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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Elizabeth Cha, Taipei, Taiwan,
“Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.” James 4:14-15, NASB
Jean Dlapa, New Berlin, WI
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. Isaiah 43:19 (NLT)
Robin Freeman
Garland Tx~~
2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here !
Kathie Cwienkala Lansdale, PA My mercy will I keep for him forever more, and my covenant shall stand fast with him.
We wait in hope for the Lord; he is our help and our shield.
Psalms 33:20
NIV
Caresty Carpenter, Madison, MS. “Let me hear of your unfailing love each morning, for I am trusting you. Show me where to walk, for I give myself to you.”
-Psalm 143:8 NIV
Bonita, Mills River, NC
Proverbs 4:20 Amplified
My son, attend to my words; consent and submit to my sayings.
Lori Turner, Moore, Oklahoma, “You crown the year with bountiful harvest, even the hard pathways overflow with abundance” Psalm 65:11 NLT
Kimberly Miller, Leachville, AR ‘And Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”‘ NLT
Lauren. Upstate New York.
II Corinthians 12:9 NKJV
And He said to me, âMy grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.â Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
Amanda, Albuquerque, NM
“Since he himself has gone through suffering and testing, he is able to help us when we are being tested.” Hebrews 2:18 NLT
Mount Joy, Pennsylvania
I love you, Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. (âPsalm⏠â18âŹ:â1-2⏠NIV)
Julie – Alabama
Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. James 5:16 NIV
Kathleen. Saint Joseph, Michigan
Yet I still dare to hope when I remember this: The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease.
Lamentations 3:21-22. NLT
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23 Amplified
Janet, Boulder, CO
“For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith, goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love.” 2 Peter 1:5 – 7, NIV
“Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.” Isaiah 43:18-19 KJV
Jennifer Walker, Fort Worth, Tx., “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the Shadow of the Almighty.” Psalm 91:1 NASB
Sue, Hendersonville NC
2 Corinthians 12:9 9 ESV “But he said to me, âMy grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.â Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”
Ashley Lovely, Van Alstyne, TX. “Then Joshua said to them, Do not be afraid, nor be dismayed; be strong and of good courage.” Joshua 10:25 NKJV
1 John 3:21-22(NIV)
21 Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God 22 and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. Isaiah 43:2 New English Version
âLet all that I am praise the Lord; with my whole heart, I will praise His Name. â (Psalm 103:1, NLT)
To you I call, O Lord my Rock; do not turn a deaf ear to me. For if you remain silent, I will be like those who have gone down to the pit.
Psalm 28:1 NIV
Walk in obedience to all that the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live and prosper and prolong your days in the land that you will possess.
Deuteronomy 5:33 | NIV |
Kelley from Minneapolis, MN
You will keep in perfect peace [her] whose mind is steadfast, because [she] trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord is the Rock eternal.
Isaiah 26:3-4 (NIV)
Stacey Pendergrast – Houston, TX “But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:13b-14 ESV
Deb Mott, Bradenton, Florida. “And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.” Ephesians 4:32KJV
Sarah Plymouth, Maine
Romans 12:2 NIV Do not conform to the pattern of this world,but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is -His good ,pleasing and perfect Will.
Cheryl Dillard, Matthews, NC “My dear sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry.” James 1:19 NIV
Carrie R., Clayton, NC
Donât worry about anything; instead pray about everything. Tell God what you need,and thank him for all he has done. Philippians 4:6 NLT
Megan, Stow, OH “Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart.” Col 4:2, NLT
BJ McCullick, Kansas City, Missouri. “Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise.” Hebrews 10:23 (NLT)
Alison Pannell
McComb, MS
“For You have been my hope, Sovereign Lord, my confidence since my youth.”
Psalm 71:5 NIV
Tamara Conner – Collinsville, OK
Do not fret or have any anxiety about anything, but in every circumstance and in everything, by prayer and petition (definite requests), with thanksgiving, continue to make your wants known to God. Philippians 4:6 AMP
Ellen Ratcliff, Sevierville, TN
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; Proverbs 3:5 NIV
Darla, Longview, TX “My son, if your heart is wise, then my heart will be glad; My inmost being will rejoice when your lips speak what is right.” Prov. 23: 15&16 NIV
Isaiah 43:18-19 NLT
âBut forget all thatâ it is nothing compared to what I am going to do. 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.
Sarah, cumberland, md
Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as you have: for he has said I will leave thee nor forsake thee.
Hebrews 13:5 KJV
KJV ROMANS 10:15 And how shall they preach except they be sent? As it is written how beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things
Grove City, PA
Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities,in reproaches,in needs,in persecutions,in distresses,for Christs sake. For when I am weak,then I am strong.
2 Corinthians 12:10
Gretchen Jackson, Cave Creek, Az
In the same way, the spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself interferes for us through wordless groans. Romans 8:26
Kimberly Miller, Leachville, AR âAnd Jesus said to the woman, âYour faith has saved you; go in peace.ââLuke 7:50 NLT
Julie Taylor, Simpsonville, SC âYou will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.â Jeremiah 29:13 (NIV)
Love it Bestie.
Cheryl Morris, Oklahoma City Oklahoma “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy” Psalm 103:1-4 ESV
Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. 2 Peter 1:2
Lois J, Huntsville,TX.
Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth! Psalms 46:10 NKJV
Heather Ugron, Houston, TX, “With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments! I have stored up your word in my heart, that I may not sin against you.” Psalm 119: 10-11 ESV
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. Isaiah 43:19 NLT
East TN…Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth! Psalms 46:10 ESV.
This was to be my 2nd verse, but I posted my first verse at 4:30am and it states I am to repost if posted before 8:00am…tried to do this and it wouldn’t allow me as it said it was a duplicate.