SPIRITUAL AMNESIA
DAY 24: It is a burden to have a memory as bad as mine. I can't remember names. I forget things I have said and done. I misplace my keys daily. I won't even go into the time I forgot to put on shoes before I left the house and arrived at a parent-teacher conference in my slippers. For the most part, my lapses are more annoying than anything, but occasionally they are costly. Like when I forgot that I signed up to take
a meal to a family with a new baby. I hope that had left overs,
otherwise on my assigned night they went hungry.
But nothing is more costly than spiritual forgetfulness. I would even go so far as to call it amnesia. Spiritual Amnesia is when I completely forget the past faithfulness of God in my life in the face a difficult circumstance. I don't know if it is the stress, or the fear, or perhaps my focus being consumed by my immediate crisis, but at such times when I need it the most, I can forget how faithful God has been.
Just today, as I faced a crisis of uncertainty, I almost let myself slip into another attack of spiritual amnesia. BUT GOD.... But God reached out His hand to me today as I met Him in His word and offered the cure for my forgetfulness; in a word - REMEMBER.
In Matthew 15 and 16 Jesus was continuing what He had been doing: traveling around and teaching people about the Kingdom of Heaven. His disciples were almost always in tow to see him heal, teach and perform miracles. Among them had been the spectacular day He took a small boy's lunch of just two loaves of bread and five fish and fed thousands of people. Unforgettable you'd think.
On this day, by the Sea of Galilee he was doing more of the same. The sick and dying were brought to him and he "healed them all." He taught them life giving truths. Then once again, he did the impossible: he fed thousands with just a few loaves of bread and fish. But not before the disciples proved that spiritual amnesia is as common as a cold. Instead of expecting great things from Him when Jesus said He wanted to feed the crowd, the disciples acted as if they had never seen Him do anything like that before.
33 The disciples replied, “Where would we get enough food here in the wilderness for such a huge crowd?”
SOMEONE CALL A DOCTOR!! The disciples have amnesia! It seems ridiculous, but they were sincerely baffled by how to handle the situation - a situation they had seen Jesus handle before. Their forgetfulness did not hinder Jesus. He called for what was on hand and then He multiplied it miraculously to meet the need and then some.
37 They all ate as much as they wanted. Afterward, the disciples picked up seven large baskets of leftover food. 38 There were 4,000 men who were fed that day, in addition to all the women and children. 39 Then Jesus sent the people home...
Twice the disciples witnessed an unforgettable miracle and yet once again we will see their memory affliction render them incapacitated, at least spiritually. On the move again, and crossing the lake, Jesus gave them a warning about watching out for false teaching that was like yeast that can spread. The disciples though were unable to understand Jesus because they were preoccupied with a problem: they had crossed the lake without bringing any food for themselves. More than preoccupied, they had moved to worry as they focused only on their problem.
Matthew 16: 7 At this they began to argue with each other because they hadn’t brought any bread. 8 Jesus knew what they were saying, so he said, “You have so little faith! Why are you arguing with each other about having no bread? 9 Don’t you understand even yet? Don’t you remember the 5,000 I fed with five loaves, and the baskets of leftovers you picked up? 10 Don't you remember the 4,000 I fed with seven loaves, and the large baskets of leftovers you picked up?
Forgetting what God has done in the past leaves the door wide open to fear and worry. So what is the cure for this spiritual amnesia? REMEMBER. Remember specifically what God has done before to meet my needs. Such remembering will grow my "little faith" into a strong faith that trusts God to meet my needs in the future as He has done in the past.
I will admit that when I read this today I was suffering from Spiritual Amnesia... Even worse, I was feeling the symptom of fear. Instead of remembering all the miracles I have witnessed God do in my life, and specifically in situations like I am facing today, I only looked at my place of need. The result has been anxiety, worry and fear. But on the very day I needed a cure I found it in God's Word. And so I sat down and started to REMEMBER.
One by one I started naming all the times I have seen God take care of things that were out of my control. As I saw my list grow longer and longer, I felt my faith grow bigger and bigger. Suddenly I realized my fear had gotten smaller and smaller. It seems that REMEMBERING God's faithfulness in the past is an inoculation against fear now.
Today, more than any day, I needed to hear God's voice - and I did. What I heard changed everything!
WHAT DO YOU NEED TO REMEMBER?
Day 24 of 365 Bible in a Year: Read a little or a lot.
Genesis 48
Genesis 49
Matthew 15:29-39
Matthew 16:1-12
Psalm 20:1-9
Proverbs 4:20-27
But nothing is more costly than spiritual forgetfulness. I would even go so far as to call it amnesia. Spiritual Amnesia is when I completely forget the past faithfulness of God in my life in the face a difficult circumstance. I don't know if it is the stress, or the fear, or perhaps my focus being consumed by my immediate crisis, but at such times when I need it the most, I can forget how faithful God has been.
Just today, as I faced a crisis of uncertainty, I almost let myself slip into another attack of spiritual amnesia. BUT GOD.... But God reached out His hand to me today as I met Him in His word and offered the cure for my forgetfulness; in a word - REMEMBER.In Matthew 15 and 16 Jesus was continuing what He had been doing: traveling around and teaching people about the Kingdom of Heaven. His disciples were almost always in tow to see him heal, teach and perform miracles. Among them had been the spectacular day He took a small boy's lunch of just two loaves of bread and five fish and fed thousands of people. Unforgettable you'd think.
On this day, by the Sea of Galilee he was doing more of the same. The sick and dying were brought to him and he "healed them all." He taught them life giving truths. Then once again, he did the impossible: he fed thousands with just a few loaves of bread and fish. But not before the disciples proved that spiritual amnesia is as common as a cold. Instead of expecting great things from Him when Jesus said He wanted to feed the crowd, the disciples acted as if they had never seen Him do anything like that before.
33 The disciples replied, “Where would we get enough food here in the wilderness for such a huge crowd?”
SOMEONE CALL A DOCTOR!! The disciples have amnesia! It seems ridiculous, but they were sincerely baffled by how to handle the situation - a situation they had seen Jesus handle before. Their forgetfulness did not hinder Jesus. He called for what was on hand and then He multiplied it miraculously to meet the need and then some.
37 They all ate as much as they wanted. Afterward, the disciples picked up seven large baskets of leftover food. 38 There were 4,000 men who were fed that day, in addition to all the women and children. 39 Then Jesus sent the people home...
Twice the disciples witnessed an unforgettable miracle and yet once again we will see their memory affliction render them incapacitated, at least spiritually. On the move again, and crossing the lake, Jesus gave them a warning about watching out for false teaching that was like yeast that can spread. The disciples though were unable to understand Jesus because they were preoccupied with a problem: they had crossed the lake without bringing any food for themselves. More than preoccupied, they had moved to worry as they focused only on their problem.
Matthew 16: 7 At this they began to argue with each other because they hadn’t brought any bread. 8 Jesus knew what they were saying, so he said, “You have so little faith! Why are you arguing with each other about having no bread? 9 Don’t you understand even yet? Don’t you remember the 5,000 I fed with five loaves, and the baskets of leftovers you picked up? 10 Don't you remember the 4,000 I fed with seven loaves, and the large baskets of leftovers you picked up?
Forgetting what God has done in the past leaves the door wide open to fear and worry. So what is the cure for this spiritual amnesia? REMEMBER. Remember specifically what God has done before to meet my needs. Such remembering will grow my "little faith" into a strong faith that trusts God to meet my needs in the future as He has done in the past.
I will admit that when I read this today I was suffering from Spiritual Amnesia... Even worse, I was feeling the symptom of fear. Instead of remembering all the miracles I have witnessed God do in my life, and specifically in situations like I am facing today, I only looked at my place of need. The result has been anxiety, worry and fear. But on the very day I needed a cure I found it in God's Word. And so I sat down and started to REMEMBER.
One by one I started naming all the times I have seen God take care of things that were out of my control. As I saw my list grow longer and longer, I felt my faith grow bigger and bigger. Suddenly I realized my fear had gotten smaller and smaller. It seems that REMEMBERING God's faithfulness in the past is an inoculation against fear now.
Today, more than any day, I needed to hear God's voice - and I did. What I heard changed everything!
WHAT DO YOU NEED TO REMEMBER?
Day 24 of 365 Bible in a Year: Read a little or a lot.
Genesis 48
Genesis 49
Matthew 15:29-39
Matthew 16:1-12
Psalm 20:1-9
Proverbs 4:20-27
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