I cannnot believe we actually did it.

We have been studying the book of Colossians line-by-line, verse-by-verse every Thursday afternoon for the last 6 weeks. I had no idea how blessed I was going to be when this started. There are 10 girls in this group who are ON FIRE for the Lord and completely surrendered to Him... wanting to serve Him and know His Word. I have simply had the privilege of fanning them into flame. They said they wanted to memorize scripture so... I said, "ok. Here is our passage... Col 1:9-20." It was VERY intimidating but every week we would add a few more verses and start building on what would become a passage we would never forget about Who Jesus is and what He has done for us. We actually got to verse 20 and wanted to keep going so we memorized Col 1:9-23. These girls had never done this before. None of us have good memories but we were determined and asked God to help us. God DID help us and we have successfully hidden His Word deep in our hearts. And I will tell you... it is absolutey liberating. There is no more powerful way to know God's Word than to MEMORIZE it. Also, in Ephesians when it speaks of our ARMOR in this world, The Word of God is our SWORD. Do you need victory to slay the giants in your life? Get your swords out. Without your sword, you have no offensive weapons... only defensive (belt of truth, breastplate of righteousness, shoes of the gospel of peace, shield of faith, helmet of salvation and the SWORD of the Spirit- which is the Word of God). When you have hidden God's Word in your heart, you have power to discern truth vs. lies, have victory over sin, pray spur of the moment for a friend in crisis or for your children. But, of all the benefits of memorizing Scripture, you get to KNOW GOD.

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."

John 1:1

I always like to think... what if my Bible was taken away from me? or what if I am being wheeled into an operating room for emergency surgery without being able to get to my Bible? or rushing a child to the ER? or on a bright and sunny day where I simply want to Worship God using His Word but I don't have a Bible with me?

I want to encourage YOU to start memorizing a passage of scripture. Start with one verse and keep adding. A great one to start with is Isaiah 43:1-3.

“Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
I have summoned you by name; you are mine.
When you pass through the waters,
I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,
they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,
you will not be burned;
the flames will not set you ablaze.
For I am the Lord, your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior."

It is way more fun to do it with a group. Every week, we would each recite our verses so there was a lot of accountability. We made up cheesy signs to help us remember as we learned.

I taught it to my boys so they learned with me. This passage has been rolling around in my head and my heart for the past 6 weeks... changing me, teaching me, revealing Jesus to me. It has been AWESOME. Memorizing scripture is powerful. I have begun praying these verses over my kids and over my own life.

I know you probably think you can't do it, BUT YOU CAN!! I have the worst memory EVER and it just takes sitting down and saying it over and over and over... meditating on it.... until it takes root in your heart. Once you start memorizing scripture you won't want to stop.

Next, we will be studying the book of Philippians. If anyone lives nearby and is interested in joining us, please feel free to email me.

Here is the video. I accidentally cut Shannon off while she was talking and the quality is HORRIBLE. I don't know what is wrong with it but I am putting it on anyway. Just turn it up and listen after you pause the music at the bottom.

This was HARD but the reward is OUT OF THIS WORLD!!!

"For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding.
And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him,
and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation– if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, "STEPHANIE" :), have become a servant."

Col 1:9-23

BIBLE STUDY GIRLS: YOU ROCK.

BLOG READERS: ONCE YOU GET A TASTE OF THE POWER OF MEMORIZING SCRIPTURE, YOU WILL NEVER WANT TO STOP!