Thursday, October 15, 2015

Meditating On and Memorizing Scripture- Journal Ideas

Today I (Rebecca) wanted to share a subject that is precious to my heart- spending time meditating on scripture. Over the years I have studied scripture in different ways. In college Theology was my major and became the deepest study of my life. After college I felt incredibly blessed to have had the foundation of theology so that the relationship that I cultivated with the Lord grew more and more and was beyond just being based on emotion. I loved having the opportunity to study and understand the Bible and memorize scripture. The truth is I still  love getting into God's word everyday - and I see how "living" His word is in so many ways.

But one area that I used to struggle with is on memorizing scripture. Do any of you struggle with this to?  Honestly I would try so hard in my quiet time with the Lord but I just struggled. Memorization has not always come easy to me and I would marvel at those who seemed to be able to quote entire books of the Bible with no problem! 

Several years ago I came across Psalm 119:11 which states, "your word I have treasured in my heart" and immediately I was convicted as I wanted to memorize and treasure God's word in my heart. I started to pray about how I could memorize scripture better. I started thinking about how I am "wired" and how I could meditate on scripture so that it truly went deep into my heart. I bought a new Bible (I will share more about this in the future) and since I am a "journal writer/drawer/alterer" I knew that for me I needed to do something artistic with scripture.  I have found by writing, drawing, paining, and scrapbooking into a journal I have been able to truly mediate and memorize scripture. Here are a few examples:
One of my favorite projects I have done is to cut up strips of paper and then write down all of my fears, worries, or concerns. I then paint over them and then write scripture truths on top of that. I have done this many times and it is a beautiful way to treasure God's word in my heart.
{the picture below was an attempt at making a flower out of all of that *smiles*}
Sometimes I like to decorate certain words that are really speaking to me and things that are going on in my life!
I love cute stickers so sometimes I like to use them to write out the words of the scripture verse I am memorizing or meditating on. 
A couple of years ago I was on a precious trip with a senior class and I came across a precious and simple verse from Ezekiel. It was perfect for the time as I was struck by the hope, promise, and security that the verse promised.  At the time I had no idea that in the upcoming year I would be diagnosed with Advanced Late Stage Lyme Disease and Cancer but the Lord was already writing this precious truth on my heart for the future! I spent time journaling it but I also "paper sewed" it into my journal. To this day it is still one of my favorite verses I have ever memorized!!

Last year I wanted to write down scriptures that I am praying for a dear friend of mine. I have also been working on memorizing these scriptures so this was a fun project I found the perfect picture frame to do this with and I love how it turned out!
These are just a few of the small ways that I meditate and memorize scripture through journaling. Some other ways I will show you in the upcoming weeks but in the meantime I would love to know if y'all use journaling to help meditate on scripture and memorize it?

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