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) Ā 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 ofĀ 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 areĀ 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:Ā
Your name, city, verse (written all the way out), reference, and translation.Ā
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 citizensĀ with the saints and members of the household of God.”Ā 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 householdĀ all we’ve got. Christ is so altogether worthy.
Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait! One last thing before I say Go!Ā 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 upĀ on the SSMT informational comments. Ā 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. Ā I know it’s a bit complicated at first! Hang with it!Ā So sorry for your extra trouble!
Hey, I am so glad you’re doing this with us. So much love to you.
OK, GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Shonda Vielbig, Ventura, CA 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 about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 2Cor 12:9, NIV
Stephanie Smith, Sioux Falls, SD
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 a dry wasteland.
Isaiah 43:19 NLT
Pam, Slocomb, Alabama
Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires James 1:19-20 (NLT)
Jennine Lawson, Littleton, NH
Psalms 51:10 (KJV)
Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
Valerie Bynum, Valrico, FL, But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Matthew 6:33 NIV
Ephesians 4:31-32 (NIV)
“Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”
Ephesians 4:31-32
Cheryl, Harleysville, PA
I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. Philippians 1:20, NIV
Jayla Penick, Springfield, MO
“Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.” Romans 12:12 ESV
Jenn
Monroe, WA
Isaiah 30:21 (NIV)
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.”
I posted last night, but it looks like i commented to the wrong post. š so reposting.
Whitney, Anna TX
Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path. Psalm 119:105 NIV
Nikki Hurtado, Houston, TX
Cause me to hear your lovingkindness in the morning,
For in You do I trust;
Cause me to know the way in which I should walk,
For I lift up my soul to You.
Psalm 143:8 NKJV
MaLori, Fort Worth TX, Isaiah 43:19 KJV: “Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.”
Julie Lavers – Beaverton, OR
Proverbs 3:5ā6
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.
Proverbs 3:5ā6 NIV
SherryJMiller, Hendersonville, NC
“I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.” 3John 4 ESV
Bethany Massey, Nashville, TN
Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.
1 John 3:2 (ESV)
Anna McKenna Redford, MI
May mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance. (āJudeā¬ ā1ā¬:ā2ā¬ NIV)
Donna M Allen Panama City, FL
Proverbs 3:5
Trust in the Lord with all your heart And lean not on your own understanding.
As far as the East is from the West , so far hath he removed our transgression from us. Psalm 103:12
Go out and stand in your yard and look to the East and then to the West. Look at all that stands and block our way. He helps around all of this in our path but he forgives us of our sin All of them. The love that He must have for me.
Victoria Milam, Greenbrier AR
But as for me, I will look to the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me.
Micah 7:7 ESV
Kibbie Grovetown, GA
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow wit hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13 (NIV)
Rachele, Houston, TX
Isaiah 43:19 NKJV
“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.”
Debby, Hilliard , Ohio
Create in me a clean heart, Oh God, and renew a right, persevering, and steadfast spirit within me.
Psalm 51:10 AMP
Krystal Holt, NLR, AR
Deuteronomy 2;3 – New American Standard
“You have circled this mountain long enough, now turn North”
Monica Williams, Phoenix AZ- Then he told me, āThis is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel:
‘You will not succeed by your own strength or by your own power, but by my Spirit,ā says the Lord All-Powerful. Zechariah 4:6 NCV
Stacey, Ellijay, GA
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 1 pet 2:9-10
Kate Lott
Orlando, FL
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord
Plans to give you hope and a future.
Jeremiah 29:11 NIV
Trina
Marquette Heights, Il
i know whom I have believed and am convinced He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day.. 2Timothy 1:12 NIV
Shelly, Greenwich, OH.
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 Lordās people.
Ephesians 6:18 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?”
Isaiah 43:18-19 NIV
Erin, Charlotte, NC
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 NIV
Taylor Techau, Lexington, KY
The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.
Deuteronomy 31:8 NIV
Phil. 1:27 – Whatever happens, conduct yourself in a manner that glorifies the word of God.
Shan Copeland, Salina, KS
I will refresh the weary and satisfy the faint. Jeremiah 31:25 NIV
Taken from Beth Moore’s Breaking Free Day by Day devo.
Diane Miller, Cypress, TX
“Hatred stirs up dissention, but love covers over all wrongs.” Prov. 10:12 NIV
Carrie Whatley, Orting, WA: In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. Rom. 8:26 NIV
Houston, Texas
1Peter 3:15 But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect.
Marie Griffith, Moulton, AL For the Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life. Job 33:4. NLT
Rachel from Atlanta, GA
“You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave our sins.”
Colossians 2:13 (NLT)
Vicky, Winter Garden, FL
Because this year is going to be one of great changes for me and I don’t exactly know what they are going to look like.
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
Kelli Furgason, DeWitt, MI
“Finally, brethern, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things” Philippians 4:8 NASB
Lori Arce, Boca Raton, FL
“The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.” Psalm 18:2
Connie from Woodstock, GA
Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Proverbs 3:5 NLT
Judy from Forty Fort PA
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation;old things have passed away;
behold, all things have become new.
2 Corinthians 5:17 (NKJV)
Dolly, Alexander City, AL
He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.
Isaiah 40:29 NIV
Johanne Riva Cambrin, Calgary, AB, Canada
“I pray that He may grant you according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power in the inner man through His Spirit,” Ephesians 3:16 HCSB
Kendra, New York, NY
“Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Take delight in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.” Psalm 37:3-4 (NIV)
Michelle, Chadds Ford, PA
Behold, I am doing a new thing;
now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness
and rivers in the desert.
Isaiah 43:19 ESV
Allison Love, Minneola, FL
For the Lord God is a sun and shield. The Lord gives grace and glory; He does not withhold the good from those who live with integrity. Psalm 84:11 HCSB
Psalm 19:14- let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.
Judy Turnbow, Pearl, MS
Without faith it is impossible to please God, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of all who seek Him
Hebrews 11:6 NASB