Resource Detail

2025 Thanksgiving Special Message

DO NOT FORGET THE LORD YOUR GOD

Deuteronomy 8:1–20
Key Verse: 8:11

1. What does Moses exhort and promise to the Israelites (1)? What was God’s purpose in leading them all the way in the wilderness for forty years (2-4)? What does it mean for people facing a new future to remember the past?
2. How should Israel view God’s discipline (5-6)? What kind of land was God bringing them into (7-9)? What should they do when they receive the blessings of that beautiful land (10)?
3. What must they be careful about (11)? How greatly would their wealth and possessions increase in that land (12-13)? When that happens, what truth must they never forget (14-16)?
4. After becoming wealthy, what attitude might they have (17)? At that time, what kind of God should they remember (18)? What will happen if they forget the Lord their God (19-20)?

2025 Thanksgiving Message

REMEMBER HOW GOD LED YOU IN THE WILDERNESS

Deuteronomy 8:1-20

Key Verse 8:2

Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands.

My wife and I returned from a two-week trip to Korea last Monday. It was a busy trip–visiting both sides of our family, attending our nephew’s wedding, and spending time with many UBF friends. On the first Sunday, I preached at Anam 2 UBF, and on the second Sunday, I preached at Yonhee UBF. The first Sunday’s message had been planned ahead of time, but the second one came as a surprise. Pastor David Kim from Yonhee UBF called me and asked if I could give the Sunday message there. Because he’s a senior leader I deeply respect, I couldn’t say no. I said, “Yes, of course,” thinking I could preach the same message I had prepared for Anam 2. But then Pastor David asked me to preach a Thanksgiving message based on Deuteronomy 8, since that passage is this year’s official Thanksgiving text for Korea UBF. I had never preached from that passage before, so it put a burden on my heart. But right after finishing the message at Anam 2, I spent the next week studying and meditating on Deuteronomy 8 and preparing a new message. Even though I was constantly on the move, I kept meditating on the word early in the mornings, on trains, on the subway, and whenever I had a spare moment. And honestly, it became a huge blessing to me. Just as Deuteronomy 8:3 says, “Man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord,” I experienced God’s word deeply throughout that week. I’m truly thankful that God blessed the messages at both Anam 2 and Yonhee UBF and allowed many people to receive grace through them. And that’s the story of why I am sharing Deuteronomy 8 with you today as our Thanksgiving message.

To understand Deuteronomy 8, we first need to look at the moment in history when this book was given. Deuteronomy is God’s message spoken through Moses right before the people of Israel entered the Promised Land after forty long years in the wilderness. Moses delivered this message on the plains of Moab, just east of the Jordan River. By this time, the first generation—the ones who had come out of Egypt—had all died in the wilderness because they didn’t trust God, except for Moses, Joshua, and Caleb. Now their children, the second generation, were standing at the border of Canaan, about to begin a new life. Before they crossed over, Moses did something so important. He taught them God’s commands again. He reminded them of how God had led them through the wilderness. And he instructed them on how they were to live once they entered the Promised Land. This is why the book is called Deuteronomy—it means “the second giving of the law.”

When you read Deuteronomy 8, two words appear again and again: “Remember” and “Do not forget.” God was urging His people to keep something deep in their hearts. So what exactly were they supposed to remember? And what were they warned not to forget? First, they had to remember that it was the Lord their God who led them in the wilderness. Second, they had to make sure they did not forget the Lord their God—especially in times of blessings. These two topics will guide us today. Deuteronomy 8 speaks directly into our own spiritual journey—how God leads us, how He trains us, and how He calls us to remember Him in every moment of life.

Please look at verse 2. “Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands.” So what did God want His people to remember? “Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years.” Let me ask you: “What do you want to remember in your life?” Most of us want to remember the good moments. We love replaying moments of joy, happiness, celebrations, and the people we love. And usually, we want to forget the painful moments—the failures, the heartbreaks, the embarrassing moments. For example, we cherish the sweet memories we shared with someone we love. But if we confessed, “I love you,” and the person said, “I am sorry …”? We want that memory erased forever. But God does something surprising with the people of Israel. He tells them to remember their forty years in the wilderness.

Think about what their life was like in the wilderness. The wilderness has extreme temperature swings—intense heat during the day and chilly cold at night. During the daytime, temperatures can rise over 100°F, and at night they can drop to around 50°F. When we get hot, we turn on the AC. When we get cold, we turn on the heater. But Israel had neither. For forty years, they lived outside, fully exposed to the desert climate. The biggest challenge in the wilderness was the lack of water and food. They walked for days under the burning sun without seeing a single drop of water. Their throats became painfully dry. The elderly and the little children would collapse from exhaustion. And you can’t farm in the desert. The climate doesn’t allow it, and the people were constantly moving. There were no animals they could hunt or raise. Whatever livestock they brought out of Egypt was eaten long before. Imagine walking day after day in scorching heat—hungry, thirsty, carrying your children, trying your best to keep your family alive. And it wasn’t just the climate. The wilderness had dangerous creatures all around—venomous snakes and scorpions. At one point, when the people complained against God and Moses, God allowed venomous snakes to come among them, and many died from the bites. This was the wilderness the Israelites walked through for forty years. Forty years is a long time. Many of you here aren’t even forty years old yet. Imagine living your entire life—from the day you were born until today—under that kind of harsh, dangerous, unstable environment. That would not be a pleasant memory.

But why did God command Israel to remember those forty years in the wilderness?
Why not just forget them and move on? Because in the wilderness, God humbled them, tested them, trained them, and led them. In the wilderness, God revealed His glory to His people. During the day, God covered them with a pillar of cloud. When you think about it, this is amazing. In the desert, even when the temperature goes over 100°F, the air is so dry that the moment you step into the shade, you feel relief. Israel found relief under God’s cloud. And at night, when the desert became bitterly cold, God gave them a pillar of fire. That fire kept them warm, protected, and safe. When the people complained because there was no water, God told Moses to speak to the rock, and water flowed out. Water from a rock! That is something only God can do. Israel drank that water and survived. When the people were bitten by the venomous snakes because of their disobedience, God told Moses to lift up a bronze snake. Anyone who looked at it would live. But think about how difficult that must have been. Snakes were crawling around their feet. Instinct says, “Look down! Protect yourself!” But God told them to lift their eyes and look at the bronze snake. Only those who trusted God’s word could do that. And those who obeyed were saved. Again and again, God showed His mercy and power in the wilderness. Again and again, God showed His glory in the wilderness. God revealed Himself as their Provider, Protector, Healer, and Savior in the wilderness.

One of the most important trainings God gave Israel in the wilderness was the manna training. God heard their complaints when they had nothing to eat. Food is one of the most basic and essential needs of life. So God gave them daily training with manna. Look at verse 3. “He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.” What exactly was manna? Numbers 11:7 describes it as something like coriander seed, and it looked like resin. People gathered it, ground it in a hand mill, or crushed it in a mortar. They boiled the manna, baked it, roasted it, and even made it into cakes and pastries. The taste was so sweet and delicious—even better than an Oreo. Manna came down at night with the dew. When the sun rose and the heat increased, the manna melted away. So God told them to go out early every morning and gather it. If someone stayed out late having fun with friends and slept in the next morning, they missed their food for the day. God also commanded them to gather only enough for that day. But some people didn’t listen and tried to be clever about it. They said, “Why go out every morning? Let’s gather extra today and save some for tomorrow.” But the next morning, that manna was filled with worms and smelled terrible. Because Saturday was the Sabbath, God told them to gather a portion for two days on Friday morning. And amazingly, the manna they saved for Saturday never went bad. But of course, some people forgot. They didn’t gather extra on Friday. Then on Saturday morning, they went out looking for manna—and there was none. Why did God give them this manna training? Because he was testing their obedience. He was teaching them whether they would trust His word or not. Every morning, through the manna, God was saying: “You do not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.” This became a daily practice of trusting God. A daily reminder that God provides. A daily lesson in obedience and dependence.

What kind of place is the wilderness? The wilderness is God’s training ground. It is the place where we listen to God’s word, obey Him, and come to know Him more deeply. In other words, the wilderness is God’s classroom. Who sent Israel into the wilderness? It was God Himself. “Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years.” (2) If you draw a straight line from Egypt to Canaan, the Promised Land, the journey takes about two weeks. Two weeks! But God intentionally led them into the wilderness and had them walk that path for forty years. During those years, God humbled them, tested them, trained them, and taught them. Why did he do this? Was his purpose to hurt them? To punish them? To destroy them? Absolutely not! Verse 16 says, “He gave you manna to eat in the wilderness, something your ancestors had never known, to humble and test you so that in the end it might go well with you.” God trained them in the wilderness because he wanted to bless them in the end. His training was not to break them, but to bless them. Not to harm them, but to prepare them. Not to take life away, but to give life. This is the heart of God.

The world we live in is a wilderness. It’s not our final home—it’s a place we are passing through. In this wilderness, we meet God, we learn from God, and we come to know God more and more. And we have to keep moving forward to enter the eternal kingdom of God. So don’t settle down in this world. Don’t chase after a life of perfect happiness here, as if this world is your final destination. Instead, receive God’s training well. Let God shape you as his people. And live with the hope that one day we will live in perfect joy forever in the kingdom of God.

God has trained us in the wilderness this year to bless us in the end. He has humbled us, He has taught us, and He has shaped us so that we might know Him, fear Him, and serve Him. Let’s think about the wilderness training God has given us this past year. Some of us have walked through financial wilderness. Some lost jobs. Some had to switch to new jobs unexpectedly. Some of our young adults graduated from college but struggled to find proper jobs. We are praying for Gail Lee to receive a permanent teaching position at her school. Her father once told me that Gail is depending on God day by day, almost like gathering manna each morning. We are also praying for Daniel Seo to find a proper job. Because he couldn’t find a job here, he even had to travel all the way to Utica for work. I told him that he is going through wilderness training, and I encouraged him. We are also praying for others to find jobs. Their situation doesn’t look easy. But we believe that God is using this time to train them, and that through it, God will reveal his glory in his time. We also prayed for a long time for Brandon to find a job. He went to multiple interviews, but nothing opened up. Honestly, I began to think it might be too difficult for him to find a job. But just recently, God opened a door for him in a miraculous way. God trained him in the wilderness, and when God’s time arrived, God blessed him. Through this, we saw the glory of God.

Some of us have been going through wilderness training because of visa issues. The Guru family was in a very difficult situation—if their visa wasn’t extended, they would have had to leave the United States. And Josephine Ban suddenly lost her job, which meant she could have been forced to return to Korea. But we prayed. And we depended on God. Joseph Lee and Josephine Ban believed that God had called them to serve college students here in New York, so they cried out to God. Then God showed us a miracle. Josephine was rehired by the same company, and her visa issue was resolved quickly. And now they have begun the green card process. Through this training, God strengthened their faith and confirmed their calling. By God’s grace, the Guru family also received a two-year visa extension. In the current situation, that is extremely rare. Humanly speaking, it seemed impossible—but God made it possible. And even now, some among us are walking through the wilderness of staying in the U.S. We are praying for Daniel Kim to find a fellowship position here in New York. We are also praying for Juan Baek to be accepted into a PhD program. And we are praying for Susanna to be accepted into medical school. We expect to see God’s glory in each of their lives.

Some of us have also walked through the wilderness of loss and grief. Abigail Lee lost her dear sister. Miri Shin, Joy Kim, and Joseph Han lost their beloved fathers. These losses were heavy and painful. Some have been fighting through serious health problems. We have been praying for our brothers and sisters—Ruth Lim, Becky Song, Joseph Han, John Z. Kim, Andrew Choi, James S. Kim, Frantzie, and others. Sometimes we felt discouraged because their health didn’t get better as quickly as we hoped. Becky’s situation has seemed to get worse, and our hearts have been very heavy. We have also carried the weight of Joseph Han and Frantzie’s cancer diagnoses and James S. Kim’s neck surgery. Ruth Lim’s slow recovery has tested our patience and our faith. And many of us have our own health struggles—big or small. Through all these things, God has been giving us wilderness training. When our bodies grow weak and our hearts grow tired, we naturally turn to God. We hold on to His grace. We learn to depend on Him alone. And we put our hope—not in our own strength—but in the God who heals and restores. We expect to see God’s glory through them.

Among many stories, I remember Timothy Han. Last winter, he fell into a deep depression and stopped coming to church. He stayed inside his room, surrounded by darkness. But God heard the prayers of his family and of our church community, and God pulled him out of that darkness. After attending our spring retreat, Timothy began studying the Bible again, and little by little, he has been recovering—spiritually and emotionally. Now he is actively serving and joining God’s work. Praise the Lord! I also remember what happened to Noah Seo in January. He went skiing and had an accident. Through that accident, his heart became humble, and he began seeking God. When I visited him and suggested we study the Bible together, to my surprise, he said, “Yes.” Through those Bible studies, Noah met Jesus personally and began to grow spiritually. Praise the Lord! Joel Kim went through his eye surgery, and God showed him his mercy. There are many more stories about God’s training and his grace among us.

Throughout this past year, as we served God together, we experienced His glory again and again. At the beginning of this year, while studying the Book of Nehemiah, we prayed to rebuild the broken walls of our personal spiritual lives, our families, and our ministries. Some of us decided to rebuild the wall of early morning prayer. God blessed those decisions. Every morning from Monday to Friday at 5:30 AM, we could meet God and see His glory. God has also rebuilt our weekly Fellowship Bible Studies. Many of us have enjoyed and grown in faith through Fellowship Bible Studies. God revealed his presence through our young adult ministry. Every month, Young Adult Praise & Worship Night was filled with young people seeking God.

We also saw God’s powerful hand in our college ministries. This year, we were officially registered as a club at QCC, and many students began joining Bible studies. At St. John’s University, God has sent new students every week, and the workers have been experiencing God’s miracles. And we are witnessing God’s work at Queens College and Stony Brook University as well. On top of that, God opened a way for us to rent a room at The Riverside Church for the Columbia-Manhattan ministry. Every Sunday at 5:30 PM, we hold a worship service there. We continue to pray that God will reveal His glory through our college ministries.

Last summer, seven brothers and sisters—Brandon, Daniel Seo, David Baek, Joseph Lee, Samuel Lee Jr., Sayuri, and Stephen Gonsalves—shared their life testimonies and received baptism. I can still remember their powerful stories in my heart. Through their testimonies and baptism, God showed his mighty power.

Another blessing I cannot leave out is that Joshua and Ana established a beautiful house church this year. And in February, next year, David and Becky will establish another beautiful house church. We pray that God will continue to raise up more families of faith among us. I also want to express my deep thanks to the teachers who faithfully serve in our HBF, CBF, and BBF ministries. I wish I could mention every name and personally thank each one of you who has served the Lord so faithfully this year, but with the limited time we have, I hope you will understand that I cannot do so today. I pray that each of us will take some time this week to remember how God has trained us in the wilderness and how he has blessed us along the way.

God has blessed us in such an incredible way. So how should we respond? We must not forget the Lord our God in times of blessing. Look at verse 11: “Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day.” We so easily become proud. We forget the Lord, and we start thinking that we have achieved everything by our own strength. God warns Israel: “When you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God” (12-14). When life becomes comfortable, when we finally succeed, when our bank account grows, when our home becomes peaceful, when our plans work out—we may start thinking, “I did this. This is my achievement.” But that is an illusion. Look back at your past. We were weak. We failed many times. We didn’t have the strength or the wisdom to build our lives on our own. If we are standing here today—blessed, stable, and provided for—it’s because God gave us the ability. God opened doors. God protected us. God carried us through the wilderness.

So what happens if we forget the Lord? Verse 19 says: “If you ever forget the Lord your God and follow other gods and worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely be destroyed.” If we forget God, our lives will collapse. We will fall back to the bottom. Everything we built will crumble. Our hearts will lose peace, and even the things we trusted in will slip away. Do any of us want to return to that kind of life? Of course not! So let us not forget the Lord who has blessed us so amazingly. Let us remember His love, His grace, His mercy, and His compassion. Let our hearts be filled with praise—not only in times of suffering, but even more in times of blessing.

Until the day we enter the eternal kingdom of God, we will continue walking through this wilderness on earth. And along the way, God will keep training us. He will shape us. He will help us grow to become more like Jesus. So what must we remember? We must remember that it is the Lord who led us through the wilderness. We must remember every step, every lesson, every moment when God carried us. And in times of blessing, we must never forget the Lord our God. This is the way to keep God’s blessing. May God help us remember the wilderness training He has given us. May He help us never forget the Lord who walked with us, provided for us, and protected us. May God pour out His amazing blessings on our lives—now and forever, until we enter His eternal kingdom. Amen.