Paul McKenzie

Memory Verse, Thursday, January 1, 2 Corinthians 5 17

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come."

Well, this is providential! Starting the new year with the verse about the new creation!

Out of all the verses in chapter 5, at least you should memorize this one! There is no greater assurance than what is said here. This is a great "wake up" verse for your mornings. I often recite this verse when I wake up in the morning, for more often than not I see "5:17" on the clock when I wake up. What a way to wake up, to have your first words be this verse!

When I see this verse, I often am reminded of Ephesians 1 and 2. I hope that you will take the time to read those two chapters as well this morning, for there is no greater assurance for a true believer than what is written in those chapters. Here's a portion that you can contemplate as you memorize this verse today:

"In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory." (Ephesians 1:13-14)

Note the last line: "to the praise of his glory". The new creation He's freely bestowed upon us is a display of His glory. We are sealed, assured, declared righteous by His mercy, maturing in His sanctifying grace as we learn about our new nature, which will most assuredly become complete when we are glorified, after these old clay pots burst into His heavenly light!

In John 14, He promised us a place with Him. And He will come again and receive us to Himself. And as I close, this verse comes to mind:

"For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.

"Therefore encourage one another with these words." (1 Thessalonians 4:16-18)

How's this for a New Year's resolution: Tell your friends and family: "Be Ready! Jesus is Coming!"

Memory Helps:

"There FORE, if anyone IS, in Christ, he is A, new cre a TION. (TiaiiC, hianc)
The OLD, has passed a WAY, be hold, the NE,-w ha-s COME." (Toh paw btnhc)

I've decided to put this verse to "Auld Lang Syne", and if you sing the melody with the capitalized words as your guide you should be able to follow it.

I make word pictures to help me remember, and usually show the verse links on my website. But today I'd like to show you somewhat of how I would do it with this verse.

I use two Corinthian pillars to represent 2 Corinthians (if you've never seen them, look them up so you can see what they look like). In between, I'm in my high school graduation outfit, because I graduated when I was 17 years old, and use it as my link to verses 17. Also, I'm making my "5-fingered hands" a little bigger to help me remember that this is chapter 5. That gives me a word picture of 2 Corinthians 5:17.

Next, I picture myself between the pillars, throwing out my old outfit and wearing my brand-new graduation robes. In my large hands I'm holding a cross instead of a robe, to remind me of being "in Christ". And I'm singing this verse to the tune of "Auld Lang Syne".

For me, word pictures are key to making your memories stick. When you recall a memory, you nearly always are picturing it in your mind's eye as you remember. We just take it a step further and make our verses into a "memory", and the more unique the link, the stronger the memory.

The only difference from the word picture above and my link, is I replace myself with a "memory character" whose consonants can only mean 17. My memory character is my friend "DouG" as the 17-year-old graduate", who will now stand between the 2 Corinthian pillars, splaying out his rather large 5-fingered hands to represent 2 Corinthians 5:17. I use DouG, because D=1 and 7=k or hard g.

I can't think of anyone having a new beginning better than the day they graduate after 13 years of school! Everything changes at that moment, but nothing like the change that happens when Jesus comes into your heart. So, instead of a diploma, Doug is holding a Cross representing Christ.