The Salvation Garden

So today I keep having this verse show up.. IN MY FACE..

James 1:19-21 in the Message:

"Post this at all the intersections, dear friends.  Lead with your ears, follow up with your tongue, and let anger straggle along in the rear. God’s righteousness doesn’t grow from human anger. So throw all spoiled virtue and cancerous evil in the garbage. In simple humility, let our gardener, God, landscape you with the Word, making a salvation garden of your life.”

I have a NIV Life Application Bible and it reads very differently:

"My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become to angry because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.  Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you."

I read this..  I digest it..  I roll it over in my head and through my heart.  Honestly, I love the way the Message speaks but I love the NIV version as well.  What this is saying to me is when I talk too much and listen too little, I am saying to others that my ideas and feelings are much more important.  When I become angry quickly, I am communicating that although I may speak God's love with my mouth, I am not showing God's love with my actions.  I WANT this salvation garden in my life!  I want the Word planted in me and I want it to flourish.

My mind goes back to yesterday afternoon when I was short with one of my daughters because she was grouchy when she got home from school.  Or to this morning when I was not as nice as I should be to my husband because mornings are just stressful and we had too many things going on.  I don't want to be that person.  I want to be the wife/mother/woman that shows evidence of a well tended garden.  I want to be a woman that takes in the Word and lives it and breathes it and my life shows it.  I love it when He gives me Truth that I am specifically needing!

Let's Stretch!

When I was in school I never studied for a test... and yet I made straight A's.  God blessed me with a great memory.  I could skim the text a few minutes before the test and BAM! there was my perfect score!  I can still remember phone numbers from my grade school friends.  I remember birthdays like a pro..  However, Bible memorization has always seemed very daunting to me... intimidating to say the least.  Why?  I don't really know.  Maybe I don't feel worthy.  Maybe I don't want to be confronted later and not be able to recall the perfect verse for the situation.  Whatever the reason, I have never memorized scripture.  Do I read scripture? Of course... I even remember things from the Bible and can talk about things from the Bible but "verse memorization"...  No way!  So here I go.  My dear friend is calling a group of us to memorize 2 verses a month for the rest of this year.  We are posting these to her blog so we can hold each other accountable.  She asked us to buy a handy dandy spiral to keep them in.  

I am a little scared about this process..  Am I going to be quizzed?  What if I fail?  Can I do this?  So many insecurities!  But this I know.. I have some good friends cheering me on!  And God loves that I am doing this.. 

I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you. Psalm 119:11
I desire to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart. Psalm 40:8
The law of his God is in his heart; his feet do not slip. Psalm 37:31

I really want His word hidden in my heart.  Not so that I can throw verses at people but so that I can recall them when I need them, so that I can grow. He gives them to us for a reason.  I NEED His Word.  I pray I grow through this.  I am thrilled to pieces that my sweet friend is challenging me!  I need to be stretched.  It is scary but in that fear I will grow.  I always do and come out so much closer to the Lord!  Join me in this if you want to.  You won't regret it!