Hey, Everybody! I am jotting this post several days in advance because I’ll be at a Living Proof Live in Atlanta, Georgia the day this goes up. In fact, if you read this before 11:15 CST (12:15 Atlanta time) on Saturday, we’d be incredibly blessed if you’d pray for our remaining time to be so flooded with the presence of God that we can hardly bear the glory.
I’m so proud of you for making it this far in our Scripture memory process! Sisters, you have worked hard. Let yourself feel the holy nod of God. He has tremendous joy in seeing His children esteem His Word highly enough to store it like treasures in the vault of their hearts. We’ve arrived at a milestone of sorts in this journey. June is tremendously significant for our team because this is the month we come to the halfway marker. Once we get into July and August we have less memorization in front of us than we have behind us. That’s a big deal.
This time around I’m choosing a verse that I’ll be challenging the attendees to memorize at the Atlanta Living Proof Live. I’m not sure a verse could be more fitting for the pure act of praise. I love Scriptures that not only speak about God but speak straight to God. Get a load of this one:
Beth, Houston. O Lord, You are great, mighty, majestic, magnificent, glorious, and sovereign over all the sky and earth! You have dominion and exalt Yourself as the ruler of all. 1 Chronicles 29:11 The NET Bible
Any of us who memorize a fair amount of Scripture have certain go-to approaches that have helped us along. If you’ve got a method that is working, by all means, go with it! But, if you’re interested in memorizing the same verse and would like some suggestions about how to tackle it, I’ll share what works for me. Keep in mind that the methods of Blonder Than She Pays To Be could be madness to someone else so take this or leave it depending on your learning style.
With any verse, I start looking almost immediately for how I can reason out the word order. The first thing I’m going to notice in 1 Chronicles 29:11 is that there are 6 rapid-fire descriptions of God in the first sentence. In this verse, I’d reason that it’s fitting for the word “great” to be first among the descriptions because many of us are accustomed to using the terminology that God (or the Lord, in this case) is great. It’s an easy, accessible word. The next three descriptions all begin with “M”: mighty, majestic, magnificent. As I prepare for Atlanta, I’ll be saying those three words over and over in that order so that they’ll get ingrained in my thinking. They have an amplifying rhythm to them, too, because the first one (mighty) is two syllables, the second one (majestic) is three syllables, and the third one (magnificent) is four syllables. Does that help at all with the word order and how they roll off your tongue? Say them until you feel the syllables build and you might latch onto them pretty quickly.
After the beginning “G” (great) and the 3 “M’s”, we have another “G.” This time it stands for “glorious.” That’s a word I love to say so I’m hoping I can remember it pretty easily. G-M-M-M-G. Are you beginning to catch on? (I think I just heard somebody yell “NO!” Was that you?? I tried to warn you that I can make things harder than they have to be. Laughing. You might need to be the one telling your sisters here how to tackle a wordy verse. Just give me an “E” for effort here and maybe an “A” for affection. I do so seriously love you.)
The last of the 6 descriptions is “sovereign.” To me, that’s always the final word on anything that has to do with God. If I’m confused or I can’t fit in my brain why this happened or why God approached a particular thing a particular way, I finally come to a measure of peace by stating this biblical truth: He is sovereign over all things. In the exact words of 1 Chronicles 29:11, “over all the sky and earth.” I love visual language and that, Sister, is plenty visual. Span the galaxies in the universe with your imagination then put your scope on our planet and zero in. (I know I’m really pushing it right now with some of you but the way I’d keep it straight that “sky” comes before “earth” is that it starts with an “S” like “sovereign” right before it. If I’m getting on your last nerve, never mind.)
Then put the finishing touches on the verse with this: You have dominion and exalt Yourself as the ruler of all!
Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not expecting that we’d have it down pat in the brief amount of time it’s taken us to walk through those few paragraphs but what about 15 days? That’s how long we’d have to get those words steeped into our souls. Could we get them down over the course of two weeks? Yes, ma’am, I do believe we can! And, if not word-for-word, just think how much we’ve meditated on descriptions of our God! That is time NEVER wasted. Let’s ask God to give us the supernatural unction to accomplish this memorization and remind Him how much glory He could receive from our being able to extol His preeminence like that over and over while we’re…
praying…
driving…
walking through our neighborhoods…
on our treadmills…
rocking our babies…
getting chemotherapy…
getting physical therapy…
sitting with an elderly loved one…
healing from a heartbreak…
or so happy that we need some way to tell Him how marvelous we think He is before we burst.
Of course, most of you have your own Scripture selections and I have just put you through the wringer for nothing! So, whether you’re sharing 1 Chronicles 29:11 or bringing your own verse to the table, let’s see them! I’m blessed almost out of my bleached blond mind to get to do this with you, Sister. You are a tremendous joy to me.
Tags: Scripture Memory 2013
Valerie, Little Elm, TX
I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord In the land of the living. Wait for the Lord ; Be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the Lord.”
Psalms 27:13-14 NASB
Stann
Frisco, TX
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say rejoice.
Philippians 4:4 (NASB)
Katy Motsinger
Frisco, TX
1 Peter 1:3, 4b NIV
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade.
Tracey Knight ~ Arkadelphia AR
O Lord, you are great, mighty, majestic, magnificent, glorious, and sovereign over all the sky and earth! You have dominion and exalt yourself as the ruler of all. 1 Chronicles 29:11 NET
Phyllis – Salisbury
O Lord, You are great, mighty, majestic, magnificent, glorious, and sovereign over all the sky and earth! You have dominion and exalt Yourself as the ruler of all. 1 Chronicles 29:11 The NET Bible
Moreen, Sydney Australia
O Lord , you are great, mighty, majestic, magnificent, glorious, and sovereign over all the sky and earth! You have dominion and exalt yourself as the ruler of all. (1 Chronicles 29:11 NET)
Margaret, Tulsa “The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love.” Psalm 145:8 NIV 1984
Romans 12:21 NIV
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Heather Wilkinson
Springfield, VA
Isaiah 43:2 (NIV)
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.
Misti from Brookshire, Texas (formerly of Rockwall, TX)
For the eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His.” (2 Chronicles 16:9a NASB)
Proverbs 27-1 NIV
Do not boast about tomorrow for you do not know what a day may bring forth.
Patty, Granite Bay, CA “Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, O Lord, is the kingdom, you are exalted as head over all.” 1Chronicles 29:11 NIV
Sandy, Lexington, KY
“Do everything without grumbling or arguing.”
Philippians 2:14 (NIV)
Becca, St. Paul, MN
Hebrews 10:36 NLT “Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he promised.”
And so blessing and cursing come pouring out of the same mouth. Surely, my brothers and sisters, this is not right! (James 3:10 NLT)
Emily, Windber PA: Jeremiah 31:3 (NIV) The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.
Houston, TX
Isaiah 55:2 NIV
“Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare.”
Andrea Nicholson, McKinney, TX
Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men, from men whose words are perverse, who have left the straight paths to walk in dark ways
Proverbs 2:12-13 (NIV)
Erin: Cheyenne, WY:
Colossians 2:10(NIV)and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority.
Cindy. Mt. Gilead, Ohio
Daniel 3:17-18 NIV
If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and He will rescue us from your hand, O king.
But even if He does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.
Cami, OKC. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. (1 John 1:7 NIV)
from New Orleans:
Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. (Psalm 51:12 NIV)
We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.
2 Corinthians 4:8-9 NIV
Starr, Panama City, FL
O Lord, You are great, mighty, majestic, magnificent, glorious, and sovereign over all the sky and earth! You have dominion and exalt Yourself as the ruler of all. 1 Chronicles 29:11 The NET Bible
linda, colorado springs.
the lord has heard my cry for mercy; the lord accepts my prayer. psalm 6:9 (niv)
Meredith from Columbus, OH: Your own ears will hear him. Right behind you a voice will say, “This is the way you should go,” whether to the right or to the left. -Isaiah 30:21 (NLT)
Odessa, TX
Psalm 68:19 NIV “Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens.”
Lisa A, Frisco, TX
Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. Proverbs 31:30 NIV
Savannah
Cabot, AR
“A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones.” Proverbs 14:30, NIV
Leah Cullen – Ramona, CA
Mark 11:24 (ESV) – Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.
Susan
Jersey Village, TX
” Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.”
Ephesians 4:29
NIV
Bryn, Frisco, TX, Romans 12:12, Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. NIV
Nicole T.
Blue Springs, MO
Proverbs 28:2 ESV
When a land transgresses, it has many rulers,
but with a man of understanding and knowledge,
its stability will long continue.
Eph. 1:20 (NASV)
which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead, and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places
Eph. 1:21 (NASV)
far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the one to come.
Joyce Grimes
Pace, FL
O Lord, you are great, mighty, majestic, magnificent, glorious, and sovereign over all the sky and earth! You have dominion and exalt yourself as the ruler of all. (1 Chronicles 29:11 NET)
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:8-9 NIV
Kristel Hines from Russellville, AR
As a face is reflected in water, so the heart reflects the person. Proverbs 27:19 NLT
Anita, Big River, saskatchewan, Canada
“And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God”
Romans 8: 27 ESV
Emily, Coralville, IA “I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.” Psalm 27:13-14 NIV
Come to me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn form me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.
Matthew 11:28-30
Tammy from Gravette, AR
“O Lord, You are great, mighty, majestic, magnificent, glorious, and sovereign over all the sky and earth! You have dominion and exalt Yourself as the ruler of all.”
1 Chronicles 29:11 The NET Bible
Maggie, Seattle, WA
“Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming.” -1 Peter 1:13 (NIV)
Becca, Camp Pendleton, CA.
“The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.”
~ Isaiah 40:8 NIV
Marilyn -Seattle
So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. (Colossians 2:6, 7 NIV)
Whitney Laramore, Ames, OK
“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. Deuteronomy 6:4-5 ESV
RaeLeen – Greenwood, ” But now put away and rid yourselves of all these things: anger, rage, bad feelings toward others, curses and slander, and foulmouthed abuse and shameful utterances from your lips.”
Colossians 3:8 Amplified
Lesley, Newbury Park, CA – “I will proclaim the name of the Lord. Oh, praise the greatness of our God! He is the Rock, His words are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is He.” Deuteronomy 32:3-4 (NIV)
J.J. Ehr, Longmont, CO.
O Lord, You are great, mighty, majestic, magnificent, glorious, and sovereign over all the sky and earth! You have dominion and exalt Yourself as the ruler of all. 1 Chronicles 29:11 The NET Bible
Be anxious for nothing, 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 minds through Christ Jesus
(Philippians 4:6- 7 NKJV)
Paulette P. Mays
Elmer, La.