So, remember how I wrote this nice blog post in mid-January about joining up with Beth Moore’s Siesta Scripture Memory Team and how I was going to memorize two verses a month to round out the year with knowing 24 Bible verses by heart?
Yeah. That.
I completely fell off the memory verse bandwagon and I’ve been feeling very guilty about it. But just because I fell off the bandwagon doesn’t mean I can’t hop back on, right?
Right.
So I am back on track and I have FOUR verses to share with you all. I have the first two memorized and I’m working on the second two. Now that I’m back on track, I’m finding such joy in finding verses that hold meaning to me and speaking them aloud a few times a day. They comfort me and help me to put my focus back on what truly matters.
“So then, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you may do, do it all for the honor and glory of God.” (1 Corinthians 10:31 AMP)
Over the past few months, I have felt myself repeating a version of this verse in my head as I pull into the parking lot at work. The idea of everything I do – even the things I have to do that I don’t want to do – should be done for God’s glory. Work is on the upswing right now, but there were many, many weeks when I was very unhappy and had a lot of anxiety about my job. I felt connected to this verse. While God doesn’t want us to be miserable, I think it also is important to realize that we need to put our full effort into whatever we are doing. I need to approach my job as doing something to honor God, to glorify Him. I think once I started wrapping my head around that and realizing it’s for Him, frustrations and annoyances started leaving, little by little.
There are so many more actions you can tack onto this verse. It’s not only about doing those things you don’t want to do. So then, whether I write or read or talk or clean or exercise or eat or laugh or sing or dance or love… do it all for the glory of God.
“I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth, you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” John 16:33 (NLT)
This is one of my favorite Bible verses. It’s a great comfort to me when I’m facing troubles of my own, but I’ve never fully memorized it. It’s a longer passage than I’m used to, but it holds such a great message. We will face troubles, we will face sorrows. Following Jesus is not meant to be easy, but we have such peace in His guidance. I know I feel so much lighter when I know I’m following in His footsteps, and not trying to do this all on my own.
I love that last sentence. I say it with drama.
TAKE HEART! I have OVERCOME the world!
He has overcome it. He has battled it and defeated it. He carried the cross, He took the nails, He died for me. And He rose. He lived. He overcame.
“Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” 1 Peter 5:8 (NIV)
I love this verse. I can’t remember how I found it, but this version of it paints such a vivid picture for me. I have felt attacks on my spirit lately and it leads me to feel far away from God. This verse reminds me that I need to be aware and on alert – the enemy is looking for my weaknesses, he’s ready to pounce at any moment. I can’t – won’t! – let him win.
“Commit your actions to the Lord, and your plans will succeed.” Proverbs 16:3 (NLT)
I’ve been focusing on the New Testament for all of my verses so far, and I wanted to sneak in a Proverb into my studying. This one is just me in a nutshell. I am huge on setting goals. I just can’t fathom a life where I’m not setting goals and working to achieve them. Lately, though, I seem to be setting goals and then not putting in the work that needs to be done to achieve them. I’ve been lazy and unmotivated, to be as honest as I can be.
So when I stumbled on this verse while searching for a Proverb, my eyes lit up. It felt as if was written exactly for me. Is that what I’ve been missing? Is it because I haven’t been coming to God with my plans and asking for His help and guidance with them that they’ve fallen apart? This verse tells me that I need to have God on my side with all my goals, no matter how trivial they seem. Think about it: do I want to have His help on my side, or not? If my goals are aligning with His will, He’s going to help me see them through to completion.
What verse/saying/mantra gets you through a tough time?
OH MY GOSH I STINKING LOVE THE LION VERSE! Sorry, that’s just one of my favorite verses, so I totes nerded out when I saw it. 🙂 I love it mostly because I feel like it is a warning from God to put on my kick-ass lady cape. I don’t know, maybe I shouldn’t have said ass, but there is really no other word that fully captures the way I feel when I read that verse. Also, it took me a long time to appreciate the value of “do it all for the honor and glory of God.” I struggled with it all through college, especially with my job, and even right after I graduated and was working full-time, completely thrust into the real world. I was grumpy a lot and even had some customers who complained about me, which sharpened me up fast. No one likes to be complained about. It made me feel like such a turd. I’ve noticed lately that, even though banking is not where I wish I was right now in terms of a job, that I’ve been handling myself with customers a lot better. I know a lot of it has to do with maturity, so I’m glad that something in me is changing for the better, that I’m rising to the occasion even when I wish the occasion pertained to something else more in line with my interests. But maybe that is the point of it all, learning the lesson of doing something necessary even when it’s not desirous.
Fun fact: when I picked that verse and saw that version of it, I immediately thought of you! I figured you would love it and now that I know it’s your favorite verse – that is AMAZING! 🙂
It’s really been the verse I’ve needed to keep repeating to myself this week when anxiety creeps in. And it’s just an awesome visual!
I still really only have the one verse from Jeremiah that gives me comfort, but I do like that John quote as that applies to me right now as I am definitely in the midst of a lot of struggles…
Yes, John 16:33 is a great verse when you’re going through something tough. He never promised our life would be easy, but He remains true to who He is. He’ll see you through this and help you understand why He asked you to be in a trying season. Hugs!