God, as ye tempted him in Massah. Ye shall diligently keep the commandments of the LORD your God, and his testimonies, and his statutes, which he hath commanded thee. And thou shalt do that which is right and good in the sight of the LORD: that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest go in and possess the good land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, To cast out all thine enemies from before thee, as the LORD hath spoken. And when thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, What mean the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgments, which the LORD our God hath commanded you? Then thou shalt say unto thy son, We were Pharaoh's bondmen in Egypt; and the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand: And the LORD shewed signs and wonders, great and sore, upon Egypt, upon Pharaoh, and upon all his household, before our eyes: And he brought us out from thence, that he might bring us in, to give us the land which he sware unto our fathers. And the LORD commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the LORD our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as it is at this day. And it shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments before the LORD our God, as he hath commanded us.”

In this passage of Scripture, we can see how that God desired that His chosen people would never forget all that He had done for them and had promised to do for them once they entered into that land of promise which God had given unto them!

But the sad truth is, God knew the hearts of His people, and he knew how prone they were, even as are you and I still are today, to forget the Lord God who has been so good to them and to us through the years!

When the children of Israel suffered in anguish and despair in Pharaoh’s bondage, it was God who heard their cry and who brought them out of bondage with a great and mighty hand!

When they hungered in the wilderness and thirsted in the desert, it was God who gave them food to fill their bellies and cool, refreshing water to quench their parched tongues!

When the enemies of God attempted to overtake them, it was God who fought their battles and who brought His chosen people out of the hand of certain defeat had they attempted to fight their own battle instead of trusting God!

And when they wandered in the cold darkness of the desert nights and as they trudged forward through the scorching heat of the hot desert day, it was the God of their salvation and deliverance who overshadowed and led them through the night with the warm and luminous light of His pillar of fire by night and His ever present pillar of cloud which shaded their path and kept them cool as they travelled in the bright desert sun that seemed to scorch all that was in their path!

When they had nothing of their own and had no place to go, it was God who supplied all their needs and gave them houses, and vineyards all in a land flowing with milk and honey!

And God’s desire was that they would never forget all that he had done for them and that they would enter that promised land as a radiant testimony of the wonderful grace and mercy of Almighty God, the Creator and Redeemer of all men!

And is this not too what God desires for each of us today, to be grateful and appreciative of all God has done for us as His dear children who have been bought by the precious blood of God’s sinless Lamb and redeemed and made whole and have been made to sit in Heavenly places so that in the ages to come, He might shew forth the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus?

But oh, how quickly, you and I are so prone to forget all that God has done for us, even as were the children of Israel in their day!

And the truth is, were it not for the precious Holy Spirit of God who dwells within the heart and soul of every born again child of God, and tenderly prods us to recall God’s great hand of blessing upon our lives and to not forget to give God the honour that he deserves for His mighty Hand of blessing being upon us, each of us today might be well of the same pathway to forgetfulness even as were the children of Israel after all God had done for them!

But as we consider this thought in the light of this lesson series entitled, ‘Zealous for Truth’, and we find ourselves standing on the very edge of forgetfulness with God, may we, as God’s dear children, be ever ready and willing to have the memories of God’s hand of blessing stirred within our hearts and minds so that we might be ever more ready to trust the Lord and to follow His every desire and intent for our lives while living in this present evil world!

The words to the song entitled, “Have Thine Own Way, Lord”, came to my mind and helped me to remember the words of the Apostle Paul found in I Corinthians 6:19-20 which say, “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.”

Listen to the words of this wonderful song as we look at the lesson today which is entitled, ‘Stirring Up Your Memory’…

Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!Thou art the Potter, I am the clay.Mold me and make me after Thy will,While I am waiting, yielded and still.Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!Search me and try me, Master, today!Whiter than snow, Lord, wash me just now,As in Thy presence humbly I bow.Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!Wounded and weary, help me I pray!Power, all power, surely is Thine!Touch me and heal me, Saviour divine!Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!Hold o'er my being absolute sway!Fill with Thy Spirit till all shall seeChrist only, always, living in me!As these words rushed through my mind, they spoke to my heart, and reminded me of the wonderful privilege that I have, as a born again child of God, to allow the Truth of the Word of God to so permeate my being as to cause me never to forget His blessings upon my life so that I might truly desire His will for my life instead of my own!Dear child of God, if you and I ever choose to forget what God has done for us, then we will soon become stagnant in our love for God and we will soon forfeit the blessing of our service unto our King of kings and Lord of lords!In our lesson today, the Apostle Peter writes to the Christian saints of his day so as to stir up their physical and spiritual memory of exactly what all God had done for them so they could forever experience the true JOY of their salvation as they chose to gladly serve the Lord Jesus Christ!May you and I be willing to do the same thing today!Oh, may you allow the Lord God to stir up your memory today as we look into this lesson entitled “Stirring Up Your Memory!”

Lesson: “Stirring Up Your Memory”

I : The Purpose of Character Development is seen here in II Peter 1:8-11

    A: Life of Fruitfulness
        - II Peter 1:5-7, 8-11, Proverbs 29:18
        - In verse 8, Peter identifies two outcomes for abounding in these character
          qualities…
            1 – Believers are not ineffective in their work for Christ!
            2 – Believers will not become unproductive in their work for the Lord!
                · Galatians 5:22-25

B: Certainty of Salvation in the Lord
      - II Peter 1:9-10, II Corinthians 4:3-4, John 3:16, I Peter 1:13-16, I Peter 1:3-5,
        I Corinthians 9:27

C –God’s plan for our Abundant Entrance into His Kingdom…
    - II Peter 1:11


II : The Repetition of the Facts
    - II Peter 1:12-14, John 21:1-3

    A: Peter’s Intent
        - II Peter 1:12-13

    B- The Occasion given by God for our doing this
        - II Peter 1:13-14


CONCLUSION…

Do you realize how you should be living and growing for Christ today??

Oh that today, our recollection of all that God has done for us and of what He still wants to do through us, would be stirred within our hearts and minds, if only we would yield our will to His will!

Now let me ask you today…child of God, are you satisfied where you are spiritually today?

I never want to be satisfied…I want to be continually growing stronger in the Word of God so that I can strengthen the brethren and be found telling the lost world around me that Jesus saves…Jesus saves!

Oh that today, each of us, as Christians, would have our memory stirred so that our living serves the One who has saved us!

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This Week's Daily Bible Reading
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Ecclesiastes chapter 7
Ecclesiastes chapter 8
Ecclesiastes chapter 9

August 20
Read and Listen To:
Ecclesiastes chapter 10
Ecclesiastes chapter 11
Ecclesiastes chapter 12
Song of Solomon chapter 1

August 21
Read and Listen To:
Song of Solomon chapter 2
Song of Solomon chapter 3
Matthew chapter 1
Matthew chapter 2