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.
Glenda, Tualatin
God of all healing counsel! He comes alongside us when we go through hard times, and before you know it, He brings us alongside someone else who is going through hard times so that we can be there for that person just as God was there for us.
2 Corinthians 1:3-4 MSG
Kaycee, Cabot. “But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil.” James 3:14-15 NIV
Phyllis, Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada.
Psalm 86:11 NIV
Teach me your way, O LORD, and I will walk in your truth;
give me an undivided heart, that I may fear you name.
slowly recovering from major abdominal surgery, but Praise The Lord, no sign of the awful ca, thank you to everyone that prayed for me. sincerely Phyllis.
Another Canadian. Yeah!!!! Get well soon!
Debbie in Alexandria, VA
“He who has ears, let him hear.”
Matthew 11:15 (also Matthew 13:9 and 13:43), NIV
Erin, Bothell, WA — I prayed to the Lord, and he answered me, freeing me from all my fears. Psalm 34:4 NLT
Susan, Nashville, IN
“Have compassion on me, LORD, for I am weak. Heal me, LORD, for my bones are in agony.” Psalm 6:2 (NLT)
Andrea, Roscoe, IL
The Lord is near the brokenhearted, He delivers those who are discouraged.
Psalm 34:18 NET Bible
Julie~ Carlsbad, Ca “This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands.” 1 John 5:2 NIV
Charlotte Carty
lexington, Ky
1 Timothy 4:7b (nasb)
…Discipline yourselves for the purpose of godliness.
“We have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us.” I Cor. 2:12 NIV, Pam in San Diego
Amy, Granby, CT
“Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wheverever you go.” Joshua 1:9 NIV
I never get over needing that one and calling upon it, Amy.
Amy, I used to be in a church choir where we learned a song with those words about the time I was reading the Bible through and got to those verses (God-timing!). Every time I read that verse or hear that song I am taken back to those Sundays we sang that when I could imagine Moses saying that to the many people below.
madeleine, Corrales, I will say of the Lord, He is mt refuge and my fortress, My God, in whom I trust. Psalm 91:2 NIV
I Cor 6:12 (NIV)
“Everything is permissible for me” – but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible for me” – but I will not be mastered by anything.
Margie – Liberty, MO. Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. James 1:22 NIV
Oh, is this one ever so true!!!! Thank you so much for this verse. I believe I will memorize this one with you!
Mary Anne
John 15: 7-8
If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be given you. This is to my Father’s glory that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
Las Cruces, NM
Karen, Lynnwood, WA – “This is what the Lord says, he who made the earth, the Lord who formed it and established it – the Lord is his name: ‘Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.'” Jeremiah 33:2-3 (NIV)
Gay Beck, Plain City, OH
Psalm 51:10-12 (NIV)
10 Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.
I John 1:10
If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives. (NIV)
Traci from Lakewood, WA
Search me, 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
Tracy, Spring, TX
Psalm 16:2 NIV
I say to the LORD, “You are my Lord;
apart from you I have no good thing.”
Sarah, Montrose, CO:
The Lord your God who goes before you will himself fight for you, just as he did for you in Egypt before your eyes, and in the wilderness, where you have seen how the Lord your God carried you, as a man carries his son, all the way that you went until you came to this place.
Deuteronomy 1:30-31 (ESV)
Sharon, San Antonio, “From the fullness of His grace we have all received one blessing after another.” John 1:16 NIV
Lori, Pine Island, MN
“We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” 2 Cor. 10:5 NIV
“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.”
Philippians 4:8, NIV
Ephesians 4:29-32
Do not let 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. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other just as in Christ God forgave you.
It happened again… had my verse all picked out and then I read Beth’s. I am learning to grieve and Easter Sunday had the courage to say for the first time out loud, “I am heart broken.”
NET Ps. 34:18
The Lord is near the broken hearted; He delivers those who are discouraged.
Jeanette Tualatin Ps. 119:71-72
It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees. The law from your mouth is more precious to me than thousands of pieces of silver and gold.
“For we are God’s workmanship, created in Jesus Christ to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
Ephesians 2:10
NIV
Trish L. West Linn, Oregon
“Wait for the Lord, Be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.” Psalm 27:14 NIV
Jani – Agate, CO
Colossians 3:1 – Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. NIV
Kim, Olympia, WA
“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my rock and my Redeemer.” Psalm 19:14 NASB
Debbie, RAF Mildenhall, “Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.” 1 Peter 4:10, NIV
MK
Gig Harbor WA
“The Lord is near the brokenhearted; He delivers those who are discouraged.” Psalm 34:18 The NET Bible
Sue, Kingsport, TN. “For I am the LORD, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.” Isaiah 41:13 NIV
Sue, this verse has saved me more than once. I hope it blesses you just as much!
Lynn, Lake Villa, IL
Ephesians 6:13 NIV
Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.
My help comes from the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth.
Psalm 121:2 NIV
Melissa, Clovis, CA: “The simple believes everything, but the prudent gives thought to his steps.” (Proverbs 14:15, ESV)
My latest post: http://www.mdanisi.blogspot.com/
Missi- Walker, LA:
For nothing is impossible with God. Luke 1:37 NIV
Allison
Hanover, WV
Ephesians 2:4-7(NIV), “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions-it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.”
Kayra, Hazlehurst, MS
Psalm 55:22 (NLT ).
” Give your burdens to the LORD, and he will take care of you.
He will not permit the godly to slip and fall.”
Amber, Rockwell, NC
“So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Romans 10:17 NKJV
Staci,Bismarck,ND “If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” 12 even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.” Psalm 139:11-12 (NIV)
Mildred, Fayetteville, AR “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.”
Ps 91:1 NIV
Kelly
Avon Park, FL
Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven,whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him.
Romans 4:7-8
Cindy, Madrid, Spain
“I will sing to the LORD all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.” Psalm 104:33 NIV
Valerie, Fultondale, AL
“Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom.”
Luke 12:32 NIV
Bettie
Pasadena, TX
May 15, 2011
NIV
Psalm 34:18 “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in Spirit.”
“Fear the LORD, you His saints, for those who fear Him lack nothing. Young lions lack food and go hungry, but those who seek the LORD will not lack any good thing. Come, children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD.”
Psalm 34:9-11 HCSB
Suzanne – Knoxville, TN: “Cast all your anxiety onto Him because He cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:7 (NIV)
Joy, Georgetown, TX, – Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Ephesians 4:32 NIV