Text: Psalms 116:8-19
Memory text:
“I will remember the works of the Lord; Surely I will remember Your wonders of old.”
Psalms 77:11 NKJV
I once read the story about a man who was driving around in a crowded parking lot, trying to find a space. He finally got frustrated and said, “God if you will give me a parking space, I will attend church every Sunday.” Just then, a car backed out of the front row, and the frustrated man pulled into the open spot. He looked up and said, “Never mind, God. I just found one.”
How often we forget or take God’s goodness for granted or as a mere coincidence. Nothing is ever a ‘lucky break’. Nothing is a coincidence. It takes God to be at the right place and at the right time.
As of now, you have spent about 524,000 minutes out of 525,600 minutes this year! Do you know that the difference between life and death is not in days, hours, or minutes but in seconds? David said, “..I am only a step away from death!” (1 Sam 20:3).
Look at it again. He said that thoughts of wonderful deeds are constantly in his mind. Not scarcely or occasionally! Does this mean that David never had any problems or pains? If you forget anything, don’t forget the hell of trouble generated through his master, King Saul. He unjustly suffered in his hands. He made him a fugitive in his own country and forced him into exile. He was homeless, dwelling in caves and in the wilderness. Many times, he escaped death by a hair’s breadth! Even after his death, he was deprived of his God-given throne by some Saul’s adherents for another seven and a half years. What about the troubles from his own household? With all these, David never, for a moment, lose the thought of God’s goodness.
Is it not true today that we remember what we should forget and we forget what we should remember? We fill our thoughts with hurts, failures, disappointments, losses, delays, and downtimes, and then we forget the deliverances, provisions, open doors, healings, and successes.
Friends, as the year 2024 gradually ends, don’t take anything for granted, but fill your thoughts with the miracles that God has done and be super grateful. God is the reason why you are alive today and the reason why you have not lost all, even if you have lost anything. Hallelujah!
Prayer points
1. Father, forgive me in any way that I have taken Your goodness for granted and help me to remember in Jesus’ name.
2. Spend time on your own to thank Him for His wonderful works towards you and your loved ones.
Today’s declarations
1. I develop a grateful attitude by focusing on the good things that God has done instead of the negatives that I experienced.
2. I don’t take God’s goodness for granted, but I always acknowledge Him, as the God from whom all blessings flow.
Contact: pastor@thf.org.ng