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
Tonyafrom Prosper, TX
Children obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord. Colossians 3:20 NIV
Lesley, Newbury Park, Ca – “Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing and perfect will of God”. Romans 12:2 (HCSB)
Melissa, Locust Grove, GA. “The saying is trustworthy, for if we have died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he will also deny us; if we are faithless, he remains faithful- for he cannot deny himself.” 2 Timothy 2:11-13 (ESV)
“Your thoughts—how rare, how beautiful! God, I’ll never comprehend them! I couldn’t even begin to count them— any more than I could count the sand of the sea. Oh, let me rise in the morning and live always with you!” {Psalm 139:17-18 MSG}
Holly Pratt, ks Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. (Matthew 6:34 NIV)
Kay from Sierra Vista, AZ
1 Timothy 4:16 (NET Bible)
Be conscientious about how you live and what you teach. Persevere in this, because by doing so you will save both yourself and those who listen to you.
Anne Marie, Woburn, MA. Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. James 1:2-3 (The Message)
All my longings lie open before you, Lord; my sighing is not hidden from you. Psalm 38:9 NIV
Forgot to say where I was from – Asheville, NC
Dyersburg, TN
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. 2 Peter 1:3 NIV
Casey – Centerville, OH
“Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul.” (Psalm 143:8, NIV)
Jennifer, North Charleston, SC
Though the fig tree does not bud
and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
and no cattle in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
I will be joyful in God my Savior.
Habakkuk 3:17-19 (NIV)
Cindy Stump, Summersville WV For by your words you will be aquitted, and by your words you will be condemned. Matthew 12:37 (NIV)
Kim M. Austin,Texas
Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.
James 1:22 NIV 1984
Beth, Story City,IA
“Steadfast love and faithfulness meet; righteousness and peace kiss each other.”
Psalm 85:10, ESV
Durant, OK
Two are better than one because they have a good return for their work ;
If one falls didwn, his friend can help him up.
But pity the man who falls down and has no one to help him up.
Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.
But how can one keep warm alone?
Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken
Ecclesiastes 4:9-12NIV.
Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone. Colossians 4:2-6
Michelle Weihing, Frisco, Texas – 2 Corinthians 10:5 – We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
Thou will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee.
Isaiah 26:3a
Julie, Texarkana- “Wait for the Lord; Be strong, and let your heart take courage, Wait for The Lord!” Psalm 27:15 ESV
Letha. Mountain Home, Arkansas. Psalm 86:11 TNIV. Teach me your way, Lord,that I may rely on your faithfulness;give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name.
You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in You, all whose thoughts are fixed on You!
Isaiah 26:3
Ashlie McDonald, Salt Lake City, UT
I am continuing on in memorizing Psalm 91.
Psalm 91:3
“For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence.” ESV
Jamie in Katy: Psalm 103:10-11 ESV
“10 He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. 11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;”
Frisco, Texas.
Love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 1 John 4:10, Holman
Marybeth in Oxford, PA: “…We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on You.”
2 Chronicles 20:12b ESV
Stacy – Hinckley, England
Keep your heart with all vigilance for from it flow the springs of life.
Proverbs 4v23 ESV
Christina Moore, Plano, Texas-
Ephesians 3:10-12 NIV84
His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to his eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.
Kasey, Newnan, GA. “Teach me your way, O Lord, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name.” Psalm 86:11 NIV
Tolu, Boston MA
Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes with the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.
Ephesians 6:13-18 (NIV)
Suzanne, Tenaha,TX
Psalm 63:1 (NIV1984)
O God you are my God, earnestIy I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you,
in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
Stephanie, Mulvane, KS
“And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.”
Philippians 4:8 NLT
Erika, Lima, OH
Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman where are they? Has no one condemned you?” “No one, sir,” she said. “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin. John 8:10-11 (NIV)
Esther Joy from Mountain Home, AR Romans 8:38-39 (Daily Walk Bible) “And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from His love. Death can’t and life can’t. The angels can’t and the demons can’t. Our fears for today, our worries about tomorrow, and even the powers of hell can’t keep God’s love away. Whether we are high above the sky or in the deepest ocean, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Dianne, Fairfield, CA -“I know that my redeemer lives, and that in the end He will stand on the earth.” – Job 19:25 (NIV)
Ange, Louisville KY
They rejected His statutes and His covenant He had made with their ancestors and the decrees He had given them. The pursued worthless idols and became worthless themselves, following the surrounding nations the Lord had commanded them not to imitate. 2 Kings 17:15 HCSB
Sacha, Nashville, TN
Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.
Colossians 2:6-7(ESV)
Natalie Dawes, Calgary, AB, Canada
He has showed you, O man, what is good. 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 (NIV84)
Nashville, Tennessee
A thief comes only to steal and to kill and to destroy.i I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance. John 10:10 NCSB
Shiffra Vicksburg, MI Lamentations 3:22-24 NIV84 “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for Him.”
Dana, Ozark, MO
For the LORD gives wisdom and from his mouth comes knowledge and understanding. Proverbs 2:6 NIV
Karen from Westminster, MD
Encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. Hebrews 3:13 NIV
“Who is ale to advise the Spirit of the Lord? Who know enough to be his teacher or counselor? ” Isaiah 40:13 NLT
Kerri, Friendswood, Tx, 2 Corinthians 4:7, NIV:
But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-suprassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.
Cindy Cannon, Otterville, IL
But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.
Matthew 6:33 (KJV)
Julie
Henderson, TX
When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.
Psalms 56:3
ERV
Heather, from Mckinney TX, “You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.” 1 John 4:4 (NIV)
Michelle, Watkinsville
No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.
I Corinthians 10:13 (NIV)
Kristi Lowe, Lubbock TX
1 Corinthians 9:27 ESV
“But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.”
Ramona, Pasadena, Hebrews 11:6 The Living Bible
You can never please God without faith, without depending on him. Anyone who wants to come to God must believe that there is a God and that he rewards those who sincerely look for him.
Ginger, Phoenix
“Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the LORD’S purpose that prevails.”
-Proverbs 19:21, NIV 1984