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.Ā 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,Ā 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 Å”-l-m is of completion and fulfillmentāof 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 –Ā 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.)Ā 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 ā Scripture Memory Team ā 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
Ashlee Wallace
Snow Camp, NC
“Some trust in chariots and some in horses; but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.” PSALM 20:7 NIV
Jenn from Arlington, TX
“Above all, maintain an intense love of each other, since love covers a multitude of sins.” 1 Peter 4:8 HCSB
Heather V, Lansing MI
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23 (NET)
Sarah from Little Rock. “The appetite of the lazy craves, and gets nothing, while the appetite of the diligent is richly supplied.”
Proverbs 13:4 NRSV
Hannah, League City, TX
Luke 8:7-8 ESV
And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it. And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold.” As he said these things, he called out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
This may be a double posting as I can’t remember if I commented on the 15th or not.
Jackie, Versailles, KY
Wait for the Lord, be strong and take heart, And wait for the Lord. Psalm 27:14
Annette, San Diego
Isaiah 61:1-2
The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lordās favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn. NIV
But whatever was to my profit, I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things.
Phil. 3:7-8 NIV84
Marlene from Harleysville, PA – The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms.
Deuteronomy 33:27 NIV
Lisa, Florida
All your children shall be taught by the Lord, and great shall be the peace of your children. Isaiah 54;13 ESV
Lorraine from Marysville, Washington.
Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you.
Psalm 9:10 NIV
Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, Acts 17:30 NKJV
Sorry, I’m late… I nearly forgot! Here’s Part 2.
” I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh…” ~Ezekiel 36:26 (NIV)
Hollie R.
Granbury, TX
Dear brothers & sisters, when trouble comes your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect & complete, needing nothing. James 1:2-4
Anna Elkhart IN
Blessed are those who keep His testimonies, who seek Him with the whole heart.
Psalm 119:2 NKJV
Dina from Garden Grove, Ca: “Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heartās desires.” Psalm 37:4 NLT
Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me. Psalm 51:10 NKJV
Katie from Troy, Kansas
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
Jeremiah 29:11 NIV
āFor where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.ā
Matthew 6:21, NIV
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, eph 3:20
Marci, from Florence
“I, the Lord, made you and I will not forget you. I have swept away your sins like a cloud. I have scattered your offenses like the morning mist. Oh, return to me, for I have paid the price to set you free.”
Isaiah 44:21-22, NLT
Beverly
Sevierville, TN
He Restores my soul, He leads me to the paths of righteousness for His namesake.
Psalm 23:3
NKJV
Denham Springs, LA
Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” Deuteronomy 31:6
Carly L, Parrish, FL. Verse 2- Pleasant words are a honeycomb, Sweet to the soul and healing to the bones. Proverbs 16:24. NASB
Susan Dixson from Charlotte NC
Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you.Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life.
-Psalms 143:8 (NIV)
Hannah Alamo, TN “Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.” Philippians 4:6-7 MSG
1 Samuel 12:24
But be sure to fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things he has done for you.
“Great peace have those who love Your law, and nothing causes them to stumble.” Psalm 119:165 NKJV
Kristi, Telford, PA Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Rom 12:12 NIV
Lauren, Dallas, TX. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. Colossians 3:16, ESV
Sarah
Russellville, AR
Colossians 4:6 says “Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.” NIV
From Edmond, OK
“Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.”
1 Corinthians 15:58
NIV forgot to put that š
2 Kings 17:41
“Even while these people were worshiping the Lord, they were serving their idols. To this day their children and grandchildren continue to do as their ancestors did.”
Tracy
Fort Mill, SC
Elizabeth from Midland, Texas
All your children shall be taught by the LORD, and great shall be the peace of your children.
Isaiah 54:13 NIV
Tenille from Mountain Home, Arkansas
Be anxious for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. Phil. 4:6 NKJV
Fort Worth TX
Colossians 1:9 ESV
And so from the day we heard, we have not eased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,
Gilberts, IL
Romans15:13 ESV
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Deborah, Roseburg, OR. “And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace [Who imparts all blessing and favor], Who has called you to His [own] eternal glory in Christ Jesus, will Himself complete and make you what you ought to be, establish and ground you securely, and strengthen, and settle you” (1 Peter 5:10 AMP).
Laura from Brandon, Florida
“You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.”
1 John 4:4 (NIV)
Kathryn, Oceanside CA, “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life” Proverbs 4:23 NIV
Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Psalm 139:23 NIV
Marcia, Fredericksburg,VA. In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps. Proverbs 16:9 NIV
Nancy from Florence, SC Isaiah 41:13 in the NLB reads “For I hold you by your right hand – I, the Lord your God. And I say to you, “Don’t be afraid. I am here to help you.””
My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. 1 John 2:1-2 KJV
Valerie, SC
Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits.
Psalm 103:2
Connie – Forsyth, MO “You crown the year with Your bounty, and Your carts overflow with abundance.”
Psalm 65:11 NIV
Hebrews 10:36 (NET)
For you need endurance in order to do God’s will and so receive what is promised.
Traci
Knoxville, TN
Linkƶping, Sweden
“For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”
Romans 8:3-4 (NIV)
Kelly, Fredericksburg, Virginia
Psalm 119:37
Turn my eyes away from worthless things; preserve my life according to Your Word. Amplified