Becoming Like Jesus: Scripture MemorizationSample

Being with Jesus

Pray…

Heavenly Father, thank you for who you are. Thank you for making it possible, through Jesus, for me to be with you now and forever. Thank you for your presence with me right now. Make me more aware of your presence and help me stay close to you. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Read…

5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. John 15:5-8 NIV

Consider…

There is a word repeated over and over again throughout this passage—it’s the word remain. It means to abide, to stay, to wait, or to await. So what does it mean to remain in Jesus?

It means to act in accordance with Him—to be joined to Him so that when He moves, you move. It means we stick close with Him, we stay faithful. It means we wait attentively and eagerly for Him to speak and lead. And it means we anticipate His faithfulness; we know and live in the confidence that He will do what He says He will do.

Staying connected to Jesus is what makes our lives fruitful. In other words, it’s impossible to look and live like Jesus unless we remain in Him. Being with Jesus is the first step in becoming like Him for the sake of others.

What stands out to you in this passage? What does it look like in your life to be with Jesus? We are going to continue looking at this passage over the next few days, but write down the verse or verses that are standing out to you most right now.

Practice…

Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it.” Luke 9:23-24 NIV

“...take up their cross daily…” What does that mean for you and me? Isn’t a cross an instrument of pain and death? And isn’t that a one time thing? So why is Jesus asking us to take up our cross daily?

Wrestle with these questions in the context of the rest of the verse as you practice it today.

Listen…

Set a timer for 5 minutes.

Lean into your time of listening by reading the passage from John 15 again. Read it slowly. Read it out loud. Let the words of Jesus quiet your heart.

When you are ready, ask God to speak to you.

And when you get distracted, come back to Jesus by simply acknowledging His presence with you. Thank Him for being here.