August 1st. The last month of summer. Already. I know people always say it, but I can't believe it's already August. I think spending the latter part of July overseas contributes to the time lapse I feel. Time keeps on ticking...school will start soon, the weather will change (ok, maybe not in Tucson), and before you know it, it will be time to put up our Christmas trees. A little dramatic maybe??
As you know I was gone from July 16th-27th. The ten days were packed with wonderful conversation and exploring. The days were not packed with memorizing and reviewing. I'm sorry for that! For the first two weeks of August, I will re-focus myself on the commitment to take in scripture. Please know that I made this commitment to God, to myself, and to you! I do not take it lightly! I hope that you are staying the course with me.
I didn't memorize the verse I posted last time, so I will memorize it for the first part of this month. Here it is again:
Luke 6:45 The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. (ESV)
I hope that you are spending the necessary time to take in His word. I was so encouraged last night during the gathering at Second Mile. Derek, Tyler, and Regan shared their hearts with us. A recurring theme was the importance of the Bible. Derek shared how God had convicted him to live with purpose and to know God's word. I continue to pray that as a church we will love the Word of God, will long to know what it says, and diligently live out what He reveals to us through time spent with Him corporately and individually.
I'm looking forward to reading your verses. Again, if you haven't posted in awhile, jump right back in! There is no condemnation in this group called Moxie Memorizers, only encouragement and accountability! Love you all more than you know!!
27 important comments so far. What are your thoughts?
For a while I have dreaded the 1st and 15th of the month, because I have not been memorizing since our lives went crazy in April. While I wasn't really condemning myself for that period of time, I have known for a while now that I needed to get back into the swing of things. Beth Moore, Derek Deminsky and the Holy Spirit have been instrumental in my life this week in convicting me of my laziness in this area.
I am going to focus this week and reviewing all my verses (many of my newer verses from the beginning of the year are a little fuzzy) and work on the one I was supposed to memorize when I stopped.
Ephesians 4:29 ESV
Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.
Thanks Angel for continuing this even though many of us have fallen behind. Thank you for making this a real place where we can come without condemnation or judgment and for your own discipline to encourage us!
Emily, I totally was in your shoes this time last month. Knowing I needed to get back into memorizing but feeling so behind that it was hard to motivate myself to get back with it. This month has been a breath of fresh air though for me as I have been diligent to dig in. So thankful that this is a place to encourage one another in memorizing and not grade one another on our memorizing!!
My verse this month has popped up countless times for me over the past week so I figured it's time to make it stick!
Romans 12:18-21
If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord." To the contrary, "if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty give him something to drink; for by doing so you will heap burning coals on his head." Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
--Tia
The one thing I've been mildly consistent with in my life lately is my memorizing. I've let my bible study go by the way side more because of the time required. It's so easy to justify not having time, even when I know my life will always be too busy if I don't make the time.
It doesn't seem like something a married woman would deal with as much, tho I think sometimes it does more so, lust in its many forms has been plaguing me so much lately. So Colossians 3:5 was one I sought out to memorize:
"Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry."
It helps so much to have this in my mind when I'm constantly around influences that contradict it!
It has not been easy leaving home and community. I have been trying to stay close to Jesus in my loneliness and confusion but it has been uncomfortable. I don't like not having a job or friends. God is good though! We found a church and a small group this week. It was nice to sit with people for the first time here and just talk.
My verse is this:
"You are my refuge and my shield; I have put my hope in your word."
--Psalm 119: 114
At the beginning of the summer I told myself that I would keep up with Moxie Memorizers even though I was on the other side of the world. Some weeks were really good and I committed verses to memory and honestly, other weeks it was the last thing on my mind.
So, I'm going to spend the beginning of this month working on the verses that I wrote down over the summer intending to memorize. Specifically, I'm working on this one...
"God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble." - Psalm 46:1
Oh how I can relate to not staying focused and committed to the verses I have said I was going to memorize! However, this last month I have been diligent in studying my verses and it may have to do with an app my friend Anna showed me (who knew an app would help keep me focused on His word, awww technology)!
The Beth Moore study this summer has led me to fall in love with the old testament (another who knew :) ) and am finding myself being drawn to several great verses!
2 Samuel 7:28 (ESV)
And now, O Lord God, you are God, and your words are true, and you have promised this good thing to your servant.
Thanks for bringing up the phone apps for scripture memory, Jen! For those of you interested talk to the Babler sisters. Both iphone and android have good options!
"Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God, the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them - the Lord, who remains faithful forever."
-Psalm 146:5-6
"Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ."
-Philippians 1:27
Christy
I've really enjoyed reading everyone's comments and verses so far!
In mid-June I put up a display of scriptures in front of my treadmill, the ones that I've committed to memory, but struggle with bits and pieces of them. Anyway, yesterday I challenged myself with a very fast run. It was painful and I wanted to quit. I looked up and focused so intently on scriptures I've memorized and they brought so much strength and encouragement to push through physically. I find this is a theme with me this year; the verses I've memorized so far continuously challenge, renew, encourage, and convict me in all areas of my life. SO very thankful I have you women to keep accountability with!
Continuing on in Philippians 2, I'm working on verse 4 and 5 this portion of the month:
"Not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of others. In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus"
Thought I would clarify on my comment, it's been a difficult couple weeks being around friends/coworkers that don't value abstinence, purity of heart, and constantly wanting what they can't have. Their unwanted advice has been what I've struggled with. : )
The verse I am working on this month is Romans 15:13
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
~Nicky
Jen I can definitely relate :) I am loving the Beth Moore study and 3 of my verses for the past couple of months have been from the study (sorry I haven't been diligent to post them here ladies. I am working on getting better at that :)
My verse for this month is the one from week 4 that we were instructed to memorize. So thankful for God's word :)
Romans 6:6
"For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin."
I came here thinking I would be the only one trying to get back into memorizing. So glad you all are honest! This summer has been a bit rough just with the transition and everything. I have been waiting for the fall bible study to start (will start at the end of August) because I know that will be my first real opportunity to be in a community of women again. I miss you all!
My verse comes from Galatians 5:24-25 (NLT)
"Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit's leading in every part of our lives.
Sometimes I get bogged down by distractions and lose sight of Truth. I so desire to hold His hope in my heart always, and I know He is faithful and will never give up on me. My verse is
Hebrews 10:23
Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.
I'm continuing to review my bigger Colossians passage daily. I have the beginning down, but the last several verses always get jumbled for me. So I will be working on that one as well as Proverbs 14:30. I feel like God has been revealing a lot of insecurity in my life over the last several months and jealous has been one of the fruits of that insecurity. Yuck! So I'm taking in this reminder to help keep my thoughts straight and my heart/gut in check:
"A tranquil heart gives life to the flesh, but envy makes the bones rot."
Psalm 18: 1-2
"I Love you, Lord, my strength. The Lord is my Rock, my fortress and my deliver, my God is my rock , in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. "
I really enjoyed reading David's song to the Lord when the Lord had delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul... far to often I take credit for things that I accomplish, achieve and just the mere events of my life...pride, yuk! David reminds that the Lord is my strength, and just like in Philippians, I can do all things THROUGH him , who gives me strength.. It is God I praise and give credit for giving me the strength to have victory and triumph...
My memory discipline has been lacking this summer, so I plan to spend these two weeks putting it back into practice.
Mine is Ephesians 3:16-19 (NIV)
"16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God."
--Amanda
So hard to be honest - I've been slacking AGAIN this month and really need to regain diligence in memorizing my verses. So I'm still working on Colossians 1:9-12. Just realized that this is the prayer I plead for myself and for us all as we struggle to be consistent in our pursuit of God and knowing his Word.
"...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 might 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..."
As many of you have said, I also have had a hard time keeping disciplined. I have felt so much fruit from memorizing God's word again this year, but I also feel the enemy trying to convince me that it is too much for me to handle with all that is going on in life right now. I hate that I listen to that lie, but I hold on hope and know God's word is life and water to my soul. My verse is
2 Corinthians 12:10
"For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong"
Right now I am struggling a lot with my purpose and what I am to do in this life. And I have to remember it is for Christ and by Christ that I live each day. Life will not be perfect and for his sake I can take on each day and be made strong in him (and find purspose).
Galations 5:1-2
In this freedom, Christ has made me free. I am completely liberated. I will stand fast and will not be trapped, held down, or submit myself to a yoke of slavery-those things which I have already thrown away. For if I distrust the Lord, I will gain nothing.
As I press on to the eternal life to which i have been called-Satan loves to rear his ugly head in my face with all sorts of old junk. I'm focusing on my individual freedom in Jesus, and I refuse to be trapped!
-Kelly
Once again, I am grateful and encouraged by each of you...
Romans 8:26-27
Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.
Psalm 119:105
Your word is a lamp to my feet & a light to my path.
I have been working on Hosea 6:3 and am amazed how the Lord has taught me in just that one verse and how it has applied to so many aspects of life.
Hosea 6:3 NKJV Let us know, Let us pursue the knowledge of the Lord. His going forth is established as the morning; He will come to us like the rain, Like the latter and former rain to the earth.
I am also going to work on the following verse:
The Lord is my strength and my shield; My heart trusted in Him, and I am helped;
Therefore my heart greatly rejoices, And with my song I will praise Him. Psalm 28:7
He has been the Source of that song that remains in my heart daily from the time that I was a little girl. And it is new every morning (I have heard that before - oh, yeah, He was the one that said it)!
Sorry for the late post! The past week or two I've finally gotten back in to reviewing. My pride tells me to add another verse but I want to solidify the verses I know. So without condemnation I will not be adding another verse. Actually as I'm writing this I've changed my mind. I'm going to memorize Hebrews 10:22:
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.
Fitting right?
I have really not made memorizing a priority. My prayer is that God would continue to show me more and more of His love for me:
Isaiah 48:17 -
"This is what the Lord says - your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is good for you and leads you along the paths you should follow."
Hi! I know I am late but i figured better late than never. Over summer and through this week I have realized that I struggle to acknowledge the gifts that God has given me and to use them confidently for His glory. He met me with this verse, so I am memorizing it so that I may really walk in my strengths and giftedness.
Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised. For, "Yet a little while and the coming one will come and will not delay; but my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back my soul has no pleasure in him." But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.
Hebrews 10:35-39
I have been memorizing this verse: “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33
When my grandpa died this summer this verse gave me strength. I remembered it from it being mentioned a few times during the Untold Stories series and God used this truth to strengthen me during a really hard time for me and my family.
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