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…
“Big Mo”: Maintain Your Gain!
/in Uncategorized /by Bible MemoryThere’s a phrase very familiar with those of us who watch sports: “big mo”. Momentum. It plays an important and usually uncanny role in the outcome of a game.
But you know what, momentum also plays a crucial role in the Christian life, in our daily walk with the Lord — which, as discussed in the previous post, should be a continual combination of rest and action, or in bicycling terms, of rest and “pedaling”.
In the human realm, those are opposites, but in the Christian life they are meant to work together: we should always be “resting” in the Lord…
… while we’re working for Him, while we’re serving Him and carrying out His will in our lives.
As you probably know based on prior posts, a few months ago I sold my car so I could use that money to finish building this website. But I still had to be able to get around town to run errands and such so the second half of that plan was to buy a bicycle.
I hadn’t ridden one since I was a child, since I was around 12 or 13 years old. I loved it then. The exhilaration of going down a steep hill. That rush of pure adrenaline. And the freedom. My oh my, the freedom. To finally be able to go more than a mile from my house. To the local mall to buy candy and gum and generally unhealthy fare but hey, I was a kid and therefore had the freedom to indulge in such luxuries without having to pay the price which generally doesn’t rear its head until full-on adulthood. I was swimming in freedom. Drenched in freeness. What an amazing and wonderful time of life.
But that was then and this is now so I wasn’t sure if that same relationship with bicycling had endured but was thrilled to find that I enjoy it every bit as much now as I did then.
And there have been many benefits realized in the weeks since. I’ll elaborate on these in future posts of this journal/blog as this historic journey of becoming the first person in known human history to memorize and recite the ENTIRE BIBLE unfolds, but two so far have been (a) the fact that it allowed me to finish building this website so people can follow my progress every step of the way, learn from my past mistakes and future victories, hold me accountable and help keep me on-track to complete this monumental task, and (b) discovering that many of the thoughts and concepts which I’ll be sharing with you here first struck me while riding my bike. (Far better that than a car or truck, eh? =)
But in this post, in this journal entry, I’d like to talk about a different benefit.
While I’ve always viewed physical fitness as being quite important in that a believer’s body is indeed a temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 3:16 — one of the great “3:16’s” of Scripture [along with John, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, 1 Peter, and 1 John … yep, I’m definitely gonna have to do a future post about this!] — and again a few Chapters later in 6:19) and have always done a decent job maintaining it, a benefit of biking versus driving these past several weeks is that I’ve actually gotten down to my high school weight. And every time I get back from an extended (usually Saturday) bike ride I find that 5-8 pounds have been whacked from the previous night’s reading on my bathroom scale.
But after such an intense workout and the resultant hunger, I find myself sorely tempted to fill my stomach’s newfound void with a bunch of food. And indeed, I used to indulge in such and you know what would happen? Yep, the next morning that bathroom scale would go right back to the same reading as before. I’d revert to the pre-exercise weight. Benefit lost. (At least that one.) Gained ground given right back.
And it hit me that this is exactly how it is with the Christian life, too! How often do we read the Bible or go to church only to stumble in the following days or weeks?
I address this in the physical realm by opting for high-protein fare like seafood, chicken breast tenders or nuggets, and fat-free/cholesterol-free egg whites after said workouts; as for the spiritual realm, I’ve addressed this by embarking on this journey of memorizing entire books of the Bible. That’s right, just like Psalm 119:11 says, Bible memory on a regular, systematic (verse-by-verse, book-by-beautiful-book) basis has kept me from losing the spiritual ground which has been gained.
In a word, MOMENTUM! “Big Mo”.
I’ll discuss the encouragement (“carrot”) side of this coin in a moment but will start with the warning (“stick”) side with a single three-verse passage: “For yet in a very little while, he who is coming will come, and will not delay,. But my righteous one shall live by faith; and if he shrinks back, My soul has no pleasure in him. BUT we are NOT of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul.” (Hebrews 10:37-39)
May it be so in our daily lives. May we be so wise to choose the latter.
As for the other side of this coin, it’s important to realize that when we obey God, when we obey His Word, the Bible, we stack another gain on our pile in heaven, in our heavenly account as it were. Think of it like an earthly bank account in that each good work, each good deed we do here on earth produces rewards or adds a “credit” to our “account” in heaven. But similarly when we sin it’s like a “debit” to that account.
In sports lingo, doing a good deed in this life is like pushing the football another five yards down the field in the life to come. (AND this life — 1 Timothy 4:8!) I’m sure you get the point but of course that field is not 100 yards in length but unlimited, infinite, but otherwise this is a very good metaphor. And what is one of the main factors which determines victory or defeat? That’s right, which team has the momentum as the clock ticks to zero. Who maintains the momentum. But when we sin, when we give in to temptation, it’s like fumbling the football. And as we know, that’s not conducive at all to WINNING THE GAME.
Credit or debit. Touchdown or fumble. THE CHOICE IS OURS. I know which I like better! And make my decisions and choices each day accordingly. “In such a way so as to win” as the beloved Apostle Paul would say. And I just cannot overstate how utterly crucial and imperative it is to MAINTAIN THE MOMENTUM.
Don’t be messing with your blessing. Maintain your gain.
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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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Separate Scenarios, Crystal Clear Conclusion
/in Uncategorized /by Bible MemoryI just returned from a brisk but beautiful and beneficial bike ride. Because just like a healthy brain needs the Bible on a regular basis, so also the body needs regular exercise so I’m always thankful (a) when I have an extra amount of time for an even more rigorous workout and (b) when I don’t get hit by one of the smartphone-crazed/can’t-go-two-minutes-without-texting-or-at-least-checking-my-phone drivers populating the roads these days. (I’m not thrilled about the close calls, either, like the one on today’s ride, but I file those under the “no harm, no foul” category.)
Anyway, the weather has turned quite a bit cooler recently with winter wagging its warmness-zapping finger in advance of its full arrival, so I wasn’t able to ride or even walk outside for the past three days due to a distinct drop in the temperature.
Interestingly, when I first headed out for today’s timely trek, it struck me (probably not a good idiom to use when discussing bicycles 🙂 ) how HARD it was to pedal up the first hill in that direction. It’s usually a piece of cake (ah, much better idiom!) but not this time, not today. So I had to get off of my bike and WALK it up that medium-sized hill. And rode without incident for the next several minutes of (wonderful, beautiful) FLAT (i.e., non-hilly) road.
But then I came to the second hill in that direction, this one MUCH LARGER than the first, and you know what? I was able to RIDE up and over it with ease! BECAUSE MY BODY WAS NOW “BACK IN THE SWING” OF EXERCISING, after those first fifteen minutes after that three-day layoff.
And the rest of the ride was, as they say, a breeze. Easy-peasy.
Until the very end. Seemingly suddenly, it got VERY HARD to pedal once again, like three hours before. So hard that I actually had to pull over and sit down for a few minutes and guess what, I was able to pedal with ease. BECAUSE WHEN THE BODY GETS WEARY OR TIRED ALL IT NEEDS IS A LITTLE REST.
And that’s exactly how it is with the Christian life: sometimes we need to rest — and sometimes we just need to get off of our backsides and START PEDALING.
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Quick Thought: “Helpless!”
/in Uncategorized /by Bible MemoryRemember when we were kids and would try to help one of our friends with something and they just kept “not getting it” and after several attempts to aid them in the task we’d say, “Ugh, you’re helpless!”?
I do. Not very proudly, mind you. I wish I had the same level of patience and kindness with others at age 10 that I do now but won’t kick myself too hard since, after all, those are the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) which develop over time as one grows in the Lord.
No, I shan’t kick myself too hard but that phrase still rings in my ears as an adult, albeit in a very (very) different way.
You see, I’m no longer the speaker of that phrase but rather the repentant recipient. And it’s no longer I who shout out that declaration, it’s the Bible, TO me and every other person from birth.
While my fellow frequently-feckless friends and I (who wasn’t at age ten? =) sometimes couldn’t put a bicycle wheel or chain back on properly after a mishap even with my multiple attempts to render aid, until we reach “the point of accountability” (usually referred to the “age of accountability” but it has nothing to do with age, everything to do with mental capacity, which some reach at age four and some much later if ever) the Bible says that we are spiritually helpless. “Helpless case!”
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