25 Encouraging Scripture Verses to Commit to Memory

Posted on January 20, 2014 by Lynn

In my last post, I wrote about a unique and fun way to memorize scripture.  If you missed it, just click on the link: https://lynndove.com/2014/01/17/how-to-eat-up-scripture-literally/

Now that you’ve read how to memorize scripture, here are some of my personal favourite verses to commit to memory!  Note: I use the NIV Bible translation primarily for study and for memorization, but choose a Bible translation that you are familiar with and one that appeals to you the most.

Isaiah 9:6  “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders.  And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

2 Timothy 3:16  “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.”

John 3:16-17  “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”

Romans 3:23  “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

Romans 6:23  “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

John 14:6  “Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Ephesians 2:8,9  “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—  not by works, so that no one can boast.”

2 Corinthians 5:17  “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”

Romans 8:28  “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

Isaiah 40:30-31  “Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.  They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. “

Romans 8:38-39  “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. “

Matthew 11:28-30  “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.”

Hebrews 13:8  “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”

2 Peter 3:9  “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”

2 Corinthians 12:9  “But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.”

2 Corinthians 4:18  “So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”

Psalm 37:4,5  “Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.  Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this.”

Proverbs 3:5,6  “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”

Philippians 4:13 “I can do all this through him who gives me strength.”

James 4:7  “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”

Galatians 5:22-23  “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”

Hebrews 12:1-2  “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, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Acts 1:8  “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Romans 12:1-2  “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.  Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

Philippians 4:6,7  “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

 

 

 

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How to Eat Up Scripture – Literally!

Posted on January 17, 2014 by Lynn

458695591_640I will admit that I find it VERY difficult to memorize anything.  Numbers are the worst for me…I can’t remember phone numbers and even when I look them up in the phone book, I have to stop mid-dial to make sure I’ve read the right number.  I write everything down on my calendar to remember appointments and birthdays and I leave notes for myself everywhere.  One spiritual discipline that I struggle the most with is memorizing scripture but I continue to make an honest effort.

I think about memorizing scripture like savouring a sumptuous four course meal.  Using Jeremiah 15:16  as the example, think of the location of the passage as the appetizer, Jeremiah 15:16.  If you can’t remember the passage in its entirety, you can at least look it up in the Bible if you know the location of the passage.

The second “course” is likened to the soup or salad before the main entrée is served.  Break the verse up into little bite-sized pieces.  I like to write them down to help me:

“When your words came,

I ate them;

they were my joy and my heart’s delight,

for I bear your name,

Lord God Almighty.”

Memorize each “chunk” of the passage and move onto the next piece when you think you’ve memorized the one before it.

The third “course” is the main entrée.  Try to say/write down the entire passage.  “When your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart’s delight, for I bear your name, Lord God Almighty.”

Now the dessert: add the location at the end of the passage.  (Some like to say the location passage at the beginning AND end.)  (Oh… and a grammar tip: if you have trouble figuring out if it’s “desert” or “dessert”, think about dessert as double the sugar in the middle of the word!)

“When your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart’s delight, for I bear your name, Lord God Almighty.”  Jeremiah 15:16 

Now that you have digested the passage, it’s important that you continue to eat and savour the Word again and again.  Memorization is like exercise.  The more you do it, the easier it gets; the less you do the harder it gets.  I return to the main course whenever I’m hungry, and as is always the case, it requires a good workout afterwards to burn off some of those spiritual calories!

Bon Appetit!

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Get It? Got it? Good!!

Posted on January 13, 2014 by Lynn

When I was in high school I had one major nemesis: MATH!  It didn’t help that my mother was an accountant and I inherited my “inability to understand math genes” from my father.  He couldn’t help me and when my mother tried, she attempted to teach me HER way.  Unfortunately what she said and what I heard were two entirely different things:

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My mother would attempt to teach in this “math speak” language that just confounded me more and pretty soon she was yelling at me for not understanding and I was crying because I just couldn’t understand!  “I don’t get it!” I’d cry and she would huff at me, “What don’t you get?  It’s simple!” and then she would launch into her math gibberish again and I’d zone out.

It was just as difficult for my math teachers.  Mr. Ruxton pulled out what little hair he had on his head trying to teach me basic algebraic concepts and finally out of frustration I suppose, he just let me spiral into the abyss of math ineptitude.  He finally took pity on me by granting me a bare pass mark.  Not because I earned it, but so he wouldn’t lose any more hair having me repeat the class.

Amazingly in university, a small math light bulb came on over my head, and some basic concepts suddenly made sense to me.  I could balance my cheque book, I figured out percentages, I could solve some basic math problems.  Algebra and trigonometry were still foreign concepts but I discovered I didn’t really need to understand them to be able to live my life.  As I got older, I found myself more interested in learning about geometry and my math knowledge grew.  I may never have the math understanding my mother had but I’m okay with that.  I’ve got what I need and that’s fine.

When I became a Christian I had a similar experience.  Initially I just didn’t “get it”.  Well-meaning people who wanted to evangelize me were talking just as foreign a language to me as “math speak”.  This Christianese was a language I didn’t know and certainly did not understand.  Just like math, I just wanted the basics, I zoned out at the rest.  When I finally became a Christ-follower, I certainly did not know everything about Christianity, the Bible or church, and if I’m totally honest I STILL don’t, but I know enough to live my life and faith let’s me accept the things I still don’t fully understand.

Faith is defined as:

1.  complete trust or confidence in someone or something.

2.  strong belief in God or in the doctrines of religion, based on spiritual apprehension rather than proof.

The Bible defines faith as: “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”  Hebrews  11:1

There are so many, many things I do not totally understand about Christianity.  There are stories in the Bible that for all intents and purposes are so outlandish that they seem to border on the unbelievable, BUT if I have faith, and the confidence to know that MY God can do anything, I don’t need to explain HOW He did it, I just need to know that HE DID!

If you are a person who is struggling with understanding everything there is to know about God and Christianity, welcome to the Club.  You are not alone.  Discovering where you fit into God’s plan is a lifelong journey and there is no mathematical algorithm that will help you analyze your way to total understanding.  Accept the fact you don’t need to know everything, but make every effort to grow your faith, and accept the Gospel and you’ll be okay.

“What is the Gospel?”

I was given permission to use the Gospel Acrostic from Dare2Share in the fourteenth chapter of my book: Love the Wounded.

God created us to be with Him. (Genesis 1-2)
Our sins separate us from God. (Genesis 3)
Sins cannot be removed by good deeds. (Genesis 4 – Malachi 4)
Paying the price for sin, Jesus died and rose again. (Matthew – Luke)
Everyone who trusts in Him alone has eternal life. (John)
Life with Jesus starts now and lasts forever. (Acts – Revelation)

GET IT?

Here then is the A, B, C’s to Salvation:

“A” stands for Admit. A person must admit to God that she is a sinner. She must be sorry for her sin and turn away from sinning. Verses that support this step are Romans 3:23; Romans 6:23; Acts 3:19; and 1 John 1:9.

“B” stands for Believe. A person must believe that Jesus is God’s Son and that God sent Jesus to pay the penalty for sin. Verses about believing include John 3:16; John 14:6; and Romans 5:8.

“C” stands for Confess. A person must confess her faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. Read Romans 10:9-10, 13.

Pray this prayer for your Journey with God to start today!

Dear God in heaven, I come to you in the name of Jesus. I acknowledge to You that I am a sinner, and I am sorry for my sins and the life that I have lived; I need your forgiveness.
I believe that your only begotten Son Jesus Christ shed His precious blood on the cross at Calvary and died for my sins, and I am now willing to turn from my sin.
You said in Your Holy Word, Romans 10:9 that if we confess the Lord our God and believe in our hearts that God raised Jesus from the dead, we shall be saved.
Right now I confess Jesus as the Lord of my soul. With my heart, I believe that God raised Jesus from the dead. This very moment I accept Jesus Christ as my own personal Savior and according to His Word, right now I am saved.
Thank you Jesus for your unlimited grace which has saved me from my sins. I thank you Jesus that your grace never leads to license, but rather it always leads to repentance. Therefore Lord Jesus transform my life so that I may bring glory and honor to you alone and not to myself.
Thank you Jesus for dying for me and giving me eternal life. Amen.

If you just said this prayer and you meant it with all your heart and you have repented (turned away) from your sins, I believe that you are saved and are born again.  (John 3:6-7)  You may ask, “Now that I am saved, what is next?”  First, tell someone!  Leave a comment, let me rejoice with you!  My Pastor says when someone becomes a Christian it’s like Christmas!  We need to celebrate!  Then you need to get into a Bible-based church, and study God’s Word.  Once you have found a church home, you will want to become baptized.  By accepting Christ first, you are baptized in the Spirit, but it is through water-baptism (immersion) that you show your obedience to the Lord.  (Matthew 3: 13-17)

The baptismal waters represent a burial ground. When you’re buried with Christ in baptism, you are proclaiming to heaven, earth and hell that the old you no longer exists. To be buried with Jesus means that your old self died to sin just as Jesus did when He was made sin for us (Romans 6:3, 10-12). That’s why we are immersed. It’s a picture of burial.

Coming up out of the water signifies our being raised to new life in Christ. To be raised with Jesus means making Him Lord of every area of your life—spirit, soul and body. You’ve been bought with the blood of Jesus and you belong to Him. Every day you now ask, “Lord, where do You want me to go? What do You want me to say? What do You want me to be? Not my will, but Your will be done.”

Got it?
GOOD!!
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