Back to our normal format in this blog.
We are already at the beginning March! Only 3 weeks until “spring.” It has been a typical, cold winter in Kane, PA (and it isn’t over here yet), but surprisingly it has been cold across much of the USA (so much for global warming).
Lately my mind has been occupied mostly with moving to Charlotte, North Carolina. I’ll be going down sometime late March (and Joyce will come with me or come down later). We still have a house to sell in PA, but won’t put that on the market until a little later in the Spring. As ministry is not able to support me at this time, I’m still looking for a church family or brother in Christ to give me a place to stay while I find a job and a house or apartment. Also, we need to discern where the Lord is leading to make our home church (often not listed as a high priority when people move, but a high priority for us). At this time, there are at least 3 churches we are looking into…I’m very pleased that we should be able to find a good Bible-believing church in the Charlotte area.
Besides everyday life, for the last few days I have been thinking a lot about memorizing scripture. I’m not the greatest at memorizing scriptures, but I have done it for the better part of almost 35 years. I do feel it is so important that we should do it throughout our lives. Yet, it takes a lot of discipline to keep at it, but it is necessary if we are to grow in Christ and glorify God. I have seen some people on the internet quote large passages from memory. I have known of others who have a vast amount of scripture memorized. I’m amazed that people can memorize so much of the scriptures. While I am amazed, I’m not impressed because if they are doing it and just getting head knowledge and not putting it deep into their hearts, what a shame. When you’re doing it for your own glory (saying "look at me") and not the Lord’s, it means nothing. I have personally known two people who knew vast amounts of scriptures, yet their spiritual lives had some major flaws. So showing off your ability to memorize large amounts of scripture does not impress me. On the other hand, if we do it from the right heart attitude (you might initially start with a wrong motive), then it will be very valuable to have God’s Word in our hearts. I always wonder hypothetically, what if we were stripped of our Bibles, how much would we be able to recall from our hearts? I hope the Bible hidden in my heart wouldn’t be too small. As Psalms 119:11 "Thy word have I hid (stored - ESV) in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee". This year I’m changing some of my memorization methods and seeing how it goes. One new tool I’m using is found at:
http://simplycharlottemason.com/timesavers/memorysys/
I’m excited about this new tool in my memorization of scriptures.
I also recommend the following 47-minute message by John Piper on
“Scripture Memorization” at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOkLP6VHtWk
In the midst of packing, organizing and getting ready for the move to NC, I have made an effort to not neglect God’s Word and time spent in prayer. That is how we should live, that needs to be a way of life. As I hope to encourage all who read this, I ask for your prayers that I keep my focus and priorities on Him during this busy, transitional time in my life. I excitedly look forward to seeing God’s faithfulness as we move, in selling our home, and getting our ministry, finances, etc and lives settled in our new location (Charlotte, NC). Praise the LORD!
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment