Devotionals for the Heart: Memory

God Has Not Forgotten You
A devotional by Cyndi Staudt

“He never forgets to show us his love and faithfulness.”

—Psalm 98:3a (TPT)

As we proceed through life we remember all kinds of things – birthdays, experiences, to lock the car doors, etc. But if we are being honest, we also forget many things – important dates, pots cooking on a stove, even children in the car. According to KidsAndCars.org, a national nonprofit focused on keeping children safe in and around vehicles, each year about 38 children die from being left unattended in a hot car. That's about one child every nine days.

All in all, more than 900 children have lost their lives this way since 1990. It’s scary to think about, but in the article I read they say it, “often happens when people are doing something outside their normal routine” and that “it could happen to anyone” as “forgetting a child is not a negligence problem but a memory problem”. Yikes!

In light of just this one statistic, isn’t it mind-blowing that the God of the universe is a God who not only remembers us but remembers every single detail of our lives? He even remembers the number of hairs on our head! I lose so many hairs every day, how can He possibly keep up?

The fact is, God would never forget us—no matter how many children He has or how much He has going on in the world. Even though sometimes it may seem like He has forgotten about us or He has abandoned us, He never has and He never will. This is a truth we can stand on! God shows us over and over in His Word (The Holy Bible) how He constantly remembers His people because of His great love for them.

A prime example of God’s great love for humankind is found in the Bible book of Genesis when God’s people had been enslaved in Egypt for hundreds of years. They were abused and beaten, forced into hard labor and they even had their baby boys taken and killed. Do you think at any time during those 400+ years the Israelites thought God had forgotten about them? I know I would have. But God’s Word tells us differently. Exodus 2:24-25 (NLT) tells us, “God heard their groaning, and he remembered his covenant promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He looked down on the people of Israel and knew it was time to act.”

Now I’m sure the Israelites thought “it was time to act” after the first month. Certainly after the first year. Or 100th year. I’m sure they felt they had been long forgotten by their God. But in these verses we are told that not only did God remember them, He heard their groans and remembered His promise made to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob. God came to their rescue.

Friends, there are so many stories in the Bible about how God remembered His people when they probably felt forgotten. Like Rachel, who was childless for so long until Genesis 30:22 (NLT) tells us, “God remembered Rachel’s plight and answered her prayers by enabling her to have children.” We know God doesn’t change. We know that even though we are fickle and forget, our God never does.

I don’t know what circumstance you are facing today that may have you feeling like God has forgotten you, but I can assure you He hasn’t. Let these stories of God’s faithfulness fuel your faith by reminding you how God remembered His people long ago. He will remember you too. Take some time every so often to have a little Messiah “memorial day” when you take time to remember how God has remembered you in the past and remains faithful to you today.

Let’s Pray: Holy God, thank you for being a God whose memory never fails! Help me to see that even during the times when I can’t see You, feel You or hear You, you have not abandoned me and have never forgotten me. Reveal to me encouragement in Your Word, seeing how You remain faithful to Your people even when we are not faithful to You. You remember us, rescue us and restore us because of Your great love for us and You always will. Thank You, Lord! We are forever grateful. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

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Author Bio:

Cyndi Staudt is a Jesus-loving, adrenaline junkie who is devoted to living her life for Jesus Christ until the day she is living with Him. 

With a passion for cultivating a craving for God’s Word, her devotions and Bible studies are saturated with faith and hope to stir your soul to connect with God in deeper, more intimate ways.

Through her writing she hopes to ignite your desire to read God’s Word, invite your heart to experience God’s love, and inspire you to live your live life “souled out” to the One whose love has no limits.

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Connect with Cyndi:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/souledoutcyndi/

Devotionals for the Heart: True Love

Love isn’t supposed to hurt
A devotional by Jessica Brodie

It started off innocently enough, like a sweet dream, but then it became a horrible reality that she couldn’t escape.

He caught her eye, said all the right things, and soon they were dating. Then came the jealousy—she was paying “too much attention” to her friends or her studies, she shouldn’t wear that because it “sent the wrong message,” it was her “fault” that man smiled at her, she shouldn’t tell her parents what he said because it would “make him look bad.”

Eventually, he snuck his way into controlling every aspect of her life. Her life centered on him. Angry words soon escalated. He’d punch a wall, break a glass. The first time he hit her, he bought her roses, swore it’d never happen again.

The last time he hit her, she wound up in intensive care.

Despite what singers on the radio might want us to believe, real love—true love—isn’t supposed to hurt. But we know all too well that it can hurt. It can even kill.

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Domestic violence is not just physical violence—black eyes and bruises. Sometimes the scars are invisible: threats, manipulation, yelling, humiliation. Sometimes it’s stalking someone online or following them wherever they go, or making them do things they don’t want to do.

And it happens all around us. According to the Center for Disease Control, one in four women and nearly one in 10 men have experienced physical, sexual, or stalking-related domestic violence during their lifetime, and more than 43 million women and 38 million men experienced psychological aggression by an intimate partner in their lifetime. These are not just headlines. This is happening every day to women—and men—all around us. People we know. People we see in our neighborhoods or in social settings.

With the vast amount of bad news we hear almost daily, it’s tempting to tune it out, rationalize it away, think it only happens to “someone else” or even turn off the news altogether. But as followers of Christ, as children of God, we cannot afford to harden or shield our hearts from tragedy. We must hear with open ears, see with eyes wide open, and do what we can to stand up and help whenever and wherever possible.

Data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Supplementary Homicide Report reveals that, nationwide, 92% of women killed by men were murdered by someone they knew and that the most common weapon used was a gun. Of the victims who knew their offenders, 62% were wives or other intimate acquaintances of their killers. Nearly 11 times as many females were murdered by a male they knew than were killed by male strangers.

This is not acceptable, and the Bible calls us to do something about this.

Proverbs 31:8-9 (NIV) says, “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy." Jesus, in Matthew 25:40, says, “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’”

If you suspect someone you know is a victim, talk to her. Ask how you can help. Call the authorities. See what your church can do to get involved or whether domestic violence shelters in your area could use donations or support.

Love isn’t supposed to hurt.

As the apostle Paul writes about love, “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres” (1 Corinthians 13:4-7).

That is love. Jesus is love.

It’s time to do what we can to help spread awareness about what real love is and stop the violence.

*NOTE: Here is a short list of resources for victims of domestic violence ...

Call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at (800) 799-7233 or visit them online at https://www.thehotline.org/

The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (https://ncadv.org/) offers resources for victims and survivors of domestic violence here (https://ncadv.org/resources).

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Author Bio:

Jessica Brodie is an award-winning Christian novelist, journalist, editor, blogger, and writing coach and the recipient of the 2018 American Christian Fiction Writers Genesis Award for her novel, The Memory Garden.

She is also the editor of the South Carolina United Methodist Advocate, the oldest newspaper in Methodism, and a member of the Wholly Loved Ministries team.

Learn more about her fiction and read her faith blog at http://jessicabrodie.com/shiningthelight.