By the way, near the end of yesterday’s walk, I was reminded of another important truth:  the determinative nature of context.

The spectacular scenic route referenced in the just-published previous post was the one I opted for yesterday and for one 30-minute stretch, airplanes from the next-door airport fly right over your head at such a low altitude (since they’re literally just taking off) that you can feel the power of their engines’ thrust and almost feel like you could touch them if you jumped really high.  (As if that weren’t enough, all of this takes place right by a wide river and several stunningly beautiful edifices… like I said, spectacular!)

It’s a very busy airport (which makes local walkers and joggers and bicyclists very happy… travelers?  Not so much) with planes taking off on cue every 30-60 seconds and one thing which always amazes me is that they don’t fall right out of the sky, into the river below.  My head is fully aware of the power of engine thrust and that this is what keeps multi-ton pieces of metal in the air but to my eyes what makes it so amazing that they don’t fall down is that they appear  to be moving far too slowly.

Because I see them against a very big sky in the background.

Context can change everything!

And that’s exactly how it is with the Bible, too!  The context  of a given passage can completely change one’s initial, verbiage-only perception.

The words are essential but to properly understand what God is actually saying  in His Word, it’s absolutely crucial to consider the context.

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I just brushed my teeth and swished some serious mouthwash and my entire mouth feels so clean, don’t you just love that feeling?!

I do.

But it only lasts for a short while.  Second-grade science class made crystal clear to us all that as soon as we’re done brushing our teeth, the plaque process restarts immediately and before long, that super-clean, super-fresh feeling fades.

Endless cycle.

And that’s exactly how it is with the Christian life!

We read (or better yet, study or memorize!) the Bible and pray and confess our sins and feel so “clean” and “fresh” spiritually  and indeed emotionally.  But before long the “sin process” restarts and attacks not our mouth but rather our heart and mind.  (And definitely our tongue!  James 3.)

It would be FANTASTIC if there were a toothpaste which lasted, which sustained its cleansing effect forever, permanently.  Fantastic… and fantastical  since, after some many centuries of success-less trying, that’s almost certainly “not gonna happen.”  But I’m thrilled to tell you that said forecast does not apply spiritually!  Because “Thy word [i.e., the Bible] I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin…” (Psalm 119:11).  Unfortunately but as we all know to be reality:  (a) nobody can memorize and recite Scripture (or even just read it) 24 hours a day (thus giving the sin process its toehold, its cue to restart anew) and (b) comparatively few people – even mature believers – memorize Scripture on a regular, systematic basis at all.

One of the main goals and purposes of BibleMemory.ORG is to change that second part!  Such that even though the first hurdle (i.e., doing so every minute of the day) will obviously remain intact for the rest of our physical lives, I am absolutely certain that the Lord is going to lead many millions of Christians to the point that they’re reciting or meditating on the Bible at least once every hour.

Memorizing and reciting Scripture is like brushing one’s mind and heart and spirit and soul.  That’s right:  just as brushing our teeth restores a clean and fresh feeling to our mouth, so also the Bible – if ingested – restores the soul…

• “The law of the Lord [i.e., the Bible] is perfect, restoring the soul” (Psalm 19:7a)

… and cleans and purifies and sanctifies the entire person…

• “Sanctify them by Your truth.  Your word [i.e., the Bible] is truth.” (John 17:17, NKJV)

… and actually and literally causes  spiritual growth.

• “like newborn babes, long for the pure milk of the word [i.e., the Bible], that by it you may grow in respect to salvation” (1 Peter 2:2)

How many of us would even THINK ABOUT, even CONSIDER going an entire day without brushing our teeth?

Yet how many go an entire week or month or (gasp!) year without memorizing and reciting Scripture?

With your help and by God’s good grace and great power, that’s about to change!  What a wonderful world it will be when we see millions of people memorizing and meditating on Scripture many times throughout each day!  May it be so.
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If you sense that the Lord might be leading YOU to support the historic event unfolding in real-time here at BibleMemory.ORG and thus become my fellow worker and thus share in all of the fruit and blessings (3 John 8) and literally MAKE HISTORY together, here are the best ways to do so:

1. Become a one-time or monthly partner by making a donation via PayPal’s fully-secure Bible Memory page!

2. Encourage as many people as you can to support this historic event by having them go to BibleMemory.ORG/support (please make sure they understand that it’s .org, not .com) – doing so by word-of-mouth is great, and to do so with a single click on your social media simply click here then scroll down a few inches to the green box and select your platforms, it’s that quick and easy!

3. Add your name to my Prayer List!

4. Encourage as many of our fellow Christians as you can to pray for this historic event by having them go to BibleMemory.ORG/pray (please make sure they understand that it’s .org, not .com) – doing so by word-of-mouth is great, and to do so with a single click on your social media simply click here then scroll down a few inches and select your platforms, it’s that quick and easy!

5. Share this post  on your social media by clicking on one or more of these platforms:

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I just watched a basketball game and noticed how many times a team played stellar, suffocating defense which invariably lead to a fast break and easy bucket for them.  A dunk, lay-up, or uncontested three-pointer.

And it hit me that this is EXACTLY how it is in the Christian life!

Personal righteousness, personal purity, spiritual growth, spiritual maturity – i.e., “offense” – begins with strong DEFENSE!

The Word of God, the Bible, in general and Bible memory in specific is a great place to start!  A fantastic, powerful spiritual tool, a wonderful weapon.

• “And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” (Ephesians 6:17)

Because “by it”, the Bible, comes  spiritual growth.

• “like newborn babes, long for the pure milk of the word [i.e., the Bible], that by it you may grow in respect to salvation” (1 Peter 2:2)

I strongly encourage you to add it to your daily spiritual arsenal, and you’ll see stellar de-fense, de-fense, de-fense turn into productive, unstoppable of-fense, of-fense, of-fense before your very eyes.

And those “easy buckets” are usually what spur us on to further growth, to keep  growing, to not  grow weary in our spiritual journey.  Just like a basketball player who scores a dunk or (in my case 🙂 ) lay-up or three-pointer which remarkably re-energizes and re-motivates all over again, like when the game started.

And it all begins with the Bible.

Always.

May we drink daily from that cup.  May we long for that magnificent, miraculous “milk” of the Word which garners growth.
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Every few years or so I get a kick out of pulling up TV commercials from the 1950’s and 70’s and 90’s to see just how much society has changed… like this:

… and it immediately hit me that Bible memory on a regular, systematic basis is like brushing one’s spiritual  breath.

And speaking of brushing, we wouldn’t even THINK about (that reminds me of a funny street sign I once saw which read, “Don’t even THINK about parking here”) starting or ending a day WITHOUT brushing our teeth; how much even more important is it to brush our brain, our mind, with the water of the Word.

Every day.  Every night.

• “… meditate on it [the Bible] day and night…” (Joshua 1:8)
• “… mediates [on the Bible] day and night…” (Psalm 1:2)

(At a minimum… preferably many times in between, too.)

• “O how I love Thy law! [the Bible]  It is my meditation all the day.” (Psalm 119:97)

“Brush your breath with Dentyne” is cute… “Brush your brain  with the Bible” is crucial.
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I’ve never been a supplement kind of guy, opting instead to get my nutrition via a balanced diet, from the food I eat – but even I know that they’re not called “daily vitamins” for nothin’!

It’s because for maximum effectiveness they should be consumed daily.  And that’s exactly  how it is with the Bible, too!

For maximum effectiveness, it should be consumed every single day.

Why?  Because the “default setting” for fallen flesh is sinfulness.  Those who haven’t yet been redeemed and come to a saving knowledge of Christ are “dead” spiritually…

• “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins” (Ephesians 2:1)

… but even for believers it’s like going up the down  escalator:  our not-yet-transformed flesh is constantly trying to “pull down” our new inner man, our spirit, and even the greatest Christian of all time in my opinion, the Apostle Paul, struggled with and often lost the battle even though the war was won years before thanks to a certain occupied cross and empty tomb.

• “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the wishing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not.  For the good that I wish, I do not do; but I practice the very evil that I do not wish.” (Romans 7:18-19)

And make no mistake about it, it is indeed an all-out war.

• “For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to [at enmity with] one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. [Which harkens back perfectly to the just-cited Romans 7:18-19]” (Galatians 5:17)

A war which has indeed been won, yes, but – as discussed in-depth in a prior post – the Bible is crystal clear that what separates true believers (which Jesus famously referred to as “wheat”) and false ones (“chaff”) is whether a person practices righteousness or sin, so seems like a good idea to fight the battles versus “resting on one’s laurels” because it’s that consistent over-time demonstrated goodness which grants us much confidence in our salvation, that it’s genuine, which produces a strong sense of eternal security within.

So if we want to conquer the constant down-direction-by-default escalator called life, it’s a good idea to take one’s spiritual vitamins DAILY, too, for maximum effectiveness.  And those are, of course, the 31,102 verses in the Bible.  The “my words” of Proverbs 4:20, of which it’s revealed and confirmed just two verses later (also discussed in-depth in a prior post):

• “they are life to those who find them, and health to all their whole body.” (Proverbs 4:22)

And while it’s healthy and good to read it, it’s even better to study it… and best of all to memorize, to truly ingest  it, to get it within you so it can stick around for a long, long time.

• “Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you” (Colossians 3:16) (note that it doesn’t say “dwell” but “RICHLY dwell”… and not in a vacuum or cupboard or drawer but “WITHIN you”)

Because that’s what’s most conducive for steady meditation.  And as I often say, in a tweak of the well-known Reader’s Digest section, meditation  is the best medication.

• “This book of the law [i.e., the Bible] shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success.” (Joshua 1:8)

Indeed, Bible memory is the epitome of preventative  medicine.

• “Thy word have I hidden in my heart, so that I may not sin against Thee.” (Psalm 119:11)

(Infinitely better than “an apple” but at least they got it right in the second half of that famous adage!)

Our great “daily vitamin”!  Our perfect “pill”!  May we not fail to take  it.

Every day.

• “O how I love Thy law!  It is my meditation all the day.” (Psalm 119:97)

Amen to that!

Indeed, this is the whole purpose of BibleMemory.ORG – to “practice what I preach” and memorize the entire Bible… and then to Educate, Encourage, and Empower others to do likewise!  If YOU would like to help make that happen, to (literally) MAKE HISTORY together, simply click on the Donate button at the top of the Side Panel on the right and keep me and this history-making undertaking in your regular prayers – I’ll definitely be needing them!
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