Hey, Everybody! Welcome to Verse 3! One month down, only eleven more to go! I say that with a grin because I don’t want it to fly by. There are stressful aspects to what we’re doing here on our team because victory is labor intensive and demands focus and discipline. You can’t really cheat at your memory work. I mean, either we take the time for the constant repetition until it’s embedded underneath that skull of ours or we don’t. But, at the same time, it’s also rejuvenating, don’t you think? And fun? And, admit it, the team aspect of it is glorious.
In fact, I hope God is using this whole process to bring some of you back to life. I’m picturing all of us women like that valley of dry bones in Ezekiel 37. Scattered in that broad dell of ours are skeletons of dead-tired, depleted girls from all over the United States and in at least a half dozen other countries. Thousands of us. The breath of God’s words falling on us, rattling our bones, wrapping us with new wine skins, filling our lungs, and beginning to raise us to our feet: a mighty army brandishing Swords. (Eph. 6:17) We use these swords to battle darkness and not one another. We are not Peter who, in an impulsive fury, left poor Malchus with one less ear in John 18:10. There they were, in the most critical moment in human history thus far and Jesus had to stop what He was doing and stick the man’s ear back on the side of his head. (Luke 22:51) Enough of this! Jesus commanded. The people around us who we are called to reach and serve in Christ’s name are not drawn to weapons and shredders but they are indeed drawn to courage and valiance and gracious strength. A well-trained soldier knows who his enemy is and who his enemy is not.
I’m looking forward to your verses! I am starting some memory work out of the one-chapter book of Jude today. I find this verse fascinating because the inspired penman really meant to write his audience about one thing when God sidetracked him to another. These dimensions of divine inspiration make my mind spin. I love thinking about it. Here goes mine:
Beth, Houston. Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. Jude 1:3 (ESV)
Contend for the faith. Lord, show us, teach us, equip us, fill us, and anoint us with holy affection, sound minds and doctrine to contend for the faith. Show us how to fight for our faith without wounding and scarring the people we were called to influence in the process. This can get tricky. Show us how it’s done.
I’m honored to serve you, Sisters, and to draw swords with you in this battle against the blackest darkness. Built up in Christ by the breath of the Spirit, focused and deliberate, we can be a mighty army.
OK, let’s have it. Your names, cities, verses, references, and translations.
Live and love well out there today, you hear?
Tags: Scripture Memory 2013
Kiah from Ada, OK
“For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.” Romans 10:10 NIV
Bria from Washington, DC
Psalm 118:24 ESV
The Lord has done it this very day; let us rejoice today and be glad.
Shirleen, Greenville, SC
Philippians 1:6 (NKJV) being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.
Tammy Pottaboro, TX
Create in me a pure heart O God, and renew a steadfast
spirit within me. Psalm 51:10 NIV
Chris, Kokomo, IN (Ack, missed the day!)
I know all the things you do. I have seen your love, your faith, your service, and your patient endurance. And I can see your constant improvement in all these things. Revelation 2:19 NLT
Christene from London, Canada
Ephesians 3:20, NLT
Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.
Melissa, Scottsdale,AZ
“Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.”
Romans 10:4
I lift my eyes toward the mountains.
Where will my help come from? Psalm 121:1 (HCSB)
Alisha, Lafayette, LA. “I will not leave you as orphans; I am coming to you.” John 14:18
Cindy, Birmingham, AL
Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. Hebrews 10:23 (NIV)
Diane – Spring, Tx
“I lay down and slept, yet I woke in safety,
for the LORD was watching over me.” Ps. 3:5 NLT
Terri, Orange TX
“Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy! He who goes out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.” Psalm 126:5-6 ESV
Jane, Jackson MO
He gives strength to the weary and increases power to the weak. Isaiah 40:29 NIV ’84
Annette Bonaire, GA
“And this is the confidence that we have in him, that if we ask any thing according to his will, he hears us…and if we know that he hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desire of him… I John 5:14-15
Theresa, Pace – Florida
John 18:37 – NIV
Jesus answered…”I came into the world to testify to the truth.”
Brenda Cousino, Frisco, Texas
Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands upon us; yes, establish the work of our hands! (Psalm 90:17 ESV)
Shelley from Bolivar, Missouri
“Whoever gives thought to the word will discover good, and blessed is he who trusts in the Lord.” Proverbs 16:20 ESV
Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. James 1:22 NIV
Amanda, Fort Benning, GA
Blessed is the man who trusts in The Lord and whose trust is The Lord. For he will be planted by the water, that extends its roots by a stream and will not fear when the heat comes; but its leaves will be green, and it will not be anxious in a year of drought nor cease to yield fruit. Jeremiah 17:7-8 NASB
Isaiah 54:13 (ESV) All your children shall be taught by the Lord, and great shall be the peace of your children.
Sarah, Marietta, Ohio
6 Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, 7 rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. Colossians 2:6-7 ESV
“I will teach all your children and they will enjoy great peace.” Isaiah 54:13 NLT
Tammy
Vilonia, AR
Brandi, Fayetteville, NC
“What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?”
—Romans 8:31
Heather Louisville/Lagrange
23 But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”
Matthew 13:23 (NIV84)
Jenae, Hawesville, Ky
Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually! (1 Chronicles 16:11 ESV)
Tiffany, Waco, TX, “I sought the Lord, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame.” -Psalm 34:4-5, NIV (1984)
Psalms 13:5-6 NLT
But I trust in your unfailing love. I will rejoice because you have rescued me. I will sing to the Lord because he is good to me.
Carol Brenner, Burlington Michigan
Romans2-17 KJV
For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, The just shall live by faith.
Sandy, Portland,TN – “For in Him you have been enriched in every way – in all your speaking and in all your knowledge – because our testimony about Christ was confirmed in you.” 1Corinthians 1:5,6 NIV
Naomi Stephens, Waynesboro MS
“And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.” Philippians 1:6 NLT
Sara Sanders, Garden City KS: But you are the ones chosen by God, chosen for the high calling of priestly work, chosen to be a holy people, God’s instruments to do his work and speak out for him, to tell others of the night-and-day difference he made for you—from nothing to something, from rejected to accepted. (1 Peter 2:9, 10 MSG)
Stephanie Shelbyville, In. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no records of wrongs. 1 Corinthians 13: 4-5 NIV
Mary, Maddie, Mallory – Wichita falls tx. “Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart” Psalm 37:4
Anna
Trussville
NLT
“Give my son Solomon the wholehearted desire to obey all your commands, laws, and decrees, and to do everything necessary to build this Temple, for which I have made all the preparations. 1 Chronicles 29:19
Amy in Eagle, Idaho
Ephesians 1:18
New International Version (NIV)
I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people
Ellen, Santa Maria, CA
Ephesians 5:15-16 ESV
15 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise,
16 making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.
“If you have raced with men on foot and they have worn you out, how can you compete with horses? If you stumble in safe country, how will you manage in the thickets by the Jordan? (Jeremiah 12:5 NIV)
Candi, South Lyon, “For My home is easy and My burden is light. ” Matthew 11:30, HCSV
Kay,Tucson,AZ “Guide me in your truth and teach me for you are God my savior,and my hope is in you all day long.” Psalm 25:5 (NIV)
Peggy from Homer, IL
Romans 16:20a NIV84
The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.
Jonesboro AR…a few days late
In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. (Matthew 5:16 NIV)
This week, I am focusing on the basic verse John 3:16. I memorized it years ago, but sometimes, just because you have something committed to memory doesn’t mean that you think about it often on meditate on it. Recently, I have been convicted to really look at God’s Word for the life it brings. Even simple verses can be profound when we really look at them and apply them to our lives. “For God so loved Beth that he gave his one and only son, so that because she believes in him, she will not perish, but will have everlasting life. Be blessed Sistas!
Mika, Dallas, TX: I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Psalm 27:13 NASH
Never doubt that God will keep His promise, and never stop believing. Grow stronger in your faith and gave praise to God. Romans 4:20 NCV
Lisa Wagner, Surprise AZ
Jesus looked her in the eye. “Didn’t I tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?”
John 11:40 msg
Sarah, Independence, Ky. “Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days.” James 5:3 NIV
andrea – mishawaka, in
I have scattered your offensives like the morning mist. Oh, return to Me, for I have paid the price to set you free.
Isaiah 44:23
Christa Caruso Ambler, PA
Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. Psalm 20:7
Yolanda, El Paso, TX
Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the Lord and enjoy safe pasture.
Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Commit your ways to the Lord and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn.
Psalm 37: 3-6 (NIV)
Janice, Slidell, Louisiana For we walk by faith, not by sight. 2 Cor. 5:7 NKJV