Jan
25
2009
25
2009
The James Challenge
Filed under: The James Challenge
“I know of no other single practice in the Christian life more rewarding, practically speaking, than memorizing Scripture. . . .
No other single exercise pays greater spiritual dividends! Your prayer life will be strengthened. Your witnessing will be sharper and much more effective. Your attitudes and outlook will begin to change. Your mind will become alert and observant.
Your confidence and assurance will be enhanced.
Your faith will be solidified.”
- Chuck Swindoll
Almost one year ago, I felt God tugging at my heart to challenge the readers of my blog to start memorizing scripture. I spoke with people who have done it successfully…I read articles about how to do it…I pondered it…for….well, a YEAR! So with no more delaying, I am excited to announce the start of “The James Challenge”.
My personal goal by the end of 2009 is to memorize the entire book of James. In 2001, Matt and I saw a good friend recite an entire book of the Bible by memory (Philippians) at a retreat … and I was mesmerized! It was so much more than just the fact that he did it…it was that he had the living word of God implanted in his heart. He could pull those words to mind whenever he needed them. Now that is powerful! Also, a very close friend of mine from my military days spent time ministering with the Navigators (who believe strongly in the power of scripture memory). When we were together, I would hear her recite these verses from heart…and I was blown away. Not only was it powerful for her as the one memorizing them, but it was a huge encouragement to ME just to hear those words come from her mouth.
Now before you click to the next blog in your reader…hear me out. Even if you have never been good at memorizing things, I truly believe that with God’s power, through prayer, and a little perseverance that ANYONE can memorize scripture. We memorize phone numbers, songs, quotes, etc. all the time…it is possible to do this!
I chose James because it’s a sort of “mini-handbook for Christian living”. Plus, it only has 5 chapters 
Not too daunting. However, I am not out to make MY goal your goal. This is not something that I want you to jump into lightly just because I’m doing it. After the excitement wears off, it’s just straight out, old fashioned discipline that is going to carry you through to completion. Memorizing the entire book is not necessary either. You could go through the book and pick out 10 verses that really speak to you and memorize those. This challenge is just to help you get started on your own journey…the path to implanting God’s word in your heart.
So you’re thinking, “Sara, I have a Bible. I can read it anytime I want to. Why do I need to memorize it?”. Let’s explore a few verses and find out what God thinks about this (bolded text is mine):
Proverbs 3:1-6
My son, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart, for they will prolong your life many years and bring you prosperity. Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man. Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.
I don’t know about you, but I can’t even remember where I put my keys, much less what I read in my Bible just a few hours ago. And here, God is telling me to NOT FORGET His teaching. And he even tells me how I can not forget: keep His commands in my heart. Now to me, keeping them in my heart means to memorize. That would be why we say “I know it by heart!”. When you memorize scripture, it also becomes much easier to “lean not on your own understanding”…because you are able to quickly remember what God’s word says about a particular subject/situation.
Psalms 40:8
I desire to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.
Yet another heart verse. When God’s law is IN your heart and not just on the page, it becomes much easier to desire God’s will.
Pslam 119: 9-16 (The Message)
How can a young person live a clean life? By carefully reading the map of your Word. I’m single-minded in pursuit of you; don’t let me miss the road signs you’ve posted. I’ve banked your promises in the vault of my heart so I won’t sin myself bankrupt. Be blessed, God; train me in your ways of wise living.I’ll transfer to my lips all the counsel that comes from your mouth; I delight far more in what you tell me about living than in gathering a pile of riches. I ponder every morsel of wisdom from you, I attentively watch how you’ve done it. I relish everything you’ve told me of life, I won’t forget a word of it.
I really love how The Message can help me to see a passage of the Bible in a new light…and this one is no different. It’s so rich with encouragement and promises…and I want to live like this! I want to live a clean life…one with a single-minded pursuit of Christ. I want to live wisely. And the greatest thing is that it tells me how to get these things: by carefully reading the Bible, saying it out loud, and not forgetting a word of it!
Over and over, I’ve read that the key to effective memorization is developing discipline of your mind and your heart. You might be thinking…”but I’m not disciplined in any other areas of my life…how am I going to do this?!” You’re going to pray for discipline…a lot. And then watch as your scripture memorization starts to affect EVERY area of your life for the better. Your relationships, your work, your thought life, along with your general attitude and outlook.
Here are some thoughts on memorization from some cool guys (from John Piper’s article on why we should memorize scripture):
Dr. Howard Hendricks of Dallas Seminary once made the statement (and I paraphrase) that if it were his decision, every student graduating from Dallas Theological Seminary would be required to learn one thousand verses word perfect before they graduated.
Dallas Willard, professor of Philosophy at the University of Southern California, wrote, “Bible memorization is absolutely fundamental to spiritual formation. If I had to choose between all the disciplines of the spiritual life, I would choose Bible memorization, because it is a fundamental way of filling our minds with what it needs. This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth. That’s where you need it! How does it get in your mouth? Memorization.”
And from John Piper’s challenge to his congregation to memorize scripture:
“You may doubt that you can do this, especially if you are older. But ask yourself this question, If I offered you $1,000 for every verse you memorized in the next week, how many do you think you could memorize? Yet God says of his word in Psalm 19:10-11, “They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover, by them Thy servant is warned; in keeping them there is great reward.” The real value of the word is far greater than $1,000 a verse. The question is, Do you believe this? Believing this will be the crucial motivation you need.”
Repetition:
There are a lot of opinions out there on the best way to memorize. Tim LaHaye, in his book, How To Study The Bible for Yourself, says it’s best to memorize 3 verses per week…dedicating about 30 minutes of the day to it. John Piper recommends setting aside 10 minutes a day, and memorizing as much as you can in that time. In his method, you take one verse and read it out loud 10 times. Then, put it away and say it 10 times. The next day, do the same thing, but then add another verse to it, and so on. And then he adds, “this is not mechanical memorization…this is to fight the battle!” Amen brother!
I really think that you have to employ the method that works the best for YOU. Not everyone will learn the same way or retain scripture at the same speed.
There are differing opinions on whether or not it’s important to know the reference (chapter/verse). Personally, I don’t think it’s absolutely critical, but it could be helpful in certain situations. If I know approximately where to find it, that is good enough for me! Of course, memorizing an entire book is a little different than memorizing individual verses. When you’re doing a book, it’s more like a narrative…a story. Breaking it up with verses would be silly. When I memorize individual verses (i.e. a topical study, etc)…knowing the verse is beneficial.
Reviewing:
You must review, review, review! Once you have a verse committed to memory, don’t stop reviewing it. You don’t need to review it as much, but keep it fresh in your mind.
Keep your verses in places that you can review them easily:
• The bathroom (for those of you with lots of children, this might be your only peace and quiet during the day!)
• In your purse
• On your bed stand
Accountability:
I can’t stress this enough…you need someone to be accountable to. For best results, find someone who is excited to memorize scripture along with you. This person doesn’t necessarily need to live in the same town…phone accountability can work just as well. You should both be memorizing the same version of the Bible (i.e. NIV, NASB, etc.). I am using the NIV version for it’s ease of speech/conversational tone. Call each other once a day or once a week…it’s up to you. Recite your verses to each other, share your joys and sorrows…and get excited! It’s so much easier to stay on track with a friend. Everything is better in community.
Speaking of community…let’s spread the word about The James Challenge! Here is a little button for you to add to your own blog to let people know that you are participating. You should be able to post this code to your site, wherever you want to put it
and it will link back to this post:
<a href=”http://walkslowlylivewildly.com/2009/01/25/the-james-challenge/”><img class=”alignnone” title=”The James Challenge” src=”http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3376/3227123143_ed75fd23dc_t.jpg” alt=”The James Challenge” width=”100″ height=”100″ /></a>
This is HTML code, so some of you will need to switch “views” in the upper corner of where you write on your blog post to “HTML” instead of “Visual”. Copy and paste the code there and then switch it back to Visual. Those terms are WordPress terms, it will be different for other platforms. If you want it in your sidebar, add a widget. If you need help, let me know!
Here is The James Challenge Yahoo group that I started so that we can discuss and dissect what we’re learning. I look forward to seeing what He has been teaching you! Be sure to join if you decide to join us in this challenge.
Keeping Your Verses Accessible:
And now for the fun part! You might be wondering the best way to write down your verses, what you should keep them in, etc. Well, there are several suggested methods. I will start with my personal favorite.
Introducing…the “verse purse”! Isn’t it great? My dear friend, Kristi (Good Like a Medicine), has a fabulous Etsy store called Palmetto Handmade where she sells these adorable creations. She has the most fun fabric and she even designs her own fabric (she will also do custom orders for you). They are just $13.50…and she is all ready to send out your cards with the scriptures from James. She will have each chapter available individually (one chapter pack is included in the price, $2.50 for each additional set). You can also order the individual set with your choice of verses. Kristi will be listing more verse purses within the next week…if you want one, but don’t see any available, go ahead and place a custom order to get on her list.
And the best part?! This cute little polka-dot number is up for grabs! Yes, that’s right…try to contain your excitement! I will choose a random commenter on Friday, January 30, 2009 as the winner. Weeeeee! Just leave a comment that you are interested in committing to the challenge and you’ll automatically be entered.
I have my own verse purse, and I love it. I carry it with me when I’m out and about…this way, I can review my verses while I’m waiting in lines, while I sit and wait for Bella to be done with ballet, etc. At home, I have two different wire bound note card sets (you can get them at most office supply stores or drug stores) with the verses written out on them. One for my bed stand and one for the bathroom. I’m really big into making it EASY for myself! I want to have my verses accessible everywhere without having to track down my ONE set.
So with memorizing the entire book as my personal goal, I plan on memorizing 3 verses a week with a schedule looking something like this:
James 1: 1-27
9 weeks
James 2: 1-26
9 weeks
James 3: 1-18
4 weeks
James 4: 1-17
4 weeks
James 5: 1-20
7 weeks
I’m not going to set out a specific schedule because it’s too hard for me to work around the birth and all that craziness But this is approximately how long I *think* it will take me to accomplish this goal.
God’s word is powerful and ALIVE…let’s encourage each other in this journey and watch as our knowledge is refreshed, our minds sharpened, and our lives transformed!
Additional Resources:
Thy Word I Have Treasured in My Heart
Ryan Ferguson’s interview on scripture memory (with a video of him reciting)
Scripture Memory Booklet by Andrew Davis
Kids and Scripture Memory (a listing of good verses by age group)
Scripture Memory Songs
Posted by Sara @ 10:59 pm | Leave a Comment
26
2009
Too funny – halfway through your entry, I started thinking about her and those wonderful little verse purses and thinking how ideal those would be for this challenge!
What a great challenge.
26
2009
I was just having a conversation with my little sister last night (about tattoos and Ecclesiastes 7:3) and bible memorization came up. I mentioned wanting to get back into memorizing the bible. And I come here to see you’ve taken the planning work and done it for me! I am definitely on board for this challenge and looking forward to it!
26
2009
I haven’t tried outright memorizing anything from the Bible since highschool- and right now in my life, I feel the deep desire to really get into it again. this is the perfect inspiration for me right now!
I hope that I don’t just memorize words, but the meaning behind the words- that will be my challenge!
26
2009
Good for you! This month I have been memorizing John 14 and Psalm 1 with Ann Kroeker’s Mega Memory Month Challenge. I will finish up this coming Wednesday. Memorizing these 2 chapters has been an incredible blessing as well as an amazing learning experience.
Memorizing an entire book of the Bible is something I planned on doing at some point. Originally I was going to start after I had memorized several other chapters. But, since you have created this inspirational challenge, I will not postpone it any further. I will join you in memorizing the book of James.
26
2009
oooo great idea! My husband always speaks to me about how important scriptural memorization is. I will committ to the challenge! Tomorrow I will talk it over with my husband decide if we too will do James or something else and we’ll set a plan. I will also ask my friend if she wants to do it as well and keep me accountable. Thank you for inspiring me!
26
2009
oh darn, I can’t seem to get that code to work properly and show up as a button. hmmm
26
2009
I have been realizing lately that I very much need to start memorizing Scripture intentionally. I am so excited about this! I love the idea of your two spiral-bound note card sets, and the verse purse is wonderful! I’m sticking the button on my blog!
26
2009
This is great! For some time now I’ve also felt God’s tug on my heart to bring memorization back into my devotion time. With so many things going on it’s easy to let that slide. Having His powerful word in our minds and hearts means that we have instant access to that power…the encouraging words of a Father who wants the best for us. So when we’re having those down days, or going through challenges, we don’t have to look far…we just recall those verses and it reminds us whose we are.
26
2009
That’s funny… we’re doing this very thing as a family. We’re up to James 1:11 right now. We don’t do 3 verses a week… probably more like 1-2 verses a week, but it’s great to see even our 2 year old quoting right along with us (not every word, but all the emphasized parts– at least every 3rd or 4th word).
I’ll look forward to seeing what you do here. We’re excited about putting James to memory. It’s amazing that that’s what you’ve chosen too.
26
2009
What an Awesome, AWESOME idea! I have just been thinking about how I need to figure out a way to challenge myself in the area of the Bible.
As a teen I used to memorize verses and then recite them to a friend at work. They still haven’t left my heart, even though it seems the only time I think of them is when the situation is pertinent. I can’t tell you how many times God has given me reassurance through difficult times just by pulling up a verse from my heart and speaking it to me. Even verses I haven’t heard in YEARS!
Thank you for this post… I’m in. =)
26
2009
I started memorizing the book of James while I was in college. I never finished it, but got close (4 1/2 chapters!). My wife is doing great memorizing Scripture, and I test her daily on hers. I’ve been wanting to get back into the habit. Thanks for the challenge. I’ll take you up on it!
26
2009
I’m with you on this…I have been praying for a little over a year that we would have MORE time for scripture memory…I mean WHAT IF something happens where we aren’t allowed our bibles…what will stick in our heads??
To that end I’ve been working with my kiddos for about 10 minutes a day…for a little inpiration, if you click on my link you get to see my oldest and my youngest (9 and 3) working on their scripture verse together…they’d had this about 3 days at the time of the video…http://sentimentsalastack.blogspot.com/2009/01/monday-memory.html
26
2009
this is fantastic sara! i am so bad at memorizing, yet i require it of my children as part of their schoolwork:)Thank you for being obedient to Him and starting this…i think its going to be life changing! Im in!
26
2009
I would like to participate in the challenge! I would love to know if you have any recommendations of scripture set to music that I could listen to as I go about my day. I find moments here and there to sit down and read, but my 7mo daughter keeps me on the go quite a bit!
26
2009
Last time I heard a message on verse memorization, I decided that if I ever memorized anything, it would be the book of James. Your post reminded me of my ‘promise’ and so I am definitely in!
Those verse purses are too cute, I’ll have to get one.
Thanks for posting this challenge, I’m really excited about it.
26
2009
What a great idea!! I’m in. This is going to be fun.
26
2009
I too have committed to memorizing more scripture in 2009! The verse purse is way cute and would come in quite handy
26
2009
I am always encouraged to hear my friends from Piper’s church talking about their ‘fighter verse.’ To hear families memorizing entire books of the Bible is a blessing to me. I think we will use the James Challenge as our Home School challenge. Thanks for the encouragement!
26
2009
I would love to win one of those verse purses.
26
2009
I’ve been doing a lot of soul searching when it comes to my beliefs and have slowly started reading the Bible again to get to know God again. This sounds like a wonderful challenge and it might be just the sort of thing I need to get back on the path!
Sara – thank you for being a great inspiration!
26
2009
I’m on board, too! This is something that has been on my mind a bit lately, too. I’m not sure yet, but I think I would like to start with the Sermon On The Mount. On my myspace page, I have Shane Claiborne’s youtube videos of him reading it. It is so beautiful. I could listen to it every day to help me engrave it on my heart.
Thanks for the challenge!
26
2009
I love this idea! I’ve been trying to memorize scripture recently. I write the verses on notecards and put them around the house. I also have a little spiral bound index card book that I write the verses in.
My inspiration came from my dad who memorizes scripture. He recited the story of Christ’s birth from Luke 2 on Christmas and I was in awe.
I’ll be thinking about whether to memorize individual scripture on a certain topic or to try and memorize James.
Thanks for posting this!!
26
2009
I’m a regular stalker, and I have to comment on this! I love this idea, and as I read this post I thought about my own kids and how their brains can so much more easily soak things up than mine. So my additional challenge to you is to involve your daughter in your own pursuit of scripture. Over the course of 18 weeks, my 4-year-old has memorized the first 18 verses of Proverbs 3. Yes, we should challenge ourselves to hide God’s word in our hearts…AND, what a gift it will be for our children to “have known the holy scriptures from infancy” like Timothy. Love your stuff, keep it coming!
(and by the way, I’ve otdered verse purses as gifts for friends from Kristi and they are SO cute! I’d love to win one!)
26
2009
I’m actually in James right now for my quiet times and have been ignoring God’s call to re-memorize the parts of James I memorized in 7th grade. I think we did chapters 1-3 or 4 then if not the whole thing so I’m totally on board with you! Yay!
26
2009
What a great challenge! James is my favorite book of the Bible so it’s definitely one I’d like to memorize. I’m joining the challenge but I have to be honest here…I tend to be all gung-ho at first and then kind of fizzle out towards the end. I’ll try to prevent that this time, though. Off to join the yahoo group now!
26
2009
WOOHOO!! count me in!! I led the Through the Bible in a year program a couple of years ago and I had 20 in my church complete the reading and the weekly question sheets. I think this would be an awesome step. Another friend started a church-wide secret pal thing for 6 months for the females (7-107!) of our church that kicks off Feb 1. I am always looking for ways to excite the congregation… and ways to involve the older group or those who are housebound quite a bit. I think this might just be the ticket..thanks for doing the work!! And I love the verse purse idea. Needing to jump start some bible stuff, since the group I was in conflicted too much with my kid stuff times these days. What is the version?? I’m getting excited already!!
26
2009
It is very interesting that you would post this. Just this past week I began think about memorizing the book of James! Count me in in your challenge!
26
2009
It’s so great to see all of you excited about the word of God! Yay!
Kat…here is a little help with entering it in your blog post:
This is HTML code, so some of you will need to switch “views” in the upper corner of where you write on your blog post to “HTML” instead of “Visual”. Copy and paste the code there and then switch it back to Visual. Those terms are WordPress terms, it will be different for other platforms. If you want it in your sidebar, add a widget. If you need help, let me know!
Karen…I am using NIV, but use whatever you feel the most comfortable with.
26
2009
What a great challenge! I haven’t memorized anything new in a while with all the busy holidays (but that’s no excuse!). We had a memory challenge in our church and people could ‘redeem’ their verses for fake money to spend at an auction. It was a fun way to get the whole church involved, especially the kids. There’s something so cool about hearing someone recite verses that are so meaningful to them. Keep up your awesome posts and challenges!
26
2009
Thanks for this Sara, definitely coming at a good time when I feel like I’ve been “a branch that bears no fruit.” John 15:2. We have been visiting a more local faith community lately and are ready to dive in to some of the Bible classes they are offering. I haven’t memorized scripture since I was in elementary school, and was easily intimidated and overwhelmed. I’m definitely seeing the purpose more clearly now and will look into what parts I’d like to memorize for myself. Maybe if I put your challenge on my blog, it will force me to committ to this! I’ll also refer this to my buddy for some accountability!
26
2009
A.R. Thank you for the reminder about children and memory verses. I was going to include this in the post as well, but it was already getting Looooooong, so I didn’t. I did include a link in the additional resources. But yes, I am planning on having Bella learn key verses along with me. She’s excited!
Candyce…here is one where you can buy individual verses as mp3′s: http://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/easy_find?N=1110778&Ne=10000 If you Google “scripture songs” or “scripture memory songs”…I think you’ll get a pretty good list. Each one will be different in their style, but this is another great way to get the word of God into your mind! Thanks!
26
2009
I have not had a problem remembering what the Bible says but I can never remember the reference. I have always admired people who have dedicated themselves to the memorization of books, or even the whole Bible! This is a great challenge and I’m looking forward to committing God’s Word to heart (and remembering where it came from!). Thank you for the encouragement Sara!
26
2009
The whole book of James sounds so daunting, but breaking it down to 3 verses per week really makes it seem like a reasonable goal! I love this idea.
26
2009
I’m up for the challenge! I’ve been feeling the urge to dig deeper on the Word. Thanks, Sara.
26
2009
This is a wonderful challenge.
26
2009
Oh, Sara, who knew. I am a “lurker” and today I am reminded of a little gathering on moms so many years ago who prayed together ove their children. God has done exceedingly, abundantly beyond what we even thought to ask. You are sending out the Word of God and it will not return void! What a beautiful woman of God you have become.
26
2009
This is great. One of my favorite books in the Bible. I’m definitely in on this one. This is one awesome challenge.
26
2009
Sara-
I taught preschool at my church for 6 years. I had heard about a book on Christian radio station, so I found it and ordered it just so I could get the list in the back of the ABC bible verses. My classes learned them for several years and recited them at the year end program.
A-All we like sheep have gone astray.
B-Be Kind one to another.
C-Children obey your parents, for this is the right thing to do…(parent favorite!)
I learned them,too. I made small posters of them with a simple picture-not an artsy person-and we played games finding the verse we knew. It was a great learning tool. When I left the preschool, the thing I wanted was the flashcards for ABC Bible Verses. These may be found in The Most Important Place On Earth by Robert Wolgemuth. Much good stuff in the book…
26
2009
I’m having trouble trying to put the badge on blogspot. Can you help?
26
2009
What a wonderful idea, I’m in!
26
2009
It’s okay, I figured it out. I had to save the picture to my computer first to get it to work.
26
2009
What a strange coincidence. A friend and I are going to be leading a study of James starting tomorrow. Maybe God wants me to learn something key from this book. Really cool.
Patricia
in really chilly Canada
26
2009
I am up for the challenge and am thankful for the opportunity to win such a great gift.
26
2009
a number of years ago i set the goal to memorize new scripture every week. i lasted…um…one, but that one verse has stuck with me and God has used it again and again to bless me and others. often i am in a situation where i know He is asking me to act on that word, i obey and am blown away by what was up His sleeve. this was the verse:
‘do not withhold good from those who deserve it, when it is in your power to act’
proverbs 3:27
my husband and i recently joined a small ‘community group’ and will be studing 1 peter, i’m going to contemplate what scripture to start with, but i am going to start and hopefully last longer than one week
26
2009
I’m in! Thanks so much for the motivation. I just read a book called “Serve God Save the Planet” and he quotes James extensively. The Bible’s Action book – I love it!
26
2009
I had a middle school teacher that had us memorize… everything. Haha. His tips included:
Separate into three sections
Number sentences in each section
List first word in each section
See the ‘big picture’
Visualize
McNeil technique – memorize first sentence, repeat it, add second sentence, repeat, say the two together, repeat process
I know these have definitely helped me. Some of the things I memorized in his class, I still know. I’ve also recorded the things I wanted to memorized and listened to it like a song.
Just some more helpful tips…
26
2009
As soon as I saw “The James Challenge” pop up on the screen, I thought “uh-oh, I’m gonna be convicted about the way I use my words with my loved ones.” Cause that’s something I’m needing to work on lately.
And then I find that the challenge is to actually *memorize* James! Which is a perfect way to replace my sinful words and thoughts with God’s righteous, uplifting ones. So I’m really excited to embark on this challenge with you. Hooray!
26
2009
I am cautiously considering joining this challenge. I have disengaged from any scripture memory because too many times in my life, it has been used, by me and others, as scripture bullets to shoot at one another. But, memorizing a whole passage seems like a good idea and to study along with that memorization, the book, the context, the culture, the history. I may be on board. Let me think and pray about it a bit more. Just have to examine my heart.
I did want to post a couple of links to a good way of reviewing scripture memory. These are both similar. I found one’s instructions to be clearer than the other so I thought I would include both.
http://simplycharlottemason.com/timesavers/memorysys/
http://www.cmfhq.org/Ministries/TrainingDiscipleship/ScriptureMemory/ScriptureMemoryReviewPlan/tabid/144/Default.aspx
26
2009
I love the book of James, we just finished it at church, but I love this challange to acutally memorize it. My kids memorize their scripture for Awana and I am always in awe of them, so this is perfect timing for me.
26
2009
I heard a woman a few years ago say, “If you want to hear the Holy Spirit’s voice speaking to you, give Him something to work with…memorize Scripture and the Holy Spirit will bring to your mind exactly what He wants to say to you in every situation”.
I memorized a lot of Scripture (with spiral-bound notecards) throughout college and those verses have gotten me through so many difficult times when I couldn’t even open my Bible. His words coming to my mind brought me such comfort. And I still know all of those verses I memorized and that was over 15 years ago!
I won’t be doing James with you…I have found that I really need to choose verses that really connect with where I am spiritually at the time for me to really enjoy it and enter in to it. So I will probably choose short verses to meditate on (I was just getting ready to write a blog post on that!) and do 2 per month. They will probably end up being mostly Psalms.
My son Sam is memorizing most of Ephesians 1 and has already memorized a large portion of Colossians 1…it’s so neat to see the deep truths of salvation coming out of his mouth…and one day I hope that they really become part of his heart and life.