Hey, all of you lovely things! It’s nearly Spring and we’re all the way to verse 6! You are doing fabulously, Sisters. We are still THOUSANDS strong on this Scripture memory team. Thousands of Swords drawn and in the hands of women who want to love and not hate, build up and not destroy, rejoice because our God is faithful and not throw ourselves in the nearest ditch because life is hard. And, boy, is it.
I think God has given me something that could be a tad fun to do this time around. Since we started off the week here on the blog talking about clothes, what do you say we end it that way? For those of you who want to come alongside this theme with me, I’m throwing out three different Scriptures about clothing ourselves. You are still welcome to do your own selections as always but, just in case some of you were still in decision-mode and this sounded fitting (pardon the pun), come along with me into the closet of Scripture and let’s come out some well-dressed women of God! I’m offering the first two selections to you in two different versions so you can choose which one resonates most.
Colossians 3:12-13 (NIV) — (As you can see, this one includes two Scriptures. You’d only need to choose one of these for Verse 6 but I thought just maybe somebody could use a fresh, strong exhortation to forgive as you’ve been forgiven. I don’t know about you but that verse is never wasted on me. If you’d like, you could do the first verse for #6 and the second verse for #7.)
12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.
12Â Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with a heart of mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, 13Â bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if someone happens to have a complaint against anyone else. Just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also forgive others.
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Now for the second set of verses on clothing ourselves. Sometimes we need to clothe ourselves in humility before we try clothing ourselves to no avail with compassion. Our pride is usually reason #1 that we don’t feel compassionate. At least it has been for me.
1 Peter 5:5 (NIV)
In the same way, you who are younger, submit yourselves to your elders. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.”
1 Peter 5:5 (The NET Bible)
In the same way, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. And all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.
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And you’ve just GOT to love Luke 24:49 in view of our clothing theme this week! Here’s the third selection out of the closet of Scripture, straight from the mouth of our Lord Jesus Christ:
Luke 24:49 NIV
 I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.
Luke 24:49 The NET Bible
And look, I am sending you what my Father promised. But stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”
Power from on high! Bless His most holy Name.
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So there you have it! Three gorgeous jackets to wear. Which one do you need to wrap around you most right now? Do you need to be clothed with compassion? Humility? Power?? He’s got you covered. But just like we do each morning, we’ve got to get dressed on purpose.
Here’s what I’ve been thinking about in view of our clothing theme. Remember all those jackets in my 5+ Year Club? Several of them I’d had for ten solid years and I’m still wearing them. When it comes to tangible clothing, that can be good stewardship. But sometimes we can do the same kind of thing spiritually and emotionally and it’s not pretty. We can keep wearing the same old jacket…
…of anger
…or of bitterness
…or of negativity
…or of chronic disappointment
…or of sensuality
…or of desperation
and we’re so used to wearing it that we throw it on automatically, without giving a thought to the fact that we really could have a whole new wardrobe. It might be time we changed the way we dressed. And this whole new incredibly expensive wardrobe of compassion, humility, and anointing has already been paid for. And it’s in your size and mine.
Yep. I’m in the mood for some new clothes.
Beth, Houston. Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with a heart of mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if someone happens to have a complaint against anyone else. Just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also forgive others. Colossians 3:12-13 The NET Bible
OK, Sisters! Let’s have it! What are you memorizing this time around???
PS. LifeWay Women’s All Access Blog did the funniest thing. They dug into the Living Proof Live archives and pulled out pictures of every single one of those jackets in Monday’s post. Some of you might get a kick out of it. Here’s the link: The Proof Is In The Jacket.
Tags: Scripture Memory 2013
Suzy Myers
Bay Springs, MS
“The fear of man lays a snare,
but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe.”
Proverbs 29:25 ESV
“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved,clothe yourselves with compassion,kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as The Lord forgave you .” Colossians 3:12-13 NIV
Mary, Palm Beach Gardens
“It does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.” 1 Corinthians 13:6 (ESV)
Yvonne, Riverside, CA
Live carefree before God; he is most careful with you.
~1 Peter 5:7 (MSG)~
Lauren, Chicago, IL
I will sing of the steadfast love of the Lord, forever; with my mouth I will make known your faithfulness to all generations. (Psalms 89:1 ESV)
Lauren Mendoza, Cypress CA
The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.
—-Zeph. 3:17—-ESV
Kali. Valrico, FL.
“For the Kingdom of God is not just a lot of talk; it is living by God’s power.”1 Corinthians 4:20 NLT
Gerri Des Moines, WA Psalms 55:3,4 NIV
When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God I trust and am not afraid. What can mere mortals do to me.
Amanda Benson, Eagle Butte, SD
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 91:5-6 NLT:
5Â
Do not be afraid of the terrors of the night,
   Â
nor the arrow that flies in the day.
6Â
Do not dread the disease that stalks in darkness,
   Â
nor the disaster that strikes at midday.
Alison Peyton-Peers Alberta Canada
Your Word tells me to be on my guard, to stand firm in the faith, to be a person of courage and to be strong.
NIV- Corinthians 16:13
Maddy from Prattville, AL
“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
Psalm 139:5-6,17
[translation is un-known, as I borrowed them from Miss Beth’s post from March 7, 2013: “He’s Got Your Back!”]
[I just KNOW THAT I KNOW, that I NEED to memorize these precious Scriptures !]
“You hem me in, behind and before, and You lay Your hand upon me. Such [infinite] knowledge is too wonderful for me. It is high; I cannot attain it… How precious to me are Your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them!”
Jennifer Olmstead
Janesville, Wisconsin
Janet – Edmond
Colossians 3:12
Bonnie, Port Orchard, WA
It is good to praise the Lord
and make music to your name, O Most High,
2 proclaiming your love in the morning
and your faithfulness at night,
NIV Psalms 92:1-2
Kristi ~ Clovis, Ca.
He made him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in him.
2 Corinthians 5:21 (NASB)
Deborah from Seward, Alaska
Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.
Psalm 27:14 NIV
Galatians 5:25 e s v
If we live by the spirit let us also walk by the spirit.
Sarah Birmingham, lambertville mi
Connie, Frydlant n.O, Czech Republic “I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.” Ephesians 3:16-17 NIV
Melissa, living in Gruitrode, Belgium
8 I have set the Lord always before me;
Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved.
(Psalm 16:8, New King James Version)
Lexington, KY
James 4:7-10 NIV
Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands you sinners, and purify your hearts you double minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter into mourning and your joy into gloom. Humble yourselves before The Lord and he will lift you up.
I have been memorizing this in parts- but this week I’m putting it all together
1 Corinthians 13:1-13 NAS
1. If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.
2. If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all the mysteries and all the knowledge: and if I have all faith so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.
3. And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.
4. Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant,
5. does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered
6. does not rejoice in unrighteousness but rejoices with the truth;
7. bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8. Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy they will be done away with; if there are tongues they will cease; if there is knowledge it will be done away.
9. For we know in part and we prophesy in part;
10. but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away with.
11. When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things.
12. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now we know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known
13. But for now, faith, hope, love, abide in these three; but the greatest of these is love.
Robyn, Kitchener ON
Colossians 3:12-13
New Living Translation (NLT)
12 Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. 13 Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.
Mary, Westfield, NJ
“For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.” (Romans 1:21 NIV)
Candis, South Bend IN, God reigneth over the heathen: God sitteth upon the throne of His holiness. Psalm 47:8 KJV
Carole McVicker
Phillipeans 4:7 NIV
And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Continue to work out your salvation with fear and tremlilng, for it is God who works in you to will and act according to His good pleasure (purpose). Do everything without complaining or arguing. Philippians 2:12-14 NIV
Angela, Houston, TX: Isaiah 30:15 (ESV)
For thus said The Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, in returning and in rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.
Megan from Salisbury, MD. You should clothe yourselves instead with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God. 1 Peter 3:4 NLT
He who restrains his words has knowledge, and he who has a cool spirit is a man of understanding. Proverbs 17:27 NAS
Erika, Hampden MA
He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still. Psalms 107: 29 ( KJV)
Jody, Huntsville, AL Romans 8:26 NIV
In the same way, the spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.
Michele from West palm beach:
3 “and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of joy
instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
a planting of the Lord
for the display of his splendor.”
Isaiah 61:3 NIV
Proverbs 30:5
Every word of God is flawless; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him.
Paula Jones
Maryville, TN
Psalm 116:12 NET — How can I repay the Lord for all His acts of kindness to me?
Stacey, Houston, TX – “Keep vigilant watch over your heart; that’s where life starts. Don’t talk out of both sides of your mouth; avoid careless banter, white lies, and gossip. Keep your eyes straight ahead; ignore all sideshow distractions. Watch your step and the road will stretch out smooth before you. Look neither right or left; leave evil in the dust.” Proverbs 4:23-27 The Message
Shirleen,Greenville, SC
Matthew 7:8 (NKJV)
For everyone who asks recieves, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.
Amy
King, NC
John 8:32 NIV
Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.
Shelley, Bolivar, Missouri
O LORD of hosts,
blessed is the one who trusts in you!
(Psalm 84:12 ESV)
Jodell, Frankfort, “Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” Mark 11:9 (b) NIV
Melody Faith, Knoxville, TN Psalm 105:4 “Search for the Lord and for his strength; continually seek Him.” (NLT)
John 10:10 (NIV):
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
The Eungard family
Brad, Gwen, Adam, Eleanor, Amelia, and Owen
Schweinfurt, Germany
Carmela from Canton, Ohio
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 NIV)
Katherine, Charlottesville, VA “My soul shall make its boast in the Lord; The humble shall hear of it and be glad.” (Psalms 34:2 NKJV)
M’Lissa, Keller, TX – Luke 6:35-36 (ESV)
But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for He is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.
Amy Lee Jones, Mt Pleasant SC
For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: “love your neighbor as yourself.”
Galatians 5:14, NLT
Julie, Lexington, KY They read from the Book of the Law of God, making it clear and giving the meaning so that the people understood what was being read. Nehemiah 8:8, NIV
Linda, Spring, Texas – How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity! Psalm 133:1 NIV
Karla, Maumee OH:
Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.
Colossians 3:12-13 (NIV)
Diane, Longmont, CO
My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, Psalm 139:16 NIV