DADDY ON MEMORIZING THE BIBLE

A long time ago, maybe sixty years, Daddy expressed concern about the influx of new Bible translations—a few then, many now.
Daddy said that many different translations could/would contribute to less Bible memorizing.

Yes, true—at any rate, it makes memorizing more difficult.
It takes more conscious effort to memorize, no longer hearing the same wording of the same verse, from multiple sources.

Everyone seems most interested in communicating the Word with new and ‘better’ wording, so the listener can get it most easily.
So we hear the Bible in many different ways, and can’t remember one because we can’t pick one.
Rarely do we memorize anything, without hearing or reading it over and over in the exact same wording.


Memorizing Scripture is not memorizing concepts—it is memorizing words, that hold the concepts, that change our lives.


As a writer, very interested in the rules/principles of English grammar (since ninth grade with Mrs. Lindeman), I have concluded:

Structure Communicates, not just words.

And I believe that is precisely why the King James Version (KJV) worked so well for centuries, and continues effectively today, amid dozens? of new translations.
A bit of examination shows the grammar and sentence structure of the KJV is not only correct and balanced, it is very hard to improve on.
The NKJV takes care of the old word obstacles.


Tribute to Daddy:

— One
Daddy spent lots of time reading his Bible, in our house, and in his pickup.
By far the greatest gift, heritage, blessing that anyone can get from their dad is seeing him with his open Bible every day.*

— Two
Equal gift, heritage, blessing from Daddy—hundreds of Bible verses in my memory, with recall to this day, because Daddy repeated them every day in morning devotions, and all day long.**

And this miracle storehouse of Truth—filled with absolutely no effort of my own.***
Adding to that now takes EFFORT and TIME.

It’s certainly worth it.

Pick a translation, and stick with it.
Mark it up.
Underline.
Circle.
Write notes, dates, names.
Leave your Bible open to a verse to memorize, on a place where you will see it several times a day.

“Don’t worry about the quantity of Bible you ingest—it’s how much Bible you digest that makes you strong.”

* And, seeing Daddy on his knees, praying every day.

** “And these words which I command you this day, shall be in your heart;
You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.”

*** “Unto whom much is given, much will be required.”

WHEN GOD IS MAD

What does it look like when God is mad ?

Well, this is not hypothetical, as in, What would it look like if God got mad ?

This is how it happened:

“The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. So the Lord said, ‘I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.’ “
“The earth was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.”
“So God looked upon the earth, and indeed it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth.”

He was sorry, and He was mad.
The full description of what God did follows:

Talk about rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic, as it went down under water.
Just a few survivors, in just a few lifeboats.

God rearranged the entire earth as it went down under water.
Just a few survivors, in just one lifeboat, Noah’s ark.

To make sure we get the facts straight about the wickedness of man and the response of God with the flood—note the repetition.

“I Myself am bringing floodwaters on the earth, to destroy from under heaven all flesh in which is the breath of life; everything that is on the earth shall die.”

“After seven days I will cause it to rain on the earth forty days and forty nights, and I will destroy from the face of the earth all living things that I have made.”

“And it came to pass after seven days that the waters of the flood were on the earth.”

“Noah was six hundred years old when the floodwaters came on the earth.”

“In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. And the rain was on the earth forty days and forty nights.”

“Now the flood was on the earth forty days.”

It really happened.
God had His reasons.
God vented His anger on the earth, the likes of which we haven’t seen since.


Other times God wiped out thousands of people on the spot.

Then He commanded His people to do the same.
Oh My ! Now that’s tough !
We do best to obey, whether we understand or not.
Just make sure it is the command of God we obey.
Cancel any hope of addressing God with human reasoning.
Repeat:
Cancel any hope of addressing God with human reasoning.

If He gives us compassion, reasoning (on His terms), we better take it.
“Come now, and let us reason together,” says the LORD, “Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be as wool.”


Do we get it—His holiness—His justice ?
We can get just a taste of it.

We’re made in God’s image, so apply our response over wrong done against us—apply that to God, proper or not:
“I don’t get mad; I get even.”
God does both—but under perfect control, not like us.
God does both—but with complete, perfect vindication, not like us.
(Better re-read that paragraph, carefully.)

When God gets mad, God gets even.
You don’t want to get in His way.
Never even mention you want justice from God.
Plead for mercy.
“God, be merciful to me, a sinner” is the only way to come before God and “go home justified.”

ONE DAY

I cannot say that someday all advocates of cultural and political error will see the light, but

“One day every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

WAIT ON GOD

Trust in the Lord

don’t lean on your . . .
your anything–
your thinking,
your understanding,
your abilities,
your figuring it out,
your health,
your strength,
your goals,
your success,
your money,
your insurance,
your retirement.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and
don’t lean on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him,
and He will direct your paths.”

If we do not stop to consciously, verbally, recognize our dependence on God, our trust in Him “in all our ways”, in every detail—
then we are not trusting in the Lord with all our heart.

ALL— or—NOTHING
‘Be still, and know that I AM . . . God.”

DO YOU SHARE ‘THE FAITH’ ?

Do you share the faith of your parents, the faith of your family ?

Do you assume you have your family’s faith ?

Does that make you right with God, ready for heaven ?

If you share the faith of your family, do you share that faith in your conversations with them ?

If you do not talk freely about your faith with those who share the faith, how much do you talk about your faith with those who do not share that faith ?

INSURANCE VS ASSURANCE

Insurance is a promise from man.
Insurance is a product for sale from man.
Insurance has its cost—cost if you buy it—fear if you don’t buy it.
Insurance has a catch—lots of catches—lots of loopholes—lots of failures.
Insurance requires faith plus your money.
Insurance enslaves—can’t get out of it.


Assurance is a promise from God.
Assurance is not a product for sale—it’s free—it’s up to your free will.
Assurance requires faith plus nothing.
Assurance has a ‘catch’—faithfulness—no doublemindedness—no turning back.
Assurance is free and sets you free.
Assurance—don’t expect peace without it—don’t leave earth without it.
Assurance has the greatest underwriter in the universe—the Creator “Who owns the cattle on a thousand hills.”
You KNOW—“You’re in Good Hands with His Assurance Policy.”


Insurance vs Assurance
In America – We really do believe we can have both—God and Mammon.
Jesus said, “You cannot serve God and Mammon.”

78,000 TIMES WITH PERFECT PRECISION

78,000 times in 6,000 years, consistently, hanging out there in space.

I am fascinated watching the phases of the moon, and the stars every clear night.

The moon grows—waxing to awesome full moon—and then it wanes.

And almost suddenly a new moon appears, marking the passing of time so quickly.

Sober reflection on my life, like reflection from the moon.

And I marvel at the Creator who made this light, suspended in the sky, work so many times with perfection from day one.

“Be still, and know that I AM GOD.”

IT IS IMPOSSIBLE

It is impossible for a man to work seven days a week and lead his family spiritually.

GOD SENDS TROUBLE, SO . . .

God sends trouble [wait a minute, He’s not supposed to do that !].

God sends trouble, so . . .
So we will “call upon Him in the day of trouble,”
So “He will deliver us,”
So “we will glorify Him.”
Over and Over and Over again.

Contentment—believing we are in the center of God’s will, even when we are not in the center of our will.

HALF ____ and HALF ____

What happened to the United States when slavery was up to the states ?
“. . . half slave and half free”

Three years before the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln said,
“‘A house divided against itself, cannot stand.’ (Quoting Mark 3:25).
I believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free.
I do not expect the Union to be dissolved – I do not expect the house to fall – but I do expect it will cease to be divided.
It will become all one thing or all the other.”

He was right !
A bloodbath proved that—that this republic could not endure half slave and half free.
The bloodbath fixed that—that this republic was no longer half slave.
Some were not happy.
The bloodbath did not fix everything.
Some are still not happy.
But slavery was abolished nationwide.

Today, with a far greater evil than slavery, this republic cannot endure half death and half life.
We had hoped the Supreme Court would fix our current division, but turning the life/death decision back to the states put us right where we were before the Civil War.
We have more death than ever.
We are more divided over life/death than ever.
The threat, and reality, of violence looms over America like the impending Civil War 165 years ago.

“. . . this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free.”

. . . this republic cannot endure half death and half life.

Many are out and out working to destroy America right now, under the banner, the guise, of socialism vs capitalism.
It’s just like some blame the Civil War on economics.
No, the cause behind that conflict was slavery.
The cause behind this present conflict, this divine judgment, is the greatest evil of killing babies.
– – –
We are living in Pre-Civil War II, in real time.
This will not go away !

Either:
The United States will end abortion nationwide.
Or:
The United States of America will end as a nation.

One or the other.
Non-violently or violently.

What will determine the outcome ?
Who will determine the outcome ?

As in all our history from Jamestown on, to today—God-fearing Christians humbly and boldly asked their Maker for wisdom and strength to endure and stand against evil, to build the greatest nation ever on earth.
That is unchanged.
That will decide the outcome now.