Scripture Memory--Want to Join Me?

This past year I participated in Beth Moore's 1st and 15th Scripture Memory Team. On the 1st and 15th of the month, we would pick a new Scripture to memorize. She told us to get a index card spiral (which you can buy at Walgreens or Wal-Mart in the States) in which to record our Scriptures so they would be portable. Mine were sometimes in my purse, sometimes in my Bible cover, at times in my carry-on luggage on long plane trips, and sometimes sat beside my bed for weeks on end. I am not a person who follows through on a project easily (as a teacher, my students would sometimes have to remind me that we had started a project months back), but this Scripture memory project I stuck with the whole year. It's a much better track record than my "reading the Bible in a year" attempts. By the end of the year, I had 24 Scriptures committed to memory. This is what my spiral looks like today (the front cover is barely hanging on!):

I wish I could express to you what these Scripture meant to me this year. I could not have known how God would use these Scriptures to challenge me, comfort me, hold me up when I most needed Him and His Word. I've been very open about my life struggles here on the blog, so you'll be able to see how some of these were used in my life. But I don't share everything, so just know that God did some amazing things using His Word in my heart.

This one, in particular, helped me through several tough situations:

And this is what happens when your child gets ahold of your spiral (see the tape?):

And this Scripture has become so precious to me, my favorite of all time. This is what I want my life to be about:

So, I've searched Singapore for spiral-bound index cards and found none, but I'm not going to be legalistic about that, so this is what I've done for this year. It works just fine (and a little notebook would work just as well):

I was sad that Beth Moore wasn't going to officially do the Scripture Memory team on her blog this year, but I've learned the habit, so I'm just going to keep doing it myself. The benefits are endless! If you want to join me and memorize 24 Scriptures this year, I'd love to have the company! Just leave a comment on this post. It's not easy, but what thing of value ever is? It takes work and perseverance, but it can be done!

Since it's past the 1st of the month (and, again, not going to be legalistic!), we'll just do the 15th and 30th (or 28th in February!). The point is to hide God's Word in your heart (Psalm 119:11-one of my Scriptures from 2009). And in order to do that, you have to start memorizing His Word! Isaiah 55:11 (HCSB) says, "My word that comes from My mouth will not return to Me empty, but it will accomplish what I please, and will prosper in what I send it [to do]." Indeed!

I'll post my first verse this Friday, January 15. If you want to participate, come back then and post the verse you've chosen. You can choose the same one I'm memorizing, or you can choose your own. (Sometimes I choose a Scripture I've seen in a particular study, or one I heard from someone else and want to memorize.)

I can't wait to see how God uses these 24 verses in my life (and yours) this year!

"But if you keep looking steadily into God's perfect law--the law that sets you free--and if you do what it says and do not forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it." -James 1:25NLT (also one of my Scriptures for 2009!)