Showing posts with label Bible. Show all posts

Sunday

Psalm 51 v 10-12 - Memorizing the Bible

I could never do it!

Do what?

Memorize a chapter of one of the Books of the Bible!

Yeah that's not so easy, BUT you can learn a verse or a few verses of the Bible.

Let's look at a few verses from one of the Psalms

Many people think they could never manage to memorize a whole Psalm or a whole chapter of Scripture.

It is a rather daunting challenge especially if you have never learned any scripture before.

But we are not going to tackle a full Psalm we will simply take on three verses of the 51st Psalm

verses 10 - 12

"Create in me a clean heart, O God,

and renew a right spirit within me.

Cast me not away from Thy presence,

and take not Thy Holy Spirit from me.

Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation,

and uphold me with Thy free Spirit."

So in memorizing this verse we will look at 4 things:

Memorising Tips
A Music Video of Psalm 51 v 10-12
Some Freebies to help you.

Memorising Tips

If you read the Top 10 Ways to Learn Scripture you will see that I give 10 tips to help in this process but we don't have to use all 10 of them on each verse - just the ones that suit best with the verse.

For Psalm 51 v 10 - 12 I'm going to advise using tips 1, 2, 7, 8, 9 & 10

1. Read the verse often, every day, multiple times in the day.

Leave a bookmark in your bible and every time you go past it grab the bible and open at the verse etc. (you will pick up other ideas later in this post).

Reading and repeating somethings over and over is the natural way to get it into your head.

With this verse it is obvious to think of it and separate it to learn into the three parts ie. the 3 verses

"Create in me a clean heart, O God,

and renew a right spirit within me.

then

Cast me not away from Thy presence,

and take not Thy Holy Spirit from me.

then

Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation,

and uphold me with Thy free Spirit."

2. Write out the verse several times.

Why? Because he action of WRITING helps us learn anything.

The first verse above can be written on two lines of a page and the next verse on the nest two lines and then the last verse on the next two lines.

So you are writing it in three parts just as reading it in the three verses as in no.1 above.

7. Understand the meaning of the verse.

We will never memorize anything properly without having understood the meaning of it and knowing the meaning helps us remember the order of the parts of the verses.

In these verses we have three sections which refer to two things each and these two things are similar.

Hence we work on the pairing of these similar things.

First pairing

Create in me a clean heart & Renew a right spirit within me

Second pairing

Cast me not away from Thy presence & take not Thy Holy Spirit from me

Third pairing

Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation & uphold me with Thy free Spirit

This is not just a scrambled prayer it is well structured and obviously the Psalmist had been thinking seriously about how He should pray.

8. Make it easy to see the verse clearly and regularly each day.

In no.1 above I mentioned your bible and a bookmark

but

we cannot have our Bible at hand every moment of the day so if you feel you need frequent readings of the verse like pop-up reminders then do the following:

Get a post-it pad and write the verse out clearly on it then tear off the post-it and stick it on

the mirror you will use first thing each morning and last thing each night
the front cover of your Bible
the front cover of the book you are currently reading
the door of the fridge
the inside of the door of the cupboard where you go to get your favourite mug for that cup of coffee

9. Make or use Bible Verse Graphics

The picture of Psalm 51 v 10 - 12 near the start of this post is an example of a Bible Verse Graphic.

A picture with the words written on it clearly.

By making these yourself you will learn as you create them.

by using ones made for you that you keep close to hand to see and read frequently such as my Free printable for these verses

I also post a bible verse graphic every morning on my

Facebook Page for Sandra's Ark

so if you want to be encouraged by a verse each day or have a graphic you can SHARE to your timeline or SAVE in Facebook then click through to my Facebook Page and be sure to like and follow the page to see those graphics in your feed each day.

or Word Search Puzzles

While finding the words of a Bible Verse in a Word Search Puzzle you will be spending time around the words and this also helps to learn the verse.

or Phone Screensavers / Wallpaper

What better use of your phone - to keep that verse in front of you each time you go to check your messages.

For this you will need it to be a suitable portrait shape and size so most of the normal verse graphics you see will not suit.

I have a few verses made out for screen savers & you can download them from

My Resource Library

and finally my favourite way

but it is not always possible to use this method

10. Sing it.

It is well known that in singing a song you can easily learn the words of the song.

Fred & I have made several short videos of songs/choruses to help you memorize certain verses and you can watch the one for Psalm 51 v 10 - 12 below

I've also prepared a playlist of Short Songs to memorize Scripture on YouTube:

Sandra's Ark Youtube - Bible Memorization

Some Freebies to help you.

Don't forget that many of my posts on the blog have bible verse graphics and I have some of these available as free downloads in my

RESOURCE LIBRARY

also that's where you will find the phone screen savers for some verses.

Why not pin this pic to come back later

Wednesday

I Love Reading - A Dose of Encouragement

The greatest thing about Reading is the fact that it is
one of the easiest hobbies to have.

I was encouraged to read at a young age because my mother was an avid reader using the library as if it were her own personal set of book shelves.

Everyone who worked in the library knew my mum.

When the library started to really confine each person to only 4 books at a time it wasn't good enough for my mum so she got a library card in my gran's name and one in my dad's name and took out the extra books for herself using them. Of course the librarians knew and just let her do it - all books were always returned and quickly as she needed to come for her next fix of reading material.

We also had several books at home because she used to go to house auctions and buy box loads of books.

So I was intrigued by the books of Enid Blyton such as the The Faraway Tree and of course the Famous Five and the Secret Seven to start with and then on to The Chalet Girls by Elinor Brent-Dyer and Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfield.

Eventually I got caught up with Agatha Christie mysteries and fell in love with Miss Marple and Poirot. I believe that my enjoyment of her novels are one of the reasons why I mostly still tend to pick out Mysteries and crime novels to read.

But that was all years ago so what about my love of reading today.

Why do I read?

Because even though many years have passed it still gives me great pleasure

to sit down and read.

I get so engrossed in a good book that time slips by so quickly and what do they say?

"Time flies when you are enjoying yourself"

So I am obviously enjoying myself.

Where do I read?

Anywhere at all provided I have something to read.

In the summer months I like to sit in the back garden and read.

I know that some people have a particular place in the house to sit and read but I will sit anywhere although I quite like to be in one of our recliner chairs or have my feet curled up under me on the couch.
I like my comfort!

What do I read?

I'm not a newspaper person at all.

I'm not really a magazine person either.

It used to be books but then it became ebooks as well.

When we travelled we used to have to think about space and weight in our suitcase because of the books we wanted to take on the trip.

When I was going out for the day I wanted to make sure I had a handbag that would hold my current book.

Now with ebooks things have changed and I just have to make sure my handbag is not too small that I can't have my kindle in it

or my iPad because of course I have the Kindle app as well.

But now I am also into reading blogs.

As I mentioned previously I tend to read a lot of crime or murder or mystery stories but with reading more blogs now I get a lot more of a mixture of topics with much more non fiction and how-to tutorials.

However the main book I come back to all the time is the Bible

because I believe it is God's Word

so therefore

it is the most important book to read.

When do I read?

When I am in bed - I am rather a night owl so propping up the pillows and a cold drink beside me is ideal. My lighted cover for my kindle is good for this so that I don't disturb Fred as he falls asleep.

When I am relaxing by the pool or on the beach on holiday - in fact that is almost all we do on some of our holidays.

When I am waiting for something to cook - unfortunately I get caught up in the story and I am known for burning the sausages!

When I am waiting to meet someone in a coffee shop.

When I have to spend time waiting in the car.

When I am in front of the computer supposedly writing my blog - I can be easily distracted.

Anytime I have some time.

Who do I read?

Well I don't think I can remember the last time I read Enid Blyton.

But I do still read Agatha Christie as you can see in my blog post

I Love Poirot

I am also fond of books by:

Randall Arthur
Lynwood Barclay
Terri Blackstock
Sigmund Brouwer
Davis Bunn
Brandilyn Collins
Nelson DeMille
John Grisham
Dee Henderson
Karen Kingsbury
Frank Peretti
Penelope Stokes

I have had the pleasure to meet Randall Arthur (although that is his pen name) when he accepted my request for him to come and speak at a Ladies Brunch I helped to lead in Belgium once a month.

Just like his books he is a lovely, gracious man.

I was also pleased to be involved in the launch of one of

Davis Bunn's books

Most of the authors listed above are Christian authors and I do prefer to read Christian fictions because of the bad language that I find in most other books and the terrible unhealthy descriptions of despicable acts that people seem to think must be included these days.

Because of that type of thing I stopped reading a book, after a few chapters, one day as I rode the tram home in Belgium and threw the book into the rubbish bin.

I do not believe in putting things into my mind that are

disgusting or brutal.

So What Would I Recommend?

Often when another woman would ask me to suggest a novel my first thought will be the first one I read by Penelope Stokes called The Blue Bottle Club

I loved that book and have gone back and read it twice since.

Another book I would tell others about is the first one I read by Davis Bunn called The Presence

and when you read it you will understand the title.

A non Christian book that my daughter and I both loved and talk about with great affection is

The Time Traveller's Wife

and some day I will read it again and review it on the blog.

I have reviewed various books on my blog so if you are looking for a book to read do have a look at the Book Reviews Page and then enjoy a good read.

I can not finish this blog post without recommending the most important book of all, the book that can change your life forever and I truly mean forever

- that book is the Bible.

That book can be found in most of the bookshops and libraries.

That book can be found freely on the internet.

That book can be read on a kindle

That book can be read via an app on your or iPad or any other tablet.

There is no excuse for not being able to get a copy of the Bible now but if you would like some advice or help in starting to read it then just head over to Reading The Bible which is my page with help and tips about reading the Bible and the books of the Bible.

You can also have a look at the very short 321 video at the top of my side bar.

If you enjoy reading in apps then you might like to try some of the Bible Apps available for phone and if you like to listen to audio books you could also try the Bible App read by David Suchet

*I am not compensated by anyone or any organisation mentioned in this blog post

Sunday

Lamentations 3 v 22-23 Memorizing the Bible

I could never do it!

Do what?

Memorize a chapter of one of the Books of the Bible!

Yeah that's not so easy, BUT you can learn a verse of the Bible.

Let's look at one of the books of the Old Testament.

Have you read much from the book of Lamentations?

Many people think it will be very depressing to read so they kind of try to ignore it.

However there are 2 verses found there which are very special chapter 3 v 22-23

Our challenge today is to memorize these two verses.

Most people think they could never manage to memorize something from "boring" book of the Bible but is it that boring? Have you read it to actually find out. These two verses are not boring so let's have a go at earning them.

"The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases,

His mercies never come to an end;

they are new every morning;

great is your faithfulness."

So in memorizing these 2 verses we will look at 4 things:

Memorising Tips
Some Freebies to help you.

Memorising Tips

For Lamentations 3 v 22-23

I'm going to advise using tips 1, 2, 3, 8 & 9

1. Read the verse often, every day, multiple times in the day.

Leave a bookmark in your bible and every time you go past it grab the bible and open at the verse etc. (you will pick up other ideas later in this post).

Reading and repeating somethings over and over is the natural way to get it into your head.

With this verse it is obvious to think of it as 4 similar pieces of information regarding God.

"The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases,
His mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness."

2. Write out the verse several times.

Why? Because he action of WRITING helps us learn anything.

Each line of this verse is very similar in that they each note a great attribute of God

So as you write it put each of the four facts on a new line and learn it as 4 similar facts

3. Feel the excitement of a verse that is an exaltation to praise the Lord.

In Lamentations 3 v 22-23 we have excitement in the knowledge that

God's Love never stops
God's mercy never ends
His love and mercy are new each day

Then how could it end except in the praise of His Great faithfulness.

We also have the similar phrasing of each line to help us.

8. Make it easy to see the verse clearly and regularly each day.

In no.1 above I mentioned your bible and a bookmark

but

we cannot have our Bible at hand every moment of the day so if you feel you need frequent readings of the verse like pop-up reminders then do the following:

Get a post-it pad and write the verse out clearly on it then tear off the post-it and stick it on

the mirror you will use first thing each morning and last thing each night
the front cover of your Bible
the front cover of the book you are currently reading
the door of the fridge
the inside of the door of the cupboard where you go to get your favourite mug for that cup of coffee

9. Make or use Bible Verse Graphics

The picture of the words of Lamentations 3 v 22-23 near the start of this post is an example of a Bible Verse Graphic.

A picture or background with the words written on it clearly.

By making these yourself you will learn as you create them.

by using ones made for you that you keep close to hand

(see my freebies)

I post a bible verse graphic every morning on my

Facebook Page for Sandra's Ark

so if you want to be encouraged by a verse each day or have a graphic you can Share to your timeline or Save in Facebook then click through to my Facebook Page and be sure to like and follow the page to see those graphics in your feed each day.

or Colouring Pages

While colouring in a Bible Verse Page you will be spending time around the words and this also helps to learn the verse.

or Phone Screensavers / Wallpaper

What better use of your phone - to keep that verse in front of you each time you go to check your messages.

For this you will need it to be a suitable portrait shape and size so most of the normal verse graphics you see will not suit.

I have a few verses made out for screen savers & you can download them from

My Resource Library

I've also prepared a playlist of Short Songs to memorize Scripture on YouTube:

Sandra's Ark Youtube - Bible Memorization

FINALLY

Some Freebies to help you.

Don't forget that many of my posts on the Blog have free downloads in which are all listed in my

RESOURCE LIBRARY

specifically for Lamentations 3 v 22-23 I have

Bible Verse graphics of the verse

Word Search Puzzle of the verse

also that's where you will find the phone screen savers for some verses.