Scripture Memory

When I think of love for the Bible, Psalm 119 comes. Verse upon verse about the awesome wonders of God! Psalm 119:11 says, "Your word I have treasured in my heart, That I may not sin against You."

Psalm 1:1-3 says,

1 How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, Nor stand in the path of sinners, Nor sit in the seat of scoffers! 2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night. 3 He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, Which yields its fruit in its season And its leaf does not wither; And in whatever he does, he prospers.

I recently started a Scripture memory schedule with my girls' Bible study. We're memorizing and meditating on one Scripture passage a week for the next 52 weeks. (We even snuck in a few extra favourites). Though some passages may be familiar, they are excellent truths! And when we meditate on them, we're getting to know God more. We as believers, want to live pleasing lives before our loving Creator. It is my prayer that as we study, memorize and meditate on Scripture, His truths will go from our head to our hearts to our hands (Col. 3:16).

Below is the schedule. I hope you join in!

Week 1: Gen. 1:1
Week 2: Jn. 1:1
Week 3: Jn. 1:14
Week 4: Rom. 3:23
Week 5: Rom. 5:8
Week 6: Rom. 6:23
Week 7: Rom. 10:9-10
Week 8: Ps. 119:11
Week 9: Heb. 4:16
Week 10: 1 Jn. 4:18
Week 11: 1 Jn. 5:14
Week 12: 1 Jn. 5:15
Week 13: Jn. 14:6
Week 14: Jn. 14:27
Week 15: Is. 26:3
Week 16: Is. 53:5
Week 17: Is. 53:6
Week 18: Rev. 4:11
Week 19: Matt. 6:33
Week 20: Rom. 8:28
Week 21: Pr. 3:5
Week 22: 1 Cor. 10:13
Week 23: Ps. 55:22
Week 24: Rom. 12:18
Week 25: Pr. 1:7
Week 26: Eph. 5:18
Week 27: Eph. 5:19
Week 28: Eph. 5:20
Week 29: Eph. 5:21
Week 30: Gal. 5:22-23
Week 31: Jas. 1:3-5
Week 32: 1 Thess. 5:16-18
Week 33: Eph. 2:8-9
Week 34: Gal. 2:20
Week 35: Gal. 3:15
Week 36: Rom. 1:16
Week 37: Ps. 56:3
Week 38: Ps. 4:8
Week 39: Matt. 28:18-20
Week 40: Acts 1:8
Week 41: Ps. 23:1-3
Week 42: Ps. 23:4-6
Week 43: Is. 9:6
Week 44: Lk. 2:10
Week 45: Lk. 2:11
Week 46: Lk. 2:12
Week 47: Rev. 22:20
Week 48: 2 Cor. 4:6
Week 49: 2 Cor. 4:7-9
Week 50: Ps. 100:1-3
Week 51: Ps. 100:4-6
Week 52: Col. 3:15
Extra: Pr. 15:1
Extra: Ps. 103:8


New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). (Ps 119:11, Ps 1:1–3). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

Praying the Proverbs

In my personal devotions, I'm currently doing an in-depth study of the book of Proverbs. Slowing down has helped me really meditate on the text and work through difficult passages to understand. During this time, I have also found a great opportunity to pray the Proverbs. Before we dig into an example of how one might pray the Proverbs, let’s get a little background on the book.

 

Proverbs chapter 1 speaks about the purpose in verses 1-6:

 

               1      The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel:

               2      To know wisdom and instruction,

         To discern the sayings of understanding,

               3      To receive instruction in wise behavior,

         Righteousness, justice and equity;

               4      To give prudence to the naive,

         To the youth knowledge and discretion,

               5      A wise man will hear and increase in learning,

         And a man of understanding will acquire wise counsel,

               6      To understand a proverb and a figure,

         The words of the wise and their riddles.

 

In verse 7, we see the launch point for the remainder of the book: the wise and the foolish. Verse 7, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.”

Before I started into studying Proverbs, I referenced the MacArthur Study Bible’s “The Book of Proverbs”, the BKC’s “Proverbs by Sid S. Buzzell” and Dr. Abner Chou’s OT Survey lecture on The Book of Proverbs to try and wrap my arms around this rich book. For further study, I also recommend looking into Prof. Bruce Waltke’s works here: https://www.biblicaltraining.org/proverbs/bruce-waltke.

 

Proverbs 1 and 4 tells us the value of wisdom. 4:7 says, “The beginning of wisdom is: Acquire wisdom (Or the primary thing is wisdom); and with all your acquiring, get understanding.”

 

We must remember Who the source of wisdom is. 2:6: “For the Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding.”

 

It is my prayer that you will know God deeper as you study His wisdom in Proverbs. And may praying the Proverbs bring you to an even more intimate place of worshipping the Lord Jesus Christ!

 

I am currently in the first 5 verses of chapter 13, so let’s read them, and then I’ll give a sample prayer for verse 1a:

 

               1      A wise son accepts his father’s discipline,

         But a scoffer does not listen to rebuke.

               2      From the fruit of a man’s mouth he enjoys good,

         But the desire of the treacherous is violence.

               3      The one who guards his mouth preserves his life;

         The one who opens wide his lips comes to ruin.

               4      The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing,

         But the soul of the diligent is made fat.

               5      A righteous man hates falsehood,

         But a wicked man acts disgustingly and shamefully.

 

A wise son accepts his father’s discipline, Heavenly Father, I pray that as Your children, by the grace of Christ, we would readily accept Your discipline (Pr. 3:11-12; Heb. 12:4-11); knowing that such discipline is “… for our good, so that we may share [Your] holiness.” (Heb. 12) And “… to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.” (Heb. 12) May we also respect our earthly fathers, who “disciplined [discipline] us … as seemed best to them ….” (Heb. 12). We ask in faith for wisdom (Jas. 1:5-8), and we thank You that You graciously grant this! Thank You for the grace we have in Christ, who is the ultimate wise Son (Matt. 3:17; Col. 2:3). Thank You for being our perfect Father, who disciplines us. Thank You for Your Word, which gives us wisdom. We pray all these things in Jesus’ precious name, amen.

 

Your prayers may not be this intricate for each line. With reference to verse 1b, it may be something more like, Father, I pray that You would have mercy on the scoffer. May we abhor his way. And so on and so forth.

 

On a final note, as you are studying and praying, remember to always use proper hermeneutics! You don’t ever want to add or take away from the text (Pr. 30:5-6; Rev. 22:18-19). Rather, may your time in the word be a time of worshipping the Word, Jesus Christ!

New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). (Pr 1:1-7, 2:6, 4:7, 13:1–5; Heb 12:4-11). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

The Gospel Vs. Legalism - Part 2

What does the word “sanctification” mean? Merriam-Webster defines it, “1: an act of sanctifying; 2a: the state of being sanctified, b: the state of growing in divine grace as a result of Christian commitment after baptism or conversion”. The first two definitions of “sanctify” are, “1: to set apart to a sacred purpose or to religious use: CONSECRATE; 2: to free from sin: PURIFY”. In the Bible, we see that it means “to set apart unto God.” We see that believers are sanctified by God (set apart to God from sin at the moment He saved them – see last week’s post, “The Gospel Vs. Legalism”) and are being sanctified by God (this salvation is continually being worked out until glorification).

Last week’s post talked about the initial act of God saving sinners. This one-time event is seen in Ephesians 2:1-10, where spiritually dead people are brought to life in Christ. (Other passages speak of this as believers being “crucified with Christ” [Rom. 6; Gal. 2; Col. 2] and “raised up with Christ” [Col. 3]). They are securely saved forever (Jn. 10; 17). So sure is this salvation, that our final transformation, or, glorification is stated in the past tense (Eph. 2:4-7; Rom. 8:28-30). We’re not perfect yet though.

We are works in progress, and this process of setting us apart from sin is our sanctification. God is doing this! Among many others, there are a few passages in Romans and Hebrews to look at regarding this:

Romans. 5:8-11:

          8      But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
          9      Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.
          10    For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.
          11    And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.

Romans 8:28-34:

          28      And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.
          29      For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;
          30      and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.
          31      What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?
          32      He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?
          33      Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies;
          34      who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.

Hebrews 7:23-25:

          23      The former priests, on the one hand, existed in greater numbers because they were prevented by death from continuing,
          24      but Jesus, on the other hand, because He continues forever, holds His priesthood permanently.
          25      Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.

Finally, Hebrews 10:11-14:

          11      Every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins;
          12      but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, SAT DOWN AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD,
          13      waiting from that time onward UNTIL HIS ENEMIES BE MADE A FOOTSTOOL FOR HIS FEET.
          14      For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.

Notice Jesus, alive and interceding for His saints! Rather than working to be holy, let us live by faith in Him. Thanks be to Him (1 Cor. 15:57)! If you want to read more about sanctification, read Galatians. These people were struggling with legalism. We see a sampling here as Paul writes in 2:20-3:3:

    20      “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.
    21      “I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.”

Chapter 3

Faith Brings Righteousness

          1      You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified?
          2      This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?
          3      Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?
          4      Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain?

Lastly, 2 Cor. 5:14-15 sums up believers lives well: “14 For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; 15 and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.” What amazing love!

In response, I think of two hymns. “I need no other argument, I need no other plea. It is enough that Jesus died and that He died for me” (“My Faith Has Found A Resting Place”) and “On Christ the Solid Rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand…” (“On Christ The Solid Rock”).

Yes, we “work out our salvation with fear and trembling” (Phil. 2:12-13), but we fix our eyes on Jesus, "the author and perfecter of faith" (Heb. 12).

“If our primary goal is love Jesus, everything else will fall into place…when we’re tempted to let our failures overwhelm us, let us look at the greatness of Christ – He lived perfectly, and He died for us. When God looks at us, He sees Jesus, because He’s filling us.” - Rachel Clifford

To God be the glory!

For further reading see 1 Thess. 4:1-12; 5:23-25.


Merriam-Webster, I. (2003). Merriam-Webster’s collegiate dictionary. (Eleventh ed.). Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster, Inc. 
New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). (Ro 5:8-11; 8:28-34; Heb 7:23-25; Heb 10:11–14; Ga 2:20-3:4; 2 Co 5:14-15). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.