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
Joni from Clarinda, IA
My soul, wait in silence for God only, for my hope is from Him. Psalm 62:5 NASB
Beth Wayland, from Knoxville, TN.
“The nations shall see your righteousness, and all the kings your glory, and you shall be called by a new name that the mouth of the LORD will give.
Isaiah 62:2 ESV.
Lacie, Americus
“For I know the plans 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
Kathi Johnson Spartanburg SC
3 Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. 4 Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. 5 You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Philippians 2:3-5 NLT
Hannah from Chico,TX
Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
Ephesians 5:1-2 NIV
Chrystie from Murray
You will show me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. Psalms 16:11 NKJV
Clap your hands for joy, all peoples! Praise God with loud songs! Psalms 47:1 ESV
Psalm 62:5 My soul, wait In silence for God only, for my hope is from Him.
Rhonda
Gilmer
Philemon 1-2 (NKJV)
Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother,
To Philemon our beloved friend and fellow laborer, to the beloved Apphia, Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the church in your house:
For God so the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever beleives in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
John 3:16 NIV
Lois from Houma, LA
We also pray that you will be strengthened with all his glorious power, so that you will have all the endurance and patience you need. May you be filled with joy, always thanking the Father.
Colossians 1:11 NLT
Ladonna from Cottondale, AL: “Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.” Isaiah 46:4, NIV
Keep and guard your heart with all vigilance and above all that you guard, for out of it flow the springs of life.
Proverbs 4:23 (AMP)
Connie
Greene, IA
Polly
Hong Kong
“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.”
I Corinthians 2:9
NLT
Katie Morris from Stamping Ground, KY
“Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you,”
Ephesians 4:32
NIV
Diana from Seekonk, MA
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Rom 6:23 NIV
Allison
Eau Claire, Wisconsin
John 14:26
But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and remind you of everything I have said to you.
NIV
Annette from Lee’s Summit, MO,
We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you.
Colossians 1:3, NIV
Dawn in Wausau, Wisconsin
Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 3:13-14 NIV84
Butler, OH
“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.” Zephaniah 3:17 NIV84
Joanna S. Elkhart, IN- You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you for he trusts in you. Is. 26:3 ESV
Barbara, Medina
Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.
Phil 2:3 ESV
“Let the beloved of the LORD rest secure in hIm, for he shields him all day long, and the one the LORD loves rests between his shoulders.” Deuteronomy 33:12 NIV
Beth from Niamey, Niger
The unfolding of your words gives light, it gives understanding to the simple.
Psalm 119:130 NIV
Susan from Dubach, LA. Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praise-worthy – meditate on these things. Philipppians 4:8 NKJV
Crawfordsville
Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone. (Colossians 4:6 NIV84)
Denver,CO. In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. John 1:1-2. NIV
Colleen, Cape Town, South Africa
Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one!
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
Deut 6:4-5, NASB
Magan from Lakeway, Texas
I give thanks to my God for every remembrance of you, always praying with joy for all of you in my every prayer. . .
Philippians 1:3-4 HCSB
Laurie from Oklahoma City, “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.” ESV
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? Isaiah 43:18,19
Angela Talley, Murfreesboro Tennessee
May integrity and uprightness preserve me, for I wait for you. Psalm 25:21 ESV
Jane from Geneseo, Illinois
He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.
Isaiah 40:29 NIV
Cheryl from Kokomo, IN.
“Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.
Luke 6:37 NIV
Karen Ferguson from Houston TX.
Psalm 62:5 My soul, wait In silence for God only, for my hope is from Him. NAS
Janet from St. Louis
Philippians 2:1 (NIV)
1 If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion,
Katie, Atlanta, GA
Ephesians 1:4 “Long before He laid down earth’s foundations, He had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of His love, to be made whole and holy by His love.” (The Message)
sheridan, wy. You crown the year with your bounty, and your carts overflow with abundance. Psalm 65:11 NIV
Cindy from Biloxi, MS
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
Bekah from Marion….Behold you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart. – Psalm 51.6 ESV
LaDonna from Tickfaw, Louisiana
But I trust in your unfailing love. I will rejoice because you have rescued me. I will sing to the LORD because he is good to me.
Psalm 13:5,6 NLT
Courtney from Edmond, OK
For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. Ephesians 2:10 NLT
Sherry from Walnut Cove, NC
Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable– if there is any moral excellence and if there is any praise– dwell on these things.
Philippians 4:8 HCSB
Maggie from Tulsa, The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him. Lamentations 3:25 NKJV
Kim Smith from Senatobia, MS
Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.
Philippians 2:3 ESV
Susan Marie from Houston, TX
“When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought joy to my soul.” Psalm 94:14 NIV
Karen, Ponte Vedra, Florida
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses so that the power of Christ may rest on me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships and calamaties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
2 Corinthians 12:9-10 (ESV)
Melissa Spitzig.
Wichita, Kansas
Because of The Lord’s faithful love we do not perish, for His mercies never end. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness! (Lamentations 3:22, 23 HCSB)
Whitney from Cape Girardeau, MO
“Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.
Eph. 4:29, NIV
Pam from Mazie, KY
“Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts.”
Jeremiah 15:16 KJV