#61 - Forgotten

Good morning! Can you share with me the excitement, the satisfaction, the pride you can have when you know you are obedient to the Lord? When you have done something that HE has instructed you to do. You have not procrastinated, you may not have gotten it down quite perfect yet, but you have completed the assignment. What a good feeling. What a good feeling to be obedient knowing that because of obedience and diligence, great rewards are on the horizon. Praise the Lord! :) Well.... let's get started.


Reading Schedule: Proverbs 31:10-31, Proverbs 2, Psalms 2, 32, 62, 92, 122

Proverbs 2:16b-17 - ...to deliver you from the alien woman...Who forsakes the husband and guide of her youth and forgets the covenant of her God. 

Psalms 32:3-5 - When I kept silence [before I confessed], my bones wasted away through my groaning all the day long. For day and night Your hand [of displeasure] was heavy upon me...I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I did not hide. I said, I will confess my transgressions to the Lord [continually unfolding the past till all is told]--then You [instantly] forgave me the guilt and iniquity of my sin...

Psalms 92:13-15 - Planted in the house of the Lord, they shall flourish in the courts of our God. [Growing in grace] they shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be full of sap [of spiritual vitality]... They are living memorials...  

Proverbs 31:11 - The heart of her husband trusts in her confidently and relies on and believes in her securely, so that he has no lack of [honest] gain or need of [dishonest] spoil. 

Wow! What fullness in the very words. What fullness in the Words we can read. It's almost as the verses above tell a story. A story of a woman who had forgotten... a woman who once knew God, who once had a relationship with Him, but allowed it to slip away. Forgot. Faded. Imagine if that same woman would have continued on.... confessing all her sins to the Lord, acknowledging it all, just spilling everything to the Lord.... all the while, He already knew all of her sins. Unfolding the past till all is told. What beauty in the very transparency of it all. The sweetness of release takes place, guilt is lifted. Guilt is taken away, and newness of life occurs. A new lease on life begins. 


If the alien woman would have continued.... continued on further in her walk with the Lord until she was living a life that was flourishing. Firmly planted in her relationship with God. Firmly planted in her devotion to a living Savior! What beauty! Continually growing in grace, greeting old age in fullness, in SPIRITUAL VITALITY! The words alone express victory. Express one who has lived a life full of victory and still charging forward with fervor. Spiritual Vitality. Living in old age, lasting, pursuing life to the fullest. A victory of being known as a living memorial! A living memorial! Typically a memorial is a tribute to someone who has done something great, but who has passed away. Imagine this alien woman, changing her course and direction, to get into her older years and be recognized by people around as a living memorial! She is CONTINUING to do great things! She has made her name great. She has served with greatness. She has pursued with passion. She has followed her one true love, her Lord and Savior, Jesus. And what is a result of it all? How does it affect her marriage? It affects her marriage in such a great way. It affects her marriage in total belief, respect and reliance from her husband. He does not rely on her in a weak sense... in a sense that he has given over leadership to her, he has not. He is 100% man. He is 100% leader of their marriage. But, he has allowed himself to be vulnerable to believing in her. Her roots are so firmly planted in the Lord, that he can trust her. He does not have to second guess her decisions. He does not have to have a hint of doubt when she does something. From the very CORE of his being, he knows that what she does, she has reason. What she does, there is purpose. What she does, even if it may seem questionable at the way it is approached, he knows in the depths of him that she most definitely has been led by the Holy Spirit, and the fullness of her actions will unfold to show the greatness of God's plan. He trusts her. 


He trusts her fully.


If only. If only the alien woman would have chose to change her course. She could have experienced this all. She could have experienced a life more fulfilling than the danger or risque life she was living. Lurking on corners. Never being fully loved by a man. Never experiencing the fullness of friends or fulfillment towards a worthy cause. If only she would have not forgotten the God of her youth. 


Today... where are you in the story? 

• Are you at the cross roads? Are you there at the point where you need to choose.... choose a life living for the world or a life living for your God?
• Are you at the place of repentance? Are you full of guilt and shame? Does it feel like it is hurting your heart, like it just wants to break from your chest? Are you at a place where you just need to spill all.... run to the Savior you know is there. Run to the Friend that you know will be there in Jesus? Are you in that place? Where you need to repent? 
• Maybe you are in the place where victory you are experiencing? You are firmly planted? You are now working towards leaving your lasting mark on this world. Leaving a mark that will carry on for generations. Maybe you are working on being that living memorial? 
• Or maybe you are there, desiring to be the spouse you know you need to be. Desiring to have such complete trust and unity with your spouse. Desiring to change the dirty. Desiring to change the hesitancy in his thoughts about your actions.... not knowing if your next actions will be for yourself or what you both know God would want. Maybe you are at the place where, like the Proverbs 31 woman, her husband trusts her completely. Has NO lack of honest gain. Has full confidence, respect and trust in her. Maybe YOU are working to grow in this area. This area where your husband does not doubt you or question you, but fully trusts all your actions. 

Wherever you are today... pray. Take the next step. Choose God. Repent. Ask for forgiveness. Continue aggressively to make a difference. Or begin to BE the trustworthy person. Begin the pursuit to be a trusted wife & living memorial, to leave a lasting impact on this world.

Today.... ask yourself.... where am I in this story? Where am I? What do I need to do next. 

Do not be the forgotten. Do not forget the God of your youth. Do not pursue life forgetting the most important Guide. Leader. Director of life. It would most certainly be a life of unfulfillment and loss to live having forgotten.

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Thanks so much! I am equally blessed to hear what the Lord says each day. I love to hear His Voice and follow His direction. There is no better thing in life to know when you are hearing your Creator, and being obedient to His Voice. 


Thanks again for reading. I am blessed to have you as a brother or sister in Christ. Until we meet....

                            Xoxo, 

                                      Amy J.

Follow me on Twitter: @amyjmccart