What Goes Before and After Hearing?

Saint Paul by El Greco (public domain)

 

Evangelism is not proselytizing within Christianity. To "evangel," as I mentioned in Tuesday's post, is:

Did you know in American English "evangel" is defined as "the good tidings of the redemption of the world through Jesus Christ; the gospel." 

There were prophets for millennia who spoke of the redemption of the world through believe in a single supreme being, but the longest such belief comes to us in written form through Judaism. Without Judaism we would not be able to do what the Bereans did after hearing Paul's evangel:

 And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews. These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so. Therefore many of them believed; also of honourable women which were Greeks, and of men, not a few. (Acts 17:10-12 KJV)

I do hope I've said it sufficiently - that's what I pray for my readers. Search the scriptures as often as you can, daily is awesome. Seek for yourself  to know if what is in the Old Testament scriptures point to what happened in the New Testament. Is what Jesus said true:

To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears. (Luke 4:19-21 KJV)

Never, ever, take what I write here as scripture. Do not pick up on a single verse out of context and live by it alone. Look up in a Bible to see whether or not it fits into context, determine if it can give great discovery if used alone. Too often we see someone who has chosen these verses to live by:

And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. (Luke 12:16-19 KJV)

In a red-letter Bible it is obvious we are told Jesus spoke those words. Aren't we as Christians supposed to follow His instructions? Well, read the verses before and after to find out the example has consequences:

But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God. (Luke 12:20-21 KJV)

I have heard Christians from one denomination or another speak of members of any other denomination as being "lost.' To all followers of Christ, "lost" means without Christ as savior. God has no contract with any specific Christian denomination, whether His name is on it or not. We are called Christian because we believe Jesus' words across the gospels that explained He is the promised Savior prophesied by Jewish prophets. Belief is a requirement:

If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things? And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. (John 3:12-15 KJV)

Ask any Christian you know and in my experience they can quote John 3:16:

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16 KJV)

Not all can quote the following two:

For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.  (John 3:17-18 KJV)

Our condemnation is not due to our sins - the condemnation is because we believed not. Paul addresses this in his letter to the Christians at Rome:

. . . that is, the word of faith, which we preach; That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. (Romans 10:8b-9 KJV)

That is Paul encouraging by evangel others to be evangelists, because:

For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! (Romans 10:13-15 KJV)

That is both the Christmas message and the Easter message: Jesus is Christ, who was born to die as our Savior, and is resurrected in His defeat of death. Now you've heard - want to talk about it, or learn more?

It's The Law

 

University of Michigan law library interior

It's impressive, isn't it? The University of Michigan law library is impressive. However, once a student opens a book, I imagine attention is focused much more on studies than architecture. I know when I open the Bible, I really don't care if the surroundings are timelessly beautiful. I want to know what it tells me.

There are places in the Bible where that focus on the Law given by God takes total commitment. I like the history behind 2 Kings 22:

And Hilkiah the high priest said unto Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of the LORD. And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it. (2 Kings 22:8 KJV)

From Hilkiah to Shaphan to Josiah, who called Ahikam and Achbor and Asahiah and sent them on a mission:

Go ye, enquire of the LORD for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that is found: for great is the wrath of the LORD that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not hearkened unto the words of this book, to do according unto all that which is written concerning us. (2 Kings 22:13 KJV)

After consultations, the word was given to the people of Israel:

And the king went up into the house of the LORD, and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the people, both small and great: and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the LORD. And the king stood by a pillar, and made a covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD, and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all their heart and all their soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people stood to the covenant. (2 Kings 23:2-3 KJV)

Years pass, kings and priests die and are replaced, again and again. Never does the Law completely disappear - there is always a remnant and a returning to walk after the Lord and to keep His Commandments. Jesus read them in the synagogue one Sabbath and shared more:

To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears. (Luke 4:19-21 KJV)

Jesus said there were two important commandments in Matthew 22:34-40, the foundation of the Law and the prophets of scriptures and Judaism.

Paul studied them intensely and I trust what he says about the Law in Romans:

(For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified. (Romans 2:13 KJV)

Paul wasn't the only Apostle of Jesus who stated this emphatically:

But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed. If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain. Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, 

I  include the longer quote because James not only mentions hearers and doers, but he closes his example with:

To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world. (James 1:22-27 KJV)

Keep your heart and your actions focused on "pure religion" in God's word. We are not sent to change our cities, our counties, our states, our countries. We are sent to make changes in ourselves and show God's pure religion to individuals. How is that working in your life? I need to make changes in mine.

"Sir, we would see Jesus"

 

Screen capture from Journeys with the Messiah

When that request was first written, here is the sequence of events:

The people therefore that was with him when he called Lazarus out of his grave, and raised him from the dead, bare record. For this cause the people also met him, for that they heard that he had done this miracle. The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, Perceive ye how ye prevail nothing? behold, the world is gone after him. And there were certain Greeks among them that came up to worship at the feast: The same came therefore to Philip, which was of Bethsaida of Galilee, and desired him, saying, Sir, we would see Jesus. Philip cometh and telleth Andrew: and again Andrew and Philip tell Jesus. (John 12:17-22 KJV)

It would be good for you (sure was for me) to read the entire chapter to visualize where Jesus was, what time of year, who Lazarus was, and his sisters. There was a crowd with Jesus when Lazarus was returned to his family. The crowd dispersed, and told people about what they had seen. News traveled, not as quickly as today's social media, but sufficiently that people wanted to know more.

Note it was Greeks, not Jews from Greece, nor Jewish Greeks, but simply Greeks came to worship at the feast. Most likely they were at least converts to have made the trip to Jerusalem for Passover. In addition to hearing of Lazarus' coming out of the grave, they learned who was close to the teacher who worked this miracle. Their question got them to see Jesus.

Have you ever had someone ask you about knowing Jesus? Or have you ever asked anyone if they wanted to know Him? as Christians, we've been told to telll everyone about Him:

Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen. (Matthew 28:19-20 KJV)

Yes, Jesus was speaking to a small group of men - but they did exactly what He told them today, which is why we have the Bible today and find followers of Christ in all nations.

Did you know in American English "evangel" is defined as "the good tidings of the redemption of the world through Jesus Christ; the gospel." Thus "evangelist" is "a person who seeks to convert others to the Christian faith, especially by public preaching." Jesus was an evangelist, for He taught of God's Son (John 3:15-18) before He sent men out to evangelize. Jesus is the good news the angels proclaimed:

And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. (Luke 2:10-11 KJV)

If you've visited here at least once, you've read of Jesus, God's perfect gift to mankind, and the salvation offered to everyone who believes in Him.  That evaagel I share makes me an evangelist. Are you?

In today's politically charged world, "evangelism" has been used as a pejorative. Social media users are not shy to protest posts that state what I write on this blog. Many want to be free of religion, not offering freedom to have a religion. All the while, I pray that every time I mention His name, one person might decide, "I would see Jesus." Dear Christian reading this - are you prepared to show Jesus to someone who asks you that question?

Note the screen capture I used for today's graphic. Journeys With The Messiah pictures Jesus in every day life from biblical scenes - only set in our tiime, not two thousand years ago - yet the story is the same, the message is the same, the people need the same. How do you approach people who would see Jesus?

Changing Truth Into A Lie

 

The "effortless" is somewhat misleading. It does take a lot less effort to tell a truth than it is to make up a lie - or even work around a truth to tell a partial lie. Just as it takes muscular effort to smile (while it does take some effort) than it does to frown. But, there are times the truth is not easily told. That ties into the second quote - the truth is seldom simple, but "never" doesn't belong there.

Usually it's not simple because the liar had to make up sentences from words that did not fit the truth. "I did it," is much less labor than "Not me, he did it!" That denial not only agrees that something happened, but removes the speaker from the incident, then lays any blame elsewhere. Anyone reading this and remembering when you and I used this denial to defend ourselves? It's one of the first, especially if you have siblings or cousins.

That third one is valid. The Bible tells us:

And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. (John 8:32 KJV)

But, it does not tell us we will be free from all the consequences of the truth. I assure you, becoming free through the truth does have consequences. We can understand that from the next verses:

They answered him, We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free? Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. (John 8:33-34 KJV)

When we equate sin to breaking laws, it's evident that there are many sinners in prison today and they are in bondage to their governmental entities to fulfill their sentence. But - Jesus was speaking of breaking one of two commandments. I repeat them a lot in my blogs only because they are of utmost importance. You can find them in Matthew 22:34-40 in your Bible or by clicking on the reference.

Most of the Law of Moses, and most of mankind's, are written based on verse 39. Moses' included that first part, verse 37, and it is the same for Christians. When both of these commandments are kept, we are not servants of sin. Do you know anyone that keeps both? I don't keep them all the time myself. I've not met anyone who has - or who can. Thus that fourth quote above includes: "until it is finished with you." Until the consequences are fulfilled.

Some consequences are never corrected. Families never are single units after a divorce. The children will see consequences for their parents' actions for the rest of their lives. My husband never saw his birth father after the state took he and his brother from a second marriage as abused children. His birth father died before we discovered the full truth behind his childhood. Recently, a child in our community was murdered. Her parents were accused before the killer was found and confessed. Only two days, but lies spread as wildfire, and pain remains.

There are consequences for our actions within our communities, and we are told what they are:

He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God. (John 3:18-21 KJV)

In a much shorter verse:

But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the LORD: and be sure your sin will find you out. (Numbers 32:23 KJV)

King David involved a lot of "neighbors" while committing one specific sin, yet he understood:

Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: (Psalms 51:4a KJV)

Then he knew to accept consequences of his Judge:

that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest. (Psalms 51:4b KJV)

Do you have a conscience that tells you when what you are doing will harm another person? That means you have knowledge of sinfulness. Can you include knowledge of a God who cares about the consequences to place salvation before you for the asking? That is truth. Too many people have turned it into a lie, calling God's plan a myth. Find out for yourself. Is Jesus Truth, with a capital T?

Write It Down

 

We are a couple of weeks past new year resolutions, and this concept has been around for millennia. I remember from a Tom Clancy book: if it isn't written down, it didn't happen. I don't write stuff down often enough. In this new digital/verbal age, I don't even say it enough in front of Alexa! Though it is best to watch what you say around the Echo.

We are fortunate enough that Moses - and probably many before him - wrote stuff down. Definitely those after him did, and I am personally very thankful that Judaism had so many over the millennia who wrote down what God said to specific individuals.

I appreciate the gospel writers, too, and those who wrote letters to new churches as they grew in the years following Jesus' resurrection. A couple of them were very open about why they were writing:

And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name. (John 20:30-31 KJV)

The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen: To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God: (Acts 1:1-3 KJV)

The gospel of John is one that presents Jesus as the Son of God. Oh, the other three do,  too.  I love the second chapter of Luke. There is nothing that tells us that Luke spoke with Mary, but so much in his first two chapters that could have come while sitting down with Mary and hearing her own story. In the third verse, he mentions Theophilus, as he does in the first verse in Acts. I would like to think every true Christian is a "friend of God," which is what Theophilus means. 

I wonder how many people it would take to write down the Bible from memory - my ability is lessening as I age. There are a few specific verses I could write down - but there are literally thousands I have written over the last few years. Some are verses I've carefully copied from online Bibles. I don't trust my own typing or proofreading.

Why do I write these verses down and write my thoughts around them? Because I wasn't called elsewhere, and though I am involved in a wide range of outreaching programs, I do believe Matthew was inspisred to write this down for all Christians - all followers of Christ:

Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen. (Matthew 28:19-20 KJV)

I know what I write is read as far away as Australia, the Netherlands, Korea, which is the only way I can go to teach all nations that:

That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. (John 3:15 KJV)

Begin With Simple and Move to Difficult

 

As I've posted before, becoming a Christian is simple. There are only two specific requests made in the New Testament for people to become a follower of Jesus Christ - and that's what the word Christian was created to mean.

Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. (Matthew 22:36-40 KJV)

Simple. Two commandments from God. Back when God created the tablets for Moses, there were ten, but they embodied these two. These two commandments explain all the Law and the prophets God sent.

In another gospel, we get the second requirement:

That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:15-16 KJV)

Simple. Until people continue their search and ask: Who is God? Moses asked that very question:

And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you. And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations. (Exodus 3:13-15 KJV)

Which means you must know the first part of the story, beginning in the book of Genesis in the Bible. So you need to sit down and read a Bible to understand who God is and why it is necessary to love Him with all your heart. There was a man named Nicodemus who spent his life reading about God and showing Him to others. But Jesus knew Nicodemus needed to understand Jewish history and prophecy, though he had studied it his adult life:

Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be? Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness. If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things? (John 3:9-12 KJV)

Even when you get through that first commandment that you do love God, do understand that He sent His son, that second commandment about loving your neighbor as yourself is going to be a stumblingblock. Guaranteed. The example of the first brothers, Able and Cain, shows how difficult it is to get along with other people. So many examples in the Bible! Jesus gave one, when asked who was a neighbor, but you have to read some history to find out why a Samaritan was chosen as an example.

Michael Belk's book, Journeys With The Messiah, and his website contains a photograph showing the Messiah standing on a road with a German soldier. For my generation, that is one of the most difficult neighbors. Another would be a Japanese pilot. Both are my neighbors in so many ways, and if I cannot accept that, how can I be acceptable?

That's where the simplicity of believing God loved us enough to send a savior ends. We must also accept that "whosoever" means someone we do not see as neighborly. Someone who we consider to be an enemy. Someone we really do need to include in our prayers only because God loves them as much as He does us.

"Whosoever" does not mean simple at all. It means exactly what the Bible says. It doesn't say "Walk up to them and tell them how bad they are and they need to change." It does say:

But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect. (Matthew 5:44-48 KJV)

When to Panic?

 

Photo by Simon Hurry on Unsplash

Would you take a trip on this boat? Wouldn't the weather have to be a bit better to even consider it?

I wonder when the people who lived around Noah began to panic, do you? It would have been very easy to laugh at the man who was building a boat - I wonder also, how close was he to a body of water? We are not told. What we are told:

And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth. Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch. And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits. A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it. (Genesis 6:13-16 KJV)

There is not one word about how Noah's neighbors took the news that Noah was building a huge boat. Every movie scene was written without a biblical hint, but came from the minds of men. When we watch scenes that came from men, we see their personal ideas of what could happen - what they would expect from their neighbors if they were building a boat without nearby water.

And Noah did according unto all that the LORD commanded him. And Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth. And Noah went in, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives with him, into the ark, because of the waters of the flood. Of clean beasts, and of beasts that are not clean, and of fowls, and of every thing that creepeth upon the earth, There went in two and two unto Noah into the ark, the male and the female, as God had commanded Noah. And it came to pass after seven days, that the waters of the flood were upon the earth. In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. (Genesis 7:5-11 KJV)

The Bible doesn't tell us that his neighbors noticed - go ahead and check chapters from five, where Noah's birth, 500 years of age, and birth of his sons are mentioned. The next chapter gives a description of the earth, God's granting Noah grace, instructions to his family, and no mention of his neighbors, who must have been included in:

And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth. (Genesis 6:13 KJV)

Now you would think someone would panic, wouldn't you? We judge the story by what we know of mankind today, and the earth is filled with violence today, isn't it? We see the signs, and we see wars, rumors of other wars, and divisiveness where none has been for a hundred or more years. When do people panic?

We shouldn't, you know. Multiple times in the Bible we are told "Fear not," sometimes as "Be not afraid," or "Do not fear," each in a positive directive. Why?

For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. (2 Timothy 1:7 KJV)

The Bible has examples of people who followed those directives:

Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the LORD JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation. (Isaiah 12:2 KJV)

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. (Psalms 23:4 KJV)

Christ was specific with the promise He left with His disciples:

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. (John 14:27 KJV)

So the answer to this blog's title is: As Christians, we are not to panic. We are to trust the promises we've been given. Even when others are prone to panic, we need to remember three young men:

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up. (Daniel 3:16-18 KJV)

Memories

 

Photo by Katie Moum on Unsplash

I was looking for a "Memory Lane" sign, but ran across this Katie Moum photograph and thought it would be a great lead to a discussion of memories. They do become foggy when we look back upon them. If you take four people who spent several years together, sit them down to write their memories, you will end up with four different viewpoints even though the request was expected to return similar experiences.

Beloved Husband and I have been married for sixty-two years this coming May - but we don't have the same memories. My interests include genealogy. I can assure you, what I find isn't trusted by another researcher without a good citation of source and clarification how what I found fits into the story. He isn't interested at all, so our memories of our parents, grandparents and extended family is not the same.

My memory bank (what there is left of it) is better at older memories than what I was doing before I sat down at this computer. Thus the view up this road matches more my view of my day. There will be fog banks along the way. Other people would be able to see this road much more clearly - and our memories would not match.

So what scriptures would run across my mind after thinking: My memories are my own. When I'm gone, no one will have access to what I know, when I knew it, and what I did with the knowledge I acquired?

These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God. (1 John 5:13 KJV)

John, Peter's brother, wrote that. almost a shortened version of his introduction at the first of this letter:

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;) That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full. (1 John 1:1-4 KJV)

Luke opened Acts with:

The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen: To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God: And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. (Acts 1:1-4 KJV)

John wrote in first person, Luke usually didn't. Every once in a while in Acts he uses "we" but most of the book is written as heard from someone else. He wrote about what he heard and believed. The rest of the New Testament was written by people who walked with Jesus, heard His words, had memories of interacting with Him, and wrote those memories down when inspisred by God. Not dictated by God, but inspired by Him. The words used are important today, too. They had meaning when used, had meaning when translated, have been compared for centuries, and mean the same today as they did then.

I believe that, and 1 John 5:13 is the same reason I write this blog. No, I do not believe God inspires the actual words here, but I do believe he inspired me through the Apostle's writings to share scripture and what it means to me. 

There are two immediate results of your reading this - a lack of interest and it doesn't cross your mind again; or a bit of interest and you think about what is written. After that, the possibilites divide exponentialy. Some paths lead to learing more, others run off into dead ends - but all are in memory. One memory that we do share that may lead to:

These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so. (Acts 17:11 KJV)