Remember Me

We all would like to think we will be remembered after we are gone. That our friends and family will keep our memories alive. That we will me missed. I remember crying at my father's funeral over the loss of a father, over the traumatic experience of seeing him completely burned, but mostly because I never knew him. He started traveling around the world installing turbines the year I was born. I didn't grieve the loss of my father. I grieved the loss of never having one. The loss of never knowing what is was like to be Daddy's girl.

I was very young when my father passed away. Years later I learned that, even though I could barely remember him through personal experiences, I could remember him through other people's experiences. I believe there is something important about remembering...you keep people alive in your mind and heart. The Bible gives us this same opportunity. Even though we didn't walk with Jesus, we can remember him through the experiences of the disciples. Jesus told the disciples "Remember Me!" as they shared their last supper.

"Remember Me!" Jesus emphasized that twice during the last supper, which we repeat when we share in Holy Communion. Holy Communion is about remembering Him and Him alone. It is about remembering His love for you and His victory over sin. It seems we have made it into something else...something ritualistic and self center...remember "me"...am "I" worthy. No one is worthy. It is through Jesus' broken body and shed blood that God forgets my sins... but not me. God remembers me!

Whether you had a relationship with your earthly father or not, we have a Heavenly Father who will never leave you nor forsake you... in your sorrow and in your pain...He will remember you!

“Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me." Isaiah 49:15-16

Godly Sorrow

Once my sorrow was for the pain
Of all I stood to lose and yet my sin remained.
This sorrow, born of my pain,
Kept my heart from turning back to Him again.

Now my sorrow is for the sin
That gives offense to God and stains my soul within.
This sorrow of godly pain
Hopes I never give offense to Him again.

Sorrow for my sin brings my soul such pain.
Yet this pain I know
can lead my soul
back to Him again.

Godly sorrow became the start
Of the path that led to a mighty change of heart.
This sorrow out of love
Helps me find the way back to His home above.

Sorrow for my sin
brings my soul such pain.
Yet this pain I know
can lead my soul back to Him again.

"We are about to celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior... and don't you know that while He was born, God and all of heaven were celebrating... but there was also a great burden that night too. The Cross... the most terrible thing to endure... but the very purpose of His coming... the eternal focus even before His coming that weighed upon God's heart. Mmmm... I think we can afford both expressions this Christmas and bless our Father!" Preston Pittman.

There is a side of love that must be shown.
The side that leaves with us a silent moan.

We should not hide this love so deep.
The side I mean that makes us weep.

For what is love so sweet and nice.
That we could give without sacrifice.

Of course the love that's from the heart,
is meant for joy right from the start.

But woven deep within it's passion,
a blood was poured into it's fashion.

This side of love we give is not for loss...
It's rooted in and from the cross.

By: Preston Pittman "This Side Of Love"

Our sorrow can never compare to the pain of the cross or the sorrow God feels over lost souls. Yes, we can express both the joy and the sorrow, but through our sorrow we can touch the heart of God. It is a communion of love, of Him reaching down and touching our pain and our reaching up with a broken and contrite heart.

I have tried to understand the pain that God must feel over His lost children. There have been times when I have felt God’s sorrow. Those are the times when sorrow can just grab a hold of you and transform you. Godly sorrow is a powerful manifestation of the presence of God that touches hearts and draws them into a glimpse of the pain sin brings to the heart of God.

"Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. See what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what concern, what readiness to see justice done..." 2 Corinthians 7:10-11

Sorrow

Just days before Christmas seems like a strange time to be writing about sorrow, but for many, Christmas is a time of great sorrow. It is a very difficult season for people dealing with a loss; whether from a death of a loved one, stressed relationships, financial difficulties, or poor health. It magnifies your loss when you see the world celebrating and frolicking... spreading good cheer and singing "Joy to the World"... because you don't feel that same sense of happiness.

We all have known the pain of sorrow. Whether from a loss or a deep rooted melancholy, the pain is just as real. It doesn't make your pain any less because someone else has a perceived greater loss. Nor does the fact that you are a Christian remove the pain. In Romans Paul refers to his own sorrow over the unfaithfulness of Israel “My conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit—that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart" (Romans 9:1).

I also, have known my share of life's sorrows. My father died from organ failure after having his body completely burned in a power plant accident when I was young. I will never forget the sound of the explosion or the shaking of the ground. Being the youngest, I was the only one home during this traumatic event. I will never forget walking into the emergency room and seeing that horrendous sight. Our family was never the same afterward.

I was recently going through old Christmas photos and realized we stopped celebrating Christmas in our home after my father died. Sometimes we would go to one of my sister's house, sometimes I would go with a friend, but it was never the same after his death. Years later, I was the one who took care of my mother in my home as she was dying of cancer. I was also taking care of three small children, many visiting relatives, and dealing with chronic illness. It took me months to have time to grieve her loss, since I was the one responsible for taking care of everything.

Again years later, after the strain of living with a chronic illness made me barely functional. My husband walked out stating "you are going to end up in a wheelchair and I don't want to take care of you." I was left without home, finances, or insurance and no way to provide them, but God was faithful. Shortly after he left, my friends took me to a Joyce Meyer conference. In the middle of her message God spoke to her to call forward those whose husbands had just left them and tell them that "God will provide for them." Not only did she pray for me, but my friends said I was the only one she blew her anointing on. God has provided and given me hope.

Being a Christian in the midst of sorrow doesn't take away the pain, but it does give us hope. Hope that we will be reunited with our loved ones. Hope “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away” (Revelation 21:4). Hope in the joy of our salvation. "We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope” (1 Thessalonians 4:13).

"Remember the word to Your servant, upon which You have caused me to hope. This is my comfort in my affliction, for Your word has given me life" (Psalm 119:49-50). I have learned that through Christ there is comfort in my afflictions... that God's word gives me life... that the depth of my sorrow is the level of the joy that God will fill the void. True joy doesn't mean happy which is based upon what it happening in our life. True joy comes from the Holy Spirit. True joy comes from knowing our name is written in the lambs book of life. That our sins are forgiven and that we are loved by a heavenly father who loved us so much he sacrificed his only son.

So, this Christmas season, as we celebrate the birth of God's son, Jesus, the Christ. I pray that your hearts will be filled with joy...the true joy of Christmas.