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
Erin, Savannah, GA
“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” (1 Corinthians 13:4-7 NIV)
Lala Ball Cooper in Ruston, Louisiana, says:
“Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” 1 John 2:15 KJV
Amy from Plainfield IL
“My soul yearns for you in the night;in the morning my
spirit longs for you.”
Isaiah 26:9 NIV
Kimberly, Gray, GA, Romans 12:2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will. NIV
Jaclyn in Glen Allen, VA
Psalm 147:5 NIV
“Great is our Lord and mighty in power; his understanding has no limit.”
Laura, Dalton, GA
I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortess; My God in Him I will trust.” Psalms 91:2 NKJV
Gail from Jacksonville, FL. “For 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, NIV84
Kim, from New Port Richey, FL
My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments, for length of days and years of life and peace they will add to you.
Proverbs 3:1-2 ESV
“The Lord appeared to him from afar, saying, ‘I have
loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore I have drawn you with lovingkindness,” Jeremiah 31:3 NAS
Ginny from Henderson, Nevada
Georganne. Piedmont, Oklahoma.
“So there is hope for your future,” declares the Lord. “Your children will return to their own land.”
Jeremiah 31;17 NIV
Julie Huffman; Springdale, AR: “The name of the Lord is a strong tower;the righteous runs into it and is safe.” Proverbs 18:10 NASB
Emily from Loveland, CO~ “A merry heart makes a cheerful countenance, But by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken.” Proverbs 15:13 NKJV :o)
Kourtney from Bryan/College Station, TX
“For 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 NIV
Debbie Puckett, San Antonio, TX
“Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things.” Philippians 4:8 NASB
Megan; Raleigh, NC
“Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus” Philippians 2:5 (NIV)
Deb from Loveland, CO
Patty Swinford, Hokes Bluff AL
Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. I Corin. 15:58 NIV
“For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s.’ Romans 14:7~8 (ESV)
Rebecca Saiz, Amarillo Texas: Isaiah 43:19 NIV See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.
Suzy – Orlando, Florida
Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides You. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
Psalm 73:25-26 (NIV1984)
Donna Kline; Peabody, MA
John 14: 1 NIV
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.”
Reagan, Cowpens, SC
The LORD is with me; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?
NIV (1984)
Becky Parrish from Lynchburg, VA
You crown the year with Your bounty, and Your carts overflow with abundance. Psalm 65:11 NIV
Christa, Denver, CO
Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. Matthew 7:7-8 (NIV)
Karen from Norfolk, VA: “O Lord, you have searched me and you know me.” Psalm 139:1 NIV
Lisa from Denver
And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.
Ro 8:28 NIV
Jill from Winchester, Kentucky
Joshua 1:9, NIV
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.
Diana from Indianapolis IN
James 1:22 NIV
Do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.
Ashley from Brandon, MS : “Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually!” Psalm 105:4 ESV
Courtney De La Rosa; Dallas, TX
2 Corinthians 2:14 (ESV)
“But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.”
Laura, Little Rock, AR. “To those who have been called, who are loved by God the Father and kept by Jesus Christ: Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance.” Jude 1-2 (NIV84)
Jamie Wyatt, Georgia
I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. Psalm 139:14
King James Version (KJV)
Brittany from Danville, Illinois
We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves. NLT
Megan Heintz, Gladwin, MI Ps 34:1-2 NLT I will praise the LORD at all times. I will constantly speak his praises. I will boast only in the LORD; let all who are helpless take heart.
Karen from Reading PA “Or what woman, if she has ten silver coins and loses one of them, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search thoroughly until she finds it? Then when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’ In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels over one sinner who repents.”
Luke 15:8-10, NET
Emily, Virginia Beach
Now to Him who is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us.
Ephesians 3:20 (NAS)
Rachel ~ Athens, GA
“The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in Him.”
Lamentations 3:24 KJV
But the Advocate, 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. 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 14:27-27 NIV
Ashlee from Greensboro, NC. Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. James 1:2-3 NIV
Suzette from Fredericksburg, Texas: “For 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 NIV
Emily McAnear; Corona, California
Jeremiah 29:13 (Holman Standard Version)
“You will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart.”
Romans 13:8 Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.
Yadira Elrod from Orlando, Florida. “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord is an everlasting rock.” Isaiah 26:3-4 ESV
Sherry from Morgantown.
Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The Lord, the Lord, is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation.
Isaiah 12:2
NIV
Talia; Cincinnati, Ohio
“Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life and I will live in the house of the Lord forever.” Psalms 23:6
Talia; Cincinnati, Ohio
“Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life and I will live in the house of the Lord forever.” Psalms 23:6 (NLT)
1Thes 5:16-18 NIV
Be joyful always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
Lovely from Redlands,Ca
Looking at them, Jesus *said, “With people it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God.”
Mark 10:27 NASB
Kathy Martinez, Natalia TX
You crown the year with Your goodness, and Your paths drip with abundance. Psalm 65:11 NKJV
Julie from Newton, IA
“Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”
Romans 12:2 NLT
Starke, FL
Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; grat is your faithfulness.
Lamentations 3:22-23
Oops, NIV