Tag Archives: memorize scripture

PRAYER AND MEDITATION.102915

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Young man holding Bible and praying by windowIt’s sad to say, but a lot of people think prayer is solely about asking for stuff, especially in an emergency.  Even sadder is that a lot of them only pray in an emergency.  Makes for a strained relationship with God, if the only time you talk to Him is when you need something, especially only when you are in dire straits.  I’ve heard a lot of parents say that it makes them sad that their college age kids, or even young adult children, only call them when they need money.  Sounds like the kids don’t really care about having a real relationship with their parents.

But you know, God’s not like that.  He really wants to have a close, personal, dare I say intimate relationship with you.  He already knows all about you anyway.  He’s been looking at your heart.  Why shouldn’t you really let Him in and begin to develop a relationship with Him where you know a lot more about Him.  Get intimately acquainted with God.  For my money, that’s what prayer is, and should be about.

Oh, about meditation.  Continue reading →

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PRACTICING CHRISTIAN 7: Daily Quiet Time, Part 2.Devotional.102715

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Surprised woman using laptop in parkI started reading the Bible pretty regularly fairly early in my life (maybe age 35-40) It was quite a bit later when I started reading a devotional every day.  In fact it was in 2000, after I went on a “Walk to Emmaus”, in my weekly ‘Reunion Group’ they would start their meetings by reading that day’s devotional from My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers.  Someone gave me a copy, and I started reading it (every day).  I’d write down what it meant to me.  Then I’d compare my daily Bible verse from my list with Oswald’s point(s), and I’d try to figure out what God was trying to say to me from those two sources, taken together.  I got some amazing revelations from Him in those little sessions.  I’m still doing that, 15 years later.  But now I’ve started including two or three additional daily devotionals from various writers, like Brennan Manning, or Charles Stanley, or Max Lucado, or Alistair Begg, all of whom I respect as committed men of God.  In my journal I write down the most important point from each one’s post for that day, and then compare them to see how they fit together.   Again, major revelations appear from those short readings and comparisons.  Continue reading →

PRACTICING CHRISTIAN 6: Daily Quiet Time, Part 1. Bible.102615

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Corinthians 13Just for the record, a “Daily Quiet Time”, is a short (maybe 15 minute) time each morning when we focus our attention on talking to, and listening to, God.  It usually begins with reading a Bible verse or two, and a short devotional from some brother or sister or group, concerning our lives and our hearts as Christians, and writing in a journal the main point of the verse and the devotional.  It ends with a period of sitting (or kneeling) alone, in the Presence of God, and thinking about what I’ve read, how it applies to my life and what is happening to me today, and listening for God to tell me what I should do or think about it.  That’s where the revelations come in.  Do you know that verse/passage in Matthew 11:25-28, where Jesus is talking to God, and He says, “I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have REVEALED them to babes.

I haven’t been having a “daily quiet time” all my life.  I didn’t know what one was, or even hear the expression till about 10 years ago.  I guess I’ve been reading the Bible early in the morning almost every day for maybe 20 years or longer.  Continue reading →

CHRISTIANS? 021815

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How can you tell if people are Christians?  There are several things:

1]   They love one another.  2]   They trust God and surrender to Him daily. 3]   They seek God’s will, and His Power, and His direction in their lives. 4]   They bear fruit –     a] Fruits of the Spirit b] Fruits of more disciples 5]   They read, study and memorize the Bible. 6]   They pray for themselves and others, they meditate on God’s Word and they listen for God. 7]   They tell what they’ve seen and heard about what God is doing in their lives and in the lives of others. (They just can’t help it.) 8]   They are ready to give a reason for the hope that is in them. 9]   They know, be, make and teach others to make, disciples (followers) of Jesus. 10] They gather themselves together regularly to worship God and encourage each other.

Might be a good idea to compare ourselves to this list periodically, to see how we’re doing.   None of us are doing all the right things all the time, but it’s God’s will that we continually grow and develop as Christians by the power and the grace of His Holy Spirit.  (Sometimes you run into someone who exhibits the love and peace of Jesus in their personal demeanor, and even though they don’t say it in so many words, you just know they have to be followers of the King.)

Two things to remember: 1] This is not a comprehensive list of things Christians do (LOL); it’s just a good place to start; and 2] What this is really all about is having a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ our Lord, and being more like Him every day.

God’s Word in Your Heart.021315

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Psalm 119:11; David said, “Your words have I hidden in my heart, so I might not sin against You.”  (‘Hidden in my heart’ just HAS to mean that I’ve memorized it.)

Deut. 6:6, Moses said, as a part of the Jewish Creed, the Shemah, “These Words shall be in your heart.”  (as in “I know that by heart, I’ve memorized it.”)

Joshua 1:8; Joshua says, “This Book of the Law (God’s Word) shall not depart out of your  mouth, but you shall meditate on it both day and night, so you can do all that is written in it.”  (I bet if you meditate on something day and night, you’ll memorize it without even trying.)

Psalm 1:2; David says, [God’s man] “His delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates both day and night.” (same as Joshua)

Hebrews 4:12-13; “The Word of God is quick (alive) and powerful, sharper that any two-edged sword, piercing, to the dividing in two, of the soul and the spirit, the joints and the marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”

I’ve got a theory.  If God’s Word is like what it says in Heb. 4:12, and we hide God’s Word in our heart, (memorize it) then the discernment that is in His Word is in our hearts, and we can see, on some level, the thoughts and the intents of peoples’ hearts; (not just other peoples’ hearts, but also our own.)  I’m sure there are a lot of wise, scholarly pastors and teachers of God’s Word who would disagree with me, but if the Holy Spirit of the Living God is dwelling in us, then it seems reasonable to believe, even trust, that the discernment of the Living God could and would be dwelling in us as well.  For me, this is a very BIG reason for us to memorize scripture.  Because if we can discern the thoughts and intentions of peoples’ hearts, then we can know what we really need to pray for, for them.  Our intercession goes waaay up on the effectiveness scale.

Someone said that the reason we pray is for us to get to know God, for Himself, not just for what He can do.  Hiding God’s Word in our hearts and meditating on those Words both day and night, will surely draw us closer to God and allow us to know Him better.

DO YOU KNOW IT BY HEART? 011315

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“And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart.  .  .” Deut. 6:6

“Your Word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You.” Psa 119:11

“For the word of God is living and powerful, .  .  .  and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”  Hebrews 4:12

When I was a little kid, when my Momma wanted me to memorize something, she’d say, “Can you say it by heart?”  Like my ABC’s, or the Pledge of Allegiance, or the Lord’s Prayer,  or the 23rd Psalm. “Do you know it by heart?”  And the funny thing is, I’m 66 now, and I still have those things memorized.  I still know them, and can say them, By Heart!  Makes me grin.

And the Lord has been telling me for a long time now that we as disciples of Jesus should memorize God’s Holy Word.  It has all kinds of benefits.  After Deuteronomy 6:6, the passage goes on to say, “You shall teach them [His Words] diligently to your children; and talk about them when you sit at home, and when you walk down the road; when you lie down and when you rise up.  .  .”  You should memorize God’s Words so they will be available, on the tip of your tongue, when you talk to others about Jesus; you will have HIS words to say, because it’s not you that speak, but the Holy Spirit.

You should know God’s Word by heart, so you won’t sin against God, just like David said.  Knowing God’s Word by heart forms a barrier, a wall, against all the tricks of the devil, when he says, like he did to Eve, “You don’t really believe God really meant what He said, do you?”  And if you’ve spent enough time thinking about Bible verses to memorize them, then you KNOW that you really DO believe what God says.

And that last verse quoted above, about the Word of God being “alive and powerful, and piercing  .  .  and is a discerner of the thoughts and the intents of the heart.”  I’m convinced that if you memorize God’s Word; if you hide it in your heart; if you obey God as He commands that “These words shall be in your heart”; then you will be able to discern what is going on in peoples’ hearts; both in other peoples’ hearts and in your own; so you’ll know better how to pray for them and for yourself.

I have a list of about 250 separate scriptures that I’ve been memorizing over the last several years.  I take one new one a day and work on it that day.  About the third time I come to it on the list, I have it memorized.  If you’d like I can send you a copy.