Are You Hiding God’s Word on Your Shelf or in Your Heart?
By Rick Warren
"I've banked your promises in the vault of my heart so I won't sin." Psalm 119:11 (MSG)
The more of God’s Word you get into your mind, the more defenses you will have against persistent temptation.
In fact, the Bible is part of your emergency kit for temptation. The Bible calls this “hiding God’s Word in your heart.” The Message paraphrase of this verse says, "I've banked your promises in the vault of my heart so I won't sin" (Psalm 119:11).
You hide God’s Word in your heart, or memorize it. Then, when Satan tempts you, you say, "That's not right, because I know that God says this.” When Satan came to Jesus in the wilderness, he gave Jesus three big temptations. Every time Satan tempted him, Jesus quoted a Bible verse back to him. If this is the approach Jesus used to resist Satan, then it’s the same one you should use too.
When Satan tempts you, you don't want to pull out the Bible app on your phone and say, "Now, I know somewhere in here, there's a verse that says not to do that.” That's not helpful. But when you have God’s Word memorized, then the Holy Spirit can remind you of its truth.
You have to start memorizing God’s Word if you want to have an effective tool for victory over the persistent temptations in your life. If you know the areas in which you are most vulnerable to temptation, then you can find the verses in the Bible that talk about those things. Then you write those verses down on an index card and read them over and over until you have them memorized.
There is no shortcut to learning the discipline of memorizing Scripture. You just have to start and then be persistent, trusting God to help you learn and remember everything you need for spiritual growth.
The Bible is worthless to you when it’s sitting on the shelf in your home. But with God’s Word in your mind, it becomes a powerful weapon to fight every temptation Satan can throw at you. Start today by finding some Bible verses that will help you in the areas where you're weak.
Then bank them in the vault of your heart.
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This devotional © 2018 by Rick Warren. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
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