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
Melanie – Decatur,AL
James 1:9-11 NIV 1984
9 The brother in humble circumstances ought to take pride in his high position. 10 But the one who is rich should take pride in his low position, because he will pass away like a wild flower. 11 For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich man will fade away even while he goes about his business.
Kay/Deer Park
“God made my life complete
when I placed all the pieces before him.”
Psalms 18: 20 The Message
Heather W, Nederland, TX
Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, (Ephesians 6:14 NIV)
John 3:30
New International Version (NIV)
30 He must become greater; I must become less.”[
Heidi, Victoria, BC, Canada
Matthew 25:21 NIV
“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!'”
Ps 27.11-14 NAS
Teach me Your way, O Lord, and lead me in a level path, because of my foes. Do not deliver me over to the desire of my adversaries; for false witnesses have risen against me, and such as breathe out violence. I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and let your heart take courage; yes, wait for the Lord.
Lacie | Seattle
Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right, persevering, and steadfast spirit within me. -Psalm 51:10 Amplified
April, Lake Charles, LA
For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline. ~ 2 Tim. 1:7 (NASB)
Debbie, Calgary AB. Canada
“He made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed.”
Psalm 107:29 ESV
Hannah, Lake Charles, LA
“But now, this is what the LORD says-
he who created you, Jacob
he who formed you, Israel;
‘Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.”
Isaiah 43:3 NIV
Margie Allen,TX
Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever, Amen.
Eph. 3:20-21 ESV
Catherine S. ~ Grants Pass, OR
“Therefore, confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person in powerful and effective.” James 5:16 (NIV)
Billie, Greenville, KY “He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.” Hebrews 1:3-4 ESVUK
Isaiah 45:2
I will go before you and level the uneven places; I will shatter the bronze doors and cut the iron bars in two.
HCSB
Tara G.
Sherwood, AR
But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
Matthew 6:30-34 (ESV)
Leslie
Wisner, La.
“Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God.”
Ephesians 5:2 NLT
Portland, Texas
For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? Matthew 16:25-26 (NKJV)
“Do you think the scripture says without reason that the Spirit He caused to live in us envies intensely?”
James 4:5 NIV
“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”
Romans 3:23 (NIV)
Susan, Kansas City
Psalm 27:13-14, NIV
I remain confident of this; I will see the goodness of The Lord.
Wait for The Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for The Lord.
Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul be preserved complete without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Faithful is He who calls you and He will also bring it to pass. 1 Thessalonans 5:23-24 NASB
Diane from Charleston, IL
For even the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.
Mark 10:45 NIV
Hannah from Winter Haven, FL
Psalm 119:53-56 (NKJV)
53-Indignation has taken hold of me because of the wicked, who forsake Your law. 54-Your statutes have been my songs in the house of my pilgrimage. 55-I remember Your name in the night, O Lord, and I keep Your law. 56-This has become mine, because I kept Your precepts.
I Samuel 30:6 (NLT)
David found strength in the LORD his God.
Mandy
Watkinsville, GA
Terri, Pleasant Hope, MO
For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
2 Corinthians 12:10 (ESV)
Ye have not because ye ask not.
James 4:2 kjv
Vicki, Lubbock, TX
What makes a difference is faith energized by love.
Galatians 5:6b The Voice Bible
Psalm 29:11 (NIV)
The LORD gives strength to his people.
The LORD blesses his people with peace.
Ramona Gellick
Medina, Ohio
Psalm 29:11 (NIV)
The LORD gives strength to his people.
The LORD blesses his people with peace.
Janice, Victoria, BC
You are my hiding place; You preserve me from trouble; You surround me with songs of deliverance.
Psalm 32:7 NAS
Susie – Garland, Tx
“I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
I will counsel you and watch over you.”
Psalms 32:8
from Stanley, WI
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. Jer. 17:8 NIV
Tara, Greensboro, NC
Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
Galations 5:24
NASB
Martha, Georgetown, TX NLT Ephesians 3:20, “Now all glory to God, who is able, through His mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.”
Isaiah 55:11 NIV says
“So is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”
Janet from Pearland
Melissa // Lancaster, PA
The Lord says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you.” (Psalms 32:8 NLT)
Tracee, Morristown, TN
We know that God is always at work for the good of everyone who loves him.
Romans 8:28a CEV
Annie
Dallas, TX
“I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed.”
Romans 8:18-19
Jana, Tampa, FL
Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Colossians 3:12 NIV
Wynell
Athens, GA
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
Will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
Psalm 91:1 NASB
Tori, Robinson
“I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not even the smallest detail of God’s law will disappear until its purpose is achieved.”
Matthew 5:18 NLT
Beth, Robinson
“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.”
2 Timothy 2:15
Kelei Liggett. Iowa Park. NIV
1Cor 14:33 For God is not a God of disorder but of peace- as in all the congregation of the Lord’s people.
Rachel, Surprise, AZ
I’m a little late with this: “The entire law is summed up in a single command; ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.'” ~Galatians 5:14 NIV
We live by faith, not by sight.
2 Corinthians 5:7 NIV
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.
James 1:5. (NKJV)
Lisa Braun
Warman, SK Canada
And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, “Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!” So God granted him what he requested.
1 Chronicles 4:10 NKJV
God’s really been stretching my territory and I don’t want to cause people any more pain as they have gone through so much!
Sharon in Florien: The Lord makes firm the steps of the one who delights on Him; though he may stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with his hand. Psalm 37:23-24 (NIV)
Karon from Canton, NC
“For I will restore health to you and heal you of your wounds,” says the Lord.
Jeremiah 30:17 NKJV
Delight yourself in The Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to Him and He will bring it to pass. Psalm 37:4-5 ESV
Jo Carolyn — from Dime Box, TX
“But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap lead to holiness, and the result is eternal life.” Romans 6:22 NIV