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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Dana, Kernersville, NC
“Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed.” 1Peter 1:13 NIV
Courtney, Newnan, GA
“Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust him, and he will act.” Psalm 37:4-5 ESV
Janice Burzlaff, Elizabethtown, Kentucky. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-39 NASB
Anita Koen, Winterville, NC, The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing. Zephaniah 3:17, ESV
Jennifer Rhoden, Perryton, TX
When you were dead in you sins and in your uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, Colossians 2:13 NIV
Reedley, CA “Long ago, even before he made he world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes.” Eph 1:4 NLT
Sandra in Houston, TX. Romans 15:13 “I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in Him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.” NLT
Acknowledge and take to heart this day that the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth below. There is no other. Deut 4: 39 NIV
Shari Zimmerman, Tullahoma, TN Jehová te pastoreará siempre, y en las sequĂas saciará tu alma, y dará vigor a tus huesos; y serás como huerto de riego, y como manantial de aguas, cuyas aguas nunca faltan. Isaiah 58:11 Reina-Valera
Ashleigh, Michigan:
Let your roots grow down into him and draw up nourishment from him, so you will grow in faith, strong and vigorous in the truth you were taught. Let your lives overflow with thanksgiving for all he has done.
Colossians 2:7 NLT
Lahni Techau, Cynthiana, Kentucky. “And I will be to her a wall of fire all around, declares the LORD, and I will be the glory in her midst”. Zechariah 2:5 ESV
Emily, Sterlington, LA
Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.
Luke 6:38 NKJV
Jennifer Humphreys, Sugar Land, 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
Karen, Dallas, TX
Cast your cares on the Lord
and he will sustain you;
he will never let
the righteous be shaken.
Psalm 55:22 (NIV)
Meagan, Brooklyn, WI
“Oh Lord, you have searched me and known me!” Psalm 139:1 ESV
(Memorizing Psalm 139 has been on my heart for some time and as God would have it there are 24 verses…perfect for this program!)
April Boone, NC
He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. Psalm 103:10 NIV
🙂
Amy, Houston, TX
“For who is God, but the Lord? And who is a rock, except our God?- The God who equipped me with strength and made my way blameless.” Psalm 18:31-32 ESV
Natalie Turnage, Hattiesburg, MS
“May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer” Psalm 19:14, NLT
Better late than never! 🙂
Kathi Griffin from Macon, GA: “Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.” 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12 NIV
You will guard him and keep him in perfect and constant peace whose mind [both its inclination and its character] is stayed on You, because he commits himself to You, leans on You, and hopes confidently in You. — Isaiah 26:3(Amplified)
Cheryl Fort Worth, TX. Isaiah 41:10. Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
Mary, Chattanooga, TN “You will make known to me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; in Your right hand there are pleasures forever.” Psalm 16:11 NASB
Cheryl Melton from Fort Worth, TX
Commit everything you do to the LORD. Trust him, and he will help you. (â€Psalms‬ â€37‬:â€5‬ NLT)
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
Roxanne, NJ “Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.” Jeremiah 33:3 NIV
Col 2:6-7, NKJV
“As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.”
You will also decree a thing, and it will be established for you; And light will shine on your ways.” Job 22:28 NASB]
I am healed. Angela
Linda Hooper, Seneca, SC “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.” 1 Timothy 3:16 NIV
Emily Arnold, Ruston, LA. “I waited patiently for the LORD to help me,and he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and the mire. He set my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I walked along. He has given me a new song to sing, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see what he has done and be amazed. They will put their trust in the LORD.” Psalms 40:1-3 NLT
Waterford, Mi John 14:26 NIV
But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.
Philippians 3:10-11
I want to know Christ-yes, to know the power of His resurrection and participating in His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death and so, somehow attaining to the resurrection from the dead. NIV
For the mountains may be removed and the hills may shake, But my steadfast love will not be removed from you, and my covenant of peace will not be shaken, Says the lord who has compassion on you. Isaiah 54:10
20 Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them. 21 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.” Isaiah 30: 20-21
Tammy David, Boise- Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. (â€Hebrews‬ â€4‬:â€16‬ NIV)
Vanessa, LP, TX “Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled.”
Titus 2:3-5 ESV
Anita, Fresno, 2 Corinthians 6:2 (NIV)
For He says: “In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.” I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.
Amy Varnon, Huntsville AL “happy are those whose way is blameless. Who live according to the Lord’s instruction.” Psalm 119:1
You have been traveling around this mountain long enough. Deuteronomy 2:3 EVS version
Aubrey, Spokane, WA. “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9 NIV
Boni Shull, Tualatin, Oregon “In every situation take the shield of faith, and with it you will be able to extinguish the flaming arrows of the evil one.” Ephesians 6:16
Debbie, Winfield,Il, “Why spend money on what is not bread, and labor on what does not satisfy? Listen,listen to me and eat what is good,and your soul will delight in the richest of fare.” Isaiah 55:2′ NIV
Janell from VA: “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
Lisette Crepeaux, Portland, OR
John 3:16New International Version (NIV)
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Matthew 21:22 And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive. KJV
“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”
– Ephesians 4:20-21
Cindy Hewlett from West Tawakoni, Texas, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” Galations 5:22-23 (NIV)
Kim,Cincinnati
Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. Proverbs 4:23 NIV
Brandy A, Cross Anchor, SC
“Those who control their tongue will have a long life; a quick retort can ruin everything.” Proverbs 13:3 (MSG)
Henry from Waterford, MI
Deuteronomy 31:6
Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you.
Caryn
Spring, TX
“Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.”
Romans 5:3-5