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…
Overpowering, Overwhelmingly
/in Uncategorized /by Bible MemoryIt’s 8:30 a.m. as I write this and I felt like a quick game of chess so I played against the computer, selected one of its weaker opponent choices (since I only have a few minutes, yeah, that’s it, that’s the reason 🙂 ) then proceeded to capture his queen and both rooks.
Those who are even slightly familiar with chess know that the game was over at that point and, surely enough, it was a breeze, a proverbial “piece of cake” to vacuum up his other pieces and achieve victory.
Do you realize that’s EXACTLY how it is in life?!
From birth, a person is literally and constantly being hunted down by the devil and his minions…
… who, because they are angels – fallen, but still extremely powerful – possess superhuman indeed supernatural abilities so mere mortals, mere humans like you and me stand NO chance on our own of defending much less defeating.
Just like a chess player who has lost his queen and both rooks.
But I have some good news! And that’s this: instead of just “hanging us out to dry”, instead of leaving us on our own, God graciously gave us a guaranteed way to garner TEN queens in this metaphorical chess game of life, by sending His only begotten Son, Jesus, the second Person of the Holy Trinity, to earth as a newborn baby who voluntarily set aside the voluntary use of His deity (redundance intended)…
… and took on the fullness of humanity, of being a man…
… so that, for the express purpose of saving us from our sin and sins, of rescuing and delivering us out of that too-weak-to-win position and situation (i.e., no queen or rooks) in this life and especially regarding the life to come, eternity.
Or to summarize the situation super-succinctly, we were in a world of hurt, were in a terrible, unwinable and unwinnable position… BUT BUT BUT the good news is that GOD STEPPED IN, GOD INTERVENED to RESCUE and DELIVER and REDEEM and SAVE us!
We found ourselves in the game of life WITHOUT our queen or rooks or bishops or knights, totally OVERPOWERED and OUTGUNNED by our opponent, our adversary and his minions… but God gave us not just the ability and authority and power but the right to receive TEN QUEENS, thus FLIPPING THE SCRIPT…
… such that we not only win but WIN BIG, win overwhelmingly; are not only victorious but overwhelmingly victorious; not only conquer but, yep, OVERWHELMINGLY conquer.
And to wrap up this topic for now, HOW do we do that, HOW exactly do we OVERCOME and OVERPOWER evil and the evil one? As ever, the Bible couldn’t be any clearer, gives us a crystal clear conclusion and answer and remedy. First a hint, a glimpse…
… and then the very specific answer via the very next verse:
Ding ding ding!
Isn’t it amazing how everything always comes down to the Bible in general and Bible memory (which unleashes recitation and meditation) in specific?!
If you’d like to support the cause of Bible memory and help MAKE HISTORY and literally CHANGE THE WORLD together via this unparalleled tool and weapon, “the sword of the Spirit” internalized (Ephesians 6:17), here are the best ways to do so and I already know they’ll each bring tremendous blessing into your life as I have asked the Lord from Day One of this endeavor to be the case; thank you so much for standing shoulder-to-shoulder with me on the biggest battlefield, in the most important arena of them all!
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1. Become a one-time or monthly partner by making a donation via PayPal’s fully-secure Bible Memory page!
2. Encourage as many people as you can to support this historic endeavor by having them go to BibleMemory.ORG/support (please make sure they understand that it’s .org, not .com) – doing so by word-of-mouth is great, and to do so with a single click on your social media platforms simply click here then scroll down to just below the Donate button and select your platforms, it’s that quick and easy!
3. Add your name to my Prayer List!
4. Encourage as many of our fellow Christians as you can to pray for this historic endeavor by having them go to BibleMemory.ORG/pray (please make sure they understand that it’s .org, not .com) – doing so by word-of-mouth is great, and to do so with a single click on your social media platforms simply click here then scroll down to just below the Form and select your platforms, it’s that quick and easy!
5. Share this post on your social media by clicking on one or more of these platforms:
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“He is no fool…”
/in Uncategorized /by Bible Memory(As promised in the previous post…)
I love a good quote. Always have. None can compare with those which are straight out of the Bible, since they are literally God-breathed, flowing forth from the very mind of God Himself. But I also really like several which, while not straight out of the Bible are totally based on it and thus very worthy of spreading.
In the future I’ll share many of my favorites with you but for the purposes of this post will cover one which is near if not at the very top of that non-Bible list.
“He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose.” (Jim Elliot, October 28, 1949)
While he put his own spin on it, this clearly came from the teaching of our Lord Jesus found in Matthew 10:39 and 16:24-26.
It’s what for years I have called “the ultimate no-brainer” and “BEST. TRADE. EVER!”
Jesus offers us a supremely straightforward deal: give up our lives and get HIS LIFE, eternal life, in return.
What a trade-off! What a bargain! To give up that which is very, very temp-o-rary, and receive that which is eternal (James 4:14 <> John 3:16 among many others). To give up that which is inherently evil and drenched with sin, and receive that which is good and acceptable and perfect (Romans 3:10-18,23 <> Romans 12:1-2). To give up living for ourselves, and receive Christ Himself living in us (the two passages above and Philippians 2:3-4 and Romans 12:10-21 and too many others to list here <> Galatians 2:20).
I will no doubt spend many future posts delving and diving more deeply into this topic, this fantastic truth, this trade of all trades, but I’ll end this post with two other Bible verses – the first and last (beautiful biblical bookends!) of one of my favorite passages of Scripture which, together, sum it all up better than I or any human could ever hope to: “Therefore, if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. He [i.e., God, verse 20] made Him who knew no sin [i.e., Jesus Christ] to be SIN on our behalf, THAT we might become THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD in Him.” (2 Corinthians 5:17,21)
Like I said, GREATEST trade/trade-off/bargain/no-brainer EVER! Hell for heaven. Our own life/will for Christ’s. Utter sinfulness for utter perfection.
Count. Me. In.
Indeed, indeed: “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose.”
If you’ve never made that trade, I strongly encourage you to do so today, right now, as nothing less than one’s eternal destiny hangs in the balance.
Which is why 2 Corinthians 6:2 says, “NOW is the acceptable time”, TODAY is “the day”!
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If you sense that the Lord might be leading YOU to support the historic event unfolding in real-time here at BibleMemory.ORG and thus become my fellow worker and thus share in all of the fruit and blessings (3 John 8) and literally MAKE HISTORY together, here are the best ways to do so:
1. Become a one-time or monthly partner by making a donation via PayPal’s fully-secure Bible Memory page!
2. Encourage as many people as you can to support this historic event by having them go to BibleMemory.ORG/support (please make sure they understand that it’s .org, not .com) – doing so by word-of-mouth is great, and to do so with a single click on your social media simply click here then scroll down a few inches to the green box and select your platforms, it’s that quick and easy!
3. Add your name to my Prayer List!
4. Encourage as many of our fellow Christians as you can to pray for this historic event by having them go to BibleMemory.ORG/pray (please make sure they understand that it’s .org, not .com) – doing so by word-of-mouth is great, and to do so with a single click on your social media simply click here then scroll down a few inches and select your platforms, it’s that quick and easy!
5. Share this post on your social media by clicking on one or more of these platforms:
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Quick Thought: Reading Recommendation: The Journals of Jim Elliot
/in Uncategorized /by Bible MemorySpeaking of things from my youth which have borne much fruit, still, down to this very day…
When I was 19 a fellow at my church gave me a copy of “The Journals of Jim Elliot” at Christmas. (Jim’s widow and biographer Elisabeth would later speak at the church several times.)
It’s one of the fairly few books outside of the Bible which have had a huge impact on my life. And he owns my very favorite non-Bible quote of all time: “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose.” (So true! What wisdom, in a single sentence. I’ll write a post about this in the very near future since it’s totally based on if not straight out of the Bible.)
I strongly recommend it. For anyone, but especially children, teens, and college students. (It’s a great way to help them fulfill 1 Corinthians 11:1 and Philippians 3:17.)
Click here to read it online for free, compliments of Google.
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Share this post with, well, EVERYONE!
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