Honey From the Rock

Remembering the Lord's Benefits

• Carrie

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In the middle of suffering, affliction and difficulties, it can be easy to forget what the Lord has done for us and the depth of who He is. However, David gives us a template in Psalm 103 that shows us how to walk through this life by doing one simple thing: remembering. 

When we take time to trace the work of the Lord's hand in our lives...it can shift our perspective and our hearts. It can put us in a place of worshiping the Lord for what He has done. When we remember, we humble ourselves before Jesus, and we see, once again, that our days are in His hands and we can trust Him with everything. He is worthy of our love, our sacrifices, our devotion, and our worship. Today I pray you will join me as we bless the Lord and remember the great things He has done. 

Scriptures (and other things) mentioned:


You can find me on Instagram / Threads


Carrie

Hey everyone, welcome to a brand new episode of Honey from the Rock. I am so glad you are with me on this 20th day of Lent. That is right, my friends. Whether you are observing Lent or not, I am apparently here for all of your time marking needs. Because apparently I have to get on the uh mic and remark on the passing of time. So yeah, 20 days into Lent.

Carrie

We are we are half we are halfway there, friends. Sorry as I say it. Of course, the Bon Joby song comes to mind, and I am not going to sing it. You're welcome. And um I mean, please feel free to blast it in the car after this episode. Um, you know, say hi to Tommy and Gina, which is hilarious because I do have a actually a very, very dear friend and sister in the Lord named Gina. And so now she'll get a kick out of that. But here we are, halfway through Lent. I've apparently lost my mind. Halfway through Lent. So that's exciting.

Carrie

But before I jump into the episode content for today, I want to do a very quick shout-out to my very dear friends Gary Schneeberger and Emily J, who you have now heard on the podcast for January, February, and March. Um, and I just want to thank them for coming on the show, A, for being such phenomenal guests and for the gift of their time, uh, the gift of their stories, their vulnerability and honesty in sharing their walk with Jesus, uh, as well as just things that they have walked through with the Lord, things that they have wrestled through. Um, neither Gary nor Emily have easy stories in the Lord, but they have faithful stories in the Lord. And I was so honored that they um trusted me with their stories. That's just always such a privilege as a friend, but also that they were willing to share what they've learned from Jesus, how they've come to know him in such a deeper and more beautiful way with you all who listen as well. So I pray that you were blessed by those episodes. Uh, and if you haven't had the chance to listen, I will link to them in the show notes. And um Gary's episode is episode 16, and Emily has two episodes, which are episodes 20 and 21.

Carrie

And I have to say, praise the Lord. I have a praise that I want to lift up to Jesus today because I was having issues with Apple Podcasts, and my podcast wasn't the episode, second episode with Emily wasn't showing up, and then it was only showing up on the web. And then finally, about two days later, it finally started showing up in the actual podcast app. So thank you, Lord Jesus, for working that out. And uh so hopefully once this episode goes live, it has no issues being listened to within Apple Podcasts.

Carrie

So with that being said, I want to hop into what I what the Lord's put on my heart for today. And when my mom listens to this episode, she is going to laugh because it is completely different than what we than what we talked about. And you guys, I have to shout out my mom as well for a brief moment because that woman has the patience of a saint. Um, she has the patience of Job, really, for having to put up with her highly verbal processing daughter. And she is so faithful to help me process through and think through and talk through things that the Lord is teaching me, things that I want to share with you all on the podcast, as well as contributing just some of her own amazing ideas and thoughts. And so we had a really long conversation today as I was trying to figure out what to record and what we talked about will show up on a future episode.

Carrie

Uh, but as I was sitting with the Lord, I just felt like it wasn't quite time, not that it's like some deep dark spiritual revelation, but there are some times that I want to talk about things, and then I realize as I go to research and I go to study the word and and I sit with Jesus and ask the Holy Spirit to help me dig into this subject to know him more first, uh obviously, and then to be able to share it on the podcast. Um, sometimes there's just not that depth that I want between me and Jesus first. And sometimes I haven't thought far enough down the road about how tackling certain subjects will require more than one episode, and I need to plan that out. And I'm also in the middle of outlining a new Bible study that I am writing, which I've written several, and I am working on making sure that they are edited and sound grammatically correct and read well and are thoughtful, and I will eventually um put them, put them out for people to be able to download and do if they want to. Um, and one of the this next Bible study that I'm working on is on the fruit of the spirit, which has led down 17 rabbit trails, and but I'm pretty excited about it. So that's just a little teaser for you all. That's not what I'm talking about today.

Carrie

Today I am actually talking about something that has come up in several conversations with friends, with my mom, um, just in in between me and the Lord. And I want to actually talk about Psalm 103 today. And what I want to really touch on in this psalm, which is incredible, it's an amazing psalm, is it's what the psalm really challenges us to do and how it calls forth some things from us as we walk with the Lord that we can hold on to, that we can stand firm in when we are facing suffering or affliction or trials, things that we can remember when we have to come to the Lord in repentance, when we have sinned against him, when we have um absolutely rebelled against him, been belligerent against him, which we have all done. And so as we go through Psalm 103 today, I'm not gonna sit down and read the whole thing. I'm actually probably just gonna concentrate on the on the beginning of the psalm.

Carrie

Um, I want to I want to use the psalm as the basis for the act of remembering. And this is something that has come up in several conversations, particularly in the conversation with my friend Gina, who I referenced earlier. Um, we um we meet over Zoom every Friday, and we had a conversation about the Sabbath, because the Lord commands the Israelites in the Ten Commandments to remember the Sabbath and keep it holy. And it's just led into a really great discussion and a lot of thoughtful prayer and study on what does it really mean to remember? And why is that a command that comes throughout scripture from the Lord to his people? Things that we're not to forget, um, things that, you know, we are to stick into our hearts, that we're to call to mind. You know, there's lots of different ways that the command to remember is talked about throughout scripture.

Carrie

And as I was sitting with the Lord and and reading the word and and trying to kind of finalize what I wanted to share with you today, this is just what I kept coming back to is this this command and and really this act of worship regarding remembering. And the other thing that really kind of sparked this is I have been listening to Shane and Shane's hymns album, and then they have an album as uh based on the psalms as well. They're both phenomenal albums. I can't recommend them enough. I'll put a link to those in the show notes as well. But there is a song that kind of has a section of Psalm 103 in it, I think. I don't know if I don't know if the Getty the Geddies writ wrote this with Shane and Shane, and I don't know if they pulled it from it, but I wanted to read a section of it to you before we get started and just kind of set the tone. So the song called is called His Mercy Is More, and I love in particular this verse, um, this verse out of the song.

Carrie

So it says, "What riches of kindness he lavished on us? His blood was the payment, his life was the cost. We stood neath a debt we could never afford. Our sins they are many, his mercy is more. And the chorus says, Praise the Lord, his mercy is more, stronger than darkness, and new every morn. Our sins they are many, his mercy is more. Stronger than darkness, new every morn, our sins they are many, but his mercy is more."

Carrie

And I cry, I tear up every time I hear that song because it's just A, the way they sing it is incredible. But it it provokes that response to me because it provokes that discipline and act of remembering. And is there some of it in there of like, gosh, Lord, I am, I am a sinner. My sins, they are many, but your mercy is more. You, Lord, you were so willing to come and die for me, you know, and that remembrance. Yes.

Carrie

But also it it provokes that gratitude of, oh my gosh, Lord Jesus, you suffered under the debt of my sin, of our sin and and our sins there. But because you are a you are holy and and you can't abide sin, but also because you desired that we would be reconciled to you, that we would have a way to be reconciled to you, you willingly went and decided to be obedient to death, even death on a cross. And in that act of remembering, and in just that simple, beautiful line, our sins there are many, but his mercy is more. You know, praise the Lord to remember, you know, it's it's why Amazing Grace resonates with us, right?

Carrie

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now I'm found, was blind, but now I see. Some of those hymns just do such a beautiful job of reminding us what we've been saved from, reminding us of the pit that that Jesus has pulled us from, that the Father has redeemed us from, that the Holy Spirit has redeemed us from. And so I want to read a little bit of Psalm 103 because it really, I really do believe it is the foundation for those songs, but it also ties into um what I am talking about here. So, Psalm 103, and I'm reading it in the NASB.

Carrie

And this is a Psalm of David. Bless the Lord, my soul, and all that is within me. Bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, my soul, and do not forget any of his benefits, who pardons all your guilt, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with favor and compassion, who satisfies your years with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle. The Lord performs righteous deeds and judgments for all who are oppressed. He made known his ways to Moses, his deeds to the sons of Israel. The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in mercy. He will not always contend with us, nor will he keep his anger forever. He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor rewarded us according to our guilty deeds. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his mercy towards those who fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our wrongdoings from us. Just as a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him, for he himself knows our form, he is mindful that we are nothing but dust. As for man, his days are like grass, like a flower of the field, so he flourishes. When the wind has passed over it, it is no more, and its place is no longer, and its place no longer knows about it. But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting, to those who fear him, and his justice to the children's children, to those who keep his covenant, and remember his precepts so as to do them. The Lord has established his throne in the heavens, and his sovereignty rules over all. Bless the Lord, you his angels, mighty in strength who perform his word, obeying the voice of his word. Bless the Lord, all you his angels, you who serve him doing his will. Bless the Lord, all you works of his in all places of his dominion. Bless the Lord, my soul.

Carrie

So I ended up reading the whole thing. Thank you for sticking with me. But I actually felt like it was important. It's good to read the word of the Lord and to remember the things that he has said to us. And as I was reading this psalm um earlier and studying it, I I loved the reminder from David, Bless the Lord, my soul, and do not forget any of his benefits. And just again, there's that command, even though it doesn't specifically say the word, it's it's saying, Don't forget, don't forget any of his benefits. And, you know, it's interesting the way that we translate certain thoughts or words and stuff, you know, from different languages into our English language.

Carrie

And oftentimes it's difficult because how certain languages express themselves, it can be difficult to capture the thought of what someone's trying to express into English, because you know, English is also difficult. But what I love here is when David says don't forget any of his benefits, you know, initially it could be like, oh, well, you know, we just need to remember all the things that the Lord has done for us and he's just crushed it. And, you know, just all of all of the things he offers. You know, sometimes when I've read the word benefits, A, it makes me think of like insurance, you know, which I know is not what the Lord is saying here, but in our own vernacular, the word benefit has such a um transactional meaning to it now. And so I think sometimes it's easy to read that word and not not hit the depth of what of what scripture is saying. And at least that's how it's been for me.

Carrie

So, of course, friends, you know what time it is. It is time for me to tell you what I have studied on Biblehub.com and read in the topical lexicon because they are my most favorite things outside. I love mm, I love study tools. So the word benefits, it's it's such an interesting word, and I will not try to pronounce it in Hebrew, and of course I say that, and then at some point I'm gonna slip and try and say it. Gamul? I think that's how it's said. I did listen to it this time on the translator, but you know, who knows? G-E-M-U-L. That's gamul. We're gonna go with that. Um, that's the word in the Hebrew, and here's what it here's here's kind of the depth of meaning in it. So, really what it means is his dealings. So there is benefit in it, and there is reward, but there's also recompense in dealing.

Carrie

So, Brown Driver Briggs um talks about those three attributes, and then of course the topical lexicon goes into this. So, don't forget his dealings with us and think about this in the context of what David then lists afterwards. So the word means what is rendered back to someone for prior actions, whether reward for good or retribution for evil. The term carries moral weight, it assumes just correspondence between deed and consequence under the righteous governance of God. But here's what's amazing is in the Hebrew, this is what it means. But when we look at what Jesus did for us, we see that this word actually takes on a different, different meaning. And and the Hebrew lexicon touches on it.

Carrie

It talks about um Gamul reaches its climactic paradox where sin's deserved recompense falls on innocent Jesus while we receive grace, right? And that's that's hitting the ultimate paradox where you know, don't forget his and you know, the Lord's dealings with us are he's always just, he's always equitable. And yet, if the Lord took the weight of his justice to its fullest extent, if Jesus hadn't come, then we wouldn't receive grace, we wouldn't receive mercy, we would see receive the just punishment for our sins. And yet Jesus has come that we would have a way for our sins to be covered, to be washed away, and for our lives to be transformed from sin to a life of righteousness, as Peter says in 1 Peter, I think it's 1 Peter 2. And so, so think about that. You know, this this word talks about his dealings and his benefits and the recompense, and yet at the height of the Lord's grace and mercy, and also his justice and his holiness, stands the cross, stands the sacrifice of Jesus, stands the perfection of our Lord, and in all of his innocence and the purity and absolute, complete and total 100 submission percent submission to the will of the Lord.

Carrie

And yet the New Testament also still talks about this idea of this Hebrew word, because Paul also writes in 1 Corinthians 3:8 that we will each receive according to our reward, right? According to what we've done, the good and the bad and the body. So we there's still there is still that idea of recompense and consequence and reward in in the New Testament. But I loved what they what um what the topical lexicon wrote. This this idea of each of us receiving our just reward shows the continuity, not contradiction of this principle from the Old Testament into the new. The gospel satisfies justice and empowers transformed living that still anticipates final recompenses at Jesus' return. And so that's kind of what's all wrapped up in this word benefit.

Carrie

Don't forget the Lord's benefit, don't forget his dealing with us, don't forget the times that he was completely just and righteous to deal with us according to our sin, where we have experienced his chastisement and his rebuke and his correction, which we need. We need. Again, going, I know I reference it a lot, but going back to Hebrews 12, man, you know, the writer there says, Don't get tired of the Lord's discipline. Be thankful for it. You know, be thankful that as a loving father, he chooses not to let us continue in our rebellion, but in his, in his rebuke and in his correction and in his discipline of us, he is trying to draw us back to us to show us the error of our ways, that we would then respond to him and ask for forgiveness, identify what we need to deal with and deal with it according to his word and be cleansed from it according to the gracious gift of Jesus, that he has washed us and cleansed us from our sins in his own blood. And that's not just a one-time thing. The cleansing and the confession and the repentance, we need to be in a practice of that before the Lord. We need to be responding to the Holy Spirit when he convicts us and deals with us.

Carrie

And that is a benefit. I mean, praise the Lord that that he, while he is just and he is holy, he is also kind and he is also gracious, and that he meets us where we are, but that he also he also doesn't leave us the way that he finds us. And he delights in conforming us to the image of Jesus. It's actually part of one of my favorite uh A. W. Tozer quotes, and I'm sure I've probably shared it on the on the show before, but it Tozer once said, "When I remember that. The primary purpose of things that happen to me are to conform me to the image of Jesus, it relieves a great deal of anxiety."

Carrie

And I love that quote for a number of different reasons. One of them is Tozer's acknowledgement that hey, we start going through things and we do, we get anxious. We we start to give in to the sense of the moment or the difficulty or the exhaustion in endurance. And you know, we cry out to the Lord and we ask him, why is this happening to me? What is going on? And but also it again, it's that it's that challenge to remember, right? When I remember that one of the things that the Lord is doing in the circumstances of my life, well, there may be eight million other things that he's doing. One of the things that he is doing is he is trying to conform me into the image of Jesus. He wants to see the likeness of his son radiating from my life. And that is that is difficult because we are sinful human beings.

Carrie

You know, Paul tells us that it's a it's crucifixion, right? It's it's Galatians 2.20, for I am crucified with Jesus. I don't live anymore. It's Jesus who lives within me. You know, later in Galatians 6, he talks about crucifying me to the world and the world to me. Jesus himself tells us to take up our cross that we that we forsake ourselves, we forsake, you know, all the things that we that we long for, all the things that we desire, we forsake them. And in the picking up of the cross that Jesus appoints, we then let him shape and and mold our life. And we let him shape and mold the things that we have laid down. And some of those things we need to leave, laid down. But there are other things, other desires that we have laid down that Jesus then so beautifully picks back up and he shapes and he molds for his purpose. And and that is what he desires to do.

Carrie

And that's what David is pointing out here. He's saying, Don't forget the benefits, don't forget how the Lord has dealt with you. Yes, and discipline, but also remember, don't forget his benefits. Don't forget that in his dealing with you, he has pardoned all of your guilt. He has healed all of your diseases, he's redeemed your life from the pit, he's crowned you with favor and compassion, he's satisfied your years with good things, so that your youth is renewed as the eagle. And further on on down, where he says that the Lord has not dealt with us according to our sin. He's not rewarded us according to our guilty deeds. As high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his mercy towards those who fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed his our our wrongdoings from us. And and these are the things that the Lord has done for us.

Carrie

And and though David speaks in specific generalities, for lack of a better way to put it, we all can read these words and we can go back and we can think about areas where we know that the Lord has forgiven us. We know he has redeemed our life from the pit. You know, I know I shared a few weeks ago about the Lord healing my guacamole allergy. You know, I was not, I did not ask the Lord to do that. He just decided to do it. And and the Lord still heals physically, yes, but man, how many, I don't know about you friends, but I know my own heart and I know my own soul and I know my own mind and I know how sick I have been in there. I know the sins that have sat the like disease within me and have eaten away at me, the things within me that have distorted reality and made me selfish. You know how selfish I have been, where there's been envy and pride and gluttony and and uh strife and all sorts of things and things that I can freely own because I know that Jesus came to save sinners. I know that he came to redeem those who are sick.

Carrie

And so I I praise the Lord that that, yes, there's been some physical healing in my life, and I am so thankful for that, but even more than that, if Jesus had never chosen to heal me physically from anything, it would still be enough. It would be enough, it'd be more than enough that he had chosen to sacrifice himself and shed his blood so that I would have the opportunity to be healed heart, mind, soul, spirit, body, in the in the ways that sin has eaten me up. And so in the midst of Lent, you know, we're halfway through Lent, and and part of Lent is remembering the temptation of Jesus, the way that he overcame the devil in the desert, culminating in the way that Jesus overcame the devil and his own will and his own flesh in the garden, fully submitting to the Lord.

Carrie

I think it is so important in the midst of whatever we're trying to face, and and please hear me that this is not a just pluck yourself up by the bootstraps, buttercup, suck it up and let's get over it. But it's it's not that at all. It is, it is actually that when we are in the midst, when we are in the midst of agony, we we we can cry out to the Lord and ask him where he's at. We can ask him what he's doing, we can we can question him and and give all of our doubts and our anxieties and struggles, we can pour them forth on him.

Carrie

But also, friends, we also have a choice of how we worship him in the things that we're walking through. And I want to encourage you in in the spiritual discipline, and I am encouraging myself in the spiritual discipline of remembering. Remember what the Lord has done. Remember the places where he could have extended judgment or deep consequence to something that we've done. And instead, in our confession, in our repentance, in our coming to him and owning what we've done, he's extended incredible mercy. He's poured out grace upon us. The way that he has redeemed our life from the pit, from the very snatches of hell, that he has given us the opportunity to come to know him and to walk with him, that he redeems us from a life of sin, that we might live a life of righteousness, as Peter tells us in 1 Peter 2.

Carrie

All of the things, you know, forgetting what is what is behind in terms of what is behind us in leaving our old life behind. And when we do remember, all we remember is what Jesus has saved us from. We don't go back and relive things and rehash things and sit in shame. And I know that that's so difficult sometimes to because we feel so ashamed of things that we've done or ashamed and things that have happened to us. But praise the Lord that in the gift of remembering, what we have to remember is Him, where He has snatched us from, what He has saved us from, what He has done in our lives, that we would come to know Him, the freedom that we have in Him to wrestle with difficult questions and with suffering, that the Lord looks at us and He sees that we are made of dust. He knows we're like a vapor. He knows we're like the grass that is beautiful and glorious one day and the next day is gone. And all of these things are true. And in the spiritual discipline of remembering, we don't fall into the trap of remembering past things that have happened to us, but we engage in the act of remembering as worship. Right?

Carrie

We remember as as the Israelites, right? The Israelites set up, um, I think in 1 Samuel is where it's first called in Ebenezer, but the Lord required them to set up 12 stones in the Jordan before they passed over it into the promised land. So many commands throughout um their time in the wilderness of remembering the Lord. Again, as I mentioned earlier, I was talking with my friend Gina about the Sabbath. Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy. And in Deuteronomy 5, he he expounds on that even further. Keep the Sabbath day. Your animals don't work, your maidservants don't work, your men servants don't work, you don't work. Why? To remember that you were slaves in Egypt and there was nothing you could have done to deliver yourself. And and and to rest and remember that day, to rest and remember the Sabbath in rest of the Lord reminds us that we there is nothing we could have done to save ourselves. In the same way that the Israelites remembered how the Lord delivered them out of Egypt.

Carrie

We also see that and we can remember, but specific to ourselves, we can remember that there is nothing we could have done to redeem ourselves. It was only by coming to Jesus and laying our lives down before him and surrendering, surrendering ourselves to him and believing him when he says that he loves us, that he's called us, that he has forgiven us, that he has washed us, that he has purpose for us in his kingdom, that he wants union with us and he wants us to know him, and he wants us to grow and mature in knowing him and walk out the part that we have in his kingdom, that he wants us to experience his love and his mercy and his grace. All of those things are the truth that we can find ourselves standing on when we face difficulty and suffering, whether whatever we're walking through.

Carrie

And so, friends, as as as I wrap up here, I one other thing that I wanted to touch on is something that I read just a few minutes ago. In in remembering, um David says that the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting for those who fear him. And I wanted to touch on this word fear very quickly, mainly because it's been another part of discussions that I've been having with a few people. But I wanted to read this definition from the topical lexicon because I feel like, you know, the word fear is everywhere in our culture now. And obviously it's something that's all throughout scripture. And we know oftentimes when fear is talked about in relation to the Lord, it is a reverence and an awe. You know, and there is also, I mean, Jesus says, don't fear the people who can kill your body, but fear he who can send both body and soul into hell. You know, there is there is that fear, uh, and and it's not an act of I'm always afraid of the Lord and He's gonna crush me like a bug.

Carrie

It's it's not that, but it's it's remembering who we're dealing with. He is slow to anger, he is abounding in steadfast love and mercy, but he is also still God, and and he is omnipotent, he is all powerful, he is completely holy, and he is perfect, and and yet he has also so graciously come down to us and and given us the opportunity to know him.

Carrie

But I love this word fear in particularly in he in um Psalm 103, and he and here's what the topical lexicon had to say this word fear portrays a posture of humble submission to the living God, the wellspring of obedience, wisdom, justice, and worship. Wherever this fear flourishes, covenant life thrives. Wherever it fades, ruin follows. And and the basis of it being that reverential awe of the Lord. Topic the topical lexicon also says traces of this this word in the Hebrew, which I'm definitely not going to try and pronounce, but it traces an arc that binds covenant obedience, worship, wisdom, and also communal ethics, which is something that's talked about uh throughout scripture as the Lord addresses the nation of Israel. But then we also see it into the New Testament. Um, fear intensifies rather than dampens praise, right?

Carrie

So the the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting to those who fear him, to those who humbly submit to him and and drink deeply of his wellspring, of the grace that's given to us to obey him, um, to to uh to come under his gift of wisdom, to really truly learn um his ways and and to worship him. And I and I love that because uh specifically the fear of the Lord intensifying rather than dampening praise ties back into something else that um the topical lexicon said about benefits, and it talks about benefits in relation to our worship, and it says remembering all his benefits cultivates gratitude, preventing spiritual amnesia, and fostering humility. And so I love that those two things really, really tie together.

Carrie

And so, friends, I pray that as as we meditate on Psalm 103, as we read just some of the amazing, glorious truths that are in this particular psalm and and the way, the way that this psalm then calls our attention to other parts of the word, that we would that we would practice the spiritual discipline of remembering, that we would not let ourselves in in our in our weakness sometimes.

Carrie

And again, I know I I have walked through a lot of physical suffering, I have walked through a lot of difficulty, a lot of grief. And I have found myself in places where I have faltered in my faith and I and I can own that, where I have cried out to the Lord, how long, oh Lord, will we have to endure? How long is this going to go on? I'm weary and I'm tired and and I don't want to keep going through this. And and I've been completely honest with him.

Carrie

But also that in those places where I'm catching myself or I'm recognizing my propensity to kind of spiral out of control sometimes, to go back to the spiritual discipline of remembering. You know what, Lord? Yes, these things have happened. Yes, this has been difficult. Yes, Lord, I've I've struggled and I've I've wrestled and I'm exhausted. But you know what? Today, what I can do, Lord, is I can remember. I can remember the ways that you have shown up in my life. I can trace the line of your faithfulness through all the years of my life. I can see the hand of grace and mercy upon me. I can remember those beautiful times of experiencing that overwhelming feeling of grace and forgiveness and washing. When and at the same time knowing that I didn't deserve it. And at and then also right after that being flooded with your love. Lord, the way that you have sustained me when I didn't think I could keep going on days where grief threatened to overwhelm me and a broken heart seemed to suffocate me, Lord, that with every inhale and with every exhale, I am reminded that you are the one who gives me breath, that you are the breath of life to me.

Carrie

And and friend, it just just the act of remembering there in walking with Jesus, even though there is difficulty and there is suffering, it is absolutely possible. And it is absolutely necessary to trace his hand. It is absolutely an act of worship to stand in defiance against the enemy who wants to discourage us and wants to pull us down into crazy remembering of things that have been done or shame where we've been forgiven or old wounds that he loves to pick at and fester, where we decide to say, no, I'm not going to do it. I'm not going to let you do that to me, devil.

Carrie

What I am going to do is I'm going to worship the Lord and I'm going to remember his faithful deeds. I'm going to proclaim his faithful acts. I'm going to worship him for his amazing sacrifice. I'm going to thank him for saving me. I'm going to thank him that everything that he does is for my benefit and for my good. And that when I am with him in eternal life, that I will have years without end with him, that will be glorious. And that in this life, even though there will be difficulty, that the things he does make my life good.

Carrie

And so, friends, as we wrap up this episode and as we look towards Easter, as we look toward Holy Week, and we look towards Monday Thursday and Good Friday, Silent Saturday, and Easter Sunday, I pray that the Lord would stir the waters of our heart and that we would respond to Him in that stirring. That as we stare down difficult situations in life, as we are walking through suffering or affliction, as we are wrestling with sin and trying to come against temptation, as we are just trying to live this life in Jesus, that we would see the gift that remembering is, and that we would use it as a tool that the Lord has given us. When we are feeling discouraged, when when life just seems so difficult, that for a moment we would pause and we would look back at our lives and we would remember how kind and gracious and loving the Lord has been towards us. And that in that remembering, it would stir our hearts to worship him and to magnify his name for the great and mighty things that he has done for us.

Carrie

And so I would encourage you to go read Psalm 103. You know, think about the things that David says to us, where he talks about how he has forgiven us, how he has poured out his grace and you know, his favor and compassion, how he has performed righteous deeds towards us, remembering times of his compassion and his grace, how he has absolutely poured out his mercy on us, and that we would rise up with David and with countless others throughout the history of the church and brothers and sisters around the world today, and that we would take a moment and we would remember, and that we would say, with all of the love in our hearts towards the Lord, bless the Lord. Oh my soul. Amen.

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Carrie Kintz

Host