Hey Sweet Things! I’m putting this post up an evening early so I don’t have to be up and working at 7:00 AM on a Saturday morning off. Smiling. Thank you for understanding! Don’t stress if the comments aren’t moderated right away. We take it a little slower on weekends so nobody’s working nonstop.
I wish I had a way to add some great celebratory music to this post. You are officially halfway! Doesn’t that feel fabulous? Oh, come on, now. Let yourself feel it. Great job, Sisters! It’s not easy. We know we can do the second half because we have already done the first.  And we’ll do this next half exactly the same way: through the unction of the Holy Spirit. Just keep choosing Scriptures that are speaking to you in your exact season and need and they’ll come alive in the marrow of your bones.
I feel like I’ve been talking to you all day because I think of you while writing the lessons for the Bible study underway. We have hashed some things out in the Scriptures today, Sister. You just couldn’t hear them. I’ll just be glad when some of you are sitting on the other side of that page talking back. When I was at the taping for Children of the Day in May, we explained to the group that it would be a whole calendar year before the study comes out. The process takes a long time, especially because it involves both written work and video. We also have to dodge around a travel schedule that is set in calendar-stone a good bit in advance. But, in the twinkling of an eye, another month has already passed. The very last of the manuscript is due in December so you’ll not waste a prayer on me between now and then. I don’t get to write every week because I am on the road more often this time of year so each day I get to sit with my Bible open to 1st and 2nd Thessalonians is a gift. And a brain cracker at times.
You and I have plenty to do before next May, however! I so hope many of you are doing the Gideon Bible study this summer with us that our gifted sister, Priscilla Shirer wrote. It’s tremendously powerful. I saw one of you give her a shout-out today on Twitter with the hashtag #Siestaville at the end of it. It made me so happy. God has graced us with such anointed messengers at this hour in the Body of Christ, men and women alike. Hasn’t He? It has been my privilege to study under a number of them with you and to hear about many others from you. Our discipleship worlds are so much bigger when we’re willing to come together. Otherwise, we sit tight in all our own little corners and have no idea how many people God has gifted to serve the Body. We cheat ourselves when we separate ourselves.
OK, Sisters, are you ready to log in your 12th verses? I’m choosing mine from a sermon Curtis’s good friend, Jerrell Altic, brought in Curtis’s absence last Sunday at our church. His primary text was Mark 1 but he tied in a verse that really jumped out at me. I love the Book of Philemon and have taught out of it several times in the last two years but that’s the beauty of living words. A Scripture will suddenly pop off the page that had somehow been veiled from our recognition before. I’d been so taken with phrases like “yet for love’s sake” in verse 9 that I’d missed the treasure of V.6, and who couldn’t get distracted by a verse like the 15th? “For this perhaps is why he was parted from you for a while, that you might have him back forever.” I bet some of you have a pretty slack-jawing testimony of that very concept under your own roof.
But when Jerrell referenced this verse, I knew it was my choice for our 12th round of SSMT. In fact, don’t tell but I jotted it immediately on the yellow notes app of my iPhone, took a screen shot and made it my screen saver right then. Sometimes a “now” word is like RIGHT NOW. Here it goes:
Beth, Houston. “I pray that the faith you share with us may deepen your understanding of every blessing that belongs to you in Christ.” Philemon 1:6 The NET Bible
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I want God to deepen my understanding of every blessing that belongs to me in Christ while I’m here plowing into some stubborn earthly soil with sweat sopping my forehead. Don’t you? I’m so thankful to be blessed but wouldn’t fleshing it out be a whole different prospect if we came to understand the depth and breadth of many of those blessings? To stand on them, act on them, pray from them, teach from them, love from them, and serve through them? Now we’re talking.
Colossians 2:2-3 gives a glimpse into the grandeur involved as the Apostle Paul prays “that their (and our) hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”
Look at that again: “the riches of full assurance of understanding.” We can’t soon wrap our minds around all that encompasses but we can instantly and actively start praying for God to deepen our understanding of the blessings that belongs to us in the One who embodies every divine and hidden treasure.
I’m making these prayers mine and I am looking for God to answer them. He wouldn’t dictate a prayer right there on the pages of the New Testament that He had no intention of responding to.
I love working through some verses and concepts with you, Sisters. You are so dear to me. Thank you for spending a little time around here and committing to something challenging in the midst of many priorities. I pray that every part of your life is invaded by the Word of God coursing through your brain. May God bring your harvest forth 100-fold.
It’s your turn, Sisters! Give me a hint about what Christ is doing in you right now through the selections of your verses. You are so loved.
Tags: Scripture Memory 2013
Dianne Jones, Fairfield, CA – “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in Me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing.”
John 15:5 (NIV)
Christy from Holland, MI
He will be like a tree planted by the water that sent outs its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has not worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit. Jeramiah 17:8 NIV
Stormy, Lynchburg, VA
Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my concerns. Psalm 139:23 NIV
Kathy
Shattuck, OK
Psalm 139:12 “even the darkness will not be dark to you, the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is a light to you.” (NIV)
Erika from McKinney, “As for me and my house, we will serve The Lord.” Joshua 24:15 NIV
Kaye,Hamburg,AR
“Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” Hebrews 4:16 NIV
Christy, Summit, MS; “Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, O LORD, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all.” 1 Chronicles 29:11 NIV
Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer
any offering for sin. Hebrews 10:18 ESV
From Houston, TX
Not pilfering, but showing all good faith so that they will adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in every respect. Titus 2:10 NASB
Margo Burlington ON
But be sure to fear the Lord and serve himm faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things he has done for you. 1 Sam 12:24 NIV
Cara – Fridley, MN
May the Lord lead your hearts into a full understanding and expression of the love of God and the patient endurance that comes from Christ.
2 Thess 3:5 NLT
Tracey Moyers from Loganville, GA
“Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe”
Hebrews 12:28 NIV
Eva from Derby, KS
She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness.
Prov. 31:26 KJV
Katie Melton from Loganville, GA
“Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe”
Hebrews 12:28 NIV
Deidra – Waynesboro
Psalm 65:11 NKJV
You crown the year with Your goodness, and Your paths drip with abundance.
Psalms 63:3 KJV
Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you.
Karla Dumal
Gulfport, MS
He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. Hebrews 5:8 KJV
Kathleen, Georgetown,TX
Philippians 4:6 NIV 84
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
Lyli, Fort Lauderdale:
“For sound advice is a beacon, good teaching is a light, moral discipline is a life path” (Proverbs 6:23, MSG).
Mary Soisson, Barboursville, VA
He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
Psalm 91:1, KJV
Wendi
Kathleen, GA
If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
Romans 10:9
Connor, Spicewood,TX
Romans 12:2 NIV84
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.
Marsha – Lees Summit, MO
For God has not given us a spirit of fear but of power and of love and of a sound mind. 2 Timothy 1:7. NKJ
Lindsay: Hollywood, FL “Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.” Psalm 37:3 (ESV)
Andrea, Louisville,KY
“He will be the sure foundation for your times,
A rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge;
The fear of The Lord is the key to this treasure.”
Isaiah 33:6 NIV
Cassia, Spring, TX
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
Colossians 1:15 NIV
The Lord is good, a stronghold in times of trouble; he knows those who take refuge in him. Nahum 1:7
Landry, Georgetown,TX
2 Peter 1:3 NIV
God’s power gives us everything we need to lead a godly life.
Jonda, Shakopee, MN
Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.
Galations 6:7-8 NIV
Tina, Zalma,MO, I can do all things through Christ who strengtheneth me. Phillipians 4:13 (KJV)
Temple, TX
Colossians 3:17 NIV
“And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of The Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.”
Matthew 6:33 “See the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. New Living Translation
Jane, Gulfport, MS – “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.” John 14:16-17 (NASB)
Nicole, Tucson: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” Matthew 5:9 (NIV)
Amy Brown
New Palestine, IN
“So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love.” – 1 Corinthians 13:3b MSG
Cathy, Fridley; The rain and the snow come down from the heavens and stay on the ground to water the earth. They cause the grain to grow, producing seed for the farmer and bread for the hungry. It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it. Isaiah 55:10-11 NLT
Carole from Webb City, MO:
Ecclesiastes 3:1-4 For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; asv
Kelly, Jackson, MI:
“There will be silence before You, and praise in Zion, O God. And to you the vow will be performed. O You who hear prayer, to You all men will come.” Psalm 65:1-2, NASB.
Julie, Gresham, OR
“But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:13b-14 (ESV)
Pat, Birmingham, Al
Psalm 107:32 NIV
Let them exalt Him in the assembly of the people and praise Him in the council of the elders.
Michelle K., Warner Robins, GA
All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; 2 Timothy 3:16 NASB
Desiree, Calgary, Alberta
The mind of man plans his way,
But the Lord directs his steps. Proverbs 16:9 NASB
Lisa A, Frisco, TX
“Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.” Proverbs 16:24 NIV
Sarah Wilkesboro
Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love,for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for you to lift up my soul.
Psalm 143:8 NIV
Nicole Turnquist – Selden, NY
Search me, God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.
Psalm 139:23-24 (NIV)
Michelle, Warner Robins GA
But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul. (Deuteronomy 4:29 NIV)
Rebecca, Louisa, VA: Jesus looked at them and said,
“With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.” ~ Mark 10:27 (NIV)
Mia from Burlington, VT
” Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess,
for he who promised is faithful.”
Hebrews 10:23 NIV
Punky Tolson, Dallas, TX
The friendship of the Lord is for those who fear him, and he makes known to them his covenant. (Psalm 25:14, ESV)
Amber Comeaux
Katy TX
Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever! (1 Chronicles 16:34 ESV)