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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Lyndsey Williams
Ovilla, Texas
“You who have made me see many troubles and calamities will revive me again; from the depths of the earth you will bring me up again.”
Psalm 71:20 ESV
All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. (â€Ephesians‬ â€2‬:â€3-5‬ NIV)
Joni Shore, Knoxville, Tennessee; “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. 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 43:18-19 NIV
Amen!
Acts 8:4 Those who were scattered preached the word wherever they went.
Sandy Lewis from Overland Park, KS “The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace” NIV
Robin Harper-Bentonville, AR
“Now The Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of The Lord is, there is freedom.” 2 Corinthians 3:17 NIV
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. Romans 15:13
Tara M., Rockwall, TX: I sought the Lord and he heard me and delivered me from ALL my fears. Psalm 34:4 NIV
Melinda Eggers-Eckley, CO
“For you were once darkness, but now you are light in The Lord. Walk as children of light.” Ephesians 5:8 NKJV
Sherri Roth, Harborcreek, Pa. But i have raised you up for this very purpose, that i might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed i in all the earth. Exodus 9:16 N IV
Nancy Swain Edwardsville, IL Isaiah 30:15 in repentance and rest is your salvation in quietness and trust is your strength
Kim L., Faison, NC: “And you also are among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ;” Romans 1:6 (NIV)
My verse is Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
Be strong and courageous and do it. Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed, for the Lord God, even my God, is with you. He will not leave you or forsake you, until all the work for the service of the house of the Lord is finished. (I Chronicles 28:20, ESV)
Rochelle, Kingsport TN
Genesis 4:7 – You will be accepted if you do what is right. But if you refuse to do what is right, then watch out! Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you. But you must subdue it and be its master. NLT
Kim Giglio, Wrightwood, CA
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
1 Corinthians 13:4-5 NIV
Christy, Conifer, Colorado
Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.
Philippians 4:5 NIV
Jenna S in Chattanooga, TN
But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.Matthew 6:33-34 ESV
Arla, Benton, AR
Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep HIS promise. (â€Hebrews‬ â€10‬:â€23‬ NLT)
Allison L., Tulsa, OK
“Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the overseers and deacons: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.”
Philippians‬ â€1‬:â€1-5,‬ ESV
Cory Hanson, Katy Tx, “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.” 2 Corinthians 12:9 ESV
Stephanie R., Tupelo, MS : “Therefore, prepare your minds for action, be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed.” 1 Peter 1:13 (NIV)
Mary Murray Fayetteville AR
I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength. Phillipians 4:13 NIV
Sarah Martin, Greenbrier, AR-
“My soul finds rest in God alone, my salvation comes from him.” Psalm 62:1 NIV
Vanessa, Minneapolis, MN.
“For I am about to do a brand-new thing. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness for my people to come home. I will create rivers for them in the desert!” Isaiah 43:19 NLT
Wendy Lance, Conroe, TX. The Lord will fight for you, and you need only to be silent. Exo. 14:14 ESV
Mary Fugate, Cincinnati OH- “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:13 (NIV)
Tonia from Tampa, Be still, and know that I am God. I am exalted among the nations, I am exalted in the earth! Psalm 46:10 NIV
Jennifer Cole, Asheboro, NC “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
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 84
Jennifer Johnson, Deatsville, Alabama
For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this.
Esther 4:14 NKJV
If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. (â€1 Corinthians‬ â€13‬:â€2‬ NIV)
Always be joyful and never stop praying. Whatever happens, keep thanking God because of Jesus Christ. This is what God wants you to do. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 CEV
He who searches the heart knows what the mind of the Spirit is because he makes intercession for the Saints than according to the will of God Romans 8 27
Karen L. Cookeville, TN. Colossians 3:16. NIV
Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.
Terra Haisley, Albany, Indiana: “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” Ephesians 2:10 NLT
Be strong and courageous do not be afraid. Do not be discouraged, for The Lord your God is with you wherever you go. Joshua 1:9
Kerry Millikan, Pinehurst, NC. “guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.” Psalm25:5 NIV
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. Isaiah 53:6
Psalm 51:10-12 ESV
Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me
Cast me not away from your presence and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation and uphold me with a willing spirit.
Traci, Celina, Ohio “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” Psalm 90:12 NIV
Jennifer, Hahira, Georgia – James 1:5 NKJV “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.”
Let his flesh become fresher than in youth, Let him return to the days of his youthful vigor; Job:33:25 ASB
Elizabeth Bennett, Gainesville, GA – “But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, of only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.” – Acts 20:24 ESV
Sue Weaver, Belton, TX: “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
Tammy Bodie, Prosperity, SC “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.” Romans 12:12 NIV
Cissie Bellew- Macon, GA
“The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your love, O Lord, endures forever-do not abandon the works of your hands.”
Psalm 138:8
Alicia Stewart (Loveland, CO)
“Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and He will establish your plans.” (Prov 16:3, NIV)
Michelle Taylor, Fernandina Beach, Florida
Show me your ways, O 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