A CUP OF COLD WATER

 GOD REMEMBERS YOU!

Living as a follower of Jesus so that the world will come to know Him, and working to advance His kingdom on earth are two of the main activities that you will be engaged in throughout your lifetime, if God’s will is to be done on earth as it is in heaven. In both of these activities, the Holy Spirit is our Helper.

Living like a follower of Jesus is a satisfying experience, but it can sometimes be tough when you face challenges which make it hard for you to uphold the values of the kingdom of God. You may have to give up on some cultural and family norms that do not align with God’s word, forgo family or other gatherings where Christ is not honoured, or appear to be anti-social as you try to maintain your fellowship with God.  You may be placed in circumstances at home, work or learning institutions where the temptation to compromise your values are ever present, but because of who you are, a follower of Jesus, you chose not to give in to the temptations at the risk of facing exclusion from family, colleagues or club and sometimes have to endure personal loss. You may be suffering with sickness and pain, the loss of loved ones, facing persecution, lost a marriage, having financial difficulties, coping with shattered dreams, or dealing with children who are out of the will of God, yet you know God’s promises and believe them, but you are not seeing them fulfilled in your life or family.  You may be praying for others and getting desired answers, whilst your own prayers go unanswered. You may also be hoping for something for years but seeing no progress on the matter. Yet, despite all, you continue to live a life that honours God.

In doing kingdom work, you also face challenges as you engage yourself in activities and with people to advance the kingdom of God. You may be pastoring a church/churches, teaching fellow believers, planting churches, foretelling future events, bringing the gospel of salvation in Jesus Christ alone to nations, discipling new believers, praying and interceding for nations and situations, helping others less fortunate than yourself, loving your neighbours, standing for the truth you know in God’s word or caring for your own. As you engage in these activities, you experience all sorts of attacks, slander, misinterpretation, misrepresentation, ridicule and even threats to your life and family. You may be praying for situations that seem desperate and not seeing them resolved, or praying for sick people that end up dying. Yet, despite all, you continue to do kingdom work, and sometimes at great personal cost.

In both your living as a follower of Jesus and doing kingdom work, it can look as if you are getting no recognition for your sacrifices, and you wonder if God even knows or sees what you are doing for Him or if He even remembers His promise to answer you when you call on Him, and you may become weary, tired of trying and want to give up and behave like everyone else. I want you to know that God remembers you! By saying God remembers you, I do not mean that God forgets you, rather that He will fulfil His purpose in your life and honour His covenant with you, so hold on. 

God remembers you because of His covenant with you when you became a follower of Jesus. In the Holy Bible we read about Lot, Abraham’s nephew, who was saved at the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah because God remembered His covenant with Abraham. 

God remembers you because He is faithful, and even if you are unfaithful to Him at times, He still remains faithful. His faithfulness is the guarantee that you will fulfil your destiny in the face of challenges, because He will help you live for Him and do the kingdom work He has assigned to you. 

God remembers you because of His everlasting love for you. Knowing that you could never pay the price for your sin, He sent Jesus to pay the price for your sin by dying in your place. He did that even before you were born, and He gave you the free will to accept or reject His gift of salvation. His everlasting love for you is accompanied by His compassion which means that you will not fail. 

God remembers you because of His great, enduring and new mercies to you each day. You can depend on His mercies, and because of His unchanging nature, He remembers you to withhold judgment from you. He gives you time to repent of your wrong doings because He makes room for the Holy Spirit to convict you of your sin and gives you an opportunity for repentance so that He will not bring punishment on you. Imagine what your life would be like if God immediately punished you for any mistake you made. 

God remembers you to withhold judgment from others and your nation. God averts danger from nations when the followers of Jesus pray. Wherever there has been divine intervention in national affairs it has been because of the prayers of followers of Jesus. 

God remembers you to punish our enemy/enemies that afflict you. God takes care of you and He does not take it lightly when your enemies hurt you. In fact, God gave a commandment that His people should not be afflicted or come to any harm. God remembered the Israelites who had been in slavery in Egypt for 430 years and sent Moses to bring them out of slavery. When Pharaoh refused to let them go, He severely punished the nation of Egypt. 

God remembers you for His glory. In the Holy Bible, we read of Mary and Martha whose brother, Lazarus, was sick and they called for Jesus to come and heal him. Jesus delayed in coming and by the time He arrived, Lazarus had been dead and buried for four days, but to show the glory of God, Lazarus was resurrected from the dead by Jesus. 

God remembers you because He is a rewarder. He is not unjust to forget the work you do on His behalf. He will reward you as you set your mind to go after Him. In the Holy Bible, we read of King Solomon that offered a sacrifice to God over and beyond what anyone had done, and God blessed him in return with wisdom, riches and fame. 

God remembers you to bless you. He promised to bless your work, so your work for the kingdom that appears to be failing, is blessed. He promised to bless the righteous, so you are blessed for being a friend of God. He promised to bless those who wait on Him, so whatever seems to be late in coming to you, will come in a way that will bless you. In the Holy Bible, we read about God remembering Rachael and Hannah who had suffered several years of barrenness and taunting by their mates, and they gave birth to sons, Joseph and Samuel respectively, and to other children. After the flood, God remembered Noah in the Ark and He opened the door so that he and his family could come out of the ark and start life all over again in the favour of God.

Facing challenges in living as followers of Jesus and in doing kingdom work is a given because you have an accuser, satan, who accuses you daily before God and works relentlessly against you so that you do not enjoy being a follower of Jesus. However, your confidence to keep on living for Jesus and doing the work should be that you know that God remembers you and that you will overcome all challenges and be victorious by His help. In this regards, you can say ‘Thankfully, God remembers me!’