12.15.03

It is written, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” - Matthew 4:4.

All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. - 2 Timothy 3:16-17.

So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. - Romans 10:17.

For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. - Hebrews 4:12.

Dr. Oscar Lowry at one time thought that he could not memorize Scripture. However, he reached a point where he believed he had to try to memorize and he thought, “If I can memorize one verse, I can memorize one more, and ten more, and even one hundred.” He started with what he thought was a difficult passage, Romans 10:9-10. Within half an hour, he was able to memorize it. The next day he reviewed the passage several times and then added a new verse. He kept on doing this, reviewing those verses he had memorized each day and adding new ones. By the time Dr. Lowry passed from this life to the next, he had memorized 20,000 verses. As a result, Oscar Lowry experienced great success in evangelism and lived a joy-filled life. Scripture memorization facilitated Dr. Lowry’s spiritual breakout (Dr. Lowry led the 1938 Evangelistic Campaign by Radio and he wrote “Scripture Memorizing for Successful Soul-winning”.).

The apostle Paul, while still the persecuting Saul, experienced a spiritual breakout while on the road to Damascus. He was stopped in his tracks by the risen Lord Jesus. When Saul came to an understanding of who he had been persecuting he wanted to stop the persecution, and he experienced a spiritual breakout. Saul could never have changed without having the necessary background and training necessary to understand, and then proceed with the call given to Him by God. He was perhaps the most highly educated of the early Christians and had large portions of the Old Testament memorized as evidenced by his writings. Even though Saul had been on the wrong side until the encounter on the road to Damascus, he was still a prepared man waiting for the move of God, which eventually came. You can see the high regard the apostle has for Scripture with 2 Timothy 3:16-17 and Romans 10:17. God’s Word was necessary for Paul to have a spiritual breakout. God’s Word is necessary for whoever would breakout spiritually.

Everyone can memorize Scripture; it just depends on whether you want to expend the energy and time necessary to do it. However, if you want to facilitate a spiritual breakout in your life you need to memorize Scripture and do so on a continuing basis (The Navigators http://home.navigators.org have excellent memory resources available.).