My Sword V24

"Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men." 
Col. 3:23

Sometimes, in my never-ending battle with the laundry basket and the dirty floor, I get a little discouraged about the seeming futility of house work. I chose this verse as a reminder that I am doing the laundry and cleaning the floor to the glory of my Lord because that is His work for me right now. Maybe someday He will ask me to do more interesting things, but for right now I am trying to do everything heartily for Him.

My Sword V23

"The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness."
Lamentations 3:22-23

I recently completed a Bible study on the Tabernacle. I think I've mentioned before how much I appreciate the ministry of Beth Moore. God really encouraged me through this study. One of my favorite moments, though, was learning about the manna that God provided each morning for the Israelites.

God provides mercy and grace abundantly, just as he provided manna each morning for Israel. He provides just what we need, when we need it, always. The thing that struck me was the reminder that the manna is always there, every day, just what we need, just what he promised - but like the Israelites in the wilderness, we have to participate - we have to gather it. God wants us to be active participants in this relationship with him, not passive recipients. How often do we go without the strength, grace and mercy that we need each day just because we do not take what is offered to us?

I chose to memorize Lamentations 3:22-23 to remind me to gather up God's mercies every morning.

My Sword V22

"Truthful lips endure forever, but a lying tongue is but for a moment."
Proverb 12:19

I remember telling my mom a lie when I was about five years old. The thing about lying to your mom is that you feel terrible about it afterwards. It is even more terrible when your mom discovers your lie and punishes you for it. I don't know if my mom remembers this pivotal moment in my life, but I distinctly do.

Our kitchen counter opened into the dining room area. I was standing in the dining room, leaning over the counter as my mom worked on the other side.

"I will never lie to you again, Mommy," I told her.

"You won't?" she asked in her gentle way. "Why not?"

"Because," I confided, "It isn't worth it."

I remember being fully convinced of that fact, and ever since have strived to make honesty an integral part of all of my communication. Anyone who says that a life lesson cannot be learned at five, take heed. I learned not to lie when I was five.

I love this proverb because it reminds me that the truth will ALWAYS endure.

My Sword V21

"This God - His way is perfect; the word of the Lord proves true; he is a shield for all those who take refuge in Him."
Psalm 18:30

I am drawn to the word "refuge." It may be one of my favorite words. I need refuge!

My Sword V19 & 20

"We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor for the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek."
Hebrews 6:19-20

I love the imagery of Christ going behind the veil of the holiest place. I love the thought that through his death, the veil was ripped in half and we can meet with God in the Holy of Holies. I also need to hear that I have a sure and steadfast anchor for my soul. What comfort!

My Sword V18

"We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ."
II Corinthians 10:5

My Sword V17

"And call upon me in the day of trouble. I will deliver you and you will glorify Me."
Psalm 50:15

This is my Happy Thursday for this week. I just know someone other than me needed to hear this!

My Sword V16

For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.
- II Corinthians 10:4

I needed to hear this reminder that my weapons have divine power! I needed to be reminded that I am on the Victor's side! Amen!

My Sword V15

For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh.
- II Corinthians 10:3

When I say I am "struggling" with something, it means that I am under attack. I'm bothered. I'm having a difficult time. What it should also mean is that I am actively fighting that attack! The first definition of struggle is "to contend with an adversary or opposing force." When I struggle with insecurity, I have to actively, purposefully fight against it with specific scriptures, reminding myself who I am in Christ.

This verse reminds me what I'm dealing with when I struggle... there is more at stake than what meets the eye!

My Sword, V14

Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.
-Col. 4:5,6

Oh, boy. Do I ever need reminders to keep my speech "gracious!" Sometimes, the Littles in my house get under my skin and pretty soon I can hear a harsh tone creeping into my voice. I hate to hear it! What's worse, sometimes Big Brother echoes it back to me! I've GOT to keep my speech gracious if I want to teach him to keep his gracious!

My Sword, V13

"For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him."

II Chronicles 16:9

I love hearing that the Lord is looking for the positive - he is actively seeking those who need his support! We are not only on the Lord's side, but He is on OUR side. Wow! Talk about win-win!

My Sword, V12

For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.
-Romans 15:4

This is going to be a story.

I'll try to be brief.

Or not. As the whim (and Little Brother's nap) takes me.

As you know, I've been selecting and posting my scripture memory verses this year. I've memorized two verses per month for the last two years, along with the Living Proof Ministries "Siesta" community. This has been huge for me.

The last time I faithfully memorized scripture was for the two-year period when my husband and I were dating. When we first started dating, he asked me to memorize John 15 with him. We did 1 verse per week, then started on Psalm 91. For some reason, we got out of the habit of scripture memory as soon as we got married. (Don't allow that to happen to you. The Older, Wiser Amy of now shakes her head at the Younger, Newly-Married Amy of 2005.)

The Hubs knows about my scripture memory, and he has been doing some on his own with an accountability partner for a while now. However, two weeks ago, he asked me if we could start memorizing together again.

Um, YES. {I hope you can see all of the little hearts floating above my head at this point, just like Sally from the Peanuts.}

So, we are going to take turns selecting a verse every week and memorize them together. Ergo, the verse above was his choice and I don't have a whole lot to say about why it was chosen. I don't think you can go wrong memorizing ANY verse, though, because at some point it will be relevant if it isn't today.

I will continue to do My Sword posts, though, especially for the verses that I select!

My Sword, V11

He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the spirit as a guarantee.
-II Corinthians 5:5

I don't know about anyone else, but I like the thought of a guarantee! Woot!

Over the last six months (or more!) my beloved pastor has been preaching/teaching out of 2 Corinthians. These sermons have been a lifeline for me in more ways that one. (You can listen to sermon audio here. Be prepared to be blessed beyond measure!) When we were homebound for so many months, I listened to the sermons online. Now that we're back at church, I still listen to the sermons online most of the time because I end up taking a baby out of the service. Praise the Lord for technology!

My Sword, V10

Teach me your way, Lord, that I may rely on your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart that I may fear your name.
-Psalm 86:11

The words "rely on your faithfulness" echo endlessly in my ears. Oh, that I would actually, visibly, truly, wholly, ALWAYS rely on His faithfulness! No more of this unconsciously relying on my silly self, but recognizing immediately when I am attempting to take over! I'm reminded of the Gnarls Barkley song "Crazy" whenever I start to deceive myself into thinking I'm in control:

Hahaha, bless your soul!
You really think you're in control?
Well.
I think you're crazy.

I enjoy the song because it reminds me of my brother Aaron (I can just hear him singing the tune and envision the way he would bob his head as he sang), but also because it reminds me that I am NOT in control.

Teach me your way, Oh, Lord!!!

My Sword, V9

For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the spirit is life and peace.
- Romans 8:6

I chose this verse because it is so easy (as I've written here) to get lost in the days and to start grumbling when I'm tired or have a headache or have to clean up the same.mess.for.the.fifth.time.today.
I need constant reminding that what we have here is only for a little while. I don't know about anyone else, but I also need me some PEACE. If setting my mind on the things of the Lord brings peace, then I need to be doing that every moment of every day, world without end, Amen!

My Sword, V8

"But godliness with contentment is great gain."
1 Timothy 6:16

As I seek to live a simple, quiet life, it is important for me to remember to be content. It is so easy, especially in our society today, to want want WANT WANT. Being content not only with what you have, but also with where you are in your life is not always easy. The grass isn't greener... we know that in our heads, but so often our hearts don't remember.

I was a working mom, and OH! How hard it was! I hated not being with my little love all day five days a week! Now I am a stay at home mom, and OH! How hard it is! I recognize that SAHMs have less time to themselves than working moms. A friend was recently asking me, "How do you like staying at home?"

"I love it," I replied.

"But didn't you like your job?" he asked.

"I loved it," I replied. And I did. I had the best job... it was a perfect fit for me. I got a lot of satisfaction from it. I enjoyed every minute of it and could have worked that job for the rest of my life as happily as could be.

"But you love not working?" he asked, as if he was trying to figure out how both could be true.

"I do," I answered, "Because as much as I loved my job, I love my boys more and want to be the one to take care of them. I will have lots of years to go back to work after they are grown. I want to enjoy this time as a mom as much as I can."

1 Timothy 6:16 is a good reminder to me of my own words on those mornings when the baby wakes up at 5:38am and I know my day is going to be LONG. This too shall pass, Amy. This too shall pass.

My Sword, V7

The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.
Ex. 14:14

I hardly need say why I chose this verse... there are so many moments in a day when I need to stop and be still and let the Lord fight the battle for me. Why, oh why, is surrender so difficult? For the last several years, it has begun to dawn on me that I am never without a battle of some kind. And if I am not actively fighting, I am losing. This verse will help me to remember that it is through HIS strength that I can fight, and not my own.

My Sword, V6

And hope does not put us to shame because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
Romans 5:5

Sometimes I feel as though it is impossible to love with the love of God as we are called to love. It is often easy to love my beloveds, but there are those people in my life that I find somewhat - ahem - difficult to love. "The greatest of these is Love," you know, but can I really love in my human-ness? This verse reminds me that because I am God's and His Spirit resides in me, His love has been poured into my heart. THAT is how I can love with His love... He has poured it into me! May I never stifle that love!

My Sword 2013

For most of my adult life, I didn't make scripture memory a priority. I knew it was something that I should be doing, but couldn't quite find the motivation to discipline myself in this way. When I was pregnant with my oldest son, I went through some emotional trauma that caused me to start meeting with an older woman so she could mentor me. She really encouraged me to memorize some scripture to help me battle some of the things I was facing, and picked out a few verses for me. One in particular, Isaiah 26:3, carried me through labor and delivery! From that experience, I learned the power of the memorized Word. There was no going back!

There is a reason that Paul called the Word of God "the Sword" in Ephesians chapter six! When I am under attack, I can recall scripture that I have memorized and actively fight against it. This became a HUGE part of ground that I gained in my spiritual life in 2011 as I battled against insecurity. I made it a priority to memorize scripture that I could use to fight against the temptation to feel insecure, and what a difference it has made! (Not that I have arrived by any means, but now I am fully equipped to do battle when I feel attacked.)

In January of 2011, I joined the Living Proof Ministries blog community in committing to memorize two verses per month in their "Siesta Scripture Memory Team" and found that a useful tool for accountability. LPM does the SSMT every other year, but for 2012 I went ahead and followed the same game plan. I'm excited to be doing SSMT again in 2013. (It's not too late if you want to join in... to find out more, go here.) I wanted to do blog posts about the verses I selected in 2012, but didn't make that happen. I decided this week that I would write a blog post about each verse that I memorize in 2013 under the post title "My Sword." I'm playing catch-up, as the year is nearly a quarter over already, but that's okay!

I try to select verses that apply to what I'm dealing with in my life at the current time. I keep them in a spiral notebook that I carry with me, and I say them over to myself whenever I can. When I was working, I would use my drive time as scripture memory time. When I wake up in the middle of the night, I say my verses. When I am doing tasks that don't require a lot of brain power (dishes, feeding the baby, etc.), I say my verses. When I feel under attack, my verses are at the ready!

I can't say enough about the power of the memorized Word. God's word is alive and active, and I'm grateful that I can infuse it in ME. Praise His name!

My Sword, V5

"Lord, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, O Lord! Renew them in our day, in our time, make them known; in wrath remember mercy."
Habakkuk 3:2

Sometimes, I feel overwhelmed by the evil in the world. It can be easy to forget that there is hope because we have chosen the side of victory when all we hear is doom and gloom and all we see is that life is HARD. I recently read a book in which a man of faith performed miracles just because he loved God so much that miraculous things happened wherever he went. (Perhaps I should review that book in another post--- it was a worthwhile read to be sure!) We see so few miracles in our day! Maybe that's because we have so little faith... or maybe the miracles are there, but we don't see them because we aren't looking for them! When next I feel discouraged by the evil that surrounds us, I will remind myself of this verse, and start actively seeking the deeds of the Lord!