We’re off and running, Sweet Things! And 11,000 strong!!! Oh, how I pray that God will grant us the divine favor and indwelling power to keep it up month after month and finish 2013 in the multiple thousands. What joy He and we would have! For now, we take it step by step, one verse at a time. Don’t get caught up wondering how in the world you’re going to memorize 24 verses when you’re having a hard time memorizing the first one. That will sink your Scripture memory boat for sure.
I make you this promise based on my experience and the experience of many others: the more you memorize, the more you’ll get the hang of it. I was going to say that the more you memorize, the easier it gets but it’s not easy and that’s part of what makes it such a victory to celebrate with Jesus. I do believe I can tell you with confidence, however, that your tenth verse will very likely be easier to memorize than your first one. By that time, you’ve quit letting your nay-whining old nature tell you that you can’t do it and you shouldn’t have even tried. A big part of the battle in the first month is simply telling that self-destructive echo in our heads to shut its mouth. It’s replacing “I knew I couldn’t do it” with “Oh, yes I can. I can do all things through Christ.”
Persevere! Let’s not be quitters! God would rather us make it to the end of the year still stumbling over some words than throwing our hands up and quitting at the first imperfect recitation. Even if we don’t get our verses down perfectly, the pursuit itself is the very art of meditation. Nothing about it is a waste of time. Just think of how it helps to break the mental loop of rehearsed offenses. We’re going to be fixated on something. That’s how our minds often work. But we get to choose what.
So, right now say verse 1 out loud the very best you can.
Tremendous job. Now, let’s add our second one to it.
I totally love my verse this time around! It came up in my Scripture reading during my quiet time early Sunday morning. Here it goes:
Beth, Houston. All your children shall be taught by the LORD, and great shall be the peace of your children.” Isaiah 54:13 ESV
Isn’t that fabulous? I’m choosing this verse specifically so that I can turn it into intercessory prayer. Mind you, I’m not “claiming” it like I’d be apt to do with a promise more clearly obvious under the New Covenant. I’m reluctant to claim the fulfillment of a promise made straight to Israel for myself or people in my world unless I know that we have a coinciding New Covenant promise. I’d have to see consistency to pray it as one fervently counting on it. Isaiah 54:13 carries obvious elements that are very consistent with the promises of Christ to us. He promised that the Holy Spirit will teach us all things and He blatantly gave us His peace but where I’m asking God to do an Isaiah 54:13 work in my family is the emphasis on ALL my children. I want every single one of them to be students of Christ Jesus, to love His Word and His ways with a passion beyond the natural realm, and for His peace to be great upon them and contagious. If you’ll look in the Scripture’s context in Isaiah 54, especially in verses 11-17, you’ll see that V.13 is within the promises God made specifically to Israel and scheduled for fulfillment in a time yet to come. So, no, I’m not claiming it, so to speak, BUT, I am indeed asking for it. That’s fair game.
God is not obligated to say yes to promises like those in Isaiah 54 this side of His Kingdom’s full revelation but, as I persevere in prayer and faith, He will indeed hear me and I believe be pleased that I had the boldness to pray it. He is not blessed by our small, vision-bare petitions anyway. I’ve thought for a long time that God would rather hear His children voice outrageously large prayers of faith even if He has to say no on occasion than hear our pale, timid, tepid requests for things He’s already given us anyway. For instance, if we belong to Him in Christ, He is indeed going to “bless us” and “keep us.” So, I’m adding Isaiah 54:13 to my spiral and planning to reword it often into a request. I’m going to take the risk that He may indeed perform generational miracles with a family tree sprouted from the soil of disease and brokenness. Make us oaks of righteousness, Lord, for the display of Your splendor. (Isaiah 61:3)
This I know for sure: we often have not because we ask not. (James 4:2)
I love something else about Isaiah 54:13. I love that the word translated peace in English is the word “shalom” in Hebrew. The Hebrew word blows the doors off of our usual concept of peace. When I ask God for great peace to be upon my children, I have no interest in a trance-like state of passionless nirvana. I want God’s brand of peace: lively, vivacious. Here’s what the Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament has to say about it:
“The general meaning behind the root š-l-m is of completion and fulfillment—of entering into a state of wholeness and unity, a restored relationship.”
It means to be intact, healthy, sound. It means wellness of soul. It conveys the idea of God prospering His child. He describes His peace like a river: moving and running. His peace is no pond. I read the verse first out of The NET Bible that sits open on my desk at home. Isaiah 54:13 is worded this way on its pages: “All your children will be followers of the LORD, and your children will enjoy great prosperity.” Right that moment I jotted the verse down in my journal and, under it, asked the Lord (with enough zeal to imprint it on the next page) to prosper my children and their children and their children and their children in the way that really matters: grant them lives that bear much fruit – I said MUCH FRUIT –Â for THIS is to our Father’s great glory. May they blatantly show themselves to be Christ’s disciples. (That’s John 15:8 and, if you haven’t memorized it yet, it is a must! Prioritize it early on in your year if God causes it to leap off the page with you.)Â With all my heart, I want God to use this lineage He is redeeming to prosper His Kingdom.
So I am really fired up about my verse for our next two weeks and hope to still be saying it and praying it for the next generations of this family line when I’m about to see Jesus. If you don’t already have a verse selected, you are welcome to share it and make it your own with Jesus. Choose any verse that He’s using to speak to you right now. Remember, that’s what will make it stick to your ribs. It needs to mean something to you!
Hit it, Girls! Remember! Only your names, cities, verses, references, and translations! You are stellar, Sisters. I love you so much.
Edited to add: Information on how to download your Android or iPhone application!
I know many of you have been asking if we are going to have an app this year for your smart phones, and we have both good news and bad news. The good news is YES, we ARE! We have created an app for both Android and iPhones. The bad news is, the Android app is ready for you, but if you would be so patient with us, we’ll have the iPhone app ready for you in about five or six days. Does that sound good?
So, excuse me while I get technical for just a minute!
For those of you that still have the old application on your phone (and this goes for both Android and iPhone users), you would most likely have received a notification about the availability of this new one, but if not, and you are currently using an android, simply click here to download the app. (This link is for Android users only.) Android users, if you’re having issues with this link (and it’s currently working fine on this end), you can search “Living Proof Ministries – Scripture Memory Team – 2013” in your phone under applications. (I have very little knowledge about Android phones, so forgive me if my wording is wrong.)
When the iPhone app is ready, I’ll update this post for those of you who would like to download it with all the instructions you’ll need. However, I do know upfront you’ll be able to find the app in the iTunes store via your phone or computer.
Once you have the application, it is very user friendly. You’ll be notified the 1st and 15th of every month with the new blog post that will land in your application (you will only be notified if you have turned on notifications for this specific app), you can share the post, and then you can also store your memory work in there. It will also act like your spiral. You may want to use both your spiral and the app to have on hand in case you lose one or the other!
I hope that helps! Doesn’t this make it so much more fun?
Tags: Scripture Memory 2013
Mika Bailey,Cedar Park,Texas All your children shall be taught by the Lord, and great shall be the peace of your children” Isaiah 54:13 esv
Elyse, Katy TX
“Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.”
Psalm 51:12
Gina from Johnstown, CO
Keep your lives free for the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said ” Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?” Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. Jesus is the same yesterday and today and forever.
Clancie Speck, Elizabethtown, KY,
Cause me to hear Your lovingkindness in the morning
For in You do I trust.
Cause me to know the way in which I should walk,
For I lift up my soul to You.
Psalm 143:8, NKJV
Sandra in Chiang Mai, Thailand
“Oh the joys of those who trust the Lord, who have no confidence in the proud, or in those who worship idols.” Psalm 40:4 NLT
Carla, Cypress, Tx:
“And the Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.”
Isaiah 58:11
Ashley from Kingwood, TX
She is clothed with strength and dignity, and she laughs with no fear of the future.
Prov 31:25 NLT
Luke 22:42 (NIV 1984)
“Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.”
Amanda, White Rock, BC Canada ‘For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus so that we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.’ Ephesians 2:10 NLT
Do not judge, or you will be judged. Matthew 7:1 NIV
Caitlin, Aiken SC
Philippians 3:10-12 (Holman Christian Standard Version)
[My goal] is to know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, 11 assuming that I will somehow reach the resurrection from among the dead.
Reaching Forward to God’s Goal
12 Not that I have already reached [the goal] or am already fully mature, but I make every effort to take hold of it because I also have been taken hold of by Christ Jesus.
Alexandra-Miami,FL
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are–yet was without sin. (Hebrews 4:15 NIV84)
Victoria Duncan From Edinburg TX
Isaiah 40:31 (NIV)
but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
Jamie Perkins Spring Tx
do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
Philippians 4:6 ESV
Riverbank, California
But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” 1 Corinthians 2:9 NKJV
Overland Park, Kansas
“Abram believed The Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.” – Genesis 15:6
Linda, Bossier City – All your children shall be taught by the LORD, and great will be the peace of your children. Isiah 54:13 ESV
Wendy from Abilene, TX
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 4:6-7 (ESV)
Joyce, St. Louis, Mo. Ephesians 1:4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. NIV
Leslie, Sand Springs, OK 1Peter 3:4, but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit which in God’s sight is very precious.
Lauren Morton from Decatur, Texas
“Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord.” (Psalm 139:4 NIV84)
Jan, Dallas, TX Galatians 2:20 NIV
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Deb, Pierre SD
But that he brought us out from there to bring us in and give us the land that he promised on oath to our forefathers.
Deuteronomy 6:23 NIV
Kelly from Manassas, VA
“For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.”
Romans 8:15 NIV
Judy Hollers, Boone, NC
Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22-23 NIV
“This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope. The Lord’s lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Thy faithfulness.” Lamentations 3:21-23 (NASB)
I will bring Judah and Israel back from captivity and will rebuild them as they were before. Jeremiah 33:7 (NIV)
And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. Galatians 6:9
Kelsey, Granite City, IL “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” Ephesians 4:32, ESV
Carole from Houston,
2 Timothy 1:7 NIV
For our God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.
Fear not, for I am with you;
be not dismayed, for I am your God;
I will strengthen you, I will help you,
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
Isaiah 41:10
Curtis, Houston TX, Eph 6:13-15, Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. (NIV)
Mary Beth Lewis, Memphis, TN
Proverbs 31:26
She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tounge. NIV
Khristina from Rancho Cucamonga, CA
NIV Psalm 86:11-12
Teach me your way, lord, that I may rely on your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name. I will praise you, Lord my God, with all my heart; I will glorify your name forever.
Stacey, Edmond. “Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” Psalm 46:10. NIV
Shari says:
Shari in Long Beach, California
This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope. Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
Lamentations 3:21-23 (NKJV)
Diana in Temple City, CA
O Israel, hope in the Lord! For with the Lord there is steadfast love, and with him is plentiful redemption.
Psalm 130:7 (ESV)
Debbie Puckett
San Antonio, TX
“But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.” 1 Timothy 1:5 NASB
Emily Lacy from Cypress,Texas
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.
Philippians 4:8-9 ESV
Bethany, Albuquerque, NM
The Lord is my light and my salvation
whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life
of whom shall I be afraid?
Psalm 27:1 (NIV)
Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
I Thessalonians 5:18 NIV
Molly
Ashland, KY
Let all that I am wait quietly before God, for my hope is in Him.
Psalms 62:5 NLT
Reading, PA
Thanks for the exhortation on Isaiah 54:13…it’s been tucked away in my heart forever!
Thus says the Lord:
“Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom,
Let not the mighty man glory in his might,
Nor let the rich man glory in his riches;
24 But let him who glories glory in this,
That he understands and knows Me,
That I am the Lord, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth.
For in these I delight,” says the Lord.
Jeremiah 9:23-24 NKJV
Alicia, from Bryan, TX
Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.
Matthew 11:28-30 NIV
Rae, Farmington, MI
May the God of hope fill you with all JOY and peace as you TRUST in him, so that you may overflow.
Romans 15:3 NIV
Becky from Vicksburg, MS
I will refresh the weary and satisfy the faint.
Jeremiah 31:25 NIV
The Lord has heard my plea, the Lord will answer my prayer.
Ps 6:9
NLT
Jodee
Raytown, MO
Mandy in Woolwich, Maine
The fear of man brings a snare, but whoever trusts in The Lord shall be safe
Proverbs 29:25 NKJV
Beth Petro. Stillwater, OK. 1 Peter 3:4 NKJV “rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God.”
Angela Talley, Murfreesboro TN
Whatever you do work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men. Knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward, Your are serving the Lord Christ.
Colossians 3: 23-24, ESV