**Siesta Celebration is January 20-21, 2012**
Hey, you Scripture memory freaks!
Your mama needs a hall pass in the worst way for a while regarding lengths of posts. We are now only about 6 weeks from the LifeWay deadline for all things James. To say that Melissa and I are under the gun is an understatement and, of course, so are all our friends on the publishing side. It’s stressful for everyone concerned this close to rolling the press. You will not waste a prayer on us, or on any member of our family, for that matter. Amanda and Curtis are finding out what kind of warfare you sign up for when you determine to get out there where the wind of the Spirit is blowing and dare to fulfill your calling. It’s hard to watch your children go through it. I tell them all the time (and they don’t need convincing) that enduring is so worth it but, man oh man, as many of you know, the fire is hot. And it’s often very personal, don’t you think? Satan goes for the psychological jugular.
I have had a great – almost life-stopping – time poring over James for well over the last year and I will miss the process so much. I love the intensity an in-depth journey demands and I genuinely fight a wave of depression when it’s over. (I’ll ask for your prayers about that at the time.) But, the fact is, push is about to come to shove. I no longer have the luxury of taking all the time I want. This baby is almost due. Thank you for any spare prayers! I am not in a bad way or in a contentious state. I’m just wide-eyed and aware that a very loud clock is ticking. So is my baby girl. I know some of you must be getting so tired of hearing about it! Stand with me a little longer, in hopes that Jesus may be glorified.
In my memory work, I’m still choosing verses out of 2 Timothy. I couldn’t split these four verses up without shortchanging the context so I’m posting the whole segment.
Beth, Houston. “And the Lord’s slave must not engage in heated disputes but be kind toward all, an apt teacher, patient, correcting opponents with gentleness. Perhaps God will grant them repentance and then knowledge of the truth and they will come to their senses and escape the devil’s trap where they are held captive to do his will.” 2 Timothy 2:24-26 The NET Bible
This portion of Scripture and others like it seem altogether ignored or dismissed in a culture where believers stay embroiled in one heated dispute after another. Scripture tells us how to differ without ripping the fabric of our common faith to shreds. In the segment above, the Apostle Paul uses words like kindness and gentleness. When we tend to think that carnality is the only kind of sin that can keep the church from revival, we’re overlooking the steady stream of commands in the New Testament about how to treat one another. Disunity can shipwreck the whole lot of us right there on the shore of disgrace. We can even be right and fall into the chastisement of God because our hearts were wrong. May God forgive us, heal us, and help us.
OK, Sisters. Let’s hear your 13th verses. While you’re at it, remember that what we’re doing here is IMPORTANT! We’ve got to protect these minds of ours! That’s where our battles are won or lost. You will never waste a single moment rolling God’s Word around in your sweet head. Your health will be the better for it. Your marriage will be the better for it. Your job will be the better for it. Your relationships will be the better for it. Your obedience will be the better for it. Your calling will be the better for it. YOU will be the better for it.
Me, too.
I’m crazy about you. Keep your eyes to the skies.
Jeanette, Tualatin, Phil.3:12
Not that I have already obtained all this, or have been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.
Rhonda Lima, OH
Ps. 121:7-8 (NASB)
“The LORD will protect you from all evil; He will keep your soul. The LORD will guard your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forever.”
Valerie, Scott City
“A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.” Psalm 91:7, KJV
Gail, Phoenix
So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth;
It shall not return to Me void,
But it shall accomplish what I please,
And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it
Isaiah 55:11 NKJV
Laura, Southaven, MS: “Ah, Sovereign Lord, you have made the heavens and earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you.” Jeremiah 32:17 NIV
Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
I say to myself, “The LORD is my portion;
therefore I will wait for him.”
Lamentations 3:22-24 NIV
Shelli, Richmond
“I love those who love me, and those who seek me find me” (Proverbs 8:17) NIV
Jennifer, Charlotte NC
“Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.” Psalm 90:14 NIV
Diane, Killeen, TX: “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?” Matthew 6:25, ESV
Susan,Silverhill,AL: “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.” Galatians 6:9-10(NIV)
Let me repeat, “do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers” AMEN
Becky, Whitehall, Hebrews 13:21 “…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 glory for ever and ever. Amen.” I didn’t get both vs 20 and 21 in so I’ll keep going with vs 21 this week…
JEHOVAH-JIREH The LORD will provide. And my God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Phil 4:19 NAS
Therefore He is able, once and forever, to save those who come to God through Him. He lives forever to intercede with God on their behalf. Hebrews 7:25 (NLT)
Lynn, Bossier City: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”
John 14:27 NIV
Kim
Orange City
I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.
Romans 8:18 NIV
Amy Hawk, Hood River, For since He Whom God has sent speaks the words of God [proclaims God’s own message], God does not give Him His Spirit sparingly or by measure, but boundless is the gift God makes of His Spirit!
John 3:34, Amp
Chyrll, Memphis: “And the Lord’s bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps, God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been help captive by him to do his will.”
2 Timothy 2:24-26 NASB
praying for you and your sweet girls
I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust. Psalms 90:2 NKJV
Carrie Hunter, Hindman KY
Ephesians 1:4 NIV
For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight.
Kim, Missouri
for You, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you. Psalm 9:10b
Bridget in Phoenix, AZ
Ephesians 4:15-16 ESV
15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,
16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
Jill ; Plano, TX
Psalm 119:57
The Message (MSG)
57-64 Because you have satisfied me, GOD, I promise
to do everything you say.
Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?
1 Corinthians 15:55
Heather, Lewiston: “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.” II Cor. 10:5, NIV
Kristen, Largo FL
“Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.” NIV Ps. 139:6
Melanie Toups
Bridge City, TX
“Those who regard vain idols forsake their faithfulness, but I will sacrifice to You with the voice of thanksgiving. That which I have vowed I will pay. Salvation is from the LORD.”
–Jonah 2:8-9 NASB
I chose this b/c I’m doing a summer study of “No Other Gods” in my home. 14 precious ladies from 10 different churches. He is moving mightily! 🙂
Rosalye
Vicksburg, MS
Let the beloved of the LORD rest secure in Him,
for He shields (her) all day long,
and the one the LORD loves rests between His shoulders.
Deuteronomy 33:12 NIV
Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds,
because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.
Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.
But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.
Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.
James 2-6, 12 (NIV)
Carol Peavy
Jena, LA
Sorry! I forgot to put the chapter down.
James 1:2-6,12 (NIV)
Judith Conaway
West Columbia, TX
“A man’s wisdom gives him patience, it is to his glory to overlook an offense”.
Proverbs 19:11 – NIV
Proverbs 17:22
New International Version (NIV)
A cheerful heart is good medicine,
but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.
Gail Jones
Decatur, TX
Adele-Alys from Matthews, NC : For the fascination of evil throws good things into the shade and the whirlwind of desire corrupts a simple heart. From Wisdom (Apochrypha) 4:12 Jerusalem Bible
Dana, Pace, FL
I lift up my eyes to the hills-where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot slip-he who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
Psalm 121 1-4 NIV
Pat W, Green Bank, WV
(15) Therefore, all who are mature should think this way. And if you think differently about anything, God will reveal this to you also. (16) In any case, we should live up to whatever [truth] we have attained.
Phillippians 3:15-16. Holman CSB, pp.1049.
Helen W, Dunmore, WV
My little children, let us not love in word neither in tongue but in deed and in truth. 1 John 3:18, KJV
Pat W,-and thank you for your post today, I feel to be IN a spirit storm and my reflexes wanta react with screaming and crying, but My ME today, Just Today 4 Today, wants to look up, and to just keep trying to keep trying to Look Up and not Give up, -Your Prayers would NOT be wasted In MY direction, either, not one… i can Feel them, and thank you.
Melissa, Vicksburg, MS: “Let the morning bring me 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.” Ps 143:8 NIV
Happy Canada Day Everybody! Nicola, Calgary Alberta Canada
Who is among you who (reverently) fears the Lord and obeys the voice of His Servant yet who walks in darkness and deep trouble and has no shining splendor in his heart? Let him rely on, trust in and be confident in the name of the Lord and let him lean upon and be supported by his God.
Is 50:10 AMP
Tanis, BC Canada
Now faith is the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen. Hebrews 11:1 HCSB
Melinda, Oconomowoc, WI:
Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you. 2 Thess. 3:16 (NIV)
Tiffany, ATL
Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him! Ps. 34:8 ESV
Marty ~ Mobile, AL
By day the LORD directs his love, at night his song is with me— a prayer to the God of my life.
Psalm 42:8
Dawn, Clinton PA
Neh. 8:10b NKJV
Do not sorrow, for the job of the Lord is your strength.
Wait for the LORD and He will make things right, Prov. 20:22
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Romans 15:13 (NIV)
Kelli in Ohio
Melissa, Glasgow, KY.
“And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” – Philippians 4:7, KJV
Jean, Rubicon, WI
“…if my people, who are called by my name, will
humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn
from their wicked ways, they will I hear from heaven
and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”
2 Chronicles 7:14 (NIV)
Lacey, Leonard TX. “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” Philippians 1.21 NIV
Liz, Logansport: “The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” 1 Samuel 17:37 NIV
Jean, Rubicon, WI
“…if my people, who are called by my name, will
humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn
from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven
and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”
2 Chronicles 7:14 (NIV)
Lois, Abilene, KS
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 worth of praise, and I am saved from my enemies. Ps 18:1-3 NIV
Kelly. Springfield, MO. “Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them.” Psalm 119:165 (KJV)
Shannon, Orange County, CA: “I have brought you glory on earthy by completing the work you gave Me to do.” –John 17:4, NIV