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…
The Choice Is Ours
/in Uncategorized /by Bible MemoryEver since I put my faith in Jesus Christ and Him alone for my eternal salvation, I’ve hated sin. 100%. I wish I could say I’ve also avoided it 100% but of course that would be a lie worthy of the devil himself. But even the most black-and-white, zero-grey-areas person I’ve ever heard of, the Apostle John, acknowledges in 1 John 2:1 that such is altogether unavoidable on this side of heaven, but that it will become less and less prevalent, less and less present in the life of every true believer, as also stated so succinctly yet crystal-clearly in Proverbs 4:18. Ergo, I don’t dwell on past sins but rather on the present pursuit of righteousness. But while I may not be able to avoid sin altogether in this life, I find that I have grown to hate it more with each passing year and exponentially so after starting this journey of Bible memory on a regular, systematic basis.
And under the umbrella of sin in general, there are three which I’d say I’ve come to hate even more than the others: one is a lack of truth… in ANY way, shape or form; another is waste… of time, of talent, of opportunity, of money or food; and the third chart-topper would probably be unthankfulness. A lack of gratitude.
Today, as I write this, I am once again reminded (and amazed, stunned) at just how good, at just how effective the Lord is in being able to make us thankful.
You see, the other day I noticed that the water from my faucet tasted strange even though I always use a filter. First time that’s ever happened but I figured “no bigee, I’ll just drink bottled water until they fix it” which was hunky dory – until I ran out after three days (I drink a lot of water each day =). And the thought hit me: what if it DOESN’T get fixed, what if it’s just the “new normal”, water that tastes so bad that even a filter doesn’t dent the distaste? As you know, I’ve committed my entire life savings to this project and website so can’t afford to just start buying water on a regular basis. Nope, I’m stuck with a faucet and filter for fulfilling that human need. I’m sure this probably seems like such a small matter to most people but it’s pretty big to me. It’s not as though I can just go without drinking water. Something’s gotta give!
Then just this morning I figured I’d give it another try and much to my mouth’s relief, the filtered faucet water tasted good again… hallelu! Matter resolved. And I’ve been thanking Him for that all day.
And this little episode of my life has been a great reminder of a spiritual truth: if we don’t thank God regularly, He has an uncanny way of MAKING us thankful, of bringing that about!
I mean, I thank Him a lot… but I can’t remember the last time I thanked Him for drinkable water. Yet now, after these past few days, I literally can’t thank Him enough.
Interestingly, I thank Him regularly for salvation and spiritual growth and for literally writing His Word on my heart and soul and mind – and all of that has continued apace. And I thank Him regularly for the stellar, literally perfect physical health He’s granted my entire life (a result of God’s grace but also, under that umbrella, of regular Bible memory no doubt) and that too just keeps right on going (so far! =). And it makes me wonder if, in addition to overarching grace and regular Bible memory and recitation, this is also due to the fact that I do indeed thank Him for these things regularly.
I find that my reaction to the Bible is extremely positive, pure joy, 99.9% of the time. But I’ve come across a handful of passages that make my blood boil. Pure anger. Like when those merchants were selling their wares in the temple as described in John 2:13-17. (I’m greatly comforted by the fact that the Lord had the exact same reaction… talk about good company!) And there are a handful of passages which have not only angered but befuddled me, as in “What on earth was that guy thinking?! Who would ever behave like that?”
And one passage in particular: Luke 17:11-19. It’s a well-known story. Jesus, on His way to Jerusalem, entered a certain village and came across ten lepers. They “raised their voices” and begged for mercy, for healing, and our compassionate and merciful Lord (James 5:11) did just that! These ten lepers – the outcasts whom even the outcasts shunned – just had that major, major, major life-revolutionizing matter taken off of their shoulders, yet ONLY ONE of them THANKED Jesus.
As much as I might try, I simply cannot, I’m simply unable to fathom that, to even imagine that. Just thinking about that makes me angry. Then it’s as though I can hear Nathan himself saying, “Thou art the man.” Straight out of 2 Samuel 12:7. You see, not only can I fathom and imagine that kind of cringe-worthy conduct, that brand of baneful behavior, there are times I find that I’ve been indulging in it unawares.
Ingratitude. Ungratefulness. Unthankfulness. Yet it’s absolutely amazing how the Lord never lets me do so for very long before “stepping in” and “working” events which will snap me out of that big-time.
I can’t even remember the last time I had thanked Him for drinkable water. And now I’ve probably done so a hundred times today. Funny how that works, eh?
So let’s focus, from this day forward, on active gratitude. On thanking Him for things big and small. Constantly. Not just because it’s right and biblical…
… but below that blessed umbrella, even on a human level, also because of what it very likely may spare us in the future. In other words, I find that gratefulness is very similar to humility in that we can either humble ourselves or BE humbled by God (Matthew 23:12; Luke 14:11; James 4:10; Philippians 2:10). So also, we can either THANK the Lord regularly, or He’ll undoubtedly GIVE US a reason to do so after going through a trial or some sort of tribulation. How many times have we suffered in life simply because we weren’t thankful.
Let’s call it preventive gratitude. May we be wise to adopt a focus and attitude of gratitude, every day. May we be like that one former leper, not the other nine. It will no doubt spare us from needless heartache in the future. The choice is ours.
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The Choice
/in Uncategorized /by Bible MemoryJust a few weeks ago we celebrated Christmas. Probably my favorite time of the entire year. (Other than the weather. =) And my favorite holiday along with Easter and Thanksgiving and Independence Day. (Interesting how they all share a common thread, eh?)
Anyway, back to Christmas, the main thing is of course the fact that it commemorates Jesus’ supremely sacrificial self-humbling in voluntarily setting aside the comforts of Heaven and coming down to Earth to become a man (Philippians 2:5-11) [and even lower than that to become “sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21)]. As my favorite song of the season says, “Pleased as man with men to dwell, Jesus our Emmanuel.” Indeed. But my second favorite part (definitely not unrelated to the first) is the great music, all those great songs celebrating and aiding us in celebrating that most momentous of marvelous occasions in all of history (His-story).
Yes, Hark! The Herald Angels Sing is my favorite with Joy to the World very high on that list, but one written much more recently has also made it into my “Top 10” and that’s When Love Came Down by Point of Grace.
It literally brings tears of pure joy to my eyes virtually every time I hear it. And for the purposes of this post, I’d like to highlight a single line from this song (end of the second verse): “There’s a choice we must make each and every day.”
Every year (having also just celebrated New Year’s Day), every month, every week, and yes every day and even every hour and minute, i.e., continually.
And that ongoing test (pop quiz) is not of the multiple choice variety but rather “true or false”, “A or B”. It’s this:
God or money (Matthew 6:24, in the heart of the Sermon on the Mount). God or pleasure (2 Timothy 3:4). God or the world (James 4:4; 1 John 2:15-16). God or self (Luke 14:26-27; Matthew 16:24).
On one side of the (massive) chasm is God and the things of God like the Bible and prayer and worship and fellowship.
On the other side is self and pleasure and money and all the world system has to offer.
The human heart, fallen flesh, will always opt for the latter, its default position. But I have found that the Bible is able to transform one’s mind and thus life (Romans 12:1-2) – reading it, better yet studying it, but best by far memorizing and reciting and meditating on and in all of the three cases obeying it. The Bible CHANGES our “default” setting!
And those verses make it crystal clear how dramatically indeed diametrically indeed direly different the results and consequences of that two-options decision confronting us continually are. Joy or sorrow. True success or failure. Victory or defeat. Life or death. (Literally.)
The Bible in general and Bible memory on a regular, systematic (verse-by-verse, book-by-beautiful-book) basis in specific has totally transformed and revolutionized my mind. Far from perfect. (Still.) (Always! At least on this side of eternity.) But massive improvement in mind, spirit, soul – intentions, attentions, affections, aspirations – and even body (health, per Proverbs 4:22, so true!).
There is indeed “a choice we must make each and every day.” You know an example of someone who chose poorly, who DIDN’T make the right decision? His name is Demas, and even most Christians wouldn’t know that name because he plays a very small – yet stunningly sobering – role in the Bible. By way of background, he was one of the Apostle Paul’s closest “fellow workers” – made clear by the fact that Paul mentions him by name at the end of not one but two New Testament books (letters/epistles), Colossians and Philemon. But later on, as (physical) death was starting to knock on Paul’s door, he mentions him in a third (his final) book, writing this: “for Demas, having loved this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica” (2 Timothy 4:10). Can you believe that?! It blows my mind every single time. Someone who worked and lived and breathed month after month, week after week, day after day, hour after hour beside the greatest non-Deitic person in human history (i.e., other than the Lord Jesus Himself) one day concluded that the world was more desirable than the things of God. This should be a huge warning, a rip-roaring red flag to each and every one of us who begins to think that WE could never turn our back much less lose our love for the Lord and the Bible and the things of Him. Just ask the church of the Laodiceans mentioned in Revelation 3:15-18. Or, albeit on a much more temporary basis, just ask Peter, as discussed in-depth in a prior post. If it can happen to Demas, to someone surrounded by and special to the greatest non-Deitic person ever to walk the face of the earth, and if it can happen to Peter, even if just temporarily, then it can absolutely happen to you and me if we’re not careful to correctly navigate “the choice” which is ours daily, never letting a sure-to-sink-us sense of self-sufficiency creep in. (1 Corinthians 10:12)
You know a great example of someone who made the RIGHT if not (initially) easy choice? Moses, “choosing rather to endure ill-treatment with the people of God, than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin; considering the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he was looking to the reward.” (Hebrews 11:25-26)
Verse 27 goes on to say, “By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured as seeing Him who is unseen.”
And that, my friend, is the essence of faith and the only ultimately good thing in this world, in this life. As SEEING the UNSEEN. Few four-word phrases have fixed my focus forward and upward like this one has. As seeing the unseen.
You see, the human heart and mind and body will naturally gravitate to things that can be seen, that are visible. But faith does – enables us to do – the exact OPPOSITE. It’s a lot like that famous quote by one of the greatest and quite arguably THE greatest hockey player of all time, who credited his unbelievable success to the fact that “other players skate to where the puck is; I skate to where the puck is going to be.”
The key to being “great” in the Christian life and indeed life itself is to look “not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are NOT seen.” (I’d love to take credit for that quote but nope, it was written by the beloved Apostle Paul superintended by the Holy Spirit – 2 Corinthians 4:18) Not the things that are but the things that are to come.
And the results? The amazing results? Going back to Hebrews 11 – every bit as applicable today as then: “who by faith conquered kingdoms, performed acts of righteousness, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong [perhaps my favorite five-word phrase!]…” (Hebrews 11:33-34)
Moses “left Egypt” and likewise we would be wise to evacuate the world system by outright rejecting all it has to offer, “the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life” (1 John 2:16). The “passing pleasures of sin.” (Hebrews 11:25) “Wanton pleasure.” (James 5:5)
In other words, instead of living for OUR wants and desires, we would be wise to live for His (Matthew 16:24-26). Instead of living for OUR will, we would be wise and much better off living for His – following the perfect example set by our Lord Jesus when…
To the Father said the Son,
“Not MY will but THINE be done!” (Luke 22:42 – the Bible has it ALL! Even great poetry… much more on this in a future post)
Summing all of this up, this is the overarching way I view it: in life, we can either go for the icing or the cake. Go for the icing and we’ll get neither. Go for the cake and we’ll get BOTH!
“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” (Matthew 6:33, KJV)
The choice. Or as I like to call it… the no-brainer. The ultimate win/win.
Yes, we CAN “have it all” – if the order and priority of our choice is right. With a new year now underway, may we choose each and every day to live for the CAKE, and the icing will follow… like those TV ads for Meineke and Men’s Wearhouse say, “I guarantee it.” And infinitely more importantly, God guarantees it… give it a try and He’ll show you why!
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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!
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Quick Thought: Father Knows Best
/in Uncategorized /by Bible MemoryThanks to the explosion of cable television channels, shows from decades ago are readily available to entirely new generations. Including one titled Father Knows Best.
While the producers of that show probably didn’t realize it, they actually affirmed one of the most basic but bedrock biblical doctrines.
As punctiliously and properly propounded in a previous post, NOTHING can escape even the INFINITE CENTER of God’s loving sovereignty. Nothing that happens to or affects you. Nothing that happens to or impacts me. Not a single thing that happens in the universe. Or as Philippians 2:10 would phrase it, nothing that happens to “those who are in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth” – and that covers everyone. Past, present, and future. (I.e., everyone who has ever lived currently resides in one of those three places. It’s similar to when Paul used the phrase “in season and out of season” in 2 Timothy 4:2 – in that case there are only two times of the year and he covered them both/all. Just like he did in Colossians 1:16 where he writes that Christ created “all things” and then emphasizes that even more by using the phrase “visible and invisible”.)
NOTHING happens for or inures to a believer’s bad, to a disciple’s detriment, only ever for and to our good, better and best – the only question is whether we realize and in faith appropriate that fact, that truth of God’s loving sovereignty and this promise which applies to every believer as crystal-clearly set forth in many passages including Romans 8:28 and its not-nearly-so-well-known partner 9:17 and the two “beautiful biblical bookends” of the human-experience spectrum of Proverbs 16:33 and 21:1 per that prior post.
Because along with being loving and sovereign, God our Father is also omniscient. In terms of the universe and also regarding the very smallest “nooks and crannies” of our individual lives. What we “are able” to handle (1 Corinthians 10:13), how the ever-varying vicissitudes of life will impact us, and how He can “weave” all of those together to produce a stunningly beautiful, complete, “perfect” end result for us and for His glory.
Father knows best indeed!
He knows best, so we can rest. And live a truly worry-free, anxiety-free, depression-free, complaint-free life! Not just in theory but experience. Not just in perception but reality and actuality.
Second only to salvation itself, I find myself thanking Him most – and most often (i.e., in essence and extent) – for His loving sovereignty. What a great thing. What a gift. What a gold mine for daily living!
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