A few weeks ago I sent you an email on the value of memorizing Scripture. Below I share a few thoughts and strategies that I think will be helpful to you as you dive into the Word!
Jesus said, “My words are spirit and they are life” (John 6:63). Think about that for a minute.
The words of Jesus were unlike any other words ever spoken. When the Bible says that “man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the LORD” (Deuteronomy 8:3), it likens the Word of God to spirit food. It feeds our spiritual man just like natural food feeds our bodies. This is how we become partakers of the divine nature. This is how we become “the Word made flesh” in our world (John 1:14).
The Apostle James says “receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls” (James 1:21). It’s amazing, isn’t it? The Word not only rearranges our thinking to align with ultimate reality, but it also gives us access to an alternate state of being!
Engraft Scripture into your life, so that it becomes a living and active extension of who you are. Memorize and delight in God’s Word. You can engraft passages on peace and experience peace in the midst of chaos. Engraft words on faith and fight off despair. Focus on joy or boldness and by doing so you become a partaker of the divine nature contained in those very words! By engrafting the Word of God into your soul, entwining it into your way of thinking, you begin to interact with and become one with the mind of Christ.
The more you practice this process, the more your renewed mind becomes open to words of knowledge, words of wisdom, discerning of spirits or any gift of the Spirit! Life in the Spirit is always supernatural but not always spectacular. We all love the stories of healings, miracles, and dramatic public displays of God’s grace. Yet, there is another aspect of supernatural living. Continuous peace and joy will fill your soul as you experience divine appointments and ideas that prosper you, bless others and bring heaven to earth. Focus on internal transformation and you’ll see results in every area of your life, both subtle and, at times, spectacular.
Here’s a quick technique for Bible study that works for me. Try these steps:
- Highlight or circle important words: A helpful tool that I often suggest to my students (and that I still employ myself after 25 years of experimentation), is to go through and highlight or circle key phrases in Ephesians, Colossians, and Philippians. Circle every time the apostle Paul says, “In Him,” “In whom” and “in Christ.” THEN personalize and breathe into your soul the overcoming spiritual power of the Word of God. EVERYTHING you need is available “in Christ” because of what He did for you. You are not the hero in this story—He is! Learn to receive from Him and He will make you the hero in your own story.
- Personalize key portions of the Bible: Personalize the part of the Bible that you most need in your life. If you are, for instance, experiencing irritation, heartache, grief and patterns that are difficult to overcome, seek out and memorize just one or two verses that speak truth to what you are going through. For instance, John 15 says, “If you abide in me and MY WORDS abide in you, ask what you will and it will be done.”
Want to know how to personalize Scripture for yourself? Here is what I prayed today!
“Lord, I thank you that you are in me and I am in you! I want your words to live and speak and transform my mind, my emotions, my imagination. I believe you are penetrating every layer of my life at a conscious and unconscious level. My conscience is keen to hear you—my path is enlightened by Your Word. My body and every cell of my being is quickened by your indwelling Spirit! You reveal to me what I need to know and you show me things to come!
“Your words are my meditation, therefore I believe you are shaping my desires and lining me up 100% with your will and plan for my life. If in any thing I am missing your will, I thank you for correction and direction as you reveal your truth and more excellent way. Your desires are shaping my desires and your thoughts are shaping my thoughts therefore I proclaim now that whatever I ask is going to be done because Your words abide strongly in me.”
Why not try this with me? Read aloud what I wrote and repeat it with 100% agreement and energy and watch what happens!
As One,
Lance Wallnau
We are taught to keep our Bible clean and regard them with great honor from the time we are children. We should regard them with honor, but the Bible is not just a nice book. It is a field manual for warfare. Notations, dates, highlighting, cross-referencing other scripture in the margins, listing promises He has made for specific issues in the back of the Bible…these are all trophies of an active relationship with the Word!
When I lead someone to the Lord, I also give them a Bible. Before they receive it, the pages are highlighted with encouraging scriptures for discipleship. There are also notes made in the margins for other related scriptures that will amplify the message. Scriptures that are important to memorize are listed in the back, along with the Romans Road to Salvation. Newbies in the faith are giants of evangelism if they know how to use scripture to lead others to Christ.
That Bible is thoroughly marked up and ready for them to begin the adventure of a lifetime!
I want to thank you for this article. It is just in time for me. I keep wanting to learn more about grabbing everything that I read in the Bible so it gets in my heart instead of my mind or just reading words. Over the years I have memorized a lot of scripture, but you have brought me to a better understanding and given a fresh new look at the words that I read. I am going to pray your prayer out loud and believe I will receive what I have been searching for. I Thank you.
Yes I needed to be reminded to memorize. My memory never had been very good and I used it as an excuse as I’ve gotten older. What a beautiful reminder to bring my mind to life!! I’ll have a war chest as I put this back in action. God’s word will renew my lazy mind. It will be strong and full of life giving word. Thank you.