In our family, we have a tradition for celebrating and remembering each family member’s birthday. On the birthday person’s big day, they get to decide on the menu, including their favorite dessert, and be honored at a special dinner with the entire family. I always enjoy hearing their favorite meal choices and remembering the day of their birth.
Many blessings come along in our lives like the birth of a child. I have kept a “Blessings Journal” for years and I love looking back over its pages and remembering. I want to make sure I do not forget. As David Jeremiah states in his book, Overcomer, “Life moves on, and we can forget our own successes and triumphs, as well as those who aided us. When you write down what God has done for you in the past, you are preparing yourself to believe Him in the future!” With confidence in His faithfulness, we can meet the many challenges and problems that come our way with the hope and power of the Lord. Psalm 145:4-7, reminds us how important it is to share these memories of God’s mighty works with our children and grandchildren of the next generation.
One generation shall praise Your works to another,
And shall declare Your mighty acts.
I will meditate on the glorious splendor of Your majesty
And on Your wondrous works.
Men shall speak of the might of Your awesome acts,
And I will declare Your greatness
They shall utter the memory of Your great goodness
And shall sing of Your righteousness.
Why is it important to remember all God’s blessings?
- Our remembering honors and glorifies Him. Isaiah instructed us to remember the things that God has done.
“Remember the former things of old, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me” (Isaiah 46:9-10).
- We are comforted and given hope as we remember how faithful He is.
” For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope” (Romans 15:4).
“Your faithfulness continues from generation to generation; You have established the earth, and it stands [securely]” (Psalms 119:90 AMP).
- We remember that God is good and that He is always good through our trials and blessings.
“Give thanks to the Lord Almighty, for the Lord is good; his love endures forever” (Jeremiah 33:11).
- We review our Lord and Savior’s unchanging nature. He is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow.
“Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8).
“To the only God our Savior, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord before all time, and now, and for all eternity. Amen.” (Jude 1:25, Berean Study Bible).
In The God We May Not Know, David Jeremiah explains, “Our Lord Jesus–God the Son–possesses the same wisdom, grace, benevolence, compassion, power, glory, and attitude He did when He walked the earth.”
What is the danger of not remembering all of God’s blessings?
- Forgetting all that God has done for us in the past leads to our failing to seek His guidance and counsel in the present.
“Our fathers in Egypt did not understand Your wonders; they did not remember the multitude of Your mercies, but rebelled by the sea—the Red Sea. They soon forgot His works; they did not wait for His counsel” (Psalm 106:7, 13, NKJV).
- Forgetting causes us to take our eyes off Him and off His power and love. We forget we can trust God and find courage in Him as David did when he fought Goliath.
“The LORD, who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine” (1 Samuel 17:34-37).
Dear Holy Father, as I remember all the wonderful blessings of my life, I praise You and thank You for Your goodness and faithfulness. ~ Be exalted, Lord, in Your strength; I will sing and praise Your power. ~ To You, O [God] my Strength, I will sing praises; for You, God, are my stronghold [my protector, my refuge, my high tower], the God who shows me [steadfast] lovingkindness. Never let me forget, ~ my life and my times are in Your hand. You are always caring for me. You are always near.
I pray this in Your Holy Name, dear Jesus. Amen.
Psalm 21:13, Psalm 59:17 AMP, Psalm 31:15
“Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the LORD” (Psalm 31:24).
