New Year, New Commitment

Dear Women,

Thank you for coming to the prayer breakfast on Saturday.  It was a wonderful time of fellowship, encouragement and re-focus on God. 

 

Memorizing scripture has so many benefits than just knowing the Word of God - it's our defensive weapon, it fills our minds with what is good and true, it helps us to battle the enemy as he attacks our mind.  The Word of God strengthens us in our weak moments and comforts us.  Even as I write this I wish I were a writer to articulate all that God's Word does for us.  But as we work at renewing our minds, we benefit so much from filling our minds with His Truths.  And it helps us to pray!

 

“But when we take the Scriptures in by memorization, the words of God also affect our lives far beyond our consciousness. We come to live “by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4 RSV). Through memorization God’s words reside in our body, in our social environment, in the constant orientation of our will and in the depths of our soul. They become a power, a substance, that sustains and directs us without our even thinking of them, and they emerge into conscious thought and action as needed. This is what Jesus spoke of as abiding, dwelling in him: “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be my disciples (John 15:7-8 RSV).

 

From the Dallas Willard Introduction to Scripture by Heart by Joshua Chang

 

Post the verse you are memorizing this month!  It will be neat to see what you are memorizing and it will encourage all the women!

 

This month, I'm going to work on James chapter 2

 

In His Grip,

Michelle

Sweeter Than Honey

Dan Kopp, lead pastor of The Eastside Vineyard Church in Michigan gave an outstanding message on Matthew 4:1-11 when Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness and was tempted by the devil.  Jesus answers the devil with scripture.  Dan poses the question, did Jesus answer with scripture because He is God and inspired the Bible to be written or did it have everything to do with the fact He was a Jew? 

Dan continues to explain that Jewish children memorize the first 5 books of the Old Testament beginning at the age of 5.  And Jesus, being a Jew, memorizes the scriptures as a young boy.  That in fact, being fully MAN, he has to learn and do things just as His peers did.  Jesus, although fully GOD, chose to function as a human being, living His life on earth completely dependent on the Holy Spirit just as you and I.  So that when he is a young boy memorizing Deutoronomy, He is being prepared at a young age for this very moment in Matthew 4 as a 33 year old man in the wilderness. He is prepared to fire back truth to the devil. His bible memorization became His tool of defense - Wielding the word of God like a Sword!

Further, Dan explains that Jewish Rabbis were know to take honey and put it on the figners of these 5-year old children and have them taste it.  Then the Rabbi would say that Scripture is Sweeter so they would associate God's word in a positive way and be encouraged to memorize it.  Psalm 119:97, 103  Oh how I love your law!  I meditate on it all day long... How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth.

The more we memorize scripture and meditate on His word, we too, will be like Jesus and the Holy Spirit will bring to mind what we need and when we need to fight back and wield the word of God and speak truth to our enemy and to each other and to ourselves.

What Scripture are you memorizing?  Just reply to this post with the verses you are memorizing and meditating on this week. 

I'm memorizing Jeremiah 17:7-8
"But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in Him.  He will be planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream.  It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green.  It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.

To listen to Dan Kopp's message follow this link http://www.tevchurch.org/node/35
or go to http://www.tevchurch.org/.  Go to Teaching and Resources tab to 20110501 Sweeter than Honey

If I'm excited about the buzz, Jesus must be Super Excited!!

Since we started the bible memorization 2 Saturdays ago, I've heard many of the women talk about what they are memorizing, how the particular verse is speaking to them and some even post their verses on facebook.  They've come up to me and quote their scripture.  It has been very encouraging to me and has motivated me in the memorization of my verse. 

We are made in His image and in His likeness (Genesis 1:26).  If I get excited about the buzz, I know my Creator, my Heavenly Father is excited.  He made me to have these emotions and to have this motivation so I know He is the author of it. If it's good and edifying and a blessing, it's from God. 

This Saturday, the women have committed to have a verse memorized. Today they will choose another verse to memorize for the next 2 weeks. 

My verse is Hosea 10:12 - Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the LORD, until He comes and showers righteousness on you.

For me this is a continued work in progress in my life.  A year ago, after a month fast, He showed me the verse in Hebrews 6:7 - Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop that is useful to those for whom it is farmed, receives the blessing of God. Verse 8 continues, But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed.  In the end it will be burned up.

Am I allowing the Holy Spirit to break up the ground in my life so that it's producing fruit pleasing to God?  Am I soaking up the rain to make my ground fertile for His work to happen in my life?  Or am I complaining and grumbling producing thistles and thorns? 

Am I assuming that I am fertile ground? 

Today's verse for the next two weeks is a reminder to sow to the Holy Spirit.  To allow Him to make me to be fertile ground and sow to righteousness and to receive His unfailing love. This involves an act of obedience, discipline and pursuit of the Holy Spirit and God's desires AND receiving His unfailing love.  It is twofold -  I have to pursue Him, and I have to receive from Him His love that is deep and wide, high and long.  Sow and reap.
I don't want to be worthless in His Kingdom on earth. 

My last verse, Isaiah 55:11 - the Word of God, that comes out of His mouth, will accomplish what He desires and achieve the purpose for which He sent it.

To God be the glory!

Wield the Word of God!

Yesterday morning we started a new Bible memorization project with the Women's Prayer Breakfast!  We had a wonderful time yesterday morning and it felt like everyone was encouraged and challenged to participate.  We learned to RENEW our minds (Romans 12:2) by memorizing scripture - 2 a month, keeping them in beautiful neon colored spirals.

The funniest part of this was I called my awesome friend and sister, Maria, asking her in my southern twang if I was "stealing" an idea!!  "No", Maria says with her beautiful laugh!  I just didn't feel like getting a call from Beth M saying I've stolen her idea of the spirals!  hahaha...  :)  But, those spirals are such a great tool!!

We are starting off and almost everyone shared a verse they were going to start memorizing.  Not only is this helpful in filling our minds with the right stuff, but it will help us learn to pray. 

If you read this and want to participate, the only requirement is to post on this blog what verse you are memorizing.  If you don't have a spiral, let me know and I'll send you one.  Feel free to write why you've chosen the verse (you should own this verse; it's a verse you need like you need a drink of water, and it's a verse that speaks personally to you).  Write about how this verse is encouraging you and, write about how God is working in and through you with this verse.

The postings are done by the 1st and 3rd Saturdays of the month. 

The verse I'm memorizing is Isaiah 55:11 -
so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
   It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
   and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

Praise be to God!!  He is GOOD!!!!