Dear reader, welcome to another series on 8 undeniable reasons why Christians are confused about life. We are delighted to walk you through the fifth reason: you are quick to forget GOD’S promises and who YOU are.
Scattered throughout the scripture are not just principles and prophecies but also promises that are ours. If and when we keep to GOD’S principles, then through prophecies, promises are given to strengthen our hope and quicken our spirits.
Most times, Christians will start believing without doubting; they fight every word that exalts itself above the word of GOD and even become lost in the will of GOD.
But all of a sudden, they will begin to lose a grip on the words they’ve seen happen in other people’s lives and have heard about theirs. This brings CONFUSION.
Let’s delve deeper into the series already.
What does it mean to forget?
Is there any need for you to know what it means to forget? After all, it is an elementary language.
Well, there’s a very important need to know; throughout our guide, we have successfully brought your knowledge or perhaps consciousness to the meaning of the core word responsible for our CONFUSION.
So, what does it mean to forget?
- Forget is to lose the remembrance of
- To unintentionally not do, neglect
- To unintentionally leave something behind
- Forget is to cease remembering
- Dismiss from the mind; stop remembering
- Be unable to remember
Just look at the second and third meanings with the delicate word, ‘unintentionally’, and that is our focus.
To forget in this context is to leave GOD’S promises behind unintentionally. To unintentionally lose the remembrance of WHOM YOU ARE. You can unintentionally stop remembering WHO has called you by your name and has said you are HIS. YOU, dear reader, can forget WHO has promised that HE will give up nations for your sake as Isaiah 43: 3-4 records.
You can forget WHO has commanded you not to be afraid. You can forget HIS WORD that said the Egyptians you see today; you shall see them no more. You can forget HE ever said in Exodus 14:14 that HE will fight your battle, and you shall hold your peace!
How about the glorious name HE has called us? We are just quick to forget. I am guilty as charged here, too.
Do you know how we unintentionally lose GOD’S promises? Read on to find out!
How we unintentionally lose GOD’S promises
- We lose GOD’S promises unintentionally when we get lost in activities. The truth is, we can be fixated on doing things that matter and lose GOD’S promises, and before we know it, CONFUSION begins to set in.
- We lose GOD’S promises even when engaged in many spiritual activities. Spiritual activities cannot replace the presence of GOD. It is even GOD’S presence that gives us the grace to carry out the spiritual activities HE has put in our hearts. To be everywhere is to be nowhere.
- It is possible to even unintentionally forget who we are or what GOD has said about our circumstances. Our job, our marriage, our children, our youth, our parents, our health and even our finances and focus on other activities, even in other people’s lives.
Do you want an instance?
How do you explain your feelings when you earnestly pray for something and wait for it, but that exact thing you prayed for, and more is at your friend’s or neighbor’s doorstep?
Are you pleased about that your friend or neighbour? Should we run a heart check?
Look, we are humans; we have got emotions, we have got feelings, and we cannot run from it.
How do you explain your feelings when the friend you trust reminds you of how meaningless your life would be without them through words or deeds?
How do you explain your feelings when nobody understands the amazing call of GOD in your life and demeans you the more?
How do you feel when you are nothing like the prophecy you received a few months ago, three years ago? It is even worse when you are stagnant or have retrogressed.
It introduces sorrow, and once there is the presence of sorrow, there’s no joy any more. This leads us to our next point.
What happens when we forget GOD’S promises or WHO WE ARE?
- When we forget GOD’S promises, we lose the joy of our salvation. No wonder the psalmist said, “Restore unto me the joy of my salvation.” When we lose our joy, we lose our hope to wait in love.
- Forgetting GOD’S promises allows other strange voices to dominate GOD’S WORD.
- When we forget GOD’S promises and who we are and lose our joy, we even begin to seek people’s opinions, and before we know it, we begin to consider them.
- When we forget, we are driven deeper into distractions that we begin to consider alternatives, anything outside GOD.
- Forgetting who we are and GOD’S promises makes us become what others say we are, a complete shadow of what GOD said we are in HIM.
Do you now see how dangerous it is to forget?
- When we forget who we are and what GOD has said, we become CONFUSED CHRISTIANS.
- When we forget GOD’S promises, we will be tossed around by not just opinions but also wrong doctrines. Your soul becomes so noisy that it is difficult to hear GOD again.
These and more are what happens when we are quick to forget GOD’S promises or WHO WE ARE IN HIM.
An example of how you are quick to forget affects or corrupts our conviction and clarity
Do you remember the story of our father Abraham? How he gave in to the wife’s opinion to go in with their house help, Hagar. This resulted in Ishmael, which was not GOD’S initial plan.
Forgetting GOD’S promises impacts negatively and would delay or, to an extent, abort GOD’S initial plan for our lives.
What can we do to always remember GOD’S promises and WHO WE ARE?
At all costs, we must remain in GOD’S promises. Even an inch outside HIS promises will reveal how cruel and brutal the devil is with us. THIS IS WAR!
It is a real war, and the funny thing is that our passivity or ignorance does not save us from the wrath it brings. And as my discipler, Miss Juliet Ekwochi, would say, we are running a race; whether you choose to run or not, it does not matter. You are still running even when you choose not to run.
Direction matters, too!
1. Desist from every activity that shuns your faith!
2. Verbally rebuke every thought that tries to exalt itself above the WORD of GOD. Always bring it captive into the obedience of CHRIST, so says 2 Corinthians 10: 4-5.
3. Shun every person that talks down on your belief in love. Do not permit any word outside GOD, no matter who it is from. Remember what JESUS did to Apostle Peter when his emotions got in the way. Do the same.
I once read a book by Andrew Wommack on The believer’s authority, how he sternly rebuked his mother when she kept talking down on his faith in his child’s healing.
4. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Please don’t give him the chance to steal your joy! James 4:7, Ephesians 4: 26-27
5. It would help if you were within a gathering that has spirit to spirit connection. The coming days will need you to be connected to people by spirit. Your spiritual activities won’t save you when tribulations or oppressive thoughts come.
Once there’s a spiritual connection, your brethren can get spiritual promptings to pray for you, and that singular act will save you from another prolonged wilderness experience. Let’s get this thing right once and for all.
6. Surround your atmosphere with praises. Not worldly music, not kinds of music that exalts self. Music that quickens your spirit man and supplies the dose of joy you need for another round. After all, James 5:13 says if you are having trouble, you should pray. And if you are feeling good, you should sing praises.
7. Have who you share your struggles with. They should be your spiritual coverings. Refuse to carry the burden on your own.
8. Study the WORD and spend time in prayer. Deal with every weight that weighs you down.
9. Avoid people who carelessly toss words. Run from people who do not have the same values as you. WORDS ARE SEEDS, and when it comes sparingly, it is reaped sparingly. When it comes bountifully, it is reaped bountifully. Whether good or bad, it does not matter until it begins to germinate and bear fruit in its season.
Advantages of not forgetting GOD’S promises and WHO WE ARE
There are many advantages we have when we are not quick to forget GOD’S promises.
- We keep on enjoying GOD’S love and peace.
- When we do not forget GOD’S promises, we will not be moved by people’s activities happening around us.
- When we do not give in to forgetting GOD’S promises, we become even a safe haven for people slowly losing their hope in GOD’S WORD. According to Canon Dr Tony, “We rise by raising and lifting others”.
- Anytime we do not forget GOD’S WORD, we are quick to detect the lies of our enemies. Why? Because it is not consistent with the WORD OF GOD.
- We avert CONFUSION as Christians.
Conclusion
Like it or not, forgetting the WORDS that should keep you going locks up something. It stagnates.
Imagine receiving an exact word that should open a door, but you get to the door and forget the WORD, and it will take you a thousand miles to reach your source again (of course, it is not our story; GOD is so near to us)
Do you remember the cartoon where a magic word was given to a man: “Open sesame?” No matter how much and how desperate the man looked, the door did not open until he spoke the right words.
WORDS are like CODES. Hold onto GOD’S word for you and put HIM to remembrance. Don’t forget who you are as a child of GOD. Now you see how you are quick to forget GOD’S promises and who YOU are causing our confusion as Christians.
We will reveal the next culprit for our CONFUSION in our next post. Keep overcoming your adversary, the devil!
