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@ LibertyGal
2025-05-11 02:47:03What does it say about us that believers don’t listen as well as unbelievers? Let’s investigate some scripture verses and see what we can discover.
An Object Lesson:
Jesus warned His disciples several times that He would be killed and rise from the dead on the third day. Right after Jesus asked them who they thought He was and Peter replied that He was the Christ (Messiah), Jesus told them what would happen.
From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day. (Matthew 16:21)
We know the disciples heard and understood what Jesus was saying because Peter immediately rebuked Jesus.
Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You.” But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.” (Matthew 16:22-23)
You’d think that Peter would have this moment locked in his mind after being rebuked so harshly for questioning Jesus’s prediction of what would happen.
A while later, Jesus again told His disciples what was about to happen.
And while they were gathering together in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men; and they will kill Him, and He will be raised on the third day.” And they were deeply grieved. (Matthew 17:22-23)
They again heard what was said because they were “deeply grieved.” They didn’t like what they heard.
Then a third time, as they were approaching Jerusalem, He made certain they knew what was coming:
As Jesus was about to go up to Jerusalem, He took the twelve disciples aside by themselves, and on the way He said to them, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem; and the Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn Him to death, and will hand Him over to the Gentiles to mock and scourge and crucify Him, and on the third day He will be raised up.” (Matthew 20:17-19)
The disciples should have known that Jesus’s crucifixion and death were not the end. He told them repeatedly that He would die and be raised from the dead on the third day. They should have been diligently waiting with expectation, but instead they immediately hid, gave up, and headed back to their old lives.
His female followers still cared enough to try to prepare Jesus’s body for burial, but even they did not expect Him to rise as He said.
The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified. He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying. Go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead; and behold, He is going ahead of you into Galilee, there you will see Him; behold, I have told you.” (Matthew 28:5-7) {emphasis mine}
Even when the woman came and told the disciples that they had seen Jesus as He had said, none believed them, although Peter and John did have a glimmer of hope and went to look for themselves.
In contrast, the Pharisees, the very people who hated Jesus so much that they fought to have Him crucified, remembered Jesus’s statements.
Now on the next day, the day after the preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered together with Pilate, and said, “Sir, we remember that when He was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I am to rise again.’ Therefore, give orders for the grave to be made secure until the third day, otherwise His disciples may come and steal Him away and say to the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last deception will be worse than the first.” Pilate said to them, “You have a guard; go, make it as secure as you know how.” And they went and made the grave secure, and along with the guard they set a seal on the stone. (Matthew 27:62-66) {emphasis mine}
The Pharisees acted in response to Jesus’s claims. The disciples ignored or forgot Jesus’s claims.
KNOW:
How often do we ignore or forget Jesus’s promises? How often do we despair when we should hold tightly to the promises given to us in the Bible? Are there times that our opponents, unbelievers, are better at quoting the Bible back at us than we are at using the Bible to defend the truth and our faith?
but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence (1 Peter 3:15)
We need to know God’s word so we can “give an account for the hope that is in” us. First we need to read the whole Bible. We can’t know who God is, what He has done, and what He commands for us without knowing God’s word.
After we have gotten the big picture by reading through the Bible once, we need to really get to know it well. This not only includes reading the Bible continually, but also include memorizing key verses, so we can bring them to remembrance when we need them.
Some people can repeat a verse multiple times and just know it. Some of us have trouble memorizing things. We have to go to extraordinary measures to memorize God’s word. Some techniques I have used:
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WHITEBOARD APPROACH:
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Write the verse on the white board.
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Read out loud.
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Erase one word. (You can underline where the word is if that helps you remember that a word goes there)
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Read out loud saying verse including missing word.
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Continue erasing words, one at a time, saying the verse until all of the words are gone.
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I haven’t used it personally, but Verse Locker was recommended by another substacker and seems to use a similar technique.
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MUSICAL VERSES:
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Make up a tune and sing the verse or put the verse to a tune you already know.
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If you aren’t good at making up songs, there are sites that have verses to songs, but I haven’t used them personally other than a few from Awana years ago.
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FIRST LETTER:
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Write down the first letter of each word of the verse you want to memorize This gives hints and helps you not accidentally miss words.
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I’ve also made a necklace (it was supposed to be a bracelet, but the verse, 1 Peter 3:15 above, I picked was too long) made of beads with the letters of the words of the verse. By wearing it, you have a reminder to memorize and rememorize the verse till it sticks stronger.
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This is my version of 1 Peter 3:15
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APPS:
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There are multiple apps that can help you memorize verses. 5 Best Bible Memory Apps for 2025
We are all different and have different learning styles. Pick the version that works best for you, but be intentional. For so long I wasn’t. Having a child with Down Syndrome in Awana who needed help led me to finding ways to help him and me to memorize the hundreds (or thousands) of verses that are required to finish the program. Keep in mind that you need to keep reviewing them or the memories will fade. The more times you memorize the verse, the longer it will stick with you. You just never know when you will need a Scripture verse and you may not have your Bible or phone (with Bible app) handy.
APPLY:
Knowing the Bible is critical for the Christian life, but knowing the Bible and God’s commands is not enough. We have to live according to this knowledge. We have to apply it in our lives. It needs to change the way we view the world and change the way we live our lives and interact with others.
for it is not the hearers of the Law who are just before God, but the doers of the Law will be justified. (Romans 2:13) {emphasis mine}
Our faith needs to be exhibited through action.
But someone may well say, “You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.” (James 2:18) {emphasis mine}
There is nothing we need to do to be saved besides believe, but if we have saving faith, we should desire God’s word like the author of Psalm 119. Our lives should also change to be conformed to Jesus.
And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. (Romans 12:12) {emphasis mine}
There must be works as evidence of our faith.
You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder. But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar? You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected; (James 2:19-22) {emphasis mine}
The disciples heard Jesus tell them what was going to happen to Him. They knew what He had said because they reacted to it negatively. The problem was they didn’t believe it and didn’t live according to Jesus’s plain words. As important as it is to read and understand the Bible, none of that matters if we don’t believe it and live it.
But I Can’t Do It Myself:
Jesus knew that we could not know and do what we were commanded to know and do, at least not in our own power.
Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and He said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day, and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And behold, I am sending forth the promise of My Father upon you; but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.” (Luke 24:45-49)
Jesus not only sent the disciples (and all believers) out into the world to tell of what He has done for us, but He told the disciples to “stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.” Jesus told them to wait until they had received the Holy Spirit to guide and empower them in the work He had designed them to complete. We also have the Holy Spirit to change our hearts and minds, so we can fulfill the commandments and plans He has for us.
I’m sorry if this post had a little too much overlap with my last post, but knowing God’s word has become a passion of mine and it is where I felt led to go.
May the God of Heaven give you a hunger for His word, help you to understand His word, believe His word, and live His word. May your understanding of the word of God guide you in everything you think, speak, and do. May you never doubt God’s word or discount God’s word because it isn’t according to your preference. God bless you and keep you.
Trust Jesus.
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