READY? AIM! FIRE!
Happy New Year, my dear sisters in Jesus! Last night I wrote a letter to the Lord Jesus right before I went to sleep and recalled His faithfulness through a tumultuous year. Right before I turned out the light, I opened up Daily Light for the last Scripture reading for the year and it offered this verse:
The Lord your God carried you, as a man carries his son, in all the way you went until you came to this place. Deut. 1:31
I could have cried. Yes, He surely did. And He carried you, too. Tightly in His faithful arms.
Only God knows what this particular year has in store for us. He alone sees how the path will wind, and climb, and fall, and rise again. We do not have control over the future as we glance ahead to 2011 but make no mistake. He does and we, His lavishly loved daughters, can indeed prepare to live what He thoughtfully brings our way victoriously. On this first day of the new year, we are not victims. We are called to live as victors, holding up the Shield of Faith in one hand and the Sword of the Spirit in the other.We need BOTH.
It’s finally time to post your first memory verse of 24 in 2011! If you haven’t already read the instructions thoroughly, please look at the post on December 26th titled “Siesta Scripture Memory Instructions.” It will tell you everything you need to know. Just a quick refresher: Your comments will almost entirely consist of these entries:
First name, city, verse, reference, and version.
Please keep it limited to these facts so that the verses stand out prominently for us to behold. You can occasionally say something as brief as “I’m excited!” Or “I need prayer!” but nothing longer than that please. Let’s let the Scriptures themselves rise like we’re looking at them with our 3-D glasses on.
Here’s my first Scripture entry of 24 in 2011:
Beth, Houston: All generous giving and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or the slightest hint of change. James 1:17 The NET Bible
Be sure and hand write your verse in your spiral to help engrave it on your sweet mind. Also consider writing your contact information on the inside cover in case you leave it somewhere and God causes someone gracious to find it.
I love to claim Psalm 65:11 on the first day of the new year:
You crown the year with Your good blessings, and You leave abundance in Your wake. The NET Bible
Lord, I want an abundance of Your Holy Spirit! (See Luke 11:13!) Abba, go before us this year and leave the fragrance of Your very presence in Your wake!
OK, Siestas! Hit it! I’ve prayed for you and can’t wait to pursue the Lord Jesus Christ with you this year. If some of you don’t know which verse to use this time around, consider Psalm 65:11. It’s a great first round.
Remember to wait 24 hours from the time you post your comment until you assume it got lost and enter it again. So many comments come in at once on these Scripture memory posts that the server bogs down, causing it to take extra time.
I love you, Sisters! Through the power of the Holy Spirit, we can do this! Remember, KEEP IT SIMPLE AND MEANINGFUL!
Karen, Little Rock.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
Galatians 5:22-23 (NIV)
Rachel, Blaine: chosen because this post spoke directly to my heart…
And you saw how the Lord your God cared for you all along the way as you traveled through the wilderness, just as a father cares for his child. Now he has brought you to this place. Deuteronomy 1:31 NLT
Jennifer, Grangeville, ID
“No, O people, the Lord has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.” Micah 6:8 (New Living Translation)
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Matthew 5:4 NIV Paula Jean, Hanalei, Kauai
Dawn, London
2 Timothy 1:7 (NIV)
For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.
Minden, LA
“With God’s power working in us, God can do much more than anything we can ask or imagine.” Ephesians 4:20 NCV
Ephesians 3:20 my dear Siestas
Kelly- West Richland, WA:
This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.
John 15:12 NRSV
Andrea, Tustin, CA
“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer.” Psalm 19:14 NKJV
Emily, TN, living in Central Asia
“For you, O Lord , are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you. ”
Psalm 86:5
Tiffani, Vancouver, Washington: For the LORD takes pleasure in His people; He will beautify the afflicted ones with salvation. Psalm 149:4 NASB
Jennifer, Fresno, “You crown the year with bountiful harvest; even the hard pathways overflow with abundance.” Ps. 65:11 NLT
Delta from Lakeland, Florida
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.
Mark 12:30,31 (niv)
Emily, Portland, Oregon: Humble yourself under the mighty hand of God, that He may exult you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you. 1 Peter 5: 6-7 NASB
Hana, Gold Coast, Australia
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. ( Rom 15:13 ) NIV
Jeanne Honolulu,HI
Isaiah 43:18-19 (New Century Version)
The Lord says, “Forget what happened before,
and do not think about the past.
Look at the new thing I am going to do.
It is already happening. Don’t you see it?
I will make a road in the desert
and rivers in the dry land.
Jennelle, Pollock Pines, CA
Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.
Luke 18:1 NIV
Ephesians 3:20 (will preview next time)
MiPa, Nottingham,
And provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of joy
instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
a planting of the LORD
for the display of his splendor.
Isaiah 61:3 (NIV)
Michelle, Vancouver Wa. In You our ancestors trusted; they trusted, and You delivered them. To You they cried, and were saved; in You they trusted, and were not put to shame. Psalm 22:4-5 NRSV
Blair,Troy: They will fight you,but they will fail. For I am with you, and I will take care of you. I, the Lord, have spoken. Jeremiah 1:19 NLT
Dawnette, East Wenatchee
The eyes of the arrogant will be humbled
and human pride brought low;
the LORD alone will be exalted in that day. Isaiah 2:11 NIV
Sarah, Sydney, AU.
“All men are like grass,
and all their glory is like the flowers of the field;
the grass withers and the flowers fall but the word of the Lord stands forever.”
1 Peter 1:24-25. (NIV)
Jillian; Laramie
For this reason I bow my knees before the Father from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named. I pray that He may grant you, according to the riches of His Glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man,
Ephesians 3:14-16 Holman Christian Standard Bible
(part 1)
“Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”
Phil. 3:12-14 (NIV)
Valerie, Mansfield, TX
My flesh and my heart may fail,but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Psalm 73:26
Tracy from Oregon
JG,Oro Valley
You show that you are a letter from Christ,the result of our ministry, written not in ink but with the spirit of the living God,not on tablets of stone but on tablets of the living heart. 2Corinthians 3:3 HIV
Azusa, California
Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Psalms 139:23 NIV Bible
Bianca, Santa Rosa, CA
You are my hiding place: you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance. Psalm 32:7 NIV
Keep me safe, my God
for in you I take refuge.
I said to the Lord, “Apart from you, Lord,
I have no good thing.”
Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup;
you make my lot secure.
The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places
surely I have a delightful inheritance.
Psalm 16:1-2 & 5-6 (NIV)
Soorin
Eugene, OR
Sharon
Los Angeles
“Whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone, especially to our Christian brothers and sisters.” Gal. 6:10 NLT
Jenny
Pingree Grove, IL
Romans 8: 1-2
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. NIV
Amy Tokyo, Japan- I Timothy 4:7-8 “Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.” ESV
Stephanie, Wurtland, Ky : “When I called, you answered me, you made me bold and stouthearted. Psalms138:3 NIV
Shelley
Pisgah Forest, NC
“For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.” Romans 11:36 NIV
My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Psalm 73:26 (ESV)
Myra, Lisbon, Portugal
“The Lord says, Forget what happened before, and do not think about the past. Look at the new thing I am going to do. It is already happening. Don’t you see it? I will make a road in the desert and rivers in the dry land.”
Isaiah 43:18-19 NCV
Lindsey, Oklahoma City
Don’t be afraid, for I am with you.
Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you.
I will hold you up with my victorious right hand. Isaiah 41:10 NIV
Isaiah 43:19 NIV
See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up;
Do you not preceive it?
I am making a way in the desert
and streams in the wasteland.
Victoria, (Rockford, IL)
Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Commit your ways to the Lord; trust in him and he will act.
Psalm 37:4-5 (ESV)
Nicole, Stuttgart: “Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for up to you I lift my soul.” Psalm 143:8 NIV
Pam
Greenville, South Carolina
Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bring your children from the east and gather you from the west.
Isaiah 43:5 NIV
Regina- Chesapeake, VA- I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope. Ps. 130:5 NIV
Kay, Wausau, WI
But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.
2 Corinithians 4:7-10 (NIV)
Connie, Reidville. “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”–John 4:24, NKJV
Susan, Moniac, GA
One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek, that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek Him in his temple.
Ps 27:4 NIV
Rachelle, Ogdensburg,NY
You crown the year with Your good blessings and You leave abundance in Your wake. Psalm 65:11 (The NET Bible)
Kim, Metter GA. “Have i not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed,for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
Joshua 1:9 NKJV
Brenda from Knoxville
Psalm 119:133 Direct my footsteps according to Your Word;
let no sin rule over me. NIV
I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. John 15:11 NIV
Rhonda from Anderson, IN 2 Cor 10:3-5 NIV
For though we live in the world we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of this world. On the contrary they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.