**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.
Alicia, OKC
The King will reply, “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” Matthew 25:40 NIV
For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mothers womb.
Psalms 139: 13
NIV
Tricia Union, Ky
Joshua 24:15 NIV
But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord
Heather, Morristown, TN
“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.” Ezekiel 36:26-27
Susan (IL) – So brothers and sisters, since God has shown us great mercy, I beg you to offer your lives as a living sacrifice to him. Your offering must be only for God and pleasing to him, which is the spiritual way for you to worship. (Romans 12:1, NCV)
Lara-Greenville, KY
“But be doers of the word, and not hearers only,
deceiving yourselves.”
James 1:22 NKJV
Psalm 28:7
The LORD is my strength and my shield;
my heart trusts in him, and he helps me.
My heart leaps for joy,
and with my song I praise him.
Nahum 1:7 “The LORD is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in Him.”
“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.” Psalm 143:8 (NIV)
Mary Beth, St. Louis
“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; …”
John 15:5, 8 NKJV
veronica-Atlanta, georgia
Isaiah 40:29 says; He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength”. NIV
Leslie, Missoula,MT, Remember the former things, those of long ago; I am God and there is no other; I am God and there is none like me. Isaiah 46:9
Jerry Ann, Fort Walton Beach:
James 1:3 AMP
Be assured and understand that the trail and proving of your faith bring out endurance and steadfastness and patience.
Shaunta’, Montgomery, AL For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority;
Col. 1:9-10 NAS
Rachelle, Gardner, KS–“Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” 1 Corinthians 10:31, NIV
Becky, Dayton
Don’t worry about anything; instead pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7 NLT
Diane from MN,
Zephaniah 3:17
The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save,
He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you
with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.
NIV study Bible
Lauren-Plano, TX
I can do all this through him who gives me strength.
Philippians 4:13 NIV
Bonnie, Huntington, WV
Hebrews 13:8 ESV
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
Amber, Warsaw, IN
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” – John 16:33 NIV
Amy, Lakeland, Florida, 19 My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, 20 because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. James 1:19-20 NIV
Karen, Lexington, KY. Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken. ~ Psalm 55:22 (NIV)
Gina; Houston; New Living Trns.; Psalm 30:11-12
“You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing. You have taken my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy, that I might sing praises to you and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give you thanks forever!”
Karen, Springfield, MO: I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never stop doing good to them, and I will inspire them to fear me, so that they will never turn away from me. Jeremiah 32:40 NIV
Kim ~ Niceville, FL
May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you.
1 Thessalonians 3:12 (NIV)
Meredith, Fayetteville, AR
Psalm 139: 1-4 NIV “O Lord, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord.”
Valerie, Altoona, IA
The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace Romans 8:6 NIV
Psalm 139 1-4 TNIV
You have searched me, LORD, and you know me.
You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.
You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.
Before a word is on my tongue you, LORD< know it completely.
Carla Ritz in Lock Haven, PA – “Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins.” I Peter 4:8 NASB
Jeanie
Sparta, TN
“He is the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them-He remains faithful forever.”
Psalm 146:6 NIV
Christelle, Delafield, WI
“Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise;
his greatness no one can fathom. ”
Ps 145:3 NIV
Dianne – Moose Jaw
“My thought are nothing like your thoughts, says the LORD. Any my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.”
Isaiah 55:8 NLT
Clover, S.C. I need to put the July 15th verse here as well because I will be in Haiti with minimal internet access.
Both from Psalm 90 Net Bible:
Verse 17: May our sovereign God extend his favor to us! Make our endeavors successful! Yes, make them successful!
Verse 14: Satisfy us in the morning with your loyal love! Then we will shout for joy and be happy all our days!
Brittney, Olympia:
“But forget all that- it is nothing compared to what I am going to do. For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it?
I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.” Isaiah 43:18-19 (NLT)
DeAnne, Talmage
Cast your cares on the Lord
and He will sustain you;
He will never let the righteous fall.
Psalm 55:22 NIV
Hilary from Langley, BC Canada:
“Forget the former things;
do not dwell on the past.
See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; Do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the desert
and streams in the wasteland.”
Isaiah 43:18-19 (NIV)
Sandy in Amarillo, Texas
The Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you, the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.
The Priestly Blessing: Numbers 6:24-26
Annita, Haleyville, AL Psalm 121:7-8, NIV
The LORD will keep you from all harm— he will watch over your life; the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.
Kathy, Easley: “A fool shows his annoyance at once, but a prudent man overlooks an insult.”
Proverbs 12:16 NIV
Cindy, Laguna Niguel. “Trust in the LORD, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” Psalm 37:3-4 (ESV)
Cara, Holland. “You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with shouts of deliverance.” Psalm 32:7 ESV
Debbie Smyrna, TN
2 Peter 2:9
The Lord will rescue you and me from temptations that surround us.
1 Peter 4:10 Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. NIV
Donna, Spring TX: “My flesh and my heart fail; but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” Psalm 73:26 (NIV)
Elizabeth Meagher, Richmond, VA
“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
Natalie; Trussville, AL; “This is the confidence that we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.” 1 John 5:14 (NIV)
Patti, Sun City Center, Let them praise His name with dancing and make music to Him with tambourine and harp. For the LORD takes delight in His people; He crowns the humble with salvation. Psalm 149:3-4 (NIV)
Melody, Cleburne, TX
“For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.” 2 Timothy 1:7
Marita – Maricopa, AZ
2 Timothy 2:15 (NIV)
Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.
Dee, Zeeland, MI from the NIV
Isaiah 28:5&6 “In that day the Lord Almighty will be a glorious crown, a beautiful wreath for the remnant of his people. He will be a spirit of justice to him who sits in judgment, a source of strength to those who turn back the battle at the gate.”