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
Brandy Pritchard – Abilene, Tx
“Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and faithful in prayer.”
Romans 12:12
NIV
Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. 1 Peter 4:8 NIV
Take control of what I say, O Lord, and guard my lips. Psam 141:3 NLT
Wendy
Long Island, NY
Mandy, Bastrop, La.
I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in Him I will trust. Psalm 91:2 King James
Isaiah 54:13 NIV1984
All your sons will be taught by the Lord, and great will be your children’s peace.
Connie, Chariton, James 1:26 If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one’s religion is useless. James 1:26 NKJV
Kelly, Colorado Springs, CO
“Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she smiles at the future.”
Psalm 31:25
New American Standard Bible
S. Beam, Cherryville, NC
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be discouraged, for The Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.
Joshua 1: 9. NIV
Jeanne San Antonio,TX
Deut 4:29 ESV But from there you will seek the LORD your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul.
Susanna, Greenville, TX.
My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Psalm 73:26. NIV
Sara, Pratt, KS
I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. Romans 8:18 NIV
Desire fulfilled is sweet to the taste, but to turn from evil is an abomination to fools.
Proverbs 13:19 HCSB
Erin from Denver: James 1:2-3 NIV “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.”
Bonnie
Port Orchard, Washington
My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
John 15:12-13 NIV
Joslin ~ Seminole, FL
Psalm 119:32
“I will run in the way of your commandments when you enlarge my heart!”. ESV
Debra. Mobile, AL
My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, (Colossians 2:2 NIV84)
Monica
Cheyenne, WY
You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you.
Isaiah 26:3 NIV
Crystal Johnson from Columbia, SC~
1 Peter 2:9 (NIV): But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
Janice from Portsmouth, OH says
“Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he. I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will rescue you.”
Isaiah 46:4 NIV
Greenacres, FL
Then I, John saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
Revelation 21:2 NKJV
Crystal, Omaha, NE
Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart. Psalm 51:6 esv
Cheryl Adams
Hephzibah, Ga.
This is what the Lord says to Israel:
“Seek Me and live.”
Amos 5:4 NIV
Melissa, Nashville, TN
“And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus” Philippians 4:7 (NIV)
Melissa Dylla
San Antonio, TX
For nothing is impossible with God. Luke 1:37
NIV
Sara Cain,
Hiram GA (soon to be Ft. Worth, Texas).
“But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.'”
1 Samuel 16:7 NASB
Tolu, Boston
Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.
2 Corinthians 10:5 KJV
Lori L from Montrose Co
Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God with your body.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20
ESV
Michelle J. Bridge City, TX
Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see. Hebrews 11:1 NLT
Michelle Basham from Murfreesboro, TN
Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, -Colossians 3:23 (ESV)
Loretta, Albuquerque, “All your children shall be taught by the Lord and great shall be the peace of your children” Isaiah 54:13 ESV
Sarah Barker from Greensboro, NC
Mark 11:24 (ESV)
Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.
All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. 2 Timothy 3:16. NKJV
Meredith from Elizabeth City, NC “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Hebrews 4:16 ESV
Trust in the Lord God with all your heart. Do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will direct your paths. Proverbs 3:5-6 NLT
Lisa-Frisco, TX; “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take” Proverbs 3:5-6 NLT
Kat from Wilmington, NC
“Do not be angry and frustrated! Do not fret! That only leads to trouble!”
Psalm 37:8 NET
Angie Buster, Watauga, TX
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 NIV
Suzy, San Antonio, TX “Finally brothers and sisters,whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-think about such things.” Philippians 4:8 (NIV)
Ruth, Austin, Texas
Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.
1 John 3:2 (NIV)
Johannah, Alexandria, LA
“When she speaks, her words are wise, and she gives instructions with kindness.” Proverbs 31:26 NLT
Sandi, Lewiston, Idaho
Hebrews 2:1 NIV
We must pay the most careful attention therefore, to what we have heard so that we do not drift away.
Jeanie from Spencer,IN
“See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.” Colossians 2:8 NIV
Jennifer S from Killeen, Tx
I lift up my eyes to the mountains, where does my help come from? My help comes from The Lord, the maker of heaven and earth. ~ Psalm 121:1,2
“Teach me your way Lord;
Lead me in a straight path
because of my oppressors.”
Psalm 27:11 Niv
Harrodsburg KY
Mary Beth, Selma, AL
The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble, and He knows those who take refuge in Him.
Nahum 1:7 NASB
Vicki, Wilmington NC
Let Your mercy, O Lord, be upon us, just as we hope in You. Psalm 33:22 NKJV
Susan Mahnel, Locust Grove VA
Romans 11:33 (NLT)
Oh, how great are God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge! How impossible it is for us to understand his decisions and his ways!
Emma in Shawnee, KS
Protect me and rescue me;
don’t let me be disgraced,
for I take refuge in you.
Let integrity and uprightness preserve me,
because my hope is in you.
Psalm 25:20-21 Complete Jewish Bible
Katie, Bismarck, ND. Galatians 5:1,5, ESV. “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery… For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness.” (LOVED your exegesis-not eisegesis-of Isaiah 54:13! And your freedom to ask for it, not claim it. Nicely said!)
Emily from Glenn Heights, TX
“My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. – Psalm 73:26 NIV