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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Glynna Penney from Cisco, Texas:
“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.” Isaiah 43:19 HCSB
Andrea Wilson, Jacksonville, AL “Because your loving kindness is better than life, my lips will glorify You. I will praise You as long as I live, and in Your name I will lift my hands.” Psalm 63:3-4 NIV
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. Joshua 1:9 NKJV
Sandra Woodard, Columbia SC
“so, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” 1 Corinthians 10:31 ESV
Becky, Oklahoma, Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. Col 3:19 NIV
John 1:5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. Amber Miles, Amarillo, Texas.
Mount Vernon, WA
I will greatly rejoice in the LORD; my soul shall exult in my God, for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation; He has covered me with the robe of righteousness…
Isa. 61:10
Susan, Wichita, KS; “I’ve also concluded that whatever God does, that’s the way it’s going to be, always. No addition, no subtraction. God’s done it and that’s it. That’s so we’ll quit asking questions and simply worship in holy fear.” Ecclesiastes 3:14 (The Message) – I love that God honors our questions but there comes a time when I have to remember this! Happy New Year!
jana, Altus, OK
Isaiah 43:18-19, ESV
““Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. 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.”
Ps. 18:1-2: I love you, O Lord my strength. The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock in whom I take refusge, my shield, an dthe horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
Ps. 18\1-2 ESV
Christy Chattom; Jasper, Alabama
“Create in me a clean heart, oh God; and renew a right spirit within me”
Ps 51:10 KJV
Happy New Year!
The Lord says, “I will rescue those who love me.
I will protect those who trust in my name.
When they call on me, I will answer;
I will be with them in trouble.
I will rescue and honor them.
Psm 91: 14-15
Monica Perdue-Johnson, Salem,VA “Lord you have searched me and you know me.” Psalm 139:1
Emily, Indianapolis, IN- “Look to the Lord and His strength; seek His face always.” -Psalm 105:4, NIV
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, but is a gift from God.” Ephesians 2:8 NIV
Janet Armour, Gilbert, AZ…”Keep my commands and live. Protect my teachings as the apple of your eye.” Proverbs 7:2 HCSB
Pam, Mansfield TX.
“So accept each other just as Christ has accepted you; then God will be glorified.”
Romans 15:7 (NLT)
Beth, Lititz PA
Luke 14:13
English Standard Version
But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind,
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. Zeph. 3:17 NKJ
Mandie Wolverton, Hallsville, TX Psalms 27:1 KJV
The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?
Daniel 2:22 ( HCSB)
He reveals the deep and hidden things;
He knows what is in the darkness,
and light dwells with Him.
Lynette Eeg, Marengo, Illinois “But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 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 12:9-10 NIV
Terri Headley, Jacksonville,NC “But as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, even so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God who tests our hearts.” 1 Thessalonians 2:4 NKJV
Adrienne, Avon Park, Florida. No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. Romans 8:37 ESV
Paige Johnson – Hattiesburg, Mississippi; “And they that are wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever.” Daniel 12:3 ASV
Nissa Walker, Hereford, TX
“Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself it’s Savior.
Ephesians 5:22-23
Kim, Waterville, OH. “I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” Ephesians 3: 16-19 NIV
Kristine Johnson, Long Beach, CA
“If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?
But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared.”
Psalm 130:3-4 ESV
Jeni from Sherwood, Oregon: “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.” 1 Corinthians 10:13 NIV
Bobetta, Nixa, MO. “Behold, I will do a something new, now it will spring forth; will you not be aware of it? I will even make a roadway in the wilderness, rivers in the desert.” Isaiah 43:19 NASB
Sarah Jacksonville, FL
Isaiah 43:19 NLT For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.”
Lora Mays, Holly Springs, NC
So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. Colossians 10:31
Newcastle, TX
“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, when you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. When perseverance has run its course, you will be made mature and complete, not lacking anything.” James 2:2-4 NIV
“I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13 NLT
Nicki P., Lincoln NE
I can do all things through him who gives me strength. Philippians 4:13 NIV
Sherry from Oceana, West Virginia. “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.”
Jer. 29:11
NLT
Stacy VanHouten, Hudsonville, MI
“He will cover you with His feathers. He will shelter you with His wings. His faithful promises are your armor and protection.”
Psalm 91:4 NLT
Phyllis Pearland, Texas “However, as it is written: ‘No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him’ but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit.”
1 Corinthians 2:9
Regina Taylor, Louisville, KY “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.” Romans 1:16
Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions and over ALL the power of the enemy; and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Luke 10:19
Joan Wetzel of New Orleans, LA “Taste and see that the Lord is good; How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!” Psalm 34:8 NASB
DebyAllen from New Carlisle, Oh
But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one.
2 Thessalonians3:3 (NIV)
Ally Collins, Westerville, OH. “Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good.”
Romans 12:9 NLT
Jodie Daniel. Tallapoosa, GA. “For I 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
Diane W., Cairo, Ga
And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. (â€Hebrews‬ â€6‬:â€15‬ NKJV)
Katie, Mandan, ND, Romans 8:1-2: “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.”
Renee from Lansing, Michigan “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” Hebrews 4:16 ESV
Beloved let us love one another for love is of God, andeveryone who loves is born of God and knows God. JOHN 4:7
Kaylee Swinson, Coweta, OK. “God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgement, because in this world we are like him.”
Andree, Evansville, IN: “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Colossians 3:12 NIV