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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Megan OHare. Wilmington, North Carolina.
When people do not accept divine guidance, they run wild. But whoever obeys the law is joyful.
Proverbs 29:18. NLT
Jackie, Richardson, TX
“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 40:31 NIV
Jesus lives!
Adrienne, Overland Park, KS. 2 Cor 10:5 KJV Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
Heather H. Pflugerville, TX
1 John 2:28 (NASB) “Now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming”
Victoria Rivera, Lithia,Fl
“Be still in the presence of The Lord, and wait patiently for him to act. Don’t worry about evil people who prosper or fret about their wicked schemes.” Psalm 37:7 NLT
Tanya Rathmann, Sierra Vista, AZ
“Then put on the garments that suit God’s chosen people, his own, his beloved: compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience. Be forbearing with one another, and forgiving, where any of you has cause for complaint: you must forgive as the Lord forgave you. To crown all, there must be love, to bind all together and complete the whole.” Colossians 3:12-14 (NEB)
Lori Sargent, Acworth, Ga
Isaiah 43:19, ESV
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 the dry wasteland.
Betsy, Westminster, Colorado: Ephesians 2:10, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”
Rhonda Nelson from Grapevine, Texas
“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 3:20-21NIV
Joy, Knoxville “I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” Genesis 28:15 NIV
Carrie Myers of Mansfield, TX:
Romans 12:2 – “Do not conform 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.” New International Version (NIV)
Lacy Lofties, Del City, OK
Ephesians 3:16-19 (NIV)
“I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”
Rachel Petty Alpharetta, GA
“But he said to me, “My grace is enough for you. When you are weak, my power is made perfect in you.” So I am very happy to brag about my weaknesses. Then Christ’s power can live in me.” 2 Corinthians 12:9 (NCV)
Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your business and to work with your hands, just as we told you. 1 Thess along and 4:11 NIV
1 Thessalonians 4:11
Angie, Markham, Ontario.
Now the Bereans were of more noble character
than the Thessalonians for they received the
message with great eagerness and examined
the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul
said was true. Acts 17:11 NIV
Misty Watt, Amarillo, TX, “God – His way is perfect; the word of the Lord is pure. He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him.” Psalm 18:30 HCSB
Melanie, Bangkok, Thailand. “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” (NIV) Romans 8:1
Vanessa Stegner, Fort Worth, TX “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles us, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” Heb 12:1 NIV
Galatians 5:16 (NASB)
But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.
Lord, I cry out to you. I say, “You are my protection. You are all I want in this life.” Ps 142:5 (NCV)
Pamela
Kansas City MO
Julie, Houston, TX “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 desert and streams in the wasteland.” Isaiah 43:18-19 NIV
1Corinthians 9:24-25
“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.”
Stesha Clayburgh, Las Cruces NM
“But be doers of the Lord, and not hearers only, deceiving youselves.”
James 1:22
ESV
Cammi Moffatt, Magnolia, TX. “Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.” Joshua 1:8 (NIV)
Susan, Memphis, TN “But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. Matthew‬ â€4‬:â€4, NASB
Ann Marie,Houston TX – But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well. Matthew 6 :33 (NIV)
Tennesssee (So needed this, thank you Beth!)
Phil 4:6
“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by praying and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God” NISB
He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young. Isaiah 40:11 NIV
Judy Boogaerts, Benton, LA
28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. (â€Romans‬ â€8‬:â€28‬ NIV)
Emily, Jefferson City, MO..”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” – Philippians 3:13, NIV
Paula, Jacksonville, FL
“Wait for the Lord; be strong and courageous. Wait for the Lord. Psalms 27:14 (HCSB)
Kim Brooks, Silverdale, Washington. Romans 8:12–13 “So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.”(ESV)
Leigh Weisinger, Woodway, Texas “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” Psalm 46:10 (ESV)
“I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways. I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word.” Psalm 119:15-16 ESV
Joanne,Redding,CA “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7
Michelle from Texas
” for I am sure of this very thing, that the one who began a good work in you will perfect it until
the day of Christ Jesus.” Philippians 1:6 (NET)
Stacy Bierce, Bargersville, Indiana. “I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted.” JOB 42:2 NIV
Elizabeth, Whitesboro, TX
“Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2:9-11 (NIV)
I submitted my verse on the 1st but don’t see it posted. So, I’m going to try again and hope I’m not double posting 🙂
Jami from Olate, KS: “Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.” Romans 12:9 (NIV)
Denise Davis, Tomball, TX “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God” Micah 6:8 NIV
Isaiah 61:1-4 ESV
1 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
because the Lord has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor;
he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor,
and the day of vengeance of our God;
to comfort all who mourn;
3 to grant to those who mourn in Zion—
to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness instead of mourning,
the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit;
that they may be called oaks of righteousness,
the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified.
4 They shall build up the ancient ruins;
they shall raise up the former devastations;
they shall repair the ruined cities,
the devastations of many generations.
Amy Warner, Independence, LA
Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. John 1:32 NIV
Kristin from Shakopee, MN
“Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit to sustain me.” Psalm 51:12 NIV
Marie Campbell, Keizer, Oregon
“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 43:19
Heather Thornton, Sedalia, AB
“I pray that our of His glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love,” Ephesians 4:16-17 NIV
Johnston, Iowa
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
Staci Muir, Chesapeake, Virginia. “You broaden the path beneath me, so that my ankles do not turn.” Psalm 18:36 NIV
Mary Beth Serrato, Grants Pass, OR “Refrain your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears; for your work shall be rewarded, says the Lord, and they shall come back from the land of the enemy. There is hope in your future, says the Lord, that your children shall come back to their own border. Jer.31:16-17 NKJ
Philippians 4:8– doing this with and for my 15 yr old daughter!