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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Kris M, Omaha, NE
“Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, ‘This is the way; walk in it.'” Isaiah 30:21 (NIV
Florence, Ky. Isaiah 43:18-19 NASB
“Do not call to mind the former things, Or ponder things of the past. “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.
Robbie Hall, Marbury, Alabama. “Casting the whole of your care [all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully.”
1 Peter 5:7 AMP
Colossians 1:9-10 NKJV
9 For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; 10 that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;
Jennifer Speelman, Kinston, NC
The one who guards his mouth protects his life; the one who opens his lips invites his own ruin. (Proverbs 13:3 HCSB)
Exodus 20:7 “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. ESV
Pamela R., Manitoba, Canada:
“do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”
Philippians 4:6 ESV
Anne Atchison S. Chesterfield VA: The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners. Isaiah 61:1
Pleasant words are as a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and health to the bones”. Proverbs 16: 24 KJV
Lisa from Savage, Minnesota: In nothing be anxious; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. Philippians 4:6
Nancy Ferrin, Derry, NH
“In Him our hearts rejoice for we trust in His holy Name. May Your unfailing love be with us, Lord, even as we put our hope in You.” Psalm 33:21-22 NIV
sylvia yanez maxwell tx Romans 12:9-10 Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong, Hold tightly to what is good. Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other.
Karyn C, Long Island, NY
Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived,
no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for him. -Isaiah 64:4 NIV
Amy K., Almont, MI: “Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble. Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.” 1 Peter 3:8-9 NIV
Patti F. Borger, TX “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape that you may be able to endure it.” 1 Corinthians 10:13 ESV
For before that certain came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles: but when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision. Gal:2-12
Alicia Sheridan, Clermont, Florida
Oh give thanks to the Lord , call upon His name; Make known His deeds among the peoples.
1 Chronicles 16:8 NASB
Jan Stallings, Plant City, Florida. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. Mark 10:10 NIV
The thief is the devil who will try to scare us to death putting doubt and fear in all that we do, but God wants us to know that he came so that we could live in peace knowing he loves us and cares that we are hurting and wants us to trust him to give us what we need.
Jennifer Brand, Estero Florida. Psalm 40:1-2 NIV. “I waited patiently for the Lord;he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit,out of the mud and mire;he set my feet on a rockand gave me a firm place to stand.
Janette, Esres Park, CO
As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the LORD surrounds his people both now and forevermore. PS 125:2 INV
i am the true vine, and my Father is th vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit , He prunes it, that it may bear more fruit.
John 15:1-2, NASB
Sara Kallin, Bellingham, Washinton.
So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.
2 Corinthians 4:16-18, ESV
Lisa Herndon East Tn.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gon, the new is here! (2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV)
Carrie Foreman, Horatio, Arkansas.
“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
Cristy – Monroe, Ohio
The Lord your God is with you
He is mighty to save
He will take great delight in you
He will quiet you with His love
He will rejoice over you with singing.
Zephaniah 3:17 NIV
Leigh Hamilton Fincastle VA:
Yet he [Leigh] did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his [her] faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what He had promised. Romans 4:20-21
NIV
He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8 NIV
Ashley from St. Louis, Missouri. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, has has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. I Peter 1:3-5 ESV
When u pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you: when you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle on you.for I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.
Isaiah 43: 2,3a AKJV
Julie A. From Burke, VA:
“And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.” Ephesians 6:18 (NIV)
Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. Hebrews 11:1 NIV
Jackie H. Platte City MO
Isaiah 43:18-19 (NIV)
“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.
Jennifer F., Portland, OR, “no temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted he will also provide a way out so you can stand up under it”. 1Cor. 10:13 NIV
Brandi Reyes, Jacksonville, AL: “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you.” Deuteronomy 31:6 NIV
Therefore anyone in Christ is a new creation, the old has gone and the new has come!
2 Corinthians 5:17
Larwill, IN
“But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its rays. And you will go out and frolic like well-fed calves.”
Malachi 4:2 (NIV)
John 1:1 NCV
In the beginning was the Word. The Word was with God, and the Word was God.
You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. Genesis 50:20
For you are my rock and fortress. Therefore for your name’s sake, Lead me and guide me. Psalms 31:3 Spirit Filled Life Bible NKJV
Christina Daniels
Tomball, TX
Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. Hebrews 11:1 NIV
I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength. Philippians 4:12-13, NIV
“For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.” Philippians 4:13
“Mankind, He has told you what is good and what it is the Lord requires of you: to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.” Micah 6:8 (Holman Christian Standard)
Paula, Dickinson, ND
2 Timothy 4:5 “But as for you, be serious about everything, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.” HCSB
Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.
Who being in the form of God thought it not robbery to be equal with God.
But made of himself no reputation, took upon him the form of a servant and became the likeness of men.
And being found fashioned as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
Wherefore God hath highly exalted Him and given him a name that is above every name.
That at the name of Jesus every need should bow. In thing in Heaven and things on earth, and things under the earth.
And every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord; to the Glory of God the Father.
Phil. 2:5-11
And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue His work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns. Phil. 1:6 (NLT)
Ashley, Maryville, Tennessee, “May you be strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy.” Colossians 1:11 ESV
If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. I Corinthians 13:2 NLT
Karen, Jacksonville, Florida
We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love you have for all of God’s people Colossians 1:3-4 (NIV)
“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. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.” Jeremiah 29:11-12 (NIV)
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