Memory Verse #4

I've been studying James and doing the Beth Moore Breaking Free Bible study, so I thought I needed to memorize a few verses from James this time. It is a pretty lengthy passage, so I'll probably split it up for the rest of this month and the beginning of next.

James 1:22-26 (NLT)

But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. For if you listen to the word and don’t obey it, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it. If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless.

Memory Verse #3

"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery." Galatians 5:1

We started Beth Moore's revised Breaking Free Bible study last week, and she suggested memorizing this verse to remind ourselves that we do NOT need to be burdened by our strongholds any longer!

(I tried Jenna's trick of writing the first letter of each word down, and it really helps! I think it will be a great help to memorize quicker!)

Memorizing Scripture

When I ask people to join me in memorizing scripture, I often get the comment that “I am not very good at memorizing verses.” It does take work but it’s not impossible…actually, if we truly believe God’s word, ANYTHING is possible with God. And if our goal is to memorize HIS WORD, don’t you think that He will help you do that if you truly try? It’s really a matter of discipline…taking the time to study. Just like it’s a matter of discipline to exercise, eat right, and make yourself get up and get ready to do whatever you do each day.

I’ve read 3 blogs just in the last few weeks about memorizing scripture this year.

Ann Voskamp’s “A Holy Experience” (www.aholyexperience.com) is challenging her readers to memorize the entire book of Colossians this year. She has some great tips on HOW to memorize scripture & reasons why we should.

Beth Moore has launched her second round of the “Siesta Scripture Memory Team” (blog.lproof.org). She encourages you to have a notecard spiral and to write your scriptures in the spiral & carry it everywhere you go. You can review those scriptures any time you have a few free minutes…waiting in line, waiting in the doctor’s office, waiting at a red light (probably not the safest), etc.

And if you choose to join Beth Moore and the rest of us, you can attend a wonderful celebration next January in her home church for an extremely reasonable price…the ticket is just your spiral & the ability to recite half of your scriptures to a partner during the conference! This was such a special conference last January…I can’t wait until next year!

Another way to memorize scripture is to truly meditate on it. Courtney & Angela at Good Morning Girls, (www.goodmorninggirls.org) have challenged their readers to a study on James. They are suggesting the “SOAP” method to study the entire book of James in three months, meditating on just 1-2 verses per day. This method is new to me, but I’m excited about trying it. Here’s the deal…in a spiral, you do the following each day:

1. S – write out the SCRIPTURE passage for the day.

2. O – write down 1-2 OBSERVATIONS from the passage.

3. A – write down 1-2 APPLICATIONS from the passage.

4. P – PRAY over what you learned from the day’s passage.

By the end of the 12 weeks, you will write out the entire book of James in your journal! How amazing is that!

One of my friends, Jenna, told me that she read about a tip where you write down the 1^st letter of each word of the verse to help you memorize.

For example, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me,” Philippians 4:13, you would write

I C D A T T C W S M

She said this really helps her. I haven’t tried it yet, but plan on writing this out on the back of each of my scripture cards in my spiral as I enter each verse this year. I think it will really help because I am such a visual learner.

So there you have it…many tips on helping you memorize scripture. Won’t you join me on my journey to “hide God’s word in my heart?”

The Bible in One Year + 23 Days!

At the beginning of 2010, I borrowed my Dad's One Year Chronological Bible to read the Bible through in a year. I really liked this version...New Living Translation...because it is written with more modern language. It was so much easier to understand and make it through those hard to read books of the law and major prophets! :)

I think I've only accomplished this feat 2 or 3 times before...it's quite an undertaking, but I really get so much out of reading the entire Bible. This Bible was also written in chronological order, so it was really neat to read about David's journeys & then read the psalms he wrote about those endeavors right along with them. It was neat to read the gospels in chronological order too. You could see which stories were recorded in all 4 gospels or just 2 or 3 of them.

It was also nice to read the copy that my Dad had read the year before...to see what he underlined as important to him, to see the dates he finished the old and new testaments (he read the new testament in its entirety 3 times in the year...he's much quicker than I am).

So...I'm excited to announce that I finally finished the entire Bible...it took 23 days longer than ONE year but I finished!

Now on to new studies for this year...right now I'm doing a study of James with the Good Morning Girls blog and I just started Beth Moore's Breaking Free with a group of ladies from our new church in Center. I'm excited to see what God has in store for me this year!

What are you studying? I'd love to hear it!

Memory Verse #2

I'm a little late in posting it here, but I made sure to get on the LPM Blog to post my verse this past weekend. We still don't have internet at home so my time with internet is extremely limited these days. :) I chose a verse this time that I read at the end of someone's email. I thought it was very poignant.

Proverbs 24:3-4

By wisdom a house is built, and through understanding it is established;

Through knowledge its rooms are filled with rare and beautiful treasures.

What verse are you working on "hiding in your heart?" I'd love to hear it!

What a Blessing!

We received such a special blessing Sunday night at our new church, First Baptist Center! The church held an “Old Fashioned Pounding” for our family & for the Floyd’s (the new youth minister & his wife). We both moved here at the beginning of December, so they went out of their way to give us an extra-special welcome! We were all so amazed & thrilled at all of the food, goodies, money, & gift cards that they gave us! God is so good! We feel very blessed!

Look at ALL of this food! We are set for a really long time!

Some people even gave us recipes and the ingredients to make them!

Chicken Enchiladas, Cheeseburger Chowder, and Key Lime Pie! YUM!

Another adorable gift…Cupcakes & brownies…they already know our family favorites!

We even got several gift cards & money! We are overwhelmed with the generosity of these sweet people…especially on a cold, wintry night like it was!

And we've even received several more gifts since Sunday! We are truly blessed!

2011 Memory Verse #1

"The Lord will work out His plans for my life--

Your faithful love, O Lord, endures forever.

Don't abandon me, for You made me."

Psalm 138:8 (NLT)

I'm joining the Living Proof Siesta Scripture Memory Team again this year to memorize 24 verses in 2011. Would you like to join me? Go to blog.lproof.org for more info.