Hide it In Your Heart

Recently, it was brought to my attention that there is a difference between memorizing scripture and hiding it in your heart. Yes, the two go hand in hand but the more I thought about it I knew that my friend was right. There is a difference! So that's what I am going to talk about today.

According to dictionary.com, memorize is #1 to commit to memory (I don't particularly care for definitions that use the defined word in them--thanks Dr. Fessler!) and #2 to learn by heart.

How many of us have memorized Bible verses to meet mission trip requirements or to earn stickers at Vacation Bible School? Do you remember them later? Maybe. Maybe not. We know them front and back and can recite them upon command--at least for a little while. But is that hiding them in our heart?

Psalm 119:11 says, "I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you." The Hebrew word for hidden used here is tsaphan (tsaw-fan'). It means to hoard, protect, and treasure. It goes way beyond committing something to rote memory.

I believe that you can memorize a verse without hiding it in your heart, but you can't tsaphan (treasure, protect) a verse until you have first committed it to memory. If you are hiding scripture in your heart, you are putting it there intentionally with the purpose of guarding it from being stolen and to protect it as a vital part of yourself.

Are you hiding scripture in your heart or are you just memorizing it?

Share a verse that you have hidden in your heart. Wednesday, I will talk about a few of my life verses that I have hidden in my heart.

Better is One Day

In my quiet time this morning, I was reading from Psalms. I love the fact that many of the Psalms and other scripture have been put to music. Even as I was reading the words of Psalm 84, the songs resonated in my heart and my mind. They go with me everywhere because they are a part of me. That scripture (even if I never remember the reference) is a part of me and goes with me. I guess this speaks so deeply to me because of the big role that music has always played in my life. My high school French teacher once made the statement that I would remember anything that was set to music and it's true! To this day, I still remember which French verbs are conjugated with Etre. Think how much greater it is that thanks to so many talented singers and songwriters, I can remember scripture through music.

"Better than One Day" is a song written from portions of Psalm 84, which I read today. Enjoy the link below (a version by one of my favorite bands--Kutless) and maybe the scripture from Psalm 84 will stick with you too.



More Resources:

Psalm 84

 ¹ How lovely is your dwelling place,
   LORD Almighty!
² My soul yearns, even faints,
   for the courts of the LORD;
my heart and my flesh cry out
   for the living God.
³ Even the sparrow has found a home,
   and the swallow a nest for herself,
   where she may have her young—
a place near your altar,
   LORD Almighty, my King and my God.
⁴ Blessed are those who dwell in your house;
   they are ever praising you.^[c]

 ⁵ Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
   whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.
⁶ As they pass through the Valley of Baka,
   they make it a place of springs;
   the autumn rains also cover it with pools.^[d]
7 They go from strength to strength,
   till each appears before God in Zion.

 ⁸ Hear my prayer, LORD God Almighty;
   listen to me, God of Jacob.
⁹ Look on our shield,^[e] O God;
   look with favor on your anointed one.

 ¹⁰ Better is one day in your courts
   than a thousand elsewhere;
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
   than dwell in the tents of the wicked.
¹¹ For the LORD God is a sun and shield;
   the LORD bestows favor and honor;
no good thing does he withhold
   from those whose walk is blameless.

 ¹² LORD Almighty,
   blessed is the one who trusts in you.

Dealing with Weight Issues & Food Addictions

Yesterday, I started reading "Idol Eyes" by Mandisa. For anyone who doesn't know, Mandisa is an AMAZING Christian music artist. She has the most beautiful voice and even better than that she is a beautiful person inside and out. Like most people I was introduced to Madisa through the TV show American Idol. Although Mandisa didn't win, she was a very well known contestant for 3 reasons. #1 She was an outspoken Christian witness. #2 She rocked her vocals almost every week she performed. #3 After she left her audition, Simon made comments about her weight.



In reading her book, I am beginning to understand a little more about her world and her struggles with eating and being overweight. These are not things that are foreign concepts to me. I know exactly where she is coming from. Although I don't look it, I am just over 100lbs over my healthy weight range (although I really hate the whole BMI scale because it doesn't take into account build and muscle mass). Also, my husband, Jimmy, deals with major weight issues.

For the past 19 months, Jimmy and I have been making major life adjustments when it comes to eating and exercising. I have to admit that Jimmy is doing much better than I am. When it comes to food I find that I cave WAY too easily. Mandisa would say that we are both "addicted to food" and it's true. It's not that I eat when I am stressed. I eat when I am bored and when I socialize. Unfortunately those two things happen often which makes temptation great. The question is...

How do you overcome an addiction to food?

The only true solution is to trust God and work really hard to overcome it with His help. Does that make it easy? No way! To believe that just because you asked for God's help your struggles are automatically going to go away is naive. God equips us to "do all things through Christ who gives [us] strength." (Phil. 4:13)

Practical Tips for Overcoming a Food Addiction:

1. Eliminate Easy Access

If you are a snacker, throw away all your junk food. Get it out of the house, apartment, office, car, or other snacking locations. If you really must have something try replacing it with healthier foods.

2. Find a Support Network

You need people who support you and will pray for you as you try to make lifestyle habits that will help you overcome your food addictions and weight problems. If there isn't anyone to ask you the hard questions then what's to stop you from falling right back into your bad habits?

3. Make a Plan

If you fail to plan then you plan to fail. Create a food plan. Know what foods and how much of them are okay to eat. Plan to exercise. Plan to report in to your support network. Plan your benchmarks and goals. Plan to succeed.

4. Pray and Memorize Scripture

This really could be number one but I like to list this hear because by the time you do the other three steps you will have more specific prayer needs and you will know what kinds of weaknesses you need to memorize scripture to help you with.

Although it won't be easy, you can succeed. You might mess up but it you get up and get back on track then you can keep going. God wants you to succeed. He wants you to find freedom in Him. He will give you the tools. Just ask Him. That's a great place to start!

Back to School

School time again! The children groan and I rejoice. I don’t know about you, but I LOVE school! I know…I’m weird. Even as a child, I was excited for summer but two weeks in I was ready for school to begin again. I have an undying curiosity and thirst for knowledge. I think that’s part of the reason I enjoy reading as much as I do (although I have to admit I squander that passion by primarily reading fiction).

A year ago, I returned to college and began taking classes part-time while I worked full-time. This semester I have three classes, and as I prepared for my class tonight I had a thought. God wants us to be lifetime students. What?! Yuck! Eew. You’ve got to be kidding me! No way! No. It’s true. God wants us to be lifetime students.

In 2 Timothy 2:15 (nasb) it says, “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.” In the King James translation this verse begins with the word study. God wants us to have good study skills when it comes to reading, learning, and remembering His word. We don’t want to fail the tests of life because we haven’t spent enough time studying the material! In Psalm 119:11 the psalmist wrote, “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” The best way to hide God’s word in your heart is through reading it, studying it, and memorizing it.

I know being a lifetime student doesn’t appeal to everyone, but there are so many benefits to being a student of God’s word! Don’t let your own dislike for school to rob you of the lifelong blessings that come from seeking the face of God through studying His word. Start today and never stop studying!

Why It's Hard to be Popular in Ministry

One of the struggles that is faced by many husbands and wives in ministry is the question, “Do people like me?” or it might be “Are people going to hate me if I tell them the truth?”. Why is it that it’s so hard to be popular when you are in ministry. It’s not that I miss being popular because I was never one of the popular crowd, but I don’t want to feel like people are constantly mad. I want to at least feel like people like me most of the time.


It’s hard to keep your hopes in this arena when it’s your job and your ministry to tell people what the Bible says about how we should live, the lifestyle and friendship choices we should be making, and how we should be looking to God’s will for our lives before all else. People just don’t want to hear it. They come to church to get their ears tickled and to come away from the experience with a warm fuzzy feeling about God. What were you thinking that you would actually tell them something that steps on their toes!


Jimmy and I specialize in students. So some of the areas that we often find we are not too popular in are…

Modesty:

“Likewise, I want women to adorn themselves with proper clothing, modestly and discreetly, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly garments, but rather by means of good works, as is proper for women making a claim to godliness.” 1 Timothy 2:9-10

Friendship:

“The righteous should choose his friends carefully, for the way of the wicked leads them astray.” Proverbs 12:26

Entertainment:

“I will set before my eyes no vile thing. The deeds of faithless men I hate; they will not cling to me.” Psalm 101:3

Relationships:

“Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?” 2 Corinthians 6:14 ESV

“Do not be deceived: ‘Bad company ruins good morals.’” 1 Corinthians 15:33 ESV

Just like adults, teenagers don’t like to be told that they might have been wrong or made a bad decision. Instead of stopping for a minute to listen and see what God has to say about the matter (I don’t expect them to just take my word for it!) they just get angry and decide that they don’t want to talk to you, spend time with you, or listen to you anymore. That’s why I find it exceedingly hard to be popular in ministry.

“Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.” Ecclesiastes 12:13 & 14

God Doesn't Give Up

"It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect." Psalm 18:32

I hope I am not alone in saying that each and every day can be a struggle. As a Christian, I struggle to live a life worthy of the calling I have received (Eph. 4:1), I strive to be holy as God is holy (1 Peter 1:16), and to let no unwholesome talk come from my mouth (Eph. 4:29). Let's just say that there are days, like yesterday, where I fail miserably.

When I have days like that I just want to give up. I find myself asking, "Wouldn't it just be easier if I weren't a Christian and didn't believe in God? Then I could live however I want!" Yet when I think about all the times that God has proven over and over and over again that He is there for me when no one else has been, I know that I could never have made it without Him. Quite frankly, if I was not a Christian I probably would have committed suicide a long time ago! This life just isn't worth it without God.

BUT today I want to take a moment to stand on the promises. In Psalm 18:32, God promises to arm us with the strength that we need to make it through this moment, this day, this week, this month...I hope you get the picture...and HE is the one who will make our ways perfect. Why do we fail so often? Why do we get so frustrated? It's because we are trying to do it all in OUR strength instead of relying on the strength that God will arm us with if we ask Him and let Him.

Let go and let God!

Standing on the Promises

Words & Music: R. Kel­so Car­ter, in Prom­is­es of Per­fect Love, by John Swe­ney and Kel­so Car­ter (Phil­a­del­phia, Penn­syl­van­ia: John J. Hood, 1886)

Standing on the promises of Christ my King,
Through eternal ages let His praises ring,
Glory in the highest, I will shout and sing,
Standing on the promises of God.

Refrain

Standing, standing,
Standing on the promises of God my Savior;
Standing, standing,
I’m standing on the promises of God.

Standing on the promises that cannot fail,
When the howling storms of doubt and fear assail,
By the living Word of God I shall prevail,
Standing on the promises of God.

Refrain

Standing on the promises I now can see
Perfect, present cleansing in the blood for me;
Standing in the liberty where Christ makes free,
Standing on the promises of God.

Refrain

Standing on the promises of Christ the Lord,
Bound to Him eternally by love’s strong cord,
Overcoming daily with the Spirit’s sword,
Standing on the promises of God.

Refrain

Standing on the promises I cannot fall,
Listening every moment to the Spirit’s call
Resting in my Savior as my all in all,
Standing on the promises of God.

Refrain

the Battle of Scripture Memory

Finally! I get a chance to sit down and breathe! I know we have all felt this way. Between church, family, full-time jobs/full-time parenting, and who knows what else so many of us have very little time or mind power to spare. We multi-task and work thru lunch so often we don’t know what it means to have a moment of peace. Here I am in the middle of one of those weeks, and I suddenly realized something…When was the last time I took the time to memorize scripture?

Really? What’s the Big Deal?

You might be snickering in derision at my big epiphany or you might now be wondering “What’s the big deal? I read my Bible. Why do I need to memorize it?” There are so many other things we give priority over this valuable spiritual discipline that very few Christians still realize just how important scripture memory really is.

Why Scripture Memory IS a Big Deal

Take a minute and hear me out. I believe there are two reasons that scripture memory is a big deal.

Number 1: God Commanded It

What better reason is there to do something than God telling you to do it?! In Proverbs 7:2-4 says, “Keep my commands and you will live; guard my teachings as the apple of your eye. Bind them on your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart.” Very few things were actually written down at the time that these verses were written and the things that were written down were of the utmost importance. Therefore, when God tells them to “write” His commands on the tablets of their hearts, it conveys a deep sense of importance and significance.

Number 2: It Gives Us the Strength to Keep Going

As I think about continuing on the path God has laid out for my life, I think of Ephesians chapter 6. Although the words “memorize scripture” never appear in this passage we do see the importance of Truth. In verse 14, Truth is compared to the belt in the armor of a Roman Centurion. A Centurion’s belt was 6 to 8 inches wide. It allowed freedom of movement. Most importantly, it held all the other pieces of the armor together and all of the soldier’s weapons were attached to it. In the same way, Truth holds us together and gives us the weapons we need to fight the daily battles that crop up in our way.

Practical Application

Although there are many other reasons that scripture memory is important, I just wanted to focus on these two because they speak for themselves. Now the question is, how can you practice scripture memory in your busy life?

* Tape an index card with this week’s memory verse on it to a place you look multiple times a day. Each time you look at this card take the time to read thru the verse. Some locations I have heard of are the refrigerator, the side of your computer monitor, the bathroom mirror, and in the shower (although I suggest laminating the card for this one).

*Write and copy the verse on paper 7 times each day for one week. I have heard this works best if you do it during your quiet time and you make all 7 copies at the same time.

*Memorize small but important pieces of scripture. It will be much easier to memorize John 3:16 & 17 rather than the whole chapter of John 3. Start small you can always go bigger later.

“Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then…” Ephesians 6:13-14a