Hey, you Scripture memory fiends! I am so proud of you guys for keeping your numbers up with your second verses! There can be a really big drop out between the hype surrounding the first verse and the discipline that starts kicking in with the second verse. Stay at it, you guys. Not one of you will be sorry you did. No one is going to get to the finish line next December 15th and say it wasn’t worth the work. God is far more faithful than that. He rewards those who seek Him (Hebrews 11:6) and diligently uses His Word to equip us in our callings (2 Timothy 3:16-17). He uses His Word to make us wiser, more aware of His will, more fortified against temptation, and more alive in His Spirit. He uses His Word to make us less gullible when our hearts are trying to deceive us, when someone we love is trying to mislead us or when Satan himself is trying to seduce us. Be encouraged. Not one ounce of your effort is wasted.
Here is the biggest key to accomplishing this task: throughout the entire process, continually ask God to enable you to memorize. In John 14:26, Christ tells His followers that the Holy Spirit is the one who will “bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” Proactively taking Him up on this assurance has been strategic through the years I’ve memorized Scripture. Over and over I convey to God that I know only He can empower those inspired words on the page to find a permanent place in my memory and a home in the marrow of my bones. I call upon His Spirit in Jesus’ Name to stir up those verses in me and remind me of every word and phrase.
When you’re able to say your verse with any accuracy at all, start thanking Him. Do it right then. Completely engage in the relational side of your memory work. That will be by far the biggest success in this endeavor. God is after your heart, not just your mind. He’s not just looking for your discipline. He wants to be your desire. His aim is relationship. Ask Him to help you then thank Him when He does it. When you’re working on a beautiful verse, tell Him you think it’s beautiful. When you keep stumbling over one particular word, ask Him right then to help you get that phrase straight. His Word is God speaking to you so speak back. Use it as an invitation to dialogue. Is the verse really hard? Say to Him, “This verse is killing me here, Lord. I can’t seem to get it. Grant it to me. Help me with it.” Get what I’m saying? This way He gets all the glory in every success and we get immeasurable gain.
This I promise you: God’s objective for you and me in 2015 is not for us to memorize 24 verses. It’s for us to draw nearer and nearer to Him, love Him more, know Him more, trust Him more, and believe Him more. To let His Word go down deep where He wants it. To invite it fervently and proactively to abide in us and bring vivacious life to us. To meditate on His words and to prize them more than our daily bread. Job said it this way: “I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my portion of food.” (Job 23:12b) That’s what these 24 verses are about. So, let’s engage with Jesus throughout the entire process. THAT, at the end of our journey, is what will determine our success.
I think I just changed my mind on what I want to present you for my 3rd verse. I am doing memory work out of the Book of Ephesians right now but I don’t happen to be on a verse that stands alone in a comprehensive enough way to offer it to someone to share. Mentioning Job in the previous paragraph stirred up in my memory how much I love that 23rd chapter. Savor the gorgeousness of verses 8-12. (ESV)
8      “Behold, I go forward, but He is not there,
and backward, but I do not perceive Him;
9Â Â Â Â Â Â on the left hand when He is working, I do not behold Him;
He turns to the right hand, but I do not see Him.
10Â Â Â Â Â Â But He knows the way that I take;
when He has tried me, I shall come out as gold.
11Â Â Â Â Â Â My foot has held fast to his steps;
I have kept his way and have not turned aside.
12Â Â Â Â Â Â I have not departed from the commandment of his lips;
I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my portion of food.
Translation of verses 8-10??? I may not know where God is right now in my situation but of this I’m sure: He knows where I am. Isn’t that powerful? Then, behold the faith and steadfastness of Job in that 10th verse: because God is at work and is at the helm, “I will come forth as gold” (NIV). (If you get a chance, glance at how perfectly that concept corresponds with 1 Peter 1:7.) I believe Job 23:10 is the exact verse I want to choose this time around and I think I’ll use the NIV. So here goes:
Beth Moore, Houston, Texas. But He knows the way that I take; when He has tested me, I will come forth as gold. Job 23:10 NIV
Hit it, Girls.
So honored to study and memorize Scripture with you. Much, much love to you.
Cat Thorpe- Cicero NY
I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; that you may love the Lord your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days; and that you may dwell in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.”
Deuteronomy 30: 19-20 NKJV
Lora Faircloth, Fayetteville, NC – Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always.
I Chronicles 16:11 NIV
Selina Bruner , Barbourville, Ky.
And let us not be weary in well doing; for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.
Galatians 6:9 KJV
Eugene, OR James 3:3 NKJV “Indeed, we put bits in horses’ mouths that they may obey us, and we turn their whole body.”
Lisa DeCarlo, Alpharetta, GA
Hatred stirs up conflict but love covers over all wrongs.
Proverbs 10: 12 (NIV)
Alesha
Charlotte, NC
“Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”
Romans 3:3-5 ESV
Karen, Sturgis, MI – “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Ephesians 2:10 NIV
And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:19
Cindee Johnson
Portageville, Mo
Pat C S Burlington,VT
I know,O Lord, that a man’s life is not his own; it is not for man to direct his steps.
Jer. 10:23
NIV
Alicia Coffey, Hutchinson, Kansas ~ “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28 NIV)
“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”.
II Corinthians 3:17. ESV
Amanda, Largo Fl
“And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we don’t lose heart”. Galatians 6:9 NKJ
Kelly from Reno, NV
John 3:30 (NLT)
He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less.
You are my refuge and my shield; I have put my hope in your word.
Psalm 119:114. NIV
Amanda from Burnettsville, IN
Stay alert! Watch out for you great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.
I Peter 5:8. (NLT)
Peabody, KS
Phil 1:11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes from Jesus Christ–to the glory and praise of God.
Ashleigh, Terre Haute, IN – Hebrews 13:5 from the NIV – “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.'”
Monica Pribe, Blacklick, OH “For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do, by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh” Romans 8:3 ESV
Kristie H. Cheney, Wa
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer. Psalm 19:14 NKJV
Pam, Broken Arrow, OK
“With You I can attach a barrier, and with my God I can leap over a wall. God–His way is perfect, the word of the Lord is pure.
He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him.”
Psalm 18:29-30 (HCSB)
“There is no actual speech or word, nor is its voice literally heard.”
Psalm 19:3 NET
Margaret, Port St Lucie, Florida. Prov3:5 NKJV
Trust in the Lord with all your heart. And lean not on your own understanding.
“But he said, ‘what is impossible with man is possible with God” – Luke 18:27 (ESV)
Katarina Irwin, Fort Lauderdale, FL
Mona,Pittsburgh, Pa
This is what the Lord says-your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go.” Isaiah 48:17 NIV
Serena, Charlotte NC
And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful. (â€Colossians‬ â€3‬:â€15‬ NLT)
Nelda – Houston, TX
John 15:7 (HCS)
If you remain in me, and my words remain in you, ask whatever you want and it will be done for you.
Rene, Keller, Tx. Know that the LORD, He is God! It is He who made us, and we are His; we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture. (Psalm 100:3 ESV)
Know that I’m on your side, right alongside you.You’re not in this alone. I want you woven into a tapestry of love, in touch with everything there is to know of God. Then you will have minds confident and at rest, focused on Christ, God’s great mystery. Colossians 2:1b-3 The Message
NIV Psalms 19:14
May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock, and my redeemer.
Susan Clements, Seale, Alabama. For I know the plans I have for you, “declares the LORD,” plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11 NIV
Pamela Smith, Lafayette, LA — “Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Ephesians 6:13 (NKJV)
Danielle Pleasant, Pinewood,SC
1Corinthians 2:12 KJV
Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.
Lisa Landis
Castro Valley, California
Psalm 147:1-3 NIV
Praise the LORD. How good it is to sing praises to our God, how pleasant and fitting to praise him! The Lord builds up Jerusalem; he gathers the exiles of Israel. He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.
Carrie from Dunwoody, GA
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” – Proverbs 3:5-6
Barb S., Liberty, MO
Romans 12:2 NLT
Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
Jill Holamon, Early, Texas
Love puts up with anything and everything that comes along; it trusts, hopes, and endures no matter what. 1 Corinthians 13:7 VOICE
Stacy from Hawkinsville, GA:
As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.
Eph. 4:1-3 NIV
Susan Tumino
“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.” Genesis 1:1-5 ESV
Cathy, Sierra Vista, AZ
1Corinthians 1:18- NIV
For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
Elaine ~ Powder Springs, Georgia ~ Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together!
(â€Psalm‬ â€34‬:â€3‬ ESV)
Leslie Jordan, Rochester, MN
“Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.”
James 4:10 NIV
Ellen M., Camden, DE
Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
James 1:2-4 NIV
I can do all things in him who strengthens me.
–Philippians 4:13 RSVCE
950 Cramton Ave.
Ada,MI
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NIV)
Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
Joy from Lubbock, TX “The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in Him…” Nahum 1:7 NIV
Lynda S. from Brockville, Ontario, Canada. “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” (â€Ephesians‬ â€2‬:â€10‬ NLT)
Kelli, minnesota
We are Gods handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Ephesians 2:10
Kitty Schlosser, Zamora, CA – But He knows the way that I take; when He has tested me, I will come forth as gold. Job 23:10 NIV
Donna Smith
Athens, GA
I can do all things in him who strengthens me.
Philippians 4:13 RSVCE
Isa 40:31
But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.