Putting the Bible First

In the instruction given in our schools, the natural and the spiritual are to be combined.  The laws obeyed by the earth reveal the fact that it is under the masterly power of an infinite God.  The same principles run through the spiritual and the natural world.  Divorce God from the acquisition of knowledge, and you have a lame, one-sided education, dead to all the saving qualities that give true power to man.  The Author of nature is the Author of the Bible. Creation and Christianity have one God.  God is revealed in nature, and God is revealed in His word.  In clear rays the light shines from the sacred page, showing us the living God, as represented in the laws of His government, in the creation of the world, in the heavens that He has garnished.  His power is to be recognized as the only means of redeeming the world from the degrading superstitions that are so dishonoring to God and man.

The student who in his school life becomes familiar with the truths of God’s word and feels their transforming power upon his heart will represent the character of Christ to the world in a well-ordered life and a godly conversation.  God will do great things for those who will open the heart to His word and let it take possession of the soul temple.  The departure from the simplicity of true godliness on the part of students has had an influence to weaken character and lessen mental vigor.  Their advancement in the sciences has been retarded, while if they had been like Daniel, hearers and doers of the word of God, they would have advanced as he did in all branches of learning upon which they entered.  Being pure=minded, they would have become strong-minded.  Every intellectual faculty would have been sharpened.

When the Bible is made the guide and counselor, it exerts an ennobling influence upon the mind.  Its study more than any other will refine and elevate.  It will enlarge the mind of the candid student, endowing it with new impulses and fresh vigor.  It will give greater efficiency to the faculties by bringing them in contact with grand, far-reaching truths.  If the mind becomes dwarfed and inefficient, it is because it is left to deal with commonplace subjects only.  Let the Bible be received as the food of the soul, the best and most effectual means of purifying and strengthening the intellect.

Out of the heart are the issues of life; and the heart of the community, of the church, and of the nation is the household.  The well-being of society, the success of the church, the property of the nation, depend upon home influences.

Counsels to Parents, Teachers, and Students, pp. 395-396

 

Bible Memory Through Song

Today we are sharing resources for learning Bible verses through song.  Feel free to comment and add your suggestions below.  Many of the suggestions let you listen to a sample, so please try to do so before purchasing if you want to be sure the music is agreeable for your home.

“The songs that had cheered the wilderness wandering were sung.  God’s commandments were chanted, and, bound up with the blessed influences of nature and of kindly human association, they were forever fixed in the memory of many a child and youth.”  ~Education 42.1

“The history of the songs of the Bible is full of suggestion as to the uses and benefits of music and song.  Music is often perverted to serve purposes of evil, and thus becomes one of the most alluring agencies of temptation.  But, rightly employed, it is a precious gift of God, designed to uplift the thoughts to the high and noble themes, to inspire and elevate the soul” ~My Life Today 90.3

* denotes an SDA resource

 

*Benjamin NG Scripture songs – YouTube

Hide ‘Em in Your Heart:  Bible Memory Melodies, Volume 1 and 2 by Steve Green (older CDs, may be hard to find)

*Hide it In Your Heart – YouTube

*Musical Memory Verses – YouTube Channel, Leah is very creative with her songs.

*Neville Peters – By the Word album

Scripture Lullabies – you can purchase CD’s or stream on major streaming platforms

*Scripture Singer – website and app (apple and android), also playlists on YouTube

Scripture Songs CDs – By Patty Vailant (on YouTube, Amazing Facts bookstore, Amazon, etc.)

Sing the KJV – learn whole chapters…free sheet music, also on YouTube.

*SonLight Education Ministry – Search the Family Bible Lessons Folder, the 2-8 Grade Lessons (Desire of All Nations), and Music Song Books.

Songs for Saplings- ABC by Dana Dirksen

Songs for Saplings-123 by Dana Dirksen

*Thy Word Creations:   Songbook/Activity books with a CD

*Trilogy Scripture Resources 

Bible Memory Quotes

This week we share quotes that deal with memorizing Scripture.  We pray it is a blessing and that it will guide your homes as you make these truths your own.

“The mind must be stored with pure principles.  Truth must be graven on the tablets of the soul.  The memory must be filled with the precious truths of the Word.  Then, like beautiful gems, these truths will flash out in the life.”  ~Messages to Young People 69.3

 

“The use of object lessons, blackboards, maps, and pictures, will be an aid in explaining these lessons, and fixing them in the memory.  Parents and teachers should constantly seek for improved methods.  The teaching of the Bible should have our freshest thought, our best methods, and our most earnest effort.”  ~Education 186.1

 

“But there is but little benefit derived from a hasty reading of the Scriptures.  One may read the whole Bible through and yet fail to see its beauty of comprehend its deep and hidden meaning.  One passage studied until its significance is clear to the mind and its relation to the plan of salvation is evident, is of more value than the perusal of many chapters with no definite purpose in view and no positive instruction gained.  Keep your Bible with you.  As you have opportunity, read it; fix the texts in your memory.  Even while you are walking the streets you may read a passage and meditate upon it, thus fixing it in the mind.”  ~Steps to Christ 90.2

 

“Says the psalmist, ‘The law of the Lord is perfect.’  How wonderful in its simplicity, its comprehensiveness and perfection, is the law of Jehovah!  It is so brief that we can easily commit every precept to memory, and yet so far-reaching as to express the whole will of God, and to take cognizance not only of the outward actions, but of the thoughts and intents, the desires and emotions, of the heart.” ~Sons and Daughters of God 39.3

 

“Here are the promises, plain and definite, rich and full; but they are all upon conditions.  If you comply with the conditions, can you not trust the Lord to fulfill His word?  Let these blessed promises, set in the framework of faith, be placed in memory’s halls.  Not one of them will fail.  All that God hath spoken, He will do.  “He is faithful that promised.”  ~Testimonies to the Church, Volume 5, 630.2

This one is in reference to when Satan comes in to tempt us to give up all hope… point him to the promises we are assured of in God’s Word.  🙂

 

“Let those who work for the higher classes bear themselves with true dignity, remembering that angels are their companions.  Let them keep the treasure house of mind and heart filled with, “It is written.’  Hang in memory’s hall the precious words of Christ.  They are to be valued far above gold or silver.”  ~Ministry of Healing 215.3

 

“A great lesson is learned when we understand our relation to God and His relation to us.  The words, ‘Ye are not your own,’ ‘ye are bought with a price,’ should be hung in memory’s hall, that we may ever recognize God’s right to our talents, our property, our influence, our individual selves.  We are to learn how to treat this gift of God, in mind, in soul, in body, that as Christ’s purchased possession we may do Him healthful savory service.”  ~Medical Ministry 276.1

 

“The most valuable treatise on etiquette ever penned is the precious instruction given by the Saviour, with the utterance of the Holy Spirit through the apostle Paul – words that should be ineffaceably written in the memory of every human being, young or old:

‘As I have loved you, that ye also love one another.”  John 13:34′” ~Education 242.2

 

“Two chapters to Be Memorized. – The 12th and 13th chapters of 1st Corinthians should be committed to memory, written in the mind and heart.  Through His servan Paul, the Lord has placed before us these subjects for our consideration, and those who have the privilege of being brought together in church capacity will be united, understandingly and intelligently.  The figure of the members which compose the body represents the church of God and the relation its members should sustain to one another (MS 1898).  ~Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, Volume 6, 1090-91

 

“Scholars should not try to see how many verses they can learn and repeat; for this brings too great a strain upon the ambitious child, while the rest become discouraged.” ~Counsels on Sabbath School Work 182.1

 

“The true teacher is not content with dull thoughts, an indolent mind, or a loose memory.  He constantly seeks higher attainments and better methods.  His life is one of continual growth.  In the work of such a teacher there is a freshness, a quickening power, that awakens and inspires his pupils.”  ~Education 278.5

 

It is in youth that the affections are most ardent, the memory most retentive, and the heart most susceptible to divine impressions; and it is during youth that the mental and physical powers should be set to the task in order that great improvements may be made in view of the world that now is, and that which is to come.”  ~Sons and Daughters of God 78.3

 

Memorize Scripture in Just Five Minutes Each Day

We are sharing a video today.  This is from the Simply Charlotte Mason website.  Yolanda and Melissa both enjoy this system and find it a good way to review past memory verses, while learning your new verses.  Please comment below your other ideas that you enjoy learning Bible verses.

You can view Yolanda’s previous post about how she uses this system.  Charlotte Mason Scripture Memory System

 

Bible Verses on Scripture Memorization

Today we are sharing the Bible scriptures we mentioned in our “Let’s Talk” session on Sunday, April 26th.  If you have additional verses on memorizing scripture, please share them with us in the comments below.  🙂

“Thy Word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.” ~Psalm 119:11 KJV

“I delight myself in thy statutes:  I will not forget thy word.”  ~Psalm 119:16 KJV

“Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.”  ~Psalm 119:105 KJV

“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.  Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. …and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:”  Ephesians 6:10, 11, 17 KJV