Memorizing Scripture

In America we take for granted the freedom of worship, but someday this freedom may be taken away from us......right here in our own country!  One day Bibles may be hard to come by.  Can you imagine?  How would we teach our children right from wrong without God's Word?  Moral relativism is a joke!  The Bible is the only answer!  We need to have God's Word hidden in our hearts.

Here are some ideas to help with memorizing scripture.  It's the most important part of schooling our children, and there is no reason why it shouldn't be fun. :)

Here we worked on memorizing Romans Chapter 6.  We drew pictures for each chapter which included a few words to help jog the memory.  When we were done we put them in a folder with page protectors.

For Christmas one year, we made a bunch of these books to give as gifts.  This was a fun family project.  We all drew pictures to represent a Proverb.  So on the 3rd day of the month you would read Proverbs chapter 3, and then holding up the picture, you would try to guess which verse in Proverbs the picture represented.  The book has thirty-one pictures, one for each day of the month. 

Can you guess which verse this picture represents in Proverbs chapter 10? :)

This is a picture of a poster Ben and Jonny made.  They drew pictures and pasted on art to help them remember the story of the Lost Son, which is a parable in Luke 15.

More recently we have been doing lap books.  If you are a homeschooling mom, you are probably familiar with lap books.  They are a very fun way to learn about a subject!  They turn schoolwork into an art project!  Here's a picture of one we did on Psalms 24.  I just printed off a bunch of clip art pictures from my computer and we added the verses...and some glitter glue - easy!   :)

And one on Psalm 1.

Our current project is "Building on the Rock", Matthew 7: 21-29.  We are making a book and will be painting pictures to represent the verses. 

This is probably our favorite time in our school day.  It's not just good for the kids, it helps me memorize too! :)  Have fun hiding God's Word in your heart! :)

Here are some good resources if you need ideas.

Are we pretending?

The book of Luke tells of a time when some Pharisees asked Jesus to come and dine with them. Their motives were to try to catch Him saying something that they could accuse Him of.  Before long there was a huge crowd gathered.  In the Lord's speech to them He revealed their hearts - their hypocrisy.  He told them that, "...there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known."

I often tell my children that what people think of us (our reputation) is not necessarily who we really are.  Who we really are, is who we are at home.  That's where is all begins.  That's where the hypocrisy shows up!  I have had many women say to me, "Oh Mindy, you are just so sweet, I can't see you ever getting angry with your children."  This always makes me laugh! :)  I tell them to go talk to my children! 

While none of us is perfect, I do feel strongly that, as Christians, we should be able to live in glass houses. We should be living by God's Word with the fruit of our works showing in our daily lives, not just on Sunday or when we are around other people.

It is becoming increasingly easy to hide from people these days.  With all the technology we have, we can work from home, screen our calls, and then use the Internet to write about how great we are.  Who really knows what our lives are like?  Obviously God knows.  He is the only One who knows our hearts and sees who we really are.  He is the only One watching all the time.  Do we live for Him? 

There are many things I love about my husband, but one of his greatest qualities is that he is not a fake.  He is who he is, no matter who he is around.  He doesn't pretend for anyone.  I remember in the early years of our marriage, I didn't appreciate this quality so much.  I was always the one to want to "jump on the bandwagon", "join the crowd", "look the part", or obtain some "image".  He always resisted such ideas.  It used to make me so mad, but now I see the wisdom in it.

The truth is that as much as we may try to pretend that we are a certain way, the truth will be made known.  The truth always prevails.  Furthermore, we will reap what we have sown.  God is watching.

2 Chronicles 16:9
"For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward Him."