He who knew no sin died for those who knew no love until He demonstrated His own love toward us, for the first time forming the phrase “we love” but only because He loved us first.
“He [God the Father] made Him [Jesus]who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Corinthians 5:21)
“For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another.” (Titus 3:3)
“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)
“We love, because He first loved us.” (1 John 4:19)
http://biblememory.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/IMAGE-LOGO-BMO-PNG-3701x4004-IMPROVED-with-extended-y-underlines-Human-Head-with-Bible-on-multi-colored-Brain-Lobes-all-atop-Domain-Name-277x300.png00Bible Memoryhttp://biblememory.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/IMAGE-LOGO-BMO-PNG-3701x4004-IMPROVED-with-extended-y-underlines-Human-Head-with-Bible-on-multi-colored-Brain-Lobes-all-atop-Domain-Name-277x300.pngBible Memory2023-11-14 16:51:372024-01-25 18:29:36What Love Is
I was able to take one of my many-mile mega-walks today, this time on the matchless, magnificent Mall in the heart of Washington, DC. The massive monuments were majestic and beautiful as always. Seeing the number of people living on some of the side streets? Not so much.
But such a sight did serve a poignant purpose in hissing this crystal clear conclusion: I know what love is…
… and what it ISN’T, like letting “lowly” people live in tents and linger and literally waste away on lawns, parking lots, and public parks. Whenever I see that I always wonder why in the world we as a society or our political leaders let that happen, how is such even possible in the wealthiest (on paper, anyway, but that’s a topic for another day) country on earth? No, that’s not love; it’s indifference at best and hatred at worst. And heartbreaking to behold in any case.
I haven’t yet set my mind on seeking a specific solution but the current cold-heartedness can’t continue, we have got to figure this out as, per the quote marks, these people are anything but “lowly” in my eyes and I’m sure your eyes and most importantly the living Lord’s loving eyes.
Looks like the next great mission field to me… more to come as my mind mulls this matter over these next many months, stay tuned.
Several states saw some stunning results in yesterday’s off-year elections.
So many savvy “savior”-seekers saw Governor Glenn Youngkin as their next great hope politically, but it’s widely deemed that those dreams were dashed and debatably destroyed after he fought so hard but failed to win the Senate and actually went in reverse in losing the Virginia House of Delegates, too. (But both just barely, by a baby whisker, but damage was undeniably done… what a dramatic, diametric difference a day can make.)
And ruby-red Kentucky really had heads scratching after electing a Democrat as their governor. Again.
And Ohio, which went with Donald Trump by a big nearly-ten percentage points both in 2016 and 2020, approved a ballot measure to instill in that red state’s constitution the right to have an abortion – by a landslide, two-to-one, i.e., those voting yes doubled those voting no, despite a decisive number advantage of Republicans over Democrats there.
But I think the most shocking thing I saw occur last night was this: not only that a woman chose to run for the House of Delegates in Virginia after having publicly participated in a super-sordid scandal… but that she came within an inch of winning.
Let that set in for a second. After her public scandal of unmentionable immorality, many people dwelling in that district deemed her perfectly fit to fulfill a position of political leadership.
We’ve all seen that telling the truth has become an endangered species in society.
So has purity.
The personal and public problem with this is that purity is literally the gateway for wisdom.
“But the wisdom from above is firstpure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy.” (James 3:17)
In other words, it’s impossible to possess much less practice wisdom without first putting on purity, without mustering much more than a modicum of morality in one’s daily living.
I’m not shocked at all that she ran for office. But it is sad to see so many men and women (“the masses”) vote for her.
There’s a palpable price to pay when the public pursues impurity and eschews wisdom.
May we double-down on our decision as Bible-loving, Bible-living believers to turn our back on and outright reject the things so readily and roundly applauded by the sinful, siren-song-singing world system. May we live life looking to lovingly share the transforming truth of the Bible in general and the Gospel in specific with others, that they too may put away those things, to “die to sin and live to righteousness” and enjoy the purity, peace, and power certain to ensue.
“and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.” (1 Peter 2:24)
And may we never, ever forget that there but by God’s grace go (and went!) we.
“And such were some of you…” (1 Corinthians 6:11a)
“For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another.” (Titus 3:3)
And I’ll end on this very upbeat note: that both of these verses use the word “were”, not ”are”, and that the very next word in both cases is a big, beautiful, blessed “but” – praise the Lord!
“but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.” (1 Corinthians 6:11b)
“But when the kindness and affection of God our Savior appeared, He saved us…” (Titus 3:4-5a)
Wisdom is wonderful and indescribably blissful, but the Bible does so sufficiently for our finite, fallen minds to figure out more than enough about it that we will want and work and wait for it to fully materialize and manifest itself in and through our otherwise-little lives.
“How blessed is the man who finds wisdom and the man who obtains discernment. For her [wisdom’s] profit is better than the profit of silver and her produce better than fine gold. She is more precious than pearls; and NOTHING YOU DESIRE COMPARES with her. Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor. Her ways are pleasant ways and all her pathways are peace. She is a tree of life to those who seize her, and all those who hold her fast are blessed.” (Proverbs 3:13-18)
Beautifully put, but please keep in mind that the very first step on the precious path to palpably possessing it is the perspective and practice of personal purity. Possible only by the grace and goodness granted by God, not garnered or generated by anything inside or inherent to man.
http://biblememory.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/IMAGE-LOGO-BMO-PNG-3701x4004-IMPROVED-with-extended-y-underlines-Human-Head-with-Bible-on-multi-colored-Brain-Lobes-all-atop-Domain-Name-277x300.png00Bible Memoryhttp://biblememory.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/IMAGE-LOGO-BMO-PNG-3701x4004-IMPROVED-with-extended-y-underlines-Human-Head-with-Bible-on-multi-colored-Brain-Lobes-all-atop-Domain-Name-277x300.pngBible Memory2023-11-08 18:28:492024-02-14 08:40:38Practicing Personal Purity Pulls Open the Portal for People to Possess Proper Perspective, Perpetual Peace, and Palpable Power
This very narrow, very specific aspect of Bible memorization will no doubt differ from person to person but I’ve found it to be most effective to do so while watching or listening to something in the background (mainly news-focused shows or live events for reasons I’ll discuss in the future), so for today’s Bible memory session I was watching a (wacky) trial being televised from Florida.
Most of the commentators and commenters kept saying how “long” and “boring” and “brutal” the day had been, but frankly I found it “fascinating factor six”, to paraphrase Shark Tank’s Kevin O’Leary.
Specifically, it was fascinating to watch the murder conspiracy defendant take the witness stand. Always high drama and tension when that happens, producing not only great TV but also probably the pinnacle of sociological observation fests.
This particular instance was even better than most in that “everyone and his brother” knows the defendant is guilty since the evidence previously put on by the prosecutors was, well, overwhelming. And yet the fellow concocted an obviously reverse-engineered “story” which “just happened” to “answer” or “explain” (in intricate, all-encompassing detail) every single damaging piece of evidence against him. I literally can’t recall a time that it was more obvious that someone was lying through their teeth. And it didn’t help that his entire testimony was totally scripted by him and his attorney and delivered accordingly in front of the jury.
I hope he reads Revelation 21:15 ASAP, before it’s too late… lying is a low-down, terrible, horrific thing. Yet as I’m sure you’ve noticed, it has become more and more rampant in society over the past decade or two in particular. Yes, it has always been with us, literally, since the Garden of Eden… but not to this extent, never so widespread.
And blatant.
And, in the vast majority of cases, obvious.
But not to those who do the lying. It’s crystal clear that they first deceive themselves and then, like clockwork, try to deceive others. In other words, they project their own deception and “gullibility” onto other people, onto the public writ large.
Another stunning example of this is an unrelated murder case working its way through the courts, also from Florida, wherein a woman is awaiting trial for killing her boyfriend by (wait for it) zipping him up in a suitcase and letting him suffocate overnight and then staging the whole scene and story she’d soon be telling two detectives. (AGE-APPROPRIATE/TRIGGER warning: please don’t allow children or subject-sensitive people to watch the video of that interrogation but if you’d like to see exactly what I’m talking about, in action, you may click here.) Another case in which a person is O-B-V-I-O-U-S-L-Y lying through the teeth yet, due to “deception projection”, doesn’t realize how see-through it is to other people.
Far too high a percentage of people have become like toddlers playing “peekaboo”, who cover their own eyes and thus think that because they can’t see other people then other people can’t see them.
But you know what was even far more concerning, far more of a societal “red flag” today than seeing that defendant lie, and so obviously, yet still try to convince the jury that he wasn’t? It was the fact that, when the host who was live-streaming the trial asked the audience to note in the comments section if they believed “even HALF” of what the defendant was saying, a (frighteningly) large number responded that they believed him and swallowed his constant lies not just in part but in whole. Making me wonder if his ploy will work and produce a mistrial by hung jury. (We’ll find out in the next few days.)
It breaks my heart and saws my spirit to see how undiscerning so many in society sadly have become. But thankfully I and many others have found the perfect solution, an amazing antidote: the Bible! And especially Bible memory, i.e., ingesting and internalizing the Bible which is not only “living and active/powerful” (Hebrews 4:12) but also the epitome and indeed very essence of truth (John 17:17).
May we always be careful to tell the truth ourselves, and also be discerning when others don’t.
And may we never, ever, even for a moment, lose sight of what a true treasure we have in the Bible! It is indeed “a lamp unto [our] feet, and a light unto [our] path.” (Psalm 119:105)
“Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of His might.” (Ephesians 6:10)
“Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. But resist him, firm in the faith…” (1 Peter 5:8-9a)
May we wisely and willingly not let the world’s whispers work to weaken our walk with God, which always makes one whimper. May we not let it bring about that bane but rather be blessed by staying spiritually sober and strong and standing firm in Him, on His holy, living, life-giving Word.
“Thy word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against Thee.” (Psalm 119:11)
Always but especially those days and times you feel weak or vulnerable: directly or via Bible reading, study, or memory, may our merciful, mighty Master grant more power to ya.
The newest batch of eighteen souls slipped into eternity very unexpectedly last evening, practically in the proverbial blink of an eye since they merely went to have some fun at a bowling alley and billiards hall.
It’s understandable and even proper that people perpetually put this perfectly practical pregunta to me: “Why does God let bad things happen, why does He allow so many of us to suffer and even die?”
To which I always wonder, “Why would He allow us to live?!” To summon Shakespeare, that is the question we should be asking.
We weakly wander away from His Word, will, and wisdom so willy-nilly that I know exactly why He lets so many of us suffer and die (Romans 5:12, 6:23; 1 Corinthians 11:30) but why would He patiently put up with our pervasive pride and unpretty pettiness and lingering lust and mistrust and frequent failings, foibles and flaws, far too many for man’s mind to count much less comprehend?
I’ll tell you why: because of His lasting love. And perfect patience. And complete compassion and miles-long mercy.
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)
“And yet for this reason I found mercy, in order that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience…” (1 Timothy 1:16a)
“You have heard of the endurance of Job and have seen the outcome of the Lord’s dealings, that the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful.” (James 5:11b)
So even as we rightly mourn the seemingly senseless loss of life last night, let us take those eighteen and every other passing-into-eternity as a warning and renewed reminder to rightly examine our own souls to see, to make certain that if we were to ever leave this life “in the blink of an eye” and unexpectedly move on to the one to come, we will find ourselves in heaven, not hell, thanks solely to the love and grace and patience and compassion and mercy of our magnificent Master.
Even amid mourning, it’s more than enough to make my heavy heart holler “Hallelujah!”
I’ve always found to be very interesting how differently different people respond to or view the concept of leverage.
As you’ve no doubt noticed by now, this website is predominantly a politics-free place… except when Washington well illustrates a biblical principle, and it’s on this basis and for this reason that I point to former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and former President of the United States Donald Trump as two people who understood and utilized leverage largely without limit, to the hilt. It doesn’t matter how much you like or hate them or their policies, the point here is that they excelled in the practice of leverage.
Recently-unseated Speaker Kevin McCarthy? Not so much. Because many in his own party saw that he had a lot of leverage last spring when the country’s debt limit was set to expire, but totally failed to use it to resolve long-ongoing, existential threats to any country (like runaway-at-an-ever-increasing-rate-to-boot debt and open borders) and instead they thought that he simply “gave away the store” to their political opponents. The backlash by members was both fierce and immediate, and the irony was downright tangible: a leader was FINALLY able to UNITE House Republicans – to an extent I and many others had never seen before – but then just threw it out like a smelly bag of week-old garbage. And it, plus a subsequent perceived betrayal regarding the recent “looming government shutdown” showdown (which could easily recur in a few weeks), cost him his vaunted position of pretty-much-peerless power (other than probably the president but House Speaker has got to be in the top two).
He seems like a nice fellow but he utterly failed to properly utilize leverage.
But you know who didn’t? The beloved Apostle Paul who, while in prison, bumped into a former servant (of a man named Philemon) who presumably was there because he had wronged his master in the past but became a “child” to Paul and even his “very heart” (Philemon 10,12) so Paul sent him back and asked Philemon to receive and accept him not as a former slave but as a beloved brother both humanly and spiritually (verse 16). Probably my all-time favorite example of having and utilitzing leverage is demonstrated in the very next three verses, just look at the leverage, it’s downright palpable (or should I say, paulpable?) (No? Too corny? Okay, I won’t 🙂 ) … levity aside, let’s look at the leverage leveled at Philemon by no less than the Apostle Paul:
“Therefore if you regard me a partner, accept him as you would me. But if he has wronged you in any way, or owes you anything, charge that to my account; I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand, I will repay it (LEST I should MENTION to you that YOU OWE to ME even YOUR OWN SELF as well).” (Philemon 17-19, emphasis added)
Boom! Now THAT’S how it’s done! (Leave it to the Apostle Paul… always amazing, ever effective, blessedly blunt.)
Properly utilizing leverage in life absolutely requires a sense of balance. Too many people (far, far, far more than, say, two or three decades ago) go too far in trying to “obtain” leverage, while others who have it fail to use it for good and noble and proper purposes (like Paul successfully did with Philemon).
As I always say, it’s beyond amazing how the Bible possesses and provides every promise or answer or solution a person could ever need.
I wish far more people would properly place as much of their mindspace, loyalty, allegiance, and affection on the Lord as they do on mere mortal men named Biden or Trump or Obama. Or Peyton or LeBron, or Bezos or Elon.
I wish far more of our fellow citizens would spend as much time with the Word as they do with Wordle.
http://biblememory.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/IMAGE-LOGO-BMO-PNG-3701x4004-IMPROVED-with-extended-y-underlines-Human-Head-with-Bible-on-multi-colored-Brain-Lobes-all-atop-Domain-Name-277x300.png00Bible Memoryhttp://biblememory.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/IMAGE-LOGO-BMO-PNG-3701x4004-IMPROVED-with-extended-y-underlines-Human-Head-with-Bible-on-multi-colored-Brain-Lobes-all-atop-Domain-Name-277x300.pngBible Memory2023-10-24 15:30:392024-04-04 18:05:02SERIES:Wish List:One Wish for the World
Football fans from a few decades ago definitely would’ve given this title to the “Steel Curtain” (defensive line) of the 1970’s Pittsburgh Steelers. My dad and uncles would’ve given it to The Statler Brothers. But, believe it or not, there’s an even better one.
I was watching a condensed replay of yesterday’s Washington-Atlanta NFL game and with 12:12 to go in the 3rd Quarter, the former’s quarterback Sam Howell dropped back to throw a screen pass to their (really good, with an even better personal story) starting running back Brian Robinson, Jr. (after winning the College National Champioinship twice at Alabama, he was drafted last year and promptly proceeded to get shot twice during an armed robbery before last season started and not only survived, not only was able to walk, but was back on the field playing pro football just six weeks later).
Just one “problem”: after running forward a few steps as though the ball had been handed off to him, he made a sharp pivot to the right and ran smack-dab into his own Right Guard whom a Falcons defensive lineman was strongly pushing into the backfield, stopping the running back in his tracks for a second or two (the NFL won’t let the video be shown on an outside website but you can watch it on YouTube if desired by clicking here and going to the 6:20 mark of that 12-minute video). I purposely put “problem” in quotes because, as it turned out, that slight delay worked perfectly as it spaced out the defense so as to give the quarterback a clear and easy passing lane, then the running back scampered straight into the end zone for a touchdown which ended up sealing the warmly-welcomed win for Washington.
What a great, real-life illustration of Romans 8:28! Which communicates a crystal clear conclusion: that there are no problems in life, because things which seem to be such are actually intended by God to accomplish massive good in our lives. Which is why He rightly commands us not only to give thanks “in everything” (1 Thessalonians 5:18) but to give thanks “FOR everything” (Ephesians 5:20).
Over the years, throughout my entire life, I’ve heard countless preachers and teachers say that God will “work out” all things for our good, for our eternal benefit, but the Bible actually goes even further than that by making clear that the “problem” or “challenge” or “trial” ITSELF is GOOD. Because it’s by and from God Himself, borne of His loving sovereignty for our benefit and building up, if we simply LET IT.
All of this is why He also rightly commands us to “do all things without grumbling or disputing” (i.e., complaining) (Philippians 2:14), which is the other side of the “always give thanks” coin.
Yep, Romans 8:28, 1 Thessalonians 5:18, Ephesians 5:20 and Philippians 2:14 are by farthe BEST quartet I’ve ever heard!
(The Statler Brothers would be a distant but strong second, here’s why, enjoy!)
(And if you can answer “yes” to this musical question…)
A post published probably a year or more ago proclaimed “Timing is EVERYTHING!”
And a very recent post properly pointed to a certain politician (who’ll go unnamed in this post since I plan on preserving this place as predominantly politics-free) who announced a bid for president but chose to employ “NO DE-FENSE”. He just let his main opponent keep punching him in the press and online without even so much as a peep.
He must’ve read that particular post (Pence, too, apparently) because just a day or few later he finally started to “put up his fists” and even “punch back” (offense… such as it is… let’s call it attempted offense).
But in my humble view, because his timing was so off, so backwards, so out of order and out of line with the Bible’s principles as put forth in that prior post, his recent change of heart/mind/strategy has come across as political (and perhaps personal) desperation, not strength. A lot of people clearly agree with me since his poll numbers keep dropping… like I said in that post, that’s exactly what’s expected when one unwisely walks without any “armor” or “defense” (Ephesians 6:10-17).
In this case, it definitely would’ve been better never than late, because the inexplicable delay has actually made his situation even worse.
The point of this post isn’t primarily about politics or him personally but rather it’s for you and me, a reminder of the importance of timing in our decision-making and action-taking.
“He who blesses his friend with a loud voice EARLY IN THE MORNING[TIMING!], it will be reckoned [counted as] a CURSE to him.” (Proverbs 27:14, emphasis added)
“Like one who takes off a garment on a cold day, or like vinegar on soda, is he who sings songs TO A TROUBLED HEART[i.e., WHEN a heart is troubled… TIMING!]” (Proverbs 25:20, emphasis added)
In other words, timing is SO important, so powerful, that it can single-handedly take what would otherwise be a good thing and turn it into a bad thing, can all by itself take what would otherwise have been a blessing and turn it into a curse. Very powerful principle!
While we would be wise to regularly pray for him and others in positions of political power (1 Timothy 2:1-2), let’s also turn his lemons into biblical lemonade (James 1) which we will hopefully share with others along the way.
Amazing how the answers and solutions and wisdom for everything, even politics, are all right there in the Bible! It truly is the “user manual” for life.
http://biblememory.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/IMAGE-LOGO-BMO-PNG-3701x4004-IMPROVED-with-extended-y-underlines-Human-Head-with-Bible-on-multi-colored-Brain-Lobes-all-atop-Domain-Name-277x300.png00Bible Memoryhttp://biblememory.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/IMAGE-LOGO-BMO-PNG-3701x4004-IMPROVED-with-extended-y-underlines-Human-Head-with-Bible-on-multi-colored-Brain-Lobes-all-atop-Domain-Name-277x300.pngBible Memory2023-10-16 22:16:532023-10-20 17:39:06Better Never Than Late?
