Grace on Parade

Spreading the fragrance of God's grace everywhere

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Why Memorize Scripture?

What do you do when you are caught without your Bible?

Where's my Bible? You might get caught without it.
Where’s my Bible? You might get caught without it.

I grew up with the story about J. Russel Morse who spent several years in solitary confinement in a Chinese prison for the crime of being a missionary. Rumor has it that Morse had committed the entire New Testament to memory. Morse retained his sanity by quoting to himself huge chunks of Scripture he had memorized.

Our elders and teachers told us this story as a motivation for Scripture memory. “You can’t always depend on having your Bible with you,” we were told. “Someday we may be like the people in China and Russia who have had their Bibles taken from them.”

I listened, wide eyed. Imagine a life without a Bible readily available. It seemed unfathomable. While I agreed in principle that it was great Mr. Morse had memorized all that Scripture, the chance of that ever happening to me was beyond remote. Still, through church camp competitions and a special course taught at my church, I did commit a number of individual verses to memory.

I’m so glad I have. The reason for Scripture memory, always apparent in my walk with Christ, never became as clear as in the last few weeks.

eye surgeryDoctors opted to perform my recent surgery for a torn retina under local anesthesia. My family doctor and a former surgical tech assured me I would be sedated enough to be dimly aware of my surroundings without remembering anything afterwards. Wrong. I was “out” for the pain block that numbed the upper left quadrant of my face. Beyond that, I heard, knew, and remembered everything. I saw lights that were lasers and straight green lines that were needles. I heard the doctor ask for a bigger bit-head for his ultrasound instrument. I heard him ask his assistant for suture material. The surgery was lasting longer than he had predicted and he was obviously doing more than he told me he was going to do. I couldn’t take it anymore.  I began to repeat some of those Scriptures I had hidden in my heart.  The needles and the “shop-talk” slipped to the background.

Here are some of the verses that sustained me during that difficult time of endurance. Perhaps they can help you as well.

“I lift up my eyes to the hills—where does my help come from?” – Psalm 121:1 (NIV)

“So do not fear, for I am with you;
    do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
    I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” – Isaiah 41:10

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge Him
and He will make your paths straight.” – Proverbs 3:5,6

The truth of the matter is this. You don’t know when you may be caught without your Bible or your Bible app on your smartphone. It may not be ripped from you before you enter a jail cell. But you may have your glasses—or your sight—taken from you. You may be strapped to a surgical table or, as I was, face down for a week as your body heals. A power outage or a tornado may silence your smartphone. A traffic accident may fling your phone out of reach. There are many times when your Bible won’t be within easy reach. It may not even be you who is in crisis but someone else who needs you to encourage them with the Word of God. Even if it were in your hands, you wouldn’t know where to turn in times of crisis if you were not  familiar with the verses Scripture memory 2beforehand.

You don’t think you can memorize? Here’s an easy way to do it. Choose one verse, just one. Write it out several times and place it where you will see it. Repeat it to yourself every day, several times a day for seven weeks. Keep reviewing it. Soon, it will be imprinted upon your heart, ready for the Holy Spirit to bring to the forefront of your memory when you need it most.

In spite of the physical and emotional discomfort of being awake during that surgery, I’m glad I was. Near the end, the surgeon spoke to me. “I’m a cautious man and I don’t like to make predictions. But we’ve been able to correct some other problems with your eye and I think I can guarantee that you will see better than you ever have before.”

Psalm 37:4, a verse I’d quoted to sustain me now rose in praise: “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.” In the late summer of my life, the Lord is giving me the gift of improved sight. Yes, I’ve wanted better sight all my life, but early on, even as a child, I had surrendered my life as a visually impaired person to the Lord. He was giving me the deepest longing of my heart even though I had told Him years ago that it was all right if I couldn’t as long as He would stay with me.

Share with us. Encourage the rest of us. What verse will you memorize this week? What Bible verse has sustained you when you didn’t have your Bible nearby?

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Be-Attitutdes: Mercy to the Merciful

Sermon on the Mount LogoMercy can be messy.

Who should we show mercy to? And why was it so important to Jesus? How do we show mercy without enabling sinful behavior?

Let’s look at what Jesus meant when He said, “Blessed are the merciful.”

Prompt: Think about a time when someone showed you mercy.

Bible Passage: Luke 10:25-37

Key Verse:

“Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.” – Mt 5:7

Digging Into The Word

1. Define mercy.

According to Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, merciful means actively compassionate; a show of sympathy to those in distress or misery.

2. After Jesus told his parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10:25-37, he asked the law expert who was the neighbor in the story. The law expert answered, “The one who showed mercy.” How did the Samaritan demonstrate mercy in this story?blessed are the merciful

3. Jesus said we are blessed when we are merciful because God will show us mercy. Jesus echoes this reciprocal condition in other places. See Mt 6:14, Luke 6:38, and Eph. 4:32. Why does Jesus put this condition on His mercy to us?

4. Jesus’ audience had lived under a strict code of law. They also believed that those who were sick, crippled, or in dire straits were in that position because of sin. Why might Jesus’ listeners have a hard time accepting Jesus’ comments about mercy?

mercy5. Do you find it difficult to show mercy? When? To Whom? Why? How does one balance wisdom and discernment with mercy? Think about Mt 10:16 and James 2:12,13.

What’s Next?

Who is facing a difficult time or struggling with life circumstances in your circle of influence? Write down three ways you can show mercy to that person. Choose one to do this week.

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New Online Bible Study

Are you looking for an online Bible study?

Do you want to dig deeper into the Word but you don’t have a small group to study with?

Starting Monday, Grace on Parade will provide Bible study outlines that will help you get more out of your study of the Bible Unlike many online studies, I hope to help you discover the truths and applications of God’s Word for yourself.Bible Study

Each study will contain

  • A Scripture passage
  • A key verse
  • 3-5 discussion questions
  • A challenge for the week

Each study follows this general outline:

  • What is this passage saying?
  • What does it mean? How does it fit in with the rest of the Bible?
  • How is this relevant to my life?
  • How do I need to react to what this passage says?

How you can use this study:

  • Use it as a basis for your personal devotion time. You can go as deep or prolonged as you want to. You can think about your answers or write them down.
  • You can tailor your study to where the Holy Spirit leads you. Look up cross references. Study commentaries on the passage. Print out the key verse and place it where you can see it several times during the day.
  • Get a friend or two or gather your family to study and answer the questions together.

I want to keep this simple. I want you to be successful at bible study. That’s why I’m limiting my questions to just a few. I want you to actually stop and think about what you are reading and I want to resource you to take those thoughts with you through the rest of your week.

I’d love to hear your feedback! I’m an interactive kind of learner and I want to hear your reflections. Feel free to answer the questions in the comments section. Reflect on what others say. Let me know if this is useful to you and how you plan to use this.

Let’s get into God’s Word together.

Your word is a lamp to guide my feet
    and a light for my path. – Psalm 119:105

 

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Peter’s Walk On the Wild Side

What ever was the Apostle Peter thinking when he stepped out of that boat?

Cornelius HacklIn the movie, “Hello Dolly,” a conniving matchmaker maven, Dolly Levi, attempts (and succeeds) at rounding up four couples to dine at the Harmonia Gardens. Part of her plan is to hook up Horace Vandergelder’s chief clerk, Cornelius Hackl, with Vandergelder’s current beau, Irene Malloy. One small detail. Cornelius and the other clerk, Barnaby Tucker, don’t know how to dance. So, but of course, Dolly teaches them. Cornelius is ecstatic at his first few stiff jointed steps. “I’m dancing!” he exclaims to everyone in the shop. Then he promptly bashes backwards into a chair.

Unlike Cornelius, who had to be coerced to take dancing lessons, Peter engaged his enthusiasm before his brain. It had been a hard night. The apostles had just seen Jesus do His ultimate miracle – feeding 5000 families with five loaves and two fish. Then, contrary to their messianic expectations, Jesus commanded the apostles to get in a boat and leave, dismissed the crowd who wanted to make Him King, and disappeared to pray. Somewhere between three and six a.m., he walked on the water toward a weary, emotionally exhausted, and terrified group of disciples.

Not Peter. He had to test the waters, no pun intended. He needed to make sure it was Jesus. So he threw down the gauntlet. He asked a question that would guarantee Jesus’ verbal response. “Lord, if it’s You, tell me to come to you.” And Jesus said yes. It was His voice! So Peter climbed over the edge of the boat and . . . .

I can hear it. I can just hear the voice of Cornelius Hackl. “I’m walking. I’m walking.” I can see Peter holding his arms out in the same crooked way, taking step after step. In the thrill of the moment, his head swiveled, maybe to look back at the other apostles crouched terrified in the boat. “See? Toldcha it was Him.” But a large wave cut off his side vision. The boat rocked and the solid water beneath his feet swayed just like a stormy sea would. Peter saw the force of the wind and the rolling waves, and got a case of the willies. The water lost its resiliency and Peter’s body shot down into the murky deep.

Then he did a very sensible thing. He cried out, “Lord, save me!” Chiding him for his little faith, Jesus caught Peter, they got back to the boat, and the wind settled – just like that.

I used to think Jesus was hard on Peter. Give him a break. After all, the dude did try. That’s more than the other disciples did. And when he went down, instead of giving up totally or trying to save himself, he did call out to Jesus. He knew who was capable of saving him.

That’s the whole point of this story. The one who made it possible for Peter to walk on the water in the first place had not changed. He was still God’s Son. He still had the authority to do whatever. Come on, Peter. If you could walk on water in the first place, you could walk on a rolling sea. The same Jesus who solidified the seas can keep that wave from hitting you and could protect you from the force of the wind. Absolutely no reason to be afraid. Nothing could or would harm him. Nothing. Jesus was there.

How many of us are just like Peter?

Have you known children who at age twelve would volunteer for anything, truly believing that they could do whatever they were asked to do, clueless about any difficulties and confident, utterly confident, that they could handle whatever came along? How many of us have jumped into a new venture – a college degree program, a fitness regimen, a (drat! Now I’m getting personal) book writing project, teaching a Sunday School class, a friendship evangelism connection – and we hit the wall midstream? It’s like the backstretch of the 440 yard dash. You’re tired, your muscles cramp, others are passing you by, and this race is way too long. You want to sink and say, “I can’t do this.”

The obstacles loom and we become afraid. Afraid of drowning in our defeat. Afraid we’re in over our heads. Afraid that maybe we heard that voice wrong and it wasn’t Jesus speaking to us in the first place. Thinking we were foolish to try at all.

The same God who calls you to do His bidding will also provide you the resources you need.

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The same Jesus who helped you take that initial sweet step of success is also available and powerful enough to help you maneuver through the hurdles and land mines you’ll face in the middle of your mission.

He hasn’t changed. He’s still there. Jesus still wants you to succeed.

“I can do everything through him who gives me strength.”

 – Philippians 4:13

“It is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.”

 – Philippians 2:13

Or, as the ageless hymn, Amazing Grace, says,

“Twas grace that brought me safe thus far/And grace will lead me home.”

Reach out. Grab His hand. Go the distance. Jesus is holding His hand out to you.

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"But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him."
- 2 Corinthians 2:14