Memorizing The Sermon on the Mount

Well, I have taken a long break from memorizing scripture...And I am ready to get back into it. I really feel memorizing chunks of scripture helps me to understand the Bible and God's Words.

While I made it through most of the chapter 5 of Matthew, the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount, I am going to have to start over a little bit for review purposes.

So I will start again with the Beatitudes. I hope to post each day the verse I am working on. For a while, I will be reviewing, so I will be taking bigger chunks to work on each day. After I get to the place that I stopped, I will just be doing one verse a day.

My inspiration for memorizing whole chapters and books of the Bible comes from Janet Pope. I heard her a few years ago on Revive our Hearts and it was very inspiring. You can listen to her here. I then read her book, which I am now reading again, His Word in My Heart by Janet Pope. I was then able to interview her on JOY Blog and learn more about her, By Faith - Janet Pope. I hope this is inspiring to you. Please join in memorizing! Here is another JOY Blog article that I wrote about Bible Memorization. Please check out the link that I have put in this paragraph!

Here is the first part:

Matthew 5:1-12

¹ Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, ² and he began to teach them, saying:
   ³ “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
   for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
⁴ Blessed are those who mourn,
   for they will be comforted.
⁵ Blessed are the meek,
   for they will inherit the earth.
⁶ Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
   for they will be filled.
⁷ Blessed are the merciful,
   for they will be shown mercy.
⁸ Blessed are the pure in heart,
   for they will see God.
⁹ Blessed are the peacemakers,
   for they will be called sons of God.
¹⁰ Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
   for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
   ¹¹ “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. ¹² Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Matthew 5:1-16

Hey friends!
Right now I am memorized the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) with a friend. I thought I would share how far I have gotten!

This is Matthew 5:1-16 based on NIV, but slightly in "Mandy version".

Now when He saw the crowds of people, He went up on the mountain side and sat down. His disciples came to Him and He began to teach them saying;
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.
Blessed are the those who mourn for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.
Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil things against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, for great is your reward in Heaven for in the same way they persecuted the prophets before you.

You are the salt of the earth. If the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? Is it no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled by men?

You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and hide it under a bowl. Instead they put it on a stand so that it give light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in Heaven.

Matthew 5:1-16 in NIV

¹ Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, ² and he began to teach them, saying:

   ³ “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
   for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
⁴ Blessed are those who mourn,
   for they will be comforted.
⁵ Blessed are the meek,
   for they will inherit the earth.
⁶ Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
   for they will be filled.
⁷ Blessed are the merciful,
   for they will be shown mercy.
⁸ Blessed are the pure in heart,
   for they will see God.
⁹ Blessed are the peacemakers,
   for they will be called sons of God.
¹⁰ Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
   for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

   ¹¹ “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. ¹² Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

 

    ¹³ “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.

   ¹⁴ “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵ Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. ¹⁶ In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

Feel  free to memorize with me!!

Romans 8:28-39

This is the Bible passage I am trying to memorize...by Wednesday. I have up to verse 31 done. And I would want to finish the rest of the 8 verses in two days. Think I can do it??? I hope so!

Romans 8:28-39
 28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
 31 What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?

32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? 33 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”
 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Truth Scripts

In the AWANA group that I help with, towards the end of the year, leaders are encourage to memorize Bible verses, too. This year we are memorizing Romans 8:28-39.

Here is what I have memorized. First I will try and type it and then I will post the NIV version.

Verses 28-31 Mandy
28-And we know that God works all things for the good of those love Him, to those who are called according to His word.
29-For those God foreknew, He also predestined, to be conformed to the likeness of His Son, so that He might be one of many.
30-And for those God predestined, He called: those He called, He also justified; those He justified, He also glorified.
31-What, then, can you say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?

Verses 28-31 NIV
28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
31 What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?

Finishing Matthew 5

I don't know if I mentioned this or not, but I am working on memorizing the Sermon on the Mount (a.k.a. Matt. 5-7). It has been really cool working on this. I try to do one or so verses a day. Sometimes it is hard to do it, but it is a great learning experience.

 Things I like about it:

1. Memorizing in bulk-this way I get the WHOLE picture.
2.Memorizing things I would never otherwise memorize-just look it up to see.
3.Focusing on just on each verse and the meaning usually for the day.
4. Picturing Jesus on the mount preaching to 1,000s of people these words.
5.The instructions!

Right now I am trying to finish up Matthew 5(NIV):

~Love for Enemies
43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47 And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

 I have verse 43 and 44 done, now I am trying to finish it up!

Memory work

Today I am working on memorizing some mathematical conversions (Example: 1 inch = 2.54 cm) and the letter notes to the song Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee.

I am doing this because I am trying out different techniques for memorizing all different things.

Yesterday I did get the Gettysburg Address memorized!!! I love the line, "The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here..."