Activity from TheMoviegoer§↻

I was thinking about you today, TMG. I just wanted to say that I'm proud of you. I'm so thankful that you're holding strong to your commitment to memorize Mark. I'm excited to hear about the breakthroughs that are coming into your life because you have placed God's Word above your own earthly desires. Hang in there!

Haha, that is great, Onfire247! You have no idea how many times I am glad and encouraged to see you still going full tilt! I know we only know each other through the site, but I do believe the unity of purpose behind the goal of memorizing and meditating on the word ties us together! I think about how one important part of the early church was unifying around the teaching of the apostles. One testimonial aspect of my odd desire to memorize Mark is how it has influenced my study of other books. I am leading a Sunday School class on Acts, and my work on Mark is so relevant. Okay, that is obvious, but here are just a few concrete examples. One, Stephen’s accusers mount a similar false case against him as the did against Christ… especially Mark’s account. Two, the Pharisees anger toward Stephen’s ministry reflects their insatiable demand for signs and wonders to confirm their origin… also similar to Mark 8. Finally, Stephen’s final words refer to Christ as the Son of Man…. I read a commentary that said, Stephen is the only other person (other than Christ… often in Mark) to use that name for Christ in the NT. I haven’t confirmed this last point, but Mark’s use has caused me to explore its origins in Daniel. Good stuff. I hope it is helpful to people in Sunday School, but I know that has helped my puny brain remain more engaged than before.

Thank you for sharing all that about Acts, Mark, and Daniel, TMG (it was a good read), and thank you OF for encouraging TMG. We are designed to need and be interdependent upon one another.

Good stuff, TMG!

Onfire247 and joosep, how about you? I am curious about how your work here via the site has been encouraging to you or others.

One of my challenges with my memorization work here is that so far there seems to be few external or internal benefits that I can measure. Thanks to Covid, I have had few external interactions with people since I started this process a year ago. Additionally, there seem to be few measurable internal changes as well other than the occasional changes I'm noticing in my thought processes. A year later, I remain essentially the same person I was when I started, which is frustrating. I must confess that because of these facts I frequently feel like giving up on the whole matter.

I don't quit, however, because I feel that God is building something within me that must exist before the external fruit appears. In fact, as I was typing this, I was thinking about how the largest and most beautiful of skyscrapers begin with a foundation that is deep and wide enough to support its height. I feel that way. God is building a foundation in me for something in the future. I have no idea what that is, (and frankly it scares the bejeebers out of me) but I trust God and his processes. After all, Jesus spent 33 years on this earth, but only 10% of it was spent in active ministry. So, for as long as this process takes, I'm all in.

Onfire247, I think you really are on to something. God is building a foundation in you through the word. And our temptation is to try and determine a difference through our effort. I have committed a lot of time to Mark, but I haven’t stopped sinning. I don’t see any tangible way that I have improved as a person. More importantly, I know that God doesn’t see this and say, “Finally, you’re getting somewhere. Now, I can work with you?” The only think I can say 100% is that the time in the word is good. He called us to obedience, and this is one way I can be obedient. I can’t be perfect, and as a sinner, I can make even studying the scripture an act of self-righteous pride. But because the Word is true, powerful, transformative, etc., I can’t keep studying and remain unchanged. That is unchanged… lowercase u. We have already been completely Changed by the Gospel. That sign and wonder was performed at salvation.

I'll just say, I agree with what's written above, and a change in my life is that I'm calmer, more patient than before -- my wife will attest to that. A far cry from what I ought to be, I'd quickly add. I also just feel that my knowledge of the Word is somehow deeper -- it's not easy to quantify that. It's just something I feel or know more deeply. Romans 10:17 applies here, methinks.

Peace. When I'm faithful to do my morning routine in coming here, if I take each verse slowly and consider it before God as I go, I find that afterwards, as I go about my activities for the rest of the morning, I truly have a deep and profound peace that passes understanding. This is not a human thing -- John 14:27, 16:33, 20:19, 20:21, 20:26. It's not a human thing, it in no way comes about via human effort. See the verses I referenced.

As the day goes on, if I am not diligent to continue to seek God throughout the day, the cares of the world then come back upon me. We must steadfastly continue to go to Him as His servants, as His sons and daughters, humbling ourselves.

Here's a few other verses to consider: Luke 18:1, Luke 21:36, Ephesians 6:18.

That's my testimony of how using this site has affected me.

How interesting folks, I can share your frustration sometimes onfire247, in fact the more verses I learn, the less well I know each of them! I feel like my fingers have learnt them to type, but not to say.. which is a shame.
Personally benefits include... (after 18 months)some structure to my quiet bible times ( often I will follow up on verses I have learnt in a bid to understand the context more)
Better bible knowledge for discussion with others in church, I find it easier to discuss Christ and the cross, Christ is quicker to my thoughts and lips in everyday conversations.
Peace as joosep says.
On a good day when I am muttering verses to myself it feels like the scripture is part of me, flowing through me.
My children watch and sometimes help me remember verses.
Many more I'm sure......

Thanks everyone who’s contributed to this topic. Very helpful and encouraging. 😊

Yes, and thanks to joosep and mrsSpooner for their great insight as well!

If I may, I'd like to add one more quick thought: lately I've been using more often this site's "Practice" feature. As you are reviewing, once you've been tested on each verse, you can then choose if you wish to practice it. You can do this as many times as you want before going on to the next verse. I've been doing this more often lately for my problem verses, and I have noticed later that it does indeed have an effect.

I'm talking about doing this *during* the course of a review of a passage, not as something separage from reviews.