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By Rick Warren
“Whoever looks intently into the perfect law … and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.” (James 1:25 NIV)
If you’re serious about being spiritually strong and mature, the greatest habit you can develop is memorizing Scripture. In fact, the Bible says in James 1:25 that it’s one of four habits that leads to a blessed life.

Read your Bible. “Whoever looks intently …”
Review the Bible. “… continues in it …”
Remember the Bible. “… not forgetting what they have heard …”
Respond to the Bible. “ … but doing it …”

You don’t want to be a spiritual baby anymore. It’s time to grow up and live the blessed life you’re meant to live. Hiding God’s Word in your heart is an important way to start.
You may not think you have a good memory, but you remember what’s important to you. You remember the phone numbers and dates that you care about. I’ve heard people say they can’t memorize anything, but they can quote songs from the 1960s and rattle off the statistics of their favorite baseball players.

Memory is a skill you can learn. It’s a muscle you can strengthen. In fact, memorizing Scripture will cause your brain to have a stronger memory in other areas. I guarantee it. Study after study has shown this.

Why is it important to memorize Scripture?
You’ll always have God’s Word with you. When you need the Bible, it’s never around. When you’re tempted, you don’t have a Bible open or by your side. When you’re witnessing to someone who doesn’t know Jesus, is under stress, needs comfort, or is in a crisis, there’s usually not a Bible around. You need God’s Word in your mind so you can remember it and review it right when you need it.

You can meditate on Scripture wherever you go. You can’t review God’s Word unless you remember it. If you’ve memorized Scripture, you can think about it when you get into bed at night or as you drive to an appointment. You can think about the Bible because you’ve memorized it. That’s called meditation. The only promise of prosperity and success that God gives us in the Bible (Joshua 1:8) says that meditating on his Word is the key.

May the Lord bless us with good memories!

In Christ,
Jonathan

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Second fighter verse of our collection! Don’t be put off! Not all the verses are this challenging, some are harder! Really, if you’ve set out on this journey of study, don’t expect it to be a walk in the park. For those of us who haven’t memorized Scripture for a long time, it’s a little bit of a jolt, but …when Romans 12 says renew your minds, it means put some elbow grease into the job of mulling over what is true and right and this simply takes effort.

Moses is laying some ground rules for the people of Israel as they embark on a journey to become the people of God. They have received the ten commandments at the base of Mt Sinai and the book of Deuteronomy is a series of sermons given by Moses to prepare the people for their future.

What does God require of you?

A. Fear the Lord
B. Walk in His ways
C. Love Him
D. Serve Him with everything you’ve got
E. Obey Him.

Looks to me like a decent outline to meditate upon as we think about the “good fight” we are engaged in as a church. The next time the Holy Spirit reminds you, “I think you better act or respond like this; and you think, I was thinking something quite different; remember, fearing, walking, loving, serving, obeying all comes down to – “OK God; because you say so I will”.

May God reveal to you His good and perfect will for your life as you commit such verses to memory and in so doing, store them away for the day of battle.

In Christ,
Jonathan

To participate in believer’s baptism contact Pastors Jonathan Shanks and Paul Summers on 95242709 or office@ecbc.org.au

Our NEXT Baptism Service is being held on the 19th February at our 8:15 am, 10:00 am & 6:00 pm Services

Beach Night 

6pm -8.30pm

Bring $5 for dinner

Drop off and Pickup at the Church

See you there

What a privilege to know that we have been entrusted with the gospel and called to engage in the good fight of the Kingdom of God.

I’m sure you would agree that corporate prayer is powerfully effective; the hard part is getting there!

Please consider coming along to the auditorium this Friday 3rd Feb at 7:00pm for our first whole church prayer meeting of the year. We’ll be praying for a little over an hour and look forward to what the Lord might like to do amongst us. He has invited us all to come and ask for what we need. Lots of needs, lot of things to give thanks for, and a great opportunity to refocus as the year gets a move on.

Hope to see you there.

In Christ,
Jonathan

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