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…
“A or B”: Four Binary Choices (and one Great Finish) (sorta!)
/in Uncategorized /by Bible MemoryHere’s a phrase which many of you who follow politics have no doubt already begun to hear quite a bit and of which the rest of the citizenry is about to get a big, double-dog-dare-ya-to-disregard dose during this election year: “binary choice”.
“Not enthused with either presidential (or congressional or local) candidate and therefore don’t plan to vote for Trump? Then you’re in essence voting for Biden!” Or, “Not going to vote for Biden? Then you’re in effect voting for Trump!”
In other words, because we (U.S.) only have two major political parties, it ends up being a binary choice virtually every time.
Regardless of how good or bad either or both candidates on the ballot might be… if you don’t vote for the one, then in practical terms you’re helping elect the other, and vice versa.
But far, far, far more important and weighty than any political battle is the fact that this concept also holds true on the spiritual battlefield.
The Bible comes to a crystal clear conclusion: each person faces several binary choices in life which will largely determine how they fare not just emotionally or relationally or physically but also spiritually… here are four of them.
Pray – or be prey.
Be humble – or be humbled.
Be forgiving – or be unforgiven.
Meditation – or medication.
If we want to fulfill the following verse and “finish strong” and receive a waiting reward, a literal crown…
… then it’s absolutely crucial that we choose correctly when it comes to binary choices, in which inaction is tantamount to losing.
In other words, we will wisely want to “finish the course” – all 18 holes, as it were – and thus put in a GREAT FINISH in this life, in light of the one (and the One) to come.
We don’t want to be like this year’s (yesterday’s) Masters pro golf tournament which looked certain to be headed for a fantastic finish when, with around just nine holes left to play, not one, not two, not even three but an unheard-of FOUR players were all tied for the lead (at -6).
“Four co-leaders with just the BACK NINE to play? It’s going to be one whale of a finish!”
Then three of them watched their golf game fall apart. Despite how excellent it had been for each of them the previous 3.5 rounds.
And, sadly, that’s exactly how it is for far too many Christians: strong (and, often, very strong) start, weak finish.
To paraphrase the verse above, “No good.”
Not good enough.
Not good at all.
Because, you see, it’s not how one starts that really counts, it’s how one finishes.
The silver lining yesterday was that, while three of the four down-the-stretch co-leaders fell apart, the other one – a brother in Christ no less, named Scottie Scheffler, the #1-ranked golfer in the world even before yesterday’s major win – “finished strong” after making great choice (wood or iron?) after great choice (go for the pin or lay up?) after great choice (wedge or putter from just off the green?).
May we too heed the advice of a fictional yet fully factual phrase from a (very) old knight and “choose wisely” when it comes to the binary choices we face week in and week out.
Yes, exactly! We must choose. May we choose wisely. Per the precious passages cited above, so that we will “finish strong” in this life in light of the one to come and thus receive the crown of righteousness.
(That’s even far greater than golf’s “green jacket”!)
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Four Masters (and one Golf Major)
/in Uncategorized /by Bible MemoryI don’t usually watch golf on TV with two exceptions: the U.S. Open and The Masters, two of the sport’s four “major” tournaments.
I enjoy both but the latter is a slight favorite since it occurs right around Resurrection Sunday (Easter) each Spring, and occurs first of the four, a fitting “kick-off” to the serious golf season.
After a couple-hour rain delay, this year’s Masters finally got going and it has been a great first round so far and while watching (wistfully… I could never play like those pros) my mind immediately meditated on this tournament’s title and it got me thinking of four main matters or motives or aspects of life which may become more important than they should, which may become “masters” of far too many minds and lives:
But did you know that roughly two thousand years ago the Bible PREDICTED that people would fall prey to these “4 P’s”? And all four in the very same passage:
So for those of you who, like me, will be watching much of The Masters golf major over these next few days, may we wisely examine ourselves, our minds, our lives, to ensure that these four masters – or any others! – haven’t and don’t get a grip over us… or as the precious Apostle Paul poignantly put it:
To those of you who will be glued to golf these next few days I say…
Enjoy The Masters!
And, even better…
Enjoy the Master.
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Four Types (and one Solar Eclipse)
/in Uncategorized /by Bible MemoryPer plenty of published projections predicting a pretty plump path, people from Maine to Texas (local cloud cover-contingent) are set to see quite a sight: just two hours from now, day will literally become night. In a tad over “the blink of an eye” (but close!) daylight will turn to darkness.
For a few fast minutes anyway.
That’s right, it’s Solar Eclipse Day as mass media outlets have been breathlessly blaring with tremendous anticipation all weekend in particular; the event is about to arrive with full scientific force but here’s what’s filling my mind this monumental moment:
Which nicely brings us to the meat, the main point of this post: may we use this stellar solar event with worldwide watching to “examine ourselves” to see if we are indeed redeemed, to pinpoint where we stand on the spiritual spectrum – such a solemn subject and by far the most important of this entire life – or at least come quite close to confirming which kind of person we are of the four types among mankind, as follows, and to act accordingly:
… in other words, to heed the Holy Spirit’s and Paul’s pointed words of warning to wisely…
Paul uses an exclamation point.
God uses solar eclipses and other such events to get our attention, to “shake us and wake us” to a few fine facts…
How small and puny people are in the grand scheme of things, how truly little our lives are by comparison.
How helpless we are without Him, especially spiritually.
How much we need Him in every aspect and facet of life – this one and the (much, much, much, much, much longer) one to come.
How mighty and matchless and masterful and all-powerful He is.
Or as countless singers (like the Statler Brothers) have sung to the Lord for 75 years now: How great Thou art, Lord! How. Great. Thou. Art.
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