**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.
Jessica, Rosarito, Mexico
“Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.” 1 Peter 3:8 ESV
“I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD. “Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future!” Jeremiah 29:11
Ooops, forgot – Megan Joy – Calgary Alberta, Canada – “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 – I think)
Listen to my cry for help, my king and my God, for to you I pray. Psalms 5:2 NIV
Margee, Chattanooga
Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God.”
Mark 11:22 NRSV
May the Lord answer you when you are in trouble; may the God of Jacob make you secure! Ps 20:1
Puyallup, WA
“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9 NASB
Natalie ~ Jacksonville Psalms 139:7&8 (NIV)Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
Sally
Columbus, OH
“For You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother’s womb.”
Psalm 139:13
Kathy
Dow IL
Keep awake for you know neither the day nor the hour.
Matthew 25:13
NRSV
Penny from Knoxville, TN
Romans 12:12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.
Kathy from Ontario Canada
“Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace
whose mind is stayed on thee.” Isaiah 26:3 KJV
(KJV stuck in my brain from memorizing when
I was very young !)
Whoever spares the rod hates his son,
but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him.
Proverbs 13:24 (NLT)
Hanni, Indiana
Carol
Carthage, NY
He redeems my life from the pit
and crowns me with love and compassion.
Psalm 103:4 NIV
Angela, Amarillo, TX
For the vision is yet for an appointed time and it hastens to the end [fulfillment]; it will not deceive or disappoint. Though it tarry, wait [earnestly] for it, because it will surely come; it will not be behindhand on its appointed day. Habakkuk 2:3 AMP
Telisa, Arkansas City
“Peace I leave with you. I do not give as the world gives. Do not let your heart be troubled and do not be afraid.” John 14:27 NIV
Susan, Ellensburg
Psalm 29:11 NIV
The LORD gives strength to his people; the LORD blesses his people with peace.
Katie, LaGrange, GA: “For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world–our faith.” ~1 John 5:4, ESV~
Emily, Kalispell, MT
Isaiah 41:10
Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee: yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. KJV
Shelly Wilson, Fort Worth
Philippians 4:8 (NIV) – Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
Cindy, Dallas tX ” I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
galatians 2:20 NIV
Alyson, Tallahassee – Hebrews 10:23 NIV – Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful.
Beth,
I’ll be praying for you that you will meet the deadline for the book of “James.” I’m so anxious to do the study. All of your studies have meant so very much to me. I thank God for your wonderful talent of making His Word come alive in my heart and the hearts of others. I’ve been a believer since I was 11 years old — thanks to a godly Mother and Father.
Consider yourself hugged,
Barbara C. Smith
Cindy, Rock Hill, SC
So teach us to number our days, that we may present to You a heart of wisdom. (Psalm 90:12 – NASB)
But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; ~1 Peter 2:9 NKJV
Debbie
Highland, MI
Nina, Moore, OK
Psalm 51:10-11 NIV
Create in me a pure heart O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.
Siobhan, Austin, AR “…He may grant you to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in your inner being so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith- that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” Eph. 3 16b-19 ESV
Allison, Ruston
“The Lord protects you; the Lord is a shelter right by your side. The sun will not strike you by day or the moon by night. THe Lord will protect you from all harm. He will protect your life. The Lord will protect your coming and going both now and forever.” Psalm 121:5-8 (NIV)
Charity
Cardiff, Wales
“The Sovereign Lord is my strength, my personal bravery, my invincible army, He makes my feet like Hind’s feet and will make me to walk, not to stand in terror, but to walk and make spiritual progress upon my high places of trouble, suffering and responsibility.”
Habakkuk 3:19 Amplified Version
Kate, Aurora CO
Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire; he breaks out against all sound judgment. Prov 18:1 ESV
I John 4:18
There is no fear in love.
But perfect love drives out fear,
Because fear has to do with punishment.
The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
Missy, Tulare, CA
Luke 12:22-23 NIV Then Jesus said to his disciples: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes.
Psalm 55:22 NIV
Cast all your cares on the Lord and He will sustain, He will never let the righteous fall.
~Allison
Kinney, Oxford, MS
“Every word of God is pure: He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him.” Proverbs 30:5 NIV
Kathy, Akron, Ohio.
“I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness.” Jeremiah 31:3 (NIV)
For He will bring forth your righteousness as the light,
And your judgment as the noonday. Psalm 37:6 NASB
Tesa
Perry, GA
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
Erica, Amman, Jordan
“I will make rivers flow on barren heights and springs within the valleys. I will turn the desert into pools of water and the parched ground into springs.”
Isaiah 41:18 NIV
“What a beautiful thing, God, to give thanks, to sing an anthem to you, the High God! To announce your love at daybreak, sing your faithful presence all through the night.” – Ps 92:1-2, The Message
Sarah, Dallas
Mary Ann, Woodubry, MN
“I lift up my eyes to the mountains—
where does my help come from?
My help comes from the LORD,
the Maker of heaven and earth.”
Psalm 121:1-2 (NIV)
Shelly, Rochester, MN
“For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight.” Ephesians 1:4 NIV
“Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own, you were bought with a price. Therefore honor God with your body.” 1 Cor 6:19-20 -NIV
MEMORIZING GOD’S WORD THIS YEAR HAS HELPED ME TO ADJUST MY PERSPECTIVE ON LIFE TO GOD’S PERSPECTIVE.
Amy – Decatur AL –
Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you saying, ‘This is the way; walk in it.’ — Isaiah 30:21 (NIV)
Shaminder
Toronto,ON
“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
Continuing in Isaiah 40…
Before him all the nations are as nothing;
they are regarded by him as worthless and less than nothing.
To whom, then, will you compare God?
What image will you compare him to?
Isaiah 40:17-18 NIV
Melana Cummings Sheridan Wyoming
Tracy, Tyler, TX Psalm 30:12 (NIV)
…that my heart may sing to you and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give you thanks forever.
Paula, friendswood tx
Mark 5:36. Niv. “Don’t be afraid, just believe.”
Crystal, Mullica Hill, NJ-Romans 8:2 in the ESV;
For the law of the Spirit of Life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.
Awilda – College Station, TX
Matthew 5:14-16
You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.
Heather Louisville/Lagrange, KY
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think about such things. (Philippians 4:8 NIV)