Wednesday

Psalm 19 v 14 - Memorizing the Bible


I could never do it!

          Do what?

Memorize a whole Psalm from the Bible!

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






Let's look at Psalm 19

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.

So we are not going to tackle all of Psalm 19 here but we will take on verse 14.








So in memorizing this verse we will look at 3 things:
  • Memorising Tips
  • A Video of Psalm 19 v 14
  • Some Freebies to help you.



Before we start let me say that I am using the King James version here for 3 reasons

1.   I like to stick to versions that I know are not paraphrases because I want to concentrate on the Word of God and not adding in other ideas.

2.   I was brought up learning from the KJV as a child and so those verses and passages have remained in my mind and I do not mind the somewhat older type language most of the time.

3.    Often the KJV gives a more poetic feel to the verses and that makes it easier to learn.



  • 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 19 v 14 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.

This verse (and many of the verses in the Psalms) has a kind of rhythm or flow to it because of course the Psalms were written originally as songs so it is easy to read so if we write it as follows we can feel the rhythm


" Let the words of my mouth, 
and the meditation of my heart,
 be acceptable in thy sight,
 O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer."




2.  Write out the verse several times.

Writing helps us learn anything.

Use the 4 lines as in tip1 above for the reading when you are writing and naturally you will be saying it in your head as well.



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 the verse we have a prayer to God.

The first 3 lines (as written in tip 1 above) are asking God for help to speak, think & behave properly as God would want us to.

Then the last line is acknowledging who God is and that we know He is able to do as we request.



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


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 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 19 v 14 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.

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



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 19 v 14 below 


  • A Video of Psalm 19 v 14



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


  • 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








Sunday

Reading Through The Bible - GALATIANS








Some Books of the bible are very short and some are very long but this one is one of the shortest.








GALATIANS  -  NEW TESTAMENT  -  EPISTLES

9th book of the NT 
48th book of the Bible



It starts with a blessing and reminder of salvation through Jesus in chapter 1 verses 3-5







I love the blessings pronounced in God's Word and we can see in the Epistles that they form lovely greetings.




What is it?

The Book of Galatians is one of the Epistles in the New Testament which means it is a Letter.



How Long is it?

It has 6 chapters.



When was it Written?

It is generally thought to have been written between 49 & 50 AD.




Who Wrote it?

The Apostle Paul

The first 2 verses tells us who it was from 
"Paul, an apostle (not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised Him from the dead)," 
and all the brethren who are with me,"



Who was it Written to?

Verse 2 tells us who it was written to 

and all the brethren who are with me, To the churches of Galatia "






Why was it Written? 

It was written because Paul wanted to clarify certain things for the Galatian Christians. 
 


The Overview Bible  tells us the following

"Paul hears that the Galatian churches have been led to think that salvation comes from the law of Moses, and writes a (rather heated) letter telling them where the false teachers have it wrong.."


Teach Sunday School  tells us the following

"The Galatians were starting to say Gentiles must follow the Jewish laws in order to be saved. It was confusing the people and putting a burden on them that was unnecessary. Paul wanted to straighten that out."




What did Paul want to explain about himself?


He wanted to talk about himself as an Apostle along with the other Apostles.

About what Christ's crucifixion meant to him personally and where his faith was found as we see in chapter 2 v 20






What did Paul want the Galatians to know about Christianity?


He wanted them to know exactly where their faith had to be focused - not on law and instructions but in Christ as we partly see in  chapter 3 v 26







What is the Book of Galatians most well-known for? 


It contains the passage about the Fruit of the Spirit in chapter 5 verses 22 - 23


22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 

23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.









How does it end?


With an instruction to continue to do good deeds
 in chapter 6 v 9
 





and
bringing their attention back again to the cross
 in chapter 6 v 9









OUTLINE of GALATIANS


The Overview Bible  gives us the following


  1. The gospel under attack in Galatia (Ga 1:1–10)
  2. History of the Law vs. grace debate (Ga 1:11–2:21)
  3. Salvation via faith vs. salvation via works (Ga 3)
  4. Slavery vs. sons and heirs of God (Ga 4)
  5. The sinful flesh vs. the Holy Spirit (Ga 5)
  6. How to do good in Christian community (Ga 6)











OTHER BOOKS OF THE BIBLE ARE ADDED REGULARLY AND AN UPDATED LIST CAN BE FOUND AT OUR READING THE BIBLE PAGE 











Wednesday

10 Bible Verses of Encouragement for Fathers


We all need encouragement and the best place to go is to the Bible.

In this blog Post I have tried to gather some Bible passages or Bible verses which will encourage Fathers.







I do believe that we should not just grab a verse and read it on its own but we should always lift our bibles and read a passage of scripture to make sure that we know the real meaning and context of each of the verses we are putting our trust in. 

I pray that you will do the same and only use this list to guide you as to where you may find help.



So here are 10 Bible verses or short passages for us to turn to
 in times when we need encouragement for
 Fathers. 





1.   Proverbs 3 v 11-12



Discipline your children because of Love



     
and be blessed by the rewards.


 

2.   Ephesians 6 v 4


Train them to do what is right & do it in the right way

And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.



by obeying God's Word.




3.   Colossians 3 v 21



Do not discourage your children; train them whilst encouraging them.

 




Teach them to be obedient to God and show it in your life as the good example.





4.   Proverbs 3 v 1 


Teach them to be obedient to God 



 


and show willing obedience to God in your life as their good example.






5.   Proverbs 3 v 5-6


Show them how to trust God and give Him respect by doing that yourself.  



And see His Godly direction 






6.   Proverbs 3 v 7



Teach them that earthly wisdom is of no benefit 





but to reverence God and follow Him is.





7.   Proverbs 3 v 9

Show God your thanks for his provision and use it wisely.


Honour the Lord with your possessions,
And with the first fruits of all your increase;




Then they will learn to do likewise.




8.   Deuteronomy 11 v 18 - 21


Install God's Word in your heart and mind and teach your children to do the same.


18 Therefore you shall lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 
19 You shall teach them to your children, speaking of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. 
20 And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, 
21 that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land of which the Lord swore to your fathers to give them, like the days of the heavens above the earth.


Even teach them to memorize God's Word.


You will find some encouragement for memorizing Scripture in our

The Free Printables from all our Verses of Encouragement Posts will also help.





9.   Genesis 22 v 8



Have faith in God that leads your children to have faith in Him also.


And Abraham said, 
“My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.”



Just as Abraham set Isaac a great example of trusting in God.











10.   Proverbs 23 v 24

A righteous father is blessed by seeing the delight of his heart in the life of his children.



 

Isn't this a great one to put a smile on your face to end this post!