Memory Problems

 

Grumbling is one of the fastest ways to distort your vision and let in crippling discouragement. Complaining is blaming someone else for what we don’t like about our own life. Instead of looking for what we appreciate, we focus on what we despise. Grumbling will sabotage a workplace, a church, a family, or a community because it is deadly and destructive.

When Moses led the people of Israel through the wilderness on their journey to the Promised Land, they had a terrible habit of grumbling. If they were hungry or thirsty or tired or wanted something different to eat, they would complain. In Numbers chapter 11, the people began to crave other food than what they had to eat. They said, “We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost — also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic. But now we have lost our appetite; we never see anything but this manna!” (Numbers 11:5-6). It is incredible how selective their memory was of Egypt. They remember the abundance of fish at no cost, cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic! One wonders if Egypt was so fantastic; why did they ever leave it in the first place. Do they even remember the slavery, the harsh taskmasters, the endless brick-making, and the construction of pharaoh’s slave cities? Their memory of the past was
faulty.

Grumbling is contagious and quickly passed on to others. Their distorted view of the past prevented them from seeing and appreciating the present. It also completely robbed their future. This habit of being discontented with what God has given to us is a bad habit.  It is a refusal to recognize God’s gifts.  Moses was so overcome with hearing the people’s grumbling; he began to grumble to God about the grumbling.  What he had done before in this instance was to pray for the people. As an intercessor, God responded to his prayers and intervened on behalf of the people.

The antidote for grumbling is found in seeing our God-given purpose. Only then will we appreciate our present circumstances, the people around us, and, yes, even our present challenges. Only then will we keep moving toward our God-given destiny. Instead of grumbling, let’s try praying for people and things we don’t like and allow God to help us see things their way, and most important, God’s way.

  (Parenting with a Long View) https://bovdbrooks.com/

Israel

  

We are witnessing a horrifying attack against Israel by the terrorist group Hamas. This tiny nation is surrounded by countries that hate her, but against all odds, she continues to survive. We who love Israel stand with her and pray for her peace.

Israel has always been proof of the existence of God, with the many biblical prophesies about Israel and its fulfillment. They continue to be fulfilled even to this day. The very fact that Israel has survived as a nation and is thriving while surrounded by enemies on every side is amazing proof that God has allowed this to be.

Israel is a testimony to God’s promise of the land to Abraham (Gen 15:17-21). The land was taken from the Jews through the many invasions of foreign powers. None of those invasions escaped the sovereignty of God. After World War I, there arose a steady movement for the re-establishment of Israel on its land. Many offers were made to help establish a Jewish state on African land or in South America, but Israel always held out for this land—the biblical land.

On Saturday, November 29, 1947, the vote to allow Israel to become a nation took place in the United Nations. It was a historical moment that moved many Israelis to tears. The United States exercised a significant influence in making this happen. Then on May 14, 1948, David Ben-Gurion proclaimed the establishment of the State of Israel. U.S. President Harry Truman recognized the new nation on the same day. The U.S. State Department and many other countries were against the creation of the Jewish State for fear that it would generate aggression by the Arab States.

Their fears were valid. Sure enough, in 1948, the same year of Israel’s birth, Israel fought for its survival. Neighboring nations on every side attacked the tiny nation of Israel to deny its foundation, but the newly formed IDF was victorious in The War of Indepen

dence. Then again, Israel’s enemies attacked in 1967 and 1973, but Israel was victorious over its enemies each time. In each of those wars, Israel was vastly outnumbered but not defeated. We are seeing God’s promise to Israel fulfilled before our very eyes.

The fact that that little strip of land belongs to Israel today with all of the forces in the world that have fought to keep the Jewish State from forming is amazing. God continues to astonish us with his sovereign power as he fulfills his promises. From 1948 and even before, Jews have migrated by the millions back to Israel. The gathering from all the nations is a fulfillment of prophecies by Jeremiah and Isaiah. The borders of Israel are not so far from what God promised Abraham in the book of Genesis. Israel is indeed proof of the existence of God.

  (Parenting with a Long View) https://bovdbrooks.com/