52 what you may be asking.
I have been thinking, praying, and pondering about what to do for the new year as a challenge for my personal Bible study life.
I decided to memorize 52 Bible Verses over the next year.
AND
I want you to join me!
Yes, really!
52 weeks spent together memorizing the Word. Holding each other accountable, encouraging one another, and praying for each other. Even if it’s just 2 of us or 20 or 200. I don’t really care about the numbers, but I do care about your heart and I care about my heart. I’d like to challenge us all to invest in your heart and mind in 2020.
In the next few weeks be on the lookout for a new page on this website–it will be titled 52 in 2020. My Facebook page, “God is up to Something” will also have a special group dedicated to 52 in 2020.
To get things started, I would like to announce a Fun Contest. I will be choosing most of the verses, but once a month, I’d like to include a reader’s verse with their explanation of what the verse means to them and why they think it is important for memorization.
Here’s the rules to the contest:
- Share this post from (God is up to Something FaceBook Home page)
- Leave a comment on today’s post 52 in 2020 on the God is up to Something FaceBook Home page with your favorite Bible Verse and briefly explain what the verse means to you in your life.
- On New Year’s Day I will put all of the names in a container and pull out the winner’s name and ship the prize to your house. (Sorry, but I can only ship to the 48 Contiguous United States–no international shipping)
I found a beautiful linen journal with watercolor background blank pages that I fell in love with online. It’s arriving tomorrow-so I’ll verify just how beautiful it is. Anyways, I have a Plan B if it’s not as lovely as it looks!
I thought–what better gift to give then a beautiful place to write down your verses for the next year. As you add your verses to your journal, you would be adding God’s Word to your heart, your mind, your Life!
I recently read this article about my brothers and sisters in China who are memorizing entire books of the Bible while in prison for their faith in Jesus. Did you catch that? Entire. Books. of the Bible. When they receive their smuggled verses they rush to memorize them before they are discovered by the prison guards. We just don’t have the perspective to understand the value of God’s Word while we walk by our 2-3 copies of the Bible in our Western homes. I know I am guilty of treating the Bible with a nonchalance at times.
After reading the whole Bible from cover to cover in 2019, (or rather I’ll be finished in the next 20 days), I now know that I want to re-read it on the pace of a chapter a day. I enjoyed getting a whole-picture viewpoint and now I want to embark on a much more concise outlook. I believe this will help me to digest the meaning of what I am reading better. That was a little bit of a challenge while reading so many chapters each day. My plan in the year 2020 is to study the chapters surrounding the verse of the week, and also add a Psalm or Proverbs as I study and read. Memorization is just one piece of my bigger plan, but it is a KEY part of my plan. I want to be able to think of God’s Word off the top of my head so that I’m always prepared to share with others how God is at work in my life.
If you want to participate, you may comment down below, or on my Facebook page, God is up to Something. There is a private group on my page called, 52 in 2020. In this group we will spend time encouraging one another as we develop memory muscle with our brains! If you don’t want to join the group, feel free to follow along and memorize verses on your own. There is no right way to do it, but I do feel it’s important to spend time getting God’s Word into our head and heart.
Some verses that have a special place in my heart are
Philippians 4:6-7
“Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
The Lord lead me to these verses during a very hard time in my life. Some situations happened that made our family ministry a struggle (we were missionaries to Australia ), and other situations that as a parent were ripping my heart into a million pieces. I felt I had to keep a smile on my face as we travelled to meetings in churches, and I had no close friends to confide in. I felt like I was slowly drowning in a sea of depression. Through these precious verses, God let me know that there was nothing too insignificant to bring to Him. He said be careful for nothing….to just throw all caution to the wind…and pour our hearts out to Him. At the same time I had began reading the book One Thousand Gifts, so I began making myself journal at least three things I was thankful for each day. And every day, I literally would pray these verses to God. I would very intentionally tell Him how thankful I was for ____ and ___ that day, and then I would pour my heart out to Him, even the little things. I still have (and have not washed) a little crocheted hankie that my daughter made me when she was little, that at times, was so wet from tears I could wring it out. There’s nothing magical about it. It’s just a sweet reminder of those precious times with my Lord. Because it never failed, that as I laid there and poured my heart out to Him, a still calmness and peace would come over me. And I could get up and go on that day with that peace that passes all understanding…that people and even I were amazed that I had. I had been a Christian for a while, but I truly believe that during this time is when my relationship grew with the Lord and I began to really know Him more as my dearest Friend and my loving Father. The dark times eventually lifted, and there have been more mountain top and valley moments since then. But I have never forgotten the verses and the sweet way I can talk to my Savior about Anything! He’s a good, good Father, that’s who He is!! And I am loved by Him…and so are you! ❤️
I have a verse that I have been praying a lot over the last few years. Isaiah 26:3 It’s amazing how the words that we need come to mind when we need them. That’s why I want to do the 52 in 2020.
What a precious testimony of the LORD’s love for you and your brokenness before HIM. I’m also happy to learn this has passed and you are on a new road with HIM.
I have more like a passage but from the passage the one that grabs my attention and reminds me of God ever at work is “For everything there is a season and a time for every matter under Heaven” Ecclesiastes 3:1. However the whole chapter deserves our attention.
This simple verse reminds me that all of it, the junk, the sorrow, the pain, the praises, the blessings, the joys-all of it is wrapped into God’s amazing plan for our lives. When we stop and think that God has every detail, every moment planned and for a purpose in our lives, my what lives we can live.
Yes! And Amen! This is so true. Everything that we go through has a season in our life. We grow our trust, faith, and hope in the One who leads us through this journey.
Add me to the group!!! I want to be accountable and challenged to memorize more!! Not long ago, a situation occurred. I shared with a friend who was involved about how my mind was immediately flooded with pertinent scripture! She said she wished that would happen for her. I was reminded what a treasure to have Gods Word embedded in one’s heart and mind!!
Well Julie I’m really late reading this post. Crazy work right now I would absolutely like to join you to memorize verses. I did this in Beth Moore’s s group one year. I’m excited. Sorry for the delay. Do I need to do anything else to join the group? Love and hugs.
You can join on my Facebook page “God is up 2 Something”. Look for the private group labeled “52 in 2020.