Storing God's Word in Our Hearts

Before we begin, let's look at why it is important to store God's Word in our hearts, and some scripture that tells us that we are supposed to remember God's word, and how important that is.

Why Memorize Scripture?

Why is it important to memorize scripture? Although there are several good answers to that question, I believe the two most important reasons are to "Live it" and to "Share it."

Living God's Word

If we know God's Word and what He wants, we can use His Word to help us make decisions in our daily life. We use it to find peace when the world throws us off balance. We can find patience and compassion when we'd rather get upset and lash out at others. We can pray for ourselves or for family and friends, when injuries or sickness tries stealing our health.

God's Word contains our answers to questions about life. Reading and knowing God's will for us and our lives, will make living easier. Read the Bible and remember what it is telling you. If you don't know what God says in His Word, you can't apply it to your life. If you don't know what it says, you can't help others when they need God's peace, love, and help. You can't share what you don't know.

Besides, how can we do the Word of God, if we don't know the Word of God. And when we speak or pray using the Word of God, we know that we are praying or speaking in the Will of God. When speaking promises of God, we know those promises are kept. Now isn't that a comfort and blessing to speak with such authority?

Sharing God's Word

If you have trouble memorizing book, chapter, and verse, don't worry about it. It is much more important to remember what the scripture is about. The bible wasn't written with chapter and verse designations. Those were added in 1228 by Stephen Langton. They make it nice to find a verse and that makes it valuable to share with others who want to read it for themselves in their own bible. It's also useful for us to find a verse again if we want to be sure of what it says, or read further.

How Important is it to Remember God's Word?

When Jesus was being tempted by the Devil, he said:

Matthew 4:4 "It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." (KJV)

That sounds like the Word of God is pretty important! It's as important as eating is, to live!

Another place that shows how important His words are, is where Jesus says,

Matthew 24:35 "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away."

Interestingly, music can be very useful in memorizing scripture. In the book of Deuteronomy, God gives Moses His Words to the children of Israel in the form of a song. God commanded Moses to teach them that song, so that the people would not forget His words (Deut. 31:19) because, as Moses told them,

Deut. 32:47 "They are not just idle words for you - they are your life."

God's Word is good! Here are a few more verses that show how good and important His Word is:

Proverbs 9:10 "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding"

Proverbs 30:5 "Every word of God is flawless; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him"

Psalm 119:11 “Thy Word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against Thee”

Josh. 1:8 “This book of the Law shall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate therein day and night”

Job 22:22 “Receive, I pray thee, the law from His mouth, and lay up His words in thy heart”

Psalm 119:7-8 "Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long. Your commands make me wiser than my enemies for they are ever with me"

So, God's Word is important to us so we can have wisdom and understanding, and also for our protection, our shield against evil, and so we won't sin against God. He has commanded us to store His words in our heart.

So let's being this journey and start storing God's Word in our hearts.

The verses above were not for you to memorize, although they're nice for reference. In the future, these memory verse posts will be much shorter than this introduction. It will look more like the first verse we'll cover, below.

Scripture Memory Verse for June 2011, Week 1

One of the first verses most people learn, is John 3:16. It sums up the Salvation plan of God.

John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

Living it: Although there is no command or instruction in this verse, we can use it to remember that God loves us, that Jesus also loves us so much that He died for us, and through this promise, we have eternal life if we believe in Him. Use this to renew your faith when you feel like sliding in your walk with Jesus. Denying ourselves cursing, excessive food, drink, or any "lust of the flesh", we can remember Jesus made a much larger and more difficult sacrifce for us - we shouldn't complain.

Sharing it: When you are able to discuss religion and God with a friend or family member, and they ask about salvation, use this verse to tell them the simple truth of God's plan of salvation for us, through His Son, Jesus. Explain Jesus sacrificed Himself for us, as a sinless, spotless lamb. We are unable to live life without sinning, but Jesus did. And His sacrifice was for us, so that we wouldn't suffer in eternal damnation, as we deserve. He paid the price for our sins.

Scripture Memory Verse for June 2011, Week 2

Romans 3:23 "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God"

Living it: We are all sinners; God has said so. We may think others are worse than we are, but in God's eyes, we're all the same - sinners. There are no shades of grey; it's black or white. We make sin into shades of grey so that we can feel better about the sins we commit, but right is right, and wrong is wrong. Deep down, we know this is true. Let's try to make more right choices, than wrong choices. Although we can never be as holy and sinless as Jesus, the world is a better place when we try our best to be like Him.

Sharing it: Do you have a friend or family member who is depressed or down on themselves? Do they think they've done something they can't be forgiven? Share this verse with them. We are all alike and under the same Holy judgement. But, we also have the same mercy from our God and Savior. We can be forgiven and clean as snow in God's eyes, if we will only believe in Jesus and what He has done for us. We must confess with our mouth that He is our God and Savior. We ALL can be redeemed, forgiven, loved, and have a life in eternity with that man who loved us enough to die for us.

Scripture Memory Verse for June 2011, Week 3

Romans 10:17 "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." (KJV)

Living it: You're here learning some key phrases from our Christian Bible, so you probably have a certain amount of faith already. But growing your faith and understanding takes hearing (or reading) the Word of God. Its words will strengthen your faith and help you understand what God expects of us. Learn to apply the Word to your life and you will live it, and live it more abundantly. Read God's Word!

Sharing it: When God gave man His Word, they were expected to go out and share it; to speak it to the people. Most people back then couldn't read, so most information was spread verbally. If those men didn't share it, people wouldn't hear about and know the One Living God, and so would be lost forever. Even though we have many ways for people to hear about God, now, they still might not really know or understand who God is and what He can do for them; why it's important to believe in our Savior. Share it. Speak it to others. They just need to hear it. God will do the rest.