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…
No Defense
/in Uncategorized /by Bible MemoryThe looming football season brings this thought with it: while the offense tends to get the vast majority of the glory and headlines and fans, it’s primarily the defense that wins games and especially championships.
Because if a team can’t keep the opponent from scoring touchdown after touchdown after touchdown, it will lose. Even if it has a great offense.
This truth also extends to politics. Exhibit A: for the first five months of this year, fresh on the heels of a massive, historic, landslide statewide victory in Florida last November, Governor DeSantis was flying high and looking like a billion bucks politically and electorally, and immediately made it obvious that he intended to enter the fray and throw his hat into the ring to be the 2024 GOP presidential nominee. I watched all of that play out real-time and very vividly recall what I thought when he started getting “punched” by his looming primary opponent, with whom he was sometimes tied but usually a bit behind in the very early polling but only by a little bit.
Until it happened.
Until those punches came and he failed to defend himself. At all.
NO DEFENSE.
I remember the first time or two thinking to myself, “He’ll push back, he’ll reply with an effective retort or unquestionable data or demonstration of strength” since he had so much of it politically at the time… but NOPE!
Instead, he just kept taking punches. One after another after another. Without even so much (er, so little) as lifting his hands to, in boxing lingo, shield and protect his head from the brutal, battering blows.
The point of this post is NOT AT ALL whether or not he should’ve entered that race in the first place or, subsequently, whether or not said punches should’ve been thrown by his opponent. The point IS that said punches were thrown yet he mustered NO DEFENSE.
While perpetually and sometimes painfully proven to be true in sports and politics (and business, and even driving a car… the list is long), did you know that this is even truer in the Christian life? Our personal, individual role is, by divine design, one of defense, not offense.
The Bible makes this conclusion crystal clear in 1 Peter 5:8-10 – “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 [i.e., “DE-FENSE!”], firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world. And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, WILL HIMSELF perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you. [i.e., OFFENSE!]” (emphasis added)
Note that it tells us to “resist” the devil, not to fight him (and 2 Peter 2:10-12 and Jude 8-10 say this even more explicitly); to be “sober”, not “angry” or “aggressive”; to “be on the alert”, not on the attack; to “resist” and stand “firm”, not to follow or pursue or chase after our adversary. Why? Simple: because God’s design is for us to focus on defense and to let Him take care of the offense: He “WILL (not might) HIMSELF (not anyone else, including ourselves)” fulfill any and all “offense” He desires to be demonstrated or displayed in us. (Notably, the Apostle Paul perfectly echoes this in Romans 12:19 (emphasis added) – “NEVER take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of GOD, for it is written, ‘Vengeance is MINE, I will repay,’ says the Lord.” OUR role = DEFENSE; GOD’S role = OFFENSE. We are never to be defensive, but always to be on defense.)
And the Bible makes this truth, this concept, this perspective, this design equally clear in Ephesians 6:17 – “And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”
There have been a number of headline-grabbing mass killings in the past year alone… how many were carried out using a helmet?
Exactly. None, zero, zilch. Because a helmet is obviously an item intended and designed for defense, not offense. (Even the players on offense use helmets to DEFEND their head, their brain, NOT to injure anyone.)
But equally interesting and illuminating in that verse is how the word “sword” is used.
You might be thinking to yourself, “Hey, DJ Bible! Unlike a helmet, a sword is an item intended for offense, to injure and even kill others!” But it’s always a wise and good idea to look beneath the surface when it comes to Scripture, when reading the Bible (i.e., which is why I often say that studying the Bible is even better than just reading it, just as memorizing the Bible is even better than just studying it since the former is far more conducive to full and unhindered meditation than is the latter), and that’s totally true for Ephesians 6:17 because the word commonly translated as “sword” actually refers to a “dirk”, a “dagger”, i.e., a “short knife”. Like this one:
Due to its length (lack thereof) it’s obviously intended for defense, not offense. For warding off attackers, clearly not for going on the attack.
We’ve all heard the phrase “Bible thumpers”. It refers to people who “preach” and personally pontificate toward others (i.e., more at than to). But the thing the Bible was primarily written to “thump” is oneself, one’s own sin nature as it lurks in one’s heart and mind and soul. (And only secondarily to teach other people, and those who engage in the latter are strongly warned by God to do so in utter humility and after much self-reflection and especially application/obedience, see James 1:19-27 and 3:1 and 2 Timothy 2:15.)
You see, God’s design is that we focus on defense while letting Him totally take care of the offense. In football terms, the Lord is both Head Coach and Offensive Coordinator, He perfectly fulfills both roles. Much as He does Judge (2 Timothy 4:8) and Criminal Defense Attorney (the “advocate” of 1 John 2:1). At least initially, Peter was focused on or characterized by offense, John by a proper perspective primarily pointed toward defense. Martha mainly played offense while Mary opted more for the “defense”-oriented qualities of love and affection and humility and worship.
I’ll elaborate in a future post (or, more likely, series) but anxiety is caused in a person’s mind and spirit and body and life when he or she tries to go on offense versus staying on “defense” and learning to love the latter and let the Lord handle the former. (Here’s a preview: note that the above-referenced 1 Peter 5:8-10 immediately follows verse 7. which, along along with Philippians 4:6-7, “just happens” to be THE FOREMOST verse about anxiety in the entire Bible! Not a coincidence, not a fluke… stay tuned, much much much more to come on this, which will absolutely transform your life.)
I don’t think I’ve ever used a movie quote on this website but I’m going to do so because (a) I liked the film “The Apostle” in how it was so focused on showing the mass public Bible verses and worship and church and how, after every Hollywood studio turned him down, Robert Duvall funded and directed it himself, and (b) the following clip drives home the point of this particular post perfectly and succinctly, so without further ado I’ll leave you with this encouragement in how to primarily conduct your daily living out of the Bible:
Defense, not offense. ”Dagger”, not “sword”. God, not ourselves!
Donate Pray Be a Bible Memory Ambassador
.
Share this post with, well, EVERYONE!
.
No Deadlines
/in Uncategorized /by Bible MemoryAs you’ve probably noticed, this website focuses almost entirely on the Bible and Person of our wonderful Lord and Savior and faithful friend, Jesus Christ. In fact, pretty much the only time I mention anything else is when such serves to illustrate or explain an aspect of the Lord or the Bible or life. And it’s in this spirit and for this purpose that this post points out a political reality mainly of more modern times: how Congress keeps “blowing right through” and pushing out deadlines as though they don’t even exist in the first place.
Practically E-V-E-R-Y time anymore.
They have months or, in the current case for example, a whole year to pass the twelve spending bills which will fund the following fiscal year, yet they always seem to beg the public’s pardon and plead for “more time” to address a matter even though they had a massive amount of time to do so in the many months preceding! It’s such a simple concept yet Congress can’t seem to carry it out.
The point of this particular post is not to discuss the virtue or vice of government shutdowns but rather to emphasize the importance of what the Bible teaches about time management (Ephesians 5:16) and planning AHEAD (Noah and the ark, or the Apostle Paul as so perfectly pointed out in passages like Romans 15:24-26 and 2 Timothy 4:9-13) versus procrastinating and perennially pushing out one deadline after another (or as Congress calls it, keep “kicking the can” down the road – a phrase you’ll be hearing a lot in the news over the coming weeks and, if recent history is any indication, months).
It’s probably not a popular perspective these days but I have always and continue to respect this nation’s elected officials. Not all, but the vast majority – many of whom I’ve met personally, firsthand, over the years and find to be good and decent individuals who have a good heart and really want to do the right, responsible thing in any given situation but are often strong-armed (or, in some cases, properly persuaded) by their party or leadership (they don’t call it “whipping” the vote for nothing!) or donors or consultants into casting a certain vote or taking a specific position… but certainly in terms of consequentiality, is there anyone in the country who needs to heed Ephesians 5:16 more than Congress? So consider this not a criticism but rather a collective cry from the citizenry for them to stop procrastinating so stunningly and instead to start doing the legislative work necessary to honor deadlines, not disregard them as in recent years. [The next task will be to get them to stop linking bad bills to good ones in an attempt to force (blackmail, extort, cajole) members of their own party who have a different view or priorities, but that’s another topic for another day.]
Amazing how everything – even politics – always comes down and back to the Bible! How it holds the answer to every question, the solution to every problem. Which is why I like to say about its various verses and wondrously wise words: we can “read ’em and weep OR heed ’em and leap!”
Donate Pray Be a Bible Memory Ambassador
.
Share this post with, well, EVERYONE!
.
One Spirit
/in Uncategorized /by Bible MemoryIn a previously-published post, I pointed to what I see as one of the most concerning things in the current Christian community and overall society, and that is a lack of discernment with the cited Bible verse of 1 Thessalonians 5:21.
In the August 2023 issue of the Grace To You monthly newsletter, John MacArthur (that’s his Bible-teaching ministry which is closely aligned with Grace Community Church in North Hollywood, California, where he has been the Senior Pastor since 1969) points to what he sees as one of the most concerning things in the current Christian community and overall society: yep, you guessed it, a lack of discernment. And he too keys on 1 Thessalonians 5:21.
One might very well conclude that he had read my post (published 18 months prior) but I don’t think so; rather, the explanation is far more likely this: that the same Holy Spirit who indwells and fills and teaches me is the exact same Holy Spirit who indwells and fills and teaches him! So of course there will be many times that two Christians are going to come to the exact same conclusion and even use the exact same phrases in communicating such to others. Ironically, given his huge platform, this usually works in the reverse direction regarding John MacArthur, i.e., it’s usually other pastors who preach the exact same passages of Scripture and utilize the exact same language as he had previously – same Spirit, same Teacher (1 John 2:27).
In fact, while I got a kick out of seeing my post of well over a year ago reappearing – pretty much verbatim in some parts – in the current Grace To You newsletter, what I find even more amazing, truly, is this: I’ve lost count of the times I’ve prayed and shared my heart with the Lord, often on a Saturday evening, and the very next morning heard a preacher on TV or the radio or the internet lead the congregation in prayer and say the exact same words which I had prayed the night before! This often occurs with John MacArthur’s Sunday morning prayers but many other preachers, too, so it certainly can’t be a phenomenon of human origin or explanation, it must be spiritual. It must be the fact that ONE Spirit teaches and guides and prepares our hearts and minds.
I’ll just finish this post, aptly, by saying that the most unifying entity alive and active in the world should never, ever, ever be or have been allowed by us to become arguably the most divisive, today and indeed for the past 50+ years. The Holy Spirit is all about love and peace and unity, so it’s obviously not His fault, it’s ours, it’s the current Church’s failure but one of my motivations to dedicating my life to this historic effort of memorzing the ENTIRE Bible and then reciting it back to the Lord as a love gift and “thank You” gift for all He does and who He is, one of my main motivations is that God will use it to bring back together the various “factions” of His body, the Church, into deep and abiding harmony, so we can stop wasting precious time and effort and energy and mindspace on one or two doctrines about which we may disagree and instead focus on evangelizing the majority of people (Matthew 7:13-14) who don’t know Christ or the Holy Spirit or the Heavenly Father at all, so we can “conduct [ourselves] in a manner worthy of the GOSPEL of Christ” and be “standing firm in ONE SPIRIT, with ONE MIND striving TOGETHER for the faith of the gospel” (Philippians 1:27, emphasis added).
We Christians can be downright prolific when it comes to focusing on what might divide us, on our differences of opinion about one thing or another, but we can all come together and agree on this: that the Bible is the most beautiful, loving, true, and powerful book ever written and words ever spoken, and that it surely brings boundless, unbridled pleasure to the Lord whenever it is memorized (and read, studied, meditated upon, and obeyed and shared with others). How much more so when memorized in its entirety.
If you’d like to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with me as I seek to fulfill His calling to do just that even as the whole world watches at BibleMemory.ORG and YouTube.com/BibleMemory and have your name included on the “From” card when we collectively give this gift to Him, here are three great ways to do so!
Donate Pray Be a Bible Memory Ambassador
.
Share this post with, well, EVERYONE!
.