“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”—2 Timothy 3:16-17
Last week in the DFW area, AT&T had an internet outage for one day. At my home I was without internet, phone and TV. My husband had asked if I had made a phone call to set up my car to be serviced and I said, “No, I can’t look up the phone number.” Well, I could have except, last week, when I found a yellow pages phone book on my front porch, I thought, “I don’t need this,” and I promptly put it in our recycling bin.
“Yes,” I could have used my phone as a hotspot or gone somewhere that had internet access, but it wasn’t as if the phone call I needed to make was an emergency and honestly, I wanted to see what my day would be like not being “connected.” Not that I wasn’t aware how dependent our world is on the internet, but when you can’t turn on the TV or computer to see what is going on in the world, you feel like you might be missing out on something.
It is the same thing when I am not connected to the Word of God. When I don’t spend time in prayer or at the very least read my morning devotion, I will not feel God’s presence during my day. I have to make time for Him or I am isolated from the One who gives me peace and guidance throughout my day.
Just as the Yellow Pages phone book could have guided me to the right phone number, it is the same with my Bible. I can’t rely on my electronic devices to access God’s Word. I need to not only have a hard copy Bible but also be imprinting His Word on my heart. This is why memorizing scripture is so important to me. When I can’t quickly look something up on my phone, how comforting it is to be able to recall it with my mind or mouth.
This week I was actually able to put this in action. A woman showed up at Thursday night church service. She said she had walked to get there. You could see the desperation and brokenness in her eyes. She was searching. I sat in front of her and could hear some of the things she was saying to herself. I felt God impress on my heart to write on the back of this card I had. I wrote, “God loves you and you matter!” I asked God to give me a verse to put with it and I was able to recall, “Search for the Lord and his strength. Continually Seek him.”—1 Chronicles 16:11
As I was leaving church, I gave her the card and told her that I felt like God wanted me to tell her He loves her and she matters. She told me, “I keep hearing that.” My prayer for her is that she be able to search for the Lord and His strength and continually seek Him to get through the hard times ahead of her. I don’t know her story, but walking through the church doors will bring her one step closer to healing. No one is beyond God’s reach. God’s desire is to be with every one of us. Is there anything you can do this week where you might be able to share God’s love with someone who is broken and hurting? Can you be that ray of light by letting them know that God loves them and that they matter?
Dear Lord,
I thank You for giving me scripture to recall that equips me to be able to minister to those that need to hear about Your unconditional love for them. Lead me to what verses I need to commit to memory. I ask that you guide my steps this week to someone who is broken and hurting that needs to be reminded of Your unending grace and mercy.. I pray these things in the name of Jesus. Amen.
How are you doing on this month’s memory verse? “Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.”—1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NLT) Were you able to speak it out to anyone this week?
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