Hey Y’all!
Before I fool anyone, each of you should know that this is Lindsee posing as Beth for this particular SSMT post. She and her girls on a little girl’s getaway that is much deserved. So when she mentioned that she might not be able to work this post out, I told her not to even think of it and enjoy her time away!
Side note: She was telling me yesterday she’s not sure when her last actual vacation was because our siesta mama has spent the last two scheduled vacations either being Bibby for a week (her grandma name), or writing for a week! So! Needless to say, this girl’s getaway is earned and joyfully welcomed! We blessed them as they walked out the doors yesterday and promised them they didn’t need to worry about one detail here. She also assured me she’d hopefully have some fun pictures for you guys when she gets back!
SSMT is a big detail. So here I am. I realize that was a much more detailed description as to why I’m taking over SSMT this time than you probably cared to know, but now it’s in official wording and I’m leaving it.
Beth gave me the option to share my verse with you guys along with the one she’s memorizing this go around, so I decided to take her up on that. The more the merrier, right?
My verse is actually probably very familiar to y’all, but it hit me fresh a couple of weeks ago and knew it needed to be put into my memory for good. It’s one of those verses I know, and I could quote it, but not verbatim and I really wanted to be intentional with it this go around, especially since I really mixed up the version I’m memorizing it in this time which really makes it pop in my mind.
“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right, persevering, and steadfast spirit within me.” Psalm 51:10 (Amplified)
This I know to be so true, I need Jesus. And I need Him to steady my heart, because He alone can do that. Want to hear some synonyms of steadfast? Steady, firm, stable, constant, staunch, and immovable. Each of these descriptions are things I want to be said and true of me. I think it’s so fitting that persevering and steadfast follow each other because it’s in my persevering that He makes my spirit steadfast, but I tend to get really distracted and unsteady pretty quick. Which I guess is why we’re told to persevere in the first place. Maybe it’s just me, but so many times I allow my circumstances to determine my steadfastness. When things are going good (translation: the way I want them too), persevering comes easy, as well as a firm and steady devotion to the Lord, but it’s when the going gets tough, that the tough get going. That’s when it’s time to wrestle that hard thing out with Him. For me, an example that comes to mind is singleness. Some days I love the freedom it brings, while other days I’m wrestling my way through this season. Very quickly I can go from steadfast to discouraged. Steadfast to lazy. Steadfast to frustrated. I want so badly to be faithful in each season of my life, and to truly live in an “undivided devotion” to the Lord that Paul talks about, but we can all admit it’s not always easy. If it were easy, the vast majority would be doing just that.
I don’t always want to do the work it takes to have a clean heart, and a persevering Spirit, but I know all too well that when I’m not yearning for it is the perfect time to ask for it. So I’m asking for a clean heart! That God would renew me from top to bottom.
You’re more than welcome to join me this go around.
Or for those of you curious what our Siesta Mama has chosen, you can join her. This time she is memorizing Colossians 1:16 in the ESV version:
“For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.” Colossians 1:16 (ESV)
Amen. He sees everything. He knows everything. He created everything. If you stop and take that verse a part line by line and dwell on that, it’s really mind blowing.
ALL things were created BY Him. (Things we cannot even lay our human eyes on.)
THROUGH Him.
And FOR Him.
ALL things.
I have no doubt our Siesta Mama would have more to say about that, but I’m just going to leave you with wow. So, if that scripture stirs something up in you, tag on with her.
(And now I’m going to make this really slick transition to close out the post. Could this be any more awkward? I’m kind of gifted in that. You know, making things awkward.)
Well, ladies! Time to persevere to the end! We’re so close. If you got through summer, you can certainly make it through the fall. Oh, and because I’ve been getting some emails and phone calls, I’ll go ahead and let you know that we’re planning on having all things SSMT celebration and details up SOON. Like, hopefully as in the next SSMT post or two. We’re so pumped and we love y’all dearly.
Let’s hear your scriptures!
Tags: Scripture Memory 2013
Sheila
Guyton, GA
“Therefore I tell you, all the things you pray and ask for-believe that you have received them, and you will have them.” Mark 11:24 HCSB
Lezli. Oklahoma City, OK
The Lord himself watches over you! The Lord stands beside you as your protective shade. The sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon at night. The Lord keeps you from all harm and watches over your life. The Lord keeps watch over you as you come and go, both now and forever. (Psalms 121:5-8 NLT)
Martinez Georgia
Isaiah 41:10 NIV
So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
Lori from Toledo,
2 Corth 10:5 NIV
“…and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”
in Muscle Shoals, AL
Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them. Colossians 3:18-19
“For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities – all things were created through him and for him.” Colossians 1:16 ESV
MIchelle, Houston, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men” Colossians 3:23 NIV
Cindy Cannon, Otterville, IL
Jeremiah 17:7 (NIV)
But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him.
Ashley from Bean Station, TN : Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Psalm 51:10 ASV
He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him with long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation.
Psalms 91:15-16 KJV
Teri S. Gadsden, AL
Teri S. Gadsden, AL
Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. Hebrews 10:23 NIV
Thank you Jesus!!!!
Emily S.~ Weatherford, TX ~ “But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.” ~ Micah 7:7 NIV
Whitney, Ames, OK
Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. James 1:19, 20 ESV
Jan
Bemus Point, NY
Ecclesiastes 3:11 (NIV)
He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.
Beth, Toronto: “The Lord is my portion therefore I will wait for him.” Lam. 3:24 (NIV)
Sheila, Beckley, WV Let your beauty not be external-the braiding of hair and wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes-but the inner person of the heart, the lasting beauty of a gentle and tranquil spirit, which is precious in God’s sight. 1 Peter 3:3-4 (NET)
Amanda Porter. lubbock, Texas. And don’t be wishing you were someplace else or with someone else. Where you are right now is God’s place for you. Live and obey and love and believe right there. God, not your marital status, defines your life. Don’t think I’m being harder on you than on the others. I give this same counsel in all the churches. 1 Corinthians 7:17 (MSG)
Freida, Chatham, LA, “the wind blows over it and it is gone and its place remembers it no more.” Paslm 103:16 NIV
Troy, Oh
Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.” Galatians 3:13 NIV
Janet Ronkonkoma, NY
“For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” 2 Cor 4: 17-18 NIV
Emily McAnear, Corona California
“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right, perservering and steadfast spirit within me.
Psalm 51:10, Amplified version
Pammie, Southern CA. “So if you’re serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursue the things over which Christ presides. Don’t shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ—that’s where the action is. See things from his perspective.” Colossians 3:1, 2 MSG
Jennifer from West Palm Beach, FL
“By day the Lord commands his steadfast love, and at night his song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life.” (Psalm 42:8 ESV)
Susan, Tallahassee, Fla.
Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 NIV
Stacey in Mt Pleasant
Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.
Matthew 6:33 (NLT)
Lynn, Lake Villa, IL
Philippians 2:3 NCV
When you do things, do not let selfishness or pride be your guide. Instead, be humble and give more honor to others than yourselves.
“Create in me a pure heart, God, and make my spirit right again.” ~ Psalm 51:10 NCV
Sharon from Arlington, TX
“Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame.” (NIV)
For in Him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through Him and for Him.
Colossians 1:16 ( NIV)
Fenton, Ashburn, VA “But it is good for me to draw near to God; I have put my trust in the Lord God, that I may declare all Your works.” Ps.73:28 NKJV
Marsha R. Lexington Park, MD
oops, this one got away before I could post the verse…please delete it.
linda, colorado springs.
“i repeat, be strong and brave! don’t be afraid and don’t panic, for i, the lord your god, am with you in all you do.”
joshua 1:9 (net)
Amy-Fort Polk, LA
They will live in prosperity, and their children will inherit the land. Psalm 25:13 (NLT)
Patty B, Marysville OH Jeremiah 17:7-8 (NIV)
But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,
whose confidence is in him.
He will be like a tree planted by the water
that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes;
its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought
and never fails to bear fruit.
Ann. Centerville.
For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. II Peter 1:8. NIV
Marsha R. Lexington Park, MD
Not many of you should presume to be teachers, by brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.
We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check.
James 3: 1-2 NIV
1 Timothy 1:12 NIV
I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me trustworthy, appointing me to his service.
Lori, Richmond, VA
I Timothy 1:12 NIV
I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me trustworthy, appointing me to his service.
Heather G.
Fredericksburg, VA
1 John 3:18 NLT
Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions.
Memphis, TN
“Be not like a horse or a mule, without understanding, which must be curbed with bit and bridle, or it will not stay near you.”
Ps. 32:9 ESV
Ramona, Pasadena, Ephesians 6:18 The Living Bible
Pray all the time. Ask God for anything in line with the Holy Spirit’s wishes. Plead with him, reminding him of your needs, and keep praying earnestly for all Christians everywhere.
Stacey, Omaha, NE
Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.
1 John 3:18 NIV
Emily (age 13) and Ally (age 11)
God raised Jesus from the dead, and we are all witnesses of this.
Acts 2:32 NLT
Elsie – Scottsbluff, NE
He will not allow your foot to slip; He who keeps you will not slumber Psalm 121:3 NASB
Pat C S Burlington,VT
Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.
Col.3:2. NIV
Sherry
Oklahoma
“Do not dread the disease that stalks in darkness,nor the disaster that strikes at midday”
Psalms 91:6 NLT
Danielle from Cedar Park, TX
I have become a marvel to many, for You are my strong refuge. My mouth is filled with Your praise and with Your glory all day long.
Psalms 71:7-8 (NASB)
Sherie
The Woodlands, TX
My blessing is on those people who trust in Me,
who put their confidence in Me.
Jeremiah 17:7 The NET Bible
Marie from Post Falls, Idaho –
“He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength.” – Isaiah 40:29 (NKJV)
Elizabeth, Charleston, WV
As for God, his way is perfect. The Lord’s word is flawless;he shields all who take refuge in him.
Psalms 18:30 (NIV)
Nina
Moore, OK
All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty. Proverbs 14:23 NIV