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
Psalm 121:1-2
I lift up my eyes unto the hills from whence cometh my help. My helps
Comes from the Lord which made heaven and earth.
Lara Harris Spring Hill, TN
Psalm 18:28 NIV
The Lord my God will give light to my darkness.
VERSE 12: “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.” Romans 12:12 NIV
Erica G, Denver
The Lord came and stood there, calling as at the other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” Then Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”
1 Samuel 3:10
Jan, Denton TX, “Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Proverbs 18:2 NIV
Anna, Little Elm, TX
Hearken, O daughter, and consider, and incline thine ear;
Forget also thine own people, and thy father’s house;
Psalm 45:10 (KJV)
Lori
Bangor, Maine
Why are you depressed, O my soul? Why are you upset? Wait for God! For I will again give thanks to my God for his saving intervention.
Psalms 43:5 (NET)
Alicia Riverton Utah
June 15
Jeremiah 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desparately sick; who can understand it? ESV
Please forgive me if this is a repeat!!
Lee in IN Hebrews 6:19 NLT
This hope is a strong trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain into God’s inner sanctuary.
Trae Kendrick, Crawford, Texas: “The Lord turned to him and said, ‘Go in the strength you have and save Israel from Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?” Judges 6:14 NIV84
Jaclyn, Round Rock, TX
“Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong.”
Ephesians 3:17
Linda, Westport
Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angles, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory.
1 Timothy 3:16 ESV
Kelley, Des Moines, WA – Romans 13:10
Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
Amy, Springfield
As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:9 NIV
Donna, Loganville ,PA
Psalm 16:8
I keep The Lord in mind always, because He is at my right hand I will not be shaken.
Carol
Carthage, NY
“Everything is possible for him who believes.” said Jesus.
Immediately [ ] exclaimed,
“I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief.”
Mark 9:23-24
Tiffany Tennant
Muskogee, OK
This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:9 NLT)
Rachel Ravellette, Lafayette, Ind. – – “My mouth is filled with your praise, declaring your splendor all day long.” – Psalm 71:8, NIV
Becky Bigbie, Highland Village, Tx “But I tell you this, though he won’t do it for friendship sake, if you keep knocking long enough, he will get up and give you whatever you need because of your shameless persistence.” Luke 11:8 NLV
Diane Durham, NC
This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. Jeremiah 31:33 NIV
Stephanie Shelbyville, IN.“The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is? But I, the Lord, search all hearts and examine secret motives. I give all people their due rewards, according to what their actions deserve.” Jeremiah 17:9-10
Liz
Norman, OK
The Lord is my light and my salvation – so why should I be afraid? The Lord is my fortress, protecting me from danger, so why should I tremble?
Psalm 27:1 NLT
Hannah | Oklahoma City, OK
Isaiah 33:6, NET
He is our constant source of stability.
Psalm 27:4 NIV
One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek Him in his temple.
Angie, Houston, TX
‘as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”-in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.’ Romans 4:17
Sheila Miller, Truro, Nova Scotia, Canada, “Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions.” Proverbs 18:2 NIV
Connie J., Mountain House, CA-“Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Luke 12:32 (ESV)
Leah from Ontario, Canada
Genesis 22:14 (NIV)
So Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. And to this day it is said, ” on the mountain of the LORD it will be provided”.
Houston- God-defiers are always in trouble; God-affirmers find themselves loved every time they turn around. Psalm 32:10. The Message
Melissa, Locust Grove, GA
For the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect forever. (Hebrews 7:28 ESV)
She is clothed w/strength & dignity & laughs w/out fear of the future. Prov. 31:25
Alison, Richmond, VA
He trains my hands for battle; my arms can bend a bow of bronze. Psalm 18:34 NIV
Deb, Littleton, CO: Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. James 1:13 NKJV
Elizabeth, Gainesville, GA
“See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God.”
Hebrews 3:12, NIV
Behold, He is coming on the clouds, and every eye will see Him,even those that pierced Him and every tribe of earth will wail on account of Him. Even so. Amen. “I am the Alpha and the Omega,”says the Lord God, “the One who is and Who was and Who is to come, the Almighty.” When I saw Him I fell at His feet as though dead. But He laid His righ hand on me, saying, “I am the First and the Last, the Living One. I died but now am alive for evermore and I hold the keys to death and Hades.
Rev 1: 7-8, 17-18
James 4:8
New International Version (NIV)
8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
Psalm 23:1-3
The Eternal is my shepherd; He cares for me always.
He provides me rest in rich, green fields
beside streams of refreshing water.
He soothes my fears.
He makes me whole again,
steering me off worn, hard paths
to roads where truth and righteousness echo His name.
“But I am like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God; I trust in God’s unfailing love for ever and ever.” Psalm 52:8
“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.” Philippians 2:3, NIV
Proverbs 22:4 NIV
Humility is the first of the Lord; it’s washed are riches and honor and life.
Paula, Houston —– I’m late!!!
But The Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one.
2 Thessalonians 3:3, NIV
Becky Morganton, NC
I cry out to God Most High,
to God who fulfills his purpose for me. Psalms 57:2 ESV
Remember the Lord in all you do and He will give you success. Proverbs 3:6 (NIV)
“May the LORD lead our hearts into a full understanding and expression of the love of God and the patient endurance that comes from Christ.”
2 Thes 3:5 (NIV)
Dwan
Kings Mountain, NC
Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Psalm 37:4, NIV
Christy
Fayetteville, AR
“Who has done this & carried it through, calling forth the generations from the beginning? I, the LORD-with the First of them and with the Last-I am He.”
Isaiah 41:4
NIV
James 2:1 (NIV)
My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism.
Xan
Cullman, AL
This is my command-be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.
Joshua 1: 9
Turn to the Lord, your God, with all your heart and with all your soul.
Deuteronomy 30:10 (NIV)
Phyllis
Gilmer, Tx
CEV Psalm 119:147
Even before sunrise I pray for your help. and I put my hope in what you have said.