Memories

Memories
What does God remember?
We generally emphasize what God forgets; or better said; what He chooses to forget. Do we stop and think what it is that He remembers about us? We travel these years, however many we have, clinging to memories that we cherish so that we can visit backwards in time and think on something or someone that touched us moved us emotionally. We think back and smile and our hearts are refreshed when we think of the little boy in the fighter pilot jacket or little girl stockings with the frilly behind that constantly need to be adjusted. We reminisce at times because we long for those days or maybe we reflect back when we face the reality that half of our lives have passed us by.
The Father remembers His promises to His people: In Psalm 105.8 the psalmist tells us that the Father remembers His covenant forever, even for a thousands generations. When we are tempted to say God has not provided, we must ask ourselves; “Is it what He has promised?”. How many times have I been guilty of blaming God or failing to believe because of my circumstances when my circumstance is caused by the effects of believing in what the Father has not promised or provided? When we ask; “Are we living in the promise?”, that is a relevant question. If we find that we are not living in what was promised then many of our questions answer themselves.
When we do to others what we see Him doing with us.
When relationships become difficult and seem to be out of control or seem to be irreparable, then we must look to see if these relationships are being lived out in what God remembers; His covenant. God promises to bless forgiveness, humility, obedience and yes even sacrifice. Is this evident in our relationships? If not we shouldn’t expect the Father to nourish that relationship, the Father is not an enabler of what is not pleasing to Him, but is willing to bring whatever is submitted to Him into the promise of His remembrance.
It isn’t enough to wish for good things to happen in our relationships with one another. When our relationships are building what we want to forget, then they are not a reflection of the Father’s heart. We should be looking towards forgetting what is not reflective of the Father and pursue what is worthy of remembrance.
God doesn’t want us to have premarital sex because sex is bad. God doesn’t want us to have premarital sex because it isn’t worthy of remembrance, it doesn’t reflect commitment that Christ has for his bride; and building something that is cherished. God doesn’t want us to forgive because nothing bad happens to us, because it does. God wants us to forgive because it isn’t worth remembering, it doesn’t reflect something that is to be cherished.
Not building memories and failing to forgive is tragic and sinful.
The word tells us that the Father is faithful and just in forgiving our sin; why? He doesn’t want to remember, he doesn’t desire to build His memories on what has hurt us or our relationship with Him. Like an earthly Father he wants to put away in the deepest places what has separated us from memories that are worthwhile, that will last forever, that reflect the covenant of the Father.
We must be those that love to cling to memories that are worthy. Just as the older saint who just can’t seem to let go of those things from the past our Father clings to the memories we have built with Him. The grandmother who runs her hand over photographs from the past or the father who touches that item his son cherished when he was a young boy illustrate for us I believe what our father desires. We must forsake what has brought bad memories in our lives and understand that they were not the Father’s intention. We must begin to build what He wants to remember and live out our lives building memories that are His intention.
If you cannot forgive, you cannot forget and if you cannot forget you cannot move forward and live out what is worthy of remembrance. Something very tragic happens when we allow this: You can make the mistake of attributing your inability to forgive and forget with Our Fathers ability to do the same. Your desire for someone else to feel your pain means you view God the same way; that He wants you to suffer for what you’ve done and nothing is further from the truth. If you see God as cruel, you are cruel. If you see God as not caring, then you don’t care. You forgive because it offers the possibility of restoration, you forget because you choose to; that is what the Jesus has made possible and modeled for us.
How tragic would it be for you to have your memories thrown away because none of them are cherished? Hanging onto what plagues you and then in the end knowing that it isn’t what you should have held so tightly, that it should have been forgotten and something else should have been built and cherished.
God wants to remember us for what is memorable, not what sin has caused. He wants to disregard what is not worthy of remembering and we should strive to do the same. In short, he wants to remember us as part of what He has promised. We must do the same if we want a life worth living; giving to God what is forgettable and wasn’t what He intended. Living a life that builds memories for eternity, looking backwards on our lives as lives consecrated and as a part of a covenant that lasts forever. If you want God to remember you, you must be willing to forgive and forget what He is willing to forgive and forget.
Begin to build what is memorable to God by taking the first step of releasing what He wants to forget. Remove yourself from the burden and influence of what has separated you from God and rejoin what was intended to begin with. Jesus provided the way and made us the promise (1 John 1.9).

Call out to Him to remember you and give to Him what should be forgotten.
Our father is always willing to take from us what we should be willing to give up. I say should be willing to give up, because many times it just seems to hard. We have been hurt or we have hurt someone else and we do not feel that we have been made to feel better about it and we just will not let it go.
There should be a “calling out”. David cried out repeatedly because he needed to. David was arrogant at times but he was not arrogant enough to think God did not hear him and wanted to put his sin away. Arrogant seems to be an odd word here, but think about it. How arrogant do you have to be to think that you do not have to let go of the sin that plagues you even though Jesus had to die for it. When you say you don’t have to call out to God and let Him hear you, then you are your own God and your pride is evident.
David knew some very important truths; God never forgot him and was available to mend, to forgive, to rebuild what was torn apart. David knew that God wanted to build on their relationship something that could not be forgotten. David knew that God wanted him to be a representation of who the Father was to all those around him that he was accountable for and he knew what do when he was no longer that representation: He cried out to God and always remembered the “He remembers his covenant forever”.

We are a forgiven people; at least the possibility is there.
The Father is forgetful because he chooses to be.
Building memories in the promise of the Father’s intentions is freedom.
Our Father wants to remember us.