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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Leslie D
Las Cruces, NM
Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. Isaiah 43:19 NKJV
Christiansburg, VA
“Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you ay be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,” Philippians 2:14-15
Gina – Harrison, TN Romans 8:18 NLT “Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later.”
Sheila, Chester, South Carolina
Psalms 34:15 The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and His ears are open unto their prayers.
“Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,” Philippians 2:14-15
Paula Hunt Durban South Africa
For with God nothing is ever impossible and no word from God shall be without power or impossible of fulfillment. Luke 1:37
Suffolk, VA
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
Jeremiah 29:11 NKJV
Ashley Scruggs, Appomattox, VA, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”-2 Corinithians 5:17 NIV
from Bradford, PA
“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.” Galations 2:20 KJV
Patricia, Riverside, CA
Romans 8:37 (HCSB)
No, in all these things we are more than victorious through Him who loved us.
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 your paths straight.… PROV 3:5
Kirsten Montenari, Jacksonville, FL – The Lord is my light and my salvation— whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life— of whom shall I be afraid? (â€Psalm‬ â€27‬:â€1‬ NIV)
“Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.” Isaiah 41:10 KJV
Kelli, Cary NC
For He will hide me in His shelter in the day of trouble; He will conceal me under the cover of His tent; He will lift me high upon a rock. Psalm 27:5 ESV
Hanna Wahlbrink. Lexington, Ky
The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.
Isaiah 9:2 (niv)
Devona Tucker, Easley, SC “Therefore, my beloved and longed-for brethren, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, beloved” Philippians 4:1, NKJV
Yvonne Shelgren Maryville, TN. “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
Holly
Longmont, CO
We love because he first loved us. 1 John 4:19 NIV
Batesville, Ar.
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)
Darla Morrison, Crawfordsville, IN: “A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.” Proverbs 17:22, NIV. “When we are really spiritually depressed, everything in our life is affected.” Nancy Missler
Cliffa, Belton, TX
For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.
2 Chronicles 16:11
Ashia Good, Starkville, MS- Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name. Psalm 103:1 NASB
Robin Bennett, New Albany, MS
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
So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.
Wendy, where is this scripture? Sounds familiar but I can’t quite place it?
Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has laid hold of me Philippians 3;12 NKJV
Tracey Giles, Billings, Montana. “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
Alyssa in Columbus, MS: Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and make me willing to obey you. (â€Psalms‬ â€51‬:â€12‬ NLT)
Christina
Tyler, TX
2 Timothy 3:16-17 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
Keller, TX:
That’s mine too! NLT!
Isaiah 43:18-19
18 “Forget the former things;
do not dwell on the past.
19 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.
Angie Wilt, Kansas City, Missouri. Commit your actions to the Lord, and your plans will succeed. Proverbs 16:3 NLT
Missy, Fuquay Varina, NC
May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm 19:14, NIV)
Danielle McAleer, Oakville, Ontario
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Romans 12:1, ESV
Debbie, Huntsville, AL
“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
Michal Joyner, Scottsdale, Arizona, Jer 29:11NIV 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.
Katy, Tx
1 John 4:7
Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God
Lisa Towers, Greenfield, Wisconsin. “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.” Romans 12:12 NIV
Dawn
Silver Spring, MD
2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV: Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
Colossians 3:23 NIV
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters.
Jeremiah 29:13 HCSB
You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.
Kristen
Apache Junction Arizona
Zoë, Lakeland, FL
But now the Lord who created you, O Israel, says, “Do not be afraid, for I have redeemed you, I called you by name; you are mine. Isaiah 43:1
Ellen M., Camden DE
For He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Colossians 1:13-14 NIV
Sunni Sutphin, Mount Airy, NC.
“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”
Isaiah 41:10 NIV
Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added to you. Matthew 6:33 NIV
Leigh Gray
Illinois
Jeanette Coffey, Libertyville, IL
Trust in The Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him and he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6 (NIV)
Shelly Wilson, Minneapolis, KS
But I will hope continually and will praise You yet more and more.
Psalm 71:14 ESV
Lauren, Clinton, MS
“All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be enslaved by anything. -1 Corinthians 6:12 ESV
I can do everything through him who gives me strength. Phillippians 4:13 NIV
“Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.” Romans 5:3-4 NIV
Dilara, Alexandria, VA
Whoever pursues righteousness and love finds life, prosperity and honor. (Proverbs 21:21 NIV)
Phil 4:13 I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength. NKJ.
Beth Corradi, San Diego CA,
James 3:2. Indeed, we all make many mistakes. For if we could control our tongues, we would be perfect and could also control ourselves in every other way. NLT
Austin, Texas
“But Jesus answered him saying, ‘It is writtten, ‘ Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.”” Luke 4:5 NKJV