With technology taking over our world, access to the Bible has never been simpler! It's at the touch of a button (or should I say screen!). With that being said, I believe satan uses the ease of technology to distract us from commit Bible verses to memory.
Why commit the Bible to memory?
If your Bible was taken tomorrow, how many promises would you know? What truths would you be able to base your life decisions on? How many of satan's lies would you start to believe?
All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. - 2 Timothy 3:16-17
The Bible is the Christians manual. It isn't just another book, this is a God-breathed piece of literature. God Himself inspired men to write words of encouragement, testimonies, biographies and autobiographies in order for us to find comfort, gain wisdom and read the truth of the gospel for ourselves.
Where do I begin?
With 66 books containing over 30,000 verses it can be hard to know where to begin so here are 3 verses we believe you can start with:
Promise 1 - Philippians 1:6
'being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;'
This promise is one of my favourites. Sometimes in life we actually forget that God is even there. We see Him at the beginning and then we lose sight of Him somewhere in the middle and then with clouded judgement we don't ever think there will be an end.
Philippians 1:6 is a clear reminder that whatever God starts in us, He will be faithful to complete. So don't be discouraged if you're in the middle of a test because from tests come testimonies. Likewise don't give up if your life looks like a whole mess because God can turn your mess into a message.
Promise 2 - 2 Corinthians 12:9
And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
Did you know that in your weakness and inadequacy, that is when God is strong? All too often we come to God thinking that we have to be perfect, we have to be everything that He is, how wrong we are! God wants us to come to Him when we are weak, helpless and desperate because it is when we are weak that His strength is perfect.
Have you ever spoken to a lifeguard? They save people from drowning every day. One lifeguard openly admitted that sometimes he has to wait until the person needing to be saved is unconscious! Sounds harsh right? It is only in the surrender and complete reliance on the lifeguard that he can effectively do his job.
In the same way, when we are trying to do things in our own strength, we don't see the need for God, we don't trust Him and we certainly aren't surrendered to Him. When we finally reach the end of our tether and are at a place where we can give God our all, that is when He is strong.
Paul even goes on to say he boasts in his shortcomings because its then that the power of Christ works within him.
Promise 3 - 1 John 1:9
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
One thing we are prone to as humans is sin, and Romans 6:23 tells us that 'the wages of sin is death'. Naturally our bodies lean towards doing what is wrong over what is right, even when we consciously know the difference.
All is not lost, our God is a God of forgiveness. When we come to God, in our filthy, smelly, sin-stained state, with a heart of true repentance, God does not turn us away. He hears our confession and as He has promised He forgives.
Many people think that forgiveness is a feeling, sometimes we come to God with our sin, confess with a sincere heart but get up off our knees feeling as dirty as we did when we started praying. God's forgiveness is not a feeling, it's a promise.
God in His mercy is faithful to forgive. When you say those words, cry those tears and open your heart to God. He sees and answers with 'pardoned'. Forgiveness has to be accepted by faith, you must believe that Christ's blood is enough and that you have been forgiven from your sins and as a result you can walk away free!
The feelings of not being forgiven aren't from God but from satan. It's called shame. He makes you believe that you are not enough and that God cannot forgive you and that's another reason why this promise should be in your memory, every time the devil comes at you with that lie you can hit him right back in the face with this truth!
I hope these three powerful promises will be on your 'to learn' list starting today. The Word of God is true and sure.
Ps. if you need help memorising Scripture there are some great ways and methods that will help you do this and we will discuss them in a blog post soon!
What Bible verses have you committed to memory so far? What memorisation tips do you have? Leave us a comment below!