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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Carolyn Deevers, Dardenne Prairie, Missouri – All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness. 2 Timothy 3:16 (NIV)
Julie Chandler, Woodbury, MN
“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.
See, I am doing a new thing!”
Isaiah 43:18-19, NIV
Shari, Newark IL Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you not as the world gives. Do no let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
-John 14:27
The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary, and His understanding no one can fathom.
He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak;
even youths grow tired and weary and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on
wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not
be faint. Isaiah 40:28-31 NIV
Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. 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 43:18-19 ESV
Angie, Jefferson City, MO
A relaxed attitude lengthens life. Proverbs 14:30
Dawnette Deiter, Coudersport, PA.
“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we[a] have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Romans 5:1 ESV
Carrie McCravy, San Antonio, TX
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” Matthew 16:24 NIV
Gale Cole, Buffalo, WY, ” We encouraged, comforted, and implored each one of you to walk worthy of God, who calls you into His own kingdom and glory.” HCSB
So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will free dive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.
Hebrews 4:16
Kathy Rye, Cedar Park, TX
And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.
Luke 1:38 (KJV)
Beth Skibbe, Longmont, CO
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. NIV
Sarah Juven, Fergus Falls, MN “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” 2 Chronicles 7:14 NIV
Georgetown, TX, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.” Colossians 3:16 NIV
You have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you and I have appointed you [I have planted you], that you might go and bear fruit and keep on bearing, and that your fruit may be lasting [that it may remain, abide], so that whatever you ask the Father in My Name [as presenting all that I AM], He may give it to you. (â€John‬ â€15‬:â€16AMP)
Aubrey, Rockledge FL
Habukkuk 3:18 “yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior.”
Albertville, Al. Ps. 118:24 This is the day The Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it. KJV
Colossians 1:22 He has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him (ESV)
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge and discipline.Proverbs 1:7 NIV
Pam Beers, Colville WA. Philippians 1:6 “[I] Being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you [me] will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”
Katy Axtell, Jacksonville, FL “He’s solid rock under my feet, breathing room for my soul, an impregnable castle: I’m set for life” Psalm 62:6, The Message
Amy Bryant, Benton, LA. One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to inquire in his temple. Psalm 27:4 King James
Melinda V, Portage, MI
“For He satisfies the longing soul,
And fills the hungry soul with goodness.” – Ps 107:9, NKJV
The king will reply, “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me”. Matthew 25:40
Samantha L, McAllen, Texas. “He heals the broken hearted and binds up their wounds.” Psalm 147:3 NIV
Ephesians 3:14-21 NASB
For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.
Susie J, South AL -Galatians 6:9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
Jeannie Nelson, Sierra Vista, Az. ” Bless The Lord, oh my soul: and all that is within me, bless His holy name.” Psalm 103:1 kjv
Meredith Bufkin, Woodworth LA
In His hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind. Job 12:10 (NIV)
Beth Skibbe Longmont, CO
Isaiah 41:10 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. NIV
Janet Nixon, Bridgeport NJ
“I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.” Psalms 32:8 NIV
Kristina Albright, Mebane, NC. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, the old has gone, the new has come!” 2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV
Angela Klus, Wetaskiwin, Alberta, Canada. “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
Galatians 2:20 NIV
Shelley Miller, Federal Way, Washington. “I am the Lord, who opened a way through the waters, making a dry path through the sea.” Isaiah 43:16 NLT
2 Samuel 9:7–8
“Don’t be afraid,” David said to him, “for I will surely show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan. I will restore to you all the land that belonged to your grandfather Saul, and you will always eat at my table.” Mephibosheth bowed down and said, “What is your servant, that you should notice a dead dog like me?”
Tiffany Ehle, South Deerfield, Massachusetts–“But present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.” Romans 6:13b-14 (NASB)
Love the Lord your God with all your heart all your soul and all your might,and your neighbor as yourself.Luke 10:27
KJV
Kathy Seibert Franklin,Ohio
Patrice in Albuquerque
“The Lord bless you and keep you; and make His Face shine upon you and be gracious to you.” Numbers 6:24-25 NIV
Erica Hostetler, Kalona, IA
“I am the true vine and my Father is the gardener.”
John 15:1 NIV
Jacqueline Wood, Oakley, KS
“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
Dana Berry, Madison, MS “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” Matthew 5:6 NASB
Judy Elaine Collins, Winona, MS ~~ “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)
Teena Buie San Angelo TX Blessed are they whose ways are blameless, who walk according to the law of the Lord. Psalm 119:1
Megan Morrison
Ft. Worth, TX
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)
Katieanne, Redlands, California “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?
Psalm 27:1, ESV
Cameron – Maumee, Ohio (Go Bucks!)
Mark 11:24
Therefore I tell you, all the things you pray and ask for — believe that you have received them, and you will have them.
Eph 3:20 Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power within us, (ESV)
Juanita Roybal, Bernalillo, NM
Oh give thanks to the LORD, for He is good;
for His steadfast love endures forever!
1 Chronicles 16:34 NKJV
Bailey Mays, Knoxville. Paul, a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God the gospel he promised before hand through his prophets in the holy scriptures, Romans 1:1-2, NIV
Lynn Wallace, Jacksonville, FL
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. (â€II Corinthians‬ â€5‬:â€17‬ NKJV)