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.
Fort Payne, AL
Philippians 4:11-13 NIV
for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength.
Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ.
~ 2 Corinthians 1:21a NIV
Teena
Cypress, Texas
Jeanne, Santa Rosa, CA
“Rely on the Lord! Be strong and confident! Rely on the Lord!”
Psalm 27:14 (The Net Bible)
I never posted May 1 or May 15 on this site, only to our group – so catching up here….
#9 Luke 24:44-45 NASV
Now He said to them, “These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets, and the Psalms must be fulfilled. Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.
#10 Proverbs 29:18 KJV
Where there is no vision, the people perish; but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.
Denise, Hernando Beach
“Love the LORD with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” Deuteronomy 6:5 NIV
Nancy, Arkansas
“I waited patiently for the Lord, He inclined to me and heard my cry.” Psalm 40:1 NKJ
Arielle, Cincinnati,
Psalm 18:1 I love you, LORD, my strength.
The Lord is near the brokenhearted; He delivers those who are discouraged. Psalm 34:18 NET
Amy Perrysburg, OH
Ruth, Coeur d Alene
“Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.
James 1:2-4 The Message
“‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.’ This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.”
Ephesians 5:31-33 (NIV 1984)
Toronto, ON =D
Ephesians 5:2 (KJV)
And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.
Dana, Hoover, AL
Psalm 9:106 NIV
…For you Lord have never forsaken those who seek You.
Love. It. Wow.
LS in NC
“He reveals deep and hidden things; He knows what lies in darkness and light dwells with him.”
-daniel 2:22
For this reason I kneel before the Father from whom His whole family in Heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge–that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” Ephesians 3:14-19
Tracy from Wheeling WV
By wisdom a house is built,and through understanding it is established; through knowledge its rooms are filled
with rare and beautiful treasures. Proverbs 24:3-4 (New International Version)
Michelle, Ontario, Canada
From the fullness of his grace we all have received one blessing after another.
John 1:16
Karene, Yorba Linda, CA
Continuing Psalm 46:
“Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.”
Psalm 46:10, NIV
Allison, Eau Claire, WI “But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure, then peace loving, compassionate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace will raise a harvest of righteousness.” NIV
Robin, Indialantic, Fl. Philippians 1:18b-19 (NIV)
Yes, and I will continue to rejoice, [19] for I know that through your prayers and the help given by the Spirit of Jesus Christ, what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance.
Sorry for the delay in posting… my husband and I had our first child on May 11. Silas William. Praise the Lord.
Katie- Dayton, OH
“The Lord’s message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia- your faith in God has become known everywhere. Therefore, we do not have to say anything about it.” 1 Thesselonians 1:8
Linda from Mishawaka,In says
The Lord is near the brokenhearted; He delivers those who are discouraged. Ps34:18 the NET Bible
Aimmi, Red Oak, MO
Psalm 9:10 NIV
“Those who know Your name trust in You, for You, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you.”
Jerri, Cookeville, TN
Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. Hebrews 11:1 NIV
Linda, Blue Springs, MO:
“When the cares of my heart are many, Your consolations cheer my soul.” Psalm 94:19 ESV
“I love you O Lord my strength. The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; My God is my rock in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I call to the Lord who is worthy to be praised and I am saved from my enemies”~ Psalm 18:1-3 NIV
Kena Milford, IL,
I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
Matthew 16:19 ESV
Stacey, Sugar Land, TX
“I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; that I know very well.”
Psalm 139:14 (NRSV)
Becky, Vicksburg, MS
The lamp of the Lord searches the spirit of a man; it searches out his inmost being. Proverbs 20:17 (NIV).
Anne, Simpsonville, SC “But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves.” James 1:22 NLT
“Trust in Him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts to Him, for God is our refuge.” Psalm 62:8 (NIV)
Melissa from Easley, SC
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, Ihave kept the faith. 2 Timothy 4:7 NIV
Sally, Grants, NM
Proverbs 2:11 Discretion will watch over you,
understanding will guard you. ESV
Katrinna, Mandeville,LA “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us.” Romans 8:18 NRSV
Shandra – Dallas, TX
“Let us approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” – Heb 4:16
Dolly, Middletown, OH
And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work:
2 Cor. 9:8
Carmen, Eau Claire, WI
For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
2 Timothy 1:7 NKJV
Hebrews 11:1
“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
NKJV
~I’m catching up…but didn’t quit~
Trisa, Aberdeen,SD
“For nothing is impossible with God.”
Luke 1:37. NIV
Karon, Kingsland, GA
for he persevered, as one who sees Him who is invisible.
Hebrews 11:27b Holman CSB
“For You, Lord, have NEVER forsaken those who seek You.” Psalm 9:10b NIV
Janine, Santa Cruz, Bolivia.
Lisa,Long Beach WA “The Lord is near the brokenhearted; He delivers those who are discouraged.” Psalm 34:18 The NET Bible
Janice, Milford, IL
Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you. Ps 9:10 (NIV)
Robin, Tracy CA
The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. Psalm 34:18 NIV
Fiona, Brussels, Belgium
“Those who know your name trust in you,
for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you.”
Psalm 9:10, NIV
Kendra, Sturgis, MI
“The Lord is near the brokenhearted; He delivers those who are discouraged.” Psalm 34:18 The NET Bible
Nan, Coppell, TX
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
1 Corinthians 13:4-7, NIV
Dawn Deare, Lafayette, LA
Let the morning bring word of your unfailing love for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go for to you I lift up my soul.
Teach me to do your will for you are my God, may your good Spirit lead me on level ground.
Psalm 143: 8 & 10
Katie, Madison, WI, “the steadfast of mind You will keep in perfect peace because he trusts in You. Trust in the LORD forever, for in God the LORD we have an everlasting Rock.”. Isaiah 26:3-4 NASB
Maureen, St. Clair Shores, “When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?”
(Psalm.8:3-4 NIV)
Amanda, LaSalle, ON Canada
So I’m still playing catch up with my newborn, so I will stick with my last weeks verse again….I’ll have to be okay being behind, but not giving up!!!
“Rely on the Lord! Be strong and confident! Rely on the Lord!” Psalm 27:14 The NET Bible