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…
Contagious
/in Uncategorized /by Bible MemoryAs you might’ve seen in the news this morning and the past week, the air quality and visibility in the northeastern U.S. and even the mid-Atlantic (as I can confirm firsthand looking out the window as I write this) is about as bad as I’ve ever seen it. So bad that the weatherman on one of the local news stations tweeted, “I don’t say this often, but it’s a good idea to stay indoors tomorrow or at least limit time outdoors. not a good idea to workout outside.”
But why is this happening? Is it something we Americans did which was unwise or wrong?
Nope!
Rather, the unbelievable haze and poor air quality is here because of our neighbor to the north, Canada. Namely, their wildfires.
And when I looked out the window this morning, it immediately hit me what a great illustration this is of sin in general and emotional/relational dysfunction in specific.
It’s CONTAGIOUS. Quite literally… it spreads from an infected person and takes up residence in the lives of the unsuspecting and unprotected. Just like the smoke and haze and bad air quality of Canada’s wildfires have “spread” and “infected” and (literally) taken up residence in the U.S.
And now WE have to deal with the negative consequences of THEIR wildfires.
But here’s the thing: it would have been impossible to prevent this from happening, i.e., there’s no way to “block” smoke and haze from drifting in the air.
This analogy keeps holding true because, as I’m sure you’ve experienced firsthand throughout your life, to be around people is to risk having their dysfunction or other issue(s) – and even sins – seep into OUR life. (But it’s worth it, it’s a risk worth taking… if we wear the God-given, Bible-provided protection, more on this in a future post.)
Did you know that the Bible addresses this directly and crystal-clearly? [Yep, it was written thousands of years ago, yet proves anew each day that it is indeed like no other book, that it is indeed “living and active” (Hebrews 4:12) and therefore ever-applicable to our lives and situations.]
I’ll write a much more in-depth post about this very important and powerful principle but for now will share a few great verses with you which not only state the problem but (as always) also the solution.
In fact, it’s so crucial to ongoing spiritual health to “be on the alert” (1 Peter 5:8) and “put on the full armor of God” (Ephesians 6:10-20, see the video below for a kid-friendly musical rendering I just found online) that even when doing something so sound and sanctified and spiritually mature as showing mercy to others, if they’re the very “infected/contagious” type, Jude 23 goes so far as to command us to have mercy “with fear, hating even the garment polluted [i.e., infected!] by the flesh.”
But my favorite verse on this particular principle is how I’ll end this post, because it’s so clear, so self-explanatory that no elaboration is needed, it literally says it all: issue and solution and goes even a step further and also gives the reason for the provided solution (much more on all of this in that future post but for now I’ll just say that while this verse references unrighteous anger, the principle applies to any sin, be it jealousy/envy, selfishness, taking the Lord’s name in vain and other foul language, etc.):
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Quick Thought: Doesn’t Fit
/in Uncategorized /by Bible MemoryWhile on a walk just now, I saw the strangest sight: a guy riding bicycle … while smoking a cigarette.
And the thought that immediately hit me was “Man, that DOESN’T FIT!” Smoking a cigarette and riding a bike just don’t seem to go together, to put it mildly.
Likewise, sin DOESN’T “FIT” in a Christian’s life.
Because the reason Christ came in the first place was to save and rescue us from that very thing: sin.
So, here and now, I’m sending out a call to righteousness and purity in our daily living. A call to recommit and “double-down” on the fruit of the Spirit in our day-to-day lives. To restore the same focus on and passion and appreciation for such things which we experienced when first coming to Christ.
Because the very freedom He gave us in salvation is not the freedom to sin but rather the freedom from sin. Not the freedom to sin but rather the freedom to submit and obey.
And grow. And worship. And actively fellowship – with Him as well as our fellow believers.
What a wonderful way to walk and live, does it get any better than that?!
Consistent purity produces persistent pleasure – for God and man.
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Quick Thought: Consistency
/in Uncategorized /by Bible MemoryI’ve mentioned in past posts that one of my favorite activities is taking long, several-mile, multi-hour walks as those have been and continue to be some of my sweetest “alone times” with the Lord, just thinking about and listening and speaking to Him about all sorts of things: His Word, the Bible; praise items and prayer requests; my walk with and usefulness to Him; current events in my life and the nation and world writ large.
Also as previously mentioned, I have several different walking routes in my surrounding area, some of which are in an urban setting while others personify the term “scenic route”, ensconced in nature’s beauty and inspiration (rivers, trees, greenest grass, etc.) with airplanes seemingly within touching distance as they take-off or land at the very nearby airport.
Yesterday I had the treat of conducting my walk around the famed Tidal Basin in our nation’s capital. As I did a month ago. The latter was more packed with people than I had ever experienced, literally “wall-to-wall”, literally “stop-and-go” (foot) traffic. This is very common when driving in the DC area, but while walking? That was a big surprise and I wondered what would explain such a groundswell of pedestrians and then a split-second later it occurred to me that Cherry Blossom “peak week” arrived early this year due to the weather, and let me tell you that people LOVE their cherry blossoms, I’ve never seen so many pedestrians and smiles and cameras (mainly of the smartphone variety) in my life.
I’ve never been a big fan of feeling like a sardine 🙂 so I opted for my other walking routes the following few weeks. Until yesterday. The weather has gotten markedly warmer and was gorgeous, downright perfect for a long walk (or anything else, for that matter) but an equally-large takeaway was how virtually empty the Tidal Basin was this time compared to last month. From a few inches between bodies to twenty or fifty or a hundred feet. From jam-packed to serenely sparse… and it reminded me of how the Lord must feel at times. How “popular” He becomes to us humans when we want or (especially) need something. A solution. A provision. A promotion. Yet it is an unfortunate but real aspect of human nature that when a lot of people aren’t experiencing a pressing need, they’re far less likely to “pursue” and “crowd around” the Lord. Just like when the famous cherry blossoms fade, so do the crowds.
May we be much more consistent in our pursuit of and passion for the Lord. May it be as enthusiastic in the “in-between” times as it is when we’re facing and feeling a pressing need.
He is worthy of no less.
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