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 – 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.) 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
Be to me a rock of habitation, to which I may continually come; You have given commandment to save me, for You are my rock and my fortress…..For you are my hope; O Lord GOD, You have been my confidence from my youth….But as for me, i will hope continually, and will praise You yet more and more.
Psalm 71:3,5,14 NAS
Erika, Hampden, MA
Sherry – Henderson, NC
“Ho! Everyone who thirsts,
Come to the waters;
And you who have no money,
Come, buy and eat.
Yes, come, buy wine and milk
Without money and without price.
Isaiah 55:1 NKJV
Susan, Kiln, MS
5 the faith and love that spring from the hope stored up for you in heaven and about which you have already heard in the true message of the gospel that has come to you. 6 In the same way, the gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world — just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood God’s grace. 7 You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf, 8 and who also told us of your love in the Spirit. Colossians 1:5-8 NIV
Lisa from Wichita, Kansas:
Jeremiah 24:7
I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord.
They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart
Longview, TX “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” Hebrews 11:1 NIV
Lisa, Granbury, Texas
All your children will be followers of the Lord, and your children will enjoy great prosperity.
Isaiah 54:13 NET
…If you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.
Genesis 4:7 NIV
Brenda ~ Torrance, Ca
21 Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. 22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
~ James 1:21, 22 ESV
Sue from Oviedo, FL
“Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love, for in you I trust. Make me know the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul.” (Psalm 143:8 ESV)
Cindy Alton,NH Deut. 6:5-8 ESV
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.
Nona, Poplar Bluff, MO. “Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.” Colossians 4:2 (NIV)
Janice from Jacksonville, Fl.
When I am afraid , I will trust in You. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust;
I will not fear. What can man do to me?
Psalms 56:3-4
Lori Gelezinsky, Fair Bluff, NC
Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, “Oh that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so I will be free from pain.” And God granted him his request. 1 Chronicles 4:10 NIV
The LORD bless you and keep you;
The LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you;
The LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace.
Numbers 6:24-26 NIV
Melissa from Denver
I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have [perfect] peace and confidence. In the world you have tribulation and trials and distress and frustration; but be of good cheer [take courage; be confident, certain, undaunted]! For I have overcome the world. [I have deprived it of power to harm you and have conquered it for you.] (John 16:33 AMP)
Joanne, Seminole, FL
Turn my eyes from worthless things and give me life through Your word. Psalm 119:37 NLT
Sandy Weeks – Gardendale,Alabama
Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit. Psalm 32:2 NIV
Laurie Tomascik
Richmond, Maine
“Lord, I turn to You. My God I trust in You. Do not let me be disgraced; do not let my enemies gloat over me.”
Psalm 25:1-2
HCSB
The Lord will surely comfort Zion (I inserted my own name) and will look with compassion on her ruins; He will make her deserts like Eden, her wastelands like the Garden of The Lord. Joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the sound of singing. Isaiah 51:3 niv
Mandy Moody Knoxville,TN
Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand. (Proverbs 19:21 ESV)
Grace, Topeka.
“Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, men will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else.”
2 Corinthians 9:13, NIV 1984
Merrie from Orlando, FL
Hebrews 6:18-19 (ESV)
“so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. 19 We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place…”
Laura Abbott, Georgetown, TX
1 Thess 5:16-18 NASB
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
Lisa Coody, Kathleen, Georgia. “This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.” John 15:8 NIV
Cindy, Brooklyn Park, MN
“Be very careful, then, how you live- not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.
Ephesians 5:15-17
Philippians 4:8 Finally brethren whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virture and if there is anything praiseworthy- meditate on these things. NASB
Maria Taylor, Atlanta. “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” (Phil 1:6, ESV)
Jaime from Leesville, LA: God’ s way is perfect. All the Lord’ s promises prove true. He is a shield for all who look to Him for protection. Psalm 18:30 NLT
Michele, Edmond,Ok
All your children shall be taught by the LORD, And great shall be the peace of your children. Isaiah 54:13 NKJV
Mary – Atlanta, GA
My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken. Psalm 62:1-2 (NIV1984)
Victoria Boone, North Carolina
As it is written:
” there is none righteous, no, not one;
Romans 3:10 NKJ
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.
Ephesians 6:13
NIV
Diane in Runnells IA proverbs 4:7-9 The beginning of wisdom is Acquire wisdom; and with all your acquiring, get understanding.Prize her, and she will exalt you; She will honor you if you embrace her.She will place on your head a garland of grace; She will present you with a crown of beauty. (NASB)
Townsend, TN
Exodus 14:14, GW
The Lord is fighting for you! So be still!
Malisa, Cincinnati, Ohio
“Deep in my heart I say, ‘The Lord is all I need; I can depend on Him!'” Lamentations 3:24 (CEV)
Tammy ~ Tampa, FL
“And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.”
1 Peter 5:10 ESV
Amy 7634, SF Bay Area
“An indecisive man is unstable in all his ways.”
James 1:8 (HCSB)
Lisa in Grand Prairie, Texas
Exodus 20:8-10 NIV
8 Remember the sabbath day by keeping it Holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates.
Brenda, Sodus, NY – Colossians 3:14-15 But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.
Joyce from Suwanee, Georgia
For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing,
But to us who are being saved it it the power of God.
1 Corinthians 1:18 NIV
Psalms 51:2 NIV
Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.
Gail Jones
Decatur, TX
Donna, Summerfield, NC
Isaiah 61:4 NKJ And they shall rebuild the old ruins, They shall raise up the former desolations, And they shall repair the ruined cities, The desolations of many generations.
Hastings, FL
Colossians 3:23-24 NIV
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.
Jodi, Sundown, TX, For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. Psalms 91:11-12
Liz from Hilliard, OH
“Do not remember the former things,
Nor consider the things of old.
Behold, I will do a new thing,
Now it shall spring forth;
Shall you not know it?
I will even make a road in the wilderness
And rivers in the desert.
The beast of the field will honor Me,
The jackals and the ostriches,
Because I give waters in the wilderness
And rivers in the desert,
To give drink to My people, My chosen.
This people I have formed for Myself;
They shall declare My praise.”
Isaiah 43: 18-21 NKJV
Paula Dahlke, Springdale, AR – 1 Peter 5:8 NASB
Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
Rachel, Charleston. “If you keep yourself pure, you will be a special utensil for honorable use. Your life will be clean, and you will be ready for the Master to use you for every good work.” 2 Timothy 2:21 NLT
Jill from Amarillo, Texas
“Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.”
Romans12:12 NIV
-March on, my soul; be strong!
Judges 5:21 NIV
Rachel in Indiana
Lindsey from Little Rock
“That is what the Scriptures mean when God told him (Abraham) “I have made you the father of many nations.” This happened because Abraham believed in the God who brings the dead back to life and who creates new things out of nothing.”
Romans 4:17