Connecting with God through remembrance is entering into His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise (Psalm 100). When we begin to thank Him and be grateful for what He has done and is doing, we enter into closeness with Him in our daily encounters.
“I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name's sake, and you have not grown weary. But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. Yet this you have: you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.” Revelation 2:2-7
If you are beginning to feel your relationship with God is growing stale, incorporate remembrance into your daily encounters. Revelation 2:2-7 shares how the church in Ephesus was exhorted in their patient endurance and had not grown weary. But one thing Jesus had against them was they abandoned the love they had at first. Have you lost the passion and fire for loving God when you first met Him? The cure for finding the love that you had at first is remembering! Remember what God has called you out of. Remember the encounters you had with Him when He showed His faithfulness and goodness to you. Remember how He performed miracles in your life. Remember how He walked you through the darkest valley and lead you beside still waters. Remember how He restored you! Remembrance brings us back to our first love.
If remembering the past is difficult, know that Jesus is the Healer and is extending healing to you. Ask Jesus where He was with you in the past. Ask Him for His presence that brings healing to every hurtful memory and give them to God. You are creating new memories with Him now! He is faithful to you and will walk with you. God promises that He does not abandon you! Deuteronomy 31:8 says, “It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”
