[tminus t=”20-01-2012 19:00:00″ style=”carbonite”/]
**January 20-21, 2012**
Hey, You Scripture-Memory-Mad Women!
I hope your Memorial Day weekend was wonderful and that your appreciation of our nation’s heroes got a fresh stir. I looked around our sanctuary on Sunday at all those who had served in wars and I marveled over the few World War II veterans we have left. My Dad was one of them and, had he lived, he would be ninety. Such a powerful part of our history was written in their blood. My dad lived well over half a century with a bullet fragment lodged near his heart. He took a hit right through his cheek and, ultimately, surgeons grafted skin from his hip to cover the severe indention in his face. If you have a family with a weird sense of humor, perhaps you can imagine that it was fodder for a few jokes, most of which he told himself.
Of course, heroes come in all generations and both genders. I have two framed pictures in prominent places in my office of women soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan who have done Bible studies on their tours of duty. Flabbergasting to me. May Christ hold our soldiers tight and let them lose neither their lives nor their faith and may He return them to their families as whole people, twice the wiser.
Well, Girlfriends, it’s JUNE! Our temperatures in Houston are already well into the upper nineties and we are experiencing the severest drought in decades. It seems that few areas of our country are free of something ranging from brow-raising concern all the way to destruction and devastation. What on earth?? I don’t pretend to know the details of what is happening around us but I really do feel that Kingdom history is being written in these days entrusted to us. I believe there is a bold dot on the divine time line representing this era with a label Heaven alone knows for now, but generations will talk about until Christ’s Kingdom comes. We must stand firm in our faith and love twice as much. These are days when our words must be backed by our hearts or dismissed entirely by the world. Remember Christ’s warning in Matthew 24:12 that the hearts of many will grow cold. Our love will not endure extended seasons of difficulty by accident. In our self-protectiveness, the first natural casualty will be our emotions. We will either set our hearts on things above (Col. 3:1) where Christ is seated at the right hand of God, or we’ll lose our footing here below.
We are called to live by faith and to love by faith.
Part of how we stand firm is to know Scripture, and not with swollen heads but swollen hearts. One of the verses in my quiet time this morning was Psalm 119:57 – “The LORD is my source of security. I have determined to follow Your instructions.” (The NET Bible) One thing is certain: we are finding out how little security this anguishing planet can offer us. “The LORD is the source of security.” Personal. National. Global. Universal. The Lord alone. And, so, like never before, we need to know His instructions…and follow them.
One of my favorite portions of the Book of James has turned out to be the last half of 5:11 – “…you have seen the Lord’s purpose, that the Lord is full of compassion and mercy.” The Lord cannot set aside His compassion and mercy to deal with this world. Oh, I’m not saying He won’t ultimately deal with this world. His Word promises that He will. But I am saying that He cannot set aside His compassion and mercy to do it. They are elements of His immutable character and the first descriptions He used to introduce Himself to Moses by name in Exodus 34:6-7.
OK, Sisters. I better get to our purpose here on this first of June. The pages are flying off the calendar like leaves in the wind and it’s time for our 11th verse! God has had me in 2 Timothy recently for my memory work so here’s mine this time around:
Beth, Houston. “Because of this, in fact, I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, because I know the one in whom my faith is set and I am convinced that He is able to protect what has been entrusted to me until that day.” 2 Timothy 1:12 The NET Bible
You can bet your life on it.
You are treasured here. May Christ continue to captivate you. He loves you so much.
PS. OK, I can’t stand it anymore. SO HOW ABOUT THAT TIMER AT THE TOP OF THIS POST???? That, my beloved Siestas, is exactly how much time we have to go until our SSMT celebration! Wooooooohoooooooo!!! Bring it, Jesus! Kudos to my wonderful coworker, Kimberly McMahon, for making that happen. I told her I thought we needed a little extra incentive for this second half of our Scripture memory commitment. I WANT EVERY ONE OF YOU TO COME if you possibly can. With the numbers where they are right now on our 1st and 15th entries, we have room to fit all of you in our sanctuary. Save your money! Ask for it as a Christmas gift! Remember, the event is our gift to you but it’s not too soon to start saving for travel and accommodations. This is one of the biggest events on the calendar to us at Living Proof so please know how wanted you are and how loved you are. Celebrating a faithful work of God to a woefully dependent people was His idea in the first place. He loves festivals so, Girlfriends, let’s have one.
L.E.T.S.C.O.U.N.T.I.T.D.O.W.N.
Raines, Albany, GA: This is what the LORD says: Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. Jeremiah 6:16 NIV
Sharee from Sugar Land, TX
Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. Matthew 6:34 (the Message)
Amanda, Winderemere (Orlando): “For I know the plans I have to declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. ” Jer. 29:11 NIV
Joy
West Monroe, LA
“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.
Col. 3:12
Sally
Columbus, OH
“If I say surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,”
Psalm 139:11
Cheryl from Hattiesburg, MS
John 16:33 (ESV)
I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart, I have overcome the world.
“Answer me quickly, O LORD; my spirit fails. Do not hide your face from me or I will be like those who go down to the pit.” Psalm 143:7 (NIV)
Sorry this is late. I was in Romania on a mission trip. Almost didn’t go because of some difficulties with our son. :o) Saw the face of God in the people there. My heart is so tender toward the Lord right now. He is indeed kind, compassionate, and full of mercy to me. Thank you, Lord, for your love.
A
Because of this, in fact, I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, because I know the one in whom my faith is set and I am convinced that He is able to protect what has been entrusted to me until that day.” 2 Timothy 1:12 The NET Bible
Diane C
Vinton, La
Deborah, Katy, TX
The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to His heavenly Kingdom. To Him be glory for ever and ever. Amen. (NIV, 2 Timothy 4:18)
Amanda,, Katy, TX
The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to His heavenly Kingdom. To Him be glory for ever and ever. Amen. (NIV, 2 Timothy 4:18)
Kara, Houston, TX
The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to His heavenly Kingdom. To Him be glory for ever and ever. Amen. (NIV, 2 Timothy 4:18)
Anna, Milwaukee. Because of this, in fact, I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, because I know the one in whom my faith is set and I am convinced that He is able to protect what has been entrusted to me until that day. 2 Timothy 1:12, the NET Bible
“The LORD is my source of security. I have determined to follow Your instructions.” (The NET Bible)
Philippians 1:19-21 (NIV)
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. I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.
Becky, Rochester, MN “But for me, God’s presence is all I need. I have made the sovereign Lord my shelter, as I declare all the things you have done.” Psalam 73:28 NIV
Mary, Charlotte, North Carolina.
Walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Ephesians 4: 1-3 (ESV)
Proverbs 3:5&6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your on understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight.” (NIV)
*one of my favorite life verses; share it often in time of need with brothers and sisters 🙂
Mindy – McDonough, GA
Turn to me and have mercy on me, as you always do to those who love your name. Direct my footsteps according to your word; let no sin rule over me.
Psalm 119:132-133 NIV
Denise, Hernando Beach
What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Mark 8:36 NIV
Breanna
Russellville
But God demonstrated his own love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us
Romans 5:8
NIV
Monique, Elizabethtown, KY – Search me, O 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
Jenny, Cedar Rapids, Ephesians 1:4 “just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him. In love”
Angie in Albertville AL
Be gracious to me, O God, be gracious to me,
for my soul takes refuge in You;
and in the shadow of Your wings I will take refuge
until destruction passes by.
I will cry to God Most High,
To God who accomplishes all things for me.
Psalm 57:1-2 NASB
Suzanne, East Bernard, TX
“Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again and it is a safeguard for you. Watch out for those dogs, those men who do evil, those mutilators of the flesh. For it is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh — though I myself have reasons for such confidence. If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee, as for zeal, persecuting the church, as for legalistic righteousness, faultless. But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes for the law, but that which is through faith in Christ — the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.” Philippians 3:1-11
The Lord is my source of security. I have determined to follow Your instructions.
Psalm 119:57 NET
Phil. 4:6 (NIV)
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”
Becky – Tacoma, WA
Matthew 12:36 NIV
“But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken.”
Lora
Mooresburg, TN (I love the name of our area!)
“For our God is a consuming fire.” Hebrews 12:29 KJV
Sharon, Barrington
“For I know the plans I have for you says the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
Jerimiah 29:11 NIV
susan corbin,ky. Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take. Proverbs 3:5-6
Melinda, Oconomowoc, WI: Those who know Your name trust in You, for You Lord have never forsaken those who seek You. Psalm 9:10 NIV
Glenda, Tualatin
Just thinking of my troubles and my lonely wandering makes me miserable. That’s all I ever think about, and I am depressed. Then I remember something that fills me with hope. The LORD’s kindness never fails! If he had not been merciful, we would have been destroyed. The LORD can always be trusted to show mercy each morning. Deep in my heart I say, “The LORD is all I need; I can depend on Him.”
Lamentations 3:19-24 (CEV)
Cathy from Loxahatchee Florida
2 Corinthians 10:5 NIV
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.
Pam, Sioux Falls, SD
“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”
Ps. 46:1, KJV
Janet, West Linn OR
“Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?” Matt.6:27 NIV
Lindsey, San Francisco, CA
Ps. 27:4 (NKJV)
One thing I have desired of the Lord, that will I seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple.
Jeantelle, Lafayette, La
“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
Matthew 6:34 NIV
Karen, Lake Jackson, TX says:
1 John 4:18 “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.”
Nancy, Arkansas
“And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ also forgave you.” Ephesians 4:32 NKJ
“Those who go out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with them.” –Psalm 126:6 (NIV)
Lori Lynn
Rochester, MN
Karen ~ Greer, SC:
“and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority.” Colossians 2:10 (NIV)
Sadly, I’ve been unable to post my verse on the 1st or 15th too many times now, but I am continuing with memorization:)
Connie, Turlock CA
“Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. ”
Philippians 2:3-4 (NLT)
Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the LORD, till He comes and rains righteousness on you.
Hosea 10:12 (NKJV)
Beth
Cary, North Carolina
Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person. Colossians 4:6 NIV
Susie, Whitehouse, TX
Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit, for anger resides in the lap of fools. Ecclesiastes 7:9 NIV
Tina, Cincinnati, OH – Deuteronomy 6:5-7(NIV) 5 Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.
Tracy, Hobe Sound, FL “So we’re not giving up. How could we? Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without His unfolding grace.” 2Cor.4:16 The Message
Jessica, Carlsbad, CA “O, Sovereign LORD, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too difficult for you.” Jeremiah 32:17 (NIV)
Better late than never! Happy Saturday to you all!
Mikelan Overland Park
Hebrews 3:20-21 NIV
May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Kristen, Austin, TX
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)