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Paul McKenzie

  • Paul McKenzie is a singer, songwriter and a gifted guitarist but there is much more to his ministry.
  • He is passionate about scripture and teaches others to memorize the Bible, providing seminars and instructional material, as well.
  • He is well-known for his ability to showcase the Word of God through dramatic portrayals of Biblical personalities.
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Devotion

Devotion

Memory Verse, Saturday, July 5, 1 John 2:21

"I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth." (KJV)

"I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth." (NIV)


I remember during my period of backsliding, almost 40 years ago now, I was trying to justify my state before my oldest sister. She was a former atheist who became a solid Christian. After my bloviating, she just looked at me and said, "Paul, you know better", and walked away.

You know, I thought I'd be ready for any argument to justify myself, but those simple words gnawed at me for days, and they were the catalyst God used to bring me back to my senses. And when I see this passage, it brings it back so vividly, because she was right. I did know the truth and was suppressing it in order to continue in sin.

There are many out there right now who are in that same state, and many could have been running for years. They've built walls and arguments and justifications, but they cannot hide the fact that, deep within, they know better. The truth is like that gnawing piece of sediment in an oyster that grows and grows into a beautiful pearl. And there is no escaping it. That sediment is your conscience, and when you let it finally open your heart again to the truth, you open your mouth to repentance and see the pearl of great price again.

Kind of a flawed analogy, but the best I can think on this quiet, early morning as I contemplate the awesomeness that, yes, I do know the truth! And that truth is so deeply embedded in me because of the Holy Spirit, that it cannot and will never be shaken. And when we rest in the shadow of that Pearl of Great Price, we reflect under its glow, and are safely covered by its magnificence and power.

There may be some of you reading this now who, for some reason turned from Christ, and are running from that nagging truth that works within you. And though you try to suppress it, you know the truth, and are utterly miserable within your spirit. You want to return, and just don't know how.

It's very simple. Cry out to the Savior and He will pull you out of your miry pit, and put that "song" back to the forefront of your heart (Psalm 40). This is the key to get out of that cage of Despair. Nothing else can defeat the lie but the truth, and the truth is in Jesus.

And you know it.

Today if you hear His voice, harden not your heart.

Memory Helps:

"I have not written UNTO YOU
BECAUSE YE KNOW NOT    THE TRUTH,
but BECAUSE YE KNOW IT,
and that no lie is of THE TRUTH." (KJV)


You see how I always break verses into smaller groups of lines to remember them. Then I look for similarities or opposites to latch onto and learn those first.

The first I looked at was "Unto you/ye know not/ye know it" from the first three lines.

Then I expanded "Because ye know not/Because ye know it" from lines 2 and 3.

Then I saw lines 2 and 4 have "the truth".

I will recite the verse "OUT LOUD", emphasizing each step, one at a time, and then fill in the rest of the verse after.

Then I make a word picture if I need to. I would start maybe "writing to you" on a "tooth", which I use as a picture word for "truth". At first you "know not" that is a tooth, but then I show it to you, and now "ye know it." And know that what I said was "no lie!" Now I "know the tooth", er… "truth".

My friend Nate takes my place writing on a tooth because he is my memory character to represent verses 21 (N=2, 1=T, vowels fillers). It is a shiny, brand-NEW tooth to remind "you" of chapter 2, since N=2. That way I remember 1 John 2:21.




Quick phonetic alphabet review: 0=S or Z; 1=t, or d; 2=N; 3=M; 4=R; 5=L; 6=J,sh,ch; 7=K or hard g; 8=F or V; and 9=P or b. All vowels, and w, and y are fillers. Example: "95" could be represented by PauL, or BaiLey, or PaiL, with the consonant sounds representing the numbers, and the vowels fillers.

Verses will be in the ESV unless otherwise notated.

Soli Deo Gloria