Greetings,
The conference being held in the next few days comes just a year after the original conference where our lives took a new direction. As a human turns his life over to God and begins to live “the Way”, there are major benchmarks along the way. Much like the bringing of Israel out of Egypt where God worked wonderful miracles on their behalf. Through Moses, God told them to, “Remember this day in which you went out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage; for by strength of hand the Lord brought you out of this place” Exodus 13:3.
Each Holy Day season we pause to remember the major benchmarks of God’s great plan of salvation. Remembering the major points where God has been working in our lives is good for us. In Deuteronomy 8:2 we are told, “And you shall remember that the Lord your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness …” And in verse 18 of the same chapter, “And you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you the power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day.”
To remember is to mark something so as to be recognized – to make something stand out in our mind. As Christ explained to the disciples (and to us at the same time) shortly before He was to leave them to face their daunting future: “But these things I have told you, that when the time comes, you may remember that I told you of them” John 16:4. We can be very thankful that our Father also remembers – He “marks” His promises to His people, “Then I will remember My covenant with Jacob, and My covenant with Isaac and My covenant with Abraham I will remember. I will remember the land” Leviticus 26:42.
We are at a major junction in our journey toward God’s kingdom. We need the Father to clearly show us how He wants us to move forward. We have taken slow, deliberate steps to avoid placing our will before His. But we do need to keep moving forward on the narrow path God’s way sets before us. However, in looking forward, let us never forget to remember! Christ told His Church through the angel of the church of Ephesus, “Remember therefore from where you have fallen, repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place – unless you repent” Revelation 2:5. In “marking” events in our lives we keep focus of what we are relative to God and give Him due credit. One benchmark that is worth noting this weekend is the 29th anniversary of the death of Herbert Armstrong. As we meet to contemplate what God wants us to do – it would be good to remember the work God did through this man. We seek to be servants in God’s hand for the continuation of that work.
God has done much for us in the past twelve months and we need to remember those things in order to willingly submit to His forward direction.
Services this week will originate from Duarte, California.
Warm Regards,
Brian Orchard
