Many people will (mistakenly) think that anyone who memorizes a huge amount of Scripture must be some sort of “super saint”. I have this to say about that, and that’s this: Super saint? NO I AIN’T! Not even close. (To echo the Apostle Paul in Romans 7:18, “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh”.) In fact, just the opposite of their notion is true, because the more of the Bible I memorize, the more I realize how utterly and entirely sinful I am in and of myself, in my flesh. You see, as Psalm 19:7-8 clearly states, the Bible – and especially memorizing the Bible – “enlightens the eyes”. It breaks through the blindness which besets us from birth and opens one’s eyes. To the truth and existence and nature and will of God. To the nature and detrimental, destructive, and indeed deadly consequences of sin (Romans 6:23). And to the nature of man. Our flesh. Our fallacy. Our tendencies. Why we do what we do. Why we do what we should not and not do what we should! (Romans 7:19) So you can see why I say that the more Scripture one memorizes, the more one will see the righteousness of God and the sinfulness of oneself, of the flesh, to the extent that I can honestly say that I’m the BIGGEST SINNER I know, I’m the biggest sinner I’ve EVER known, and I’m probably the biggest sinner YOU’VE ever known, at least that’s how I see it, that’s my (believe it or not blissful) Bible-borne perspective.
But thankfully Psalm 19:7-8 doesn’t stop there! Because it’s just as clear that the Bible also “restores the soul” and “makes wise the simple” and “rejoices the heart”! It’s not just a win, not just a home run, memorizing and reciting Scripture is a GRAND SLAM! And not just spiritually, but humanly… not just in the spiritual realm, but in the human realm, not just in the life to come but also this present life (1 Timothy 4:8). And I can testify from firsthand experience that all of this is absolutely true: so long as I’m doing so on a regular basis, my spirit remains utterly joyful, rarely ever leaving the proverbial “cloud nine”. I find that I see things that many others don’t (heightened insight produced by the Word within). And I find that my heart remains filled with and focused on the things above, not on the things that are on earth (Colossians 3:2), not on the things which are seen, but unseen, not the things which are temporal but eternal (2 Corinthians 4:18) – what a wonderful way to go through life! And what’s amazing is that I’m just at the START this journey of memorizing the entire Bible, after which the Lord is leading me to turn this into a full-fledged, full-speed-ahead, full-time ministry – here’s the plan…
PHASE 1: Memorize the ENTIRE Bible as a “love/thank You” gift back to Him and also to prove, to demonstrate to the world the utter and tangible power and benefits of the ingested (memorized) Word of God! And for the first few months to highlight the need and leave room for the Lord to lead like-minded Bible-loving believers to support this in whatever ways they’re able and willing and excited to do so when learning about this historic endeavor and opportunity.
PHASE 2: After memorizing all or at least the vast majority of the New Testament, the next step will commence and entail totally changing the emphasis of this website from seeking one-time and especially Monthly Partners so as to get and keep this going to just giving back by meeting the needs of others, to “fulfill the law of Christ” by “bearing the burdens of others” (Galatians 6:2) and “serving one another” (Galatians 5:13; 1 Peter 4:10).
Specifically, I will make myself available all throughout the day virtually every day so anyone will be able to:
- Ask and receive Bible-based answers to their questions about the Bible itself, God, sin, human nature, and whatever else might be on their hearts at any given time. Literally for the rest of my or their lives, they will have a ready and waiting friend and/or listening ear and/or shoulder to cry on according to their need at the time. Without reservation, and without judgment.
- Submit prayer requests to be prayed for by someone who is brimming with the living Word within him, which I firmly believe is the biggest key to effective prayer: the Word sanctifies (John 17:17) and cleanses (Ephesians 5:26) and keeps pure (Psalm 119:9) and away from sin (Psalm 119:11); now combine all of this with the fact that “the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and His ears attend to their prayer” (1 Peter 3:12) and “The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much” (James 5:16b) and perhaps speaking most poignantly to the amazing link between memorizing Scripture and an effective prayer life, “If you abide in Me, and MY WORDS ABIDE IN YOU, ask WHATEVER you WISH, and it SHALL BE DONE for you.” (John 15:7). How will people’s lives literally change and be transformed by the supplication and intercession by one in whom such a massive amount of Scripture will be dwelling? GAME-CHANGER. Life-changer. WORLD-changer! (Literally. Just ask the people who were living in the time of Elijah.)
- Find a BIBLICAL – Bible-loving, Bible-believing, Bible-practicing – church near them, right in their local area! I am already in the process of putting together this network of churches; denomination will be irrelevant, the only criterion will be the extent to which they demonstrably adhere to the principles set forth in the Bible about “how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth.” (1 Timothy 3:15) With a primary focus on how supportive they are of Bible memory. I expect even just the human-interest/intellectual aspect of this project to attract countless people who aren’t even religious or are very early on in their spiritual growth who’ll need and want to find a church that will foster and maximize said growth.
- Find the businesses in YOUR area that are owned and/or managed by fellow Christians who love the Lord and His Word and realize the importance of and support Bible memory. Galatians 6:10 and 1 Timothy 6:2 make clear that it is our responsibility as Christians that our everyday choices inure to the benefit of fellow believers whenever possible, so I’m going to make that super easy and convenient by posting a nationwide (but searchable by state/county/city) LIST of Christian businesses so we can all choose THEM whenever we need a product or service; once assembled, it will appear on the “Find A Christian Biz” / Yellow Pages section here at BibleMemory.ORG so please check back for that in the coming weeks.
PHASE 3: Turn this burgeoning history-in-the-making effort into a full-speed-ahead, full-fledged, full-time ministry to Educate, Encourage, and Empower others to memorize and recite Scripture on a regular, systematic, verse-by-verse, book-by-book basis! Tall goal, but totally doable, because something very interesting happened as I memorized my very first book of the Bible, the New Testament book of James. That goal seemed not just tall but downright monumental. Undoable. Right? Wrong! Because, amazingly, the more of it I memorize, the EASIER it gets! The more of it I memorize, the more I am able to memorize. By the time I came to Chapter 5, I knew this large task was indeed going to be accomplished. BIG difference than when I was facing Chapter 1 Verse 1.
This is a fantastic real-life demonstration of Matthew 19:26 which says, “With men, this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Including memorizing the ENTIRE Bible! You see, in the physical realm, the more water you pour into a glass, the less capacity it will have for more water to be added. But in the spiritual realm, when it comes to God and His Word, the Bible, the exact OPPOSITE is true! The MORE you pour into your mind, the MORE capacity you’ll have for additional verses and chapters and books to be added! Not less. And this amazing power is exponential in nature: I saw a large increase in capacity from James 1 to James 5, but double or triple the capacity by the time I finished memorizing Hebrews 1-5, and then quadruple or quintuple the capacity by the time I finished memorizing Hebrews 6-10, and so on. This finding is literally historic, and indeed the closest thing to a bona fide miracle in recent history of which I’m aware: it’s verifiable, it’s tangible, and – due to the “living and active” nature of the Bible (Hebrews 4:12) – it’s even repeatable. While the specific extent of this phenomenon might vary from person to person, the essence of the Word does not. Ever. This is how I’ll be able not just to Educate and Encourage the masses to memorize and recite Scripture on a regular, systematic basis but also to EMPOWER them to do so (the Word through me). (Believe me, once a person gets a taste of this, his or her life will never be the same. Human metaphors don’t really do it justice but in terms of the Christian life, it’s like trying filet mignon for the first time after a lifetime of eating hamburger.)
This will primarily be accomplished by producing a course, a syllabus, an entire series of videos, CD’s, and even audio cassettes, which will take all of this and make it SUPER EASY and CONVENIENT for people the world over to learn and apply this at their own pace and as their individual schedules permit. I am utterly convinced that another worldwide spiritual revival will occur, but I’m even more certain that it will only occur as people start ingesting the living Word of God by memorizing and reciting it regularly – “all the day” (Psalm 119:97) and even “day AND night” (Psalm 1:2-3).
By the way, this would be a great time to let you know that as I’ve been memorizing Scripture, a very specific METHOD of doing so is coming into focus, which, as noted above, I can testify firsthand is making it MUCH EASIER for me to memorize and retain – not just the Bible but EVERYTHING: to-do lists, schedule and meetings, various events that occur, etc., a true “sponge” effect! – and I’m 99.9% sure that it will do so for virtually anyone and everyone who applies it. It’s still coming together but seems to be getting close to the point that it can be rolled out. This one aspect alone of this one phase alone could easily and literally change the world and people’s everyday lives.
PHASE 4: Set up new and/or work with established addiction centers to specifically address the huge need for healing, curing, and then preventing from recurring (relapse) the massive crisis of addiction to pain killers, opioids, and other drugs, as well as the dreadful disease of depression. I am absolutely certain that the best and probably only way to truly beat, to truly eradicate, overcome, and conquer an addiction is to turn to something even more addictive – and I am equally certain that the most addictive thing in the universe is the BIBLE, the living and active Word of God, the Word ingested. No doubt about it. The main challenge is that so relatively few ever really give regular and systematic Bible memory a try, but I – with your and the Lord’s help – intend to change that!
It won’t happen overnight but I have no doubt that change is indeed coming. And just in case you don’t think the Bible extends or has relevance to the physical realm of human existence, I humbly give you Proverbs 4:22 which, referring to the Bible, the “my words” of verse 20, clearly states that His words “are LIFE to those who find them, and HEALTH to ALL their WHOLE BODY.” Is that an amazing verse or what?! We have a super-duper health “pill” readily available to us (the Bible is the most-published and available book of all time) yet SO FEW EVER ACTUALLY SWALLOW IT! To their utter “missing out” yet few if any are even aware of this because nobody has trumpeted it from the proverbial mountaintops but with your help I intend to change this, too, and do just that!
I didn’t start memorizing entire books of the Bible as a child but did memorize a lot of single Bible verses and – totally not surprisingly in light of that verse/truth/fact – I haven’t had to see a doctor or go to the hospital my entire adult life. Not even a single time. No emergencies. No health surprises. Not one. I don’t think the two are unrelated or that this remarkable health history is mere coincidence or the result of “good genes”; no, I’m certain it’s that verse at work.
No, it won’t happen overnight but down the road I look forward to organizing some clinical/medical trials to demonstrate that this is universal and not just specific to me. I dare say that other than imparting the Gospel or giving one’s own life to save another’s, there is no greater act of love and kindness and therefore Christlikeness (since He epitomized and epitomizes both) than to free a person from the cruel slavery and bondage of addiction or depression, to provide them with the answer, the antidote, something that actually and permanently WORKS! So even just this phase of the action plan will likely be enough to revolutionize the nation and world.
CONCLUSION: If you like what you’ve heard here and found yourself nodding in agreement several times, please read on…
God is Sovereign (and that’s no L.I.E.)
/in Uncategorized /by Bible MemoryIt took a ton of time but perhaps the most powerful, practical truth I tell others after having found and verified it firsthand is this: Believe, trust, rely on, know with certainty the absolute, untattered fact (not some fellow’s fanciful fiction) of God’s sovereignty.
While all of His attributes are equal in importance, along with love, grace, and mercy I can’t think of one which so regularly impacts my life and of which I’m so actively aware – not just on a daily but virtually hourly basis – as His sovereignty.
Pretty much nonstop.
I’d like to share with you a time-tested, tried-and-true trio of adjectives to succinctly set forth His sovereignty: it is loving, infinite, and exclusive…
… and that’s no L.I.E.!
God’s sovereignty allows (indeed, compels and really requires) us to be super-secure and confident in life, big benefits to be sure, but the flip-side of the same coin is that to ever complain or grumble about anything is not just an implicit but explicit denial and rejection of and unbelief in said sovereignty, since if one truly believes that He lovingly “causes ALL things to work together for GOOD” for every single Christian, there’s ZERO reason to EVER complain or grumble, which is why He commands us to “do ALL things WITHOUT grumbling or disputing” (Philippians 2:14) and indeed to go even further than the absence of the negative and proceed to ponder, possess, and display the presence of the positive by GIVING THANKS not just “in” but “for” EVERYTHING.
Another consequence of God’s sovereignty is that someone who truly believes and accepts it – to the (exact) extent he or she truly believes it – will NEVER be anxious or fearful, NEVER experience anxiety or fear [side note: none of us can maintain 100% faith or 100% of the time since our still-standing-even-subsequent-to-salvation sin nature sticks itself into our lives and our finite, fallen, flawed human minds can’t completely comprehend the concept of infinite sovereignty much less its character and application… but 100% is nonetheless God’s goalpost as it were] which is why He commands us to “be anxious for NOTHING” and – yep, you got it – to go even further: ”but in EVERYTHING by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” (Philippians 4:6)
If I had to hazard a guess I’d say somewhere around 90-95% of all professing Christians would strongly and sincerely assert belief in God’s sovereignty. But the fact that so many regularly “complain” and “grumble” and “dispute” and “worry” and “feel anxious” about one thing or another (or everything) belies their belief, so may each of us regularly take inventory of our life to CONFIRM whether these things are prevalent in our daily living or, conversely, whether we’re characterized by constant confidence and security and gratitude, as this will tell the true tale of how and who we are – certainly spiritually but also emotionally and relationally.
Anytime is a tremendous time to focus, fully and anew, on God’s sovereignty… but I can’t think of a better day to do so than January 1…
Happy New Year!
Donate Pray 9 ways YOU can help MAKE HISTORY
.
Share this post with, well, EVERYONE!
.
… and now the “HOW”
/in Uncategorized /by Bible MemoryPart 2 of the previous post, as promised…
If I were to tell you that, on its current course, this Christian-founded country – the mighty United States of America – is headed for disaster, destruction, death as a major player in the world after a century-plus run as such, would you believe that? Could you believe that? It’s admittedly very difficult to do so, given just how much power we have, how we wield our will in world affairs from wee to weighty and every degree in between.
But I need only remind you of two things to quell any (very rational) skepticism.
Firstly, I’m sure people would’ve been exponentially more skeptical had they been asked that question about the Roman Empire in its heyday. And they wielded worldwide weight and welly for a thousand years, a millennium! Yes, even the notion of a fall would’ve been dismissed out-of-hand… and yet it happened.
And secondly, and infinitely sufficiently all by itself, we have the wise, wiggle-proof words of warning from the wonderful and ever-authoritative Lord Jesus Himself, who said…
Without unity, it’s not difficult, it’s downright impossible for any group to not just thrive but even survive; it’s literally just a matter of time until it fails and falls.
Given this time-tested truth, the youth should vamoose along with adults to UNITE, if that’s even still doable, if this country hasn’t already passed the proverbial “point of no return”. Per Proverbs 27:1, I can’t say for sure whether we’ve gone that far, but it’s got to be very, very close in any case. I can’t say if we still have a chance to unite but I can say this with sevenfold certainty: if we can, we ONLY can by the grace of God, the inner working of the Word in general and mass Bible memory on a regular, systematic basis in particular.
Because it’s the Bible which blesses and cleanses and grows and transforms.
A person.
A church.
A political party.
A nation.
And what’s the only thing in the world which truly transforms?
Yep, you got it: the Bible! The living and active, living and abiding Word of God.
Which is why it’s wise to wear the Word within oneself, by way of our eyes (reading it, studying it) and mind (memorizing it).
Lastly, let’s look at what immediately follows two of these verses about being transformed.
Hear this crystal clear conclusion: unity is achieved when individual members of a group are transformed by getting the Bible INSIDE OF THEM, via their eyes and mind… and then affecting and impacting and sharing and spreading that with others in the group.
This is why it could rightly be said of the early-Church Philippians that they were “standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel” (Philippians 1:27c) and that was because they did “nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind [they regarded] one another as more important than himself” and did “not merely look out for [their] own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.” (Philippians 2:3-4)
My friend, I assure you that it’s no accident that the very next breath, the very next several verses penned by the Apostle Paul comprise what is probably the premier passage on humility in the entire Bible.
Because selflessness and humility go hand-in-hand.
Because humility is not thinking poorly of oneself; it’s not thinking of oneself at all vis-a-vis other people.
This message from God’s Word, the Bible, is relevant and much-needed at any time, on any day, but it seems superbly fitting for the Christmas season, when worldwide we commemorate in mass fashion when Jesus gave us the greatest demonstration and example of humility, just like the proceeding Philippians 2:5-11 passage so lovingly lays out for our daily living and lifelong benefit.
And now coming full circle by ending this one with where the previous post (Part 1) started…
As we all know, what matters most isn’t how one starts a job but rather how one finishes. Not a team’s results in the first half but ultimately how they perform in the second… so let’s see if Democrats keep being kings and queens of cohesion and unity and effectiveness in pushing and passing their political convictions and views and agenda as beloved by their base voters as they did when they were in charge in the previous (Pelosi-run) Congress, or whether House Republicans can finally muster a molecule of harmony and manage the House in an effective, functional, wise – which is to say, united – manner, in stark contrast to the data-confirmed massive dysfunction demonstrated in their first year back in power, in their “first half” as it were. (Humanly speaking, unlike a mere football game, the very fate of the nation may well depend on it.)
And as we covered above, there’s just one way to become – and stay – united and thus not just survive but thrive as a family or church or company or country, and I can sum it up in just two words: Humility. TOGETHER.
Donate Pray 9 ways YOU can help MAKE HISTORY
.
Share this post with, well, EVERYONE!
.
Division (GALORE!)
/in Uncategorized /by Bible MemoryIt used to be Republicans vs. Democrats (though not nearly to the extent, with the toxic venom, as today).
Then it was “establishment/moderate” Republicans vs. “MAGA”/”America first”/conservative Republicans. (As demonstrated most obviously and recently in the GOP House’s drawn-out, beat-down battle to select a Speaker this session… TWICE!) (And counting?)
Now it’s the “trying to topple Trump” trio Ron DeSantis vs. Nikki Haley vs. Chris Christie.
The ONLY way they can achieve their goal of getting the Republican nomination for President in next year’s election is to make sure the far-and-away polling leader for many months now, Donald Trump, doesn’t. Yet they WON’T UNITE.
Not even after the latest timely tidbit: ”A new Saint Anselm College poll of New Hampshire likely voters finds Trump at 44%, Haley at 30%, Christie at 12%, DeSantis at 6%” – I’m not saying or even suggesting what any or all of them should or shouldn’t do; what I am saying is that the three of them constantly claim and proclaim that “if Trump wins, democracy itself will come to a screeching halt” (or something similar along those lines, true or untrue as that may be) … yet they WON’T UNITE.
Mind you, we’re not talking about over two hundred political people here as was the case with last month’s (second) Speaker of the House hunt; no, there are just the final few of them yet, even then, they WON’T UNITE.
And barring the imprisonment or unexpected death of “despised, despicable Donald”, that’ll be one reason their fate is self-sealed for failure and loss in their deep, dire endeavor.
Democrats, too.
First, for a dozen decades or more, it was Democrats vs. Republicans.
Then it was “Hillary Clinton” Democrats vs. “Barack Obama” Democrats.
Now it’s “establishment/moderate/Israel-supporting” Democrats vs. “progressive/liberal/Palestine (and sometimes Hamas)-supporting” Democrats.
And black vs. white.
And rich vs. poor.
And male vs. female. (Literally! In seemingly every sport anymore.)
Did you know that the Bible predicted this accelerating mass/ubiquitous breakdown of unity thousands of years ago, and that such would not stop at the national or political or societal level but extend even all the way to the “flesh-and-blood” family level and even all the way to the point of death?
But, as usual, the Bible goes even further… it doesn’t just tell us what is going to happen, it also tells us why.
It’s because there are two types of people on the planet at any given time: believers and unbelievers.
Redeemed and unredeemed.
Spiritually “alive” (Colossians 2:12-14; Romans 6:4-5; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Ephesians 2:4-10) and spiritually “dead” (Ephesians 2:1-3).
Good (entirely due to the Holy Spirit within and in spite of us ourselves, i.e., our selves) and evil.
And the Bible proceeds to say that these two groups have nothing (major, functionally, perspectivally) in common…
… and therefore will not “mesh” – certainly in the long run and often in the short run, either. Why? Two verses tell the tale entirely:
Which is why the Bible proceeds even further to a crystal clear conclusion/command/application for each and every group of people – from families to sports teams to companies to countries to, yep, political parties:
Because as someone infinitely greater than even Abraham Lincoln famously and truly stated, a house or city or kingdom (or country or company or congregation or family or friendship or political party) disunited, “divided against itself”, “WILL NOT” stand because such “CANNOT” stand! It’s literally impossible for any group of people to survive (much less succeed and thrive) if they DON’T UNITE!
Wonderful words of wisdom and warning and reward from the blessing-bubbling Bible to each and every person on the planet. (Wonderful, and timely!) May we not just read them but heed them. (As I often say… when it comes to the Bible’s words, we can “read ’em and weep” OR “heed ’em and LEAP!” For joy. Unlimited, immeasurable, indescribable joy.)
“Heed how?“ you might be wondering… I’ll cover that in the next post but for now, here are two on-point songs I think you’ll enjoy.
America, families, and especially the Church: Let’s get right. Let’s UNITE!
Donate Pray 9 ways YOU can help MAKE HISTORY
.
Share this post with, well, EVERYONE!
.