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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sophia Niceville FL
“for 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.”
Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)
Citrus Heights, CA
“With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may count you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may fulfill every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by your faith.”
2 Thess. 1:11
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)
Amanda Nashville , TN “The soothing tongue is a tree of life, but a perverse tongue crushes the spirit.” Proverbs 15:4
“Therefore if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: the old has gone, the new is here!”
2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV
Amanda Keith, Houston, TX
Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them. For it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.
Deuteronomy 31: 6 ESV
Angie Watson, Greenville, North Carolina. “Search me, 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”. (â€Psalm‬ â€139‬:â€23-24‬ NIV)
Marilyn, Dearborn, MO.
But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of
our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified
to me, and I to the world.
Galatians 6:14 ESV
Michelle from LaGrange KY: “You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, (Jeremiah 29: 13-14a NIV)
Charlotte Augustine, Carnegie Pa
This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun. 2 Corinthians 5:17 NLT
Jeri Jacobs, Hemet, CA: Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. James 1:2-3. NIV
Mallory Barker, Floyds Knobs, Indiana. “Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.” 1 John 3:18 NIV
Kaye Truitt, Columbus, MS “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
Warrenton, NC
Phil 4:13
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me
NKJV
Megan, Prattville, AL: Blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD, who does not look to the proud, to those who turn aside to false gods. Psalm 40:4 (NIV)
NIKKI JAMES- Maumelle, AR
Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. 1 Corinthians 15:58 NIV
Jill Clem
Sioux City Iowa
“For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven”
Ecclesiastes 3:1, NLT
Janelle Wilson, Atlanta, GA – Let your face shine on your servant; save me in your unfailing love. Psalm 31:16 NIV
Allyson K, Cypress,TX “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.” Gal 6:9-10 NIV
Brothers, if anyone is caught in transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. Galations 6:1. ESV
To me this means anyone who has sinned (which is all of us) deserves gentleness and kindness and that we should be more aware of our own faults so we can be more aware of the choices we make
Lisa Hyde, Houston, Texas – “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:1-2, ESV
Rachel Pinard, Suwanee, Georgia. “for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” 2Timothy 1:7 (ESV)
Jana Soroski, Richmond, TX “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace.” Numbers 6:24-26 ESV
Erin Smith, Ohatchee, AL .
“The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, And he who is wise wins souls.” Proverbs 11:30 NASB
Cherie, Poulsbo Washington ” For no matter how many promises God has made they are a “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God. 2 Corinthians 1:20 NIV
Amanda, Ocean Springs, Mississippi
Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall her my voice.
Psalm 55:17 KJV
Tracy Phelps, Kilgore TX : “I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth.” Psalm 34:1 ESV
Lois from Rio Rancho, NM 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 ESV
Heather, Douglasville, GA
Romans 13:11New Living Translation (NLT)
This is all the more urgent, for you know how late it is; time is running out. Wake up, for our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.
Ruth Larkin, Shawnee, KS
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
Ephesians 2:10 (ESV)
Anchorage, AK
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
Romans 12:2 ESV
Colossians 4:6 (ESV)
Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.
Jennifer James~Katy,TX “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost.” Isaiah 55:1 NIV
Lindsay McDonald; Casey, IL If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (â€1 John‬ â€1‬:â€9‬ ESV)
cheryl- Longmont, Colorado
Set a gaurd over my mouth Lord; watch over the door to my lips. Psalms 141:3(NIV)
Meredith Harvie – Houston, TX. Phil 3:8 (ESV) Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ
Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Romans 12:12 (NIV) Megan, Madison, MS
The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Deuteronomy 31:8
Renee Ferrell, Amarillo, Texas: “Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act.” Psalm 37:5 ESV
Christi, Gahanna “If God is for us, who can ever be against us?” Romans 8:31 NLT
Gwen Wray, Miami, OK: A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. Proverbs 15:1 NKJV
indianapolis, IN
Galations 5:1 ESV
“For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.”
Broadview Heights, OH
Isaiah 43:18-19 (NASB)
18 “Do not call to mind the former things,
Or ponder things of the past.
19 “Behold, I will do 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.
Jenny Klein — Southport, NC
NASB Isaiah 12:2-3
“Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust
and not be afraid; For the Lord God is my
strength and song, And He has become
my salvation. Therefore you will joyously
draw water from the springs of salvation.”
Ann K, Charlotte, NC “Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” John 7:38 NIV
Robin Boggs , Abingdon, MD. “Your word is lamp to my feet and light for my path.” Psalm 119:105 NIV
Tilley Hawkins, Franklin, TN. “Forget about what’s happened; don’t keep going over old history. Be alert, be present. I’m about to do something brand-new. It’s bursting out! Don’t you see it? There it is! I’m making a road through the desert, rivers in the badlands.” Isaiah 43:18-19 (MSG)
In peace I lie down and sleep, for you alone, Lord make me dwell in safety.
Psalm 4:8 NIV
Kimberly Lopez, Lubbock, TX
Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth.
Psalm 108:5 NIV
Kelly Smith, Trussville, AL “Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it, but one thing I do: forgetting what is behind and straining toward what I ahead.” Philippians 3:13, NIV.