tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21102695469654727092024-03-07T19:12:34.577-08:00Scripture Memory 2012Meganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17874154906950694985noreply@blogger.comBlogger25125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2110269546965472709.post-49328552647763799512012-12-15T00:00:00.000-08:002012-12-15T00:00:06.188-08:00Scripture Memory 2012: Verse 24WE DID IT!!!!! <br />
<br />
24 verses! Can you believe it?! Congratulations!!!<br />
<br />
Here are the 9 ladies that stuck it out for the whole year:<br />
<br />
Jenny A. <br />
Ginny D. <br />
Belinda G.<br />
Deb G.<br />
Karen K.<br />
Danae L. <br />
Joy P.<br />
Cari <br />
Mindy M.<br />
<br />
Last year when I did the Scripture Memory challenge, I didn't go to the
official celebration that Beth Moore had in Houston because I had a
newborn. Instead, I had my own celebration. On New Year's Eve I recited
all 24 verses to my husband and bought my favorite ice cream (Ben and
Jerry's Cherry Garcia) as a special treat. It was fun to celebrate even though it was just something little. <br />
<br />
A couple of people have asked me if I'm going to host this challenge again next year. I was only going to do it if Beth Moore wasn't going to have it on her blog, but, good news...Beth just posted her first post about Scripture Memory Challenge 2013:<br />
<br />
http://blog.lproof.org/2012/12/its-spiral-time-sisters-lets-spiral-up.html<br />
<br />
On her blog she has a really cute spiral notebook you can use for the verses for anyone who is interested. I was going to automatically buy one for each of you, but I didn't want to assume everyone wants to continue next year. If you need a break, no worries! However, if you would like to participate again next year on <a href="http://blog.lproof.org/" target="_blank">Beth's blog</a>, please let me know and I will get you a spiral. If you are local, I'll make sure you get it before January 1st. If you are not local, you can email me your address and I'll mail it to you. <br />
<br />
Please email me if you would like a spiral. I would like to order them ASAP: andynmegan@yahoo.com<br />
<br />
Again, I'm so glad we all did this challenge together. I hope you were super blessed by it. <br />
<br />
Oh, and I almost forgot my last verse:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Megan. L from San Marcos "We take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." 2 Corinthians 10:5b NIV</i></blockquote>
<br />
<br />Meganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17874154906950694985noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2110269546965472709.post-60360842900691078172012-12-01T00:00:00.000-08:002012-12-02T07:37:25.229-08:00Scripture Memory 2012: Verse 23TWO MORE VERSES LEFT!!!<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Megan L. from San Marcos "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Matthew 11:28-30 NIV</i></blockquote>
Meganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17874154906950694985noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2110269546965472709.post-1323480871234560552012-11-15T00:00:00.000-08:002012-11-15T00:00:10.593-08:00Scripture Memory 2012: Verse 22Does it freak anyone else out that the next time we post our verses it will be December? Really?! How did that happen?<br />
<br />
I'm so excited about the handful of you that stuck with it this year. Only three more verses to go!<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Megan L. from San Marcos "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws." Ezekiel 36:26-27 </i></blockquote>
Meganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17874154906950694985noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2110269546965472709.post-55041680619326987222012-11-01T00:00:00.000-07:002012-11-01T00:00:15.006-07:00Scripture Memory 2012: Verse 21Only four more verses to go! Can you believe it? We are in the home stretch now!<br />
<br />
Don't forget to go back and review your old verses. I've been trying to do this lately, and I'm definitely rusty on some of the verses from earlier this year. You may want to pick an easier verse this time around so that you have time to review.<br />
<br />
I really like picking verses based on what lessons God is teaching me at the time, so it's neat going back over the verses from the year and seeing all the areas God's been working on in my heart.<br />
<br />
So this is what God is working on with me right now:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Megan L. from San Marcos "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to
look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from
being polluted by the world." James 1:27 NIV</i></blockquote>
Meganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17874154906950694985noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2110269546965472709.post-92206722799274515022012-10-15T00:00:00.000-07:002012-11-01T06:24:06.208-07:00Scripture Memory 2012: Verse 20Beth Moore often encourages women to pray scripture over their families. Paul has prayers in his letters to his churches that are excellent to use for this. I memorized one earlier this year, and I want to add another one to my memory list.<br />
<br />
Here's a list of Paul's intercessory prayers for the saints. All are from the NIV.<br />
<br />
<br />
Ephesians 1:17-19 "<span class="reftext"></span>I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit<span class="nivfootnote"> </span>of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. <span class="reftext"></span>I
pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that
you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his
glorious inheritance in the saints, <span class="reftext"></span>and his incomparably great power for us who believe."<br />
<br />
Ephesians 3:16-19 "<span class="reftext"></span>I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, <span class="reftext"></span>so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, <span class="reftext"></span>may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, <span class="reftext"></span>and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God."<br />
<br />
Philippians 1:9-11 "And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, <span class="reftext"></span>so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, <span class="reftext"></span>filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God."<br />
<br />
Colossians 1:9-12 "For
this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped
praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his
will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And
we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and
may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing
in the knowledge of God, being
strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you
may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light."<br />
<br />
2 Thessalonians 1:11-12 "With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may count
you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may fulfill every
good purpose of yours and every act prompted by your faith. <span class="reftext"></span>We
pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you,
and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus
Christ."<br />
<br />
Philemon 1:6 "I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will
have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ."<br />
<br />
To make it a little easier on myself, I'm just sticking with one verse this time around:<br />
<i> </i><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Megan L. from San Marcos "And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord
and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work,
growing in the knowledge of God." Colossians 1:10 NIV</i></blockquote>
Meganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17874154906950694985noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2110269546965472709.post-60927173481989149522012-10-01T00:00:00.000-07:002012-11-01T06:24:18.286-07:00Scripture Memory 2012: Verse 19After I found that <a href="http://tolovehonorandvacuum.com/2011/01/50-most-important-bible-verses-to/" target="_blank">great list of Scriptures to memorize</a> that I shared in the last post, I stumbled across <a href="http://www.carissagraham.com/2012/03/i-made-book-scripture-scraps.html" target="_blank">this great idea</a> to make a book of Bible verses to read to your kids. The lady talks about how this idea that came to her after her son started saying all the nursery rhymes out of a book she had been reading him...<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #444444;"><i><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.918); font-family: inherit;">am
i the mom of a genius?? i know better. this is normal. God gives kids
such an ability to learn and absorb and remember. sometimes i wish i
could remember how good it felt to remember. </span></i></span></div>
<span style="color: #444444;"><i><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.918); font-family: inherit;"></span><br /></i></span>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #444444;"><i><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.918); font-family: inherit;">so, instead of filling Hunter's growing mind with dead rhymes, why not fill it with life breathing Scripture. </span></i></span></div>
<span style="color: #444444;"><i><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.918); font-family: inherit;"></span><br /></i></span>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #444444;"><i><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.918); font-family: inherit;">and
Scripture Scraps was born. it came to me all on its own, without
pinterest even, during a car ride, where i was the driver... i hoped and
prayed i would remember this idea until i had a chance to stop and
write it down. well i did remember. so this must really be something.</span></i></span></div>
</blockquote>
<br />
You can click on <a href="http://www.carissagraham.com/2012/03/i-made-book-scripture-scraps.html" target="_blank">the link</a> to see the book she made for her kids. I LOVE this idea and immediately made one for my kids. I am not that crafty, so I just typed the verses on the computer. I included a lot of the Scriptures from that <a href="http://tolovehonorandvacuum.com/2011/01/50-most-important-bible-verses-to/" target="_blank">50 Most Important Scriptures to Memorize list</a>, and I also made sure to include other verses I've been working on the past couple of years. That way I can review my old memory verses and the kids can learn them too. Of course I haven't actually printed the book out yet, but it's on my to-do list! ;-)<br />
<br />
So my verse for this time is one of the verses I used in the Scripture Book:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Megan L. from San Marcos "Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." Hebrews 4:16 NIV</i></blockquote>
Meganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17874154906950694985noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2110269546965472709.post-37315088730669738072012-09-15T00:00:00.000-07:002012-11-01T06:24:31.693-07:00Scripture Memory 2012: Verse 18Thanks to <a href="http://shapingmyheart.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">my lovely sister</a>, I found a new blog that I really like. It's called <a href="http://tolovehonorandvacuum.com/" target="_blank">To Love, Honor and Vacuum: Real Marriage. No Pretensions. </a><br />
<br />
The blog is written by a Christian author from Canada, and it is obviously mostly about marriage. I was so happy that my sister recommended it to me because like I told her, Andy has been easily winning the "best spouse award" around here and I want to give him a run for his money.<br />
<br />
One of the most popular (and most "pinned") blog posts from <a href="http://tolovehonorandvacuum.com/" target="_blank">To Love, Honor, and Vacuum</a> is her post called, "<a href="http://tolovehonorandvacuum.com/2011/01/50-most-important-bible-verses-to/" target="_blank">50 Most Important Bible Verses to Memorize</a>" <br />
<br />
<br />
It's a great list of verses to memorize if you ever have trouble coming up with a verse you want to work on. It's also a great list to have your whole family work on (if you are that ambitious!). I really like the author's comments about memorizing the 50 verses (She also recommends a few chapters to memorize):<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Look at it this way: if you spend one year memorizing the fifty verses,
and the next year reviewing those fifty and memorizing a chapter, and
then go back to those fifty verses again to make sure you have them
down, and then the next year go back and do a different chapter, and so
on, over the course of ten years you’ll have 50 verses and 5 chapters so
committed to memory there is no way anyone could ever forget it.</i></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i></i><br />
<i>And I think knowing fewer verses, but knowing them inside and out, is
sometimes more beneficial in the long run than trying to make yourself
learn a verse a day or something. </i></blockquote>
<br />
So, for my verse this time around, I wanted to use one from her list.<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Megan L. from San Marcos "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" 2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV</i></blockquote>
Meganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17874154906950694985noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2110269546965472709.post-37621701354377166482012-09-01T00:00:00.000-07:002012-11-01T06:24:51.863-07:00Scripture Memory 2012: Verse 17In the book <u>Discipline of Grace</u>, Jerry Bridges talks about the importance of preaching the gospel to yourself every day. This helps us walk that line between trying to be good enough to somehow earn God's love and taking God's grace for granted. We are sinners, saved only by a costly grace through Christ alone.<br />
<br />
Bridges recommends meditating on Romans 4:7-8 as one of the verses to use as you preach the gospel to yourself and I'm going to use it as my memory verse this time around.<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Megan L. from San Marcos</i><br />
<i></i>
<i>Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.</i><br />
<i>Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him.</i><br />
<br />
<i>Romans 4:7-8 NIV</i></blockquote>
<br />
Here are more verses about God's awesome and total forgiveness:<br />
<br />
He washes you. (Psalm 51:7)<br />
He takes your sin far away. (Psalm 103:12)<br />
He seals your sin in a bag and covers over it. (Job 14:17)<br />
<br />
He treads it underfoot and hurls it into the depths of the ocean. (Micah 7:19)<br />
He wipes it out. (Isaiah 43:25)<br />
He chooses not to remember it. (Hebrews 10:17)<br />
He puts it behind His back. (Isaiah 38:17)<br />
<br />
<i>Lord, help us live as those who know the gospel and live according to its power! </i>Meganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17874154906950694985noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2110269546965472709.post-52413823197012775532012-08-15T16:18:00.001-07:002012-09-02T20:15:52.914-07:00Scripture Memory 2012: Verse 16Whoops! In the business of our last week of summer, I totally forgot to post a verse! I'm going to miss summer, but it will be nice to get back into a more normal routine. Hopefully that means I'll get better about the spiritual disciplines in my life!! I'll post my verse in the comments. What is your verse this time around?Meganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17874154906950694985noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2110269546965472709.post-53754836556214752742012-08-01T00:00:00.000-07:002012-08-01T00:00:06.829-07:00Scripture Memory 2012: Verse 15<br />
If you're anything like me, you've been spending way too much time watching the Olympics and neglecting real life. Yikes! It's ironic that watching amazingly disciplined world-class athletes makes me want to sit on my couch and watch them on TV all day and then stay up too late at night. Lord, help me have some self-control!<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Megan L. from San Marcos "He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he." Deuteronomy 32:4 NIV</i></blockquote>Meganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17874154906950694985noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2110269546965472709.post-38184879702991937722012-07-15T08:20:00.002-07:002012-07-15T08:20:22.533-07:00Scripture Memory 2012: Verse 14<style type="text/css">
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Summer time is a hard time to stay focused and disciplined (at least for me!). Here is some encouragement for us all to keep striving: <br />
<br />
"It is a common temptation of
Satan to make us give up the reading of the Word and prayer when our
enjoyment is gone; as if it were of no use to read the Scriptures
when we do not enjoy them, and as if it were no use to pray when we
have no spirit of prayer. The truth is that in order to enjoy the
Word, we ought to continue to read it, and the way to obtain a spirit
of prayer is to continue praying. Then less we read the Word of God,
the less we desire to read it, and the less we pray, the less we
desire to pray." George Mueller<br />
<br />
Here's my verse:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Megan L. from San Marcos: "Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me." John 14:21 NIV</i> </blockquote>
</div>Meganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17874154906950694985noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2110269546965472709.post-38956222145742163972012-07-02T06:26:00.000-07:002012-07-15T08:25:58.606-07:00Scripture Memory 2012: Verse 13Summer time sure is a crazy, busy, fun time for us! To give myself a little break, I'm going to review a verse I memorized last year. It's one that I really need to meditate on more. It's so easy for me to get caught up in this temporary world and I so easily lose an eternal perspective on things.<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Megan L. from San Marcos: "Since then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on
things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your
minds on things above, not on earthly things." Colossians 3:1-2 NIV</i></blockquote>
<br />
And to go with this verse, one of my favorite quotes:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>"If
you read history you will find that the Christians who did the most for
the present world were precisely those who thought the most of the
next. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other
world that they have become so ineffective in this." C.S. Lewis</i></blockquote>
Oh Lord, that I will remember where my true home is and how fleeting life here on earth is!Meganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17874154906950694985noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2110269546965472709.post-39755010664236785022012-06-15T00:00:00.000-07:002012-07-15T08:26:09.321-07:00Scripture Memory 2012: Verse 12This was from Beth Moore's post exactly one year ago when she was doing the Scripture memory challenge on her blog: <br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Hear bells and whistles and lots of music, maybe even a few beginning
bars of the Hallelujah chorus: YOU MADE IT EXACTLY HALFWAY!!!! You are
officially over the hump after you get this entry behind you.</i></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Way to go, Sisters. Way to go! It’s a pretty good feeling, isn’t it?
Don’t think for a second that the enemy didn’t try to steal away your
focus and commitment. If you made it this far, you fought with him and
won. This is a big victory. Celebrate it with your very faithful God.</i></blockquote>
<br />
Isn't Beth a great cheerleader! <br />
<br />
I had no idea what to expect when I started this Scripture memory blog in January, but it's exciting to see that we are halfway done and there are more people commenting than just me and my mom. :-) Thanks, ladies! It's been a fun adventure so far!<br />
<br />
So, here's my verse:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Megan L. from San Marcos: "Train yourself to be godly. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come." I Timothy 4:7b-8 NIV</i></blockquote>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Meganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17874154906950694985noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2110269546965472709.post-88983846218147086142012-06-01T00:00:00.000-07:002012-07-15T08:26:23.423-07:00Scripture Memory 2012: Verse 11I just finished the book <u>Knowing God</u> by J.I. Packer. It is a fantastic book that I really should read every year. The funny thing is my husband bought the book for me for my 21st birthday (while we were dating), and it took me almost 11 years to finish it. Yikes! As soon as I finished it, I started reading it again from the beginning. My goal is that it won't take me 11 years this time! <u>Knowing God</u> and the Bible study I just finished on Paul was the inspiration for my next memory verse.<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Megan L. from San Marcos: "But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What
is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing
greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost
all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and
be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from
the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness
that comes from God and is by faith. I
want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the
fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead." Philippians 3:7-11</i></blockquote>
<div class="SUBA">
<br /></div>Meganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17874154906950694985noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2110269546965472709.post-33980973848242713712012-05-15T00:00:00.000-07:002012-06-01T07:42:29.627-07:00Scripture Memory 2012: Verse 10During the day when I am working in the kitchen or cleaning the bathrooms (when that actually happens!), I like to listen to Beth Moore online. This website has a ton of lessons archived from radio broadcasts:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.oneplace.com/ministries/living-proof-with-beth-moore/listen/%20">http://www.oneplace.com/ministries/living-proof-with-beth-moore/listen/ </a><br />
<br />
I was listening the other day to her series called, "Measureless Love" (a six part series starting on March 26, 2012). The series was all about God's measureless love for us. She reminded us how amazing that concept is coming from a God who is so meticulous about measurement (like all the measurements for the temple and in Job 38:5 when God talks about marking off the dimensions of the earth's foundations, etc.). It was a really powerful series, and this was the main passage she used and my memory verse from this time around:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Megan L. from San Marcos: "I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp <b>how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ</b>, and <b>to know this love that surpasses knowledge</b>--that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." Ephesians 3:16-19 NIV</i></blockquote>Meganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17874154906950694985noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2110269546965472709.post-4799172224615241752012-05-01T00:00:00.000-07:002012-05-15T07:24:09.969-07:00Scripture Memory 2012: Verse 9Hi Ladies! I hope everyone is hanging in there with this Scripture Memory Challenge!<br />
<br />
My friend, Rebecca, who is doing this challenge is an amazing digital scrapbooker. A couple of days ago I got the following email from her:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div id="yui_3_2_0_5_1335714331705583">
<i>Hey there! I just wanted to share
this with you in case you want to share it with your scripture memory
blog readers. I created some digital notecards that I'm using for my
memory verses, which I then print out. I've packaged up the designs and
made them available on my digi scrap blog, they are free for anyone who
wants them. </i></div>
<div>
<i><br /></i></div>
<div>
<i><a href="http://reboscraps.blogspot.com/2012/04/freebie-friday-journal-cards.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1335717153_0">http://reboscraps.blogspot.com/2012/04/freebie-friday-journal-cards.html</span></a></i>
</div>
<div>
<i><br /></i></div>
<div>
<i>Rebecca</i></div>
</blockquote>
If you go to her blog you will see how stinkin' cute the notecards are. And they are free! Sweet. Thank you so much, Rebecca!<br />
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Now for my verse:<br />
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Megan L. from San Marcos: "Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity." Colossians 3:12-14 NIV</blockquote>
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I feel like this verse is the key to sanctification. If I could just get this mastered I would be all set! ;-) I also love how Paul starts with reminding us of God's love for us--that we are "dearly loved." What a beautiful phrase and the best motivation for striving toward holiness.Meganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17874154906950694985noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2110269546965472709.post-22730112784881490112012-04-15T09:17:00.001-07:002012-05-01T07:15:03.729-07:00Scripture Memory 2012: Verse 8I forgot today was April 15th! Yikes! At least my taxes are done! Leave your verse and I'll add mine to the comments when I figure out which verse I'm going to do.<br />
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Thanks to Katy Whitcher for the reminder! :-)Meganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17874154906950694985noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2110269546965472709.post-88030883059533974142012-03-26T07:16:00.004-07:002012-04-15T16:14:11.748-07:00Scripture Memory 2012: Verse 7Happy April Fool's Day!<br /><br />I once saw a bumper sticker declaring April 1st as National Atheists Day. I didn't get it until I saw the verse referenced at the bottom: Psalm 14:1<br /><br />"The fool says in his heart, 'There is no God.'"<br /><br />If you are looking for a verse to memorize, that might be a fun one to learn for April Fool's Day.<br /><br />Here is my verse for this time around.<br /><blockquote style="font-style: italic;"><br />Megan L. from San Marcos: "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. <span class="reftext"></span>Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. <span class="reftext"></span>Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart." Hebrews 12:1-3<br /></blockquote>Meganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17874154906950694985noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2110269546965472709.post-32637046289643450922012-03-15T00:00:00.001-07:002012-04-01T07:14:25.630-07:00Scripture Memory 2012: Verse 6Ladies, I can't tell you how much I am enjoying reading all your Bible verses and comments. It is such a blessing to read what verses people choose and why they choose them.<br /><br />Last year I participated in a prayer challenge online. The lady leading it shared this quote with us:<br /><blockquote></blockquote><blockquote>"People do not drift toward holiness. Apart from <span style="font-weight: bold;">grace-driven effort</span>, people do not gravitate toward godliness, prayer, obedience to Scripture, faith and delight in the Lord. We drift toward compromise and call it tolerance; we drift toward disobedience and call it freedom; we drift toward superstition and call it faith. We cherish the indiscipline of lost self-control and call it relaxation; we slouch toward prayerlessness and delude ourselves into thinking we have escaped legalism; we slide toward godlessness and convince ourselves we have been liberated." D.A. Carson</blockquote><br />I thought it was so powerful and such an encouragement to "work out our salvation with fear and trembling." (Philippians 2:12) I hope that this will encourage you as you work to memorize your verses this year.<br /><br />Thankfully, as we "work out our salvation," it's still <span style="font-weight: bold;">all grace</span> and that's the basis of our assurance. In that vein, here's my verse:<br /><blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="font-style: italic;">Megan L. from San Marcos "Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water." Hebrews 10:22 NIV</blockquote>Can't wait to read yours...Meganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17874154906950694985noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2110269546965472709.post-89897139221887363512012-03-01T00:00:00.002-08:002012-03-13T16:39:58.245-07:00Scripture Memory 2012: Verse 5I hope everyone had a great Leap Day and enjoyed having an extra day to practice your memory verses! ;-)<br /><br />I'm going with this verse from Proverbs this time around:<br /><blockquote></blockquote><blockquote style="font-style: italic;">Megan L. from San Marcos: "A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger." Proverbs 15:1 NIV</blockquote>I was talking about the verse with my five year old a while ago and instructing him to speak gently when playing with his friends and sister. Then I realized, I probably need to work on that too!Meganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17874154906950694985noreply@blogger.com24tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2110269546965472709.post-38664376015511190062012-02-15T00:00:00.001-08:002012-02-29T18:53:39.652-08:00Scripture Memory 2012: Verse 4In case you didn't see the update on the last blog post:<br /><br />Apparently, "Join this blog" does <i>not</i> set up an email reminder. Instead, to get email updates, click on the new <a href="http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=ScriptureMemory2012&loc=en_US" target="_blank">Subscribe via Email</a> link in the sidebar and enter your email address. Sorry for the confusion.<br /><br />I'll keep it short and simple this time. Here's my verse!<br /><blockquote><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Megan L. from San Marcos: In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:16 NIV</span></blockquote>Meganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17874154906950694985noreply@blogger.com27tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2110269546965472709.post-16013022288411163032012-02-01T00:00:00.000-08:002012-02-14T16:21:14.602-08:00Scripture Memory 2012: Verse 3<div id="yui_3_2_0_1_1327980715297449"><br /><b>UPDATE:</b> Apparently, "Join this blog" does <i>not</i> set up an email reminder. Instead, to get email updates, click on the new <a href="http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=ScriptureMemory2012&loc=en_US" target="_blank">Subscribe via Email</a> link in the sidebar and enter your email address. Sorry for the confusion.<br /><br /><hr /><br />Time for verse three! I hope you are all enjoying this challenge so far and finding the pace doable. If you need some extra encouragement, I found this blog post about setting goals to be helpful:<br /><br /><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://moneysavingmom.com/2012/01/3-things-that-will-keep-you-from-goal-setting-success.html"><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1328053190_0">4 Things That Will Keep You From Goal-Setting Success</span></a><br /><br />The post seemed very applicable to our challenge. The first thing she listed that will keep you from goal-setting success is biting off more than you can chew. For those of you who want to memorize a longer passage of Scripture but don't want to feel overwhelmed, it might help to break the passage into smaller chunks and memorize the passage over the course of a few months. I did that last year with Psalm 103 because I really wanted to memorize the whole psalm, and it worked really well!<br /><br />Now before I share my verse for this round, I wanted to clarify a couple of things about which there was some confusion.<br /><br />1. There is not an email reminder when it's time to post your verse. <del>If you would like to "follow" this blog, you can go to "Join this blog" on the sidebar. That should set you up to receive an automatic email reminder every time I post something.</del><br /><br />2. Some people have accidentally posted their verse on the wrong post. This is not that big of a deal because I get an email whenever anyone comments on any post so I can still check you off for that verse. However, to avoid confusion, I will close comments on the older posts. Going forward, only the most recent post will allow comments.<br /><br />Now, on to my third verse:<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;"></span></div><blockquote><span style="font-style:italic;">Megan L. from San Marcos: "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8:38 NIV</span></blockquote><br />Praise the Lord! That verse is so powerful. I love it! Can't wait to read yours...Meganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17874154906950694985noreply@blogger.com29tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2110269546965472709.post-8318430874348626262012-01-15T00:00:00.000-08:002012-01-31T15:41:49.799-08:00Scripture Memory 2012: Verse 2From our first verse, it looks like we have about 35 people participating. How awesome! I pray that we won't lose a single person as we go through this year. In fact, I pray we'll keep growing. If you know people that would still like to join, remind them that it's not too late since officially the goal is posting 21 out of 24 times.<br /><br />A wonderful "problem" of having so many people participate is that we have quite a few duplicate names. From now on, let's post our <span style="font-weight: bold;">first name, last initial, and where we live</span>. That will help us keep people straight and hopefully help us get to know each other more easily in this little online community. So with that in mind, here's my verse for this time around:<br /><br style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"></span><blockquote><span style="font-style: italic;">Megan L. from San Marcos: If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. James 1:26 NIV</span></blockquote><br />I really enjoyed reading through your selected Bible verses last time. It was neat to read what some of you wrote about why you picked your verse. I'm excited to read round two, so have at it!Meganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17874154906950694985noreply@blogger.com32tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2110269546965472709.post-56934894579922087592012-01-01T00:00:00.000-08:002012-01-22T13:45:33.795-08:00Scripture Memory 2012: Verse 1HAPPY NEW YEAR!<br /><br />I'm so excited to start this memory verse challenge, and I hope you are too!<br /><br />It’s time to choose your first memory verse (out of 24) for 2012! If you haven’t done so already, please read the instructions from the <a href="http://scripturememory2012.blogspot.com/2011/12/scripture-memory-2012-instructions.html">post on December 19th</a>. It will tell you everything you need to know.<br /><br />Just a quick refresher: sometime today, post the Scripture passage you have chosen by leaving a comment below. Be sure your comment includes the following details:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;font-weight: bold;">First name, verse, reference, and version.</div><br />To get things started, here is my first Scripture entry of 2012:<br /><br /><div style="padding-left:16px;padding-right:16px;font-style: italic;">Megan: Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of Life set me free from the law of sin and death. Romans 8:1-2 NIV</div><br />Since I have a <a href="http://therestreasure.blogspot.com/2011/12/elizabeth-grace.html">4 day-old newborn</a>, I made it easy on myself this time around and used a verse I did from last year. Please feel free to take it easy whenever you need to as well. Use a verse you already know or find a very simple, short verse. This helps make the challenge not feel overwhelming. Remember what Beth said in her instructions: "it's a marathon, not a sprint!" Another time you might want to have more of a challenge and memorize a multi-verse passage. It's completely up to you!<br /><br />Be sure to handwrite the verse in your spiral notebook of index cards to help engrave it on your mind. You might want to write your contact information on the inside cover in case you leave it somewhere and God causes someone gracious to find it.<br /><br />If you are the kind of person who likes to underline, highlight, or otherwise mark in your Bible, I thought it was neat last year to underline and date each verse as I memorized it. Now it's fun when I'm reading the Bible to come across verses I memorized last year. I stop and make sure I can still say them so that they stay in my long-term memory.<br /><br />And one last encouragement from Beth: "Through the power of the Holy Spirit, we can do this! Remember, KEEP IT SIMPLE AND MEANINGFUL!"Meganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17874154906950694985noreply@blogger.com35tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2110269546965472709.post-65553180203709405722011-12-19T16:09:00.000-08:002012-01-22T13:44:49.066-08:00Instructions<h4>Welcome to Scripture Memory 2012!</h4><br />For all of 2011, I participated in the Siesta Scripture Memory Team on Beth Moore's blog, which she sponsors about every other year. This year I decided to do the challenge again on my own but thought it would be fun to see if anyone else was interested in joining me.<br /><br />If you are interested, here are the directions Beth gave (I called her office to make sure I could post them here and was given permission, so these come straight from her <b><a href="http://blog.lproof.org/2010/12/siesta-scripture-memory-instructions.html">blog</a></b>.):<br /><br /><blockquote style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;">1. On the 1st and 15th of every month of 2012, you will find a post where I will ask for your memory verse and give you mine. This will begin New Year’s Day. You are committing to 24 Scriptures in 12 months. In previous years, I’ve found this to be a very doable pace. If you do much more, you’ll tend to fall behind and not retain. If you do much less, the impact is negligible. You really can do this. So many of you will surprise yourselves with what you’re capable of doing in the power of the Spirit. Yes, it takes work but it’s tremendously fulfilling and the results are nearly immeasurable. Look at it this way: you’re going to be meditating on something: unforgiveness, toxic memories, misery, lust, greed, dissatisfaction, jealousy, competition. Choose Scripture! Christ Himself said as a man thinks, so is he. He also said His words are spirit and life. This is work worth doing, Sweet Thing. Never – NOT ONCE – have I ever known anyone to get to the end of a Scripture memory commitment and say that it didn’t make any real difference. Not a single time.<br /><br />2.You are to enter the verse you’ve chosen to memorize for that two-week period within twenty-four hours of the post going up. I’ve been asked many times if it’s okay if you’re late supplying your verse and, yes, of course it is, but try to avoid doing it often. The people who make it to the very end of the year are overwhelmingly those who stay up with it month to month. Please know up front that one of the important parts of this process is the exercise of self discipline. This culture is mass producing wimpy narcissists. Year-long commitments like these that require punctuality and focused energy push back on that degenerating trend. All that to say, please don’t drop out if you get behind. I just want you to know that this will be much more successful if you treat it as a real, live commitment you are willing to work hard to keep.<br /><br />3. When you clock in with your verse those two times a month, include your name, the verse, and the translation (i.e. NIV, NASB, the Message, etc.) Feel free to also add a brief comment about how the challenge is going for you.<br /><br />4. As often as possible, choose a verse that means something to you in your present season or circumstance. This is the reason why we don’t all memorize the same Scripture. We’re not all going through the same things. The more you let God lead you to verses that direct you or edify your soul in your present circumstances, the more He will renew your mind toward your challenges. This is a huge part of 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 where we’re told to demolish strongholds and take our thoughts captive to Christ. If you don’t have a verse on your mind or you’re drawing a blank when the 1st or 15th rolls around, you are welcome to share mine. I will always include it in the post. You might also look at a few of the comments and see if one of theirs resonates with you. I say this next part with a grin: try to refrain from memorizing Scriptures that you think your spouse or your children need to learn. Memorize what you need to learn. That means do your best to avoid jotting your verse on a sticky note and planting it on your bathroom mirror where your man can see it and repent of his sins. He probably won’t because he’s got your game. I bet you can guess how I know that.<br /><br />5. I strongly recommend that you stick with only one verse to memorize each time. (This is just a recommendation and not a rule. You’re free to do whatever works for you.) Keep it simple and meaningful. (If I were addressing you live, I’d have you repeat that sentence back to me so just go ahead and say it out loud in order to nail it down. That sentence could be your best friend through this process.) If you do too many verses or get too complicated, you will soon be overwhelmed and want to drop out. Better to do 24 simpler verses over a 12 month period of time than a chapter over the first month then quit. We want this to be a discipline we practice for the rest of our lives. Think marathon. Not sprint.<br /><br />6. Either shortly before or after making your entry each 1st and 15th in the blog comment, write the verse by hand in your own spiral notebook of index cards. (Again, that’s a recommendation and not a rule. I’ve discovered that there’s something about writing it with your own hand and picturing it later in your own handwriting that helps it sink into your memory bank. I’m not entirely sure why. Index card spiral notebooks can be found at Walgreens, CVS, etc.) Take that spiral with you everywhere you go. Read it and read it and read it and read it. Do mental gymnastics with it. Flip that baby over and over. Many women have told me along the way that they’re not good at memorization and I truly understand that. I also beg to offer two responses: First, that may change. Give the Holy Spirit a chance to do something brand new with you. Second, even if you don’t get your verses down word for word, you are still meditating on them as you read and reread them. You still, thereby, accomplish one of the most important goals: captivating the mind to Christ. You just can’t lose on this one. Either way, it has a powerful effect.</blockquote><br /><i>Megan's note:</i> At the end of the year, the SSMT ladies on Beth's blog who have been faithful all year in memorizing the verses meet in Houston to have a Scripture Memory celebration. We'll see how it goes, but I thought it would be fun to try to do something like that as well (minus the Houston part). In order to participate in the celebration here are Beth's requirements (and I think we'll just stick with those):<br /><blockquote style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;">* Clock in with your name and verse at least 21 out of 24 times. (But please make your goal 24 out of 24!) Let me reiterate that you can be late with your entry on a 1st or 15th of any month but, by the end of the year, there has to be a record in the comment sections of you signing in at least 21 out of 24 times on a post. Make sense?<br /><br />* Bring your spiral notebook to the celebration. That’s your ticket in.<br /><br />* Be prepared to say any 12 of your 24 memory verses to another woman (of your choice) during the designated time at the celebration. (We get in pairs.) Some of you will be tempted to let this be a deal breaker but don’t back out! Sisters are really sweet and patient with each other and we are notorious for giving each other hints. We can even act out charades if necessary. If you’re one of those who genuinely struggles with memorization, just tell your memory buddy up front and she’ll give you all the grace you need. Tell her the gist of the verse as accurately as you possibly can. She’ll be able to tell that you are well acquainted with it and that the goal was accomplished even if you can’t say the verse word-for-word.</blockquote><br />Hopefully, we'll see you back here <b>New Year's Day</b> for the <b>first Bible verse of the year</b>!Meganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17874154906950694985noreply@blogger.com10