Hey Siestas!
Can you fathom that we are on our 10th memory verse??? Good grief! 2011 is almost halfway over! Amanda and Curtis just got Jackson’s preschool graduation pictures and we all nearly flipped. It is the cutest thing ever, especially with that missing front tooth. His ceremony is in a few days but the little blue cap and gown just about put all of us over the edge. We will have a kindergartener next year and a mighty fine one at that. It just sails by. And how well many of you know.
I am getting lots of questions about whether or not we’re having Siesta Summer Bible Study. I want to say yes so badly. I have tried to turn this puzzle piece every conceivable direction to see how it would fit on the table. Between SSMT every 1st and 15th, the summer Living Proof Lives, the final Deeper Still, and, probably the biggest factor of all, the complete James manuscript due date at the end of summer, I just can’t make it work and still be a wife, mom, and active Bibby. I also don’t have my faithful blog master, Amanda, here to assist me with all that summer Bible study entails right now. I am, however, presently thinking of some ways that we can hold one another accountable to stay in the Scriptures this summer and also give you the opportunity to connect with other Siestas who want to do some of the same studies. Stay tuned for that. For now, I’ll joyfully recommend to you two that I’ve done this Spring:
Duty or Delight by Tammie Head (Many of you will remember getting to know this brand new author in April through our blog video. She is dear to me and will no doubt become dear to many of you.)
Brave by Angela Thomas (Angela is a gifted teacher and writer and I try not to let anything she offers sit on the bookstore shelf for long before I bag it and read it. I’m almost finished with this study and have been tremendously blessed by it.)
Both of those women love Jesus and communicate His Word beautifully. And you know how I feel about Priscilla Shirer and everything God uses her to bring to the table. You’ll never miss on her. Man, I wish we could do one of their studies the traditional way in Siestaville this summer but sometimes we realize that even another good thing is perhaps the wrong thing for now. If the Lord is willing, we’ll definitely do a study our usual way next summer on the off year from SSMT.
OK, young ladies, how about that 10th verse?? NO DROP OUTS!!! This verse is trying to leap off the page at me this time around and not so much for my own plight right now but for some people I really love:
Beth, Houston, Texas. “The Lord is near the brokenhearted; He delivers those who are discouraged.” Psalm 34:18 The NET Bible
Praise You, Lord. You are so faithful. Close in on those who are brokenhearted and hold them in Your healing grasp. Deliver the discouraged in such dramatic ways that You alone get the credit. We exist here in this blog community to give You glory, Lord. Come and get it. Our eyes are to the skies.
Chyrll in Memphis
“Now the main point in what has been said is this: we have such a high priest who has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens”
Hebrews 8:1 NAS
Angela, Mansfield, TX
“And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive your trespasses.” Mark 11:25 (KJV)
Sahar, Gainesville, VA
v. 4 The Sovereign Lord has given me an instructed tongue; to know the word that sustains the weary. He awakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being taught. v. 5 The Sovereign Lord has taught my ears, & I have not been rebellious; I have not drawn back.
Isaiah 50: 4&5 NIV
Michelle, Bossier City, LA
James 1:26 (New International Version)
26 Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless.
Pam, Tyler, TX: “But thank God that, although you used to be slaves of sin, you obeyed from the heart that pattern of teaching you were entrusted to, and having been liberated from sin, you became enslaved to righteousness.” Rom. 6:17-18, HCSB
mitzi, Brandon, MS
..there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12: 7-10
Erin, Albertville, AL “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” Psalm 34:18
Barbara, Warner Robins, GA
Colossians 3:17 NCV
Everything you do or say should be done to obey Jesus Your Lord. And in all you do, give thanks to God the Father through Jesus.
Suzanne, East Bernard, TX
“I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, that I also may be cheered when I receive news about you. I have no one else like him, who takes a genuine interest in your welfare. For everyone looks out for his own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. But you know that Timothy has proved himself, because as a son with his father he has served with me in the work of the gospel. I hope, therefore, to send him as soon as I see how things go with me. And I am confident in the Lord that I myself will come soon.
But I think it is necessary to send back to you Epaphroditus, my brother, fellow worker and fellow soldier, who is also your messenger, whom you sent to take care of my needs. For he longs for all of you and is distressed because you heard he was ill. Indeed he was ill, and almost died. But God had mercy on him, and not on him only but also on me, to spare me sorrow upon sorrow. Therefore I am all the more eager to send him, so that when you see him again you may be glad and I may have less anxiety. Welcome him in the Lord with great joy, and honor men like him, because he almost died for the work of Christ, risking his life to make up for the help you could not give me.”
Philippians 2:19-30 NIV
Christy, Katy TX: “He is your constant source of stability; he abundantly provides safety and great wisdom; he gives all this to those who fear him.” Isaiah 33:6 the NET Bible
Romans 8:37 (NIV)
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
Is 26:3- “You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you.”
Amanda, British Columbia, Canada “What matters is not your outer appearance, the styling of your hair, the jewelry you wear, the cut of your clothes- but your inner disposition. Cultivate inner beauty, the gentle, gracious kind that God delights in.” ~ 1 Peter 3:3-4 (msg).
Susan-Sheridan Arkansas
“The Lord is near the brokenhearted; He delivers those who are discouraged.” Psalm 34:18
This verse was so perfect for me. My daddy passed away 1 week ago yesterday and this verse touched my heart. I feel so sad everyday but the Lord delivers me from it daily.
Donna in Kokomo, IN says:
Stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully in the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. 1 Corinthians 15:58 NIV
April, Greensboro: “The Lord is near the brokenhearted; He delivers those who are discouraged.” Psalm 34:18 The NET Bible
Barbie from Yankton, SD
Psalm 139:23 Search me, God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
Charlene, Santa Fe, TX; We have redemption in Him through His blood, the forgiveness of trespasses according to the riches of His grace that He lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. Ephesians 1:7-8
“My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart, my portion forever.” Psalm 73:26 HCSB
Stacia Fresno CA
“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.”
Philipians 2:3 NIV
Connie, Tyler,Tx.
“The Lord is near the brokenhearted; He delivers those who are discouraged.” NET
Emily, Ida Grove, IA
If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.
Psalm 139:9-10 (NIV)
Fenton, Ashburn, VA “Nevertheless, I am continually with You; You hold me by my right hand.” Psalm 73:23 NKJV
Sue from Forney:
Do you not know? Have you not heard? 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)
Mary Kay
Fulshear, Texas
“Be devoted to one another. Honor one another above yourselves.”
Romans 12:10
NASB
The Lord is near the broken hearted; He delivers those who are discouraged. Psalms 34:18
Debra From Calgary Alberta says
“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”. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart”
Jeremiah 29:11-13
Becky
Choctaw, OK
“Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.”
Matthew 2:2
Marion, Royse City, TX
Psalm 55:22 (NIV)
Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you;
he will never let the righteous be shaken.
1 John 4: 4 “You are from God, little childres, and have overcome them ; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in tne world. ” NASB
May the words of my mouth and the mediation of my heart be pleasing in your sight. O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. Ps 19-14
Lyndsay, New Castle, IN.
“I will give you abundant waters to quench your thirst and to moisten your parched fields. And I will pour out my Spirit and my blessings on your children.”–Isaiah 44 :3
Lake Charles – “Guide me down the road of your commandments; I love traveling this freeway! (MSG)
Suzanne in Tucson, AZ
“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
Heather in Morristown, TN
“God blesses those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God.”
Matthew 5:8 (NLT)
Ellen from Bad Axe
in Michigan’s Thumb
“The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.”
Psalm 16:5-6 (ESV)
Allison, Annapolis, MD, “I sought the Lord and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame.” Psalm 34:4-5 NIV
Jonah 2:8 Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs. (NIV)
Cindy from Yakima, WA
“The Lord is near the brokenhearted; He delivers those who are discouraged.”
Psalm 34:18 NET
April, BonneyLake,Washington
This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:24 NIV
Diane from Littleton, CO
Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.
Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.
These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts.
Deuteronomy 6:4-6
Kelley, Olive Branch, MS
1 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.
2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.
Col 3:1-2 ESV
Your word, O Lord is eternal, it stands firm in the heavens. Your faithfulness continues through all generations, you established the earth and it endures.
Psalms 119:89-90 NIV
Michelle, Houston (from Chihuahua, Mexico this week!) “Aun los jóvenes se cansan, se fatigan,y los muchachos tropiezan y caen; pero los que confían en el Señor renovarán sus fuerzas;
volarán como las águilas:correrán y no se fatigarán,caminarán y no se cansarán” Isaias 40:30-31
Stephanie; Ogden, Utah; My grace is sufficient or you, for my power is made perfec in weakness; 2 Corinthians 12:9, NIV
Sarah, Greensboro, NC
“Therefore if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation; old things have passed away, and look, new things have come.”
2 Corinthians 5:17 (HCSB)
Loretta, Murrayville
“Give freely without begrudging it, and the Lord your God will bless you in everything you do.” Deuteronomy 15:10 The Daily Walk Bible
Amy
Snellville, GA
“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)
Kim, Advance,NC
” Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:2 (NIV)
Donise, Longmont, CO We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. Romans 6:4 NIV Chosen to celebrate my son’s baptism today on his 8th birthday! Sarah,Charm is deceptive and beauty does not last but a woman who fears the Lord will be greatly praised!
Proverbs 31:30 NLT