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face a difficult challenge. I am going to try to convince you to do something that (1) God commands you to do, (2) you need to do for your own well-being, and (3) is fun. Why would you be so difficult to convince? I think you know the answer: laziness! Some may claim they are too old; some may give the excuse that they are too young; others may think there is little value in doing this. But the root cause for us not spending more time memorizing the Word of God is that we fail to put forth any effort.
The Savior did not lean on these excuses. After fasting for forty days in the wilderness, Jesus was tempted by Satan. The Messiah did not have to scurry through His Strong’s Concordance to look up Scriptures to refute Satan’s temptations, and twisting of God’s Word. Three times, Jesus authoritatively quoted Scripture, “It is written….” He instantly had the appropriate verses at His command. The Savior quoted “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God,” Matthew 4:4, which is from Deuteronomy 8:3. You cannot “live” by food that you do not “eat.” Here is a plain command for us to ingest the Word of God, to memorize Scripture. Without God’s Word in us, we will die, just as we would die if we lacked enough food for nourishment.
Further, we need to memorize God’s Word to keep us from sinning and falling short of the glory of God. “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against Thee,” Psalm 119:11. Again, Psalm 37:31 reminds us that if, “The law of his God is in his heart; none of his steps shall slide.” Loving God with all our heart, soul, and might, involves putting God’s Words in our heart, Deuteronomy 6:4-9. “Hear, O Israel, The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shall teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shall write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.” See also Deuteronomy 11:18.
Set your hearts to all of God’s Words, for it is not a vain [useless] thing, “because it is your life: and through this thing ye shall prolong your days in the land, whither ye go over Jordan to possess it,” Deuteronomy 32:46-47. God’s law, as expressed in the Bible, is to be in our hearts, Isaiah 51:7. We do this by memorizing, and living, by the Word of God.
During the Dark Ages, the Waldensians in the Alps of Europe clung to God’s Word. “Because of scarcity of Bibles and imminent danger to both Bible and person carrying one, every potential minister had to memorize a large amount of Scripture, besides being able to explain it. . . . Even small children learned to memorize and recite whole chapters of Scripture,” Lesson 51, Ambassador College Bible Correspondence Course, pp. 9-10.
To assist you in memorization of important portions of God’s Word, we have selected about 300 scripture portions, suitable for Cards. On one side is the book, chapter, and verse(s); the other side has the scripture quotation. Use Scripture Cards to help you memorize important verses. You may copy the verses below, or order sheets of preprinted Scripture Cards on two-sided paper, that you can cut out and immediately use. “300 Scripture Cards” are available from Giving & Sharing, PO Box 100, Neck City, MO 64849, for a suggested donation of $5.00.
Select 5-10 cards that you wish to begin memorizing. Carry them with you, and during the day, look at one side of the card, and try to recite the Scripture, or determine the book, chapter, and verse of the Scripture. When you have them mastered, select another group of cards and repeat the process. It is just as important to know where a well-known verse is located, as to be able to recite the verse. Look up the scriptures in your main study Bible. An aid to memorization is to visualize the verse in your Bible. For example, the Sabbath commandment in the Ten Commandments is on the right column of the right page of my Oxford Wide Margin KJV Bible, which is my main study Bible. I can “see” it now!
By themselves, the memory Scriptures are an excellent Bible Study tool, from 59 of the 66 books of the Bible. Read the cards in succession, from Genesis to Revelation. Group them by topic to see how line upon line, God’s Truth is revealed, Isaiah 28:10. Put Scripture Cards on your fence posts, mirrors, desktop, car dashboard, anywhere you might look at them during the day.
Study No. 83, “How to Memorize Bible Scriptures,” gives scripture memorization tips. It is available on the Internet at www.giveshare.org/BibleStudy/083.memory.html.
Several group games can be played with Scripture Cards.
Game 1: Shuffle and deal five cards to each player. The first player selects one of his cards (either side) and asks the player to the left to either quote the verse or give the book, chapter, and verse of the selected Scripture. If the player to the left is successful, he takes the card from the asking player and places it in front of him. Then, he takes his turn and asks the player to his left, and so on, until all the cards are successfully won. Player with the most cards is the winner.
Game 2: Another game version, which can be played by one or more players, is to place any desired number of the cards on the board, Scripture side face up. First player’s goal is to remove all cards from any book he chooses. If he makes an error, his turn is over, and play proceeds to next player. When a player believes all cards have been picked up, for the book he has selected, he announces, “done!” If any player challenges this statement, and successfully picks up one or more additional cards for that book, he keeps them, and takes one additional card from the player who prematurely said all cards had been removed, for each additional card. If the challenger makes an error, he loses two cards. Play proceeds to next player, until all cards are picked up. Player with most cards wins.
If you have more variations of Scripture Card games or ideas for using Scripture Cards, please let us know.
Genesis 1:1
Genesis 1:26
Genesis 2:3
Genesis 26:4-5
Genesis 49:10
Exodus 15:26
Exodus 19:6
Exodus 20:2-3
Exodus 20:4-5
Exodus 20:7
Exodus 20:8-11
Exodus 20:12
Exodus 20:13
Exodus 20:14
Exodus 20:15
Exodus 20:16
Exodus 20:17
Exodus 31:13
Leviticus 23:4
Leviticus 23:5
Leviticus 23:6
Leviticus 23:15
Leviticus 23:16
Leviticus 27:30
Num 14:34; Ezek. 4:6
Numbers 18:21
Numbers 32:23
Deuteronomy 6:4-5
Deuteronomy 6:6-9
Deuteronomy 7:15
Deuteronomy 12:30
Deuteronomy 12:32
Deuteronomy 13:1-3
Deut. 14:22-23
Deut. 16:16-17
Deuteronomy 28:1
Deuteronomy 30:19
Joshua 24:15
Judges 21:25
Ruth 1:16
I Samuel 8:7
I Samuel 15:22-23
II Samuel 22:2-3
I Kings 18:21
I Chronicles 28:9
II Chronicles 7:14
II Chron. 16:12-13
II Chronicles 20:20
Nehemiah 8:10
Esther 4:14
Job 14:14-15
Job 19:25-26
Job 42:5-6
Psalm 14:1
Psalm 19:7-8
Psalm 27:1
Psalm 34:19
Psalm 51:10
Psalm 55:17
Psalm 103:3
Psalm 111:7-8
Psalm 111:10
Psalm 116:15
Psalm 118:8
Psalm 119:11
Psalm 119:97
Psalm 119:172
Psalm 127:1
Psalm 133:1
Psalm 146:3-4
Proverbs 1:7
Proverbs 3:6
Proverbs 13:24
Proverbs 14:12, 16:25
Proverbs 22:6
Proverbs 22:15
Proverbs 24:10
Proverbs 27:5
Proverbs 29:18
Proverbs 31:10
Ecclesiastes 9:10
Ecclesiastes 12:13
Isaiah 1:18
Isaiah 2:2
Isaiah 2:3
Isaiah 2:4
Isaiah 3:12
Isaiah 8:20
Isaiah 9:6
Isaiah 9:7
Isaiah 11:6
Isaiah 11:9
Isaiah 28:10-11
Isaiah 30:20-21
Isaiah 42:21
Isaiah 53:4-6
Isaiah 55:6-8
Isaiah 58:1
Isaiah 58:13-14
Isaiah 59:1-2
Isaiah 65:20
Isaiah 66:2
Isaiah 66:23
Jeremiah 10:2-3
Jeremiah 10:23-24
Jeremiah 17:9
Jeremiah 33:17
Ezekiel 18:4, 20
Ezekiel 33:11
Daniel 2:44
Daniel 7:18
Daniel 7:25
Daniel 11:32-33
Daniel 11:34-35
Daniel 12:10
Hosea 4:6
Hosea 14:9
Joel 2:12-13
Joel 2:28
Joel 2:31
Amos 3:7
Amos 8:11
Micah 6:8
Habakkuk 2:14
Zephaniah 2:3
Zephaniah 3:9
Haggai 2:6-7
Zechariah 4:6
Zechariah 14:4
Malachi 3:6
Malachi 3:8
Malachi 3:16
Malachi 4:5-6
Matthew 5:17
Matthew 5:19
Matthew 5:48
Matthew 6:33
Matthew 7:12
Matthew 7:21
Matthew 9:37-38
Matthew 10:34
Matthew 15:9
Matthew 16:18
Matthew 19:6
Matthew 19:17
Matthew 22:36-40
Mt. 24, Mk.13, Lk. 21
Matthew 24:13
Matthew 24:14
Matthew 24:21-22
Matthew 24:35
Matthew 24:46
Matthew 28:19-20
Mark 1:14-15
Mark 7:7
Mark 13:10
Mark 13:20
Mark 13:33
Mark 16:15-18
Luke 1:30-33
Luke 6:46
Luke 9:62
Luke 12:15
Luke 12:32
Luke 17:5
Luke 17:10
Luke 21:36
John 3:6
John 3:16
John 4:34
John 6:44
John 10:10
John 10:35
John 13:17
John 14:15
John 15:16
John 16:33
John 17:11
John 17:17
John 18:36
Acts 2:38
Acts 3:19-21
Acts 17:11
Acts 17:30
Acts 20:35
Romans 1:20
Romans 2:4
Romans 2:11
Romans 2:13
Romans 3:23
Romans 3:28, 31
Romans 4:13
Romans 5:3-5
Romans 6:1-2
Romans 6:16
Romans 6:23
Romans 7:12
Romans 8:7
Romans 8:9
Romans 8:11
Romans 8:14
Romans 8:18
Romans 8:28
Romans 10:14-15
Romans 11:25-26
Romans 12:1
Romans 12:2
Romans 12:12
Romans 12:21
Romans 13:1-2
Romans 13:11-12
Romans 16:19
I Corinthians 2:9
I Corinthians 2:10
I Corinthians 3:8
I Corinthians 6:19-20
I Corinthians 10:4
I Corinthians 10:12
I Corinthians 10:13
I Corinthians 13
I Corinthians 13:13
I Corinthians 14:33
I Corinthians 15
I Cor. 15:51-52
II Corinthians 2:9
II Corinthians 4:4
II Corinthians 6:14
II Corinthians 10:5
Galatians 2:20
Ephesians 2:8-9
Ephesians 2:10
Ephesians 2:20
Ephesians 4:26-27
Ephesians 5:17
Ephesians 5:22-23
Ephesians 6:12
Philippians 1:6
Philippians 2:5
Philippians 2:12-13
Philippians 4:13
Colossians 3:1-2
I Thessalonians 4:17
II Thessalonians 3:6
I Timothy 2:4
I Timothy 5:23
II Timothy 1:7
II Timothy 2:15
II Timothy 3:16-17
Titus 1:16
Philemon 21
Hebrews 3:14
Hebrews 4:9
Hebrews 4:12
Hebrews 4:14-16
Hebrews 5:8-9
Hebrews 6:18
Hebrews 8:10-12
Hebrews 10:23
Hebrews 10:24-25
Hebrews 10:26-27
Hebrews 10:31
Hebrews 10:38
Hebrews 11
Hebrews 11:1
Hebrews 11:6
Hebrews 12:1-2
Hebrews 12:6
Hebrews 13:5
Hebrews 13:8
James 2:20
James 4:7-8
James 5:14
I Peter 1:7
I Peter 2:21
I Peter 2:24
I Peter 3:15
I Peter 4:12-13
I Peter 4:17-18
II Peter 3:9
I John 2:4
I John 2:6
I John 3:1
I John 3:2
I John 3:4
I John 3:22
I John 5:3
I John 5:14-15
II John 10
III John 2
Jude 3
Revelation 2:26-27
Revelation 3:11
Revelation 3:12
Revelation 3:21
Revelation 5:10
Revelation 12:17
Revelation 14:12
Revelation 20:4
Revelation 21:7
Revelation 22:14
“300 Scripture Cards” is available for a suggested donation of $5.00 from Giving & Sharing, PO Box 100, Neck City, MO 64849.