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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Natia Anderson from Wilburton, Oklahoma.
Deuteronomy 28:5. Blessed shall you be
when you come in, and blessed shall you be
when you go out!
Nicole, Wideman, AR
Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You. Psalm 119:11 NKJ
Rebecca Harlan, Ky.
And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.
Jeremiah 29:13 NKJV
Sandy Seitzinger, Silver City, NM
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.
Matthew 7:7, 8 (NKJV)
Ashley, Illinois
And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice- the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Romans 12:1 NLT
The eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him. 2 Chronicles 16:9
Lindsey Wilson. Waldorf, MD. Isaiah 40:31 âBut they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.â NIV
Stacy Stevens, Beaverton, OR “For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.” 2 Timothy 1:7 (NLT)
Amanda, Westland, MI. “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go”. Joshua 1:9 NIV
Becky, Huntington, WVu
“Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.” 2 Peter 1:2 (NIV)
Proverbs 3:5 (NIV)
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.
Melissa Morrow, Woodstock, GA
“The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.” Exodus 14:14, NIV
He comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any kind of affliction through the comfort we ourselves receive from God. ~2 Corinthians 1:4~ Life Essentials Study Bible
Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but you also can say to this mountain, “Go, throw yourself into the sea,” and it will be done. Matthew 21:21. NIV
Andrea J Simi Valley, CA
“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” Hebrews 13:8 NIV
Carol-Montrose, IL
“These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” John 16:33 (NKJV)
Karen Karker New Holland, Pennsylvania.” Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” Hebrews 11:6 NIV
Makenna, Portland Oregon
“Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way of sinners take or sit in the seat of mockers.” Psalms 1:1 NIV
Carol Hosaflook, Abilene,TX Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. Ephesians 6:11 KJV
Wendy Buttrey Acworth, Ga
I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.
Ezekiel 36:26 NIV
“For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Ephesians 2:10 NIV
Jessica Baker-north Augusta, sc
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 lift up my soul. Psalm 143:8 NIV
Denise, Nashville GA
Mark 16:15 KJV And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
Gail Kania, Atascadero, CA
Let me hear of Your steadfast love in the morning, for in You I put my trust. Teach me the way I should go, for to You I lift up my soul.
Psalm 143:8. NRSV
Clair C., Katy, TX
Mark 12:30-31, HCSB
“Love The Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is: Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other command greater than these.”
Linda Trammell, Conyers, GA
“The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.”
Romans 8:16 KJV
borrowing from another…
Donna, Pittsburgh, PA
You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Isaiah 26:3
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
Kaya, Haven KS
Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails. Proverbs 19:21 (NIV)
Amy Badgley, Carl Junction, MO
Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Matthew 6:34 NIV
“Whoever pursues righteousness and love finds life, prosperity and honor. Proverbs 21:21 NIV
Jennifer B., Golden, CO, “Everything is permissible for me, but not everything is helpful. Everything is permissible for me, but I will not be brought under the control of anything.” 1 Cor. 6:12 (HCSB)
Jennie Wright from Bristol, Tennessee
“He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High Will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.” Psalm 91:1 NASV
Jennifer Perkins Longview, TX “But blessed are those who trust in the LORD
and have made the LORD their hope and confidence.” Jeremiah 17:7 NLT
Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Matthew 6:34 NIV
Claire from Myrtle, MS- “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” – Galatians 2:20.
April Jernigan, Bowling Green KY
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 grace in your hearts to the Lord.
Colossians 3:16 KJV
Dana Shammaa, Beckley, WV “We live by faith, not by sight.” 2 Corinthians 5:7 NIV
Short, I know, but not so simple. God’s plan for me right now, I believe, is to know….really KNOW…that He is always there, even when I don’t “feel” His presence. Like a marriage, a relationship with God is “for better or for worse”. God is asking me to trust Him, in ALL circumstances….not just praise Him when all is right in my world.
Jen, Acworth, 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
Tina F.; Rock Hill, SC
“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 43:19 NIV
Michelle from Broomfield, CO.
3 John 1:4
I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth. ESV
Jessica, Clinton, TN
âLet the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, signing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.â Colossians 3:16 ESV
Bobbie Jo
San Angelo, TX
“You are blessed because you believed that what the Lord said to you would really happen.” ~Luke 1:45(NCV)
Melissa // Fort Worth, TX
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
Romans 8:28 NIV
Rachel Duplessis, Mandeville, La.
“Show me your ways, Lord, teach me your paths. Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.” Psalm 25:4-5 (NIV)
1. The Lord is my Light and my salvation whom shall I fear? Psalm 27:1
Fresno, California
NIV
He said: “In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me.” From the depth of the grave I called for help and you listened to my cry.
Jonah 2:2
Dee Goodban, Oceanside, CA “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” Romans 12:21 NIV
Warsaw, Indiana
“In a word, what I’m saying is, Grow up. You’re kingdom subjects. Now live like it. Live out your God-created identity. Live generously and graciously toward others, the way God lives toward you.” Matthew 5:48 MSG
Proverbs 3:5-6 NLT
Trust in the lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.