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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Melany Ethridge, Van Alstyne, Texas
Isaiah 30:15 (NKJV)
15 For thus says the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel:
“In returning and rest you shall be saved;
In quietness and confidence shall be your strength.”
Callie, Rowlett,Tx
1 John 4:18 NET
“There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears punishment has not been perfected in love.”
Philippians 3:13-14 (NIV)
13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
1 Corinthians 13:4-8
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 NIV
Bettie, Cary, NC
John 11:25 NIV
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die;
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
Cristie Giles, Chatom Alabama, With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments! Psalm 119:10 ESV
Debbie P, Prince George VA “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” Deuteronomy 6:4-5 ESV
Jenny, Corona, Ca
Jeremiah 29:11 (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 a hope and a future.”
Christi, Gilbert, AZ
“For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.” NLT 2 Timothy 1:7
Kassidy Forshey, Topeka, KS
“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”
2 Corinthians 3:17-18 NIV
Kathy Cole, Albany, OR
Jeremiah 29:11 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.
Kim Burdin, Indiana
“A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.” Proverbs 15:1 NIV
Jasmine, North Las Vegas, NV
Colossians 3:1 NKJV
“If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God.”
Jennifer Doby Mount Airy, NC – The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied. Proverbs 13:4 ESV
Missy Loudenback, Chicago, IL
“O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter does?” declares the Lord. “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.”
Jeremiah 18:6 NIV
Patty B – Cleveland, OH “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. Galatians 5:1 NIV
Kathi from Ellenton, FL
“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
Genesis1:1 in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. NIV
“Fear of the Lord is the foundation of true knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.” Proverbs 1:7 NLT
Catherine Lisle, Albuquerque, NM
John 14:26- “But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit—the Father will send Him in My name—will teach you all things and remind you of everything I have told you.” HCSB
Susan, Sylvania, Ohio
“With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.” Psalm 91:16
Rachel Krock, Belleville, Illinois. “‘Shall I bring to the point of birth and not give delivery?’ says the LORD. ‘Or shall I who gives delivery shut the womb?’ says your God.” NASB
Marla, Sparta TN
“Let me hear your lovingkindness in the morning
For I trust in You.
Teach me the way in which I should walk
For to you I lift up my soul”
Psalm 143:8 NASB
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, Romans 5:1 NIV
Patty, Granite Bay, CA “but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. Isaiah 40:31 NIV
1 Corinthians 13:4-7
Psm 112:1 NAS
“Praise the Lord! How blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who greatly delights in His commandments.”
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33
Alisha, Hollins, Alabama “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. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” Jer. 29:11-13
Taylor Mathis
Butler, GA
“Jesus replied, ‘You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.'”
John 13:7
NIV
Angie Miller, Loveland Colorado
Ephesians 5 King James Version (KJV)
5 Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children;
2 And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.
Psalm 105:4 NIV “Look to the LORD and His strength; seek His face always.”
Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand. (â€Isaiah‬ â€41‬:â€10‬ NLT)
Friday, January 2, 2015
Hebrews 10:23
Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.
Hebrews 10:23 ESV
Stacy Bell, Sam Antonio, TX
Isaiah 43:19
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.
Krissy, Houston, Texas. James 3:1 NIV “Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.”
“In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps.” Proverbs 16:9
Jennifer Foust, West Memphis, AR. “And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God,” Job 19:26 ESV
Ann Jones, West Palm Beach, Florida, “Jesus said, “No procrastination. No backward looks. You can’t put God’s kingdom off till tomorrow. Seize the day.” Luke 9:62 The Message
Linda, Farmingdale, ME
Malachi 3: 16 NIV
Then those who feared the LORD talked with each other, and the LORD listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in His presence concerning those who feared the LORD and honored His Name.
Erna Crosby, Roswell NM
Isaiah 26:3 NKJV
“You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You.”
Kara Gamboa, Washougal, WA “Let your eyes look straight ahead, fix your gaze directly before you. Make level paths for your feet and take only ways that are firm. Do not swerve to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil.” Proverbs 4:25-27 NIV
Dorinda Bogran, Abita Springs, LA. “Jesus replied, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:37-40 NIV
Monica Scott, Deatsville, AL
“Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?” Matthew 6:27
2 Timothy 2:22 “So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.”
I have told you these things so that in Me you may have peace. You will have suffering in this world. Be courageous! I have conquered the world. John 16:33 HCSB. Val M from Kansas City, MO.
The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my delivered.2 Samuel 22 2.NKJ
For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. (2 Timothy 1:7 NKJV)
Helen Gilliard, Nicholls, GA “A man’s heart plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps” Proverbs 16:9 NKJV