Thursday, April 8, 2010

30 things and such

When I turned 30 this June, I started thinking of a "bucket list" for my 30s so I came up with 30 things that I want to do in my 30s. Some of those things I'm not quite willing to share yet, but one of them is that I want to memorize 300 bible verses. I have been working on Hebrews 12 for a while now and am honestly not that far.
This week I was really challenged by God to really take his word seriously. We had revival at the church I am attending here in Whiteville. The pastor was about 70 years old, and on the last night that I went without every picking up his bible began to quote the scripture and it was from one of the last books of the OT. He didn't just quote one verse but many of them. God's message to me was that 300 verses may not be enough. I MUST memorize His word, hide it in my heart so I might not sin against Him. I want to be 70 years old and able to recall God's Holy word the way Dr. Perkins did.In
In memorizing scripture, God will teach you things. I have been saying the first 7 verses of hebrews 12 over and over and trying to learn them and God is teaching me things as I say those verses
-Therefore since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses...throw of the sin that entangles: We need to get with it. Quit yielding to stubborn sin
-Keep your eyes on Jesus: He is the only way to finish the race
-In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood: Have I really, really fought hard to allow Christ to give me the strength to get rid of stubborn sin in my life???????
-Endure Hardship as discipline, God is treating you as sons: God really has my best interest at heart. Just as when my parents were strict with me (and now only as an adult do I see that they weren't being mean or unfair to me) out of love for my own good, God does the same. He disciplines us because we are his children

I didn't see all of those truths the first time that I read through Hebrews 12, but as i have repeated those verses over and over again, God has shown up and taught me. I encourage you to start memorizing scripture...it is our biggest weapon against the enemy!!