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
Mildred from Montserrat,
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7 (NIV)
Catherine S. ~ Grants Pass, OR
“Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, His body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God…” Hebrews 10:19-21 (NIV)
Monica, Hicksville, NY.
“I [The Lord] will instruct you & teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel You with My eye upon you.
~Psalm 32:8 (Amplified)
II Corinthians 5:9
So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please Him.
ESV
Dana from Waterford, Ohio
( 2 Timothy 1:7) NIV
For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love, and of self-discipline.
Mindy B, Gloster, LA,
For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this? Esther 4:14
Laura from Prairieville, LA NIV
Some became fools through their rebellious way and suffered affliction because of their iniquities. They loathed all food and drew near the gates of death. Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and He saved them from their distress. He sent forth His word and healed them. He saved them from the grave. Psalms 107:17-20
He sent out his word and healed them; he rescued them from the grave.
Psalm 107:20 NIV
Amy Gossen
Carthage, MO
“But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. (Jeremiah 17:7 NIV)
Janelle, WPB, FL: They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations. Isaiah 61:4 (NIV)
Linda from Lincoln NE “O LORD, you are my God; I will exalt you; I will praise your name, for you have done wonderful things, plans formed of old, faithful and sure” Isaiah 25:1 ESV
Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.
Proverbs 19:21
Karon from Canton, NC
What I have said, that will I bring about; What I have planned, that will I do.
Isaiah 46:11b NIV
Terry from Jasper GA
1 Chron 29:11 NKJV (I am re-posting my previous Scripture, and late at it, because I have been in Israel on a study tour and focused more on taking it all in at the Holy Land…blessed!)
Yours, O Lord, is the greatness. The power and the glory. The victory and the majesty;
For all that is in heaven and in earth is Yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and You are
exalted as head over all.
Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Psalm 51:10-11
Heb 4:12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, anddiscerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart
For God has not given us a spirit of fearfulness, but one of power, love, and sound judgment. (2 Timothy 1:7 HCSB)
For God has not given us a spirit of fearfulness, but one of power, love, and sound judgment. (2 Timothy 1:7 HCSB)
Heidi, Round Rock, TX
Karen, Cheyenne, WY
Colossians 3:2 (NIV) “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.”
Ephesians 2:8 (NIV)
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God”
Laura, O’Fallon, MO. “Then Jesus said “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God.” John 11:40 NIV
2 Timothy 1:7 ESV
‘for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.’
our VBS focus this year
Annette- Reno, NV
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding
Proverbs 3:5 NIV
Cassidy, Houston, “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
Katie, Amarillo. “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” Psalm 139:14 NIV
Glennell; Buda, Tx.
II Corinthians 12:9-10 (NET)
But he said to me, “My grace is enough for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” So then, I will boast most gladly about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may reside in me. 10 Therefore I am content with weaknesses, with insults, with troubles, with persecutions and difficulties for the sake of Christ, for whenever I am weak, then I am strong.
“O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water.” Psalm 63:1
Pam from Celina, TX
Julie, Tallassee,AL
John 15:16 ESV
You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.
Hilary, Buffalo, NY
Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor.
Proverbs 3:16 NIV
Terri, Pleasant Hope, MO
Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. Romans 5:9 (ESV)
Proverbs 31:30
A women who fears the Lord is to be praised.
NIV
Tanya, New Castle, IN
“But as for me, God’s presence is all I need. I have made the sovereign Lord my shelter, as I declare all the things you have done.” Psalm 73:28 (NET)
Marti, Libertyville, IL
“But as for me, God’s presence is all I need. I have made the sovereign Lord my shelter, as I declare all the things you have done.” Psalm 73:28 (NET)
Deborah, Augusta, GA
“I will praise You with an upright heart as I learn Your righteous laws.”
-Psalm 119:7 (NIV)
Allison, Midland, TX
“But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him.” Jeremiah 17:7 NIV
Susan H.
Lady Lake, FL
Psalm 32:8
I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you. ESV
Nikki L, Littleton, CO
“All scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.”
2 Timothy 3:16-17 ESV
Penny G
Coweta, OK
Phil 1:11 (NIV)
filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ — to the glory and praise of God.
Kacee Storrs, CT
Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.
Ephesians 4:2 NIV
Kay from Atlanta, GA
Jeremiah 29:13 NIV
You will seek me and find me when
you seek me with all your heart.
Kathy, Wake Forest, NC
“Do not fear for I am with you. Do not anxiously look about you for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” Isaiah 31:10 (NASB)
Amy- Fort Polk
He leads the humble in doing right, teaching them His way. Psalm 25:7 (NLT)
Ashley from Memphis, TN “Therefore, there is now no comdenation for those who are in Jesus Christ, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. Romans 8:1-2 NIV
Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.
Matt 10:34 (NIV)
Traci from Evansdale, IA
If you, Lord, kept a record of sins,
Lord, who could stand?
But with you there is forgiveness,
so that we can, with reverence, serve you.
Psalm 130:3-4 NIV
Philippians 4:6
“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
Lisa From Fairbanks, AK says
“I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?
Jeremiah 32:27 (NIV)
Ryan – Moore, Oklahoma
Phil. 14:8
Finally, Brothers, whatever is true, whatever is pure, whatever is just, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worth of praise, think about these things.
ESV
Amy G- clovis ca
Rom 8:9 NLT-
But you are not controlled by your sinful nature, you are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you.
Janet from Pearland
Psalm 84:8-9 MSG
God of the Angel Armies listen O God of Jacob
Open your ears – I am praying. Look at our shields glistening in the sun,
Our faces shining with your gracious anointing.