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
Â
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
Zimmerman, MN
James 2:12 NLT
So whatever you say or whatever you do, remember that you will be judged by the law that sets you free.
Jenn, Orlando FL
Do not withhold your mercy from me, Lord; may your love and faithfulness always protect me. For troubles without number surround me; my sins have overtaken me, and I cannot see. They are more than the hairs of my head, and my heart fails within me. Be pleased to save me, Lord; come quickly, Lord, to help me.
Psalm 40:11-13(NIV)
O LORD, you are great, mighty, majestic, magnificent, glorious, and sovereign over all the sky and earth! You have dominion and exalt Yourself as the ruler of all. I Chr. 29:11 NET
Teresa, Austin, TX
2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV 84)
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, the old has gone, the new has come!
And in view of this, we always pray for you that our God will consider you worthy of His calling, and will, by His power, fulfill every desire for goodness.
2 Thes 1:11
Vanessa, Johnson City
12 “Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.”
John 14:12-14 NIV
Patrice Krimpelbein, Elm Grove, WI
Psalm 119:32
I will run the course of Your commandments, for you shall enlarge my heart.
NKJV
Deena from Amarillo, Texas
“So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” 2 Corinthians 4:18 NIV
~Suzie from Fort Mill, SC
And so it was that she, having waited long and endured patiently, realized and obtained what God had promised her.
Hebrews 6:15 Amplified Version
Hilary, Columbus, GA
“You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.”
Psalm 16:11 NIV
Shannon, Columbia, SC
“My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” – Colossians 2:2-3 (NIV)
Michelle from Waterloo, ON, Canada
Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. John 14:1 NIV
Jennifer Germantown, WI
“Surrender to God! Resist the Devil, and he will run from you. Come near to God, and he will come near to you.” James 4:7-8 (CEV)
Mary – Houston, TX
Psalm 77:6 NIV I remembered my songs in the night. My heart mused and my spirit inquired:
Rebecca
Owasso OK
John 13:16 NIV
“I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.”
Lyndsey, NC
Psalm 18:30
New International Version (NIV)
30 As for God, his way is perfect:
The Lord’s word is flawless;
he shields all who take refuge in him.
Heather from Hayden al: We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. 2 Cor 10:5 NASB
Keely from Hermann, MO: Hebrews 10:24 NIV “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds,
Tonia Booker in Meridian, ID
NKJ
2Corinthians 4:7-9
We have this in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.
Connie
Greene, IA
If your eyes shift their focus from yourselves to others—to judge how they are doing—you have already condemned yourselves! You don’t realize that you are pointing your fingers at others for the exact things you do as well.
Romans 2:1
The Voice
-from Littlestown, PA
änd every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”- Philippians 2:11
Alyse Woodstock, GA
“Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.”
Hebrews 10:22-23 NIV
Katherine, Atlanta, GA
With all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Ephesians 4:2-3 ESV
Crissy Wright, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Behold, You desire truth in the inner being; make me therefore to know wisdom in my inmost heart. (Psalm 51:6 AMP)
Brandy, San Angelo, TX
“Live in harmony with each other.”
Romans 12:16 NLT
Betty Clark, Ann Arbor, MI “Truly my soul finds rest in God; my salvation comes from Him.” Psalm 62:1 NIV
Melissa, Vicksburg, MS: “Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes.” Ephesians 1:4 NLT
Angie, Chillicothe, MO “You, Lord, give perfect peace to those who keep their purpose firm and put their trust in You.” Is 26:3, GNT. (Verse #11, oops.)
Heidi from Idaho
Philippians 4:6-7
The Message (MSG)
Do not fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.
Susan from Greensburg:
“For the LORD gives wisdom, and from His mouth come knowledge and understanding.” Prov 1:6
Suzy – Atlanta
20: For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope
21: that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.
Romans 8:20, 21 – ESV
Amy
Tyler, TX
Finishing James!!!
My brothers and sisters, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring that person back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of their way will save them from death and cover over a multitude of sins.
James 5:19-20 (NIV)
Cathy, Dallas
“Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.” -Psalm 27:14 (NIV)
Nancy from St. Petersburg
” A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.” NIV
But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with eagles, They shall run and not be weary , They shall walk and not faint.
Isaiah 40:31 NKJV
Selena – Cordele, GA
And we have this command from Him: the one who loves God must also love his brother. 1 John 4:21, HCSB
HCSB Jer. 33:3 “Call to me and I will tell you great and incomprehenshible things you do not know.”
Gwyn Tidwell of Haslet, Tx
He answered, “Love the LORD your GOD with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength and with all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself.”
Luke 10:27 (NIV84)
Carol, Hartley, IA
Isaiah 12:5-6
Sing to the Lord, for He has done glorious things; let this be known to all the world. Shout aloud and sing for joy, people of Zion, for great is the Holy One of Israel among you. NIV
Sorry for the delay, I was on vacation.
Barb, Kentwood MI
“You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you.” Isa 26:3 NIV84
Amanda, White Hall, Arkansas
If only you will respond to my rebuke, then I will pour out my thoughts to you and I will make my words known to you. Proverbs 1:23, NET
Diane – Durham, NC
O our God, will You not judge them? For we are powerless before this great multitude who are coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are on you.
2 Chronicles 20:12
Rene’ , Edmond, OK
For our God is a devouring fire.
Heb. 12:29 NLT
Dana
Clarksville, TN
Lamentations 3:25 NIV
“The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him;”
Angie, Chillicothe, MO “Come close and whisper your answer. I really need you.” Ps 55:2, MSG.
Virginia in Elgin, Tx
I have glorified You on the earth by completing the work You gave Me to do.
John 17:4 NLT
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
Ephesians 3:20-21, NIV
Crystal- Gridley, IL
Becky Bell
Westerville, Oh
“Perhaps the reason he was separated from you for a little while was that you might have him back forever – no longer as a slave but – better than a slave – as a dear brother.”
Philemon 1:15
Kate from Windsor, PA
“Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward.”
~Hebrews 10:35
Kristin V from Greenwood, IN: In you, Lord my God, I put my trust. Psalm 25:1 NIV