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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sandie Cornelius, Oneida, TN
The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him. The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him. It. Lamentations 3:24 KJV
Sabrina Moore, Houston, Texas.
There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the LORD. Proverbs 21:30 NIV
Dana fron Avon, IN: I appeal to you therefore my brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptible to God, which is your spiritual worship. Romans 12:1 (ESV)
Jessica Alltop, Yorkville, IL.
Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying.
Romans 12:12 NLT
Heather Morgan, Waxahachie, TX
Psalm 27:4 NIV
One thing I ask from the LORD, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple.
Christi Cook, Fort Lupton CO
“Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.”
Psalm 51:7
Maria B. Albuq,NM. Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom…Col 3:16a NKJV
Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.
Ephesians 4:29 NIV
Lori, Toledo
“Now listen daughter, don’t miss a word … the king is wild for you. Since he’s your lord, adore him.” Psalm 45:10-11 (The Message)
He was pierced for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our iniquities;
The punishment that brought us peace was on him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
(Isa. 5 3:5)
Heather – Fort Worth, TX. “So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old is gone, the new is here!” 2 Corinthians 5:16-17 NIV
Dale Ford Dyer, Georgetown, OH – If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. Galatians 5:25 – ESV MacArthur Study Bible
Cindy Miller, N. Richland Hills, TX
“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 life up my soul”. Psalm 143:8 (NIV)
May the God of Hope fill you with ALL joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with Hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13 NLT
Debra H – Dahlgren, IL
Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he
who promised is faithful.
Hebrews 10:23 NIV
Wilmington. Love this verse/ truth! “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
Christy from Madras. Oregon
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord,
plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11 ESV
Sharon Thomas, WheatRidge, Colorado
For the Lord gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.He
holds victory in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless,for he guards the course of the just and protects the way of the faithful ones.
Proverbs 2:6-8 NIV
Mary Williams from Owensboro Ky.
“1 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. 2 And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”
Ephesians 5:1-2 ESV
Chrystal, Quartz Hill, CA
“That I may know him + the power of his resurrection, + may share his sufferings, becoming like him in death”
Phillipians 3:10 ESV
Kim, Spring Branch, TX:
Colosians 3:23-24 “Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve. NAS
Tawnya Johnson, Junction City, OR
“My dear brothers and sisters, be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry.” NLT
You have said”Seek my face.”My heart says to you,Your face,Lord, do I seek.” Psalm 27:8 ESV
Stephanie, Fredericksburg, VA, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.” Deut. 6:5-7
Shelly, North Port, Fl
“Purify yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do great wonders among you.” LASB
Samantha, Marion IN
“that according to the riches of His glory, he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being”
Ephesians 3:16 ESV
“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
John 1:1
Angie Martens, Charlotte, NC. “Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!” Psalm 34:8 (ESV)
Tammy de Wet, McKinney, Tx
II Samuel 22:33 NKJV. “God is my strength and power, And He makes my way perfect.”
Tammie Barber Cross City, Florida
Matthew 10:39 He that findeth his life shall lose it; and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it. KJV
“Less of Me, More of You…. 2015”
Sharice Latham, Shelby, NC
“For we are His creation – created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared ahead of time so that we should walk in them.”
Ephesians 2:10 HCSB
1 Corinthians 1:3-4 (NIV)
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.
Whitney Hazzard Little Elm “O Death, where is your victory? O Death, where is your sting? The sting of death is sin and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” NASB
Carol Worthington Accokeek MD
Grace be to you, and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Ephesians 1:2
Cambry Dorman, Bronte, TX
January 2, 2015 at 10:53 am
In the same way, let your light shine before men, so they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.
Matthew 5:16 HCSB
Bethany, Richland, WA
Proverbs 28:19 ESV
Whoever works his land will have plenty of bread, but he who follows worthless pursuits will have plenty of poverty.
Tawnya Johnson, Junction City OR
“My dear brothers and sisters, be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry.” James 1:19 NLT
Sorry, I forgot to put where it was found on my first post.
Jenn Massey, Austin, Texas
Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord.
Ephesians 5:22 NKJV
Deborah Sawyer, Kansas
We will not compare ourselves with each other as if one of us were better and another worse. We have far more interesting things to do with our lives. Each of us is an original. Galatians 5:26 The Message
Savanna Brown, Blairsville, Ga
The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. (â€Romans‬ â€8‬:â€16-17‬ ESV)
Jess Wartinger :: Houghton, NY :: But blessed is the man who trust me, God, the woman who sticks with God. They’re like trees replanted in Eden, putting down roots near the rivers… :: Jeremiah 17: 17-18a :: MSG
My husband, Dan Wartinger, is also joining me on this journey!
Amy- Los Angeles, CA
Now you are no longer strangers to God and foreigners to heaven, but you are members of God’s very own family, citizens of God’s country, and you belong in God’s household with every other Christian.
Ephesians 2:19 Living Bible
Carol Nelson, Oklahoma, Lamentations 3:21-22. “Yet, I stll dare to hope when I remember this: The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease.” NLT
Philippians 4:6
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
NIV
Wendi, Hendersonville, NC
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ for you.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 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
Kristi, Pensacola, FL
“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.
Luke 1:38, NIV
Tamara Henkes, Bucharest Romania
“In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will-“. Ephesians 1:5 NIV
Morristown, TN
Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:13b-14 NIV