12 FOUNDATION STONES - CLASS 1B MEMORIZING THE WORD OF GOD, PART 2.1 ------------------------------------------ Introduction ------------------------------------------ Testimonies on the power of the Word "I was in prison, and you visited Me" (Matthew 25:36). - As told by Kristina, missionary in Russia. Somehow a convicted murderer in a prison in the northern Russian city of Arkhangelsk got my address and wrote to me. In his first letter, he told me about growing up in an orphanage, and the hostility and mistreatment he experienced as a child. Resentment and hatred festered, and he ended up behind bars. A number of religious groups had visited his prison, he explained, but after talking with them he still wasn't even sure that God existed. I wrote him a brief account of the events that led me to know God's love, and we've been corresponding ever since. Following is a translation of an excerpt from his last letter: "Now I understand that the Bible is a marvelous book. It has all the answers I need and shows the way I was looking for. Jesus is changing me. I don't hate people or get upset with my guards or other prisoners like I used to. Instead, I try to talk to them about Jesus and find solutions to our differences in the Bible. Thank you so much for showing me the light and for giving me Jesus!" The comfort of the Word! One spring my mother drove to visit me at college. The highway she had to drive on went through a series of tunnels. Knowing her fear of tunnels, I was concerned about the trip. "Did you have any trouble?" I asked when she arrived. "Nowhere but the tunnels," she replied. "One was 2½." I asked if she meant 2½ miles or 2½ minutes. Mother's answer was, "Neither - 2½ times through the 23rd Psalm." ------------------------------------------ Section 1: Why Memorize? ------------------------------------------ We've seen how God's Word has the power to transform lives. It encourages and comforts us in time of need. The Word of God is the foundation of the faith upon which we stand. In our last class we talked mostly about how to read the Word. We touched briefly on memorizing, and now we'll look at it closer. The advice we're going to give you on memorizing God's Word can also be applied to anything else you're studying. If you're in need of retaining information for your studies or work, we think you'll find this class to be of help. Before we go into the practical steps, let's look at a few reasons why we should make an effort to memorize. > Why memorize? For your own spiritual strength and encouragement in the present - renewing your mind in Jesus God speaks to you through His Word that you have learned To help you share God's Word with others A Bible may not be available during the dark days ahead A weapon in your walk of faith > For your own spiritual strength and encouragement in the present - renewing your mind in Jesus The mind can be compared to a computer database: It has to be filled with something, good or bad. Our reflexes are mentally conditioned to react in a certain way according to what we have been taught or experienced. Jesus, by His Word, spiritually cleanses us and gives us something positive with which to fill it. Ephesians 5:26b - … with the washing of water by the Word. Romans 12:2a - Be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Psalm 37:31 - The law of his God is in his heart; none of his steps shall slide. Look at the previous verse. If the Word isn't in his heart, his steps will slide, and he'll get off the right track. Fill your mind and heart with positive, encouraging, strengthening, and faith-building thoughts from God's Word, remembering, memorizing, and quoting to yourself. > God speaks to you through His Word that you have learned The Lord speaks to us by bringing to mind the passages we have memorized. John 14:26 - But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. God knows His own Book better than anybody, and He can bring verses to your remembrance by His Spirit when you need it. If you've faithfully read, studied, and memorized, He'll pop the verses up in your little computer (mind) whenever you make the right connection in your programming. He's the best computer programmer I know, and He's given you the best computer ever constructed! One reason that memorizing is important is because it isn't always possible to read. Maybe you wake up in the night and you can't turn on the light without disturbing someone. Or maybe you find yourself in a place or difficult situation without your Bible handy. Or maybe you are too sick to read. The only Scriptures you'll have at those times (which could well be the time when you need them most) are the Scriptures you have committed to memory. It is also easier to claim in prayer the promises that the Lord has made in His Word when we know these promises by heart. 2 Peter 1:4 - By which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature. > To help you share God's Word with others Knowing specific passages and Scriptures also helps us in sharing our faith with others, as Peter advised: 1 Peter 3:15b - Always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you. The Lord's Word says that you should be prepared to give answers to those who ask and that you should know the Word: 2 Timothy 2:15 - Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing [dissecting] the Word of truth. There are times that you need to know the Bible and be able to quote it and find Scriptures in order to show them to the person you are speaking with. > A Bible may not be available during the dark days ahead The Bible warns us that in the Last Days there will be a great famine for the Word of God. Amos 8:11–12 - "Behold, the days are coming," says the Lord God, "That I will send a famine on the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the Words of the Lord. (12) They shall wander from sea to sea, and from north to east; they shall run to and fro, seeking the Word of the Lord, but shall not find it. Some day the only Word of God we have may be what we've implanted in our hearts. Having memorized Scriptures, we will be able to quote them in times of trouble. Nobody will ever be able to take away the Word of God you have hidden in your heart! > A weapon in your walk of faith Hebrews 4:12 - For the Word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. As we're going to talk more about later in the course, a follower of Jesus' teachings will find that his life is not always easy. Jesus Himself suffered opposition - spiritually from the Devil (Matthew 4:1–10) and physically from His enemies. God has given us His Word to use as our spiritual weapon to fight the battles that beset us. It's up to us to memorize and use it. (continued in part 2)