It’s March! Time for Scripture Memory Verse #5

Posted by madge

What? It’s already March? It’s hard to believe how quickly the time has flown by but easy to believe when you walk (or roll) outside and have 74° weather! I’m so cold natured that appreciation flows easily even when my body is asking me to remove a layer or two!

The advent of spring means the promise of fresh, new growth and so does our scripture memorization! Come on and join me with a verse – you can do it and I promise you won’t be sorry. Pick your own verse or join me with mine:

For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives… Col. 1:9 (NIV)

Last year my first March verse was short, sweet, and powerful:
March on my soul, be strong. Judges 5:21 (NIV)
I distinctly remember driving quite a distance to a meeting muttering that little verse over and over on a cool March evening. I was sleep deprived and weak, but this verse brought strength to my body and soul.

How ’bout a few memorization tips?

Set aside regular time – like exercise, brushing teeth, or bedtime with your kids (and their sponge minds!)
Use bits of potentially unproductive time like stopping at red lights, waiting for appointments or the carpool…or heaven forbid, ten minutes of television!
Be encouraged. You can do it! I’m cheering you on and praying for you!
Get a pawtner – Life’s more fun with friends, and a partner is great for accountability and comradery.

–Madge

Deciding to Simplify

Posted by madge

My friend Robin’s theme for the year is ‘simplicity‘. I’ve adopted it during lent, along with my 2012 theme of ‘decide’ (which I have decided not to write much about – yet). One way simplicity is breathing a calm focus in to our home and my heart is through clearing out excess and clutter by way of donations and unadulterated trash. Purging some of the neatly and not so neatly stored American amenities from our closets and drawers ‘simplifies‘ and will hopefully help our home and bless someone else’s.

The belongings that remain after such a clearing are more visible and valued. I’m not a ‘hoarder’ but to my dismay the clutter and disorder seem to want to…uh..take over like the entropy I learned about in high school physics (matter has a propensity to move toward disorder)! The disorder creeps in ever so slowly, seeming to be completely acceptable in the hidden places. For the most part our home ‘looks’ neat and uncluttered on the outside, but it doesn’t take long, if left unchecked, for the ‘untended’ and ‘unseen’ places to become a sanctuary of disorganized and unused ‘comforts’.

Oh, how many times do I collect and store treasures in the hidden places of my heart that beckon to be cleaned up, evaluated and either given away or set firmly at His feet? My gifts of encouragement, wisdom, loyalty, intercession and mercy need to be embraced and shared along with their victories – yeah, I can’t say it’s always easy – but my heart can ‘get‘ that side of the coin. It’s harder for me to share my struggles, hurts, worries, judgments, and lessons learned the hard way – it takes more effort and trust to untangle and release such things. But…yep, I believe sharing the disorderly rough spots in our journeys, at the right time and place, can shed great light on His successes and help others in unmatched and powerful ways. After all, what home can be full of growth and life without the disorder!

Lord, help me, help us, to take time to clean and clear the clutter of our hearts and help us share the gifts you’ve entrusted to us – that they may be the visible and valued even in the midst of impending disorder.

Make this your common practice: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed. The prayer of a person living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with. James 5:16-17 MSG

A Closer Look at Lent

Posted by madge

For the past several years I’ve enjoyed attending nearby churches for events, dinners and studies in addition to my inter-denominational home church. To usher in the Lenten season, I went to my first Ash Wednesday service. In the past, my observance of lent has been informal and solo. I’ve done devotions and such, but this year It is with a solemn heart of gratitude that I join the community of faith in observance of lent.

Last Tuesday a group of dearly loved friends discussed lent. We intend to read a couple of short daily devotions as we turn our focus to the cost of our sin and prepare ourselves for Good Friday and the Resurrection. We are from different church backgrounds and one, who was raised Catholic, suggested we not give up something that tends to only be a sacrifice for us – or ultimately benefit us, but do something that also helps others. Now I’m not knocking anyone who chooses to sacrifice sweets…that might even benefit others since we’d be healthier and perhaps not have added problems that cause debilitating illness – along with dental and medical bills! Anyway, she caught my attention with her ‘outward focused’ encouragement.

Trading TV time for other family and outreach activities, cleaning out ‘stuff’ for charities, making and writing daily cards, memorizing scripture, or giving up chocolate or Facebook impacts our hearts only if we allow God to change us in the process. The idea of lent appeals to me and hopefully my small sacrifices will deepen my awareness of the ultimate sacrifice Jesus made for us.

‘….perhaps our lives have fallen out of alignment with God. It is from this place that we invite the Holy Spirit to speak of things both good and bad that we’ve allowed to interfere. It’s those things we lay down for Lent. Some of these things are actually good things that belong in our lives that we’ve allowed to become more important to us than Jesus. Things we go to for comfort and life and in doing so deny Him. During Lent we lay those things down and give God permission to re-integrate them into our lives where they belong’. –Brian Hardin, Daily Audio Bible

Today I pray that you and I will adjust and become more aware of God’s sacrifice and his gifts of love, compassion and mercy.

The Bible Comes Alive – Scripture Memory #4

Posted by madge

I can’t tell you what blessing and power has come through scripture memory this year. It’s probably because I’ve been more focused and spent more time with it than ever before. My love for the word of God grows with each word that is tucked deeply in my head and heart. Etching those precious verses into the portals of the brain seems to light a fire within the heart. I stand (I mean sit! – haha) in complete agreement with with Proverbs that says:

All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty. Proverbs 14:23

Even though commitment to scripture memory means some hard work, it reaps a great and delightful harvest! Try it with me if you have not yet taken the challenge! My wise husband is partial to a wisdom packed Proverb any day! And me…I’m still hanging out with James, but will be on to somewhere else in the next month or so!

Oh, talk about a harvest, the book of James has downright gotten into my business, opening my eyes at one turn after another in so many areas like
– taming my tongue
– caring for the poor, widows, orphans
– not showing favoritism
and so much more. That James doesn’t pull any punches!

So my scripture is:

But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness. James 3:17-18