Hey, Darling Things! I was so happy to catch up with many of you yesterday! I was seriously thirsty for some time with you. If you didn’t tune in to the livestream but want to catch up, check the previous post. The video will stay up for a little while. It’s not at all too late to watch it and leave a comment with your 5-song playlist (on that post, not this one please!). That post is about trading in a spirit of despair for a garment of praise! If you’re game for that, jump back to the previous entry after you’ve left your memory verse here.
Man, oh, man, I was tested all day long yesterday on whether or not I’d permit Jesus to cover me with a garment of praise. Anybody else? The day wasn’t complete until I had car trouble. Oh, and I almost forgot to throw in here that Star and Geli were bound and determined to have my raccoon for supper. I screamed to high heaven and Keith ran out in the sticks barefooted in his maroon Texas A&M pajama pants and called them off. Why the police didn’t drive up to see if there had been domestic violence, I’ll never know. Laughing. Oh, mercy, ladies. We live real lives, don’t we? The kind where you unload a dishwater that was crammed full of dishes only to realize late into the massive unloading that they were still dirty. Blast it.
I’m praising our glorious God this morning while it is still dark outside, anticipating that over the next half hour the sun will rise on a brand new day and it will be a great one. A great one, indeed, Lord Jesus. Bring it. And show Your beautiful self to us in its course.
SO, SISTERS, IT’S TIME FOR OUR 5TH VERSE! You are jotted in my prayer journal this morning where I asked God to keep you steadfastly at the process and to give you joy and victory in it and to keep your soul alive and healthy in His Word. Do not grow weary in your well doing! Always keep in mind that we’re wearing our obsessive minds out on SOMETHING. It may as well be the Word of God with the power to build it back up! Your God did not give you a spirit of fear, Sweet Thing, but of…
POWER.
LOVE.
SELF CONTROL.
I thought maybe some of you could use some fresh ideas this round so I’m going to put a few extras in here today. Two of these are from the Psalm I read to you at the conclusion of the livestream yesterday. The beauty of the first selection is that it would count for both your Scriptures this month since it’s two verses. Now, mind you, you’d still have to document the second half of it on March 15th but that’s easy to do. Right? I felt like God put a word on my heart yesterday that some of us who are really struggling with the memorization process might be making it a bit harder than it has to be in some of our selections. Try to avoid over-complicating it when possible. Only choose a really complex portion when you feel like your life and sanity depend on it and, in that case, go for it with all your might and ask God to empower you to absorb it. OK, here goes:
(1) It is good to give thanks to the LORD, to sing praises to Your name, O Most High; (v.2) to declare Your steadfast love in the morning, and Your faithfulness by night. Psalm 92:1-4 ESV (See how easy those two would be, Sisters? And it would knock out your whole month of March!)
I’ll go ahead and choose the second one (out of the same Psalm) for my selection this March 1st. I’m choosing The NET Bible for my translation on this one because it makes me happy to use the word happy in a Bible verse. Thank you, Miss Shameless Sanguine.
Beth, Houston. “For You, O Lord, have made me HAPPY by Your work. I will sing for joy because of what You have done.” Psalm 92:4 The NET Bible
I’ll throw in one more because I jotted it down on an index card several months ago and set it on my desk at home where I can see it everyday while I’m having my quiet time. It hasn’t finished its work in me yet so, while it’s still on my mind, I’ll offer it up as one more possibility for some of you. I love, love, love this verse in The Message.
GOD, the Master, The Holy of Israel,
has this solemn counsel:
“Your salvation requires you to turn back to me
and stop your silly efforts to save yourselves.
Your strength will come from settling down
in complete dependence on me.” Isaiah 30:15 The Message
Well, amen to that.
I love you guys so much! That sun is just beginning to peak through the trees. It’s going to be a great day.
Tags: Scripture Memory 2013
Emily, Abu Dhabi
Finally, brothers and sisters, 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
Dawn, Raleigh, NC, Ephesians 6:16 “above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.” NKJV
Heather, Mt. Pleasant:
Me, too, Beth. I need this verse to remind me I stand in surrendered Grace:
GOD, the Master, The Holy of Israel,
has this solemn counsel:
“Your salvation requires you to turn back to me
and stop your silly efforts to save yourselves.
Your strength will come from settling down
in complete dependence on me.” Isaiah 30:15 The Message
Cheryl, Coffeyville, KS
“Better to live on a corner of the roof than share a house with a quarrelsome wife.” Proverbs 21:9 NIV84
Maureen, Pascoag, RI
We love, because He first loved us.
1 John 4:19 NASB
Theresa E from Oakland Township, MI
“I trust in you;
do not let me be put to shame,
nor let my enemies triumph over me.”
Psalm 25:2 NIV
Kristi Tomlinson, Athens, TX
“The Lord God has given Me
The tongue of the learned,
That I should know how to speak
A word in season to him who is weary
He awakens Me morning by morning,
He awakens My ear
To hear as the learned.”
Isaiah 50:4 NKJV
Teresa from Walla Walla “But blessed are those who trust in the LORD and have made the LORD their hope and confidence.” Jeremiah 17:7 NLT
“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
I Corinthians 10:23-24 NIV
Everything is permissible-but not everything is beneficial. Everything is permissible-but not everything is constructive. Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others.
Chrissy
San Tan Valley, Arizona
“Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me.” John 14:1 NLT
DeeDee in Tallahassee, FL — “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” Heb. 4:15 NIV
Suzanne Bailey, Harrisville, RI
Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O LORD, God of hosts.
Jeremiah 15:16 ESV
Kim
Warrensburg, MO
James 1:16-21 (NLT)
16 So don’t be misled, my dear brothers and sisters. 17 Whatever is good and perfect comes down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow. 18 He chose to give birth to us by giving us his true word. And we, out of all creation, became his prized possession.
19 Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. 20 Human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires. 21 So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your souls.
“I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted.” Job42:2 (NIV84)
Kathy
St. Louis, MO
Darcy, Houston. “Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each other.” Colossians 4:6 NASB
Carolyn, Dover
If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.
psalm 139:11,12 NIV
Ruth, Madison GA
“But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love.” Psalm 33:18 He sees. He knows. He loves us.
Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them in the tablet of your heart. Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man. Prov. 3:3,4
NIV. Susan Clodfelter. Winston-Salem, NC
Toni, Greer, SC “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.” 2 Peter 1:3-4 NIV
Anne, Plymouth MI
Philippians 2:13 NLT. For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.
Joyce from Menifee
Let the words of my mouth and the
meditation of my heart
be acceptable in your sight,
O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer.
Psalm 19:14 (NKJ)
He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted. Job 5:9, NIV
Given that today is my birthday, this verse is perfectly fitting:
“You crown the year with your bounty; your wagon tracks overflow with abundance.” Psalm 65:11 (ESV)
Poorna Diaz
Arlington, VA
Dana Nance
Blue Ridge, TX
The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.
Isaiah 58:11 NIV
Berni, Albuquerque
“I said, ‘I will watch my ways and keep my tongue from sin;
I will put a muzzle on my mouth while in the presence of
the wicked’.” Psalm 39:1 NIV
Dawn
Mt. Olive, NC
2 Corinthians 1:9
“Indeed, we personally had a death sentence within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead.” AMEN!!
(translation-HCSB)
I have chosen you. Isaiah 41:19
Charlotte Skadal, Houston “If I flew on mornings wings to the far western horizon, You’d find me in a minute — You’re already there waiting!”
Psalm 139:9-10 The Message
Rayleigh Sun Edmond, OK
Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls. 1 Peter 1:8-9 NIV
Michelle, Watkinsville
“The LORD does not look at the things people look at.
People look at the outward appearance,
but the LORD looks at the heart’
I Samuel 16:7b (NIV)
Holly from Pratt, KS But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. (Psalm 13:5 NIV)
Martha, Clearwater, FL
“But you have insulted the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court?”
James 2 :6 NIV
Jenn, Orlando FL
In the same way, wives, be subject to your own husbands. Then, even if some are disobedient to the word, they will be won over without a word by the way you live, when they see your pure and reverent conduct. Let your beauty not be external – the braiding of hair and wearing of gold jewerly or fine clothes – but the inner person of the heart, the lasting beauty of a gentle and tranquil spirit, which is precious in God’s sight.
1 Peter 3:1-4 NET
Debbie Miller, Muskogee OK
“Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. ” I Peter 5:7 NIV
Dana, Atlanta
Psalm 118:8-9
“It is better to take refuge in the Lord, than to trust in man. It is better to take refuge in the Lord, than to trust in princes.” Psalm 118:8-9
nicole, parker, CO
Isaiah 46:4
“I have made you and I will carry you;
I will sustain you and I will rescue you.”
Ephesians 3:17 NIV
so that Christ may dwell in your heart through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
Nicole, Sturgis, MS:
“For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.”
2 Timothy 1:7 NASB
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;
fools despise wisdom and instruction.” Proverbs 1:7(ESV)
Betsy Crawford, Chapin, SC
Tracy A from Saskatoon, SK Canada:
“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.” Psalm 19:15 ESV
Lisa S.
Kinston, NC
1 John 2:16 KJV
For all that is in the world,
The lust of the flesh, and
the lust of the eyes, and the
pride of life, is not of the
Father, but is of the world.
Deborah – Port St. Joe, FL
For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
Psalm 139:13-14 NIV
Myra
Johnson City, TN
Psalm 92:4 (NET)
For you, O LORD, have made me happy
by your work. I will sing for joy because
of what you have done.
Paula, O’Fallon: “And it is He who changes the times and seasons. He deposes kings and causes kings to ascend. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding.” Daniel 2:21 RcV
Tara G.
Sherwood, AR
You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire. So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.
Matthew 5:21-26 (ESV)
For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry,”Abba! Father!”
Romans 8:15, ESV
Nicole, Bloomington, IL:
“Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths.” Psalm 25:4 ESV
Lori, Friendswood, TX
“It (LOVE) always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” 1 Cor. 13: 7 (NIV)
Pam, Tallahassee – “But seek His kingdom and these things will be provided for you.” – Luke 12:31, HCSB