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
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
Olivia- Tennessee
Whoever persues righteousness and love, finds life, prosperity, and honor. Proverbs 21:21 NIV
Stephanie McKenzie
Red Deer, Alberta
Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!” (Luke 1:45 NIV)
Beth, Mt. Carmel, IL
“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.” Phil. 4:4-5 NIV
“The LORD is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in him.” Nahum 1:7 (NIV)
Janet from Huffman
Psalm 73:28(ESV)
28 But for me it is good to be near God;
I have made the Lord God my refuge,
that I may tell of all your works.
Rae from Greenwood, AR. “But you are a shield around me, O Lord; you bestow glory on me and lift up my head.” Psalm 3:3
Sheri, Morrisville, 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
I’m so late in posting. I’m very sorry. It’s been a rough couple of weeks. I’m still in it–I will NOT quit!
Cindy, Alton,NH
But let all who take reuge in you rejoice, let them sing for joy and spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may exult in you. Psalm 5:11 ESV
Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing, and perfect will. Romans 12-2 NIV
“His eyes are on the ways of men. He sees their every step.”
Job 34:21
Julie from Granbury, TX
“Show me your ways, O Lord, teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.” (Psalm 25:4-5 NIV84)
Mindy from Austin, TX, “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” John 10:10, NKJV
Sarah, Wausau, WI
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Romans 15:13 NIV
Deb, Pelzer, SC
2 Corinthians 4:16 (NIV) “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.”
Diane, Wedgefield, SC – Overhearing what they said, Jesus told him, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.” Mark 5:36, NIV
Santa Rosa Beach, FL
“That the communication of thy faith may become effectual by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus.” Philemon 1:6 KJV
Victoria, BC, Canada
Philippians 4:5 NIV
Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.
His angels…keep you in all your ways.
Psalm 91:11
I am behind in posting this. June 15th would have been my husband’s 61st birthday. Psalm 1 is meaningful to me as the first verses describe my late husband so well. I was so blessed to have a Godly husband. I used these verses on the program at his memorial service and they were also read that day during the service. My plan is to memorize the entire Psalm over the next months as my SSMT verses.
Leigh, Houston
Psalm 1:1 NIV
Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers.
Nedrea from Hoover, AL
And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. Hebrews 11:6 NIV
Lisa Pack, Charleston, WV
Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud. I Corintjians 13:4 NLT
Becki, Battle Creek, MI
Likewise, wives be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives, when they see your respectful and pure conduct.
1Peter 3:1-2 (ESV)
Cathy, Chesapeake Beach
I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. John 15:5 NIV84
Brandy, Jay, Oklahoma. “Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.” Ephesians 6:13 NIV
Summer, Phoenix, “Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again–my Savior and my God!” Psalm 43:5
Susan – Maynard, MA
Psalm 25:5 – NLT
Lead me by your truth and teach me, for you are the God who saves me. All day long I put my hope in you.
Jennifer W, San Antonio, TX
But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. (James 1:22 ESV)
Tami, DS, LA
Hebrews 4:12 NIV
For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
Ellen White
Saint Augustine
A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger,
Proverbs 15:1
NASB
Cindy,
Virginia Beach, VA
“The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” James 5:16b
Lori, San Angelo, Texas
do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be known to God Phil 4:6 ESV
Judy, Virginia “Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again–my Savior and my God!” Psalm 43:5
Michele, Liverpool, NY
Luke 24.45 Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures.
Τότε διήνοιξεν αὐτῶν τὸν νοῦν τοῦ συνιέναι τὰς γραφάς
Deanna, Maytown AL
My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and lacking nothing. James 1:2-4 NKJV
Marilyn, McKinney, Texas
“Rest in the LORD and wait patiently for HIM; Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who carries out wicked schemes.” Ps 37:7 NKJV
Sandy, Deming, NM
Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and sin which cling so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Heb 12:1,2 NKJV
Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Romans 12:12 NIV
Karen in Unionville, PA
casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.
1 Peter 5:7 NKJV
Jamie, Moore,OK
“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
1 John 5:4 (NASB)
4 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world – our faith.
Ruth, Goose Creek, South Carolina
Ephesians 6:19-20 (NIV)
Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly as I should.
Psalm 71:23,24
My lips will shout for joy
when I sing praise to you—
I whom you have delivered.
My tongue will tell of your righteous acts
all day long,
for those who wanted to harm me
have been put to shame and confusion.
Vanessa from Anderson, SC: Don’t be discouraged, any of you. Do the work, for I am with you! Haggai 2:4 (GNT)
Allison from Scottsdale, AZ
Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Psalm 51:10 New International Version
Albuquerque, NM
Psalm 119:11
“Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee”. KJV
Kendra, College Station, TX
Hebrews 12:1(B) NLT
“…Let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.”
Rachel from Woodstock, GA
Commit your way to the Lord, Trust also in Him, and He will do it.
Psalms 37:5 NASB
Stephanie – Tampa, FL
Galations 5:22-23 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control. There is no law against these things.
Liz, Bloomfield: “…the only thing that matters is faith working through love” (Galatians 5:6, NET).
“The Lord will guide you always; He will satisfy your needs…You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.
– Isaiah 58:11 NIV