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!
Christy, Karen, Cheryl, A Cord of 3 Strands, Jay, OK
Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. James 5:16 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.” James 1:17 NIV
Carrie, Colbert, WA
Many are the plans in a person’s heart,
but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails.
Psalm 19:21 NIV
Grace, 11, Gig Harbor, WA
“Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.”
Therese from Alexandria If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
1 John 1:8-10 (NIV)
Kirsten from Mechanicsburg, PA:
Matthew 6:33 (NIV)
“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”
“Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.” 1 Peter 3:4 NIV
Susan, Atlanta
Search me, O God and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me,
And lead me in the way everlasting. Psalm 139:23 – 24 (NIV)
In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your deeds and praise your Father in Heaven. Matthew 5:16 NIV
Beth, Madison, AL
“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”
Joshua 1:9 NIV
Cacy- Evans, GA
“A man’s heart plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps.”
Proverbs 16:9
NLT
As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you; and you will be comforted over Jerusalem. Isaiah 66:13 NIV
Lindsay, Wenatchee
Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Psalm 139:23-24, NIV
Ashley Beth, Baton Rouge, LA “And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.” Philippeans 4:19 NIV
Angela, Knoxville, TN
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
“God is our refuge and strength, an ever present help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea.” Psalms 46:1-2 NIV
Michelle,Florida. Luke 24:45 (NIV) “Then He opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures.”
Becky Harris, Groesbeck, Tx: Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD. (NIV)
But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it. James 1:25 NLT
“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9, NIV)
Miracle Quelle, Atlanta, GA
This is a continuation of my last verse.
…and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. Phil 3:9-11 (NASB)
Tammi, Magnolia, TX.
“Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” Lamentations 3:22-23.
Heather, Broomfield, CO: Matthew 11:28-30 (NIV)
28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Maegan, Liberty, SC: “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.”
Psalm 139: 13
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
Ashley from New Orleans
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ, our comfort overflows.” II Corinthians 1:3-5 NIV (Fort Wayne IN)
Alisa, Oklahoma City, Psalm 25:4-5 – Show me your ways, O Lord, teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in You all day long. (NIV)
Sharon Caughill, Geigertown, Pennsylvania “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.” Luke 6:45 NKJV
Teah Jackson, Birmingham, AL
I Corinthians 9:23 ESV
I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.
Becky, Chattanooga
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord
Isaiah 55:8
Stacia T. Keizer, OR.
I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt. Open wide your mouth and I wil fill it. Ps 81:10 NIV
Kathryn, Reseda “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.” 1 Corinthians 15:58
Enter by the narrow gate;for the gate is wide, and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and many are those who enter by it. For the gate is small, and the way is narrow that leads to life, and few are those who find it.
Matthew 7:13,14
Geri
Deer Park, TX
Diane Mitchell Spring, Texas
His mercy extends to those who fear Him, from generation to generation. Luke 1:50 NIV
Everything is permissible for me, but not everything is beneficial. Everything is permissible for me, but I will not be mastered by anything. I Corinthians 6:12 NIV
Bethany, Magnolia, TX.
“Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” Psalm 139:23-24.
Nancy, Arkansas, “The Lord is near the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” Psalm 34:18 NIV
Jennifer, Estero “I will praise the LORD all my life;
I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.” Psalm 146:2 NIV
Amanda, Boaz
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you might overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13 NIV
Romans 12:1 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.
Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
1 Thessalonians 5:18 NIV
Leslie, Springfield, MO
“Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song.”
Psalm 95: 1-2 NIV
Blaine, Magnolia:
“My dear brothers and sisters, how can you claim to have faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ if you favor some people over others?”
James 2:1, NLT
Holly, Allen, Tx
Don’t worry about anything: instead, pray about everything. Tell god what you need, and thank him for all he has done.
Philippians 4:6 NLT
Denise from Burlington ,CT: “No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it”. -Hebrews 12:11
Janice, Walker, MI
“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.” (NIV)
Emily, Elk Grove, CA
For I am the Lord your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says, Do not fear, I will help you.
Isaiah 41:13 NIV
Carolyn,Sun City Center
Search me O God and know my heart. Try me and know my anxieties. NKJV
“You shall not be afraid of the terror of the night, nor of the arrow (the evil plots and slanders of the wicked) that flies by day” Psalm 91:5 Amplified
South Bend
Wren, Dublin, OH “When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everthing in heaven and on earth. I pray that from his glorious unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong.” Ephesians 3:14-17 NLT