Hey, Sweet Things!
You guys are so much fun. Thanks for getting excited with us about the app. I’m just thinking about how this whole technology thing was in the mind of God centuries ago when He inscribed His words on the sacred page through the pens of men. Too much to wrap our minds around, isn’t it? He is the One who knows “the end from the beginning,” and “from ancient times, what is still to come.” He says, “My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.” (Isaiah 46:10)
At the moment I’m typing up this post, we have a whopping 9250 entries under Verse 1. Never in my wildest imagination did I picture this. I was pretty blown away by our strong and steady couple of thousand in 2009. Keep in mind that the 9250 is not an exact reflection of participants because there are some replies under comments, like, “I’m copying yours!” and “I’ve never even heard that verse!” I’m not going put a restriction on that because community in Christ is what makes Siestaville work. We do know, however, that way over 8000 are participating because that many women ordered spirals or downloaded the artwork. Others who are participating grabbed their own spirals the easier way from the store. I also want you to picture the many preadolescent girls we have on our team. Don’t you remember loving stickers and pens and school supplies when you were that age? I should have known they’d take to the spirals. Just close your eyes and imagine them reciting some of the verses dearest to your heart. Many of us have lived long enough to know by life experience what they are reciting by faith. It’s such a precious thought to me. They will find Jesus faithful just as we have. Yep, we have junior Siestas but we also have plenty of senior Siestas which delights me just as much. Our joy in standing shoulder-to-shoulder with this mighty band of women is indescribable. I wonder how many football fields we would stretch across. Whew. For just a split second I saw us all in my bright red college drill team uniforms. Scratch that thought.
OK, before I call for your second verses, many of you asked for the exact date of the SSMT celebration next January. I double-checked the weekend with Sabrina and it’s January 20-21, 2012 from Friday evening until Saturday noon. Of course, we’ll get you the proper information starting early next Fall but, if you think you might want to come, put it down on your calendar, start saving your expense money, and plan to memorize your darling little head off. The event itself is our gift to you and your ticket in is your well-used spiral (of either kind).
Are you ready for SSMT Verse 2? I’m giving you a heads-up that I plan to target a lot of James verses this year so, while I’m still going to tell you mine each time, I’ll also suggest a good alternative for those of you who could use an additional idea. Remember! Limit your comments to Name, City, Verse, and Translation. Here’s mine:
Beth, Houston. “My brothers and sisters, do not show prejudice if you possess faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ.” James 2:1 The NET Bible
Here’s an alternative I really love and memorized a couple of years ago. My dear coworker, Diane, is memorizing it right now so it’s washing back over my mind:
Many, O LORD my God, are the wonders You have done. The things You planned for us no one can recount to You; were I to speak and tell of them, they would be too many to declare.” Psalm 40:5 NIV
And that, O Lord, is the gospel truth.
OK, Sisters! Bring on Verse 2!
I pray that Christ is so pleased. I feel in my soul that He is.
Have a great weekend!
1 Samuel 14:6-7 (NIV)
Jonathan said to his young armor-bearer, “Come,let’s go over to the outpost of those uncircumcised fellows. Perhaps the Lord will act on our behalf. Nothing can hinder the Lord from saving, whether by many or by few.” “Do all that you have in mind,” his armor-bearer said. “Go ahead, I am with you heart and soul.”
Chelsea, Enterprise, Oregon
Psalm 27:13-14 (NKJV)
“I would have lost heart, unless I had believed
That I would see the goodness of the LORD
In the land of the living.
Wait on the LORD;
Be of good courage,
And He shall strengthen your heart;
Wait, I say, on the LORD!”
For by me thy days shall be multiplied and the years of thy life shall be increased.
Prov.9:11 KJV
Erin Smith-Little Rock, Arkansas- Philippians 4:11-13 NIV
……for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength.
Sabrina
Loganville, Georgia
Be alert, be present. I’m about to do something brand-new. It’s bursting out! Don’t you see it? There it is! I’m making a road through the desert, rivers in the badlands. Isaiah 43:19 The Message
Tomball, TX
Philippians 2:5-8 (ESV)
Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant,being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
Land O’Lakes, FL
Come close to God, and he will come close to you. Clean up your lives, you sinners, and clear your minds, you doubters.
James 4:8 (GW)
Tricia, Eldridge, IA
“Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The Lord, the Lord, is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation.” Isaiah 12:2 NIV
Gidget – San Angelo, 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 a hope and a future.
Jeremiah 29:11
Deborah, Waco Tx
Romans 12:1,2
“therefore,I urge you brothers,in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God-this is your spiritual act of worship.
do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is-His good, pleasing and perfect will”
Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, My Rock and My Redeemer.”
Psalm 19:14 ESV
Sheila, Las Cruces, NM
My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and make music. Psalm 57:7 NIV
Teresa – Cypress, TX
The Lord will fight for you, you need only be still.
Exodus 14:14 NIV
LaDonna, Charlotte, NC: “Now we exhort you, brethren, warn those who are unruly, comfort the fainthearted, uphold the weak, be patient with all.” I Thess. 5:14 NKJV
Judy
Kudjip, Papua New Guinea
“And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God” Michah 6:8
The land you are entering to take up ownership isn’t like Egypt, the land you left, where you had to plant your own seed and water it yourselves as in a vegetable garden. But the land you are about to cross the river and take for your own is a land of mountains and valleys; it drinks water that rains from the sky. It’s a land that God, your God, personally tends—he’s the gardener—he alone keeps his eye on it all year long.
Deuteronomy 11:10-12 MSG
Now Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your Word with great boldness.
Acts 4:29 (NIV)
Jessica, Atmore, AL
I’m late, so here are both of mine. (From memory, so forgive me if they’re a little off.)
1/1 – “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
1/15 – But by the grace of God, I am what I am. And His grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them – yet, not I, but the grace of God that was with me. – Romans 10:15 NIV
Cheryl, Houston “By the grace of God I am who I am and His grace to me was not without effect…” I Corinthians 15:10a NIV
Alicia: Grand Haven, Mi
Job 22:22
Receive, please, instruction from His mouth. And lay up His words in your heart.
I know I’m late but I was in Swaziland with no internet access!
Shannon, Cape Town, Ephesians 4:1-3 (NRSV): “I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”
Pam, Rome GA
Luke 1:45 NIV
“Blessed is she who has believed that what the LORD has said to her will be accomplished!”
I will praise the LORD, who counsels me;
even at night my heart instructs me.
I keep my eyes always on the LORD.
With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
my body also will rest secure
Psalm 16:7-9
Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth. Meditate on it day and night so you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.
Joshua 1:8
Stacey, Virginia
Psalm 55:22
Cast your cares on the Lord and He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous fall. NIV
Amanda, Guntersville
He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall remain stable and fixed under the shadow of the almighty (whose power no foe can withstand). Psalm 91:1 AMP
Sharon
San Antonio, TX
My heart says of You, “Seek His face!” Your face, LORD, I will seek.
Psalm 27:8 (NIV)
Tammie, Virginia
“For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but
of power, love, and self-dicipline.” NLT
Brenda
Conover, NC
And he did evil, because he prepared not his heart to seek the Lord.
ll Chron. 12:14
Jan, Clarkston MI
“I am the Lord your God, who brought you up out of Egypt. Open wide your mouth and I will fill it.”
Psalm 81:10 (NIV)
Started our Bible Study this week, and Beth shared this in the Introductory Session of “Jesus the One and Only”.
Allison, Prairieville
“Search me, O God, and know my heart. Test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point anything in me that offends you and lead me in the way everlasting. Psalm 139:23-24, NLT
Harrison, AR
You will keep him in PERFECT PEACE, Whose MIND is stayed on You, Because he TRUSTS in You. Isaiah 26:3
Beth,
I am entering late but I REALLY want to do this 🙂
Tabitha Lewis
Greenville, SC
Psalm 40:5
ESV
Katy,TX
~James 5:16 (New Living Translation)
Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.
Marie
Byhalia, Mississippi
Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body. ~~1 Corinthians 6:19-20, NAS
Live a life filled with love for others, following the example of Christ Jesus. Ephesians 5:2
1I lift up my eyes to the hills.
From where does my help come?
2 My help comes from the LORD,
who made heaven and earth.
3He will not let your foot be moved;
he who keeps you will not slumber.
4Behold, he who keeps Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.
Psalm 121 ESV Regina Nashville
Tori, Granger. “May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.”
Psalm 19:14
We are doing “Faithful Abundant and True”. I was able to go to Deeper Still in Greengrough. It is interesting to hear you follow up in Orlando. Thank you for your faithfulness.
Lori Hart
Presque Isle, ME
Joshua 1:9 NKJV
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.”
Sorry I’m late 🙁
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (Thank you, precious Jesus!)
1 John 1:9
Sharon, San Diego, Micah 6:8 NIV:
He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.
(Sorry I’m late — was on a trip . . .)
Annette,
Catching up Beth……..A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favour rather than silver and gold. Proverbs 22:1 King James
Vicky, Germantown, TN Philippians 1:20-21 (ESV) It is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage, now as always, Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. 21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
Trae, Crawford: “You are my shield and my refuge; I have put my hope in Your Word.” Psalm 119:114 NIV
Marilyn, Van Buren, Mo
TO EVERYTHING THERE IS A SEASON AND A TIME FOR EVERY PURPOSE UNDER HEAVEN.
A TIME TO BE BORN AND A TIME TO DIE,
A TIME TO PLANT AND A TIME TO UPROOT,
A TIME TO KILL AND A TIME TO HEAL,
A TIME TO TEAR DOWN AND A TIME TO BUILD,
A TIME TO WEEP AND A TIME TO LAUGH,
A TIME TO MOURN AND A TIME TO DANCE,
A TIME TO SCATTER STONES AND A TIME TO GATHER THEM,
ECCLESIASTES 3:1-5 KJV/NIV
Emily Pridgen
Lexington, SC
newborn baby has added to my late posting! 🙂
“How great is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you, which you bestow in the sight of men on those who take refuge in you. ”
Psalm 31:19 NIV
Carmaris Denson from Springfield, Massachuestts
Phillipians 4:8-9 (NIV)
Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellenet or praiseworthy – think about such things. Whatever you have received or heard from me, or seen in me – put into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.
Karen – Livermore, CA – Philippians 4:5 – NRSV
Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near.
I’m starting late as I just learned about this.
Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise — the fruit of lips that openly profess his name. Hebrews 13:15 (NIV)