I have to confess. For the last few (well lets be honest...many years) I have been negligent on my scripture memoriztion. I have a simple system that makes it easy to keep up with them all. I just still have a hard time remembering to do it. Some of you may not think much about it, but this has been a big part of my walk with God since my college days. It is a way that God speaks to me, and without it, I tend to falter in spending my much needed time with Him. This affects everything. God has been compelling me in many little ways (soft, subtle and sweet... as he gently woos me, leading me back to Him) to spend more time with Him in prayer and in His word. I feel that He has something He wants to do and He wants me to trust Him for His best. I have struggled with trusting Him ever since Jason was sick for so long and our finances plummeted and debt grew. It was such a dark time with so many different trials hitting us at the same time and it went on and on with no end in sight. My faith waned and I became even more of a grumbling Israelite wandering around in the desert. But God was faithful and we survived. Unfortunately my spiritual disciplines didn't survive.

I have started back on my daily scripture memorization system. If anyone wants to do it, here is any easy way to start. Don't be intimidated. Start with simple verses that mean a lot to you. Write several on 3x5 index cards. Just do one to start with. Memorize it for a week or two then add another. Have some ready to add, that you like. Get a box (a recipe box works well). Use index divider cards and label on of them "Daily". Label others the names of the days of the week so that you have Sunday through Saturday. Then label the rest 1-31 for the days of the month. Now you have daily, weekly and monthly ones to choose for the day. Eventually when you have a lot to keep up with you can just pull a few from each (e.g. today I pulled from the sections: Daily, Thursday, and 1.). Once you have a verse memorized fairly well, move it from Daily section to Weekly (one of the days of the week so that balanced out and not too many for some days). Once that verse becomes so easy to remember and well known to you that you can go a month before needing a review, move it to a day of the month. It is a constant process that keeps it easy. That way you don't have to review every one every day, only as needed.

To make it even easier, I got a key ring, punched a hole in all of the verse cards and made dividers for my key ring of Daily, Weekly and Monthly. Then as I pull the verses for the day, I put them in the section of the key ring so that I can take it with me anywhere. I can glance down as needed and repeat the verse many times before flipping to the next one. This keeps God's word with you always at hand, especially when it is written in your heart! It makes His word so much more personal and impactful. I have learned that He can draw a verse to mind when I need it and use it at different times in so many different ways to make it come to life. It is a huge comfort for me and helps my anxiety. I tend to worry a lot. Anyway, I hope this helps some of you. It has been a huge blessing to me. Psalm 119:11 "Thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against thee."

After all of that explanation, here is the verse I wanted to share with you today. It really touched my heart. Zephaniah 3:17 "The Lord your God is in your midst, a victorious warrior. He will exult over you with joy, He will be quiet in His love, He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy." Wow. What a blessing. What a good God we have. To think that he rejoices over us, that we can bring a smile to his beautiful face, that he loves us so much. It made me think of a father, taking the time in his busy day to stop and enjoy watching his child. In all of Gods busy, important, eternal business/work, he still takes time to stop and enjoy us. He smiles and shouts with joy over us. Whether we deserve it or not, and none of us do, we have a great God. Thank God for that! So rejoice in Him, for he certainly rejoices in us.