Well ladies, it’s hard to believe,
but we have made it to the last blog entry for 2013. I could be wrong, but I’m betting we all made
it safe and sound…together. Thank you
for being a part of this adventure in Scripture memory this year. As I thought about this upcoming post,
realizing it would be the last one, I couldn’t help but review the verses that have
been my traveling companions for so long…
In Hebrews 13, I learned that the
God of peace equips us in every good thing
to do His will, and works in us that which is pleasing in His sight. In other words, if God has purposed for us to
do Kingdom work (and He has), He assumes responsibility to equip us with what
we need to do it. What’s more, He loves
seeing us grow through the process!
God, through the great prophet
Isaiah, impressed upon my soul the reality that He alone is God and there has
never been nor will there ever be another god but Him (Is 43). Amen.
In 2 Corinthians Paul reminded me
that all the promises of God find
their fulfillment in Christ. He is our resounding
and glorious “yes” from God. And let me
just say, I hung around in the Psalms like a beggar at the back door of a
banquet hall. There is so much to feast
upon within this book, and I devoured every morsel of truth I could find and
kept going back for more. Here’s just a
sampling of what you will find:
“You lead the humble in justice,
and you teach the humble your way. All
the paths of the Lord are loving kindness and truth.” (Ps 25)
“Forever, O Lord, Thy word is
settled in heaven.” (Ps 119)
“I will praise You as long as I
live and I will lift up my hands in Your name…for You have been my help, and in
the shadow of Your wings I sing for joy!” (Ps 63)
“The Lord is clothed in majesty and
armed with strength...Your statutes, Lord, stand firm; holiness adorns Your
house for endless days.” (Ps 93)
“Blessed be the Lord, my rock, who
trains my hands for war and my fingers for battle. My loving kindness and my
fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer; My shield and He in whom I take
refuge, and who subdues my enemies beneath me.” (Ps 144)
One final encouragement from the
Psalms that I received this year was this line that was penned about the
beloved King David. What was written
about him is what I want for all of us as women’s leaders to be said about
us:
“And David shepherded them with
integrity of heart; with skillful hands he led them.” (Ps 78)
As the pastors and shepherds of our
church, this verse provides us with the essentials for effective and
influential leadership: hearts of integrity and skillful hands. This is one of my prayers for each of
you.
Paul and I reconnected in 2
Corinthians again when he exhorted the folks in that feisty little church to
give thanks to God for always leading us
to victory through Christ and who causes our lives to be a fragrant aroma
for Jesus. And ladies, we all know the
difference between a fragrance and a stench!
Upon parting ways with Paul, I
traveled to the well-established land of wisdom through the book of
Proverbs. I learned that to build a
proper ‘house’ one must begin with the virtues of wisdom, understanding, and
knowledge (Pr 24).
I will say, the discipline of
memorizing Scripture has been well cultivated this past year, and I want to
thank you for being a part of this – together. Together is such a great word because it
implies companionship. We need each
other to get through this life well – and to remind us to do what’s most
important.
Ladies, as we journey with God and experience
the blessings of hiding His word in our hearts, we will surely have an
adventure of a lifetime! I want to
encourage you to continue cherishing His Word and hiding it in your hearts. There is no down side to it, and, it
strengthens us in ways nothing else can.
We are running a race – His Word provides us with encouragement and
endurance to persevere (Rom 15). It is in that spirit that I close our blog
with this thought:
The race is not always to the swift, but to those who keep
on running. (author unknown)
Thank you for running your races
well, ladies…keep it up!
My final verse for this year is Psalm 119: 15-16
I meditate on Your precepts and consider Your ways.I delight in Your decrees; I will not neglect Your word.
I thank God for each and every one
of you. May God richly bless your
faithful labor in His Word.
Woohoo! We made it together! After looking at my verses I realized I missed one back in October, so to keep up with the goal I'm memorizing 2 this time.
ReplyDeleteThe first verse if one Elaine shared above. It just set in my heart so peacefully, and I want to commit it to memory. It's Psalm 78:72, “And David shepherded them with integrity of heart; with skillful hands he led them.”
I am also going to memorize a verse Rhonda Houston so beautifully shared with a few of us the other day. I want my focus this Christmas to be on the Light that came into our world.
Isaiah 9:2,6
The people walking in darkness have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of the shadow of death
a light has dawned.
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called Wonderful Counselor,
Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Elaine and Teresa, what a blessing you have been to us this year!!
ReplyDeleteThanks guys for a fun journey! My last one Titus 2:11:
ReplyDelete11 For the grace of God has appeared, [f]bringing salvation to all men, 12 [g]instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, 13 looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of [h]our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, 14 who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.