Let Me Remind You

LET ME REMIND YOU

Reminders, we all need them. The main reason we need reminders is because we're forgetful. We have so many things to remember and focus on it's easy to be forgetful. If something isn't part of our daily routine we can tend to forget to do it. Sometimes it only takes a few minutes to forget. We have something to do but we become preoccupied with something else and then we turn around and forget to do it what we had in mind to do just minutes ago.

Another reason we need reminders is when it's something we haven't thought of in a while. We learn something but it's not something we think about very often so it's good to be reminded so it will stay fresh in our minds. A synonym for remind is to jog the memory. That's what we need at times. Reminders were given in the bible. Let's take a look.

1) The Holy Spirit reminds.

John has the longest recording of what took place in the upper room. In this final gathering with the disciples before his arrest and crucifixion, Jesus had some things to tell them in preparation for after he ascended and left them to carry on his work. One of the preparation statements came in

John 14:25-26, “All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you."

During these three years with Jesus the disciples saw a lot of things and they were taught a lot of things; too much to remember. In fact, at the end of John's gospel it says if all the things Jesus did were recorded the whole world wouldn't have enough room for all the books that would have to be written. That gives us a pretty good picture of the magnitude of what Jesus said and did.

And I'm sure there were times when Jesus was teaching or performing a miracle, when the disciples were distracted and not paying full attention. Along with that were the times they didn't fully understand what he was saying. It adds up to gaps in remembering all he did and taught. How were they supposed to carry on when they weren't capable of remembering it all now let alone later? That's where the Holy Spirit comes in.

Jesus reassures them they won't have to remember everything verbatim because they would have someone with them who would remind them-the Holy Spirit. Even now as they were listening to Jesus I'm sure they weren't able to really grasp what he was talking about. But later they would experience what Jesus was explaining to them here.

After the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost, Peter got up to deliver that first sermon. He hadn't done this before. When you look at that great sermon in Acts 2, I wonder how much of it was the Holy Spirit reminding Peter of what he had been taught before? I wonder if the other Apostles were surprised at Peter's words and how he was able to put them all together?

How joyous it must've been when the Holy Spirit reminded them of something Jesus taught when they were sharing the gospel. How has the Holy Spirit reminded you of something? He does that for me during a bible study or Sunday school. When I respond to someone's comments with a verse that ties in it's because the Holy Spirit gave it to me in the moment.

When you read the bible and the verses you're reading reminds you of another verse that goes along with it-that's the Holy Spirit. When you're speaking with someone and that verse pops into your mind to share with them that's the Holy Spirit at work.

We rejoice in the indwelling Holy Spirit because he teaches us and reminds us of what we've learned. Memorizing scripture is an asset but it's comforting to know when we forget something the Holy Spirit reminds us.

2) Reminded of the gospel.

Paul had a lot to say in his first letter to the Corinthian church. He addressed divisions in the church and sexual immorality. He contended against those who felt he wasn't a worthwhile Apostle. He gave them warnings from Israel's history so they wouldn't repeat their mistakes. He spoke about them operating as a body of unified believers with each part doing its work. Then he takes them back to the basics in chapt. 15.

1st Cor. 15:1-8, "Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.