24 Verses in 2009

My goal for 2009 is to memorize 24 scriptures. How did this come about? It came from the Beth Moore and Living Proof Ministries. (Check out the LPM blog for details.)

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trails of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. James 1:2-4

I chose this one for my January 1st scripture. It spoke to me while I was reading the bible and then it was reinforced at church on January 3rd. The words joy, whenever, testing, and finish all jump out at me. Why did these words jump out at me?

• Joy - it comes from the lord.
• Whenever - not if but when.
• Testing - this is how we grow.
• Finish - don't look for the short cut but see it to the end.

Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:5-7

This is the verse I chose for my January 15th verse. I know most people know verses 6-7 but when I was trying to find a verse I knew I wanted to memorize a verse with the word anxious in it. So when I did a quick search on Bible Gateway, Philippians 4:6 came up as one of the search results. If you click on the link you can click on Philippians 4:5-7 to see the verse in context, which I did. Once I read it I knew this was the verse for me. This time when I was reading the verse I looked up the meaning of the words that jumped out at me.

• Gentleness - having a gracious and honorable manner
• Evident - easy or clear to see or understand
• Anxious - worried or afraid, especially about something that is going to happen or might happen
• Present - to give or hand something to somebody
• Peace - a state of mental calm and serenity, with no anxiety
• Transcends - to go beyond a limit or range

This verse is telling me I should give everything to the Lord and if I am truly doing this with trust then it can be seen to those around me. I know one of the things that frustrates me is when somebody tells me they have handed something over to God but you can tell they are still worried about. I can hear it in my head now. "I trust the Lord but I'm going to hold onto this just in case." I don't want that to be me. If I tell somebody that I have turned something over I want them to be able to see from my actions and my words that I trust the Lord completly and I am not going to second guess him.