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
Keep the commands I am giving you today. So that you may have the strength to cross and to possess the land you are to inheit. Duet 11:8
Ali in Haslett, MI
When one finds a worthy wife, her value is beyond pearls. Her husband, entrusting his heart to her, has an unfailing prize. She brings him good, and not evil, all the days of her life.
Proverbs 31:10-12 NAB
Sarah, Chocowinity, NC
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to give you hope and a future.
Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.
You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
Jeremiah 29: 11-13
Shaci- Aztec, New Mexico
Psalms 118:8
“It is better to take refuge in the Lord,
than to trust In human”. NIV
Lorie, Columbia, SC
The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O LORD, endures forever. Ps. 138:8 NIV
Karen, Ponte Vedra, FL
Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit which is of great worth in God’s sight. 1 Peter 3:3-4 (NIV)
Beth Mellinger
Lancaster PA
“For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.”
2 Timothy 1:7 (ESV )
Bonnie from Huntsville, AL
“Blessed is the one who reads the words of his prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.” Revelation 1:3 NIV
Rebekah: Sayre, PA
“Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the rain produced its crops.”
James 5:17-18 NIV
Melissa Albertson, Easley, SC- Proverbs 3:9 NKJV Honor the Lord with all your possessions and withhthe first fruits of all your increase.
Melissa
Midlothian, VA
“A hot-tempered person stirs up conflict, but the one who is patient calms a quarrel.” Proverbs 15:18. NIV
James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes
scattered among the nations; Greetings. James 1:1
NIV
Kathy
Lynden
Stephanie Floyd
Danville Ky
I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. Romans 8:18. NIV
Kathy S, New Albany OH
All your children will be taught by the Lord, and great will be their peace.
Isaiah 54:13 NIV
Lyndsay, New Castle , IN
2 Samuel 22:31–“God’s way is perfect. All The Lord ‘s promises prove true. He is a shield to all who look to Him for protection.”
Jess from Houghton, NY
You crown the year with your bounty,
and your carts overflow with abundance.
Psalm 65:11 NIV
Deborah in Seward, Alaska
For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.
2 Corinthians 4:6 NIV
Katalla from Fairbanks, AK
As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:9 NIV
Tina
Mason, Ohio
Ps. 141:3 NLT
Take control of what I say, O LORD, and guard my lips.
Romans 8:26 The Message
Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God’s Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don’t know how or what to pray, it doesn’t matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of wordless sighs, our aching groans.
Michelle, Minot, ND
Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders.
Deuteronomy 6:8
Michelle Weihing, Frisco, Texas – Psalm 49:6-7 NIV – And the Heavens proclaim His rightousness, for God himself is Judge. Hear, O my people, and I will speak, O Israel, and I will testify against you: I am God, your God.
Phil 4:13. NIV. I can do all this through him who gives me strength .
Betsy in Mt Olive, AL
Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
Matthew 5:16 NKJV
Mary Beth – Abilene TX
Habakkuk 2:3 ESV. For still the vision awaits its appointed time;it hastens to the end-it will not delay. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay.
“Everything is permissible for me” – but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible for me” -but I will not be mastered by anything.
1 Corinthians 6:12 NIV
Heather Wright, Andersonville, TN
You crown the year with Your bounty, and Your carts overflow with abundance. Psalm 65:11 (NIV)
Carrie H., Houston, TX
“You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love.” Galatians 5:13 NIV
For example, suppose someone comes into your meeting dressed in fancy clothes and expensive jewelry, and another comes in who is poor and dressed in dirty clothes.
James 2:2
Isaiah 43:2 and 3A, NIV
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.
Tammy
Ingleside, TX
Michele Brooks and Marley Brooks, Weber City, VA
“…And what does The Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. ”
Micah 6:8 NIV
Debbie – Newberg, OR
Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but like slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men,
ephesians 6:5-7
Angela in Wichita, KS
If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight reign on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless.
James 1:26 NIV
Pam in San Diego; “For the Lord God is a sun and shield. The Lord bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless.” Psalm 84:11 NIV
And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him. Hebrews 11:6 NLT
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14 NIV
Because we have these promises, dear friends, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that can defile our body or spirit. And let us work toward complete holiness because we fear God. (2 Corinthians 7:1 NLT)
Janet Norwood, Lenoir, NC. “Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
Lynn, Red Deer, Alberta
By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
John 13:35 ESV
Brenda, Midlothian, VA “…take every thought captive to obey Christ.” 2 Corinthians 10:5 ESV
Jane, Van Buren, AR. I say to the Lord, You are my Lord; I have no good apart from You.Psalm 16:2(ESV)
Psalms 138:8 ” The Lord will perfect that which concerns me; your mercy, O Lord, endures forever, do not forsake the works of your hands.” NKJV
Celia, Kingsport, TN: For the LORD God is a sun and shield; The LORD gives grace and glory; No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly. NAS
Veronica Atlanta, Georgia
My God shall supply all your needs according to his riches and Glory by Christ Jesus phillipians4:19 (memory verse card translation unknown)
Alice, Marietta, Ga
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
When you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. Isaiah 43:2-3 (ESV)
Laura, Huntington, WV
5. Live wisely among those who are not believers, and make the most of every opportunity. 6 Let your conversation be gracious and attractive* so that you will have the right response for everyone.
Colossians 4:5-6
NLT
Paulette
Nogalus Prairie, TX
Col. 3:13 The NET Bible
“…bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if someone happens to have a complaint against anyone else. Just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also forgive others.”
Julie, Pittsburgh, PA
“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”
Isaiah 41:10
Fenton, Ashburn, VA “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.”
Rom. 8:5 NKJV
Stephanie, Canton, NY
Romans 12:1 NLT
And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice- the kind he will accept. When you think of what he has done for you, is this too much to ask?