Lisa notes

Day 29: Why Jesus quoted scripture {Tools for memorizing}

By LisaNotes October 29, 2015 31 Days Memorize Bible Chapter 2 Comments

TO MEMORIZE

Repeat 3-5 times, twice a day.

6 “Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.”
Isaiah 12:6

Practice using 1st letters, twice a day.

6 “S, a s f j, O i o Z, f g i y m i t H O o I.”

TO REVIEW

1  You will say in that day: “I will give thanks to you, O LORD, for though you were angry with me, your anger turned away, that you might comfort me.
2  “Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the LORD GOD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.”
3  With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.
4  And you will say in that day: “Give thanks to the LORD, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the peoples, proclaim that his name is exalted.
5  “Sing praises to the LORD, for he has done gloriously; let this be made known in all the earth.”
Isaiah 12:1-5 (ESV)

1  Y w s i t d: “I w g t t y, O L, f t y w a w m, y a t a, t y m c m.
2  “B, G i m s; I w t, a w n b a; f t L G i m s a m s, a h h b m s.”
3  W j y w d w f t w o s.
4  A y w s i t d: “G t t t L, c u h n, m k h d a t p, p t h n i e.
5  “S p t t L, f h h d g; l t b m k i a t e.”

TO DO

1. Record your thoughts in a journal.

Read back over this week’s verse, especially in light of the previous verses. How does it affect you? Does it have any meaning in your world today? How is God speaking to you through it—to do, to change, to love? Spend a few minutes capturing these thoughts in your journal.

2. Review all the verses in Scripture Typer.

TODAY’S TIP

* Listen for your words.

Now that you’ve made these words your own by capturing a chapter in your brain and heart (or mostly captured it; that’s okay), listen for it in other places. Don’t be surprised at how God will bring the words back to you.

Maybe you’ll be reading a book and the author will directly quote from your chapter. Or you’ll hear a sermon at church or a podcast that mentions it. Or a song on the radio will be on the same theme.

God won’t waste the words. Keep listening for them. They will return.

FINAL WORD OF ENCOURAGEMENT

Even Jesus recited scripture, from 24 of the 66 books that we now call our books of the Old Testament.

Why did he? And can we do it for those same healthy reasons, too?

In a post here, I listed these 6 reasons why Jesus quoted scripture, and why we can to:

•    to fight against temptation (Matthew 4:10)
•    to answer others’ questions (Mark 12:28-31)
•    to bless others with God’s gracious words (Luke 4:22)
•    to free the poor, captive, blind, and oppressed with Good News (Luke 4:17-18)
•    to share God’s truths (Matthew 19:4-5)
•    to worship and honor the Father (John 7:16-18)

We’ve all known people who quote scriptures for negative purposes: to tear down, to condemn, to shame. But that’s not God’s way.

Reciting scripture in a healthy way is meant to build up and encourage and strengthen. May God lead you to a beneficial opportunity today to share his love through words.

LINKS

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Where have you heard “your words” lately? Please share in the comments.

Day 28: No regrets {Tools for memorizing}

By LisaNotes October 28, 2015 31 Days Memorize Bible Chapter 2 Comments

TO MEMORIZE

Repeat 3-5 times, twice a day.

6 “Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.”
Isaiah 12:6

Practice using 1st letters, twice a day.

6 “S, a s f j, O i o Z, f g i y m i t H O o I.”

TO REVIEW

1  You will say in that day: “I will give thanks to you, O LORD, for though you were angry with me, your anger turned away, that you might comfort me.
2  “Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the LORD GOD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.”
3  With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.
4  And you will say in that day: “Give thanks to the LORD, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the peoples, proclaim that his name is exalted.
5  “Sing praises to the LORD, for he has done gloriously; let this be made known in all the earth.”
Isaiah 12:1-5 (ESV)

1  Y w s i t d: “I w g t t y, O L, f t y w a w m, y a t a, t y m c m.
2  “B, G i m s; I w t, a w n b a; f t L G i m s a m s, a h h b m s.”
3  W j y w d w f t w o s.
4  A y w s i t d: “G t t t L, c u h n, m k h d a t p, p t h n i e.
5  “S p t t L, f h h d g; l t b m k i a t e.”

TO DO

1. Examine the words for patterns.

Two things that stand out to me in Isaiah 12:6 is (1) the repetition of “joy” from Isaiah 12:3 (the end of the first half of this psalm; now again at the end of the second half), and (2) the repetition of “sing” from the previous verse 5.

2. Make a schedule for reviewing.

Now it’s time to pencil in some review time on your calendar. I add it on my digital calendar as a recurring appointment. I’ll review Isaiah 12 twice a week for a month, by looking at first letters and by typing in Scripture Typer.

By December, I’ll go to a weekly review of Isaiah 12. In January, I’ll add it into the normal rotation with other chapters I’ve learned, which is reviewing one older chapter a week, usually two or three days of that week, depending on how rusty I am. I don’t try to get back every word, but I do like to know I’m maintaining the gist of each chapter.

3. Practice all verses in Scripture Typer.

TODAY’S TIP

* Read this mini-book: An Approach to Extended Memorization of Scripture by Andrew Davis

This resource is short, but full of examples of how to memorize scripture, especially large portions of it. Some of the information will already be familiar to you, but there are always new tips and approaches we can learn for more effectiveness in learning verses.

Buy the Kindle version from Amazon for $.99.

[Click here if you can’t see the video of Andrew Davis]

FINAL WORD OF ENCOURAGEMENT

You may think that you didn’t learn your chapter this month as well as you’d like. That’s okay. Even if you didn’t actually memorize any of the words, if you spent extra time with the Lord in the process of trying, count it as a win.

No regrets!

LINKS

No regrets for memorizing this
11 steps to memorizing a book of the Bible
An Approach to Extended Memorization of Scripture (Kindle version for $.99)

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How did you do this month? Please share in the comments.

Books I recommend – October 2015

By LisaNotes October 27, 2015 Books I Recommend 25 Comments

Once a month we share what we’ve been reading for What’s on Your Nightstand. Here are books I finally finished in October that I’d been reading awhile.

BOOKS I RECOMMEND

1. The Martian
by Andy Weir

If you’ve seen the movie about an American astronaut abandoned on Mars, you know it’s good. But the book is even better! (No surprise there, right?) My only complaint is that it’s overly technical for me, but that might be its appeal to others who enjoy sci-fi thrillers. It’s long, but it reads quickly.

2. Life in Motion
An Unlikely Ballerina
by Misty Copeland

Misty Copeland’s journey from poverty to becoming an African-American ballerina soloist with the American Ballet Theatre is quite amazing. I hope her memoir (and life!) inspire many more young people to pursue their dreams. Of particular interest to me is that her first ballet classes were at the Boys & Girls Club since I’m getting to volunteer with teens once a week now from the Boys & Girls Clubs in our area.

“To this day, I don’t really understand how we did it, given the situations that we were put in. We’d been taken from our natural father, in the case of myself and my older siblings, and then from Harold, the only dad we’d ever truly known, to live with a man who spewed epithets. Next we lived with family friends in a gang-infested neighborhood, moved in with strangers, and then, finally, settled down in a shabby motel. It is still a wonder to me that not one of us has ended up in jail or on drugs.

Instead, we thrived.“

3. A Curious Mind
The Secret to a Bigger Life
by Brian Grazer

Author Brian Grazer is a Hollywood producer who schedules weekly “curiosity conversations” with a wide variety of people. The book includes what started him on this journey and where it’s taken him, plus an encouragement to do the same yourself.

“Not knowing the answer opens up the world, as long as you don’t try to hide what you don’t know. I try never to be self-conscious about not knowing.”

4. Without Buddha I Could Not Be a Christian
by Paul F. Knitter

I know: the title might be a turnoff. I had to get past it myself. But some books are worth moving beyond the title to see what’s inside. This is one. Knitter, who is a Christian, reaches into Buddhism to gain practices and truths that in turn enhance his Christianity. He always comes home to Jesus.

“What we are called to be faithful to is not the words themselves, but the way those words are supposed to form or reform our lives. Christians believe certain things in order to act in a certain way. The purpose of doctrine is not primarily to fill our heads but to shape our lives. We express our belief in words in order to express our beliefs in actions. The words are meant to promote deeds.”

5. Gathering Blue
(The Giver, #2)
by Lois Lowry

This is the second book in The Giver quartet (although I saw NO connection at all with The Giver, which was a bit disappointing, I must say.) The similarity is it’s another dystopian future world, where orphaned Kira is charged with using her gift to perpetuate what society dictates. And it’s also similar in that it’s very good and worth reading.

“The guardians with their stern faces had no creative power. But they had strength and cunning, and they had found a way to steal and harness other people’s powers for their own needs. They were forcing the children to describe the future they wanted, not the one that could be.“

6. Inside Out & Back Again
by Thanhha Lai

This Newbery Honor book is about 10-yr-old Ha’s escape from Vietnam after the Fall of Saigon to (of all places) Alabama (which is why I chose to read this one). It’s based on the author’s true experience. While it’s labeled a children’s book, adults must gain far more from reading it because it cuts deep into our prejudices as well as our compassions. It’s short and easy to read; I highly recommend it, as well as all the books I read for Amy’s Newbery through the Decades Challenge.

I count up to twenty.

The class claps
on its own.

I’m furious,
unable to explain
I already learned
fractions
and how to purify
river water.

So this is
what dumb
feels like.

I hate, hate, hate it.

7. The Hound of the Baskervilles
(Sherlock Holmes #5)
by Arthur Conan Doyle

Holmes and Watson have to solve a case among the moors involving a mysterious beast and the Baskerville family. There were a few things I saw coming, but Doyle’s writing doesn’t allow you to figure out much on your own. This is the last book of my 2015 Reading Challenges (and specifically Carrie’s Reading Classics Together). It feels good to mark it as “done” and end on a great book.

“The past and the present are within the field of my inquiry, but what a man may do in the future is a hard question to answer.”

8. Knowing God
by J. I. Packer

While I don’t agree with Packer on several things in this classic theology book, I still highly recommend it because not only does he explain more of the how, why, and what about God, he asks appropriately probing questions that made me think on my own about having a more intimate relationship with God. This is our last week reading together with Tim Challies’ group. My weekly summaries are here.

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What are you reading this month? Please share here.

My books on Goodreads
Previous reading lists

Day 27: Depend on grace {Tools for memorizing}

By LisaNotes October 27, 2015 31 Days Memorize Bible Chapter No Comments

TO MEMORIZE

Repeat 3-5 times, twice a day.

6 “Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.”
Isaiah 12:6

Practice using 1st letters, twice a day.

6 “S, a s f j, O i o Z, f g i y m i t H O o I.”

TO REVIEW

1  You will say in that day: “I will give thanks to you, O LORD, for though you were angry with me, your anger turned away, that you might comfort me.
2  “Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the LORD GOD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.”
3  With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.
4  And you will say in that day: “Give thanks to the LORD, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the peoples, proclaim that his name is exalted.
5  “Sing praises to the LORD, for he has done gloriously; let this be made known in all the earth.”
Isaiah 12:1-5 (ESV)

1  Y w s i t d: “I w g t t y, O L, f t y w a w m, y a t a, t y m c m.
2  “B, G i m s; I w t, a w n b a; f t L G i m s a m s, a h h b m s.”
3  W j y w d w f t w o s.
4  A y w s i t d: “G t t t L, c u h n, m k h d a t p, p t h n i e.
5  “S p t t L, f h h d g; l t b m k i a t e.”

TO DO

1. Add in 1st letters for your newest verse.

Repeat your memory verse once in the morning and once in the afternoon looking at its 1st letters. For Isaiah 12, see 1st letters cards here and 1st letters one-page here.

2. Add newest verse to Scripture Typer.

Start typing in Isaiah 12:6 today. Review Isaiah 12:1-5.

3. Look up background information on your newest verse.

There are many great online commentaries or use your own study Bible. Or even google your verse to get a wide variety of interpretations.

I love David Guzik’s thoughts on Isaiah 12:6:

“This gives two reasons for great praise. First, because of who God is: the Holy One of Israel. Second, because of where God is: in your midst. Each of these gives everyone reason to praise God!”

TODAY’S TIP

* Use the words.

Now that you have a new bank of words in your vocabulary—and a new message of grace in your heart—don’t let them idle there. Find experiences in your life that they can apply to. Actively put them to good use.

For example, this week’s verse tells us to sing for joy. So find or create a song that you can sing around the house or in your car on the way to work this week. Let’s live the message, not just learn the words.

Here are 14 ways you can use scripture in an article about memorizing a whole book of the Bible (I’m not ready for that!—but the principles apply regardless of the amount of text you’re memorizing).

FINAL WORD OF ENCOURAGEMENT

Stay dependent on grace. As I wrote to Jenna three years ago, memorizing scripture is a discipline.

But memorizing scripture is also a grace. It’s something we do. But it’s more what God does.

As you’ve memorized verses this month and hopefully will continue to in the months ahead, let God’s grace be your source and guide for learning the words, retaining the words, using the words.

The Spirit has better plans for how to direct our thoughts through our memory verses than we do; let him.

“Our spiritual growth is not left to our initiative, nor is it dependent upon our wisdom to know in which areas and in which direction we need to grow. Rather, it is God Himself who initiates and superintends our spiritual growth.”
– Jerry Bridges

LINKS

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How have you used the words you’ve been memorizing? Please share in the comments.

Day 26: Expect to use again later {Tools for memorizing}

By LisaNotes October 26, 2015 31 Days Memorize Bible Chapter 4 Comments

We add our final verse of Isaiah 12 this week.

TO MEMORIZE

Repeat 3-5 times, twice a day.

6 “Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.”
Isaiah 12:6

TO REVIEW

1  You will say in that day: “I will give thanks to you, O LORD, for though you were angry with me, your anger turned away, that you might comfort me.
2  “Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the LORD GOD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.”
3  With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.
4  And you will say in that day: “Give thanks to the LORD, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the peoples, proclaim that his name is exalted.
5  “Sing praises to the LORD, for he has done gloriously; let this be made known in all the earth.”
Isaiah 12:1-5 (ESV)

1  Y w s i t d: “I w g t t y, O L, f t y w a w m, y a t a, t y m c m.
2  “B, G i m s; I w t, a w n b a; f t L G i m s a m s, a h h b m s.”
3  W j y w d w f t w o s.
4  A y w s i t d: “G t t t L, c u h n, m k h d a t p, p t h n i e.
5  “S p t t L, f h h d g; l t b m k i a t e.”

TO DO

1. Review Isaiah 12:1-5, twice each day, using 1st letters.
Say Isaiah 12:6, three to five times, twice each day.

Place your 3×5 card for Isaiah 12:6 where you’ll see it frequently.

2. Look up the root words for your new verse.

The more you learn about a word in its original language, the deeper you’ll tap into the meaning of the passage. And the more likely it’ll embed its way into your heart. See the roots for Isaiah 12:6 here at StudyLight.

Some words that stand out to me are . . .

“inhabitant” = yashab (H3427) = to dwell, remain, sit, abide
“midst” = qereb (H7130) = midst, among, inner part, middle
“Holy” = qadosh (H6918) = sacred, set apart

3. Download desktop wallpaper

Isaiah 12:6

[click here to download]

TODAY’S TIP

* Use your memory verse to focus.

In our age of multiple distractions, it’s easy to let our minds wander here and there. But memorizing scripture is one way to reign in your mind for a set period of time. In Five Steps to Meditating on the Bible, Kristen Wetherell says,

“As wayward humans with many pursuits, temptations, and people vying for our attention, we are greatly helped by meditation, which leads us to fix our eyes on the Lord and tune out distractions . . . even if only for five or ten minutes.”

FINAL WORD OF ENCOURAGEMENT

One of the beauties of scripture memorization is that even if you don’t need the words now, you will likely need them later.

And when you need them, there they’ll be. Because our God is like that. He goes before us and behind. He prepares us for what’s ahead. He wastes nothing.

Learn the words now. But expect to use them again later.

LINKS

Learn it for later
Something to shout out (short devo on Isaiah 12:6)
Hebrew words for Isaiah 12:6
5 steps to meditating on the Bible
Desktop wallpaper for Isaiah 12:6

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Has scripture ever popped into your mind when you weren’t expecting it, but really needed it? Please share in the comments.

Day 25: Pray the scripture {Tools for memorizing}

By LisaNotes October 25, 2015 31 Days Memorize Bible Chapter 2 Comments

TO DO

* Pray through the words.

Take a few minutes today to slowly read through the words, one verse at a time, and listen to what God is speaking to you through them, and repeat back to him the truths you’re believing.

1 You will say in that day: “I will give thanks to you, O LORD, for though you were angry with me, your anger turned away, that you might comfort me.
2 “Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the LORD GOD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.”
3 With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.
4 And you will say in that day: “Give thanks to the LORD, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the peoples, proclaim that his name is exalted.
5 “Sing praises to the LORD, for he has done gloriously; let this be made known in all the earth.
6 Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.”
Isaiah 12 (ESV)

TODAY’S TIP

* Pray the scriptures.

Sometimes we just don’t know what to say. Our prayers seem stale or repetitive or empty. In those times (as well as in times of plenteous words), borrow words from the Psalms or elsewhere in scripture, and use those words to express your own sentiments. Either in your head or aloud, speak truth back to God with the very words he’s already given you.

FINAL WORD OF ENCOURAGEMENT

Don’t make it too complicated. Sometimes we overthink our spirituality. But often, as in any relationship, God just wants us to hang out with him, just spend time together, with or without conversation.

In those times of quiet rest, we can simply meditate through a practice like Centering Prayer or just be still and know (Psalm 46:10) or quietly breathe back the words he’s already breathed once into us.

Simple can be plenty.

LINKS and Week-in-Review

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Is there a scripture that you like to pray? Please share in the comments.