Hey girls! Lindsee here! By now you know that our dear Beth is teaching her heart out this week, taping her next Bible study in Tennessee. So, when I realized that SSMT would fall right smack dab in the middle of the taping, I told her that if she trusted me, she was welcome to release this to me and I’d try to do it as much justice as she does. She happily obliged, so here I am. What makes it easy is that I’m memorizing right alongside y’all, however, this time around I feel the pressure to make it a good verse. Of course, I’m both kidding and laughing.
Actually, my scripture memory verses don’t always come easy to me, but this week was a different story. You see, this past Sunday at church was an all hymn Sunday. Typically we’re a little more contemporary and certainly throw in a hymn every now and then, but this Sunday every last song was one you could find in a hymnal. Truth be told, I kind of loved it.
Among the selection of hymns, we sang “I’d Rather Have Jesus”. I’m not sure if you’ve listened to those lyrics lately, but what a convicting song it is and rather vulnerable if you ask me.
You tell me:
I’d rather have Jesus than silver or gold;
I’d rather be His than have riches untold;
I’d rather have Jesus than houses or lands;
I’d rather be led by His nail-pierced hand.
Than to be the king of a vast domain

And be held in sin’s dread sway;

I’d rather have Jesus than anything

This world affords today.
I’d rather have Jesus than men’s applause;
I’d rather be faithful to His dear cause;

I’d rather have Jesus than worldwide fame;

I’d rather be true to His holy name
Whoa. I’d Rather. What is your rather? What do you want so bad, but you’d rather have Jesus? I could name countless things. But really, what rubbish each of those things are compared to knowing Jesus as my personal Lord and savior. What rubbish they are compared to being known and loved perfectly by Jesus himself, who gave His life for you and didn’t expect anything in return, lest we even think we have anything to offer in return. I know it in my head, but I want to fully grasp it in my heart.
That led me to Phillipians 3:8, which is my scripture this go around:
“Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ.” Philippians 3:8 (NLT)
Isn’t is so true, that the more time we spend getting to know our Jesus, the more the things of this world grow strangely dim? I think it is true. The more I learn that Jesus is the ONE faithful and trustworthy thing, the less I worry about worldwide fame, men’s applause, riches or anything else my flesh cringes for.
Jesus is simply better.
Have I achieved it? Hardly.
“I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me.” Philippians 3:12
But I press on. I put my focus on one solitary thing.
“No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead.” Philippians 3:13
Because after all…
“He’s all that my hungering spirit needs;
I’d rather have Jesus and let Him lead.”
Jesus is better. Let’s hear yours! (And that’s three options for you, ladies! Should you choose to use one of those. Grin.)
On a not-so-different, yet different note, our sweet siesta mama did just tell me to tell y’all, “I love them so much and feel their prayers and to keep them up!”
Oh, and one more fun and important thing, be sure to hop back on tomorrow (Thursday) for the announcement of our summer Bible study! The suspense!
Y’all are priceless.
Tags: Scripture Memory 2013
Cheryl, Coffeyville, KS
“The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.” Ps. 9:9 NIV84
Teresa, Walla Walla “For I can do everything with the help of Christ who gives me the strength I need.” Philippians 4:13 NLT
Peggy, Corpus Christi, TX
Seek the Lord and His strength; Seek His face evermore!
1 Chronicles 16:11 (NKJV)
Kim, Colonial Heights, VA
“For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober.”
1 Thessalonians 5:5-6
John 15:13 “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.”
Brianna from Huntsville, AL
He must increase, but I must decrease. (John 3:30 KJV)
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness,
and all these things will be given you as well.
Matt. 6:33 NIV
Anne, Minneapolis
James 5:16
Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. NIV
Jolie – Cottage Grove, MN
Our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.
2 Cor 4:17 NIV
Jeannie, Charlotte NC
He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? Micah 6:8, ESV
Sharon, St. Louis, NIV Matthew 11:30. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.
Whitney Bandermann from Cape Girardeau, MO
“He must become greater, I must become less.”
John 3:30 NIV
Nehemiah said, “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” Nehemiah 8:10 (NIV)
Peggy, Yorktown, VA
As you therefore have received Christ Jesus our Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. Col 2:6-7 NRSV
Alice, Chesapeake, Va.
Isaiah 55:9 NIV
As the heavens are higher than the earth, so
are my ways higher than your ways and my
thoughts than your thoughts.
Dana, San Angelo, Texas
“Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.” Proverbs 19:21 (NIV).
Emily, Loveland, CO – Psalm 84:11 – “For the LORD God is a sun and shield; The LORD gives grace and glory; No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly.” NKJV
Jean Herrick from Princeton Maine
For I know that my Redeemer lives,
and at the last he will stand upon the earth.
And after my skin has been thus destroyed,
yet in my flesh I shall see God,
whom I shall see for myself,
and my eyes shall behold, and not another.
My heart faints within me!
Job 19:25-27 (ESV)
Laura ~ Plainfield,IN
Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Psalm 32:1 NIV
Kim Smith – Senatobia, MS – Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For His sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ. Philippians 3:8 ESV
Deb, Loveland, CO – Isaiah 41:13 – “For I, the Lord Your God, will hold your right hand, Saying to you, Fear not, I will help you.” NKJV
Brenda – Hendersonville TN
This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.
1 John 5:14 NIV
For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.
Colossians 1:16 NIV
Carrie Guion, Wentzville, Mo.
Work at living in peace with everyone, and work at living a holy life, for those who are not holy will not see the Lord. Hebrews 12:14 NLT
Cindy – Houston
What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider the rubbish, that I may gain Christ.
Philippians 3:8 NIV
Natasha K
Kitchener, ON, Canada
Proverbs 3:19-20 (NIV)
By wisdom the Lord laid the earth’s foundations,
by understanding he set the heavens in place;
by his knowledge the deeps were divided
and the clouds let drop the dew.
Terri, Ferris,TX
“He sends forth His Word and heals them and rescues them from the pit and destruction.”
Psalm 107:20 AMP
Joy, Caldwell, Idaho
…”that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each others faith, both yours and mine.” Romans 1:12 ESV (continued from verse #9; which was Romans 1:11.)
Tanis, Terrace
He will cover you with His feathers;you will take refuge under His wings.His faithfulness will be a protective shield. Psalm 91:4 HCSB
Barb ~ St Cloud, MN ~ “Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ.” Philippians 3:8 (NLT)
April Jones, Springfield, IL
Ephesians 5:21
“Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ” NIV
Kari from Katy, TX
“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” James 1:27 NIV
One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision and told him, “Don’t be afraid! Speak out! Don’t be silent! For I am with you, and no one will attack and harm you, for many people in this city belong to me. Acts 18: 9-10 NLT
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort… 2 Cor. 1:3 NIV Susan Winston-Salem, NC
Diane from Littleton CO
Colossians 1:9 NIV
For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of His will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding.
Amy, Tyler, TX
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.”
James 4:14-15 NIV
Cher – Toledo, OH – Psalm 37:23-24 NIV
“The Lord makes firm the steps of the one who delights in Him;though he may stumble, he will not fall,for the Lord upholds him with His hand.”
Proverbs 17:22
A joyful heart is good medicine,
but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.
ESV
Kalamazoo, Michigan.
Karen
Tallahassee, FL
Luke 1:45(NIV)
“Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!”
Monica from Florida; “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
1 Peter 2:3-5 NIV
Now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.
As you come to Him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious
to Him. You also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
Paulette P. Mays
Elmer, La.
Brandy A, Cross Anchor, SC
“So be truly glad! There is wonderful joy ahead, even though it is necessary for you to endure many trials for a while.” 1 Peter 1:6 (NLT)
Brandy, San Angelo, TX
1 John 3:18
“Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.” NIV
” Whatever you do , work at it with all your heart,as working for the Lord not for men.” Col. 3:23 NIV
Barb, Medina
Phil 2:8
And being found in human form, He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross
ESV
They that wait on the Lord will renew their strength. They shall mount up their wings like eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not be faint.
Isaiah 40:31
Amplified
Elisabeth
Modesto, Ca
Lift up over all the [covering] shield of saving faith, upon which you can quench all the flaming missiles of the wicked [one]. For which I am an ambassador in a coupling chain [in prison. Pray] that I may declare it boldly and courageously, as I ought to do.
(Ephesians 6:16, 20 AMP)
Anita; Purcellville, VA
Praise the Lord, you his angels,
you mighty ones who do his bidding,
who obey his word.
Psalm 103:20 NIV84
Durant, OK
James 5:13 NASB
Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praises.
Psalm 139:23-24
Search me O God and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out any thing in me that offends you and lead me along the path of everlasting life