Locked and Loaded...and Feb 1 Verse

I am so enjoying seeing the verses you chose...and some of the respective comments as to why you chose your particular verse crack me up!

It's a great thing to have these verses in our arsenal.  That's really what they become in our lives - a storehouse of weapons to draw upon when we wage war in our minds against fears, worries, vain imaginations.  Be anxious for nothing, quoted frequently, because it is a necessary reminder that we are to - guess what? - be anxious for nothing.

The weapons we fight with, Paul tells us, are NOT the weapons of this world.  And here's the part I really like.  ON THE CONTRARY.  I mean, it's a good thing to have worldly weapons when you need them.  But wait!  That's not all!  Can't you just see it?  It's like he's just getting started, just getting his engines revved up, and here he comes with the "now-look-here-just-you-wait-a-cotton-pickin-minute".  (Maybe he was from South Israel.)  And I bet there's some serious finger-stabbing-in-the-air going on too.  And then, the real kicker...they, these weapons of ours, have DIVINE POWER to demolish strongholds.

He uses some strong words - depending on your translation, words like pulling down, destroying, destruction, demolish, tear down, take captive.  (Some of my boys' favorites - both in word and in deed.)  Those thoughts that set themselves up against the knowledge of God are not going to go quietly.  The enemy doesn't respond to a "pretty please".  He pays no attention to a polite, gentle, "if you don't mind please leave me alone" and doesn't just lay down and give up.  ON THE CONTRARY.  We have to demolish his arguments, tear down thoughts, take captive every high thing that has the audacity to come against what God says is so.  Hence, the strong words and the need for powerful arms.

There's a phrase from military circles that means that your weapon has its magazine in place, is ready to fire, and you are ready for action.  It's applicable to us as well.  We have to be locked and loaded and ready to take some thoughts captive. 

Okay, then....so on to my verse.  Here's what I'm memorizing this go-round:

Romans 6:5-7 NLT, "Since we have been united with Him in His death, we will also be raised as He was.  Our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives.  We are no longer slaves to sin.  For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin."

Set free.  That's some good stuff there.

I look forward to seeing yours.

January 15th Verse

So many verses; so little time.
 
It's lame, I know, but choosing my next verse is hard for me.  Kind of like going to the Cheesecake Factory - for crying out loud, they have a lot of choices.  Although if you go, you really should try the Avocado Eggrolls.  But I digress....

There are so many verses I should know as a Christian, some that I need in my daily walk, others that help me know more about who God is and His promises.  I don't want one too short (Jesus wept, anyone?).  I don't want one too long (read that: challenging).  I console myself with the truth that ANY Word is good.

On another note, I got to my favorite part of Job this morning (which is partly my favorite because it makes sense and I find Job to be a somewhat confusing book, but anyhoo) right at the end where God finally speaks up after Job and all his friends have been going on and on.  He tells Job to "gird up your loins"; in other words, get ready to take it like a man, cause I'm gonna dish.  And then He does.  But a couple of verses stuck out to me.  In Job 38:22-23 it says, "Have you entered the storehouse of the snow, or seen the armory of the hail, which I reserve for the time of trouble, for the day of war and battle?"

When I was a teenager, just to irritate my sister (which I try not to do anymore), when she would start questioning me about something, I'd calmly say "I've got it under control," (with great superiority in my voice, of course).  I think that's what God was saying to Job (and to us).  We don't see the whole picture - only what is immediately visible to us.  We've got an enemy, an adversary.  Sometimes they may even have skin on them.  But our God has a whole stash of hail, on hold, in reserve, with that enemy's name on it.  He's got your back.  He's in control.  In the right time, somebody's going down.

Well, enough rambling.  I guess I should get to my verse now, although I sure do like that Job one.  For this time I'm going to memorize Exodus 34:6-7a, "The LORD, the LORD God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin."  NASB


I've enjoyed our Scripture memory adventure so far.  On a technical note, if you are commenting anonymously (without a registered login), if you don't mind, would you please include your name in your comments?  No pressure - this is a laid back blog, mind you - but it's nice to see who's on this trip with us.  If you're continuing on with a verse from the first two weeks, you can just say that too.

Your turn.

How Are Your Verses Going?

Have you found your spiral index cards?  I found some at Walmart the other day and stocked up.  I've even been known to - gasp! - flip it over when I get to the end and use the other sides of the cards.  Yeah, I'm frugal that way...or just unprepared and ran out of cards...it all depends on how you look at it.

One thing I usually do is jot down the date for the verse I'm memorizing.  There were times looking over last year's verses that the date would jog my memory for that verse ("oh, yeah, that was after the first/second/third doctor's appointment" or "that was when we were praying about ________").  You get the idea, I'm sure.

If you have some tricks or ideas that you use, will you please share them with us in the comments?  And you don't have to use the spiral cards either if you find something that works better for you.  The index card police will not come after you.

I'm going to link to Beth Moore's blog (look at me, getting all fancy-schmancy with my linking-self) where she gave some memorization tips that you might find helpful.

http://livingproofministries.blogspot.com/2009/01/scripture-memory-mini-tutorial_08.html

So glad to have y'all along for the ride.

Welcome to the Scripture Memorization Blog and January 1st verse

I'm so glad you're here.  The effort you invest this year will NOT be in vain.  Now, let's jump in with both feet, shall we?

We are going to memorize 24, yes 24, scriptures this year!  On the 1st and 15th of each month, I will post an entry and ask each of you participating to post a comment with your scripture.  Don't worry - no one is going to analyze your verse and why you chose it or look for underlying messages or agendas.  Pick something the Lord is speaking to you in your season, whatever that is.  It can be long or short, it's totally up to you - if you want to do a long passage, feel free to spread it out over time.

As some of you know, this original idea came from Beth Moore and the Siesta Scripture Memory that we did last year.  It was so good, I thought it needed to be done again, so here we are.  She suggests getting a set of spiral bound index cards (check Walmart, office supply stores, etc.) to use for writing your verses on.  It is transportable and also easily stands up so you can prop it up wherever you spend the most time - at a desk, at the kitchen sink, etc.

So, just to get us started, I'll share my verse for January 1st.  It is Psalm 65:11 from the NET Bible, "You crown the year with Your good blessings, and You leave abundance in Your wake."

Now, let's hear yours.