ABC Bible Verses in ESV

I just took on a project that took WAY TOO much time NOT to share it with people! I wanted to have my children memorize one Bible verse each week for school. Since we are studying one letter of the alphabet a week, I thought having a verse for each letter would be perfect! I would just Google a search for "ABC Bible Verses" and Wah-lah! Done. It was not to be. What I wanted could not be found. What I did find all used the King James Version - which I don't have a problem with at all for myself, but I prefer using words my kids will or have already spoken to improve understanding. Some lists had a verse about how drunkards would not enter heaven! Honestly, I was a little baffled by THAT one! WHY I would want to use a verse about drunkenness for my child who is learning the ABC's I have NO IDEA! So I made one myself.

Here's what I wanted:

1. A verse that BEGAN with the letter 
2. A verse that was relevant to my children 
3. A verse in a version that was easy to understand 
4. A verse that was an entire verse or obvious section of the verse. 
5. A verse that is short enough for my two-year-old to learn in a week.

I am too picky apparently. But have no fear! If I want something done right, (or at least my way!) I will do it myself! So here they are - ABC Bible Verses in the English Standard Version that are short, easy to understand and contextual AND they all start with the letter of the alphabet - except for X - not happening!

Feel free to use these however you want to! Just leave me a comment and let me know that my hours of effort were appreciated! ;0)

A - All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Romans 3:23

B - “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.” Acts 16:31

C - Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Ephesians 6:1

D – Delight yourself in the Lord. Psalm 37:4

E - Even a child makes himself known by his acts. Proverbs 20:11

F - Fear not, for I am with you. Isaiah 41:10

G – “Give thanks to the Lord of hosts, for the Lord is good.” Jeremiah 33:11

H - Honor your father and mother. Matthew 19:19

I - If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God James 1:5

J - Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Hebrews 13:8

K - Know that the Lord, he is God! Psalm 100:3

L - Listen to advice and accept instruction. Proverbs 19:20

M - Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth! Psalm 100:1

N – No one can serve two masters Matthew 6:24

O – Oh come, let us worship and bow down; Psalm 95:6

P – Pray without ceasing. 1 Thessalonians 5:17

Q – Let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; James 1:19

R – Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.” Exodus 20:8

S – Submit yourselves therefore to God. James 4:7

T – Teach me to do your will, for you are my God! Psalm 143:10

U – Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture 1 Timothy 4:13

V – Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord. Romans 12:19

W – “We must obey God rather than men.” Acts 5:29

X – Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. 2 Corinthians 13:5

Y – You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Matthew 22:39

Z – “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.” Luke 19:5

In HIS Grip, 
               

WARNING Signs are EVERYWHERE!!! HELP!

Have you ever noticed how many WARNING signs there are on things? They are ALLLLLL OVER!!! They seriously irritate me. Especially the foolish ones. Like this. 

I would REALLY like to know exactly WHY I am supposed to supervise this thing all day. I have enough to do with watching my kids much less their TOYS!!! 

And uh-oh! Emily fell asleep on it the other day! I'm definitely going to jail for THAT one! 

And while my child is being used, I cannot leave her unattended. Ookaaay??? 

You have to question these "Cautions" don't you? Why are they REALLY there? Is it for my child's safety? Well since they are okay with me USING my child - I somewhat doubt it. (Yes, I know that's not what they MEANT! but that is what it SAYS!)  Let's face it - there are a TON of warning signs out there that are not for the benefit of the reader of the warning sign. They are for the benefit of the WRITER! The person or company who put the WARNING sign out there in the first place! Gone are the days of people selflessly putting out a sign so they can avoid the same thing happening to someone else. Now we are cautioned against foolishness so we cannot BLAME someone else. How ridiculous is this? 

We have suddenly become a culture that believes it is okay if not completely ACCEPTABLE to BLAME others for our own foolishness or sin. 

We blame our parents for not raising us properly. 

We blame our government for messing up society. 

We blame our pain on the doctor. 

We blame our medicine for making us crabby and angry.

We blame our lack of sleep for our rotten attitudes. 

We blame GOD for the evil in the world. 

Wait a minute back up here. What are we doing blaming GOD? He is the one who gave us the REAL warnings! 

God gave us God's Word so we would read the warnings that will protect us. The warnings like 

"the wages of sin is death" - Rom 5:8 

God will reward according to your works - Rom 2:6

 the book of Proverbs contains NUMEROUS warnings for fools and children and parents. 

and COUNTLESS others.

We receive warnings every day from man - mail, internet, facebook, our toys, books, shoes, you name it - it most likely has a warning SOMEWHERE! If not attached to it - you can most likely find a warning online! 

So what do we do with the warnings from God? Sometimes we do the same things to His Word! We may not throw it in the trash but we see it and don't read it. We put it aside or store it away or ignore it completely. 

But these warnings are FROM GOD!!! He wants us to read them! They are truly for our GOOD and HIS glory! How many warnings do we see in every day life that are truly for our benefit? How many warnings are there that are truly for God's GLORY? 

Today's post is linked up with these wonderful blogs! 

Life in Our Fishbowl: My Quiet Time

Since God has given me a new passion and desire to serve Him with my blogging, it has become more difficult to manage my time online wisely. So I decided to sell my netbook and purchase an Archos 7o Android Tablet. Problem solved! What? That's what my husband said too!

There are many things that I love about it. My number one thing is I can be anywhere and use it. I can bring it upstairs with me and use my Google reader to catch up on blogs and be right there with my kids making sure they are staying in their beds to take their naps and not galavanting about their bedrooms! I can nurse my baby and one-handedly check email or read from my Kindle app. I call those times "dead times" or times when I am only doing ONE thing! Now I can multi-task in those "dead times" and make them no longer "dead!"

My favorite thing though? I use it as my Bible. Yup, that's right! And I LOVE IT! There are SEVERAL Bible apps that are wonderful. I have ESV Bible app that I like to use but my favorite app is Cadre Bible. It's free unless you want to upgrade it to get different Bibles and resources.

Since my hubbie is a PASTOR, I sit in the pew alone. Ha Ha Ha! I just reread what I wrote! I don't sit in the pew ALONE! I have a 4 year old, a two year old and a 3 month old to keep me company! Now do you see why I feel ALONE? I don't have any help from my husband who is usually lending a helping hand, or lap as it were. So opening my Bible and following along with my pastor-husband is a dream. I am usually holding Emily and wrapping my other arm around my 2 year old to remind him of MOMMY'S AWESOME PRESENCE in his life. Right.

My Archos changed that. All of a sudden I can open my Bible and with one hand scroll through the verses as quickly as if I had my Bible with me. I can READ it! And hold my baby! And wiggle my finger accompanied by my "meanest mommy reminder" look at my son or daughter.

Before I got my Archos, I had daily Bible readings that I picked out emailed to me by www.mybibleplans.com/ and I LOVE it! I especially love it because I can read them while I'm sitting in the bathroom - I didn't say I was the one going!! :0)

Media can make it VERY difficult to focus on time with God but this time for me, it helped me GET my time with God and I'm so thankful!

Oh and by the way! Be watching for my new series about Life in OTHER Fishbowls! And if you are a pastor's wife who would like to be involved in giving us a peek into your fishbowl let me know!

I'm linked up with Courtney at Women Living Well today for her Media Monday series!

Sinking Deep Into My Heart

"Jesus said to his disciples, “Let these words sink into your ears: The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men.” But they did not understand this saying, and it was concealed from them, so that they might not perceive it. And they were afraid to ask him about this saying." Luke 9:44-45 (ESV).

I've been reading a chapter a day from the New Testament and this was in the chapter for today. Isn't it interesting? I wonder when exactly it sunk into Jesus' disciples ears? Was it when Jesus was taken away from the Garden of Gethsemane? Or was it when Jesus hung on the cross? I'm sure it probably sunk in at some point! But for whatever reason that Christ had, "it was concealed from them." 

It's been absolutely INCREDIBLE how much I have been growing and changing in my relationship to God over the years. I keep experiencing the "sinking in" of something that I may have heard OVER and OVER and OVER. But for whatever reason, that lesson did not sink in until God WANTED it to! 

It's kind of funny because occasionally my husband will come to me and tell me something that has "sunk in" for him and I respond by encouraging him but inside I'm thinking "He's just NOW getting this?" And I'm sure my husband has had that happen even more numerous times with me. But maybe that same thing that we think we understand hasn't SUNK in COMPLETELY yet! God hasn't truly revealed the splendor or grandeur of the lesson from God's Word. 

But isn't it amazing how God teaches us? How God molds us and shapes us to becoming the people we are right now? It really changes your perspective about being a parent doesn't it? No matter how many times I may try to teach my kids to obey, or to go potty in the potty and not in your pants, it won't really take hold until it SINKS in! 

Some of the definitions used in the Merriam Webster dictionary are "to soak or become absorbed,"  "to become impressively known or felt," and "to cause (something) to penetrate." 

Homeschooling is so fun because I get to witness my kids experience the "sinking in" thing all the time! I love how Aimee will work really hard on learning how to sound out one of her letters and then a little light bulb turns on and her eyes shine and BOOM! She knows the answer! Consider it SUNK! 

But how much more beautiful to experience a gem from God's Word sinking into the hearts of my children or into my own heart. That point of understanding is so much more important than learning any of the ABC's. But sometimes it can be so very basic and necessary to our walk with God. 

Lord ~ If there is anything that needs to sink in for me today, please lead me and guide my heart and make it tender to your lessons and leading. Help me to be sensitive to those times when God may be using me to help something sink into my children's hearts. Thank you for never failing me and continually teaching me day by day. Amen. 

Today I'm linked up with

     

My Reading Challenge

I have been challenged to read this year and although I haven't read a ton of books yet, I thought I would compile a list of the books that have really had an impact on my life as a mom, wife and future Pastor's wife, as well as a child of God. I have seen a huge difference in my growth as a Christian when I take in not just the Bible but what other godly people have to say about their own walks with God. So here is a list that just might interest you too!

"From One Ministry Wife to Another" by Susie Hawkins
"Miserly Moms" by Jonnie McCoy
"Disciplines of a Godly Woman" by Barbara Hughes
"Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World" by Joanna Weaver
"For Women Only" by Shaunti Feldhan
"Though None Go With Me" by Jerry Jenkins
"Safely Home" by Randy Alcorn
"Loving God With All Your Mind" by Elisabeth George
"BabyWise" by Ezzo and Bucknam

I'm currently reading:

"More Love to Thee" by Sharon James
"Having a Mary Spirit" by Joanna Weaver
"Raise a Smarter Child by Kindergarten" by David Perlmutter

Planning to read soon:

"You Can Still Wear Cute Shoes" by Lisa McKay
"Stepping Heavenward" by E. Prentiss
"Shepherding a Child's Heart" by Tedd Tripp
"How Am I Smart?" by Dr. Kathy Koch

These are what I've come up with so far - I'm excited to be reading such good books but I have been finding it easier to read these books instead of reading the most important book of all - God's Word. Reading His Word on a daily basis has been a huge struggle for me and until recently - as in the last week really, I have not been reading it unless I was directed to in church or by my husband. My husband has been trying to encourage me to get in God's Word and I am so thankful that he cares and loves me enough to push me towards faithfully reading. He tried everything - doing devos with me (which was willingly received but it never went beyond that time we spent together) or asking me if I read my Bible that day.

I was reading "Having a Mary Spirit" and it was made clear to me that if I don't read God's Word I am FAILING in my walk as a believer. I don't know what my holdup was exactly. I used excuses to my husband (and to God) such as "I'm too busy" or "I just don't think about it" or "I don't get anything out of it" or "God just doesn't feel close to me." Now I realize how EXCUSISH those reasons are. I know I just made up a word, but it fits! Satan (and sometimes it was all me and my sin nature) seemed to be whispering in my ear all the reasons why IT WASN'T IMPORTANT to read my Bible regularly and how I WOULD GET ALONG FINE in my spiritual walk if I didn't read His Word. EXCUSES! God has been trying to fight this battle for some time but the sinful excuses would always resurface. Even now that I have started to read God's Word every day, I find those excuses trying to pop up in my mind.

I remember when I was growing up that I told my mom that I was too tired to read the Bible at night and how I'm NOT a morning person and my brain doesn't function well enough to read it then anyway. She responded by telling me "What better way to fall asleep then on the pages of God's Word?" I kindof smiled and nodded at my mom then but a couple of nights ago it happened and I remember my mom telling me that and it made me realize that my attitude has changed. I know now that God has been "setting me up" to learn the importance of being in God's Word and if I want to grow closer to God at all, I need to listen to HIM. I wish I had learned this lesson a long time ago but I didn't and God chose this time in my life for the Holy Spirit to finally reach inside and open my eyes to it.

I am very thankful that God fights my battles for me and will continue to fight this battle for me. I know it's far from over and will continue to be a battle every day to remember to reserve time to read His Word. But I am becoming more like Christ every day and those battles are easier won.

So even though I encourage others to read good, godly books by godly men and women, I encourage you more to read The Good Book written by a godly God most of all.