Paul McKenzie

Memory Verse, Sunday, March 15, Galatians 1:1-6 Review

"Paul an apostle, (not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ and God our Father, who raised him from the dead and all the brethren which are with me, unto the churches of Galatia: Grace be to you and peace from God the Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins, so that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father: to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:"

Well, I first typed out this week's passages as best as I knew them, then checked them and corrected my errors. I don't worry too much about remembering the punctuation marks initially, especially because I am memorizing in the KJV and well, their punctuation at that time was just a bit different than ours.

I found errors in the "in's", "from's", and stuff like that, and added or left out a few words. I'll be typing it again a few times after this devotional and seeing if I can get it better.

Typing out verses you are memorizing is a good practice, because it both gives you time to think and is right there before your face so you can see where you need practice. Or, if you don't have a computer, keep a small notebook handy, or lots of scrap paper and jot the passages down during slow parts of the day.

And I can't stress enough, when trying to memorize a verse a day like this to "give that day to the verse", working on it until you master it. That's the ideal, and I fall short of it constantly as well. I find that if I miss a day, I first continue on the new verse so I don't get bogged down, and once I feel comfortable with the new verse I'll backtrack.

And I am never discouraged when, after a few days I realize I don't have a verse completely memorized. For one thing I know: these words will not change, and I have learned a lot more than I did before I started.

It's one thing to have the words lodged in the brain, and another to have them move into the heart. Many times I may not be reciting perfectly word-for-word, but my heart has been moved and the Word is changing me, so I can say with the apostle "So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is renewed day by day." (2 Corinthians 4:16, ESV)

And I also make sure that I don't get bogged down just on the verse I work on each day. I also review titles of books and try to read through or listen to books all the time, so I constantly have a well-rounded view of God's Word to prevent from being deceived by false teaching.

You may say, "Wow, you must spend a lot of time with the Bible!", and the answer is "Yes I do!". I can't think of any words more important than God's Words, so the more I dwell on them, the more I abide in Him, and grow closer, setting my affections on things above, not on the things on the earth (Colossians 3:2).

I need to do this. I am weak in the flesh, and "prone to wander", as the hymn says, and am just learning how to walk in this "new nature" given me by the grace of God. And the Word is the training manual.

Finally, today is Sunday, and God has given us the blessing of being able to freely worship with others who are like me: aliens of this present evil world who are growing children of God Most High. This is vital to every believer, and I hope you also are going to serve today in your local church. You just never know how God is going to move you to encourage, to learn, to be encourage, to rejoice, to weep, and to be a part of the glorious body of Christ as we wait eagerly for His coming.

I hope you are as well.

Today if you hear His voice, harden not your heart.

*KJV used*

Memory Helps

I suggest you write out your verses as I did this morning. You'll be surprised how much you know. I find that if you type them out three times you usually come pretty close by the third time after reviewing and correcting your mistakes. And you also know which verses to key in on that are giving you trouble.