REMEMBER WHO YOU ARE

"Remember who you are." Four words that my Daddy used to say to me over and over again. I would be headed out the door with my friends and I would hear, "Remember who you are." As a teenager I thought, "How could I forget who I am, Dad???" Another phrase I heard often was, "...because of who you are."  I would come home and ask permission to go somewhere or do something and if the request was denied the reason would be "because of who you are."  That used to irritate me to death! Why would his allowing me to go somewhere or do something with my friends have any bearing who *I* was??? Though I didn't always understand, Daddy was trying to remind me to think before I did anything stupid. He wanted me to remember that anything I did, while out of his sight, or any rash decision I made was not going to affect just me. Wherever I went, I took the family name with me. What you do, whether good or bad, right or wrong, shows people who you are, and it tells something about whose you are too. Daddy wanted me to remember that my actions reflected on him and my mother, as well as my Saviour.

I. WE ARE FORGETFUL.

Israel used to forget who and whose they were ALL the time! In First Samuel 12, Samuel is older and nearing death. He is very frustrated with Israel. He is trying to remind them  of all that God has done for them. Now, back in chapter 10:19, he tried to tell them they were rejecting God by asking for a king, but they refused to listen to him. When Samuel talked to God about it all, God calmed him and said, "they have not rejected you, they have rejected me." So here Samuel is, reminding them one last time of all that God has done for them. He says, "turn not from following the Lord." He tells them, "the Lord will not forsake his people for HIS great name's sake." (v. 12) In other words, you may have forgotten God but he has not forgotten you. I wondered,..."How did they get to the place where they had forgotten God? I mean these people had witnessed A LOT of miracles!" FINALLY, they realize what they've done, though not before the loss of many blessings. (Ps.81:10-16) How does one become so forgetful?

II. WE HAVE NO FEAR.

Who likes to be called a "scaredy-cat"? Did you know that are things that we "should be" afraid of? Like, poisonous snakes. (yuck!) And icky spiders. (Grose!) Sometimes we're scared of things we can't see. Like the thought of some stranger swiping our children, or creaky noises outside, at night.  Some people are scared of heights. Not me, I'm scared of falling from them. BUT, in all seriousness, we should be fearful of disobeying God. We should be fearful of what He will think of us. Do you know, if we feared what God thought about us, there'd be no way we could forget Him? Because if we feared Him then all of our decisions would be based on what He thought. Proverbs 8:13 says, "the fear if the Lord is to hate evil."  For example, we should ask ourselves "Would God care if I go there? Would God care if I say that? Would God care if I smoke this? Drink this? Watch this? Wear this? Do that? Have that?" If we actually feared what HE thought about us, we could never forget Him. Did you know that fearing God will bring you riches, honour, and life? (Pro.22:4) Did you know that fearing God helps you to be satisfied with what you have? (Pro.19:23) It also gives you confidence. (Pro.14:26-27) It even brings you God's favour. (Pro. 14:35) You'd think a person would want God's favour, wouldn't you??? Proverbs 1:7 says, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge." Knowledge is something you gain from studying. It makes you smart. So if fearing God makes you smart, then not fearing Him makes you what??? Hhmmm. Fear + Knowledge = God's favour. Seems simple enough. But did you know that you have to CHOOSE to fear God? (Pro.1:25-33) Okay, so what we know so far is, when we don't fear God we lose God's favour, and soon after we forget Him. But I am still wondering, how does a Christian forget God???

III. WE FORGET HOW FRAIL WE ARE.  (Psalm 39)

This passage says "an handbreadth." What is that? It doesn't specify WHOSE, it just says, "an handbreath." Whose to say how big the hand is that God is measuring your life by? Maybe your hand? Maybe mine? What if the hand is the hand of a three year old? What if it is the hand of a giant? Look at your hand right now. What if your life is only as long as the span of YOUR hand? The thing is this, no matter what, we only get one shot at this life.  And none of us knows how long that is going to be. We tend to measure our lives by others, and by other peoples standards instead of God's. We have got to learn to go to the ONE who knows how to make the best use of what we have to offer. Only God can make something beautiful out of dirt! We tend to forget that we only have a handbreadth's amount of time and we throw all caution to the wind and live however we want! We never ask God, or the wise counselors he's placed in our lives,  like our pastor, born-again parents,  godly lay-people in the church or maybe folks who are older and more experienced than we are. We think, "What? 'ask' what I should do?...What if they tell me something I don't want to hear?" If we want the King's favour, we have to choose to fear - and we have know we are frail - and then we will never forget who we are, or whose we are. So, next time you think you are "all that" and say to yourself,  ".. No one can tell me, .. I can do what I want!" Just throw your hand up in front of you and think about how much time you have. And remember whose name you carry.

You know, after I read the first book of Samuel, and I was halfway through the second, I realized something. (Those of you who read your Bibles know that the books of Samuel are mostly about David)

David is known for TWO things:

1. Killing Goliath.

2. Stealing another man's wife.

Before he stole another man's wife, he was known as a "great man, a giant slayer, a great warrior" and he asks God before EVERY battle, "Lord should I go?" or "Lord will you deliver them into my hand?" and God did it EVERY time! But David never asked God before he took Bathsheba. And after her, he is known as an "adulterer." Nothing all that great happened in his life ever again. He forgot WHO he was and WHOSE he was. He forgot to fear. He forgot he was frail. Just remember, you get one shot. One shot at being a kid. One shot at being a teenager. One shot at being an adult. One shot at being a husband, or a wife. One shot at being a dad, or a mom. You're going to make mistakes, but you will make less of them if you seek God FIRST, and pattern your life the way HE wants it. Remember who you are. You are HIS.

For My Son

The Lord has blessed each of my four children with different talents, and thankfully each of them possesses musical abilities. Whether it be vocal or instrumental, I sometimes sit in awe as I listen to them. Last Sunday, as I listened to my oldest son, Jon Groves, sing a solo called "It's Real", I sat there in tears. It was not just his vocal talent that made me a "proud mom", but the fact that he truly believes the words he was singing. I was given the privilege of leading him to the Lord eleven years ago, this month, and to my knowledge he has never doubted his salvation. With that in mind, I wanted to write something this week, just to him. 

Though Jon is a godly young man, with a desire to follow the Lord's leadership in his life, he is still young yet, and certainly just as susceptible to Satan's snares as anyone.  Having said that, I want to say how thankful I am for the Godly men, such as Jon's grandfathers, Rev. Charles W. Savage,II and Dr. Larry M. Groves (just to name a few) that the Lord has placed in my son's life to be an encouragement to him, as well as give him Godly counsel along the way. If you go to Jon's blog "Master Pianist" (you will find the link below) you can see Jon pictured with many of these faithful men.  As his mother, watching him grow physically and spiritually, I know that he is a threat to Satan. I know that Satan will do his best to detour Jon so that he cannot have the kind of testimony that he needs to have for the Lord.  So this weeks blog is dedicated to being a warning against the many snares that Satan will use to try to derail him.

The book of Judges contains the story of Samson. A man who God used to judge Israel. Samson was a man of great physical strength but morally he was very weak. His life was filled with conflict, as he made one poor decision after another. First, in Judges 14, we see him unequally yoked with a Philistine woman, though his parents warned him against it. "My son, keep my words, and lay up my commandments with thee. Keep my commandments and live; and my law as the apple of thine eye." (Proverbs 7:1-2) This is beginning of several chapters in Proverbs that are dedicated to warning about the "strange woman." Next, we see him react with anger when he is done wrong (Judges 14:16 - 15:2) instead of giving God the vengeance that belonged to Him (Romans 12:19).  And as we come to Judges 16, we see Samson's final defeat.....Delilah. I really hate to even give her that much credibility. Delilah was just an instrument, a pawn, that was used by the devil. It was truly his own lack of self-control that defeated Samson.  As you read Judges 16 you will see this free man of God become a slave to a harlot.

SIN BINDS. (v.5-12)

It seems he didn't know himself as good as his enemies did.  For even the Philistines knew Samson's weakness.  You see son, the world will watch you . Your enemy never sleeps when you sleep. They will look for inconsistencies in your life, and they will push you every chance they get. Before you know it you are bound up in sin, and your testimony is destroyed. Why didn't Samson learn the first time? Because when you are backslidden on God you have very little spiritual discernment. Never forget, "A testimony kept is easier than a testimony regained." Many people have fallen into sin and been able to recover, but it is an uphill battle. I am not putting down the testimony of those who have fallen and are now able to use their experiences to help keep others from that same path. However, there is certainly nothing wrong with having a testimony of "I never have, I never did,  or I never tasted, etc." 

SIN BLINDS. (v. 21)

Samson lived by sight instead of faith. He was never truly happy with the things the Lord had blessed him with. His appetite could never be fully satisfied. He always thought there was something better out there than what he already had. Son, you cannot flirt with temptation, nor can you play with it without being burned.  (Proverbs 6:27) When you cast all caution to the wind, you are sure to reap conflict in the whirlwind. The source of Samson's temptation was taken from him,... his sight. How sad when you read verse 20, "And he wist not the LORD was departed from him." He was so far away from God,..... he didn't even miss Him.

SIN BERATES or BELITTLES. (v. 25)

Samson became a mockery to the Philistines. Because of his testimony, God became a mockery to them as well (v.23). The Philistines thought their god was greater than Samson's. This world can only see God through us, son. We are supposed to be lights in this world. (Philippians 2:15) Lust (and all other sins of the flesh) is powerful! It takes away our common sense and decency and makes us its slave.

SIN BURIES. (v. 30)

Just because we have past victories in our life, does not guarantee future ones. We have to FLEE temptation. (James 4:7 & II Timothy 2:22) Samson's sin did NOT just affect him. When we, as Christians, decide to wallow in the muck and mire of this world, we not only tarnish our name, we tarnish God's name. Lost people died and went to hell the very same hour that Samson died.  

Son, take heed to God's Word. God ALWAYS makes a way out! ALWAYS! ALWAYS! ALWAYS! (I Corinthians 10:12-13) Never let someone tell you they couldn't help it. You can help it. The best way to keep from sin, is NOT TO BE THERE!  Proverbs 4:15 says, "Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away." In other words, DON'T GO THERE! 

Parents need to warn their sons and daughters to beware of strange women.