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
Sorry, I’ll get it right this time:
Sondra, Lincoln, Ca.
Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in Thy sight. O’Lord, my rock and my redeemer.
Psalms 19:14 NAS
Linzie Brownwood,TX
“He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say if The Lord “He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust. ”
Psalm 91:1-2 NKJV
Jeani
Webster, Texas
Psalm 119:153 ( NKJV)
“Consider my affliction and deliver me, for I do not forget your law.”
Mary Jane
Wilmington, DE
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33 NIV
Gail, McDonough, Ga
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. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
James1:2-4 (NIV)
Morgan Murphy, Muscle Shoals, AL. “To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy- to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power, and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.” Jude 1:24-25 (NIV)
Susan, Oak Ridge
He is your praise;he is your God,
who has done for you these great and awesome things that your eyes have seen.
Deut. 10:2
NRSV
oops Deut. 10:21
Sherie
The Woodlands, TX
This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us-whatever we ask-we know that we have what we asked of him. 1 John 5:14,15
Heather K. Mosinee, WI
“He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.”
Ecclesiastes 3:11 NIV
Amber M.; Gainesville, GA:
“The world is full of so-called prayer warriors who are prayer-ignorant. They are full of formulas and programs and and advice, peddling techniques for getting what you want from God. Don’t fall for that nonsense. This is your Father you are dealing with, and He knows better than you what you need.” – Matthew 6:7-8, The Message
Lori, Ooltewah, TN
Psalms 25:9 He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way. ESV
Kim, West Long Branch, NJ, 1 Corth. 16:13-14 Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong. Do everything in love. NIV
Joy, Altadena, CA
Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed.” says the LORD who has compassion on you.
-Isaiah 54:10 NIV
Victoria M
Greenbrier AR
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13 NIV
Lori
Concordia, Ks
Psalm 27:1 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?
Laura, PA
Romans 15:13 NIV
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Ashley – Nashville, TN – “I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands.” Psalm 63:4 (NIV)
You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance.
Psalm 32:7 NIV
Colima, Klamath Falls, OR
Jennifer,Sisters, OR:
Be soberminded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Risist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. 1 Peter 5:8-9 ESV
Lauren Birmingham, AL
“For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” – 2 Corinthians 4:17-18
1Timothy 3:16 NIV
Beyond all question, the mystery of godliness is great: He appeared in a body, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was preached among the nations, was believed on in the world, was taken up in glory.
April, Pittsburgh, PA
Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans. Proverbs 16:3 NIV
Psalm 28:7 (NIV)
The Lord is my strength and my shield;
my heart trusts in him, and he helps me.
My heart leaps for joy,
and with my song I praise him.
Psalm 130:3-5 NIV
Susan Hill- Nashville, TN
“If you, LORD, kept a record of sins,
Lord, who could stand?
But with you there is forgiveness,
so that we can, with reverence, serve you.
I wait for the LORD, my whole being waits,
and in his word I put my hope.”
Marilyn, Fort Pierce, FL, James 4:11-17 Brothers and sisters, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against a brother or sister or judges them speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you – who are you to judge your neighbour? Boasting about tomorrow. Now listen, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.’ Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, ‘If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.’ As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil. If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.
Kelsey M., Granite City, IL – “do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” -Philippians 2: 6-7 (ESV)
Philippians 4*
Melissa, LaGrange, GA – “This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares The Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God and they will be my people.” Hebrew 8:10 NIV
Orf,WI
Rom 15:13 Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost. Now that’s a promise to claim!
Kristi in Gardner, KS
Romans 12:3 (ESV)
For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of [herself] more highly than [she] ought to think, but to think with sober judgement, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.
Jennifer from Garner, NC
They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. Lamentations 3:23 ESV
Julie H, Corpus Christi
Psalms 46:10 “Be still and know that I am God, I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”
(NIV)
Fran Altadena CA
Whether you turn to the right or the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”
Isaiah 3021 NIV
Becky, mountain home, ar
Therefore my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unloveable, always abounding in the work of The Lord forays much as ye know that your labor is not in vain in The Lord.
I Cor. 15:58
Karol, Ozark, MO “for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose.” Phillipians 2:13 NIV
Rochet, Kennesaw, GA
Eph. 4:32 NIV
Be kind and compassionate to be one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
Shanti, Wausau, WI
Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap steadfast love; break up your fallow ground, for it is the time to seek the LORD, that He may come and rain righteousness upon you. Hosea 10:12, ESV
Kaley, Lawrence KS
We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you. 2 Chronicles 20:12 (NIV84)
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. Col 3:16 (NIV)
Tanya A., Englewood, OH
Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
I Peter 5:6-7
Leigh Ann
Gallatin, TN
“Trust in The Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy paths.”
Proverbs 3:5,6 KJV
Jennifer, Allendale,MI. “…regarding his Son, who as to his human nature was a descendant of David, and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 1:3-4 NIV
Gretchen, Dardanelle, AR
I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you. Psalm 32:8 NIV
Kerry, Highland Village, TX
Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.
Romans 12:12 NIV
Cyndi, Centreville, VA
Cast all your anxieties on Him, for He cares about you. 1 Peter 5:7 (RSV)
Erin, Clinton, MS
Romans 8:4-5
…in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 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 set their minds on the things of the Spirit.
Kristin in Renton, WA
(working on James memorization)
“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” – James 1:17 ESV
Col. 3.2
“Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.”
Susie, Swampers, LA
My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be my disciples. ~ John 15:8 NASB
Heather, Round Lake, IL
Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise up to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!
Isaiah 30:18 NIV
Waldo, Ohio
“Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness.” 1 Timothy 4:7