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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Kessach
Hurricane, WV
“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
Therefore, if any one is in Christ, the new creation has come: the old HS gone, the new is here!
2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV
Billie Newsome, Puyallup, Wa.” And this is my prayer, that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight to help you to determine what is best, so that on the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless, for the day of Christ.” Phil 1:9-10
Denise, Fairmont, WV:
“Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you; I will help you; I will hold on to you with My righteous right hand.”
-Isaiah 41:10 (HCSB)
Erin Haines, Lexington, NE
“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.” Psalm 107:1 (NIV)
Anissa Withers, Lawrenceburg, IN. “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord,”plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you a 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 of your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the Lord… Jeremiah 29:11-14a (NIV)
Andrea McCaskey, Irondale, AL
For my thoughts are not your thoughts and neither are my ways your ways, declares the Lord. Isaiah 55:8 (NIV)
“Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:14 (NKJV)
Shelley Crouch, Casey, IL
I will praise you, Lord my God, with all my heart; I will glorify your name forever. For great is your love for me.
Psalm 86:12-13a NIV
My name is Jennifer Johnson and I live in Keller, Texas. “Now listen, daughter, don’t miss a word: forget your country, put your home behind you. Be here – the king is wild for you. Since he’s your lord, adore him.” Psalm 45: 10-11 The Message
My name is also Jennifer and I also live in Keller, Texas! I love the verse you chose…
Ashley Jaeger, Yakima WA. Hebrews‬ â€4‬:â€16‬ NLT-So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.
Aimee
Oklahoma City
Ephesians 5:1 (ESV) Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children.
Vicky, Winchester, Hampshire, England.
Joining late but very excited to do this!
“The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside still waters; He restores my soul.” Psalm 23:1-2. NIV
Great to see a uk siesta
Linda Ballard, Waxahachie,TX. “Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; wait, I say, on the Lord!” Psalm 27:14. NKJV
Annie Grace Elder (Age 3), Irving, TX
“Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.”
Psalms 150:6 NASB
Pam Morgridge, Gaylord, MI
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith.
Galatians 5:22 kjv
Susan, Overland Park, KS “He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me.” PS. 18:19 NIV
Marcy Larance Amarillo Tx
Look to the LORD and his strength;
seek his face always. Psa 105:4 (NIV)
Murphysboro, IL. Ephesians 3:20 (KJV) Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,
Raina Nichols from Port Neches, Texas: “Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him” Proverbs 30:5 (ESV)
Cher Goeder, Toledo, OH I Corinthians 2:9 “However, as it is written, ‘No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him’.”
Robin Bodkin, Belton, TX
“It is God who arms me with strength, and makes my way perfect.” Psalm 18:32
Shanae Coker, Tampa, FL.
“But He knows the way that I take; when He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold.”
Job 23:10 (NASB)
Deuteronomy 6:4-5– Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is One. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. (NIV)
Tracie Wheeler, Huntington WV. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
Eshesians 4:32 ESV
Amy McFarland, Bloomington, IL
I know your works. Behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut. I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my work and have not denied my name. Revelation 3:8 ESV
Robyn, Munday, TX.
“Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” Mark 11:24 ESV
Carese Bott, Dallas, TX
“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
Tami Jo – Ellsworth, KS “Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides.” James 1:4 The Message
The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
Lamentations 3:22-23 ESV
” You will seek me and find me when you search for Me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:13
Grace Jones- Lenoir, NC
Proverbs 19:21- Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails. (NIV)
Arlington,TX
“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
Take therefore no thought of the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for itself.
Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.”
Matthew 6:33-34 (KJV)
I would love to be a part f this group.
Maria Guerra, Guatemala, “By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers” 1 John 3:16 ESV
Amanda from Houston, Texas: “May you be strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy.” Colossians 1:11 ESV
Cathy froelich altus oklahoma. My first verse joshua1:8. This book of the law shall not departo from your mouth,but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be care fully to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Esv
Shannon, Bryant, AR
“Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you, not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” John 14:27 KJV
Jacqueline Walters, Sherwood, Oregon
“I love the LORD because He hears my voice and my prayer for mercy. Because He bends down to listen, I will pray as long as I have breath!” Ps. 116:1-2 (NLT)
Terri Puckett – Springdale, AR
Galatians 2:20: “And I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me”
Sherry – Deer Park, Texas
“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.”
Psalm 19:1 NIV
Maggie, Atlanta, GA “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.” Colossians 3:12 (NIV)
Joanie, Richmond,VA
“Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you.”
2 Thessalonians(NIV)
Debbie Hill, Auckland – New Zealand
“Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen”. – Ephesians 3:20-21 NKJV
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
Psalms 32:8
“I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
I will counsel you and watch over you.”
Cozy Jones, Fair Grove, MO “In the multitudes of the anxieties within me your comforts delight my soul.” Psalm 94:19 NKJV
Psalms 45:10-11 (ESV)
Hear, O daughter, and consider, and incline your ear: forget your people and your father’s house, and the king will desire your beauty. Since he is your lord, bow to him.
Lincoln Ne
Now to Zhimwho is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all we ask or think,according to the power that works within us. NASV
“Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:2 (NIV)