There are Verses, there are SuperVerses, and there are MegaVerses

01 Sep There are Verses, there are SuperVerses, and there are MegaVerses

JUST AS THERE ARE SOME FOODS THAT PACK EXTRAORDINARY NUTRITIONAL WALLOP, SO THERE ARE SOME BIBLE VERSES THAT PACK EXTRAORDINARY SPIRITUAL WALLOP.

There are Verses

The Bible makes majestic claims about itself. It claims to be the inspired word of God (2 Timothy 3:16). It claims to be able to make us adequate, equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:17). It claims to be alive and powerful, sharper than a two-edged sword (Hebrews 4:12). It claims to help keep us from sin (Psalm 119:11), and equip us for spiritual success (Psalm 1:3). So, all the Bible is vital to the Christian life, and a serious Christian will be committed to mastering the Bible, as a whole, so well that the Bible masters them.

There are SuperVerses

Beyond the inestimable value of the “whole” of the Word of God, specific verses in the Bible can be used like spiritual laser beams, shooting intense spiritual truth into our souls directed specifically to one of our spiritual needs. For example, when I was a young man, I had a major anger problem. It wasn’t so much that specific things made me angry. It was that I walked around angry, and it didn’t take much to go wrong for that anger to boil over.

So when I became a Christian as a college student and read in James that “…everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God (1:19-20), I knew that my anger was wrong and I needed to change.

When I read in Ephesians, “Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity” (4:26-27), I knew that my anger was giving the devil an advantage in my life, and that if I wanted to eliminate that advantage, I needed to eliminate my anger.

So, these verses became SuperVerses for me, packing extraordinary spiritual impact in my life. I knew other people, however, who were born with extraordinarily placid temperaments and virtually never got angry. So those verses would not be SuperVerses for them. On the other hand, they might have struggled with worry, or materialism, or lust. That being the case, verses that speak to worry, materialism or lust would be their SuperVerses.

Verses that are SuperVerses for an individual especially need to be mastered… deeply and continuously until the power of the Word begins to manifest itself in that life, giving victory over the besetting character trait.

There are MegaVerses

Then, there are MegaVerses. These are verses that are so important and speak so powerfully to vital issues in the life of all Christians that every believer needs to master them. The verse I gave last week of Romans 12:2 is a good example: “…do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”

This verse gives us the essential guidance that if we want to be living proof that the Word of God is good and acceptable and perfect, we must be transformed… and if we are to be transformed, we must have our minds renewed. When we truly grasp the gravity of that truth, we will dedicate ourselves fully to a life of mental renewal, taking great care to guard our minds from unhelpful input, and power-feeding our minds helpful input. If a Christian doesn’t understand and conform to this truth, he will be stunted in his Christian experience.   Such is the case with all MegaVerses.

“Mastering” the Word, in this context, means these three steps:

1. Studying: The verses must be studied so well that you are clear on their meaning. This may require your own study and perhaps the help of a teacher.
2. Memorizing: Then, after being sure the verses are understood, they must be memorized so deeply that we do not have to struggle to recall them. As I said last week, they should be memorized so well that someone could shake you awake at 3:00 am and say, “Quick, what is Romans 12:2?” and you could rattle the passages off without stuttering or blinking.
3. Meditating: After the verses are memorized so well that they come easily to mind, we must meditate on the verses over and over again each day. As we saw last week, we can meditate when we wake up, go to sleep, are sitting in our house, or walking (or driving or waiting, etc.) (Deuteronomy 6:7).

MegaVerses and SuperVerses can be used with precision and power to offset the influence of culture on our spiritual lives. As we study, memorize and meditate on Scripture, we power-feed our souls, and take steps to stand strong against the gravitational pull of modern culture. We’ll look more deeply at this subject next week.

And, if you haven’t done so yet, be sure to download my free video Master the Bible So Well That the Bible Masters You.

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