MEMORY VERSES

As a pastor’s kid I attended church every Sunday; went to Sunday school and youth group Sunday evenings. But one thing I never heard of until I was an adult was the idea of "memory verses."

It was when my own children attended Sunday School that they came home with a slip of paper each week, on which was written a Bible verse. They were to memorize it over the week and return the next Sunday to recite it. If they did, they got a prize.

My initial thinking was…hmmm... I’m not opposed to bribery in child raising. My point of question was the idea of having children memorize and recite a line of scripture by rote—without really knowing what it meant or the background from which it was taken.

I’ve gotten over that point of wonder.

The more I read scripture, the more verses seem to spout from my mind and my lips. The more I study the Bible, the more verses take hold in my heart and my soul.

I may not be able to cite the verse. Sometimes I can’t even cite the Book. Sometimes I’m not sure if it’s O.T. or N.T.

But the important thing is that those verses have become "memory verses." They have become part of who I am and more importantly—who I am in Christ.

They are a daily, continual and re-occurring reminder of God’s promises to me. Promises that He wrote in blood. Promises that are now and will always be part of who I am.

It took me a few decades to discover memory verses and a few more years to understand their importance. But, thank God, we’re never too old to learn. And remember.

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, thank you for your Word written down and preserved for us. Thank you for our minds that seek to understand and remember what we learn about your character, your plan and your promises. Amen.

WHAT ABOUT YOU? Did you grow up learning memory verses? How about now?

ATTEND CHURCH? WHY?

As a young adult I didn’t need to attend church—thank you very much. I was raised in a church family. Knew it all and didn’t need it. 

Fast forward. Mistakes made. Errors in judgment survived. Then one day, God loved me back to church. Part of that was finding a church that loved me back; that made me feel like I belonged; that made me want to be a part of a body of people who loved Jesus. 

It took a few times attending different places. Then one day, I sat down and didn’t want to leave. It clicked. Christ’s church is not a building, a doctrine or a set of rituals. It’s a group of people who love him and want to learn to love him more. Church was filled with people who felt the same way I did and were seeking him in a like manner. 

A church provides that sense of “home.” Or home base. A place of renewal, where we feel safe and loved and are encouraged to stretch outward while also looking inward and upward. Where people know we’re scarred and hurt and needy—just like them. And love us, like Jesus does.

Moving from milk

Church is also a place of teaching. A school of divine mystery. I study the Bible every day, read devotionals, write devotionals. I spend hours immersed in scripture. But I don’t understand it all. 

I need help with the learning. With the background. The context. The definitions and translations. The theology. How one scripture relates back, explains and enhances another. I need the “head knowledge” that spurs me toward the “heart understanding” that Jesus loves. 

I need to spend six years in seminary.  

Fortunately, pastors have already done that. And a pastor grounded in biblical teaching; who knows and understands God’s Word and is faithful in his interpretation is one of the most important reasons to attend church.  

Hebrews 5:12-14 says:

In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil. 

Church is where we can move from milk to solid food. Where we can go from being baby Christians to maturity in Christ. As much as you enjoy a cold glass of milk, solid food is just more satisfying. So is maturity in our understanding of God’s plan.

Praising God 

I also need help with the worshipping. I like to sing at home while I’m cooking, cleaning or whatever-ing. Worship songs usually. Singing, dancing, clapping and praising God.  

But sometimes it’s extra great to worship God in community.  

Me + 100 other worshippers = infinite, divine, eternal awesomeness.  

It’s God’s mysterious, divine mathematics. Me + others = great worship! 

Giving 

I might want to serve others, but on my own I don’t have a clue. Who to ask. What to do. Where to go. 

Churches reach outward to the world and inward to other believers, to the structure and organization itself—with opportunities to be God’s hands and feet in ways that encourage  our faith. 

Churches provide opportunities to give back to God a portion; a tithe; an offering of what is already His. Church gives us ways to honor Him with our finances, our worship, our service and our relationship building with him and others. Not to win God’s brownie points or people’s approval; but as a way to show our love for Him and for others who also love him. 

+ + + 

There are a whole lot of reasons to attend church. As Christians, we are Jesus’ church. Since we’re already a church, we might as well attend one. See you there.

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, thank you for your church and for providing places where your family can gather together to worship and learn about you. Amen.

WHAT ABOUT YOU? What's the best thing about the church you attend?

This article originally ran in the WeUsed2BU.com newsletter.  

MANNA IN THE MORNING

He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna…to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. (Deuteronomy 8:3) 

Each morning, I drag my feet toward the coffee pot, wishing I’d bought one with the automatic timer. But once I’ve got steamy cup in hand, it’s time for coffee with Jesus. Not coffee and croissant, donut or bran muffin. Coffee and manna.

Nothing was ever good enough for the Jews wandering the desert with Moses. But God loved them anyway—the patient provider of all their needs. The divine manna God sent each morning was only good for the day intended. No sense packing it away for tomorrow. God wanted them trusting Him daily. 

Scripture, like manna, provides divine nourishment. It feeds our minds, renews our hearts and refreshes our souls. It prepares us for whatever God has planned today. Unlike manna, scripture never “goes bad.” Still—like hot bread from the oven—it’s better fresh each day. 

Coffee with Jesus. Reading God’s Word. Communing in prayer. Opening to the possibilities of what He has planned. God’s Word is always fresh; always nourishing. Always the best way to start the day. 

PRAYER: Father, thank you for being our provider for our physical and our spiritual needs. Holy Spirit, attune our hearts to your leading and help us, Jesus, follow your example. Amen.

WHAT ABOUT YOU? When is your favorite time to read scripture?

WHAT ABOUT YOU? Do you read the Bible first thing in the morning? Last thing at night?

THIRST FOR GOD

Today’s post is part of the Christian Writer’s blog chain. This month, our theme is “Savor.” Please visit my friends’ blogs by clicking on the links in the right-hand column.

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When was the last time you were thirsty? Really thirsty? Dying-man-in-the-desert thirsty? 

You grabbed hold of a glass of cool, clear water and chug-a-glugged.  

Then most likely you doubled over and moaned. It was too much, too fast.  

How much better to sip it slowly; to savor the refreshment it brings. 

God has given us a spiritual thirst to know His character. This deep thirst can be quenched by drinking in the living water of Jesus.  

But just as a dying man in the desert who finds water, must sip it slowly, so is scripture better, sipped slowly, steadily, over time so that the cool, thirst-quenching quality of the living water can be savored; drawn into our cells completely. As we are refreshed. 

Yes, there is urgency in knowing God because we don’t know how much time we have on this earth. But there is no reason to rush through our understanding of God or our relationship with Jesus.  

God was, is and will be forever. He desires us to know him fully. And that takes time and depth.  

As with all beautiful, magnificent, awesome and wonderful things, God wants us to appreciate His gifts fully. He wants us to savor them completely. Including our understanding of him—the most beautiful, magnificent, awesome and wonderful God He is.  

Whether we complete our understanding in this life…or the next. 

We savor every moment we spend with God. Which means every moment because He is with us  always. 

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, thank you for being present in our lives every moment of every day. We do want to know you more. Show us ways to savor each moment so that we can glimpse a bit more of your glory in everything we do and see. Amen. 

WHAT ABOUT YOU? How can you savor more of your time with God?

HOPEFULLY DEVOTED...

I grew up in a Christian home as a pastor's kid. One ever-present item found on our kitchen table—along with the salt shaker (back when folks used salt), oleo (back when cheaper was more important than healthy) and the daily devotional.

For our family, being Methodist, the devotional was The Upper Room. My father sat at the table every morning, coffee steaming, a bowl of milk and graham crackers munching, Bible open on one side, The Upper Room on the other. I’d tiptoe through the kitchen, making my breakfast, trying not to disturb him, wondering what was so compelling about that small book that made him read it every morning without fail.

Occasionally I flipped through the pages. It didn’t look like much. A scripture, a couple of paragraphs and a prayer. Yet, Dad spent so much time with it. Every day.

After I left home and settled into my own adult morning routine, devotionals were not a part of it. Daily devotionals were probably something only pastors did, I reasoned. I was a “Christian.” I understood the doctrines and believed them, but as for spending time each day with my Lord? Not so much. Especially not first thing in the morning. Even more not so much after young children came into my life and clamored for my morning grogginess.  

Over the years, however, spending those first moments with Jesus have become precious. And one of the best parts of my morning routine is my daily devotional.  Like my dad’s devotional, mine includes a short scripture, prayer and narrative. Usually not quite enough meat for the whole day, but enough to get me going and get me refocused on God.

It occurred to me this last week that the phrase “daily devotional” itself is something to meditate on. Here’s what I discovered.

It is DAILY. A devotional should not just be a now and then salute to the God of the universe. God is with us 24/7. We need to spend time with Him daily.

It is time we DEVOTE. A devotional, while generally short in length, should not be short in the attention we give it. Nor in the time we meditate on it. By starting the devotional in the early part of the day, it helps us align our thoughts to the sacred, giving us a snapshot of scripture to meditate on throughout the rest of the day.

It is an expression of DEVOTION. To our God. It need not take us hours, but if it involves our heart and our mind, it is a small sacrifice of our time and attention, and the first fruits of our morning to our Lord.

As I’m writing this post, I suddenly flashed on the movie, Grease, remembering Olivia Newton John singing alongside a blow-up swimming pool, wistfully admitting that she was hopelessly devoted to John Travolta. If I wake up singing that song tomorrow, I hope God will smile, knowing that by starting my day, each day, with a devotional, it realigns my thinking and affirms that I am hopeFULLY devoted to Him.

PRAYER:  Heavenly Father, we thank you for this day made new and for everything you have planned for us today. Help us to be attuned to your leading in all things and to work for your kingdom and for your glory. Amen.

WHAT ABOUT YOU? Is a daily devotional part of your day? It may not be all you do or read to help you focus on God, but is it a part? What does it mean to you? What is your favorite devotional resource?

THIS POST is an anchor post on the topic of daily devotionals. It begins our “Meditation Mondays” series. Each Monday we will discuss specific devotional resources in publication. We’ll also talk with devotional authors about what they write and where they get their inspiration in order to inspire us. We'll even post a few devotionals here to share. And we’ll generally chat about all things devotional. 

Stay tuned.