Day 1 - Week 3 - Verse #3!!!

Again, let's reinforce our first two verses into our brains so they can reside in our hearts:

Genesis 1:1, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."
John 1:1 "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."

I have failed to mention that the first four verses we're memorizing are labled as the "Bible's Fantastic Four" in Robert Morgan's book.  They are foundational verses to the Christian faith...verse #1 in establishing God as the creator of all things; verse #2 in establishing the eternal existence and the deity of Jesus Christ.

Now...here it comes...the third verse to add to our memory banks of Scripture treasures:

John 1:14, "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."

A familiar verse, but a longer verse!  Our first multi-sentence verse!  And the source isn't 1:1, so we've got another thing to remember.  (If you'll notice, I've been placing the source at the beginning because I think it's important to memorize that as well.  I'm notorious for saying, "I know there's a verse that says..." --- that's just not as convincing as when you say, "In John 1:14 we are told...."  If I'm going to memorize Scripture, I'm going to memorize the source as well and have the full impact!)

So, a few hints on memorizing longer Scriptures..really understand the Scripture so it makes sense to you and the memorization will be easier.  Then break it down into sections and get each section down, then add the next.  For this verse, start with:  "The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us."  Get that good and slolid in your head.  Then add, "We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only"...and finally, "who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."  Three easy segments to add on to the other. 

This is a foundational verse that testifies to the fact that Jesus Christ, son of God, actually came and lived on earth.  It is a very important verse to have in store when someone challenges the deity of Christ. We'll spend the week allowing this verse to become alive in our hearts....for tonight just hear the words and hear their truth.