WELCOME, EVERYONE, TO THE OFFICIAL LAUNCH OF THE 2015 SIESTA SCRIPTURE MEMORY TEAM!
WOOOOOOHOOOOOO!!!
Allow me to introduce myself to you as your fellow sojourner for the next 12 months and your official cheerleader. It will be my pleasure to remind you often that, in Christ Jesus, you most certainly CAN be victorious in this adventure of the faith, this challenge of the mind and this discipline of the Spirit.
Nothing we’ve done on this blog since its inception has seemed to attract more outrageous favor from God. We are convinced that He loves it. God never misses a single individual going to the work of memorizing His Word but imagine His delight when a huge community of tremendously diverse women in age, background, and worship tradition band together in a pilgrimage of faith. You don’t have to stop and wonder if it’s God’s will for His words to abide in you. The Word of God alive, active, and abiding in us speaks to us, shields us, warns us, strengthens us, sanctifies us, equips us in our callings, and directs us in our decision making. It sharpens our insight and improves our discernment. It makes us wiser and, let’s be bold enough to say, even smarter. Our brains were hardwired to flourish across the board when nourished by the Scriptures. Above all else, Scripture abiding and thriving in us builds up our faith, for “faith comes from hearing and hearing through the word of Christ.” (Romans 10:17) Â And, Girlfriend, we want to be women of faith. That faith erupts into works that were planned for each of us before the creation of the world. (Ephesians 2:10)
OK. I want to get right to it before I lose some of you so that no one will be unclear about the protocol.
The entry of your first verse is your official registration for SSMT (Siesta Scripture Memory Team). Everybody who joins us needs to start right here in a designated comment to this exact post. Even those who may jump in with us a couple of months late who are willing to work double-time to get it all done will start right here.
For a quick recap of our objective: Remember, we are committing to the memorization of 24 verses in 12 months. Two a month. We each get to select our own verses to align with our personal needs and challenges. Choosing a Scripture that resonates with you is immensely helpful in the memorization process. If you have trouble coming up with one of your own, you can always share mine or look through the other entries for ideas. You’ll find your SSMT posts right here on the blog at 8:00 AM on the 1st and 15th of every month in 2015. [Under the LINKS section listed on the right hand side of our blog home page, you will find all SSMT posts will store together for easy access. See “Scripture Memory Team 2015”.] If you haven’t had a chance to read all the instructions and hear about our end-of-year celebration, please go back and read the informational post then return to this spot. Questions unanswered here are answered there.
One of the most important things for you to know from the top is how to arrange your comment with the verse you’ve selected. We limit each comment to this information:Â
Your name, city, verse (written all the way out), reference, and translation.Â
SO, here goes mine! I’m obsessed with the Book of Ephesians right now so much of my memory work will probably come from those pages.
Beth Moore, Houston, Texas. “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God.” Ephesians 2:19 ESV
We’re fellow citizens with the likes of Peter and John and James and Stephen and Paul and Timothy and Barnabas and Joanna and Susanna and Lydia and Tabitha and just try counting all the Marys. We’re fellow citizens and members of the household of Middle Eastern believers confessing Christ in hostile climates, of Chinese believers meeting in house churches, of Eastern European believers finding hope in the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have brothers and sisters in Thessaloniki, in Paris, in Belfast, in Riyadh, in Copenhagen, in Calgary, and Rome. We – right here in this community – are sisters to a household of God that stretches across this globe, saved by the blood of Jesus Christ alone. By grace through faith. “It is the gift of God, not the result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9) That’s what makes us family. We, beloved sister, are in gorgeous company. Let’s give our time on this planet as part of this household all we’ve got. Christ is so altogether worthy.
Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait! One last thing before I say Go! Don’t panic or jump the gun and post a second time if you don’t see your verse published soon. I will be moderating all these launch comments by myself because I don’t want my staff to have to work on the holiday so I beg your patience. I’ll be hard at work on it but it will take me a while to get them all posted. As a rule over the next 12 months, only post a second time if it’s been 48 hours since you left the comment and you still don’t see it.
****I noticed that some of you posted verses earlier than this post was published and they came up on the SSMT informational comments.  I should have doubly emphasized what time the posts will go up each round: 8:00 AM, each 1st and 15th. So sorry if I did not make that clear enough! If you submit your verse earlier than that, it unfortunately appears under the wrong post and, the way blog moderating works, there’s no way for us to transfer the comments over. If you left your 1st verse under any other post than this one, please add it here as well. This is the official registration post.  I know it’s a bit complicated at first! Hang with it! So sorry for your extra trouble!
Hey, I am so glad you’re doing this with us. So much love to you.
OK, GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Crystal Ugolini, Spokane, WA:
“And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith though hast loved me may be in them.” John 17:26 KJV
Wendy Woodard Kaneohe Hawaii
I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. (â€Philippians‬ â€4‬:â€13‬ KJV)
I feel it’s important to start off the New Year with this short but very impactful verse,
Sometimes less is more. No matter what I will come against I know with Christ I WILL persevere.
Megan S.–Kansas City, KS
2 Timothy 1:7New Living Translation (NLT)
7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.
Georgina Mayfield from Fountain Inn, SC
Matthew 11:28-30New International Version (NIV)
28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Romans 12:12
Be joyful in hope,patient in affliction, faithful in prayer .
Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your hearts desires. Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust him and he will help you. Ps 37:4-5 NLT
See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland. Isaiah 43:19 NIV
Michelle, Santa Maria, CA
For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.” (â€Romans‬ â€1‬:â€16-17‬ NKJV)
Natalie, Cardiff, Wales
Isaiah 43: 19 NIVUK
See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. (â€Isaiah‬ â€43‬:â€19‬ NIVUK)
Catherine Martin, Fort Wayne, IN
“ForI know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
Jeremiah 29:11 NIV
Maura, Princeton, NJ- But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. Luke 2:19 NIV
Eph 3:20 ERV translation
With God’s power working in us, he can do much, much more than anything we can ask or think of!
Caitlyn Lyons from Dallas, TX
“The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?”
Psalm 118:6 NIV
Linda Mintz, Whiteville, North Carolina, [He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” – Matthew 17:20]NIV
Ilze van der Linde Bloemfontein South Africa
“I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” Jer. 29:11 NIV
Joyce Mitchell, Vacaville, Ca – psalm 55:22
“Cast your burdens upon The Lord, and He will sustain you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken.”
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.
Hebrews 12:1-2
Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us fixing our eyes on Jesus.
Kathleen Phillips – Mayfield Heights, ohio
2 Corinthians 1:4
who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
Brittany Wade, North Carolina, Isaiah 43:18-19 (HCSB) Do not remember the past events, pay no attention to things of old. Look, I am about to do something new; even now it is coming. Do you not see it? Indeed, I will make a way in the wilderness rivers in the desert.
“Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.” Psalm 27:14 KJV
Suzanne K; Spokane, WA
2 Timothy 1:7 (ERV)
The Spirit God gave us does not make us afraid. His Spirit is a source of power and love and self-control.
Yvonne Gearing, Kingman, AZ
Isaiah 43:18-19 NIV
Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.
We must pay the mist careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. Hebrews 2:1 NIV
Connie Hill,Somerset, Wisconsin. “The reverent and worshipful fear of the Lord is the beginning and the principal and choice part of knowledge (its starting point and its essence); but fools despise skillful and godly Wisdom, instruction, and discipline.” Proverbs 1:7 AMP
Michelle Reynolds, Decatur, IL – “She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come.” NIV
Lucinda Burris, Nashville, Tennessee
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11, ESV
Bobbie Jo Miller~ Lubbock, TX
“That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”-2 Corinthians 12:10 (NIV)
Hope Carr Lakeland Fl
deut 31:8
And the Lord he it is that doth go before The, :he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee:fear not, neither be dismayed.
Hannah Dagenhart, Statesville, NC. “You make known to me the path of life; in Your presence there is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” Psalm 16:11 ESV
Linda, Greer SC, I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. Philippians 4:13 ESV
Kathy M, Biloxi, MS Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. (â€2 Corinthians‬ â€5‬:â€17‬ NASB)
Blaine Tennessee
Give ear to my words, O LORD,consider my meditation. vs2) Hearken unto the voice of my cry, My King, and my God: for unto thee will I pray. vs3) My voice shalt thou hear in the morning. O LORD: in the morning will I direct my prayer unto theme and will look up. Palms 5: 1,2 & 3.
Janice Barton, Hernando,MS
Philippians 4:6 NLT
“Don’t worry about anything;instead,pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.”
But the LORD stood with me and gave me STRENGTH. 2 Timothy 4:17 NLT
Molly Moon, Covington, GA
Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.
Isaiah 43:19 ESV
Christy Sanford, Murfreesboro TN, Be generous: Invest in acts of charity. Charity yields high returns. (â€Ecclesiastes‬ â€11‬:â€1‬ MSG)
Debbie Eudy, Cross Plains, TX
Psalm 19:14
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight,
O’Lord my strength and my Redeemer. NKJV
Debbie Glass, El Dorado, AR
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Be not wise in your eyes; fear The Lord, and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones.”
Proverbs 3:5-8. ESV
Lisa Walden – Grand PrairieTx
1 Samuel 12:16 NIV
[16] “Now then, stand still and see this great thing the Lord is about to do before your eyes!
Cant wait to get started
Erin Sullivan ~ Euless, TX
Psalm 73:21 – 24 (NLT)
“Then I realized that my heart was bitter, and I was all torn up inside. I was so foolish and ignorant- I must have seemed like a senseless animal to you. Yet I still belong to you; you hold my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, leading me to a glorious destiny.”
Cindy Haire from Pelican, LA “Let them praise the name of the Lord, for his name alone is exalted; his splendor is above the earth and the heavens.” Psalm 148:13 NIV
Carol Rossi, Akron,Ohio
For I know the thoughts I have toward you,saith the Lord,thoughts of peace,and not of evil,to give you an expected end. Jeremiah 29:11 (KJV)
Tammy Moon, Helena, AL. “Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.” 1 Peter 4:8
Sara Smith, Knoxville, Tennessee
Trust in him at all times, O people;pour out your heart before him;God is a refuge for us.
Ps 62:8 ESV
Kristin Jordan ~ Mt. Juliet, TN
Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. (â€Colossians‬ â€3‬:â€12‬ NIV)
Kristi S. Rogersville,TN
Psalm 34:8 O Taste and see that the LORD is good;
How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!
We must pay the most careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. Hebrews 2:1 NIV
Bridget from Pasadena, MD. Phil 4:6-7 “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with Thanksgiving, let your requests be made know to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” (NKJV)