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…
Bless the Blessed
/in Uncategorized /by Bible MemoryAnymore I feel pretty much permanently prepared to be peppered with perpetual perplexity pertaining to God’s pervasive perfection. How on earth can the Fall-flawed, finite human mind make sense much less wrap itself around such solemn spiritual concepts like sinlessness, sovereignty, eternity, and Deity?
It can’t. Not fully anyway but that’s okay because (1) one day we will…
… and (2) even our finite minds can comprehend infinite truths sufficiently enough to believe, if and when said minds are submissively saturated with the Word and His Holy Spirit, wondrously working hand-in-heavenly-hand within “sad sacks” of sin such as we.
For this God-granted grace – and everything else about the Lord – let us love the all-loving, let us bless the Lord and His unparalleled, peerless, perfect Name, let us ever bless the Blessed.
[Here are a few (very) different renderings of the first song which you might enjoy; I encourage you to listen to all of these videos until the end but especially this very next one…]
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Only Hope
/in Uncategorized /by Bible MemoryAs I’m sure you’ve noticed, there are a lot of things that seem to be getting more and more scarce, downright rare, in current-day society.
Truth, for sure.
And love.
And joy. (Contrary to the perception most social media posts try to paint.)
And peace. (Nuff said.)
And patience. (Next time you’re driving, simply observe how humans honk their horns anymore and you’ll see what I mean.)
But despite how gloomy the outlook might be for society right now, don’t let it get you glum…
… because I have good news: there’s still hope!
That’s right, we humans have hope but ONLY ONE, and that’s the Lord Jesus Christ and specifically His Spirit-spawned, blessed birth and spotless life and salvation-sealing death, burial, and resurrection.
And hand-in-hand with the Incarnate Word, our only hope is the written Word, the God-breathed Bible. For the latter leads and lassos and lovingly links our little lives to Him, our very big God.
Per my prayed petitions for many years now, I remain confident and convinced that at least one more mass spiritual revival is in store… but ONLY IF we hop head-first into, then hold both-handedly onto, our ONLY hope… ONLY IF we turn away from our sin and to His Word, the magnificent, beneficent Bible.
May we wisely do so in our own life first, then let it spread to others via demonstrated love and joy and peace and patience and humility.
It’s our only hope.
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No Libels
/in Uncategorized /by Bible MemoryIn the past year or so in particular as the 2024 U.S. presidential election has inched ever nearer and the probable participating candidates have become ever clearer, a group founded in 2009 has gained new steam.
It’s called No Labels and its mission is – if 2024 looks likely to be a 2020 rematch of Trump vs. Biden (as it definitely does right now) – to put forth, to field and fully fund a so-called “unity ticket” and thus provide the American people with a third, far more preferable and popular option comprised of a centrist Republican and centrist Democrat. [Think Larry Hogan, Chris Sununu, Mitt Romney or Jon Huntsman for the former and a past multi-term blue Governor of a red state like Joe Manchin (WV) or Jay Nixon (MO) for the latter.]
A few months ago there was polling which suggested that the move – if it even materializes, if they’re even able to get a line on the ballots in a sufficient number of states – would, contrary to conventional wisdom, actually siphon more votes away from (i.e., hurt) Trump than (i.e., help) Biden. Color me skeptical of that conclusion which seems a tad askew…
… but it’s basically bringing a big headache to both sides of the aisle in their planning and plotting (and plodding) to take the White House next November.
In the coming months we should get a good glimpse of what if any impact this may ultimately have, but – in keeping with my prior promise that this will remain a partisan-politics-free place – the point and purpose of this post, while wielding wisdom and value for folks in the field of politics, isn’t about “No Labels” but rather “no LIBELS!”
As you’ve no doubt noticed, the past decade has definitely detected a dramatic, indeed, dire decrease in diplomacy and a massive increase in invective in politics and society in general. Phrases and words which would’ve been unthinkable even just a decade or two ago are now routinely hurled very publicly on an hourly basis… so I’d like to humbly remind those so inclined that while the Bible doesn’t mention “No Labels” (by name, anyway) it certainly has something serious to say about “no libels”:
And I really like the Legacy Standard Bible’s translation:
The Bible commands us to “malign no one”, to “slander no one” – in other words, “NO LIBELS!”
What a wise and timely word from the Word especially in light of our current political and societal state, which fits perfectly with my prior two-part post about the need for unity.
I often wish I could have a direct, personal conversation with the current crop of corporate, media, and political leaders, to tell them that instead of contributing so completely to the country’s communication crisis, they could – and absolutely should – be focused like a laser (at least at first) on curing it, since they largely hold the cards.
I’ll keep praying along those lines and maintaining faith, but won’t be beset by bated breath since we don’t live in that kind of a world…
… but they and we could quite quickly restore interpersonal and public communication back to how it used to be, simply by heeding the verse above (which I love) or this one:
Let’s take a moment to ask ourselves: Have we been “showing every consideration for all men” (regardless of political party, or anything else) or have we been persistently pushing our own preferences and pleasure and will? Did everything (!) we’ve said today (this week, the past month) have the effect of “building up” the hearers or tearing them down? Did our words “give grace”, or something else altogether?
I think we all know the answer but the point isn’t to berate ourselves but rather to trust the Lord and rely on His heavenly help to turn around this seriously sinful societal situation.
Starting with ourselves.
Then we will watch it spread like wildfire to those around us and beyond, eventually impacting our congregation, county, then country, creating considerable and genuine and desperately-needed change.
Let it be so, Lord. Let it be so.
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