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
Tina from Chesapeake, VA – “When I am afraid, I will trust in You.” Psalm 56:3(NIV84)
“Many are the plans in a mans heart but it is the Lords purpose that prevails”
Proverbs 19 v 21 NIV
Tanya, From Lorton, Virginia
I remain confident of this:I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.
Psalm 27:13(NIV)
For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we throught the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope. Romans15:4, NKJ
Britney– Concord, NC
And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. -2 Corinthians 9:8 (NIV)
Anne, Simpsonville, SC “Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. Pray in the spirit at all times and on every occasion.” Ephesians 6:17-18a. NLT
Jennifer, North Charleston, SC:
“Cast your anxieties on him because he cares for you.”
1 Peter 5:7, NIV
Jill from Winter Haven, FL
“Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering;” Colossians 3:12 NKJV
Kay – Anderson, IN
“The One who calls you is faithful and He will do it.”
God bless !!!!
Colossians 1:4
Amplified Bible (AMP)
4 For we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus [[a]the leaning of your entire human personality on Him in absolute trust and confidence in His power, wisdom, and goodness] and of the love which you [have and show] for all the saints (God’s consecrated ones),
Annette, San Diego
“The Lord is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me?”
Psalm 118:6 KJV
Maria Cristina Bruschi
Orlando, Florida
“Let us, therefore, come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” – Hebrews 4:16 – NKJV
Kerry from Houston, TX:
Who is like the Lord our God,
Who is enthroned on high,
Who humbles Himself to behold
The things that are in heaven and in the earth?
Psalms 113:5,6 NASB
Taylor, Temple, TX
“For I am the Lord, your God, the Holy one of Israel, your Savior.” Isaiah 43:3a (NIV)
Marianne –
from Carrolton,TX
casting down imaginations, and every high thing that is exalted against the knowledge of God, and bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ; (2 Corinthians 10:5 ASV)
Concetta, White Oak, Psalms 62:5 (NCV)
“I find rest in God; only he gives me hope.” Amen!
Vickie, Baytown, Texas
But let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious. 1 Peter 3:4 (English Standard Version)
Nadine Fry, Morton, UK
He will not allow your foot to slip;
your Protector will not slumber.
Indeed, the Protector of Israel
does not slumber or sleep.
Psalm 121: 3 and 4 HCSB
Christy, Jonesboro, AR (for Arkansas, not Arizona)
1 Peter 2:9 NIV: But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
Lori, Owasso, OK
Proverbs 31:15-16 NLT
15 She gets up before dawn to prepare breakfast for her household
and plan the day’s work for her servant girls.
16 She goes to inspect a field and buys it;
with her earnings she plants a vineyard.
Dayna, Bedford, VA
Pray at all times in the Spirit with every prayer and request, and stay alert in this with all perseverance and intercession for all the saints. Ephesians 6:18 HCSB
Kassie Dulin from Southlake, TX
“I rejoice at Your word as one who finds great treasure.” (Psalm 119:162, NKJV)
Sharon of Mineola, Texas
So we keep on praying for you, asking our God to enable you
to live a life worthy of his call. May he give you the power to
accomplish all the good things your faith prompts you to do.
June 16, 2013. NLT
Beth,Troy
“Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.”
Hebrews 10:23(NIV)
Ally, Houston.
“Teach me how you want me to live; lead me along a level path because of those who wait to ambush me!…Where would I be if I did not believe I would experience the Lord’s favor in the land of the living?”
Psalm 27:11,13 NET
“Wait for the Lord;
be strong and take heart
and wait for the Lord.”
Psalm 27:14 NIV
Susan Bymaster, Ames, OK.
Don’t lose sight of my words. Let them penetrate deep within your heart for they bring life and radiant health to anyone who discovers their meaning.
Prob. 4:21-22 NLT
It’s in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Ephesians 1:11 MSG
Emma from Olathe, KS
“I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins. (Isaiah 43:25 ESV)
Kristen, Largo, FL “Let the Lord’s people show Him reverence, for those who honor Him will have all they need.” Psalm 34:9 NAS
Midge, Atlanta/Florence, SC “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.”
Hebrews 10:23(NIV)
Karlys, La Place, LA
is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her;
those who hold her fast are called blessed.
Proverbs 3:18 ESV
Shauna, Aurora, NE James 3:17 “But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial, and sincere.” ESV
mckenzie, new orleans
You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. 1John 4:4 NIV
Melanie, Arkansas
“Let them praise HIS name with dancing, making melody to HIM with tambourine and lyre! For the LORD takes pleasure in HIS people; HE adorns the humble with salvation.”
Psalms 149:3-4 NKJV
Amy Storms
Santa Clarita, CA
In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.
Ephesians 3:12
Jamie, Coupeville, WA
Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
Romans 12:1-2
D’Anne, Loganville, GA You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. (1 John 4:4 NIV)
Anne, Frisco, TX
The Lord turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have…Am I not sending you?”
Judges 6:14 NIV
Though the fig tree does not bud
And there are no grapes on the vines,
Though the olive crop fails
And the fields produce no food
Though there is no sheep on the pen
And no cattle in the stalls,
Yet I will rejoice in The Lord
I will be joyful in god my savior
Habakkuk 3: 17-18
Jess R, Katy, Tx
For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. – Philippians 1:21 NKJ
Melody, Cleburne, TX
“Many plans are in a man’s heart, but the counsel of the Lord will stand.”
Proverbs 19:21
Elsie – Scottsbluff NE
I am not ashamed of the gospel,because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.
Romans 1:16 NIV
Denissa C. Brownfield, TX
For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Matthew 20:28 NLT
Tracey, Encinitas
Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord;
keep watch over the door of my lips.
Let not my heart be drawn to what is evil,
to take part in wicked deeds.
Psalm 141:3-4 NIV
Sierra T, Salt Lake City, UT
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 through wordless groans. Romans 8:26 NIV
Danita Tippet, Lake in the Hills, IL
Luke 18:13-14 ESV
But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Becky, Chattanooga, TN
” Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.”
1 Thessalonians 5:18 NLT
Cari, Alexandria, LA
“Who is like you, Lord God Almighty? You, Lord, are mighty, and your faithfulness surrounds you.”
Psalm 89:8 NIV
Rachel Owasso, OK
1 Chronicles 29:11 NET
O Lord, you are great, mighty, majestic, magnificent, glorious, and soverign over all the sky and earth! You have dominion and exalt yourself as the ruler of all.
Sacha, Midland, TX
1 Timothy 1:5 (ESV)
“The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.”