2024's Three R's
Notes
Transcript
Handout
What are we to remember?
What are we to remember?
How are we to reflect?
How are we to reflect?
Where do we find renewal?
Where do we find renewal?
Psalm 77:1-3.
1 I cry aloud to God, aloud to God, and he will hear me.
2 In the day of my trouble I seek the Lord; in the night my hand is stretched out without wearying; my soul refuses to be comforted.
3 When I remember God, I moan; when I meditate, my spirit faints. Selah
What are we to remember?
What are we to remember?
We are to remember God. Yet how we remember God is important.
We are to remember God. Yet how we remember God is important.
Is the Psalmist remembering God correctly?
Is the Psalmist remembering God correctly?
Psalm 77:4-9.
4 You hold my eyelids open; I am so troubled that I cannot speak.
5 I consider the days of old, the years long ago.
6 I said, “Let me remember my song in the night; let me meditate in my heart.” Then my spirit made a diligent search:
7 “Will the Lord spurn forever, and never again be favorable?
8 Has his steadfast love forever ceased? Are his promises at an end for all time?
9 Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has he in anger shut up his compassion?” Selah
We all go through seasons of feeling like we are forgotten. We forget God’s reality.
We all go through seasons of feeling like we are forgotten. We forget God’s reality.
Are verses 4-9 the reality that God has for us?
Are verses 4-9 the reality that God has for us?
How do we find God’s reality for us?
How do we find God’s reality for us?
Psalm 77:10-15.
10 Then I said, “I will appeal to this, to the years of the right hand of the Most High.”
11 I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your wonders of old.
12 I will ponder all your work, and meditate on your mighty deeds.
13 Your way, O God, is holy. What god is great like our God?
14 You are the God who works wonders; you have made known your might among the peoples.
15 You with your arm redeemed your people, the children of Jacob and Joseph. Selah
Exodus 15:11-13.
11 “Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?
12 You stretched out your right hand; the earth swallowed them.
13 “You have led in your steadfast love the people whom you have redeemed; you have guided them by your strength to your holy abode.
The Psalmist shows us how. It is by remembering correctly what God has done. We need to accept God’s reality. Tozer writes, “… God is real. He is real in the absolute and final sense that nothing else is. All other reality is contingent upon His. The great Reality is God, the Author of that lower and dependent reality which makes up the sum of created things, including ourselves. God has objective existence independent of and apart from any notions which we may have concerning Him. The worshiping heart does not create its Object. It finds Him here when it wakes from its mortal slumber in the morning of its regeneration.
A. W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God (Camp Hill, PA: WingSpread, 2006), 52–53.
Our reality does not come from our circumstances, or how our circumstances shape how we are feeling. Our reality comes from God, namely his shown work in the cross, made personal to us through events in our lives.
Our reality does not come from our circumstances, or how our circumstances shape how we are feeling. Our reality comes from God, namely his shown work in the cross, made personal to us through events in our lives.
What has God done in 2023?
What has God done in 2023?
What did he do before that?
What did he do before that?
Can you call them to mind?
Can you call them to mind?
When we call them to mind, we reflect on them. In Psalm 77:12 it says “I will ponder all your work, and meditate on your mighty deeds.”
When we call them to mind, we reflect on them. In Psalm 77:12 it says “I will ponder all your work, and meditate on your mighty deeds.”
We choose to reflect on what God has done.
We choose to reflect on what God has done.
This brings us into God’s reality; out of our delusion and into his gracious presence where we find true renewal.
This brings us into God’s reality; out of our delusion and into his gracious presence where we find true renewal.
Psalm 77:16-20.
16 When the waters saw you, O God, when the waters saw you, they were afraid; indeed, the deep trembled.
17 The clouds poured out water; the skies gave forth thunder; your arrows flashed on every side.
18 The crash of your thunder was in the whirlwind; your lightnings lighted up the world; the earth trembled and shook.
19 Your way was through the sea, your path through the great waters; yet your footprints were unseen.
20 You led your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.
We find renewal amidst the stormy waters of chaos. Why? Because God’s reality is to work this chaos for my eternal good and his glory.
We find renewal amidst the stormy waters of chaos. Why? Because God’s reality is to work this chaos for my eternal good and his glory.
The chaos waters of the Red Sea were not too great for God. The chaos waters of your life are not too great for him either. He worked through them in 2023, and he will continue to work through them in 2024.
The chaos waters of the Red Sea were not too great for God. The chaos waters of your life are not too great for him either. He worked through them in 2023, and he will continue to work through them in 2024.
Will you join him in his reality, in his place of renewal?
Will you join him in his reality, in his place of renewal?
We find renewal amidst the thunderstorms of life, trusting he is working even though we don’t see it. We don’t see his footsteps, yet he worked in 2023, he is working now, and he will be working in 2024.
We find renewal amidst the thunderstorms of life, trusting he is working even though we don’t see it. We don’t see his footsteps, yet he worked in 2023, he is working now, and he will be working in 2024.
The Weaver’s Poem illustrates God’s reality well.
The Weaver’s Poem illustrates God’s reality well.
My life is but a weaving
Between my God and me.
I cannot choose the colors
He weaveth steadily.
My life is but a weaving
Between my God and me.
I cannot choose the colors
He weaveth steadily.
Oft’ times He weaveth sorrow;
And I in foolish pride
Forget He sees the upper
And I the underside.
Oft’ times He weaveth sorrow;
And I in foolish pride
Forget He sees the upper
And I the underside.
Not ’til the loom is silent
And the shuttles cease to fly
Will God unroll the canvas
And reveal the reason why.
Not ’til the loom is silent
And the shuttles cease to fly
Will God unroll the canvas
And reveal the reason why.
The dark threads are as needful
In the weaver’s skillful hand
As the threads of gold and silver
In the pattern He has planned
The dark threads are as needful
In the weaver’s skillful hand
As the threads of gold and silver
In the pattern He has planned
He knows, He loves, He cares;
Nothing this truth can dim.
He gives the very best to those
Who leave the choice to Him.
He knows, He loves, He cares;
Nothing this truth can dim.
He gives the very best to those
Who leave the choice to Him.
We find renewal when we leave the choice to him. God, through his Word, empowered by the Spirit, is leading each of us. Will we follow him and find renewal in our lives?
We find renewal when we leave the choice to him. God, through his Word, empowered by the Spirit, is leading each of us. Will we follow him and find renewal in our lives?
The Three R’s for 2023 and 2024 are Remember, Reflect and Renewal.
The Three R’s for 2023 and 2024 are Remember, Reflect and Renewal.
May we take these three words and apply them in the coming year.
May we take these three words and apply them in the coming year.
We are to remember God, reflect on God, and be renewed by God.
We are to remember God, reflect on God, and be renewed by God.