Finally!!!!!!!!
Are you ready, Sisters? Do you hear me cheering?? I have never been more excited about doing this.
I am on the verge of doing about 10 backward flips on my hardwoods. I said on the verge. Not quite doing it. Well, I’m doing it in my heart. That counts for a lot around here.
SO LET’S DO THIS THING! Now, promise me this! Promise me you will read this entire post before you leave a single comment. I know you’re about to burst and I am, too, and, for that reason, I’ll keep it as short as possible. It’s so important that we get our ground rules firmly established so that we’ll have a fabulous experience. Remember, hundreds of our participants this time around are brand new so let’s make sure everybody’s on the same page.
A few things you absolutely MUST KNOW:
*Your comment to this post is your official registration onto the team. Everybody starts at Verse 1 no matter when they begin the process. (Word gets around and we often still have people joining in with us even in March and April. We don’t mind how late they begin as long as they can catch up, memorize their verses, and document each one of them on the proper post as an official participant.) This launch post will remain right here in this January 1st 2013 slot all year long and each new person will need to make her first entry here. This is how we track who signed up when we get to the end of the year and it’s party time.
*Your comment must be strictly limited to the following 5 pieces of information: name, city, verse, reference, translation. I’ll say it slower now for those brand new to the process:
Your name (or first name if you prefer), city. Your verse for that two-week period written all the way out, the reference for it (where it is found in the Bible: Book, chapter, verse) AND the *translation you’ve taken it from.
(*For instance, is the Bible you’ve pulled the passage from a KJV, an NAS, HCSB, NIV or NLT? Or is it The NET Bible, The Message or another similar version? The translation almost always appears on the outside spine of a Bible. If not, you will find it on the first few pages. If you’re looking on line, you’ll get an option to choose a translation. Do so as it speaks most clearly to you. We aren’t fussing over translations here in our memory work. You also do not need to stick with one version throughout.)
Just those 5 pieces of information! They will comprise every comment to this post. And the moment you start scrolling through all of them, you’ll see why. Page after page after page after page of Scripture and each one telling a reader exactly where to find it. It is the most powerful sight to behold. This invites people who are not participating in the memory work to reap tremendous benefits by just reading the comments and taking strength from verses they may not have known existed. This way it has the potential to bless our whole community or any weary visitor to our blog. I’ve been in crises before and gotten on the comment pages and scrolled from Scripture to Scripture and practically wept with relief and fresh courage or revelation. That’s why it’s best to keep the SSMT comments as succinct as possible. If you’ve got an exclamation in you that you just can’t hold back, you can occasionally make the briefest comment like, “I really need this one!” or “I’m sharing so-and-so’s verse” but, please, no more than that.
Comments other than the verse-entries on the 1st and 15th of each month can’t be approved. I’m so sorry and I hope you’ll understand. Thousands of us will be doing this together so the moderation process is monumental from the administrative side. The verses will be all Lindsee and I can handle in the comments for our two SSMT days per month. Keep in mind: NONE OF THESE INSTRUCTIONS PERTAIN TO THE OTHER BLOG POSTS HERE AT LPM. We will be completely free to do our regular thing on all other posts! The really stringent rules are only for the 1st and 15th of each month in 2013 and in reference to Siesta Scripture Memory Team. I hope that makes sense!
*Your comment may take 24 hours to get moderated (or posted if you’re new to the blog process) and sometimes a bit longer if it falls over a weekend. We try our hardest to stay up with it but on those days when 500+ come in at once, it’s quite a task! But we love it! It just requires a little patience on all sides! Before you assume that your entry somehow vanished and you’re tempted to write it again, give it one full day and see if it shows up. Keep track of what time you posted it and double check the comments around that same time. The accidental repeats make it much harder to track participation through the course of the year so always double check. If you don’t find it a day later, by all means, post it again!
*Remember that you get to choose your own verse! That’s really important! The ease with which you can memorize a verse is greatly impacted by how much it means to you. The more you need it or want it, the more you’ll absorb it. If you come up dry at times, no problem! You can either share my verse or another in the comment line that really speaks to you.
*PRAY that God will bless you in this endeavor and will enable you to memorize His Word! Ask continually throughout the entire year! When I get stuck and frustrated that I can’t get my words in order, if I’ll stop what I’m doing and ask God to supernaturally infuse me and help me to concentrate, you would not believe how quickly a breakthrough will come.
Are you about to stuff a sock in my mouth?? I’m about 2 seconds from stuffing one in my own mouth. Melissa gave me two new pair of boot socks for Christmas so at least I have fresh choices.
All right, already! Here goes mine! In honor of our process ahead and how willing the Holy Spirit is to help us…
Beth from Houston Texas, But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. John 14:26 NIV84
Here’s one more alternative if you’ve never memorized it for a new year! I just love it for January 1st:
You crown the year with Your bounty, and Your carts overflow with abundance. Psalm 65:11 NIV
May God’s grace abound to you, Sweet Thing. WELCOME! We have such a fabulous challenge ahead of us. GOD, GRANT US YOUR GOOD FAVOR!
So…what are you waiting for??? SIGN IN WITH VERSE ONE!
PS. I thought you guys might find it a bit amusing that I brought in the first 300 comments in the CAR on the way to the airport to catch my Atlanta flight for Passion 2013. Laughing. You keep your blog mama busy. I love you so!
Tags: Scripture Memory 2013
Caitlin, McKinney, TX
“The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.”
Luke 6:45, NIV
Lori from McDonough,Romans 15:13 NIV 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.
Tara from KC, MO
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
Philippians 4:6 NIV
Mary Colleen, Abilene, Texas: “There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the Lord”. Proverbs 21:30, NIV
Jillian Medders from Boerne, TX
I lift my eyes up to the hills – where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.
Psalm 121:1-2 NIV
Cynthia, Harvest, AL
“And I said, I will guard my ways; Least I sin with my tongue I will restrain my mouth with a muzzle while the wicked are before me.” Psalm 39:1 (NKJ)
Punky from Dallas, Texas
But I do not consider my life worth anything to myself, so that I may finish my task (with joy) and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the good news of God’s grace.
Acts 20:24 NET (AMP)
Wendy from Cary, NC “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”
(Heb. 4:12, NIV84)
Jerrianne from Lakewood,Co
“My soul yearns for you in the night; in the morning my spirit longs for you. When your judgements come upon the earth, the people of the world learn righteousness. Isaiah 26:9 NIV
Sara from Sioux City, Iowa
O Lord, You have searched me and known me. You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off. You comprehend my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with my ways,
Psalm 139:1-3 NKJV
Sarah from smyrna , ga ……Commit to the Lord whatever you do and your plans will succeed. Proverbs 16:3 NIV
Connie, Chariton, James 1:25 But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does. James 1:25 NKJ
Susan from Fairhope,AL,”Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” Philippians 1:2 (NIV)
Dana from Clarksville, TN – “For though the mountains should depart and the hills be shaken or removed, yet My love and kindness shall not depart from you, nor shall My covenant of peace and completeness be removed, says the LORD, who has compassion on you.” Isaiah 54:10 (Amplified Bible)
Jen E. from Seville, OH Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful. Colossians 4:15 NASB
April from Mitchell, Mb Canada
Keep me from lying to myself; give me the privilege of knowing your instructions. Psalms 119:20 NLT
Lisa Waldrep from Tuscumbia, AL
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. Hebrews 12:1 ESV
Melanie from Norman, OK, But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. John 14:26 NIV84
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
Dawn Winslow from Clever, MO
For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.
Romans 8:18 (ESV)
Debra from Calgary, Alberta
For I know the plans I have you declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me find me when you seek me with all you heart”
Jer 29: 11-14
TNIV
Debbie Johnson from Escondido, CA…”Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep His promise.” Hebrews 10:23 NLT
K-Mac Cypress, TX
“Every God-begotten person conquers the world’s ways. The conquering power that brings the world to its knees is our faith.” I John 5:4 (MSG)
Sarah from Bracknell, UK “The LORD will command His lovingkindness in the daytime; and His song will be with me in the night; a prayer to the God of my life” Psalm 42:8
Miranda – Pearland, Tx
For You, Lord , are the Most High over all the earth; You are exalted above all the gods. (Psalms 97:9 HCSB)
Linda, Newark, DE “I am the LORD and there is no other, besides Me there is no god. I will gird you, though you have not known Me; that men may know from the rising to the setting of the sun that there is no one besides Me. I am the LORD, and there is no other, the One forming light and creating darkness, causing well-being and creating calamity, I am the LORD who does all these.”(Is 45:5-7 NASB)
Alison, Norman, OK
There is no one like the God of Israel.
He rides across the heavens to help you,
across the skies in majestic splendor.
The eternal God is your refuge,
and his everlasting arms are under you. Deut. 33:26,27 NLT
Nancy Lakewood,CO
Trust in Him at all times, O people;
pour out your hearts to Him, for God is our refuge.
Ps 62:8 NIV
Joy from Warrior, Psalm 119:10 (ESV) “With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments!”
Laura from Eden Prairie, MN
“Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” Ephesians 1:2, ESV
Sharon from Hamburg, New York:
“Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end.” Ecclesiastes 3:11 (NLT)
Columbia sc
Do not let your hearts be troubled, you believe in God, believe also in Me
John 14:1. NIV
Leslie from Elkhart, IN ‘Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the LORD JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation.’ Isaiah 12:2 KJV
Lydia, Houston TX
“You crown the year with Your bounty; Your wagon tracks overflow with abundance.” Psalm 65:11 ESV
Sharon from Houston, Texas: “And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” John17:3 ESV
Tammy Vilonia, AR
You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in You, all whose thoughts are fixed on You! Trust in the Lord always, for the LORD GOD is the eternal Rock.
Isaiah 26:3-4 NLT
Kelley, Jackson MO
“The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord endures forever.” Isaiah 40:8 (NIV)
Kim Baker, Louisville, KY
Philippians 4:11-12 ESV
11 Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.
12 I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.
You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast because he trusts in You. Trust in The Lord forever, for The Lord, The Lord is the Rock eternal. Isaiah 26: 3-4 NIV
Rebecca, Portland, TX
“I have hidden your word in my heart, so that I might not sin against you.” Psalm 119:11 NLT
Courtney from Little Rock, AR
Hebrews 4:12-13 NIV For the word of God is living and active. Sharper then any double edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
Elizabeth W, Syracuse, NY: “Here’s what I want you to do: Find a quiet, secluded place so you won’t be tempted to role-play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense His grace.” Matthew 6:6 MSG
Jamie Hann from Jacksonville, FL
And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.
Hebrews 12:1 B NIV
Kristin from Suwanee, GA
You are my shelter and my shield; I put my hope in Your word.
Psalm 119:114 HCSB
Suzy from Ross, CA
Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?”
John 11:40 NIV
Kim Owens from Denver, PA
“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30 NKJV
Sarah Beth from Alexander City, AL
The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your love, O Lord, endures forever – do not abandon the works of your hands.
Psalm 138:8 NIV
Noelle from Hamburg, New York:
“This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NLT)
Julie in Webb City, MO — Ephesians 3:20-21 “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever, Amen.” NKJV
Andrea from Saint John, NB (Canada) “My soul, wait silently for God alone, for my expectation is from Him.” Psalm 62:5 NKJV