Today’s 333 Devotional: “Remember God’s Past Intervention”
To create an environment of faith we need to remember what God has done for us in the past.
“You have seen all that the Lord your God has done to all these nations because of you, for the
Lord your God is He who has fought for you.” (Joshua 23:3)
Joshua is telling them to look back and think about all God has done.
• Joshua remembered his former life as a slave to the Egyptians and how God through many mighty miracles delivered them from out of their bondage, including the 10 plagues and the parting of the Red Sea.
• Joshua remembered the manna from heaven, the water gushing out of the rock, and how God’s presence was with them in the pillar of cloud and fire.
• Joshua also remembered the people’s rebellion of unbelief and how God prohibited them from entering into the Promise Land.
• And Joshua remembered how God parted the Jordan River, how He brought the walls of Jericho down, and the many victories they won because of their obedience.
If we want to create that environment of faith in order to stay in the presence of God, then we need to remember how God has intervened in our own lives, both the good and the bad.
The writer of Hebrews tells us to remember our suffering.
“But recall the former days in which, after you were illuminated, you endured a great struggle with sufferings.” (Hebrews 10:32)
We are also to remember God’s promises as well.
“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.” (James 1:17)
God’s grace flows through faith in His promises, not in the keeping of commandments.
Our present may stink, but if we recall what God has done, that’s our starting point, and we can never have faith for the future until we look back and thank God for our past.