Always Remember

Several years ago, we were leaving a church that my husband had started and we had nursed for thirteen years of our lives. I had one last time that I needed to speak to my ladies. I had cried with these ladies. I had laughed with these ladies. I loved every single one of them. The lesson that I gave was the five things that I hoped I had taught them that I always wanted them to remember. This is that lesson.

1. Always remember God is in control.

"The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will." Proverbs 21:1
"Man’s goings are of the LORD; how can a man then understand his own way?" Proverbs 20:24
"A man’s heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps." Proverbs 16:9
"Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth." Psalm 124:8

My daughter Wendy wanted to ride a roller coaster when she was very young. But she was terrified of losing control. Finally, her desire was so great that we did a unit study on roller coasters. We studied how they were engineered. We studied the science behind them. We looked up the safety standards. We researched the history and the various kinds of roller coasters. At the end of our study, we went to Worlds of Fun in Kansas City, and rode the Orient Express. After all of our reading, she still had to sit down in the car and trust someone else to throw the switch. And she had the time of her life. She loves roller coasters now.

We can try our very bests to control our lives, but ultimately we have to trust God to control the ride. When we do, we can enjoy the ride.

2. Always remember God is real.

I've been in church now for over 45 years. I've been accepted Christ as my Savior when I was five, over 42 years ago. I've seen Christians suffer and triumph. I've seen Christians suffer and give up. The reason some Christians make it through the grievous storms of life and others run from the sprinkles is that to the first group, God is real.

We serve a real God. He has a real will for our lives. He really will work in your heart and in your life.

"But it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord GOD, that I may declare all thy works." Psalm 73:28
"Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God." Hebrews 3:12
"Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice." Psalm 55:17
"But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." Hebrews 11:6

Walk with God page after page, verse after verse, day after day.

3. Always live with eternity's values in view.

"Only one life, so soon it is past. Only what's done for Christ will last."

• An inconvenience today is worth a victory tomorrow.
• Nothing on this earth outside of the souls of men is anything more than temporary to God.

"Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." Matthew 6:19-21
"How much better is it to get wisdom than gold! and to get understanding rather to be chosen than silver!" Proverbs 16:16
"Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven." Proverbs 23:5
"Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever." 1 John 2:15-17

4. Always remember: I must decrease and He must increase.

God's purpose is infinitely more important that my preference.

"He must increase, but I must decrease." John 3:30
"And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence." Colossians 1:18

5. Always live simple.

• Fear God and keep His commandments.

"Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man." Ecclesiastes 12:13

• Be a good wife.
• Be a good mother.

"The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things; That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed." Titus 2:2-4

• Have a good testimony.

"By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God." Hebrews 11:5

That's really the bottom line, isn't it, that we have a testimony that we please God.