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
Tammy, Merryville, La
“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says The Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11 NKJV
Tammy, Merryville, La
“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says The Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11 NKJV
Donna ~ Arab, Alabama But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. (1 Corinthians 15:10 ESV)
Lindsey from Edmond,OK
so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. (Ephesians 3:17-19 ESV)
Leverett, MA
I will bless the LORD at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.
My soul will make its boast in the LORD; the humble will hear it and rejoice.
Psalm 34:1-2 NASB
Alisha from Lafayette Louisiana. “But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindnes, goodness, faith, gentleness, self control. Against these things there is no law.” Galations 5:22-23 HCSB
Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Romans 12:2 NIV
Jessica from Sioux Falls, SD
Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it. For still the vision awaits its appointed time it hastens to the end-it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay.
-Habakkuk 2:3 ESV
Then you will call upon me and come and pray tome, and I will listen to you Jeremiah 29:12 NIV
Mimi,Versailles,Ky
Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, Lord have never forsaken those who seek you. Ps 9:10 NIV
Heather in London, ON
I will exalt you, my God the King, I will praise your name for ever and ever. Every day I will praise you and extol your name forever and ever. Psalm 145:1,2 NIV
Natalie Schwartz, Springfield, MO
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? When evildoers assail me to eat up my flesh, my adversaries and foes, it is they who stumble and fall. Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war arise against me, yet I will be confident. One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in His temple.
Psalm 27: 1-4 ESV
Ashley
Newport, TN
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for The Lord your God is with you wherever you go.
Joshua 1:9
NASB
Debbie, Moultrie, Ga
Search me,O God, and know my heart:try me, and know my thoughts;
And see if there be any wicked way in me , and lead me in tghe wasy everlasting. Psalm 139:23-24 KJV
Stormy D. from Payson,Utah
“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.”
-Psalm 19:14 (ESV)
Jody from Locust Grove
“How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee. ”
Psalm139:17-18 kjv
Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you Jeremiah 29:12 NIV
2 Peter 1:3 NIV
His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.
Dori Adams Raleigh, NC
“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than we all ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever! Amen!” Ephesians 3:20-21 NIV
Debbie, Nashville Tn,
John 15:9-11 NIV
As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in His love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.
Nicole Hudnall, Lynchburg, VA
Isaiah 41:10 NLT
Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.
Susan Melchor in Gatlinburg TN
“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says The Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope….. And you seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.” Jer.29:11,13 NKJV
Jeri Fyock
Creston, IA
She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come.
Proverbs 31:25. NIV
Sarah C. in Auburn, AL
Christ Jesus, who died – more than that, who was raised to life – is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Romans 8:34b NIV
Karen: Centralia, Mo. God is our refuge and strength always ready to help in times of trouble. Ps 46:1 NLT
Richmond, Va
This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
John 15:8 NIV
Jenny
Corona, Ca
You crown the year with Your bounty, and Your carts overflow with abundance. Psalm 65:11 NIV
Jennifer, Kodak, TN
Do not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.
Exodus 34:14. (NIV)
Carrie, Atlanta. “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am with your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:10 NIV
Loretta
Murrayville, GA
This is the confidence which we have before Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.
1 John 5:14 NIV
Tiffany Cook from Birmingham, AL
Let love and faithfulness never leave you;
bind them around your neck,
write them on the tablet of your heart.
Pro 3:3 NIV
Sarah, Athens, GA
“Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.”
Hebrews 10:23 (NIV)
“I depend on God alone;I put my hope in him.” Psalm 62:5 (GNTD)
Diane, Roswell, GA – “By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.” John 15:8 ESV
Lauren Labbe from Bristol, CT
“And when they had called the apostles, and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name. And daily in the temple, and I every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ.”
Acts 5: 40-42, KJV
^^ “and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ.”
Melissa Davis Grand Junction, CO
“Do not judge, and you will not e judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap.”
Luke 6:37-38 NIV
Peggy from Homer, IL, Deuteronomy 6:25, And if we are careful to obey all this law before the LORD our God, as He has commanded us, that will be our righteousness. NIV 84
Daphne in Ocean City, NJ: “I will give thanks to the LORD with all my heart; I will tell of all Your wonders. I will be glad and exult in You; I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High.” – Psalm 9: 1-2 NASB
Ruth
Madison, Georgia
But He said to me, ” My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
2nd Corinthians 12:9-10 NIV
Jennie from Long Creek. “Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” 1Thess. 5:16-18
NIV
Michelle from Louisville OH
James 1:21-22 NLT
So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your souls. But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise you are just fooling yourselves.
Emily Mechanicsville, VA
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
Leslie Morgan, Spartanburg, SC, “Do not be anxious in anything, but in everything by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” Philippians 4:6, NIV
I’m looking forward to medutating and memorizing God’s word. Thank you for the encouragement!
Charlotte from Mims, FL
Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 1:13 NASB)
Col 4: vs 2 devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart.
Brooke, Fredericksburg, VA
I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. I this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.
John 16:33 NIV
Brittany, Griffin, GA
You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in You. Trust in the Lord forever for the Lord, the Lord, is the Rock eternal. Isaiah 26:3-4
Cathryne, Fayetteville NC
” … I will give a new name to those who are not My people; I’ll call them ‘My people,’ and to the one who has not been loved, I’ll rename her ‘beloved.’ ” Romans 9:25 The Voice
Romona, Rosewood Heights
This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. 1 John 4:13 (NIV)