Scripture Memory 2010 #4

How are you coming on our challenge?  If you feel like you need some extra time on a verse, take it.  Do it again for another two weeks.  The goal here is to get His Word in our hearts so that we can operate out of that truth.  So give it time to go deep and do the work!  If you just decided to join us--come on!  Here is my verse for this time around...

John 17:3 (NIV)
Now this is eternal life: that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent.

This is in the middle of one of Jesus' prayers that is so rich.  This verse jumps out at me because it defines one of the core ideas of Christianity--eternal life.  God has put eternity in our hearts (Ecclesiastes 3:11), so part of being human is desiring something beyond our existance.  We seek it in vain in many different ways, and it is not just the benefit of Heaven.  Jesus said that eternal life is knowing God.   I heard Beth Moore teach one time that all the warnings and judgements of God are written in the Bible, but it is the wonder of God that we can never find the end of!  I love that!  I love it when I hear people who have been studying the Bible for years talk about what they have just learned and discovered about God.  That is eternal life in the here and now!

Another time I heard Beth teach on Proverbs 3:5-6 (this is another great verse to memorize if you are looking for one).  It says:

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.

She said you will lean on someone's understanding--your own or God's.  His is more stable to lean on!  "...in all your ways acknowledge Him..." Acknowledge right there means to know. So in all your ways, whatever situation you are in, know Him there. 

Finances tight?  Know Him there. 
     Kids acting up?  Know Him there.
          Achieve a goal?  Know Him there.
               Laundry about to bury you? Know Him there. 
                    Work tough?  Know Him there.
                         Grieving?  Know Him there. 
                              Tough to love someone right now?  Know Him there?
                                   Celebrating?  Know Him there!  Get the idea? 

Now this is eternal life: that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent.