Whatever you learn (Day 7)

Reading: Philippians 4:9 ESV

‘What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.’

A few weeks ago, I downloaded an app that would assist me to memorise scripture. I’ve tried many methods but this app was genius and I was acquiring the verses weekly to memory.

I specifically chose verses in areas of weakness to strengthen me.  I started to quote them to myself. It didn’t seem to be helping with my temptations or worries? What was I doing wrong? I was perplexed.

Have you ever ate something so fast that you can’t remember ingesting or tasting it because you were hurried, maybe distracted?

It soon dawned on me that I was gulping down God’s word as quickly as I could shove it in. I hadn’t had the patience to properly taste and extract the nutrients necessary to reinforce me when temptation or adverse moments came in!

I was learning, receiving, hearing and seeing as in today’s reading,  but all I had succeeded in doing was downloading a useless head knowledge. I wasn’t absorbing anything and so peace was not forthcoming!

Practicing in it’s very essence takes patience and self-discipline. I had the discipline to learn, however it seems not the patience to understand what I was learning.

Today take a short verse from scripture and de-construct that verse. Look up definitions of the nouns and verbs in the verse. Read it in different versions. Read some background on it. Pray the verse, sing the verse, sit and think on the verse. You will know when you have truly got that verse by how it activates in you in the situations it was inspired to!

Whatever you truly learn, the peace of God will accompany you when you go to use it!

Charmaine