Wednesday, August 16, 2006
Someone said to me, "Don't forget to tell your wife." I said, "Wait a minute, I've got to write it down. I'm Mr. No 'K.'" They looked at me kind of funny, but see, I know the computer terminology. You know, "K" is the memory capacity of the computer and I think I've reached mine. So, I'm Mr. No "K." Hey, look, I'm too young to be losing my memory. Right? I think I just used it up, that's all. So I have to write things down; things we need at the store, appointments, or lists of errands. I've got to write down an idea before I forget it. I always carry this 4x6 card with me everywhere. I mean, even by my bed, in the bathroom, you know - I've got to write it down. I've got to write down phone numbers. I've got to write down directions. A lot of us write down the things we don't want to forget, except for some real important things.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Jesus Journal."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Psalm 103. These will be familiar words maybe. "Praise the Lord, O my soul." He's talking to his own heart, "...all my inmost being, praise His Holy name. Praise the Lord, O my soul and forget not all His benefits." Here's the problem. I do forget His benefits. You know, there is not a day that God cannot be seen active somewhere in that day. If you're looking for God's sightings, He's there. His love, His supply, His faithfulness, His mercies are new every morning according to Jeremiah. Okay, then I see them and then I forget them. He says, "O my soul, don't forget his benefits."
Spiritual amnesia is nothing new. I mean, it's happened so many times before. In Nehemiah chapter 9, for example, it talks about where the saints of that day literally forgot all of the manna that came from heaven, the water that had come from the rock, how God had given them possession of the land. These awesome things that God had done, and he says, "But they refuse to listen and fail to remember the miracles you performed among them" ( Nehemiah 9:17). They forgot God's interventions. They chose what was easy and it turned out to be hard. They got 40 years in the wilderness.
When we forget God's benefits, we make spiritually, cowardly decisions. We miss the next miracles and maybe the will of God. Lately, I've been trying an experiment. I keep an encouragement journal off and on - it's a Jesus Journal. And you know, I write down today's date and I write down God's work in that day, whatever it was. It's really exciting at the end of that day or maybe the next morning to show the places that God was at work, benefits I don't want to forget. Now you put the next day's date down by faith because you haven't seen anything yet. And then, when you pick up that journal and read it when discouragement hits, you're looking at the fingerprints of God all through your life, and it's the same God you have for that day. One of the greatest things I ever did for my relationship with Christ was to buy a notebook to keep a daily record of what God was saying in my time with Him. Not only the encouragement journal, but also a journal to write down what God just said to me out of His book, and what I'm going to do differently today because of it.
It is so incredible to be able to pick up and read the history of God's working in your own life. We really do write down what we can't afford to forget, and there is nothing more important to remember than the daily touches of God on your life. So get a big notebook.