“I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word.” (Psalm 119:16, ESV)

I recently came across a meme that read: My ability to remember song lyrics from the 80s far exceed my ability to remember why I walked into the kitchen. I had to laugh at that because it often happens to me where I will forget the task at hand.

It is incredible the things that we remember. We remember the lyrics to songs. We remember the numbers of our favorite athletes. We remember the quotes from our favorite movies. The brain is an amazing wonder about what it can store.

It is also highly efficient at sorting out what is important and what is not important. That is why things that we encountered many years ago are locked down in the far recesses of the brain. But at the same time, we can’t remember what we had to eat for lunch.

With the advent of the Internet and wireless phones, it has changed the things we remember. I can still remember my parent’s phone number when I was a kid and all the phone numbers of my best friends. But I have no clue as to what my daughter’s mobile phone number is. It is on my speed dial, so I have no reason to remember what it is. My mind chose not to remember her number because it was not important to remember. But I had to remember all the numbers of my childhood friends because I repeatedly had to manually punch the numbers on the phone.

As we think about God’s Word, we are blessed today to have the Bible at our fingertips. There are some great apps where we can search the Bible on our phone in multiple translations. We might be tempted to think that we don’t need to memorize God’s Word because we can always look it up.

But here is the problem. God’s Word is not something to look up. It is something to live out. Remembering the Word is about being able to apply it to life. Being able to apply God’s Word to life is not so much about having it on our mind but upon our heart. And the only way to have God’s Word in our heart is if it is on our mind.

If you take on verse a week, you will memorize 52 verses over a year. That is a whole lot of Scripture. Even if you take one verse a month, that will be 12 verses a year. I will guarantee you that the time you spend memorizing Scripture will be time well spent. It will be useful, and you will not regret it.

Try this, take a verse and write it out every day for a week. Let the Word go from your hand to your mind to your heart and then let it be lived out in your life.

Reflection

1. Do you practice Bible memorization? Why or why not?
2. What useful tips do your have or techniques you use for memorization?
3. How has memorization help you in real life situations?

“I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways.” (Psalm 119:15, ESV)

Christians talk about prayer. They talk about devotions. They talk about worship. But one thing they don’t talk as much about is mediation. Meditation is something which we often associate with other religions. Buddhists meditate. Hindus meditate. But we don’t think about Christians mediating.

However, the Christian Scriptures are filled with references to meditation. Meditation is an important spiritual discipline that serves us well. But keep in mind that Christian meditation is unique and is not the same as meditation in other religions.

It comes down to the content of our mediation. Meditation is about fixing our mind on something. The question is: what it is that we are fixing our mind upon?

The goal of meditation in many other religions is to empty ourselves. It is to clear our minds of thoughts that we have been fixated upon. But the problem is that as we are emptied of our thoughts, we are left empty. The mind is left only to be filled once again with negativity and other concerns of life.

But the goal of Christian meditation is to have ourselves filled. It is to fill ourselves with thoughts of God and his glory. It is to open ourselves to have the Word and the Holy Spirit poured into us.

When we walk away from this type of mediation we don’t take away an empty mind only to once again be filled with all the cares of the world. Rather, when we walk away from meditating on the glory of God, we approach the cares of the world with a mind that is filled with greater things. We realize the challenges of the world are real. But we have a real God who is greater than any challenge we might face. Meditating on his goodness, grace, and glory gives us confidence for whatever comes your way.

I have an alarm on my watch that I set to go off three times each day. It buzzes on my wrist, so no one else is aware. When the alarm goes off, it is simply a reminder to set my mind on God. It is a quick reminder when I might be distracted or overwhelmed that I have a God who is on my side. It is a tool that helps me be mindful of where my mind is fixated and help me meditate on what is edifying and beneficial. What are some of the ways set reminders in your life to keep your mind fixated upon God?

Reflection

1. Have you ever considered meditation as a Christian discipline?
2. How have you benefitted from meditating on God’s Word?
3. How do you remind yourself to meditate?

I have written much about patience over the last few years. It is probably because I need to hear about it as much as I need to share about it. Patience is one of the fruits of the Spirit with which I most struggle.

I know I am not alone. Many of you have submitted prayer requests asking for help with something you are waiting from God. Maybe you are waiting on a project that is delayed. Maybe you are waiting for a family member to come back to the Lord. Maybe you are waiting for a friend to fulfill a promise. Maybe you are waiting for an opportunity to present itself to make a change.

As the people of God, we wait! We don’t understand God’s timing. But he doesn’t ask us to understand his timing. He only asks that we trust his timing. We live with this motto:

• God’s timing, not mine.
• God’s will, not mine.
• God’s plan, not mine.
• God’s glory, not mine.

That does not mean that patience is easy. Sometimes it is extremely difficult. When it comes to having patience with another person, it can be frustrating.

You work hard with another person to help them make better decisions in life. But after so much hard work they slip back into old patterns and habits. You feel like giving up on them.

Or maybe the person has a stubborn streak to them. They have some deeply held beliefs that work against them. They could make their life easier if they would just listen to you. But they don’t want to consider any other possibilities. You feel like giving up on them.

It is hard to have patience with others. Especially when they are so needy and don’t do the things necessary to improve their situation. How long do you stick with someone before you give up? How long do you endure with them?

The answer is never! No one is past the point of redemption. If God has put a person in your life, there is a reason. I know they can be frustrating, but you can be a witness for God in their life. And they probably need that desperately. Maybe the reason they are the way they are is because no one has practiced patience with them.

Know that God does not give up on you. He is patiently waiting with you and for you. He is always there for you no matter how many times you mess up. It doesn’t matter how many time you go back to old patterns. It is God’s patience with us that empowers our patience with others.

Reflection

1. Where do you struggle with patience?
2. What makes it hard to be patient with others?
3. How has God been patient with you?

“Walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love…” (Ephesians 4:1b–2, ESV)

Walking worthy in our calling means to endure others with humility, gentleness, and patience. Yesterday, we spoke about humility. Today, I would like to talk about gentleness.

The Book of Proverbs reminds us:

“A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.” (Proverbs 15:1, ESV)

But we too often turn to harshness rather than gentleness. We become irritated at our spouse or our children, and we will raise our voice. We get frustrated with an employee who makes a mistake and we respond to them in a demeaning way.

It is a way to get what we want. We can intimidate the other person to motivate them to make better decisions. The person on the other end of our furor may end up cooperating with us, but it may also be at great consequence to the relationship. Harshness can be effective in the short term for a task but never works for the long term for the relationship.

Steve Jobs, one of the founders of Apple, was famous for berating employees when he was not happy. No one can argue the results. The employees were motivated out of fear of the boss’ wrath to make great products. The company has been incredibly successful as it has built upon Steve Jobs legacy. But there are also accounts of how Job’s relationships suffered as a result of belittling others.

The question that needs to be asked: “Does it need to be that way?” Do we need to be harsh to get our way? Do we need to berate others to motivate them? The answer is no!

Who is to say that Steve Jobs could not have got the same thing out Apple employees by being respectful and kind to them? Who is to say that being calm and gentle with you family members will help them make better decisions?

There is a saying that you will catch more flies with honey than vinegar. And there is truth in that saying. There are times when I will be standing in a customer service line. The person in front of me is angry and upset toward the customer representative. They raise their voice and demand the representative meet their demands.

I want you to put yourself in the shoes of the customer service representative. Who are you more inclined to help? The person who blows their lid? Or the person who is calm, collected, and respectful? The answer is obvious. If you can help the person who is gentle, you will help that person. To the person who is harsh, you will show little sympathy.

God calls us to be gentle towards others. He understands your frustrations. He knows that you have the desire to lash out. But he calls you to be gentle because it is a more fruitful response. And he desires you to experience the fruit of faith.

Reflection

1. Do you agree that gentleness is more effective than harshness?
2. Where in your life do you need to repent of being harsh?
3. What does a gentle response look like when you have been hurt or offended?