earnest

I have gone back to an old way.

I am not sure why I abandoned it for a little while.

No matter the reason ,

I know without a doubt I need the psalms.

I could live on just a few verses a day.

I am back to reading them according to the date and every

30th one that follows.

An extra bonus for 2012  is that February has 29 days, allowing you to

read Psalm 119 every month if you consume your psalms

with this diet.

( If Psalm 119 is too much to digest while reading several

other psalms, then just read 5-7 verses a day and you will finish it each month.)

All that rambling to say that I really love reading several  psalms each morning along with

anything else I read.

Do you feel the same way?

This week, as I have continued to focus on being fixed on Jesus, I kept encountering two words, seemingly

everywhere I looked.

Those two words are earnestly remember.

What captured me this week is that it is something

God does

and we are to  follow His lead.

Have you ever felt like this?

God sees you and He remembers.

He remembers the past.

He resides in your today.

He knows the future.

He knows our alignment.

He knows our sorrows and fears.

He reflects on our victories and joys.

 "To Him Who [earnestly] remembered us,
in our low estate and imprinted us [on His heart],
for  His mercy and loving-kindness endure forever."
Psalm 136: 23

What have others remembered?

"By the rivers of Babylon, there we [captives] sat down,
yes, we wept when we [earnestly] remembered Zion [the city of our God]
imprinted on our hearts!"
Psalm 137: 1

What are we to remember?

"I will [earnestly] recall the deeds of the Lord,
yes, I will [earnestly] remember the wonders
[You performed for our fathers] of old."
Psalm 77: 11

When we earnestly remember Who God is and all that

He has done and continues to do,

we remained fixed.

It is easy to rehearse our problems.

It should be easier to remind ourselves of His goodness.

We need to remember.

This week, Carl and I talked about a person precious to us and

as we reflected with years that have swept past, all we could

say in agreement was that God had protected this loved one.

We knew it years ago.

We knew it even deeper with the passage of time.

Our remembrance enlarged our hearts for His  outstretched hands.

We  see in part so we must stay fixed.

I love the word earnest coupled with remembering.

We have to practice.

Earnest remembering is pledging the intent to be serious

about the aim.

I pledge to take serious aim at remembering my God.

We may forget on occasion  to rave about  His character,

mercy and love, but when we are earnest about

this endeavor, I dare say, one day,

we may survey our landscape and find ourselves

squarely in Zion, the city of our God.

The place of worship and joy.

"Let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth if
I remember not, if I prefer not Jerusalem above my
chief joy."
Psalm 137: 6

Read Psalm 136.

A psalm comprised of earnestly remembering God,

whose mercy and loving-kindness endure forever.

What are you earnestly remembering about God today?

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