Hey, you Scripture-memory buffs! I pray that your verses are bearing fruit and that they’re right there on the tip of your tongue when you’re tempted to say something the polar opposite of God’s will. That’s one of many things I like about memory work. It’s seems out of place to use the same mouth that has been spouting Scripture to spout off a bunch of trash. That doesn’t mean we never do it but it does mean we’re likely to feel miserable over it and think twice the next time.
Two times in a row our SSMT has fallen on a Bible study day so I am forced to be much briefer than I’d like. My heart toward you is bigger than my words, particularly today. Tonight’s lesson is especially pressing because I’m further behind in preparation than I’d normally be if I hadn’t had a taping over the weekend and spent the end of last work-week getting ready for it. Yada yada yada. I am woman, hear me whine.
I bet some of you feel the same way I’ve felt over the last week: too much on your plate. Looking at all of it in one big heap on your desk or your calendar can be demoralizing. Thursday I had one of those days when you can hardly make it to your car after work without bursting into tears. On the way home I felt like God was telling me to humble myself and get the word out that I needed prayer and by the next day I felt a world better. (Some nights you just go to bed early out of love for the people who live with you.) A couple of other things have really helped me today. They seem elementary but, if so, why don’t we ever seem to learn them once and for all? Here’s what they are: Remembering to…
1) TAKE ONE THING AT A TIME! God’s grace really is sufficient and He really does meet all our needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus. As much as we want to see all that manna heaped up in a mountain of provision a week in advance alongside those upcoming demands, His promise in Philippians 4:19 is to meet each one AT THE TIME WE NEED IT. Thank You, Lord. If we could learn to live in this present moment with this present provision, oh, man, life would be so much less stressful, wouldn’t it?
2) SAY NO. I have managed to get that most distasteful word for the people-pleasure out of my mouth two times today to people I really, really, really didn’t want to say no to. People I love a ton. People I want very much to please. But the fact is, I don’t have a single other yes in my pocket right now. Not one. For this moment, I am completely bereft of extra yeses. Anybody else? So it’s got to be no. Help us, Lord. We need so much help to say yes to no.
Anyway, that’s not what we’re doing on here today. We’re on here to spout off our Siesta Scripture Memory Team Verse 4!
I am continuing out of the Book of James. This round I’m going with James 3:17 –
Beth, Houston. “But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, accommodating, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial, and not hypocritical.” James 3:17 The NET Bible (Is that a mouthful or what??)
For any of you who could use some ideas, the alternative verse I’m selecting for today outside of James may as well be the one I mentioned a couple of paragraphs earlier. If you’ve never memorized this one, stick it toward the top of your list. It’s a staple in the mental pantry of the believer.
“And my God will supply your every need according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:19 The NET Bible
And from The Message:
You can be sure that God will take care of everything you need, His generosity exceeding even yours in the glory that pours from Jesus.
And that is a promise, Sweet Thing. Eyes up. Chins up. Joy up.
And maybe…just maybe…say yes to no.
Just for fun, here are a couple of pictures from Valentine’s dinner last night. We didn’t have the Fitzpatricks with us because they had their own plans for their third anniversary. Can you believe it’s been that long? We missed them but had a ton of fun anyway. Here are two darling couples I got to stare at across the table. I love them each so much.
We are ecstatic to have Travis and Angela in town and the rest of the worship team lands today. They’ll lead us tonight at Bible study. Wooooohooooooo!
Are they darling or what? For any of you newcomers, that’s Amanda, my firstborn, and Curtis, her wonderful man.
This picture didn’t come out well because the lighting was so bright so I did it in black and white and it looked even goofier but, anyway, at least you know I really did go with them to dinner.
And, in case I haven’t yet bored you to utter oblivion, here is one more that Trav took with his phone:
OK, that’s it! If you’re missing my Valentine, he had to be out of town for a work thing but I will see him soon and got beautiful roses and funny text messages all day.
Let’s hear each of your fourth verses, Siestas! Name, city, verse and translations please!
I love you guys.
Shelly Portland, Oregon: A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. Prov 15:1
Maribeth, Jackson,MS
Guard you heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.
Proverbs 4:23 NLT
Holly, Allen Tx
For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. Ephesians 2:10
My flesh and my heart may fail, but is the strength of my heart and my portion forever! Psalm 73:26 NIV
Tiffany Knoxville
“What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee. Psalms 56:3 KJV
Edna, O’Fallon, MO
“Oh, fear the Lord, you his saints, for those who fear him have no lack! The young lions suffer want and hunger; but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.”
Psalm 34:9-10, ESV
Judy, Holland, MI – So do not fear, for I am with you;
do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
Is. 41:10
Darla – Edmond, OK
The one thing I ask of the Lord – the thing I seek most – is to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, delighting in the Lord’s perfections and meditating in his Temple. Psalm 27:4 NLT
Psalm 37:4: Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart. NKJ
Candace, Kentucky
Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him
Job 13:15a (NIV)
Don’t you see, you planned evil against me but God used those same plans for my good
Genesis 50:20a (The Message)
Rockwall, Tx
So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
Isaiah 41:10
NIV
Linda, Longview: “Discipline isn’t much fun at the time. It always feels like it’s going against the grain. Later, of course, it pays off handsomely, for it’s the well-trained who find themselves mature in their relationship with God.” Hebrews 12:11 The Message
Jessica, Meriden, CT “The LORD’S promises are pure, like silver refined in a furnace, purified seven times over.” Psalm 12:6
Shannon, Parker, CO
“Do not any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.” Ephesians 4:29 NIV
“I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.”
Isaiah 43:25 ESV
Melissa, Houston – James 1:12, NIV
Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love Him.
Janessa C.–Midland, TX
NIV–1 Jonn 3:1–For great is the love the Father has lavished on us. That we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!
2 Thessalonians 3:16
NIV
Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you.
He tends His flock like a shepherd; He gathers the lambs in his arms and
carries them close to his heart, he gently leads those that have young.
Isaiah 40:11 NIV
Amanda, Westfield, NC. Give ear to my words, O Lord, consider my sighing. Listen to my cry for help, my King and my God, for to you I pray. In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning, I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation. Psalm 5:1-3, (life Application study) NIV
Karen, Shelby Twp., MI
This is the one I esteem: He who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word. ISA 66:2 NIV
Psalms 27:14 NIV Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.
Isaiah 58:6-7
Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen;
to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke;
to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?
Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter-
when you see the naked, to clothe him,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
Julie, Youngstown Isaiah 54:17 (New Living Translation)
But in that coming day
no weapon turned against you will succeed.
You will silence every voice
raised up to accuse you.
These benefits are enjoyed by the servants of the Lord;
their vindication will come from me.
I, the Lord, have spoken!
Linda, Colorado
Colossians 2:2-3 Message
I want you woven into a tapestry of love, in touch with everything there is to know of God. Then you will have minds confident and at rest, focused on Christ, God’s great mystery. All the richest treasures of wisdom and knowledge are embedded in that mystery and nowhere else. And we’ve been shown the mystery!
Pamela, Silverhill, “But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, accommodating, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial, and not hypocritical.” James 3:17 The NET Bible
Vanessa in Victoria, TX
“Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.” Psalm 20:7 NIV
Crystal – Everett, Ontario “But He gives us more grace. That is why scriputre says: God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Submit yourselves,then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. James 4:6-7, NIV
Carola, Missoula, MT
Isaiah 61:1 ESV
The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor,
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
and the opening of the prison to those who are bound
Lift your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them each by name. Because of His great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.
Isaiah 40:26 NIV
Hamburg, AR
“…I will always show you where to go. I will give you a full life in the emptiest of places- firm muscles, strong bones. You’ll be like a well-watered garden, a gurgling spring that never runs dry. You’ll use the old rubble of past lives to build anew…”
Isaiah 58:11
The Message
Brittany, Jacksonville, AL ” Do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says” James 1: 22 NIV
Celeste, Laguna Niguel
For with God nothing is ever impossible and no word from
God shall be without power or impossible of fulfillment.
Luke 1:37 Amplified
Kelli, Moss Point, MS: O LORD, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.
Psalm 139:1-3 NIV
Stacy, Magee, MS….Heal me, O Lord, and I will be healed: save me and I will be saved, for you are the one I praise. Jeremiah 17:14 NIV
Megan, Tulsa: “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and they who indulge in it shall eat the fruit of it (for death or life).” Proverbs 18:21 Amplified Version
Carmen, Houston, TX
For he satisfies the longing soul,
and the hungry soul he fills with good things,
Psalm 107:9
Tammy, Belton Sc
Philippians 4:19
And my God will supply your every need according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus
Vickie,Louisville
The LORD bless you and keep you. The LORD make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you. The LORD lift up His face upon you and give you shalom. Numbers 6:24-26 (does anyone know this translation??)
Tracy Carden, Whitesburg, TN
So I say, live by the Spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. Galatians 5:16 NIV
Susan, Paris,Kentucky
“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.” Philippians 2:3 NIV
Huntsville, AL “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.”
James 1:2-3 (NAS)
“Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen”~Ephesians 3:20-21
Speak to one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Ephesians 5:19&20
NIV
Colossians 3:1-2 NIV
Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.
Mary from Davison, MI
Since you are my rock and my fortress, for the sake of your name lead and guide me.
Psalm 31:3 (NIV)
Kelsi, Eau Claire, WI
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:6-7, NIV
Think about what you think about. Your thoughts become actions and habits,
then, they define your character. Prov 23:7 NIV
Jennifer, Little Rock, AR
Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble.
Ecclesiastes 4:9-10
“Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.” (Psalms 37:4)