Becoming Like Jesus: Scripture MemorizationSample

Who Does the Work?

Pray…

Heavenly Father, thank you for loving me and giving me the gift of your grace. Jesus, thank you for saving me and inviting me to be made new. Holy Spirit, thank you for transforming me to become a new creation and giving me the power to live in my new identity. I love you. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Read…

Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose. Philippians 2:12-13 NIV

Consider…

Hold up. If you just read that Scripture, you may be a little confused, because these two verses right next two each other seem to be saying the exact opposite of one another!

In verse 12 we read, “...work out your salvation…” What does that mean? It means live the kind of life that shows the results of what God has done and is doing in your heart.

Jesus often called out the religious leaders of His day for not doing this. They would talk about the kind of life God calls us to live, but they wouldn’t actually live it themselves. That did not fly with Jesus. He desires for us to have integrity—to live in line with who we really are. Not pretend to be something we are not.

But in a world that places a lot of demands on us and even tries to define us, how do we live with integrity? That’s where verse 13 comes in. God, through His Holy Spirit, works in us to give us the desire and power to live the kind of life God calls us to.

These verses go hand-in-hand to show us the kind of life we are called to live and how to actually live it.

What is standing out to you in this passage? What questions do you still have? Write them in your journal.

Practice…

Copy the memory verse down in your journal again. Maybe you’ve already written it out several times, but each time you do, you are creating a pattern for your brain to begin to recognize. It’s worth it!

17 For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image. 2nd Corinthians 3:17-18 NLT

Listen…

Set your timer for 5 minutes.

Prepare yourself to listen by sitting comfortably with your palms open. It may feel weird at first but there is something really powerful about our posture and the body’s ability to help focus our minds.

Ask God to speak to you.

When you get distracted, come back to Jesus by meditating on the phrase from your memory verse that says, “The Spirit makes us more and more like Him…”

That is powerful. Conclude your time of silence and solitude by thanking God for the ways He is changing you.