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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Kate DeLoach, Vincent AL
“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 -Happy New Year!
Kathy Ward-Murfreesboro, TN -“And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.” Ephesians 6:18(NIV)
Julie Quintana from Paragould, Arkansas my first verse is “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15:5 NIV
Angela Tempe AZ and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. Romans 5:5 NIV
Melissa Granbury TX
Colossians 3:16
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom teaching and admonishING one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs singing with have in your hearts to the Lord
Erryn, Ridgecrest, CA
“The bricks have fallen down, but we will rebuild with hewn stones; The sycamores are cut down, but we will replace them with cedars.” Isaiah 9:10 NKJV
Suzy in Cedar Falls, IA
Romans 8:28 ESV
“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”
Proverbs 3:1 my son do not forget my teaching but let your heart keep my commandments. ESV
Isaiah 12.2 – Surely God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid. The Lord, the Lord himself, is my strength and defense, he has become my salvation. Nashville, TN
Jeni Coppage, Waverly, GA
“For God has not given us a spirit of fear,
but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”
2 Timothy 1:7 NKJV
As the deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for you,O God…Psalm 42:1
Psalms 119:11
“I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. ” (NIV)
Teresa H, Georgia Let us holdfast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful Hebrews 10:23 Nasb
Lisa Formby, Hereford, TX
“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
Sue Noel, Houston, TX “Long ago, at different times and in various ways, God’s voice came to our ancestors through the Hebrew prophets. But in these last days, it has come to us through His Son, the One who has been given dominion over all things and through whom all worlds were made.” Hebrews 1:1-2 THE VOICE
Candi Freeman, Fairfax, VA
‘For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love, and of self-discipline.’
2 Timothy 1:7 NIV
January 1, 2015 at 6:16 pm Henderson, TN Romans 10:17
Theresa Haskins
Newport News, Virginia
“But you are not like that, for the Holy One has given you His Spirit, and all of you know the truth.”
1 John 2:20 NLT
Amy Hartling. Enid OK. 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 of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 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 12:9-10 ESV
Kellie Cosby – South Jordan, Utah
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever! Amen. ~Ephesians 3:20-21 NIV
Angela Christian, Minneapolis, MN
Proverbs 3:5-6 NIV
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.
“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope” Jer. 29:11 KJV
From Sydney, Australia. I chose this verse because I’m believing God to heal me from infertility and have a baby this year:
Luke 1:37 AMP
For with God nothing is ever impossible and no word from God shall be without power or impossible of fulfillment.
Ruth, Grand Rapids, Michigan. “So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time He will lift you up in honor.” 1 Peter 5:6, NLT
Shadow Welty, Star, Idaho: “I knew you before I formed you in the womb; I set you apart for me before you were born. I appointed you to be a prophet to the nations.” – Jeremiah 1:5 NIV
Barbara.”No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful, he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it. 1Corinthians 10:13.NIV
Colin woodstock GA “When doubts filled my mind your comfort gave me renewed hope and cheer. ” Psalm 94:19 NLT
Tammy, Sedalia, MO
“You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country.” Deuteronomy 28:3 HCSB
Surprise AZ
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come. 2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV
Jennifer Behnke, West Palm Beach, Florida
“By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.” Hebrews 11:8 NIV
Donna, High Point NC Trust in the Lord we all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding
(Proverbs 3:5 KJV)
Michelle B. McComb, MS For I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand
and says to you, Do not fear; I willl help you.
Isaiah 41:13 (NIV)
Ephesians 6:18
With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints
Michele S.
Whitehall, PA
Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely. And may your spirit, soul, and body be kept sound and blameless for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
I Thessalonians 5:23 HCSB
Jennifer Green, Henrietta, Texas
Isaiah 40:28 Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom
Jonesborough, TN
Psalm 31:5 ESV
“Into your hand I commit my spirit; you have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God.”
Sandy, Roanoke, VA. “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” Psalm 139:23-24 NIV
Nancy, Westfield, IN-
Philippians 3:10-11″I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so , somehow to attain to the resurrection from the dead.” NIV
Tanya Smith
Kenosha Wisconsin
Galatians 2:19 New Living Translation second addition
For when I tried to keep the law it condemned me. SO I died to the law–I stopped trying to meet all its requirements–so that I might live for God.
A needed reminder 10 years into serving the Lord.
Ottawa Lake, Mixhigan
Behold, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs forth; do you not perceive and know it and will you not give heed to it? I will even make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. (â€Isaiah‬ â€43‬:â€19‬ AMP)
Leslie from Hildebran,NC
Psalm 1:3
And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that
bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. KJV
Teresa, Scottsbluff, NE. James 4:8 NASB Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
Lisa Lawrence, Jonesboro, Arkansas “The Lord your God turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the Lord your God loves you.” Deuteronomy 23:5b, NIV
Allison Rowe, San Diego, California
“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” Philippians 4:8 NIV
Judy Lynchburg, VA
“So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen,since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”
2 Corinthians 4:18 NIV
Joan, Richmond, VA
As for me, I will always have hope;
I will PRAISE you more and more.
Psalm 71:14 NIV
Chestertown, MD
My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry, for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.
James 1:19-20
Karen Boyce – Colorado Springs CO
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.
Proverbs 3:5-6
English Standard Version
Jodie Culcasi from Northbridge MA “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.” Psalm 147:3 NIV
Kristy, Hampstead Maryland. “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:38-39