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
Sheila, Bethesda, MD. “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
Nancy from Evansville, IN
The Lord makes firm the steps of the one who delights in Him. Psalm 37:23 NIV
Jennifer, Kodak, TN
Glory in His holy name;
Let the heart of those who seek the Lord be glad.
1 Chronicles 16:10 NASB
Brenda, Jordan, MN
1 Peter 2:15 ESV “For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. “
There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. For He shall give his angels charge over thee,to keep thee in all thy ways.
Psalms 91:10-11 KJV
These have come so that your faith -of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire – may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.
1 Peter 1:7
Kate K., Lafayette, IN
In an effort to prod myself to get back into and stay in the Word, I’m using one of my kindergartener’s ABC memory verses:
“Come near to God, and He will come near to you.”
James 4:8a NIV
Becky Parrish, Lynchburg, Va.
Share your food with everyone who is hungry; share your home with the poor and homeless.
Isa. 58:7a CEVD
Nicole Hudnall, Lynchburg, VA
He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases. (Psalms 103:3 NLT)
Paige from Lincoln, NE
Matthew 6:34 NIV
Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of it’s own.
Kathy, Danvers
Psalm 84:5 NIV
Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
who have set their hearts on pilgrimage.
Connie,Sioux Falls SD “the joy of the Lord is my strength.” Nehemiah 8:10
Kristi, Gardner, KS
Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ. Philippians 3:8 NLT
Laura, Townsend, Ma
“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 NET
Gerri, Des Moines, WA
For “All men are like grass and all their glory is like the flowers of the field, the grass withers and the flowers fall but the word of the Lord stands forever”.
I Peter 1:24,25
Jennifer, Cypress, TX
Return to your rest, my soul,
for the Lord has been good to you. ~Psalm 116:7 HCSB
Jeremiah 18:4 But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping is as seemed best to him. NIV
Jaime Turner from Nederland, TX
“Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; but we will remember the name of the Lord our God.” ~Psalm 20:7 (NKJV)
Wendy, Harrodsburg, Kentucky
As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. Just as a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him. Psalm 103:12-13 NASB
Emily Bravenec from Glenn Heights, TX
“Taste and see that the Lord is good;blessed is he one who takes refuge in Him.”-Psalm 34:8 NIV
Shellie P.
Spokane, WA
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,
Romans 8:1 NIV
P.S. I relapsed and am too ashamed to go back to my groups, so it seemed appropriate.
Kira, Ray, MI
Deuteronomy 6:7 ESV
You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you more down and when you rise.
Jennifer, Fairfax VA
James 4:7 (NIV)
Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Jen Evans Seville, Ohio
Psalms 103:5 NIV
I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits,  and in his word I put my hope.
Psalm 147:3 “The Lord heall the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.”
Tara
Greensboro, NC
We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God: those who are called according to His purpose.
Romans 8:28
HCSB
Schel, Bayou Vista, TX, “Lord, you have assigned my portion and my cup: you have made my lot secure. Psalm 16:5 (NIV)
Gay Beck, Plain City, OH
Numbers 6:24-26 (NIV)
24 “The LORD bless you and keep you;
25 the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you;
26 the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace.”
Cindy, Beaumont, TX: So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will uphold you with My righteous right hand. Isaiah 41:10 NKJV
Donna Pritchett, Arab, Alabama
And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” (Acts 16:31 ESV)
Tessa – Nacogdoches TX
And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures.
Luke 24:45 NKJ
Amanda
Chandler, AZ
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.
Ephesians 2:3-4, ESV
Work on memorizing the book of James this year!
James 1:16-18
16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers.
17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.
18 Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.
ESV
Jeannine Hale
Eagan, MN
The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice.
John 10:2-4 (NIV)
Anne from Glen Allen, VA
The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
Psalm 34:18 NIV
Linda – Birmingham
Do you know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize. Run in such a way as to get the prize.
1 Corinthians 9: 24. NIV
Cindy from Sisters Or
And we know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.
Acts 8:28 Net
“Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. Do everything in love.”
1st Corinthians 16:13-14 (NIV)
Kelly P.
Concord, NC
Psalms 91:3-4 NIV
3.Surely he will save you
from the fowler’s snare
and from the deadly pestilence.
4 He will cover you with his feathers,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
Nancy Keeton from Knoxville, TN
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.
Romans 8:28 NIV
Samantha from Texarkana, AR
And He will be the stability of your times, A wealth of salvation, wisdom and knowledge; The fear of the Lord is his treasure. (Isaiah 33:6 NASB)
If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.
James 1:5 (niv)
Zachariah 9:12 NLT
On this very day, I promise you I will bless you two times for each of your troubles!!
J.J., Longmont, CO
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
(NIV)
16 Rejoice always, 17 pray continually, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
Mary Margaret, Franklin, TN
“Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” (Lamentations 3:22-23 NIV)
For to me to live is Christ and to die us gain.
Philippians 1:21 NIV
Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. Galatians 6:2 ESV
Shannon, Tyler, Tx “Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” Colossians 3:2-3 NASB
Jana, Brenham, TX
2 Corinthians 2:15-16, NIV
“For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are an aroma that brings death; to the other, an aroma that brings life. And who is equal to such a task?”
Betty, Austin, Texas, Who, then is the man that fears the Lord? He will instruct him in the way chosen for him. Psalm 25:12 NIV