Robert J. Morgan - 100 Bible Verses Everyone Should Know by Heart

Copyright 2010 by Robert J. Morgan

All rights reserved.

Printed in the United States of America

978-0-8054-4682-1

Published by B&H Publishing Group

Nashville, Tennessee

Dewey Decimal Classification: 220.07

Subject Heading: BIBLESTUDY AND TEACHING \

BIBLEMEMORIZING \ CHRISTIAN LIFE

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holman Christian Standard Bible Copyright 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Holman Christian Standard Bible, Holman CSB, and HCSB are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers. Other quotations are from: CEV, Contemporary English Version 1995 by American Bible Society; NCV, New Century Version The Holy Bible, New Century Version, 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.; NIV are from the New International Version, 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society; NKJV, New King James Version, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.; Phillips, J. B. Phillips, The New Testament in Modern English (London: G. Bles, 1958); TLB, The Living Bible, 1971, Tyndale House Publishers; GNT, Good News Translation, American Bible Society 1966, 1971, 1976; used by permission; NLT, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved; NET Bible, Copyright 1996-2009 by Biblical Studies Press (BSP), L.L.C. and the authors. All rights reserved; NASB, New American Standard Bible, the Lockman Foundation, 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977; used by permission; AMP, The Amplified Bible, Old Testament copyright 1962, 1964 by Zondervan Publishing House, used by permission, and the New Testament The Lockman Foundation 1954, 1958, 1987, used by permission; The Message , the New Testament in Contemporary English, 1993 by Eugene H. Peterson, published by NavPress, Colorado Springs, Colo; and KJV, King James Version.

In Bible verses at times the author italicizes words for emphasis.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 14 13 12 11 10

To

Ava Grace

CONTENTS

PREFACE

100 Ways to Change Your Life

This book is about the archaic custom of memorizing Scripture, why we must revive it, and how you can begin a lifelong habit of learning Bible verses by heart. Think of it as a shopping spree for the mind, a chance to collect and store up treasures youll enjoy for years.

Restoring the art of Scripture memory is crucial for us, our churches, and children. Its vital for mental and emotional health and for spiritual well-being. Though its as easy as repeating words aloud, its as powerful as acorns dropping into furrows in the forest. It makes the Bible portable; you can take it with you everywhere without packing it in purse or briefcase. It makes Scripture accessible day and night. It allows Gods Word to sink into your brain and permeate your subconscious and even your unconscious thoughts. It gives you a word to say to anyone, in season and out of season. It fills your heart and home with the best thoughts ever recorded. It saturates the personality, satiates the soul, and stockpiles the mind. It changes the atmosphere of every family and alters the weather forecast of every day.

It takes one minute a day, or five or tenwhatever you can devote to it. It can be done in your bath, your bed, at your desk, or in an airplane (you cant say all that about too many things). It can be done on the go, in traffic jams, while shaving, at sunup, or before bedtime. It can be done alone, with another person, or in groups. Its an amazingly versatile habit but also a vital one, profitable whether were in the nursery or in the nursing home.

Here, then, are 100 ways to change your life100 Bible verses everyone on earth should know by heart. Please dont complain if your favorite verse isnt among them. I kept changing my list even up to publication date; but Ive left a blank page in the back so you can add your own verses and keep the habit going.

Im deeply grateful to my literary partners: Thomas Walters, my editor; Chris Ferebee, my agent; Sherry Anderson and Emily Youree, my assistants; my Web expert and advisor, Joshua Rowe; and my dear wife, Katrina, who read every word with a keen eye. Undying thanks also goes to the church Ive had the joy of pastoring for thirty yearsThe Donelson Fellowship of Nashvillewho participated in a yearlong sermon series on which this book is based.

If youd like to contact me, please visit my Web site at www.robertjmorgan.com, where youll also find free supplemental resources, including a study guide, publicity tools, and downloadable materials for churches and small groups wanting to learn these 100 verses together.

PART ONE

THE POWER OF SCRIPTURE MEMORY

For as he thinks within himself, so he is.

(Proverbs 23:7 NASB)

ONE

AS WE THINK

James Allen has been called a literary man of mystery. Little is known about him, and his writing career was as fleeting as an arrow through the sky. He never achieved fame or fortune, and he died at forty-eight. He wrote nineteen or twenty books without saying much about himself in any of them; and none of them sold particularly well in his lifetime. Yet one tiny volumehis second book and one with which he himself was unhappyhas since sold millions of copies and influenced countless lives.

James was born in 1864, in an idyllic part of central England; but his childhood wasnt so idyllic. His father, grappling with a failing business and near bankruptcy, traveled to America, searching for a new job. Instead, he was waylaid, robbed, and murdered. Back in England, the familys ensuing financial crisis forced young James to drop out of school at age fifteen and get a job. He became a personal assistant in the world of British manufacturers, and he worked at that profession until 1902, when, at age thirty-eight, he just quit and walked away.

James and his wife moved to the little coastal town of Ilfracombe, one of the loveliest spots in all England, and he lived there for about ten years before his early death. He kept a strict routine. Each morning hed get up before dawn and hike to the top of the nearby hillside and spend an hour in meditation. Then he would return to his house and devote the morning to writing. The afternoons he allocated to his gardens and hobbies.

To the best of my knowledge, he was not a Christian, but one little book was based on a Bible verse from the book of Proverbs, and that small volume has cast a long shadow. It almost single-handedly gave rise to the self-improvement and positive thinking movement of the past 100 years.

Its entitled As a Man Thinketh, based on Proverbs 23:7: For as he thinks in his heart, so is he (NKJV). The point of As a Man Thinketh is simple: Our thoughts are the most important thing about us. All that we achieve or fail to achieve is the direct result of our thinking. Our thoughts are like seeds that produce crops.

Allen wrote: Good thoughts and actions can never produce bad results; bad thoughts and actions can never produce good results. This is but saying that nothing can come from corn but corn, nothing from nettles but nettles. Men understand this law in the natural world, and work with it; but few understand it in the mental and moral world (though its operation there is just as simple and undeviating).