by Apostle Andre Pelser
Today I want to give you three examples where people said, "Remember me".
- Joseph
- Nehemiah
- The thief
on the cross
My Grandmother used to sit at the piano and
sing a very short little chorus:
Remember me Almighty One
Remember me Almighty One
All of us want to be remembered somehow. That
is why people leave rich legacies behind – to be remembered. There is a statue
of a man in Lagos. I asked the taxi driver who the man was. He simply said, ‘I
don’t know his name but he did a lot for the country’.
We remember Neels Labuschagne every time we
give a bursary to a student. He left an investment in the earth that will be
remembered as long as Miracle Bible College continues. This year we have a
student from Malawi to whom the bursary has been given. We have trained another
student from Sutherland in South Africa for two years, Lundell Baadjies. His
father was part of the Bible School right at the beginning and is doing
evangelistic work on the farms surrounding Sutherland.
When Joseph was cast into prison with a false
accusation, he served the prison warden so well that he was promoted to run the
prison. He also served fellow prisoners by using his gift of interpreting
dreams. When the king’s cup bearer was released from prison after Joseph
interpreted his dream Joseph asked him: ‘remember me when you are established
again.’ But the man forgot about Joseph in prison.
Only when the king had a dream that troubled
him did the cup bearer remember Joseph. He told the king: ‘there is a man in
prison that interprets dreams.’ The king had Joseph brought out of prison and
changed his prison clothes.
Joseph had a habit of always leaving his coat
behind: when his brothers tricked him and threw him into a pit they took his
coat of many colours that his father especially made for him and tore it and
dipped it in blood so that they could lie to their father and say that Jospeh
was eaten by a wild animal. That animal was jealousy! They sold him to
travelling traders for 30 pieces of silver.
Amazing Joseph’s worst moment became
significant in the eyes of God! Jesus was betrayed by Judas for 30 pieces of
silver! It is amazing how God honours those whom He favours: even your enemy’s
worst shot turns out to be in your favour! If the devil knew he would not have
crucified Jesus on the cross! His best shot became Jesus’s highest promotion!
You never suffer in vain for the Gospel’s sake! It becomes your blessing in
disguise!
So Joseph was brought before the king and the
king asked him if he could interpret the dream. Joseph immediately gave the
right perspective and said, ‘it is not for me to interpret the king’s dream,
but there is a God in heaven that interpret’s dreams.’ Wow, what a confession!
What a way to honour God in front of a heathen king!
God honours those who honours him! In Chariots
of Fire the Scottish athlete that refused to run on a Sunday in the race that
he was sure to win, had to compete in the 400 meters which he never raced
before, but before the race the American athlete that won the race that the
Scot refused to run on a Sunday gave him a note in his hand that read: God
honours those who honour Him. With that note the Scot ran and won a gold medal
in the Olympic Games!
Joseph was promoted to become the Prime
Minister of Egypt. His dream of his brothers and his father bowing before Him
finally came true. They had to come and buy food from him in Egypt because
there was a famine in their land.
Joseph had a very clear perspective about his
experiences. When the brothers finally confessed their sin against him for
selling him as a slave to slave traders, he explained; ‘No it was God who sent
me ahead of you to prepare provision for you in Egypt!’
He even obtained a whole city from the king of
Egypt for his family! They were given a large area where they could farm and
make a living! How about that!
God remembered Joseph...
When God remembers you He honours you!
Nehemiah was working for a foreign king. He
served as a slave. He was the king’s cup bearer. But the king saw that he was
not really happy. So the king asked him what was wrong. Nehemiah said, he would
like to go and rebuild the walls and the temple of his city from which they
were evicted as slaves.
He prayed and asked God to give him favour
with the foreign king.
The king honoured him and gave him all the
material he desired to rebuild the wall and the temple. He even gave him an
escort of soldiers so that he could arrive safely.
When Nehemiah arrived at the ruins of the
house of the Lord, he rode alone in the moonlight to convey the place. It
stirred him so deeply to see the house of the Lord in ruins that he made up his
mind to make this task his life time task. Nothing would deter him from
finishing the work!
When Sanballat and his cohorts tried to
prevent Nehemiah from finishing the work by using false accusations against him
to turn his men against him, Nehemiah simply told God to take care of it and
carried on with the work. When Sanballat saw that his false accusations
couldn’t stop Nehemiah he sent a posse to tell him to come down to him so that
they could discuss another treaty. Nehemiah simply replied, ‘Can a man like me
come down to you? I am doing a great work for the Lord and I do not have time
to come down to you!’
The enemy always tries to pull you down, to
humiliate you to destroy you. Jesus said, the thief has come to steal, kill and
destroy, but I have come to give you life and life more abundantly!
When the temple and the wall was rebuilt,
Nehemiah brought the prophet and the scribe called Ezra to read the Word of the
Lord to all the people. The people cried when they heard the word and they
repented of their sins. Nehemiah not only rebuilt the physical wall and the
temple but also rebuilt the people’s spirits. He reformed a nation!
Then Nehemiah prayed a wonderful prayer and
said, ‘Remember me for good oh Lord, for all that I have done for you!’
You can only remind God to remember what you
have done after you have done it! Many people talk about doing things but they
do absolutely nothing.
When I was 12 years old and old prophetess by
the name of Aunty Raper came into our home in 65 Gardenere Avenue, Brakpan and
prophesied to my father that he would be on the Executive Council of the
Apostolic Faith Mission and that God would use my mother to help a lot of
people by giving them scriptures if she would read the bible more. My father
ended up in the Executive Council when he became the Chairman of the Western
Cape, when we lived in Milnerton. Here we are labouring in the field where my
father was honoured. My mother became an inspiration to thousands of people and
I remember how she would share scriptures with her music pupils. She trained
many pastor’s wifes to play the piano so that they could lead worship where
their husbands pastored a church. She wrote to us wherever we were doing
missionary work and planting churches and always included scripture verses.
Both my parents fulfilled Aunty Raper’s prophecy.
Aunty Raper prophesied over me: ‘There is a
calling of God on your life. God will also use you in other lands.’
Tomorrow, Yve, my daughter, and I are going to
India on a mission to trian pastors in the rural areas in the south of India.
This will be the 60th nation that God will use me in. Before I turn 60 I go to
my 60th nation!
I can pray Nehemiah’s prayer, God remember me
for good for all that I have done for you!
The thief on the cross turned to Jesus and acknowledged
that Jesus was a king. He said, ‘Lord, remember me when you get to your
kingdom!’ Jesus said, ‘Today you will be with me in Paradise!’
Amazing, it didn’t take a three hour prayer to
get the job done! It was a simply heart felt prayer that reached the heart of
our Saviour! Remember me!
Perhaps you cannot say that you have been so
faithful as Joseph that the Lord should honour you to remember you today;
perhaps you have not done much for the Lord so that you could pray the prayer
of Nehemiah that God should remember you for good – perhaps all you can pray
today is to ask the Lord to remember you like the thief on the cross.
I have Good News for you today: the Lord will
remember you!
When God remembers someone He honours and
blesses them. Today if you sincerely cry out and ask the Lord to remember you,
He will remember you! What a privilege to serve a God that hears our prayers!
He is not a dead God made of wood or stone, He is a living God and Jesus Christ
is the Son of the Living God!
Do you want God to remember you today? Just
pray this simple prayer with conviction: Lord, remember me!
You will be amazed at the eternal
consequences!