The Bible Memorization Project - The Sequel

It seems to be a season of sequels.  As I scan the movie listings on the internet, I find myself drawn to preview movies that are continuations of ones I have already seen.  Why is that?  Mostly likely it is because I know it’s a good bet that if I enjoyed the original then I will probably delight in the follow-up.  I also like to re-engage with the familiar, in particular, characters and personalities that I had grown fond of.  I just love to reacquaint myself with memorable plots and characters revived in a new installment with a new title.  For me this is a combination that won’t disappoint.

Last year, Women’s Bible Study embarked on a journey of memorization.  Right about this time last December we decided to initiate a challenge to commit to memory 10 verses over 20 weeks.  It was called the Bible Memorization Project and it was a resounding success.  Not only did twenty plus women complete the challenge, but the testimonies of what God did through that project were nothing short of breathtaking.  The Lord came in and surprised us with His stunning brilliance as we allowed our minds and hearts to become saturated with His Word.  

As I already mentioned, I just love a good sequel.  So in keeping with the momentum of that premiere event we decided to launch another one like it:  The Bible Memorization Project – The Sequel.    This project will run much the same way as last year’s project.  The only difference is that we will be bringing in a slew of fresh scriptures which could only make this sequel as striking its predecessor. 

If you are new and didn’t participate in last year’s project, then this won’t be a sequel for you, this will be your premiere event.   We would love to have you participate with us.  We are believing that God is going to do something stunning through these twenty weeks as we yield our minds to meditate on His Word.   You won’t want to miss out on the blockbuster of a time that God has planned for us.  Won’t you join us? 

So here is how it works…

What is it?

1) We will memorize one verse and its reference every two weeks.

2) We will write the verse on an index card and number each verse corresponding to the week. 

Calendar

Verse 1 - January 10^th – start date

Verse 2 - January 24^th

Verse 3 – February 7^th

Verse 4 – February 21^st

Verse 5 – March 6^th

Verse 6 – March 20^th

Verse 7 – April 3^rd

Verse 8 – April 17^th

Verse 9 – May 1^st

Verse 10 – May 15^th

Verse rally day - you will recite your 10 verses to one of the Bible Memorization leaders – don’t forget your index cards.

The Prize

For all those that have met their goal we will have a luncheon to celebrate.  The only requirement to attend is to say your 10 verses to one of the Bible Memorization leaders. 

What Verse?

You can either pick you own verse or ask us to give you one.  You want the verse to have meaning to you so it should be something that is really relevant to your life. 

How to Memorize Verses?

Day one – Say the verse once looking at it then repeat it 10 times trying not to look. 

Day two and after – The same. 

If the verse is too long, break it down into portions: 

Day one – say the portion once looking at it then repeat it 10 more times.

Day two – say the first portion once looking at it then repeat it 10 times without looking at it.  Work on second portion.  Read it once then repeat it 10 more times. 

Day three – say the first portion ten times, say the second portion 10 times, then start on the third portion.

Never move on until you have each portion memorized.  Do this everyday and I believe that you will master the technique in no time at all. 

Accountability

Keeping yourself accountable is important because when someone else knows that you are memorizing, it will cause you to do it. 

1) Partners – Let someone know that you are memorizing, hopefully someone else who is, and keep each other accountable.  You can ask to listen to each others verses every two weeks.

2) Facebook – Every two weeks I will put my verse up on MWC Women’s Bible Study Facebook page and you can follow it with yours by writing it as a comment.

3) Blog – Every two weeks we will put a post up on the blog about what number verse we are up to.  Week one, week two ..etc and you can leave your verse as a comment. 

Last Word

In order to be successful at your memorization make sure that as we move through the weeks that you continue to recite the verses you have already committed. 

Thanks so much for dedicating this time to Bible Memorization.  I know that God is going to meet you and bless you in ways that you never imagined. 

"What's the Scoop on..........Elizabeth"

In bible study today Jan taught on Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist.  Jan pointed out something that caught my attention.  She mentioned that the picture that we get about Elizabeth in scripture is in the frame of her relationships.  First we see Elizabeth as a wife to Zechariah and then as a cousin to Mary, the mother of Jesus. Jan taught that both of these human relationships give insight into her character. There is a third relationship in scripture…..one that I think defines who she was…. and that was her relationship with God. 

Elizabeth and Zechariah

One of the central roles Elizabeth played in her life was as a wife. She married Zechariah, also of the priestly line of Aaron. God’s word says, “Both of them  were upright in the sight of God, observing all the Lord's commandments and regulations blamelessly” (Luke 1:6). It goes on to say “But they had no children, because Elizabeth was barren; and they were both well along in years” (Luke 1:7).

Although they had been married a long time their relationship did not produce children.  This is a condition which would have caused Elizabeth to be disgraced.  It was the custom of the times in the Jewish community for a man to divorce his wife if she did not give him children yet Zechariah did not do this.

In the beginning of Luke 1, Zechariah has an encounter with an angel as he is burning incense to the Lord inside the temple. The angel gives him some amazing news – he and Elizabeth were going to have a child!! Among other instructions the angel tells Zechariah that they are to name the son ‘John’.  Jumping ahead to the end of Luke 1, Elizabeth has a baby boy. Eight days after his birth their family and friends are gathered to celebrate the baby’s circumcision. It was expected that the baby would be named after his father. “But his mother spoke up and said, "No! He is to be called John" (Luke 1:60).  This is further evidence of the strength of their relationship. Even though Zechariah would not have been able to verbally communicate what had transpired in his encounter with the angel, Elizabeth stood by his side in full support.

Elizabeth and Mary

In the last month at Ladies Bible Study Arlene has been speaking of the importance of mentoring relationships.  “Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children” (Titus 2:3-4).  It is likely that this is the type of relationship Mary and Elizabeth shared. 

When the angel announced to Mary that she would bear the Messiah he also told her that her cousin Elizabeth was now in her sixth month of pregnancy. (Although Elizabeth’s pregnancy came about my natural means it was a miracle nonetheless because of her age.) “At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, where she entered Zechariah's home and greeted Elizabeth” (Luke 1:39-40).

After a long journey Mary arrived at Elizabeth’s home. It was clear that their relationship had been transformed forever. “When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she exclaimed: "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” (Luke 1:41-43). Wow!!!  There is so much said in these verses! Mary is no longer just Elizabeth’s younger cousin – Elizabeth has recognized her as the ‘mother of my Lord’.  This changes everything!

Many years later we see a similar transformation in the relationship of the sons of these two women. Jesus and John were cousins. John’s calling in life had been ordained before birth, “to make ready a people prepared for the Lord” (Luke 1:17b).  As a grown man,  John proclaims: “He is the one who comes after me, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie “ (John 1:27). “You yourselves can testify that I said, 'I am not the Christ  but am sent ahead of him.'  The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom's voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. He must become greater; I must become less” (John 3:28-30). Both Elizabeth and her son John walked in the humility of their calling.

Elizabeth and God

The defining role in Elizabeth’s life was as a follower of God.  I believe that this was the very foundation on which the human relationships in her life were built. As I already said, our introduction to Elizabeth in Luke 1:6 tells us that she was upright in the site of God.

Elizabeth did not love God just because of what He could do for her. We know that Elizabeth struggled with bareness most of her married life and suffered disgrace because of this. Despite this painful circumstance Elizabeth remained faithful. There is no indication that her heart was bitter or angry towards God.

We also know that Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.  She was sensitive to His voice as He revealed to her that Mary would birth the Messiah.  Elizabeth and Zechariah raised John according to the instructions of the Lord “And the child grew and became strong in spirit; and he lived in the desert until he appeared publicly to Israel”  (Luke 1:80).

Like Elizabeth, we play many roles in our lives based on our relationships.  We may be a wife, a mother, a mentor, a friend…to name a few. These relationships need to be built on the foundation of our relationship with God.  That’s why we do what we do in Women’s Bible Study! As we learn about God by studying the bible and hide His Word in our hearts we are being transformed from the inside out. It is a supernatural transformation!  As we learn about God we can’t help but love Him more.  As we love Him more we are able to love those around us with His love.

“I have not stopped thanking God for you. I pray for you constantly,  asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and insight so that you might grow in your knowledge of God.   I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called—his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance” (Eph. 1:16-18, NLT).

"What's the Scoop on.....Mary, the Mother of Jesus"

As we are now in the midst of the advent season, Mary, Jesus’ mother was the timely subject of this week’s lesson by Janet.  There are so many wonderful things to touch on regarding Mary….so many things we could learn!  In the Bible Mary is introduced to us as mere girl of about 13 years old.  Interestingly, her name itself means ‘loved by Yahweh’.  Her life was like no other woman who walked the face of the earth.  She witnessed the birth, death, Resurrection and Ascension of the Messiah. The child she bore changed human history for all time into eternity!

Mary’s story begins with the visitation of an angel. Could you imagine??  There was nothing remarkable about what she was doing – probably going about the routine of her day. When the angel appears he gives her a special message from the Lord.  This in itself incredible. In scripture there are only a handful of times when angels appear to people.   

The message from the angel to Mary was very specific and deliberate.  His words were rich in meaning. They would alter the course of her life, and our lives as well.  The angel told Mary some very important things regarding the birth of her Son. Let’s look at what the angel told her:

“Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God” (Luke 1:30).

What does it mean to be highly favored by the Lord?  The word for highly favored is based on the word grace.  The only other place in scripture is used in Ephesians 1:6, “to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves“. God had bestowed upon Mary a special measure of His grace, blessing and favor. These words would provide comfort in what she was about to hear but also would be something she could hold on to in the future .

“You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus”   (Luke 1:31).

The angel tells Mary that she will name the baby Jesus.  This name is translated from the Hebrew Joshua which means ‘Yahweh is salvation’.  In their culture names were important – they told who the person was and gave insight into their character.  How much more so for Jesus! 

"He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High” (Luke 1:32a).

Being called the ‘Son of the Most High’ is deeper in meaning in Hebrew than it is in English.  In the Hebrew mind-set it would mean that the son would be equal with the father, a ‘carbon copy’.  The son would possess the qualities of the father.  The father that the angel meant would not be Joseph, but the Most High God. In Hebrews it says “The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven" (Heb. 1:3).

“The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David.  He will reign over the house of Jacob forever.  His kingdom will never end” (Luke 1:32b-33).

Looking at the genealogies in Mathew & Luke we see that Jesus is in the line of David, thus David would be His father. In the Old Testament it was prophesized that David’s kingdom would be established forever.  “Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me  your  throne will be established forever.'" (2 Sam. 7:16) and in Psalms, “You said, "I have made a covenant with my chosen one, I have sworn to David my servant, 'I will establish your line forever and make your throne firm through all generations” (Psalm 89:3-4).

The angel’s words should give us hope today. Things in the world may look bleak but we can hold on to God’s promises because they are truth. “I will maintain my love to him forever, and my covenant with him will never fail.  I will establish his line forever, his throne as long as the heavens endure” (Psalm 89: 28-29).

“The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called  the Son of God.  Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God” (Luke 1:35-37).

The only question that Mary asks after the angels words was ‘How can this be?”  As a virgin, she knows that having a child would be impossible.  The angel does not rebuke her for her question as he did to Zechariah when he was told that Elizabeth would have a son. Mary did not doubt the angel’s words. Instead, he explains to her that the Holy Spirit will come upon her.   

In our group time at bible study we discussed why the angel told Mary that nothing was impossible with God.  If you read ahead in the Gospel of Luke you will find Mary’s song, also known as the ‘Magnificant’ (see Luke 1:46-55).  From reading this it’s clear that Mary knew the scriptures and knew God’s ways. We proposed that maybe the angel was reminding Mary that God will do the impossible  - not only in the nation of Israel – but in her life as well.  It is a good reminder to us.  God works in each of our lives very personally. This too is a truth we can walk in every day.

As I was thinking about Mary’s encounter with the angel and its implications I was reminded of a BibIe study I have been doing on life’s interruptions.  God interrupted Mary’s life.  With the angels words, Mary knows that the future she had planned will look entirely different than what she had thought it would be. Her response?  "I am the Lord's servant, Mary answered. May it be to me as you have said” (Luke 1:38a).  After Mary heard what the angel had said, her reply speaks of the depth of her faith and her relationship with God.

Like Mary, I’m sure we all have had plans for our lives. Could it be that when God interrupts those plans it is actually a privilege and not punishment?  Mary accepted God’s calling with humbleness and praise. While I am sure most of us don’t have the same calling as Mary, I believe that God does have a plan for each of us.  Like many of the lives we have studied in scripture, God’s plans will often times challenge us and press us into a deeper relationship with Him as we cooperate.  Mary experienced great joy and great heartache as well. It wasn’t going to be an easy road. Mary is a wonderful example for us in that not only does she surrender to His ways as impossible as they may seem to be but she also embraces the interruption as part of His plan for her as well.

“Not My will but Your will be done” (Luke 22:42b). 

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“What’s the Scoop on....... Jezebel?”

Today in bible study Sandee’s  lesson was on Jezebel.  Sometimes a name says it all. How many of us know a ‘Jezebel’?  Not too many, I’m guessing! Right from the beginning, Sandee established that Jezebel was a wicked woman. 

Many of the women we have studied thus far have shown us what it means to be a godly influence.  Some of these women were not Israelites yet God was honored through their lives. With Jezebel it was different. Her life did not honor God at all.  As I was reading the passages we covered in class and in the homework I was thinking not only about Jezebel, and her ungodly influence, but about God himself.  A question came to my mind: “What does Jezebel teach me about God?”. 

Ahab and Jezebel’s life, like our own, is one marked by choices.  Jezebel’s father was the high priest of Baal.  From everything we read in scripture, not only did Jezebel worship Baal, but her life was devoted to corrupting and destroying those who followed the Lord, God of Israel. “There was never a man like Ahab (Jezebel’s husband) , who sold himself to do evil in the eyes of the LORD, urged on by Jezebel his wife” (1 Kings 21:25, emphasis mine).  Ahab freely chose to marry this woman.  Last year we learned in our study of Ezra and Nehemiah that inter-marriage with foreigners  displeased the Lord greatly.  Going back to Solomon  (1 Kings 11), God warns of the danger of being led astray by wives who worships foreign gods.

In His mercy, God continually makes His presence known in their lives. In 1 Kings 18, God reveals His presence in a miraculous way.  There is a competition of sorts between the 450 prophets of Baal and Elijah.  At Mount Carmel,  the holy ground of Baal,  his followers construct an altar to their god.  From morning until evening they cry out to him, becoming increasingly frantic. This yields no results.  

Elijah then prepares a sacrifice to the Lord.   As an added challenge he saturates the offering with water. “Answer me, O LORD, answer me, so these people will know that you, O LORD, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again." Then the fire of the LORD fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench” (1 Kings 18”37-38).  The people present fell on their faces acknowledging the Lord.  The 450 prophets of Baal were killed. Ahab then went to Jezebel and reported what had happened.  She had another choice to make. She could have recognized God’s power yet her heart remained hard, as did her husband’s.

In 1 Kings 21 we again see the fruit of wickedness in the lives of Ahab and Jezebel.  Ahab desired a vineyard owned by Naboth, an Israelite.  When Naboth refused to sell the land Jezebel had him falsely accused which led to his brutal murder. After his death she seized his property.  Following this incident, God sent his prophet Elijah to pronounce judgment on the couple.  They were met with another choice. Ahab and Jezebel could choose repentance or continue along the path of destruction.   

“When Ahab heard these words, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and fasted. He lay in sackcloth and went around meekly. Then the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite: "Have you noticed how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Because he has humbled himself, I will not bring this disaster in his day, but I will bring it on his house in the days of his son” (1 Kings 21:27-29).  There is no sign that Jezebel did the same. Ahab died a few years after the incident with Naboth yet Jezebel lived for many years.

In Jezebel’s life it is clear that her own choices led to her destruction but it didn’t have to be that way.  We can apply 2 Peter 3:9 to Jezebel’s life, “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance”.  Elijah was a constant reminder to them of God’s presence. Although God does judge sin He is also a God of mercy. “Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the Sovereign LORD. Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live?” (Ez. 18:23). 

The character of God is so complex!  He is just. He is merciful. He is all-powerful.  The sum of His attributes make up who He is – they don’t exist independently. One of His attributes does stand out above the others. In John 1:4 and 8 the bible says “God is love”.  Some of us have seen Beth Moore’s ‘Measureless Love’.  She makes the point that God is very, very specific when it comes to measurement yet He says His love for us is measureless.  In Ephesians 3:19 Paul says that God’s love surpasses knowledge.  Beth also said that God goes to great lengths to make himself known to us.  God went to great lengths to make himself known to Jezebel because of His love.  “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions” (Eph 2:4-5a). How terribly sad it is to reject that choice.

We study the character of God to learn who He is. As we look to Him I am sure it is our desire to be transformed into His image.   So how can we do this as we go about our lives? “He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8).