Scripture Memorization Thoughts, February 2014

February has come and gone.  It seems like time Marches by.  (That was a pun.  You can laugh.)

February was predominately  Matthew 5.  A very well known chapter, as it is the first part of the Sermon on the Mount -- and starts off with the Beatitudes.

But briefly, I'll tell you what stood out most to me.

Blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.  Blessed are you when people insult you, and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you.  Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

This last part of the beatitudes is a sober reminder to us that persecution is the norm for a disciple of Jesus.  This passage doesn't teach that it's the norm per se, but I think this is alluded to elsewhere.  Somewhere John recorded in his gospel that Jesus told his disciples, "You will have trouble in this world.  But take heart, for I have overcome the world."  Here in Matthew 5, we are reminded of it.

What does Jesus say to us?  Rejoice and be glad!   And notice why: because of heaven.  Our reward will be great there.  It is to heaven that we must look, to give us the strength to stand on a treacherous earth.  And this earth is becoming increasingly difficult.  Here in America, we have been used to having liberty.  That liberty is going away.  Sometime (if I find the time) I will post more thoughts on it.  But for now, know that if you are committed to following Jesus, times will only get harder for you in this country as the world looks at Christian conviction with increasing hatred.  I think the hardest thing will be when the authorities confiscate our own children from us because we are teaching them to be "narrow-minded."  Perhaps, for some of us, our own children will actually betray us and turn against us.  I cannot imagine anything more heart-wrenching.

Prepare yourself now for these things.  Keep your eyes on Jesus, and your sights on heaven, and remember His words, "Rejoice, and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great."

There are many other thoughts I have had from other parts of Matthew 5, but I do not have time to post them.  All I will say for now is that I am finding this Scripture memorization to be well worth the time and effort.

Scripture Memorization Thoughts, January 2014

This first month of January, I've almost finished memorizing chapters 3 and 4 of Matthew.  It is currently my plan to make it all the way through chapter 7 so that I will go through the Sermon on the Mount.  After that, I think I may skip over to John.

I'm focusing on the gospels to start with, because I want the record of what Jesus said and did to be in my heart.  For me, the whole point of memorizing Scripture is for the same reason that Paul gives for his sufferings,

"...so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."  -- Philippians 3

So far, these are some of the things that have stood out to me this month.

First, when tempted to be discontent about anything, God has brought this verse to my mind.

"Jesus said to him, 'It is written, "Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God."'"

When Jesus said this, he hadn't eaten for over a month.  I can't even fathom that.  What do I have to complain about?  Nothing!  I have the Word of God, which is food for my spirit and nourishment for my soul.

These are the verses I've just finished memorizing:

"Now as Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon who was called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. And He said to them, 'Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.' Immediately they left their nets and followed Him. Going on from there He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and He called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him." -- Matthew 4:18-21

Finally, one other thing I noticed.  At the beginning of Matthew 3, it says that John the Baptist was preaching, "Repent!  For the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!"  Matthew then quotes a prophecy from Isaiah about John the Baptist.  In the middle of Matthew 4, he again quotes a prophecy from Isaiah, this time about Jesus, and then tells us, "From that time Jesus began to preach and say, 'Repent!  For the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!'"  I wondered when I read this, if I may have stumbled on to a Chiasm?

These are my thoughts so far.  I'll continue to post these monthly.

Why Memorize Scripture?

My New Year's resolution is to memorize more Scripture.  I have decided that I must do this, and continue to do this, for the following reasons:

• To know Jesus.  Something that Pastor has brought up from time to time in the pulpit is that, if you want to know Jesus more, then read the Bible more, especially the gospels.  Thus, much of my memorization will be from the gospels.
• To be able to listen to God.  God talks to us through His Word.  To listen when God has something to say, the Word must be there in front of you.  It occurs to me that this becomes more effective when memorized, because:
• The Holy Spirit will use what you've memorized to initiate what He has to say to you.
• There are often times when you can't read a Bible (praying at night when you can't sleep, driving long commutes, unplanned conversations or events, etc).
• When you are reading the Bible, other related passages will come to your mind.
• To live in Obedience.
  "Thy Word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against Thee."  When the Word is in you, it is a weapon of offense against the tempter.  Jesus used it very effectively this way.  He did not have a scroll with him out in the wilderness.  He had the Word memorized, and with it He confounded the devil and utterly defeated him.

New Year's resolutions are infamous for being abandoned soon after they are made.  I myself have done this.  But I am in earnest.  I also have a specific plan of action:

1. Memorize between 3 and 10 verses a week.  (The idea is that 3 is a minimum, and 10 is a reasonable goal.)
2. Keep a progress chart on the wall at my apartment, so my roommates can keep me accountable.
3. Keep a progress chart on the wall at my folk's house, so that my family can keep me accountable.
4. Keep a progress widget on this blog, so that all the rest of you can keep me accountable.
5. Begin in Matthew 3, and continue through to the end of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 7), before starting a new passage.

As I write this, it is January 14th, Tuesday of the third week of the year.  I am on the last couple of verses of Matthew 3.  I am eager for what God might work in my life through this.