Bless the Lord, O My Soul

Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:

Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases;

Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies;

Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

The Lord executeth righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed.

He made known his ways unto Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel.

The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.

He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever.

He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.

For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him.

As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.

Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him.

For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.

As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth.

For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more.

But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children’s children;

To such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do them.

The Lord hath prepared his throne in the heavens; and his kingdom ruleth over all.

Bless the Lord, ye his angels, that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word.

Bless ye the Lord, all ye his hosts; ye ministers of his, that do his pleasure.

Bless the Lord, all his works in all places of his dominion: bless the Lord, O my soul.

~Psalm 103

“Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;”
~Ephesians 5:19

*photo taken at Asuke

 

Deep Waters

Their fishing nets were empty when they first saw the Lord.
All night they had been fishing in the waters by the shore.
The Lord said, “Go to deep waters, cast your nets once more.”
And because they obeyed, they would never be the same.

Go to deep waters, deep waters. Where only faith will let you go.
Go out to deep waters, deep waters. Harvests of faith will overflow.
Harvests of faith will overflow. Go.

 They cast their nets and almost before they could begin,
Their nets were overflowing and they had to pull them in.
And though this was their greatest catch their fishing days would end.
For they abandoned all when they heard the Master’s call.

 Go to deep waters, deep waters. Where only faith will let you go.
Go out to deep waters, deep waters. Harvests of faith will overflow.
Harvests of faith will overflow. Go.

~Based on Luke 5:1-11/Pepper Choplin
recorded by the Stouffer men on Come & Sing

*photo taken at Nojiriko

God Leads Us Along

In shady, green pastures, so rich and so sweet,
God leads His dear children along;
Where the water’s cool flow bathes the weary one’s feet,
God leads His dear children along.

Sometimes on the mount where the sun shines so bright,
God leads His dear children along;
Sometimes in the valley, in darkest of night,
God leads His dear children along.

Though sorrows befall us and evils oppose,
God leads His dear children along;
Through grace we can conquer, defeat all our foes,
God leads His dear children along.

Away from the mire, and away from the clay,
God leads His dear children along;
Away up in glory, eternity’s day,
God leads His dear children along.

Refrain:
Some through the waters, some through the flood,
Some through the fire, but all through the blood;
Some through great sorrow, but God gives a song,
In the night season and all the day long.

~G. A. Young

*photo taken in beautiful Pennsylvania

In conclusion…

Memorizing God’s Word has had a life-changing affect on me.  If you find verses that help you and memorize them, God will bring them to your mind when you need them most. For example, I had to have a routine medical screening in Japan.  It was not something I looked forward to. I will not go into the whole big, long story. They do things differently in Japan and it was pretty traumatic.  I couldn’t talk to the doctors, so my hubby was translating.  That was a different stress of its own!  As I was lying on the examining table fighting the tears, the Lord brought to my mind 2 Cor. 4:17-18, “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.”  I had instant peace and the tears fled.  If I had not memorized those verses, they would not have been there when I needed them most!

I’m not perfect in this endeavor.  In fact, I’m far from it.  So far, that at times I get discouraged and want to give up.  But the Lord keeps drawing me back.  He reminds me that He is always there through His Words hidden in my heart.  He convicts me of sin through His Words hidden in my heart.  He encourages me when I am in the pits through His Words hidden in my heart.  He assures me of His love through His Words hidden in my heart.  There is no substitute for His Words hidden in my heart.

I hope this series has been a small encouragement to you.  If you are already memorizing, keep on keeping on.  If you haven’t yet begun, may this be a small nudge to get started.  If the words in this series have helped no one, it is o.k.  They have helped me.  I needed this focus this month to become more faithful in this endeavor.  As a missionary trying to learn a foreign language, it is so easy to allow vocab cards to replace verse cards.  To be so mentally exhausted after trying to memorize Japanese grammar rules, that I don’t want to work on memorizing anything else.  It is certain that “of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh.  Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.” ~Ecc. 12:12-13

I’d love to hear what you are working on.  Maybe you have a testimony of how Scripture memory has been a help to you.  I’d love to hear from you.  Feel free leave a comment below or email me at senkyoushidesu (at) yahoo.com.  Thank you for joining me this month.  May the Lord bless you as seek Him!

For more 31 Days of Scripture Memory, click here.

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The Living Word

One of the blessings of memorizing large portions of the Word is the things I learn that I would have otherwise missed.  One vivid memory of this occurred while I was memorizing Romans 8.  I spent several days working on verse 29, “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.”  As I repeated the last portion of that verse, I couldn’t help but wonder what it meant to be the first-born.  I searched in commentaries.  I asked my preacher husband.  I read other references in the Bible that talked about the first-born, but I was still searching… I asked the Lord to please teach me and help me to understand exactly what that meant.  The next Sunday, I went to Sunday School.  I had just switched classes because I wanted to sit under the teaching of a man who taught in the local seminary.  The lesson that day was a continuation in his series on Jacob/Israel and his 12 sons.  He had a chart with each wife/maid and the sons that were born in the order they were born.  He explained what the rights of first-born were along with the responsibilities.  I was taking notes as fast as my hand could write.  After class, I stopped the teacher and asked if that was what was being referred to in Romans 8:29.  He answered, “Exactly.”  I was thrilled.  If I had not been memorizing that verse…if I had not wondered what that verse meant…if I had not asked the Lord to teach me…I would have missed a tremendous blessing.

As I think back over this time, it makes me wonder how many of these blessings I have missed when I don’t apply myself to Scripture memory?  God’s Word is the living Word.  He speaks to us through it, but we must make the time and remove the distractions that will keep us from hearing.  I hope that in some small way, this series has encouraged you to do just that.

For more 31 Days of Scripture Memory, click here.

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Legacies

I read the linked below blogpost a few years ago.  It moves me to tears when I read it.  It spurs me on in my Bible memory.  It causes me to wonder, “What will I leave behind?  What will I be remembered for?”  It’s one of the reasons I write out cards instead of using a lot of modern technology for this discipline in my life.  Not that I’m against modern technology, but when you read the blogpost, you’ll understand.

Returning to Your First Love Bible Memorization: Make a Commitment Booklet

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His Word is Truth

“Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.”

~John 17:17

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Worth the Read

Raising Kingdom Builders with Scripture Memory~This is an excellent post on equipping your kids for leaving the nest with Scripture memory.

What the heart really knows: Why Memorize Scripture~“Because when I fail to keep His Word in my mind, I simply fail.”  I love her reward idea in this post about giving to missions.  You could save the money and give to a missionary for a special project.  You could give to a missionary child to encourage them.  How about your pastor who might have a special need or a love gift to his wife?  The possibilities are endless.  I wish I had read this years ago so that we could have implemented this with our children.

At least a little…~”It’s not about me perfecting the words.  It’s about the Word perfecting me.”

For more 31 Days of Scripture Memory, click here.

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Reviewing

Reviewing is very difficult for me.  Sometimes I work so hard on new verses, I forget to review the ones I have already memorized.  I have not found the perfect system for this.  Actually, there isn’t one.  Probably the biggest deterrent to reviewing is reviewing itself.  I try to review and make mistakes or forget what comes next and then the discouragement sets in.  Being able to stand up and recite the entire chapter of Romans 8 on a second’s notice is not the goal.  Transformation of my heart is.  To aid me in review, I have a section in my notebook for each day of the week.  When I have finished memorizing a new passage, I add it to a day of the week.  I try to spread these evenly out over a week.  I aim to review each passage once a week, knowing that it isn’t going to happen.  If I aim for once a week, I will surely hit once a month.  It isn’t the best method, but it works for me.

These posts are a great help in the reviewing process:

Memory Verses:  3-step Review to Remember~”Don’t be discouraged when you do forget some. Because you will. While we all desire word-for-word retention of everything we’ve learned, heart transformation is what God is after.”

To remember, review~This post was so encouraging.  I’m going to forget,  but when I review I will remember that I once knew those verses.  And then I  will learn it again.

For more 31 Days of Scripture Memory, click here.

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The Rewards of Digging Deep

“…our smallest efforts will be richly rewarded, for ‘the time it takes to dig deep into the heart of God is often repaid by striking a vein of gold or an oil gusher.  The effort is repaid with joy and power beyond all expectation.'”

~pg. 42,  When Life and Beliefs Collide, How Knowing God Makes a Difference by Carolyn Curtis James

One such reward is having the Word available when you need it the most.  Barbara at Stray Thoughts shared this with me and I wanted to share it with you.

From Evidence Not Seen by Darlene Deibler Rose:

“As a child and young person, I had had a driving compulsion to memorize the written Word. In the cell I was grateful now for those days in Vacation Bible School, when I had memorized many single verses, complete chapters, and Psalms, as well as whole books of the Bible. In the years that followed, I reviewed the Scriptures often. The Lord fed me with the Living Bread that had been stored against the day when fresh supply was cut off by the loss of my Bible. He brought daily comfort and encouragement — yes, and joy — to my heart through the knowledge of the Word.

Paul, the apostle, wrote that it was through the comfort of the Scriptures that he had hope and steadfastness of heart to believe God. I had never needed the Scriptures more than in these months on death row, but since so much of His Word was there in my heart, it was not the punishment the Kempeitai had anticipated when they took my Bible.”

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For more 31 Days of Scripture Memory, click here.

For more 31 Days, click here.