It’s hard to believe that February is now here.

So begins a new month and if you haven’t had a chance to join us for memorizing scripture or just been busy, would love to hear from you and to have you join us this month.

Memorizing scripture, like anything else, is a discipline, be it memorizing a poem, or whatever it is that you are working on, but the best way to do so, is to either start small or find out from the many great tips that are out there, to work on scripture memorization.

If you’re like me, you might find memorizing even your own phone number a great feat, but no matter what it is, don’t give up…start small and just work at the pace that works for you.

If you would like to join me and others in memorizing scripture for February 2012, grab the February 2012 participation badge that is on the right sidebar, post about it on your facebook, twitter or blog to spread the word and more than anything, leave a link to your blog here!

Each Saturday on the Facebook page, we would do a weekly check-in to see how each other are doing, post words of encouragement and prayers and tips and advice to help with memorizing that can be help not only with just scripture, but hopefully, anything you are wanting to memorize!

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Well…..Whatever are the reasons, I hope you will join me either each month, or a month when you have time set aside to work on scripture memorization or even, through the whole year, and together, we can work together on memorization scripture for 2012.

From,”Why Memorize Scripture“, the following was poised to contemplate on:

“Is the Bible made up of the very words of God or is it a book of human wisdom?

Your answer to this question will determine your response to its teachings and will significantly influence your world view.

“I know of no other single practice in the Christian life more rewarding, practically speaking, than memorizing Scripture. . . . No other single exercise pays greater spiritual dividends! Your prayer life will be strengthened. Your witnessing will be sharper and much more effective. Your attitudes and outlook will begin to change. Your mind will become alert and observant. Your confidence and assurance will be enhanced. Your faith will be solidified” (Growing Strong in the Seasons of Life [Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1994], p. 61)

It is the starting point and most important doctrine of the Church and it will be a basis for the beliefs and practices of its members.

All other doctrine of the Church is based on the Bible, so if the Bible is not reliable then neither is the doctrine and neither is our faith and neither is our salvation.” 

As a follower of Christ, remembering, understanding and studying Scripture is part of understanding what the Bible is about, why we believe what we believe and like anything else that we seek to develop growth in, memorizing Scripture provides comfort to those who are followers of Christ and believe in our Father in Heaven and because of that, strengthen their faith and personal walk.

Nothing can be said better than as quoted from, “Why Memorize Scripture” the reason’s that a Christian would take the time to not just memorize, but along with memorization, read and study God’s

• We are told to be prepared to answer questions concerning our faith in Christ. (1PE 3:15)
• Paul was able to reason with non-Christians because of a knowledge of the word. (AC 17:1-4)
• Having the word in our hearts allows us to encourage and teach others. (CO 3:16; 2 TI 2:14-17)
• Knowing and using the Word teaches us right from wrong. (HE 5:13-14)
• It can increase our ability to distinguish truth from error in doctrine
• It will help our prayer life (John 15:7)
• Knowing God’s word allows us to study the Bible more effectively
• If we know the scriptures we can meditate on it anytime wherever we are. (Ps 119:97; Ps 16:7)
• It helps us to stand firm against Satan’s attacks.

¹¹ Your word I have hidden in my heart,
That I might not sin against You. (Psalm 119:11, New King James Version)

Learning scripture, for the follower of Christ, enriches one’s life with the words and comfort of the faith.

¹⁶ Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. (Colossians 3:16, New King James Version)

Remembering scripture helps us in explaining why we believe what we believe.

¹⁵ But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear; (1 Peter 3:15, New King James Version)

 

If you plan or if you are participating either through another blog or for personal reasons, to memorize scripture, I invite you to share, either here in the comments, or grab the participation badge on the right side and on your own blog (would be great if you would link back here to help spread the word too about this), share the following:

1. List the verses you plan on memorizing this month
2. What resources are you using to help you memorize those verses

For myself, for the month of January 2012, I plan on memorizing the verses, using the memory cards available at,”More to Be“. Right now, Elisa is having an “Immersed Challenge” at her blog and I thought that would be a fitting resource to use and who knows, it could work for you too!

The verses that her memory card covers and I will be memorizing are the following:

1. 2 Timothy 3:16
2. Romans 10:9-10
3. Romans 12:1-2
4. Ephesians 1:3-8
5. John 14:6
6. Hebrews 2:9
7. 1 Corinthians 10:31
8. Psalm 86:12

Some of the resources that I will be using is an app that is available on the ipod called Bible Memory Verse, that has:

• audio recording as one of its features
• flashcards
• several different versions of the bible to choose from

In addition, it was shared on the post, Scripture Memorization for 2012, an online program, called, Scripture Typer, (that is free and has a widget available for those who use blogger as their blogging platform), to help with memorizing scripture and so far from what I’ve seen, its easy to use and looks to be very helpful. I also love the fact it has an option that you can input the scripture you are memorizing and then print it out on business cards.

If you would like to join me and others in memorizing scripture for January 2012, grab the January 2012 participation badge that is on the right sidebar, post about it on your facebook, twitter or blog to spread the word and more than anything, leave a link to your blog here!

Each Saturday on the Facebook page, we would do a weekly check-in to see how each other are doing, post words of encouragement and prayers and tips and advice to help with memorizing that can be help not only with just scripture, but hopefully, anything you are wanting to memorize!

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Romans 8:25; Image by HeartLight Gallery

Life seems a lot about waiting and when its for a phone call, waiting seems to go from a few hours to almost eternity.

This image that captures, Romans 8:25, is something that I think so many of us can relate in all circumstances of our lives.

Maybe its that phone call saying we got the job.

Maybe its the phone call waiting for lab results.

Maybe the results of an important test or for many that letter saying you got into the college of your choice.

Waiting is so much a part of life, but the hardest thing to do at the same time.

The “Dictionary of Bible Themes”, goes on about this that,”Being prepared to patiently look towards God for his guidance and accepting the timing he proposes. Waiting on God can lead to an atmosphere of expectation and confidence in God and a realisation of the unreliability of one’s own judgment.”

Try telling a young child to be patient for their birthday or to open their Christmas presents, not going to happen, but for adults, that wait often isn’t as filled with fun as it is with anticipation of,”what if”,”what about” “what could be” and its both a struggle and a blessing to be holding on to that hope, in and through Jesus Christ, that our Father, Lord in Heaven, will see us through whatever it is that has us holding our breathes in……wait.

God doesn’t work on our time frame and that is okay at the same time; We live too much in a world of have to have it now, fast food drive throughs, make it quick, “I don’t have two minutes to spare”, rush rush rush, but in the end, God is in control….much better control, than we often are, where in our impatience, we rush into judgements, decisions and emotions.

So like many, we wait….we hope…and we just…have…faith.

Come join me and everyone else for “Word Filled Wednesday“;

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Light-hearted, filled with relevant scripture and encouraging,  ”O Me of Little Faith”  reminds us all of the human side of following our Heavenly Father. 

What I enjoyed most, other than the cute cover, was the reminder, of how, many of us, at some point and time of our lives, have those moments of doubt and how it’s not necessarily a bad thing, but often the moment, we often need, to motivate us toward re-examining and having a closer relationship with our Heavenly Father. 

 ”O Me of Little Faith”  is worth taking the time to visit the author’s website and discovering more about the writer behind, “O Me of Little Faith“ . 

When asked about what influenced him to write, “O Me of Little Faith“, Jason shared the following in an interview that was shared: 

Where did you get the idea for the book?
I was tasked with giving a sermon at my church a few years ago (occasionally I fill in for our pastor), and the best place to start when preparing a sermon is the question: What is God teaching me right now? And I discovered that I didn’t have an answer to that question. God wasn’t really teaching me anything. In fact, God seemed pretty absent from my life altogether. So for that sermon, I ended up speaking very transparently about doubt, and how there were times I struggled to believe in God. Based on the comments afterward, I found that a lot of people struggled with the same thing — only none of us ever felt like doubt was something we could safely address in church. We all hid our doubts behind a mask of faith and pretended we had it all together. So I thought it would be worthwhile to open up about my doubts and explain how I’m learning to deal with them — if only to let other doubters know they’re not alone. I wanted it to be an encouraging book, because the valley of doubt is a lonely place to be.
What intrigued me was what Jason had to say when asked, “What do you hope readers will take away from your book?

His reply was: 

That it’s not the end of the world to experience doubt as a Christian — even the really scary “does God even exist?” kind of doubt. That your faith can not only withstand doubt, but can even be strengthened by it. And that, as a doubter, you are not alone.
 

 ”O Me of Little Faith” does just that and reminds us, the follower, that we’re not alone. Even Thomas doubted. Moses hesitated, but what matters is we don’t move back, but keep moving forward, toward our Heavenly Father.

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 ¹ God is our refuge and strength,
         A very present help in trouble.
 ² Therefore we will not fear,
         Even though the earth be removed,
         And though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;
 ³ Though its waters roar and be troubled,
         Though the mountains shake with its swelling.  Selah  
         
 ⁴ There is a river whose streams shall make glad the city of God,
         The holy place of the tabernacle of the Most High.
 ⁵ God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved;
         God shall help her, just at the break of dawn.
 ⁶ The nations raged, the kingdoms were moved;
         He uttered His voice, the earth melted.
         
 ⁷ The LORD of hosts is with us;
         The God of Jacob is our refuge.  Selah  
         
 ⁸ Come, behold the works of the LORD,
         Who has made desolations in the earth.
 ⁹ He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
         He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two;
         He burns the chariot in the fire.
         
 ¹⁰ Be still, and know that I am God;
         I will be exalted among the nations,
         I will be exalted in the earth!
         
 ¹¹ The LORD of hosts is with us;
         The God of Jacob is our refuge.  Selah   (Psalm 46, New King James Version)

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⁸ But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. ⁹ Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. ¹⁰ For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. (Romans 5:8-10, New King James Version)

Today is Valentine’s Day.

A day that is set aside,once a year, to “celebrate” love, but how about celebrating a bigger, greater Love, that happens not just once a day or has to be placed on a calendar, but can be and is and should be celebrated 24/7.

It is the love of our Heavenly Father who loved us before we knew of that Love; It is a Love that many try to fight against acknowledging; It is a Love that is not conditionaly but offer freely to any and all who is humble and willingly to just open their hearts to Him.

How so?

Let’s take a look at what the MHC (Matthew Henry Commentary) interprets this passage to say:

Christ died for sinners; not only such as were useless, but such as were guilty and hateful; such that their everlasting destruction would be to the glory of God’s justice. Christ died to save us, not in our sins, but from our sins; and we were yet sinners when he died for us.

Nay, the carnal mind is not only an enemy to God, but enmity itself, chap. 8:7; Col 1:21. But God designed to deliver from sin, and to work a great change.

 While the sinful state continues, God loathes the sinner, and the sinner loathes God, Zec 11:8. And that for such as these Christ should die, is a mystery; no other such an instance of love is known, so that it may well be the employment of eternity to adore and wonder at it. Again; what idea had the apostle when he supposed the case of some one dying for a righteous man? And yet he only put it as a thing that might be.

 Was it not the undergoing this suffering, that the person intended to be benefitted might be released therefrom? But from what are believers in Christ released by his death?

 Not from bodily death; for that they all do and must endure. The evil, from which the deliverance could be effected only in this astonishing manner, must be more dreadful than natural death. There is no evil, to which the argument can be applied, except that which the apostle actually affirms, sin, and wrath, the punishment of sin,determined by the unerring justice of God.

And if, by Divine grace, they were thus brought to repent, and to believe in Christ, and thus were justified by the price of his bloodshedding, and by faith in that atonement, much more through Him who died for them and rose again, would they be kept from falling under the power of sin and Satan, or departing finally from him. The living Lord of all, will complete the purpose of his dying love, by saving all true believers to the uttermost.

Having such a pledge of salvation in the love of God through Christ, the apostle declared that believers not only rejoiced in the hope of heaven, and even in their tribulations for Christ’s sake, but they gloried in God also, as their unchangeable Friend and all-sufficient Portion, through Christ only. (Ro 5:12-14)

Alone? Think you are not worthy to be loved? To broken? In pain?

Let our Heavenly Father be your friend, your Father; He doesn’t say that things will change and stop existing, but He does give you the strength, the hope, the encouragement and the true tested way, to help you through this journey. He won’t leave you alone; He doesen’t think your unworthy….He does love you and it’s a love that is not so conditional that it’s ever to late.

But why wait when you can come to know Him now. So for this and everyday, come know our Heavenly Father’s greatest Love for you, for everyone.

God bless you.

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.

Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain.

Philippians 2:14-16 (NKJV)

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To find out more on how to participate in Sunday Praise and Worship, come here.

I finally was able to sit down and go through a cookbook I purchased.

I found something that I would like to share with everyone.

The person who put it there said He tried this 6 years ago and hasn’t gotten over it. I tried it 2 years ago and its the best I’ve ever had!!

Salvation Saturation

This is a recipe that almost all ingredients won’t cost you a dime.

However, someone has paid the price for you to receive it.

In order to make Salvation Saturation you must find a person who is lost in their sin.

Once that is located, the ingredients are as follows:
1 Lost Sinner
1 large Dose of Conviction
1 Gracious God (Provided free of charge)
1 Large Glass of Repentance
1 large Heaping of Godly Sorrow

The photo is not my creation but was shared through a Yahoo group.

1 Willing Savior (Provided)
1 Huge Portion of Grace
1 Bloody Cross (Provided by the Savior)
1 New Creature
1 Holy Spirit

Once you have all the ingredients the 1 large dose of conviction will be sent by the Holy Spirit.

It will begin to stir in the heart of the lost sinner.

 1 large heaping of Godly sorrow will make him see himself the way God sees him.

 The 1 gracious God has already provided the 1 willing Savior and together the 2 have made the way for large portion of grace and 1 heaping of mercy that was shed on the 1 bloody cross.

Once these ingredients have settled in the heart of the 1 lost sinner then the 1 large glass of repentance will be poured into the 1 lost sinner which will produce a beautiful new creature.

After new creation is produced- praise God!

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This is a weekly meme of mine to share scripture that just stood out in reading from the week or our Father just laid on my heart to share.

   
²³ Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. ²⁴ For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. ²⁵ For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost? ²⁶ For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory, and in His Father’s, and of the holy angels. (Luke 9:23-26, New King James Version)

Please feel free to share what scripture our Father may have shared or laid on your heart or share what this weeks “Praise and Worship” scripture means to you.

All I ask is that if you do participate, just “right click” and “save as” the linkback button on the side and link back here to Sunflower Faith and leave your name and link to your blog in the “Mr.Linky” below.

God bless you, Gentle Readers.

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It just felt like the right thing to do. As you can see from this image, I must have unravelled my current project,”The Never Ending Scarf” too many times.

I guess 4 times, but I imagine more.

The thing I discovered though as I’ve progressed with knitting and particularly since I gave up trying to be “perfect” and just concentrated on working on my current project is that, as my knitting progressed, I begun to realized how much our lives are weaved by the very hand of our Heavenly Father above.

¹³ For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. (Psalm 139:13, New King James Version)

Think about the image that the scripture evokes.

God, the ultimate knitter, knitting us; Nothing is an accident, everything has a perfect purpose.

I was thinking about this as I was knitting and realized that there are parts of the scarf, where some of the knitting was in perfect line; You could see good ribbing, but there were other parts where there were gaps, that though you may not notice it as well, I could clearly see them.

²⁴ Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer,

And He who formed you from the womb:

“ I am the LORD, who makes all things,

Who stretches out the heavens all alone,

Who spreads abroad the earth by Myself;

(Isaiah 44:24, New King James Version)

Isn’t our life a little bit like that?

There are days, weeks, months, maybe years when everything is working out well; Prosperity, joy, happiness and there are days,weeks, months and maybe years where it seems to be lean, sad, or tearful, but through it all, He still carries us through, knitting the bad, with the good, throughout it and never giving up on us, but continuing to carry us through.

For some us of, we may have started out strong, blessed with a solid foundation, and for some of us, maybe we weren’t blessed with a good start, or our lives were so loosely knitted that our foundation seems fragile, easy to break and for some it does, but rather than abandon us, He picks us back up, puts us together, and we may not be the same as we started out, but we all end, in and through Him, finished by His hands.

²⁴ Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer,

And He who formed you from the womb:

“ I am the LORD, who makes all things,

Who stretches out the heavens all alone,

Who spreads abroad the earth by Myself;

(Isaiah 44:24, New King James Version)

Truthfully, this is just a very simplistic way of looking at things and I must sound like I’m rambling.

I feel a little bit like that; My life isn’t and wasn’t perfect; There are some gaps here and there and places I had to restart from scratch but He, rather I knew it or not, and most of the times, till I accepted His gift of salvation, didn’t know it, saw me through many things in my life and I’m in debt and humbly grateful to Him now as I was and am, then.

I’m rough around the ages and constantly learning and growing in and through Him, and just humble and thankful that He is my Lord and He is my Saviour, without Him, I am nothing, for Him, He is everything in my life and the life of those I love and care for.

⁷³ Your hands have made me and fashioned me; Give me understanding, that I may learn Your commandments. (Psalm 119:73, New King James Version)

Because of what He has done for me and what He is to me, I pray and hope that whatever I am when He is finished knitting me, that I am always His humble servant, His tool for whatever He has plans for me.

I can’t give up on Him, because He has shown so much and so deeply how He NEVER gave up on me and wow, the love, the pursuit, the call. As I diligently work on this “Never Ending” scarf, knowing it’s not going to look as pretty as someone whose had more time and experience, it’s still, to me, a deep reminder, of what God has and is and will always do in my life and prayers that He is the same for anyone and for everyone.

From the MHC regarding Psalm 139:7-16:

We cannot see God, but he can see us. The psalmist did not desire to go from the Lord. Whither can I go?

In the most distant corners of the world, in heaven, or in hell, I cannot go out of thy reach.

No veil can hide us from God; not the thickest darkness. No disguise can save any person or action from being seen in the true light by him.

Secret haunts of sin are as open before God as the most open villanies.

On the other hand, the believer cannot be removed from the supporting, comforting presence of his Almighty Friend.

Should the persecutor take his life, his soul will the sooner ascend to heaven. T

he grave cannot separate his body from the love of his Saviour, who will raise it a glorious body.

No outward circumstances can separate him from his Lord. While in the path of duty, he may be happy in any situation, by the exercise of faith, hope, and prayer.

It’s funny, I know, but since I’ve worked slowly on knitting, as it slowly developed, along with it, a deep hunger and appreciation for our Heavenly Father.

Some things take time and stitch by stitch as the threads of our lives slowly come together, we can see as we look at the path our Father leads us down, where He has been and what He has done and with it, the excitement, the peace and the comfort of knowing that our faith and trust is just in His gentle hands as He knits our lives slowly, carefully and with love in His hands and through and in His word.

¹¹ For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. (Jeremiah 29:11, New King James Version)

Lord, thank You for Your love and Your Grace. Thank You for humbling me, for softening my heart, for leading me, for guiding me and I pray You continue to grow this humbled soul and to mature and to just be Your servant to Your word and way, Lord.

I’m not perfect, our Heavenly Father, knows that and all too human at times, and there are times when I’m doing alright and there are days when it seems I have missed a stitch here or there and the knitting in my life has a gap or come undone and I give praise to our Heavenly Father who steers me back where I need to be steered and fixes that which this mortal and imperfect soul can’t do without His rebuking and gentle guidance back to where I need to be going.

Heavenly Father, thank You for teaching this simple knitter, Your word and Your lessons.
⁵ Many, O LORD my God, are Your wonderful works

Which You have done;

And Your thoughts toward us

Cannot be recounted to You in order;

If I would declare and speak of them,

They are more than can be numbered.

(Psalm 40:5, New King James Version)

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