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!
Dana – Ozark, MO
Matthew 11:28 (Amplified Bible)
“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy-laden and overburdened, and I will cause you to rest. [I will ease and relieve and refresh your souls.]
This year I’m wanting God’s Approval:
1 Th 2:4
But as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, even so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God who tests our hearts.
Port Orchard, WA
“Submit yourselves then to God, Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Come near to God, and he will draw near to you.” James 4:7 (NIV)
Delinda from Alliance, Nebraska: You crown the year with Your bounty, and Your carts overflow with abundance. Psalm 65:11, NIV
Lord, deal with me in your lovingkindness, teach me, your servant to obey. For I am your servant, therefore give me common sense to apply your rules to everything I do. Ps. 119:124-125 Living Bible
Tammy, Greencastle, IN
I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. Philippians 1:20 (NIV)
LeeAnn Kings Mountain, NC
Prov 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all of your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In ALL thy ways acknowledge Him, and He WILL direct your path NKJV
Sheila from Appleton, NY
But Jesus immediately said to them, Take Courage! It is I. Don’t be afriad.
Matthew 14:27 NIV
Gale, Buffalo,WY
Restore to me the joy of my salvation and sustain me with a willing spirit.
Ps 51:12 NASB
Rachel; Valley, AL
“The LORD your God is with you,
he is mighty to save.
He will take great delight in you,
he will quiet you with his love,
he will rejoice over you with singing.”
Zephaniah 3:17 NIV
Kirsten, San Francisco, Ca
This is what the LORD says: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
Jeremiah 29:10-11, NIV
Jenna in Houston, Texas
James 1:2-3 NIV
2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.
Jeanne, Ankeny, Iowa, “And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever.” NIV
Holly, Midland TX
“You crown the year with your bounty, and your carts overflow with abundance!” Ps. 65:11 NIV
Erica, Denver: “I pray that out of his glrious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love…” Ephesians 3:16-17a, NIV
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. NIV Rom 8:28
Lindsey
Lincoln, Nebraska
I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Romans 15:13 NLT
“For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, not angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus.” Romans 8:38-39 NKJV.
This verse has been in my head since just before the New Year, and I thank my God that He’s allowed me to filter that good news through all the extraneous drivel that resides in there most of the time!
Delores, Belleville, IL – Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am. Phil 4:13 (The Message)
Tiana Lewisville, TX
“As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace.”
1 Peter 4:10-ESV
Gina – Kingwood,Tx.
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11 NIV
Denise, Ozark, MO
Spouting off without listening to the facts is both shameful and foolish. Proverbs 18:13 NLT
Laurel, College Station: For I, the LORD, do not change; therefore you, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed. Malachi 3:6, NASB
Amanda, Conway, AR
“For I know the thoughts I think towards you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.”
Jeremiah 29:11 NKJV
Lisa Owen, Richmond, VA – “But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore, I [Paul] will boast the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.” II Corinthians 12:9 NIV
LaCrosse, WI
yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach–
Colossians 1:22 (NASB)
And you saw how the LORD your God cared for you again and again here in the wilderness, just as a father cares for his child. Now he has brought you to this place.
Deuteronomy 1:31 NLT
Dustalyn from Murdock, NE “Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet My unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor My covenant of peace be removed,” says the LORD, who has compassion on you.Isaiah 54:10 (NIV)
Karen
Hague, Saskatchewan
Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge. Psalm 62:8
Hollie, Atlanta: Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. Romans 6:4 NASB
I read the blog, completed a couple of siesta Bible studies, but first time committing to SSMT!
Me, too! I can’t wait to see what God does with His Word in us!!
Judy, Greenville, MS
May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer. Psalm 19:14 NIV
Sara from Roanoke, VA.
“Take delight in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart” -Psalm 37:4
My almost 12 year old daughter (Tori) and I are doing this together this year!
Beth and Tori Brabham, Waco TX
Tori’s scripture–“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” Hebrews 13:8 NIV
Beth’s scripture–“Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage-with great patience and careful instruction.” II Timothy 4:2 NIV
Welcome Tori! We love you here! And we love your mom! Keep it up! I’d like to meet you next January!
Linda, Heidelberg,Ms.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulnesss,
Galations 5:22 NKJV
Christa, Greeneville, TN
Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. Eph 1:4 NASB
Jonna,North Hollywood , CA
James 1:17. NIV
Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
Judy – Ripley,WV
Rejoice in the Lord Always and again I say rejoice.
Philippians 4:4
Anita – Lynchburg,VA
Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice.
Philippians 4:4
“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the
Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” Galatians 2:20NKJV
Christy
Fayetteville, AR
“But as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Sovereign LORD my refuge; I will tell of all your deeds.”
Psalm 73:28
NIV
Joyce, Dalton: But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hyprocrisy. James 3:17 NKJV
Cara – Spring, TX
1 Corinthians 5:7
“Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast – AS YOU REALLY ARE”.
Katie, nyc
That Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love. Ephesians 3:17 NKJV
Jo Ann in Philadelphia: “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.” John 15:5 (New American Standard Bible)
Sabrina
Houston, Texas
I wait for the LORD, my soul waits,
and in His Word I put my hope.
My soul waits for the Lord. ps. 130:5-6a NIV
Tameka, Highland Village, TX
Psalm 37:4
He has given us back the years the locust ate. I rise up and call you blessed.
I’ve been quoting the idea of this verse for the past week. Thanks for sharing the reference (and the whole verse) so now I can actually memorize it with confidence.
1 Corinthians 6:12 (NIV)
I have the right to do anything; you say. But not everything is beneficial. I have the right to anything-but I will not be mastered by anything.
Andrea, Pottstown, Pennsylvania
Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.
Hebrews 11:1 NIV
Telisa, Arkansas City: “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.” Philippians 4:8 NIV
Robin, Indialantic, Fl “You were taught with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires;to be made new in the attitude of your minds.” Eph. 4:22,23 NIV