05-02-2023

FORGETFULNESS (OR MEMORY LOSS)

 

This subject today is very, very delicate for many older people.  It is something very difficult to talk about because it is so personal - and, therefore, it makes it very embarrassing for so many.  When somebody says to us, “Don’t you remember?” - we absolutely HATE to say, “No” - especially when it’s a family thing, or a very personal thing between you and someone you care about deeply.  

 

In fact, it’s so embarrassing that a lot of older people will not even acknowledge that they can’t remember things that others say occurred - so it puts a limitation on the conversation and it makes it difficult.  

 

BUT, BROTHERS AND SISTERS, GOD HAS A WAY!!!!!  Of course, He does - He has a way for everything.

 

I’m going to read a portion of Scripture here - 1 Peter 1:3-9 - I want to get to verse 9 - but we really need to listen to the other verses - because it all goes together.  I’m going to read it slowly - and I want you to really take this in.

 

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.  In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen, you love.  Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, RECEIVING THE END OF YOUR FAITH - THE SALVATION OF YOUR  SOULS.”

 

I have read these verses over and over and over and I have read what Andrew Wommack has written in his Living New Commentary on these verses - and this is what I have come to see.  Yes - our spirit man was made alive at the new birth and all those wonderful gifts were placed in our new alive spirit - and yes, we call that our salvation.  But, the soul, where the mind, will and emotions are, will not receive salvation (or newness) unless we renew our minds.  As we renew our minds, we begin to think like the Lord thinks (in our souls) AND GOD DOESN’T EVER FORGET ANYTHING!!!!!!!!!

 

Therefore, the renewing of our minds can have a huge effect on our lives - BUT WE HAVE TO ACCESS IT.

I’m quoting here from Andrew Wommack’s New Living  Commentary on this verse about the salvation of our souls.  “The spirit is the part of us that was born again at salvation, but there is also a salvation of the soul.  Peter spoke of that here  This takes place when we renew our minds and receive into our soulish and/or physical realm the salvation that is already complete in our spirits.  For instance, in our born again spirits, there is always perfect love, joy, peace, etc. But these emotions aren’t always evident in our souls.  However, if we renew our minds by God’s Word and believe His promises, the love, joy, and peace in our new recreated spirits will spill over into our souls.  Then we are receiving the end  (completion) of our salvation - everything that already abides in our spirits, manifesting in our soul.”

 

Now - here’s the scripture about renewing the mind - we’ve talked about this before - but we need to again.  It’s Romans 12:1-2 - “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.  And do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”

 

So - this is what the Lord has shown me regarding this subject of today - FORGETFULNESS (OR MEMORY LOSS).

 

As we take in the Word of God, we begin to think like God thinks about people, places, things, about God Himself, about the past, the present and the future.  When we get so used to communicating with our wonderful LORD, we truly begin to see life and everything in it, the way God does.  Therefore, our mind, will, and emotions (which are in our souls) are not like they used to be.  We talk to the Lord so much as we go through our day-to-day lives, that we know we can talk to Him about anything.  Prayer becomes just a continual conversation with the Lord, rather than just a 30 minute time of telling Him about what you want.  Therefore, because your mind is daily renewed by the Word and by communion with the Lord, it is no longer the way it used to be.  I can just say to Him, “Lord, I want to remember all the good things from my past - the people, the places, the things, and I know that you never forget anything.  Thank you for bringing back into my mind the things You remember that will be helpful for me to remember.  I believe that my mind is being renewed and, therefore, my soul is getting lined up with my spirit.”

 

Now, here’s another verse - It’s 2 Peter 3:1 - “Beloved, I now write to you this second epistle (in both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder).”  Now, I’m going to read the comment that Andrew Wommack made on this verse in his New Living Commentary.  “Memory affects our thinking powerfully.  We need our thinking affected, so we need to remember.  Even pure minds need to be stirred up.”  Then, he also said, “The Greek word DIEGEIRO, translated “stir up: in this verse, means ‘to wake fully, to arouse.’”

 

So - the apostle Peter, being led by the Holy Spirit, is saying that he is writing these things that these people have already heard before, because it stirs up their memory and they also begin to remember lots of other things that they need to remember.  In other words, reading verses that you’ve read lots of times before, and listening to messages you’ve heard before, or reading books you’ve read before WAKES YOU UP, OR AROUSES YOUR MEMORY.

 

The more that you read through Mathew, Mark, Luke, and John, then all the epistles of the New Testament, the more it arouses your memory, which has an effect on the rest of your memory.  In fact, as I was just writing this, I had a flash back to the 80’s - my husband and I were in the car and had stopped in a park nearby.  We got out, and sat at a picnic table and listened to some cassette tapes by Kenneth Copeland and Kenneth Hagin.  I remember that we sat there for a long, long time taking in this valuable information.  It was like we were in a different world for several hours.  It was like we were in a secluded place with just us and Jesus.  We were truly being transformed as we learned what REAL FAITH is.  What a special day that was!!!

 

Memory is very precious and the Lord truly wants us to be able to remember the good things in our lives.  Now remember this statement - RENEWING OUR MINDS  BY TAKING IN THE WORD OF GOD IS A HUGE HELP IN RESTORING OUR MEMORY IN ALL KINDS OF WAYS.  

 

Now this may sound a little strange to you but I have also learned that IMAGINATION AND MEMORY ARE CLOSELY RELATED.  Now let me explain what I mean here.  When you remember situations from your past, your imagination is at work in you.  When I told you about that story about us sitting in the park listening to cassette tapes, I wasn’t seeing that with my eyes - I was seeing it from my memory in my mind.  That’s imagination.  Imagination is very, very powerful and lots and lots of Christians don’t have a clue about how important it is.  That’s the reason, they pray for things and don’t see their prayers answered.

 

So to make this more clear to understand, I want to read this verse to you - Romans 4:17 - “(as it is written, “I have made you a father of many nations”) in the presence of Him whom he believed - God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did;”  Now this verse is talking about God speaking to Abraham - but it is a powerful verse for us to learn from.  In other words, God spoke it as though it already existed - and then it existed.  THAT IS FAITH!!

 

Now, I have learned through the years, that, if I can’t see it in my imagination, as though it already existed, I am not really believing it.  In other words, I’m saying it right, maybe, but, if I can’t see it in my imagination, I’m really not operating in faith.

 

Now, the reason I am mentioning this here, is that our imagination is very closely related to our memory.  

 

In other words, when I remembered that time, out in that park, listening to those cassettes, I saw in my imagination that situation which came up in my memory.  Imagination isn’t just something for little kids - it is very powerful in our lives.  

 

Now, when it comes to praying, imagination is very closely related to HOPE.  Hebrews 11:1 says, “Faith is the  substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen.”  In other words, if you can’t imagine it already yours (because of His promises), faith doesn’t have anything to give substance to.  

 

Now, the reason I’m bringing all this up is that when people get older, there is a tendency to be so embarrassed by their memory loss, they don’t want to discuss it with anyone - therefore, they just go along, with not having success in their prayer lives, and life gets duller and duller and duller.  If you don’t have a memory of all those things when your kids were little, or of that romance with your honey, or even of those times when God answered your prayers - then, those pictures will not come up in your imagination to bring you pleasure.

 

Therefore, it is important to keep your imagination very active and alive in your life.  One of the biggest problems, when it comes to healing, is that a lot of people cannot imagine themselves healed.  The pain is so strong, and on and on and on, that it is more real and they cannot even imagine it gone.  We all must learn that we must be able to imagine ourselves without that physical problem if we want to receive our healing.

 

Now - IMAGINATION AND MEMORY ARE CLOSELY RELATED.  Therefore - I suggest that you retrain yourself to imagine by seeing on the inside the pictures of what you read in the Bible.  All those Old Testament stories are full of powerful things which can help you trust the Lord more than ever before.  Have you ever imagined young David killing Goliath, or Abraham getting ready to put his son, Isaac  on the altar, or the Israelites going through the Red Sea on dry ground?    Or have you every imagined the apostle Paul in that awful prison in Phillipi and then a thunderous earthquake comes and the doors are open, or what it must have been like to see Jesus on that cross being beaten, nails going through his hands and feet, and Him saying, “Father forgive them, they know not what they do.”?

 

As we use our imagination in a positive way, along with learning more and more about our Heavenly Father, His Son Jesus, and the Holy Spirit - our Triune God - it constantly reminds us of what He has done, what He is like, what He has promised us, and on and on and on.  That STIRS UP our memory - and I believe it makes things come alive in our minds like never before.  Remember back there in Romans 12:1-2, it talks about us being TRANSFORMED BY THE RENEWING OF OUR MINDS.  It tells us NOT TO CONFORM TO THE WORLD.  Well, the world says, “Well, when you get old and older and older, you just can’t remember like you used to, or enjoy life anymore, so you just learn to sit around and do nothing.”  That’s conforming to the world.  He told us TO BE TRANSFORMED BY THE RENEWAL OF OUR MINDS.

 

There’s some other verses that I want to share with you.  First - 2 Peter 1:3-4 - “as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”

 

Did you get that?  HE HAS GIVEN US ALL THINGS FOR LIFE AND GODLINESS THROUGH  KNOWLEDGE OF HIM - AND THROUGH THE PROMISES WE ARE PARTAKERS OF THE DIVINE NATURE!!!!!!!  God never forgets anything!!!  So - the more we take in all the WORDS in the Bible - which is the knowledge of Him - the more we partake of the divine nature!!!  

 

As we are talking to Him, worshiping Him, singing to Him, we can say, “Lord, I know that YOU don’t forget anything, and, since I’m a partaker of YOUR   NATURE, please restore my memory.  Help me remember all those things I need to remember - so that, when my kids say, “Hey, you remember when I…………, it’ll be right there in my mind.  Thank you so much for doing this for me.  Lord, I can look ahead and see - in my imagination - that happening - and I’m already rejoicing over it and thanking You for it.  Oh my wonderful LORD, YOU are so, so, so, good to me!”

 

Here’s a couple more verses - 2 Peter 1:13-14 - “Yes, I think it is right, as long as I am in this tent, to stir you up by reminding you, knowing that shortly I must put off my tent, just as our Lord Jesus Christ showed me.”  Paul was saying that he was going to be ‘moving to heaven’ soon so he wanted to be sure and remind them of things they had already been told.

 

So - brothers and sisters - it is important to hear things that we have already heard and been established in - again and again.  Hearing things we have already heard quickens our memories - and memory stirs us up!!  If we aren’t stirred up, we settle to the bottom.

 

Memory is very important!  Think about it for a minute.  When someone has a birthday, and there’s a party or something, it’s really a remembrance of that person being born and how grateful we are for that person’s life.  We just had a 20 year celebration for our church, Grace Tabernacle.  What wonderful memories were shared.  Memories are extremely important.  

 

Personally, I have learned to not center my thoughts on BAD MEMORIES!  The less I even give them any attention into my mind when they do come up, the less they even come up.  AND, they come up in my mind less and less and less.  BUT GOOD MEMORIES, I PONDER ON AND THEY STAY IN MY MEMORY.  

 

I remember so many of the wonderful things the Lord has done for me and my family.  You know what that does?  It causes me to be so, so grateful for all that He has done and it reminds me of what FAITH IN HIM AND HIS PROMISES PRODUCES.  

 

Brothers and sisters - God wants us all to be able to remember - not just so you aren’t embarrassed  because you don’t - but because He knows that remembering the different times in your life, in all the different years, situations, fun times, loving times, and on and on, will help you with your own present day life.  You’ve learned things in your past that will help you in your life today.  But we have to be reminded of them to keep them alive in our memory!!!!!!

 

And - remembering the good things, STIRS US UP DEEPLY WITHIN - INSTEAD OF OUR MINDS JUST SETTLING DOWN TO THE BOTTOM - WHICH REALLY JUST AMOUNTS TO US BEING SAD, LONELY, BORED, IN THE MULLYGRUBS, AND LOTS AND LOTS OF OTHER UNHAPPY FEELINGS AND ATTITUDES.

 

So-o-o-o-o-o-o-o instead of letting yourself be sad when a good memory comes up - BECAUSE IT’S IN THE PAST AND NOT LIKE THAT ANYMORE -  CHOOSE to rejoice and LOVE the memory.  It’s your choice.  

 

Picturing in your mind (or imagining) what those wonderful times were like, you don’t have to feel sorry for yourself and wallow in self-pity and sadness.  Rejoice that you have good memories!!!!!!

 

The Lord wants His precious older Christians to be happy and be able to remember all He has done for us in our lives and He wants it so much that HE HAS SHARED HIS DIVINE NATURE WITH US.  SPEND SOME TIME THINKING ABOUT THAT - AND READING THOSE VERSES.

 

Being able to remember the good times in our lives, the fun times with family, the different things which occurred with our children and all others, is very precious - and God doesn’t want us to be sad when we remember - because it’s not like that anymore.  He wants us to remember with an attitude of happiness and gratitude to the Lord - because that stirs us up in our minds.  It’s good for us.  It helps us remember more and more.  

 

Brothers and sisters, the Lord wants these years of our lives to be good - not bad.  He wants for these years of ours to be productive - because we’re still here in our physical bodies.  God can still use us to help people understand what a wonderful and loving Heavenly Father we have - to the point that they want to know Him also.  One of the ways that happens is to keep our memories stirred up - or awake - or aroused.  Therefore, we are still TOOLS IN THE HANDS OF OUR WONDERFUL LORD - THE CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE!!!!!!

 

Scriptures used for this lesson

1 Peter 1:3-9

Romans 12:1-2

2 Peter 3:1

Romans 4:17

Hebrews 11:1

2 Peter 1:3-4

2 Peter 1:13-14