HOUSTON AREA TUESDAY NIGHT BIBLE STUDY GIRLS: If by chance we end up needing to cancel tonight over the storms, I will put a cancellation notice right here on the blog so keep an eye on this spot off and on all day. Certainly check it before you set out for HFBC tonight. We love you and want to be wise!
NOON UPDATE FOR TUESDAY NIGHT BIBLE STUDY: As of right now, Bible study is ON for tonight. It will really be cold for us south Texans but it’s supposed to be dry. We are planning on starting the lesson a little earlier and ending it at 8:15. See you there with our coats on!
Now, for SSMT:
Hey, Siestas!
Happy February 1st! Did January fly past us or what?? We’re at least two Scriptures the richer for it, though. I’ve been using my time on my exercise bike in the mornings to practice my memory verses so I’ve mostly only heard myself repeat them gasping for breath. (If you like picturing things, it’s in my garage sandwiched between boxes and stacks of 26 years of Moore paraphernalia and everything else besides an actual car…which is in my driveway. You also might enjoy picturing my Border Collie Star sitting right beside me, fixating on the bicycle pedal as it goes round and round. Bless her poor sweet obsessive-compulsive self.) I might have to haul the bike up there with me to the Siesta celebration next January so I can say them to my partner the same way I’ve practiced them. Or I guess I can just sit on the floor and pump my feet in the air and play like. My partner might have to sit back from me just a tad. And if none of that works, I’ll get my man to haul Star up there to watch me and see if the right conditions are responsible for the recollections. And, of course, they’re not. In John 14:26, Christ says it is the Holy Spirit who reminds us of everything He has taught us so press on! With Him, we can do all things.
Tuesday is Bible study day for us at LPM this time of year so I don’t get to talk long on here today. So, let’s get to it! It’s already time for Verse 3!
As I told you two weeks ago, I’ll primarily be working through verses out of the Book of James for much of this year. I’ll give you mine each time but I’ll also give you an alternative that I really love outside of James in case you need some ideas. Here’s the portion I’m memorizing this time around with my information:
Beth, Houston. “Speak and act as those who will be judged by a law that gives freedom. For judgment is merciless for the one who has shown no mercy. But mercy triumphs over judgment.” James 2:12-13 The NET Bible
I love that last statement. Mercy triumphs over judgment. Aren’t you thankful we have a Savior that feels that way?
The alternative I’ll suggest to you today is on my mind because someone I care deeply about struggles terribly with fear of death. This person isn’t chronically ill. Just oppressed and tormented by possibilities. Maybe some part of this segment might minister to you today.
Since the children are made of flesh and blood, it’s logical that the Savior took on flesh and blood in order to rescue them by his death. By embracing death, taking it into himself, he destroyed the Devil’s hold on death and freed all who cower through life, scared to death of death. (Hebrews 2:14-15 The Message)
Anybody “scared to death of death”? These passages are also really rich out of the NIV if you prefer it:
Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. (Hebrews 2:14-15 NIV)
Oh, there’s nothing like the power of God’s Word. And that’s because there’s nothing like the power of God.
You sure are loved around here. OK, let’s have it, 2011 SSMT! Verse 3! (Your first name, city, reference and translation please.)
I’ll talk to you soon!
Psalm 28:7
The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song.
Ruth, Westerville Ohio
“Glorify the LORD with me; let us exalt his name together!”
Psalm 34:3 NIV
Ellen, South Lyon, MI “And live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant sacrifice to God.” Ephesians 5:2 NIV
I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know Him better.
Ephesians 1:17
NIV
Susan
Elizabethtown, PA
Charlotte Skadal, Houston, “LORD, You have assigned me my portion and my cup; You have made my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places, surely I have a delightful inheritance.” (Psalm 16:5-6)
(with faithful praise for my first grandson due very soon!)
Katy Lin – Heidelberg, Germany
But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.
James 1:25 NKJV
Jana, Quitaque, TX, Romans 8:35-39 NIV
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death or life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. Isaiah 40:28 (NIV)
“Think about the things of heaven,not the things of earth.” Col. 3:2. – this verse puts “things” perspective for me.Thanks to all of ya’ll out there!
Karen K., Houston, TX — Save me, O God, by Your name,
And vindicate me by Your power. Ps 54:1 (NASB)
Sharon
Griffin, Georgia
He cancelled the record that contained charges against us (me). He took it and destroyed it by nailing it to Christ’s cross.
Col 2:14 NLT
Brenda, Hilton Head, ” A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold.” Prob. 22:1, NIV
Beth, I am so glad you are normal!!! =)
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverence the race marked out for us.
Hebrews 12:2 (NIV)
Donna
Ponder, TX
Missi- Walker, LA:Â But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, for he has been good to me. Psalm 13:5&6Â NIV
Michelle, Morristown, “Don’t you realize that whatever you choose to obey becomes your master? You can choose sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God and receive his approval.” Romans 6:16(NLT)
More verses on GRACE in 2011!
John 1: 17 (NIV)
For the law was given through Moses; GRACE and truth came through Jesus Christ.
Leah
Blairsville, GA
Katherine, St. Johns,FL
Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for him. Isaiah 64:4 NIV
Dana, Concord, NC:
(Slaves obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not by way of eye service, as people-pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord.)
Whatever you do, work heartily as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.” Col 3:22-24 ESV (parenthesis for what I’ll memorize if I can.)
Harriet, Wexford, PA
Deuteronomy 7:9 NIV
Know therefore that the LORD, your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands.
“Blessed are you, O Israel! Who is like you, a people
saved by the LORD? He is your shield and Helper and
your glorious sword. Your enemies will cower before
you, and you will trample down their high places.”
Deuteronomy 33:29
Cathy, Mason, OH – Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust in the Lord with all your heart; and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight.
My first verse of the year – I pray it will continue to resonate with you!
Jill Z, Gulfport, MS – “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.” 1 Corinthians 13:4-5 NIV
Tracy, Medicine Lodge, Kansas
2 Corinthians 10:3-5 NLT
We are human but we do not wage war with human plans and methods. We use God’s mighty weapons, not mere worldly weapons, to knock down the devil’s strongholds. With these weapons we break down every proud argument that keeps people from knowing God. With these weapons we conquer their rebellious ideas and we teach them to obey Christ.
Yep, it’s a lot, but God told me to!
Annette, Richmond, TX – John 10:29 NIV
My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.
Suzanne Bailey, Harrisville, RI
Because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment.
James 3:13 NIV
Carrie, Wentzville, Mo
“I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh.” Ezekiel 11:19 NIV
North Palm Beach, FL
Psalm 19:1-4 NLT
“The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display His craftmanship. Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make Him known. They speak without a sound or work; their voice is never heard. Yet their message has gone throughout the earth, and their words to all the world.”
I have been crucified with Christ; and 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 up for me.
Galatians 2:20, NASB
Suzan, Beckley WV
“The LORD makes firm the steps of the one who delights in him; though he may stumble, he will not fall, for the LORD upholds him with his hand.” Psalm 37: 23-24
Emmy, Rome, GA
“I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.
Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.” Psalm 27:13-14 NIV
Emmy, that was my verse last time. Great verse! I pray it speaks to your spirit as much as it did mine!
Denise, Orange City. A prayer for my son. Ephesians 1:15-21 ESV
For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which He has called you, what are the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His great might that worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated HIm in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also the age to come.
Cheryl – Concord, NC
“Hope does not disappoint” Romans 5:5 (nkjv)
Sarah, Blairsville, GA. “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. 1 Tim 6:10 NIV
Leah Taylors, SC But he must ask in faith without doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed around by the wind.
For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord, since he is a double-minded individual, unstable in all his ways. Jas 1:6 -8 NET
Wendy, Livonia, MI:
“Never let loyalty and kindness leave you! Tie them around your neck as a reminder. Write them deep within your heart.”
Proverbs 3:3 NLT
April, Williamson GA
Romans8:35-39
35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written:
“For your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”[a]
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[b] neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
(Which is on my Travis Cottrell Cd – and we (my boys and I) listen to every morning on the way to school – so I want to memorize these verses the next two weeks).
Flo,Wetumpka,Al. “You’re blessed when you feel you’ve lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you” Matthew 5:4 The Message
Ann Garden City, MI He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Psa 23:3 KJV
Angela
Covington, GA
“Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.”
Proverbs 19:21 NIV
Gayle Scott, Houston “Summing up: be agreeable, be loving, be compassionate, be humble. That goes for all of you, no exceptions. No retaliation, no sharp-tonged sarcasm. Instead bless – that’s your job, to bless. You’ll be a blessing and also get a blessing.” I Peter 3:8-9 (Mess)
I think this is my new life verse!
He will have no fear of bad news; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord.
Psalm 112:7
Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. Romans 2:1 ESV
Jill
Vandalia, MO
Jana, Tampa Ephesians 3:20
Hey sister! So glad you posted early – ; ) Love you beyond words.
Dallas, Proverbs 31:25 NLT
She is clothed with strength and dignity, and she laughs without fear of the future.
Janell, Frisco. “God is my strength and my power and he makes my way perfect!” 2Samuel 22:33 NKJV
Charity
Cardiff, Wales
“The thief comes to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” John 10:10 ESV
Jen and Tyler, Easton, MA: “I was young and now I am old,
yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread. They are always generous and lend freely;their children will be blessed.” Psalm 37:25-26 NIV 1984
Susan Fisher- San Angelo,TX.– My Kingdom does not belong to this world. John 18:36
Carisa, Hillsboro, KS
I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Psalm 27:13, NKJV
Linda Lexington, KY
You have circled this MOUNTAIN long enough. NOW turn north. Deuteronomy 2:3 (NASB)