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
Melanie, Armuchee, GA
“And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.” Colossians 3:15 (ESV)
April, Diboll.
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly
Colossians 3:16a(NKJV)
Sandra
Wichita Falls, TX
“I know You can do all things; no purpose of Yours can be thwarted.”
Job 42:2 NIV
The God of peace will soon crush satan under your feet.
Roman 16:20a niv
Ellen, Aurora, OH
“The steps of a man are established by the Lord, and He delights in his ways.”
Psalm 37:23
Connie Windham
Trout, LA
Psalm 119:15-16 NASB
I will meditate on Your precepts and regard Your ways.
I shall delight in Your statutes; I shall not forget Your word.
Anne | Phoenix | And I keep praying that this faith we hold in common keeps showing up in the good things we do, and that people recognize Christ in all of it. | Philemon 1:6 | The Message
Allison L., Tulsa, OK
Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen. Ephesians 3:20-21 NASB
Shelly Hough
Gordon, Texas
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
Terry, Indianapolis, IN
Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today.
Exodus 14:13 ESV
Jennifer, Medford, OR
Anxiety in the heart of a man weighs it down, but a good word makes it glad.
Proverbs 12:25 (NASB)
Jo Ann, Philadelphia. “Do not deliver me over to the desire of my adversaries; For false witnesses have risen against me, and such as breath out violence.” Psalm 27:12 (NASB)
“The Lord watches over you–the Lord is your shade at your right hand;” Psalm 121:5 (NIV)
Marsha, Jefferson, ME
“Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit…” (Ephesians 4:2-3 NLT).
Nancy, Lufkin, TX. My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry. James 1:19 (NIV)
Amanda from Plano, TX
Isaiah 32:8 ESV
“But he who is noble plans noble things, and on noble things he stands.”
Julie, Holland, Michigan
Sow your seed in the morning, and at evening let your hands not be idle, for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or whether both will do equally well.
Ecclesiastes 11:6 NIV
Nancy, Sanger, TX
To you, O Lord, I life up my soul. O my God, in you I trust; let me not be put to shame; let not my enemies exult over me. Psalm 25:1,2 (ESV)
Madeleine,Corrales: Yous Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the splendor and the majesty for everything in the heavens and and on the earth belongs to you. 1 Chornicles 29:11 HCSB
Marilyn Gadsden Al
He is my loving God and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield in whom I take refuge,
Ps 144:2 NIV
Jolene, Suwanee, GA
“We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain,where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.” Hebrews 6:19-20 NIV
“but He said to me, my grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christs power may rest on me.”
2 corinthians 12:9
Debbie, Spartanburg, SC
“Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few.”
Ecclesiastes 5:2 NIV
Vicki from Wilmington, DE
2 Samuel 22: 32
“For who is God, except the LORD? And who is a rock except our God?”
NKJV
Chandler, Arizona
“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6.21
Kay, Tucson, AZ. Psalm 23:1 KJV. “The Lord is my Shepard; I shall not want.”
Paula, Okc, OK: “You shall have no other gods before me.” Exodus 20:3 NIV
Cathy, Russellville, AR
Devote yourself to prayer being watchful and thankful.
Colossians 4:2 NIV
As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.
Is 55:9 (NIV)
Julie, Easley, SC
Rachel in Thoussnd Oaks, CA.
“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
Johnnie, Hammond, LA
Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful.”
Hebrews 10:23(NIV
Erin
Chippewa Falls WI
“Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.”
Eph 4:29 NIV
Paige, Plano, TX
“Do not despise these small beginnings, for The Lord rejoices to see the work begin, to see the plumb line in Zerubbabel’s hand.” Zechariah 4:10 (NIV)
Nikki, Houston, TX
“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
John 1:14 NIV
Melina, OKC, OK
In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps.
—Proverbs 16:9 NKJV
Becky Jo
Chesterfield MI
So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin. James 4:17 ESV
(and that is four chapters down!!!! One to go!)
Saige, Shreveport, LA
“Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it cannot hear” – Isaiah 59:1 (ESV)
Diana Anderson, Greenville, KY “I spread out my hands to you; I thirst for you like a parched land.” Psalm 143:6 NIV
2 Samuel 22:33
“For You are my lamp, O Lord; The Lord shall enlighten my darkness.” NKJV
Julie dk in Casper, WY
“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.”
Colossians 3:12 NIV
And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:13 KJV
Linda S
McCalla, AL
“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”
Matthew 6:1-4 ESV
Cherilyn M., Colfax NC
“O Lord, You are great, mighty, majestic, magnificent, glorious and sovereign over all the sky and earth! You have dominion and exalt yourself as ruler of all.”
1 Chronicles 29:11 NET
James 1:19 NLT Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry.
Pam Hamilton, OH
1 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
Ps. 1:1 (KJV)
Lift up your eyes on high and see: who created these?
He who brings out their host by number,
calling them all by name, by the greatness of his might,
and because he is strong in power not one is missing.
(Isaiah 40:26 NASB)
Sing to God! Sing praises to his name! Exalt the one who rides the clouds! The Lord is his name. Celebrate before him! Father of orphans and defender of widows is God in his holy habitation.
Psalm 68:4-5 Common English Bible
Corinne in Chehalis, Washington
Melissa Emma, Scarborough, Maine: “This is what the LORD says–your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: I am the LORD your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go.” Isaiah 48:17, NIV
Riverton UT
And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, (Philippians 1:9, 10 NIV)
Anna McCollister
New Palestine, IN
Micah 6:8 ESV
“He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does The Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”