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
Dionne from Hawaii
After this prayer, the meeting place shook, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Then they preached the word of God with boldness. (Acts 4:31 NLT)
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.
~Proverbs 3:5-6
Peace I leave with you: My peace I give you. I do not give as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be agraid. John 14:27
Sarah from Kuwait
You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!
Isaiah 26:3 NLT
Hey Beth, is the iphone app ready? And will it work on ipad? A friend of mine said she found it, but I can’t find it to save my soul! 🙂 Thanks, Mama Beth!
Hi Valerie! Indeed it is! Here is the link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/bethmoorelpm/id412142472?mt=8. Hope that helps!
Tina, Odessa, TX
Deut 33:29
How happy you are, Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the Lord? He is the shield that protects you, the sword you boast in. Your enemies will cringe before you, and you will tread on their backs! (HCSB)
Ashley Scott
Fort Knox, KY
“What the law could not do since it was limited by the flesh, God did. He condemned sin in the flesh by sending His own Son in flesh like ours under sin’s domain and as a sin offering,” Romans 8:3 HCSB
Tiffany, Muskogee, OK
We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps. (Proverbs 16:9 NLT)
Caitlin, Montreal “Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him,” Colossians 2:6, ESV
Karen from Unionville, PA
Psalm. 119:11 KJV
Thy Word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against thee.
Julie Luttrull, Muskogee, Oklahoma,Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer, Romans 12:12 (NIV)
Melissa Stauffer, Centreville, MI
And the peace of God, which surpasses every thought, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:7 (HCSB)
Cindy B, Yakima
“And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else.”
Acts 17:25, NIV
“So with you, Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.”
John 16:22 (NIV)
Lisa Firebaugh
Kirkland, WA
hisfivefooter
Deuteronomy 4:20 ESV
But the LORD has taken you, and brought you out of the iron furnace, our of Egypt, to be a people of His own inheritance, as you are this day.
Georgiann from Tucson, AZ
Hebrew 4:12
For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.
Pat Kelley from Seattle, WA
Isaiah 43:3a. NIV
For I am the Lord your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.
Kim Larios Fresno, CA
The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has annoited 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. Isaiah 61:1 NIV
Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. Psalm 90:12 TNIV
Leigh-Anne from Kamloops, BC.
Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Luke 10:19 NKJV
Sally, Norfolk, VA
Show me your ways, O LORD, teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.
Psalm 25:4-5. NIV
“I was filled with delight day after day, rejoicing always in his presence, rejoicing in his whole world and delighting in mankind.” Proverbs 8:30-31 NIV
I have forgotten to delight in mankind.
For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. (Romans 4:13 KJV) Diane Murfreesboro TN
Jen, Missouri City, TX
Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. James 1:2-3 (NIV)
Christine Arnold, Atlanta, GA Dear children, keep away from anything that might take God’s place in your heart. 1 John 5:21 NLT
1 Timothy 4:12 ESV
Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.
All your children will be followers of the Lord, and your children will enjoy great prosperity. Isaiah 54:13 The Net Bible
Stafford, Texas
Philippians 4:7-9 NAS “And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally brethren, whatever is true; whatever is honorable; whatever is right; whatever is pure; whatever is lovely; whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence or anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things. The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things; and the God of peace shall be with you.”
Jeannie – Virginia
All your children shall be taught by the LORD, and great shall be the peace of your children.” Isaiah 54:13 ESV
When I am afraid, I will put my trust in you. Psalm56:3 ESV
When I am afraid, I will put my trust in you. Psalm56:3 ESV. Correct email on this submission.
Lisa Holeman, Marion, KY. Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust in The Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. (NIV)
Lindsay, Greenwood, In
Open my eyes that I might see the wonderful things in your law. Psalms 119:18
Yen, Houston:
Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. Heb 11:1 (NIV’84)
Pam – Crown Point Indiana
“This is what The Lord says, ‘Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.’” Jeremiah 6:16 NIV
Janine, CA
God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. Hebrews 6:10, NIV
Gillian, Oshawa, Ontario, Canada The Blessing of the LORD brings wealth, and he adds not trouble to it. Proverb 10:22 NI
Charlotte M. from Kingwood, TX
The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul. The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple.
Psalm 19:7
NIV
Centreville, VA
“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.” Romans 15:13 (NIV)
January 15
“And if I parcel out all my possessions, and if I hand over my body in order that I will be burned, but do not have love, it benefits me nothing.”
1 Corinthians 13:3
1 Thes 5:24 NIV
The One who calls you is faithful & He will do it.
the oath he swore to our father Abraham: to rescue us from the hand of our enemies, and to enable us to serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all our days. (Luke 1:73-75 NIV)
Set your mind on things above, not on the things that are on earth. Colossians 3:2 NASB
Sharon from Selma NC…You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You because he trusts in You. Isaiah 26:3
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer. Psalm 19:14 KJV
Melody in Reidsville, NC: “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” Hebrews 4:16 NIV
Elaine, Bismarck
Build houses and live in them;
and plant gardens, and eat their produce,
Take wives and become fathers of sons and daughters,
and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands,
that they may bear sons and daughters;
and multiply there and do not decrease.
Jeremiah 29:5-6
NASV
Cheya from Houston, TX: Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. Isaiah 40:28 NIV
Michelle L., Duncan, OK
Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Ephesians 4:32 NIV
O Lord, hear my prayer,
listen to my cry for mercy;
in your faithfulness and righteousness
come to my relief.
Psalm 143:1 NIV