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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
“For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord they are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11 NLT
Lindsey, Springdale, Arkansas. “But the flirt of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith..” Galatians 5:22, HCSB
Rebekah,Coeurd’Alene,ID. “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; But his delight is in that law of the Lord. And in His law he meditates day and night” PS.1:1&2 NKJV.
Ellen K., Chester, VA
Isaiah 64:4 ESV
Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for him. (â€Isaiah‬ â€64‬:â€4‬ NIV)
Lead out those who have eyes but are blind, who have ears but are deaf. Isaiah 43:8 NIV
Psalm 103:1 Bless the Lord O my soul and ALL that is within me. Bless his Holy Name! AV
Cathy Dorton, Cordova, TN “Keep on loving each other as brothers; Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it” HEB 13:1-2 NIV
Laurel; Tucson, AZ; Psalms 91:2
I will say to the Lord, “My reduce and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”
Dottie Porter, Lancaster,Pennsylvania, May my meditation be sweet to Him; I will be glad in the Lord. (Psalm 103:34, NKJV)
Karen Cortese, Fort Sumner, NM, “I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope.” Psalm 130:5 NIV
Ginny- Atlanta, GA
“He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness.” Malachi 3:3 ESV
Westfield, IN
Verse: Isaiah 43:19
Watch for the new thing I am going to do. It is happening already, – you can see it now! I will make a road through the wilderness and give you streams of water there.
Joy Cravens
Whitehouse, TX
But godliness with contentment is great gain.
1Timithy 6:6 NIV
Jeanette, Fair Oaks, CA
You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance.
Psalms 32:7 | NIV
Brooke S, Wixom, MI
“Look to the Lord and his strength, seek his face always”
1 Chronicles 16:11 NIV
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV
Steph, Redding,CA
Here’s the one thing I crave from God, the one thing I seek above all else: I want the privilege of living with him every moment in his house, finding the sweet lovliness of his face; filled with awe, delighting in his glory and grace. I want to live my life so close to him that he takes pleasure in my every prayer. Psalm 27:4 the Passion Translation
Julie Story, Fayetteville, AR
“love the Lord your God, obey Him, and remain faithful to Him. For He is your life, and He will prolong your life in the land the Lord swore to give to your fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” Deuteronomy 30:30 HCSB
Praise be to God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the father of compassion and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. 1 Corinthians 1:3-4 NIV
For I know the plans that I have for you, plans to prosper you and give you a future and
a hope. Jeremiah 29:11
Amy Hayes, Rockwall, TX “He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men, yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.” Ecclesiastes 3:11 NIV
Stephanie, Sarnia, Ontario. “I am leaving you with a gift – peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.” John 14:27 NLT
Shannon; Cleveland, AL “Therefore, since we are aurrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us,” Hebrews 12:1 NIV
Lisa Piermattei, Charlestown, RI “For I know the plans I have for you” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen” Jeremiah 29:11-12
Ann T. from Lancaster, SC
“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, Nor will the flame burn you.” Isaiah 43:2 NASB
Rhonda Upchurch, Greenwood, IN “Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” Philippians 4:8 ESV
Amy
OKC, Oklahoma
Isaiah 55:2 (KJ 2000 Bible)
I will go before you and make the crooked places straight. I will break in pieces the gates of bronze and cut asunder the bars of iron.
Sierra, Grand Rapids, MI. “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.” Isaiah 43:19 NIV
Carol Yankey, Sisters, OR “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
Lindsey Barnett, Sevierville, TN
Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
Hebrews‬ â€4‬:â€16‬ NIV
Mary Hunter, Larned, KS Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV
Vicky in Bethel, Alaska:
“Therefore, if any one is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold, the new has come.”
2 Corinthians 5:17 (RSV)
My name is Claire and I live in Boone, NC. My verse is “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.”
Isaiah 43: 18-19 (NIV)
“Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life. Proverbs 4:23 NIV
Jami , Cleveland,TN : And we know in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28
And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. – Col 3:17 NIV
June Buckles Lebanon, MO
2 Corinthians 12:9 NASB
And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.
Michelle Thomas, Phoenix, AZ:
Delight yourself in the LordÂ
and He will give you the desires of your heart.Â
Commit your way to the Lord;Â
trust in Him and He will do this:Â
He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn,Â
the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.Â
Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him.Â
Psalm 37:4-7Â NIV
This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad. Psalm 118:24 NAB
Jennifer Puckett, Monmouth, OR. ” But just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts.” 1 Thes. 2:4 ESV
James 1:19:
My dear brother and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.
Melissa E, Edmonton, Alberta
4 Show me your ways, Lord, teach me your paths. 5 Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long. (â€Psalm‬ â€25‬:â€4-5‬ NIV)
Vicki
Murfreesboro, Tennessee
“Trust in Him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts before Him. God is our refuge.” Psalm 62:8 (HCSB)
Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life. Psalm 143:8 NIV
Jan Lackey, Simi Valley, CA
You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you. Isaiah 26:3 NIV
Shaliah Armstrong, Auburn, AL “The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.” Zephaniah 3:17 NIV
Lindsay N, Orange County CA.
“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.”
-Colossians 3:12
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, presents your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. -Philippians 4:6-7 (niv)
Abigail Clark – Lincoln, NE
Carina, Bamako, Mali
Jesaja 26:3
De standvastige is veilig bij u; vrede is er voor wie op u vertrouwt. (NBV)
Birmingham, England
Jesus said to her, Did I not tell you and promise you that if you would believe and rely on Me, you would see the glory of God.” John 11:40 AMP