Alienated – Praying Pint

42.e. “Let My People Go” – 10.b. Institution of the Passover

Exodus 12:43  And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “This is the statute of the Passover: no foreigner shall eat of it,   but every slave that is bought for money may eat of it after you have circumcised him. No foreigner or hired worker may eat of it. It shall be eaten in one house; you shall not take any of the flesh outside the house, and you shall not break any of its bones. All the congregation of Israel shall keep it. If a stranger shall sojourn with you and would keep the Passover to the LORD, let all his males be circumcised. Then he may come near and keep it; he shall be as a native of the land. But no uncircumcised person shall eat of it. There shall be one law for the native and for the stranger who sojourns among you.” All the people of Israel did just as the LORD commanded Moses and Aaron. And on that very day the LORD brought the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their hosts.

Numbers 9:14    And if a stranger sojourns among you and would keep the Passover to the LORD, according to the statute of the Passover and according to its rule, so shall he do. You shall have one statute, both for the sojourner and for the native.”

Ephesians 2:12     remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.

Numbers 15:15-16   For the assembly, there shall be one statute for you and for the stranger who sojourns with you, a statute forever throughout your generations. You and the sojourner shall be alike before the LORD. One law and one rule shall be for you and for the stranger who sojourns with you.”

None of the bones of the Passover lamb were to be broken. This looked forward to Jesus, the ultimate Passover Lamb, who had not one bone broken even in His crucifixion. All who were part of Israel had to commemorate the Passover redemption. You couldn’t be part of God’s people and not share in Passover. Israel kept the commandments of God that Moses delivered. Their faith and obedience saved their firstborn, plundered the Egyptians, and set them free from Egypt. When Israel left Egypt, it was a nation born in a day. It was as if the 430 years were a time of gestation when the baby grew large. The plagues were like labor pains before birth and now the nation was born. (Guzik)

In times to come, all the congregation of Israel must keep the passover. All that share in God’s mercies should join in thankful praises for them. The New Testament passover, the Lord’s supper, ought not to be neglected by any. Strangers, if circumcised, might eat of the passover. Here is an early indication of favour to the gentiles. This taught the Jews that their being a nation favoured by God, entitled them to their privileges, not their descent from Abraham. (Henry)

It was by virtue of a divine call, and not through natural descent, that Israel had become the people of Jehovah, and as it was destined in that capacity to be a blessing to all nations, the attitude assumed towards foreigners was not to be an altogether repelling one. Hence the further directions in Exodus 12:44 : purchased servants, who had been politically incorporated as Israel’s property, were to be entirely incorporated by circumcision, so as even to take part in the Passover. (Keil)

“This is the law, in respect of the persons who are to partake of it” – there shall no stranger eat thereof, or literally, “No son of a stranger shall eat thereof.” By a “stranger” here is meant one of a foreign race who wishes to retain his foreign character and to remain uncircumcised. (Unkown)

The establishment of the Passover and the remembrance of God’s mighty and awesome power in redeeming the Israelites from Egypt was given with strict rules for partaking in it. Specifically, those who were not Israelites. Provision was made for those who were foreign and wished to follow God through this remembrance of Passover observance. Under no circumstance was a foreigner who did not fully commit to the requirements allowed to partake. It was clear there is no room for a person to add to or take away from what God set in place. Man will try to water down what God says. Satan will confuse minds about what God has said and will try to convince these minds of another easier way.

God has given many promises, warnings, and directions to us through His Word. We will do well to study it, meditate on it, learn it, obey it, trust it, rely on it, believe it, and follow it. Being ignorant through neglect and complacency harms the soul, weakens the heart, and shallows the commitment to honor and glorify Jesus Christ.

I can only imagine what it will be like to stand before the One and only Son of God who gave His life for us. We will fully see His Holiness and our sinfulness. Will we be ashamed of how our lives were lived, how we thought, how we talked, and how we acted? Will we see all of the wasted efforts of self-reliance? Will we see all of the half-hearted head nods toward living for Him? We will even be in heaven or will we be made aware of our state from Hell?

The shallowness of commitment to honor and glorify Jesus Christ in all we think, say, and do in our lives is clearly visible to God. Oh, that our eyes to our hearts and minds would be open to see and feel the sinfulness of sin and the holiness of God.

38.v. “Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe.”

Ephesians 2:1 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins,

1 Corinthians 2:14 The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit.

2 Corinthians 4:4 Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God.

2 Timothy 2:26 and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.

Ephesians 4:17-18 So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts.

Romans 5:6-11 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Colossians 1:21-22 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard

John 3:18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

Acts 26:18 to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’

Ephesians 5:8 for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light

Colossians 1:13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

I read this statement this morning on “Regeneration” Faith/Repentance

“Regeneration, or the new birth, is a work of God’s grace whereby believers become new creatures in Christ Jesus. It is a change of heart wrought by the Holy Spirit through conviction of sin, to which the sinner responds in repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Repentance and faith are inseparable experiences of grace. “Repentance is a genuine turning from sin toward God. Faith is the acceptance of Jesus Christ and commitment of the entire personality to Him and Lord and Savior.” Regeneration is necessary because the Bible describes unbelievers as the walking dead. Not only are they spiritually dead, but they are depicted as natural / without the Spirit; blinded in their minds; bound by Satan; alienated from God; enemies of the Lord; condemned in their unbelief; and in spiritual darkness.

33.m. “For we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy”

Matthew 15:25 But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” And he answered, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” Then Jesus answered her, “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed instantly.

Ephesians 2:12    remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.

Daniel 9:18    O my God, incline your ear and hear. Open your eyes and see our desolations, and the city that is called by your name. For we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy.

Psalms 145:19    He fulfills the desire of those who fear him; he also hears their cry and saves them.

The woman responded with great faith. She admitted her low estate, and did not debate the issue when Jesus called her one of the little dogs. She did not demand to be seen as a child; but only to be blessed as a dog. Her response is especially meaningful in light of the increasing rejection of Jesus by the Jewish religious leaders. It was as if the woman said, “I’m not asking for the portion that belongs to the children, just the crumbs that they don’t want.” In the flow of Matthew’s gospel, there was more and more that the Jewish religious establishment did not want to receive. These were two faith-filled words: Yet even. She accepted Jesus’ description and asked for mercy despite it – or perhaps because of it. (Guzik)

Take note that the mother prayed “Help me”. Her daughter was afflicted and we would think the prayer would be “Help my daughter”, but this woman, distressed about her daughter, has heard of this Jesus who healed many, and more than likely has attempted every worldly remedy for her condition has taken on this burden of her daughter as her own. It is good for us to continually ask the Lord to help us, as we take from a night’s sleep, as we set out on our day, as we walk into work or other destinations, as we read His Word, as we try to understand and apply His purpose in our lives, and I have to imagine many of us do this more often than not. But, to love and care so deeply for a person that our prayer would seem empty if asked “Help my child” instead of “Help me”, is a one that both shows great love and great faith. To carry the burden of another person so deep in our heart that our prayer is for our help is hard for me to understand even though it is very clear this is just what this mother did. It does bring a scripture to mind; “Love your neighbor as yourself”. We do well to seek this type of love to permeate out of our thoughts, words, and actions as we live to honor and glorify Jesus Christ.

29.c. “Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”

1 Colossians 1:21 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.

Ephesians 2:1-2   And you were dead in the trespasses and sins  in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience

James 4:4    You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

Romans 8:7-8    For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot.  Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

Romans 5:9-10   Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.  For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.

Belonging to the race of Adam, we are born alienated from God. Then as individuals, we each choose to accept and embrace that alienation with our wicked works. God’s answer to the problem of alienation is reconciliation, initiated by His work on the cross (reconciled in the body of His flesh through death). In the work of reconciliation, God didn’t meet us halfway. God meets us all the way and invites us to accept it. This means that in Jesus we are no longer alienated. The difference between a believer and a non-believer isn’t merely forgiveness; there is a complete change of status. The desire to be saved means a desire to be made holy, blameless, and above reproach, not merely a desire to escape the fires of hell on our own terms. There ought to be a transformative change in us. Something that is continually cultivated, nurtured, and persevered in. There ought to be a continual working, a persistence, in our desire to honor and glorify Jesus Christ in all that we say, think, and do. Be steadfast and do not allow any worldly or fleshly desires move your feet down paths where Jesus Christ is not honored or glorified. This transformative life never stops being transformed. We continual to grow in our understanding and knowledge of the grace, mercy, and love of Jesus Christ if that is truly the desire of our heart, mind, and soul.

27.r. “But now you must put them all away”

Ephesians 4:17 Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity.

Romans 1:32 Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

Colossians 3:5-8 Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth.

Galatians 5:21 I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

We should walk in a different way than the world around us does. There seems to be consistency for Christians to portray themselves as not so different than the world around them. We are not to have a spirit of compromise with the world. There ought to be something different about us. When there is fear, worry, anxiousness, and confusion we should be a reflection of the light of Jesus Christ displaying, peace, joy, understanding, and love. What kind of conversations do we allow ourselves to get into? What kind of things do we say that we would never say in church? What kind of things do we listen to or watch? How do we treat others? How kind, generous, forgiving…… are we outside of church? Sadly I fear that many Christians reflect they are much closer to things that are more worldly than things Godly. Do we forget that in all we say, think, and do we are to honor and glorify Jesus Christ? How much of what we think, say, and do throughout the day is accomplished without giving a single thought to honoring and glorifying Jesus Christ?

Die to self – Live for Christ

27.e. “Having no hope and without God in the world”

Ephesians 2:12 remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.

19- So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

Without Christ: These are terrible words, and the implications of them are the sum of the woeful condition of the lost man or woman. To be without Christ means to be: without spiritual blessings, light, peace, rest, safety, hope, a place of refuge, purpose, satisfaction, lasting joy, discernment, wisdom, understanding, knowledge, and eternity in Heaven. Look around, be observant, and see if this is not true. Read or listen to almost any news being stated, listen to family, friends, government officials, and people at large, and you will see they lack the peace of God that only comes through Faith in Jesus Christ. In the worst of them, they are greedy, boastful, arrogant, fearful, liars, creating division, confusion, and hatred. In the best of them they are just plain lost and without a solid foundation that can only be found in and through Jesus Christ. They have a form of purpose, peace, satisfaction, and joy, but there is no depth and lasting foundation on which it can stand.

This is exactly where each of us was prior to believing in Jesus Christ. Lost and without eternal hope. We were alienated from God. We were tools of Satan. We were destined to eternal Hell. And, somehow, through God’s grace, mercy, and love, our hearts were softened and our minds understood the gospel, our sinful nature, being separated from God, deserving Hell, and without hope in anything we could do to be made right before God, and we repented from our sin, turned away from self-worthiness and self-reliance, and we trusted in and relied upon Jesus Christ alone, by faith in Him alone.

Paul is saying remember this. You were “without Christ”. In remembering this our hearts and minds should be in constant thankfulness and our lives surrendered to humbly serving Him for the single purpose of honoring and glorifying Him in all we say, think, and do.

26.o. “Serve him with a whole heart and with a willing mind”

Galatians 4:8 Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods. But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more? You observe days and months and seasons and years! I am afraid I may have labored over you in vain.

1 Thessalonians 3:5    For this reason, when I could bear it no longer, I sent to learn about your faith, for fear that somehow the tempter had tempted you and our labor would be in vain.

Romans 1:28    And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.

1 Corinthians 1:21   For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom,

Ephesians 4:18   They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart.

1 Chronicles 28:9  “And you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve him with a whole heart and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches all hearts and understands every plan and thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will cast you off forever.

Legalism caters to and recognizes our flesh by putting the focus on what we achieve for God, not on what Jesus did for us. We can have a living, free, relationship with God as a loving Father based on what Jesus did for us and who we are in Him. Or we can try to please God by our best efforts of keeping the rules, living in bondage as slaves, not sons. Living that way makes the whole gospel in vain. Such is the battle we all face. We lean more toward what we can do to make ourselves right before God rather than what He has done through Christ, thereby resting, relying on, and trusting in this alone. It is when we recognize, take captive, and discard these thoughts of self-reliance we will truly be able to honor and glorify Jesus Christ through faith in Him alone. If there was an equation, to sum up, this type of thinking it would be; My works + the work of Christ = eternal life. This way of thinking literally says Christ’s sacrifice was not enough. Anything added to Christ’s sacrifice for the forgiveness of sin = nothing, zero, failure. In Christ alone, there is forgiveness, salvation, redemption, and eternal life. Don’t be tempted or allow your mind to be tricked into thinking you can in any way add any benefit for your soul other than through Jesus Christ.

88. Due to their hardness of heart.

Judges 8:22 The Israelites said to Gideon, “Rule over us—you, your son and your grandson—because you have saved us from the hand of Midian.”

But Gideon told them, “I will not rule over you, nor will my son rule over you. The Lord will rule over you.” And he said, “I do have one request, that each of you give me an earring from your share of the plunder.” (It was the custom of the Ishmaelites to wear gold earrings.)

They answered, “We’ll be glad to give them.” So they spread out a garment, and each of them threw a ring from his plunder onto it. The weight of the gold rings he asked for came to seventeen hundred shekels, not counting the ornaments, the pendants and the purple garments worn by the kings of Midian or the chains that were on their camels’ necks. Gideon made the gold into an ephod, which he placed in Ophrah, his town. All Israel prostituted themselves by worshiping it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and his family.

Exodus 23:33     They shall not dwell in your land, lest they make you sin against me; for if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.”

Psalms 106:39    Thus they became unclean by their acts, and played the whore in their deeds.

Hosea 4:12-14     My people inquire of a piece of wood, and their walking staff gives them oracles. For a spirit of whoredom has led them astray, and they have left their God to play the whore.  They sacrifice on the tops of the mountains and burn offerings on the hills, under oak, poplar, and terebinth, because their shade is good. Therefore your daughters play the whore, and your brides commit adultery.  I will not punish your daughters when they play the whore, nor your brides when they commit adultery; for the men themselves go aside with prostitutes and sacrifice with cult prostitutes, and a people without understanding shall come to ruin.

Isaiah 56:11     The dogs have a mighty appetite; they never have enough. But they are shepherds who have no understanding; they have all turned to their own way, each to his own gain, one and all.

John 8:43     Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word.

Romans 3:11     no one understands; no one seeks for God.

Ephesians 4:18     They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart.

What is it in your life that is a snare to you and possibly your family? What occupies your thoughts and time? What sacrifices do you make so that you have time for whatever it is that occupies your thoughts and actions? The list of what can snare us is limitless for we are very good at seeking our own interests and wants. We are very good at giving our time and energy to that which pleases our eyes, heart, and mind.

We have been given free will to choose whom we will honor and serve. Unfortunately many times the choice is made for self and self-interest and self-satisfaction. The snare for each of us is different but it is rooted in the same self-interest choices that leave no place for honoring, serving, following, and obeying Jesus Christ.

Leave no room for a snare in your heart and mind. Set your heart to humbly serve Him. Intentionally seek to understand and know Him more and more. Make decisions for eternity in line with that which honors and glorifies Jesus Christ.

58. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth,

Deuteronomy 29:4   But to this day the LORD has not given you a heart to understand or eyes to see or ears to hear.

Proverbs 20:12    The hearing ear and the seeing eye, the LORD has made them both.

Isaiah 6:9-10    And he said, “Go, and say to this people: “‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’  Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and blind their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”

Isaiah 63:17   O LORD, why do you make us wander from your ways and harden our heart, so that we fear you not? Return for the sake of your servants

Matthew 13:11-15     And he answered them, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.  For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.  This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.  Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says: “‘“You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive.”

  For this people’s heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.’

John 8:43    Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word.

2 Corinthians 3:15    Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts.

Ephesians 4:18    They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart.

2 Thessalonians 2:10-12     and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.  Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false,  in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

James 1:13-17     Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.  But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.  Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.  Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers.

2 Timothy 2:25    correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth,

Ezekiel 36:26   And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.

There is quite a bit said in these verses that show the heart of man. God knows the heart, mind, and soul of each person. He knows those who do/will and do not/will not desire and seek Him. He knows those who will believe and those who will not. He knows. It appears to say that God will send a delusion and a hardening of the heart, ears, and eyes to those whose heart and mind and soul are dull to things of God. It also says that God will give a new heart and new spirit to those who truly seek and desire Him.

I get a bit lost in how these two outcomes are applied to people. If I were to look at my conversion and what it took to bring me to my knees before Jesus Christ, it was only by the grace and mercy of God that my eyes, heart, ears, and mind were opened to understand the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the need for forgiveness and repentance. I would easily have been one who’s heart was like that of stone, whose eyes and ears were shut to things of God. Yet God opened them and gave me a new heart. He gave me understanding and pulled the veil from my eyes. He opened my deaf ears. He softened my heart of stone. He put a new spirit within me.

I know I deserved to be alienated and left in my ignorance for I was living in the pleasure of my sin giving no thought about God. “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

It is the time to recognize neglect of His word and that complacency that has filled our hearts. Confess, repent, seek, desire, and run to Him for the time is short for us to serve, honor, glorify, follow, and obey Jesus, the author, creator, awesome, mighty, powerful, loving, and steadfast redeemer of our soul.

What is in your heart

“What shall I render to the LORD for all his benefits to me?”

“remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.”

Psalms 103:2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits,

Psalms 105:5 Remember the wondrous works that he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he uttered,

Psalms 106:7 Our fathers, when they were in Egypt, did not consider your wondrous works; they did not remember the abundance of your steadfast love, but rebelled by the sea, at the Red Sea.

Psalms 106:21 They forgot God, their Savior, who had done great things in Egypt,

Deuteronomy 8:2-4 And you shall remember the whole way that the LORD your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. Your clothing did not wear out on you and your foot did not swell these forty years.

Deuteronomy 8:10-14 And you shall eat and be full, and you shall bless the LORD your God for the good land he has given you. “Take care lest you forget the LORD your God by not keeping his commandments and his rules and his statutes, which I command you today, lest, when you have eaten and are full and have built good houses and live in them, and when your herds and flocks multiply and your silver and gold is multiplied and all that you have is multiplied, then your heart be lifted up, and you forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery,

Deuteronomy 32:6 Do you thus repay the LORD, you foolish and senseless people? Is not he your father, who created you, who made you and established you?

2 Chronicles 32:25 But Hezekiah did not make return according to the benefit done to him, for his heart was proud. Therefore wrath came upon him and Judah and Jerusalem.

Isaiah 63:7 I will recount the steadfast love of the LORD, the praises of the LORD, according to all that the LORD has granted us, and the great goodness to the house of Israel that he has granted them according to his compassion, according to the abundance of his steadfast love.

Jeremiah 2:31-32 And you, O generation, behold the word of the LORD. Have I been a wilderness to Israel, or a land of thick darkness? Why then do my people say, ‘We are free, we will come no more to you’? Can a virgin forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? Yet my people have forgotten me days without number.

Luke 17:15-18 Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus answered, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?”

David said, “remember” and “forget not, the benefits and mighty works of God” .

Moses said, “take care lest you forget”, and “is this how you repay the Lord for all of His benefits?” ” “Take care lest you forget the LORD your God by not keeping his commandments and his rules and his statutes, which I command you today, lest, when you have eaten and are full and have built good houses and live in them, and when your herds and flocks multiply and your silver and gold is multiplied and all that you have is multiplied, then your heart be lifted up, and you forget the LORD your God,”

Once again it is recorded another way in Jeremiah, “Yet my people have forgotten me days without number”

We all need reminders. Remember to humbly serve, praise, honor, follow, and obey God. Do not forget His grace and mercy in your time of plenty. Do not forget His gift of salvation through Jesus Christ. Do not forget to seek and desire His whispers of guidance into your heart and soul. Do not lean on your own understanding. Open the door to your heart and soul wide open to His plans and purpose for your life. Yes we all need reminders of encouragement to the steadfast awesome power, might, and love of God.