Drawing a map of Biblical Israel is really helpful for me when I am reading the Bible. When I had a chance to teach a women’s Sunday School class, it was so fun to teach everyone this technique, and then they could use their maps to show where the story for that day was taking place. Talk about really knowing God’s Word! They could see where it was taking place on their own map.
I hope I get a chance to make a video about other details that are easy to add to this map depending on what part of God’s Word you are studying for the week. There are some really neat tricks to learning the basics. Then, you feel like you are really diving into God’s Word because you can picture where the action is taking place and how it relates to the rest of the countryside.
Feel free to comment below if you have some easy ways to remember parts of the Bible map. Even better, let me know if you are able to draw this map!
I’ve been trying out a new online tool these days called Animaker. I used it to make this very short video that gives you a quick and easy way to remember the book of Nahum. Here is the link. Hope you enjoy it!
Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him. Jeremiah 17:7
This verse is posted up in my kitchen. Literally…it is hanging on a post/column in my kitchen. I look at it a lot during stressful and uncertain times. I read it and pray it back to the Lord. I remind myself that God has uncertain situations in His hands and I can trust in Him and have confidence in Him while I am going through a difficult time. If I don’t feel confidence in Him for a situation because everything seems too intense, I ask Him to give me confidence in Him and help me trust in Him. This is a really nice verse to have memorized because it can be prayed back to Him no matter how we are feeling – brave or scared.
I was inspired with a Scripture memory technique the other day when a friend showed me the “first letter” memorization technique to help recall verses you are trying to memorize. I like the first letter technique, where you put all of the first letters of the words in the verse onto a paper to help give you a bit of a memory boost while you are memorizing Scripture. Throughout the day, you can look back at the memory helper to see a hint for the next word. I found myself a bit lost with only the first letters — I needed to have a bit more of a boost. So, I took this verse and added in words to go with the first letters to help me memorize this verse.
Take a picture, screenshot, or print out the verse reminder I posted above and see if you can get this verse stored away in your brain this week. To get it into your heart, pray it back to God a few times this week when you are facing uncertain or difficult circumstances.
After you learn this verse, you can try this with a Bible verse you really lean on. Write down the first letters of each of the words in the verse. It will look unrecognizable at first. Then, choose a few words from the verse that you want to spell out in full. Just a few, maybe three or four. I wrote them in column form just to separate out the words from the first letters of other words. Put it in your phone, on your computer, or just on a piece of paper taped to your microwave. Basically, put it anywhere that you will see it often throughout the day.
In the comments, you can tell me how it goes and what God does with this verse in your life over the next few days. I’d love to hear if this helps you get His Word into your heart and mind.
Back to school used to bring on a wave of anxiety in my heart that summer was over and drudgery was returning for the kiddos. But this year, the back-to-school anxiety is a face I don’t recognize. Usually, it looks a lot like shopping for clothes and shoes to get ready for the return of the drudgery and these traditions ease us into getting used to the idea of back to school. It kind of reminds me of a big, slow-moving furry monster with obligations in tow, ready to gather our children and usher them back into the buildings while summer fun sadly waves from the sidewalk.
But this year, the anxiety monster is very different. It feels like a full-on, in-your-face dare to even attempt normalcy. Like a reality show that has a plot twist in every episode. It feels like a drill sergeant screaming at us to “Make a decision! Home or school??!” “Bus or no bus??!” And when we show up to school, suddenly there is a whole universe of faces looking in from home, so now we have to bring a “device” to a live action school so that we can include those who are staying home. And by the way, the devices are on their way for the in-person students – they will be here in December. At the end of the semester. Huh? Another plot twist?
Top all of this back-to-school anxiety with a new plot twist — college has entered the picture for our family. College, the institution that once seemed like that big city cool kid whisking you off to new adventures has come in looking like the fear character from the children’s movie “Inside Out”. And guess what? College is right to be scared, because curveballs are being thrown at our college kiddo daily in many shapes and forms. Masks all around campus, in person classes mostly cancelled, random COVID testing, and students being shuffled off to the quarantine dorm for 14 days. Our college student is on his own episode of “College Survivor” this year.
So yeah, there is stress. But the big thing I keep reminding myself is that God is bigger than all of this. These curveballs that are being thrown at us, they don’t surprise Him. He is walking through this fire with us. He is walking through this fire with our children. In fact, as I look through the Psalms, which I love to do when I am feeling completely overwhelmed and just need to hang out with God in His Word, using His Words, I see some hope.
Right here in Psalm 28. Apparently, I have prayed this before during an overwhelming time because I have put a small smiley face next to this verse. Psalm 28:7
In the version I am reading, it says:
The Lord is my strength and my shield
Yes, Lord, I need to know that I am not my own strength, You are! And not only are You my strength, You are my shield. A shield in front of me, Your shield in front of me, means I can relax and know that You are in control. That no matter what is thrown my way, You are my shield. Today is the kind of day where I will crouch down behind that shield, Lord, and let You take over. I’m worn out, I’m going to soak in this shield protection You are offering. I might try to peek around the edges of the shield when I get worried stirred up in me again, but I love Your patience with me, and You will remind me to stay behind Your shield. That is where my heart and mind are safest.
But that’s not all, the verse goes on to say:
My heart trusts in Him and I am helped.
Trust…I think I can do that. It’s either trust in the worries and focus on them, or trust in Him to get us what we need. Yes, when my heart feels worried, I will remember that when I trust in You, I am helped. In fact, I am going to name the worries by name so that I can really get a handle on what I am trusting You with.
Lord, I am trusting You with my children and their emotional, physical, and spiritual health as they go through this. I’m trusting You for my husband and me — to make the right choices for our family in the middle of what feels like chaos. And we are trusting You to guide us and protect us.
Whew. I feel a little better, how about you?
Here’s today’s challenge. It’s not too complicated: Write this verse, or another one, on a notecard and post it where you will see it today. As you start to worry, speak His words back to Him and be specific about what you are trusting to Him and how He is helping you already.
Okay, I’m going to write it down as soon as I post this. Where’s my pen?
Do you have a favorite Bible verse to pray back to God during the chaotic times? Please share it with us in the comments! I’d love to hear about it!
I was just thinking... 