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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Pam Bryant, Kountze, Texas
He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His Wings you shall take refuge. His truth shall be your shield and
buckler. Psalm 90:4 NKJV
Above all else guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.
Proverbs 4:23
Tammie Williams, Utica, MO
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea existed no longer. Revelation 21:1 CSB
Esther, Lancaster, PA, Therefore since God in His mercy has given us this new way, we never give up. 2 Corinthians 4:1, NLT
Adele-Alys Spil, Matthews NC
12 They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion and shall flow together and be radiant with joy over the goodness of the Lord—for the corn, for the juice [of the grape], for the oil, and for the young of the flock and the herd. And their life shall be like a watered garden, and they shall not sorrow or languish any more at all.
Jeremiah 31:12 Amplified
Exodus 33:14 NIV
The Lord replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”
Aubrey Eubank Palmetto, GA
Susan King, Bryan, TX
1 Timothy 6:6 (NIV)
6 But godliness with contentment is great gain.
Devin DeLapp, Lubbock, Tx,
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. (â€2 Corinthians‬ â€12‬:â€9‬ ESV)
Erin Beakley – Dallas, TX
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.
Galatians 5:22-23 NIV
Valerie Veen, Chandler, AZ. “Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.” 1 John 3:18 NIV
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for The Lord your God will be with you wherever you go. Joshua 1:9 NIV
Arlington, Texas
Amanda, Santa Clara, CA
For to us a child is born, to us a Son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And He will be called,
Wonderful counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of peace.
Isaiah 9:6 (NIV)
Lara Kerris, Albuquerque, New Mexico “Do not call to mind the former things, or ponder things of the past.” Isaiah 43:18, NASV
Sherri Frey, Hagerstown, Md, “The Lord will guide you continually, watering your life when you are dry and keeping you healthy, too. You will be like a well-watered garden, like an ever-flowing spring.” Isaiah 58:11 NLT
Malia Roman, Oceanside, CA
Blessed are those whose transgressions are forgiven. Whose sins are covered
Psalm 32:1 NIV
Billie Jauss, Naples, FL “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13 NIV
Jenni, Birmimgham, AL
The Lord God said “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”
Genesis 2:18, NIV
Crystie Rhyner, Rock Hill, South Carolina “You reveal the path of life to me; in Your presence is abundant joy; in Your right hand are eternal pleasures.” Psalm 16:11 HCSB
Vicki from Cape Girardeau, MO
“I am the Lord who brought you up out of Egypt to be your God; therefore be holy, because I am holy.” Leviticus 11:45 NIV(older version)
Jennifer Sunukjian, Watervliet,NY
1 Thessalonians 5:24 NJ
He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it.
Jennifer Cook, Pullman, WA
“so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” –Titus 3:7, ESV
Susan Myers, Pendleton, IN.
They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
Lamentation 3:23. NIV
Sherryl Sacramento CA
This Good News tells us how God makes us right in His sight. This is accompolished from start to finish by faith. As the scriptures say “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.”
Romans 1:17 NLT
Lisa Kraft, Savage, MN “Bring JOY to your servant, Lord, for I put my trust in you.” Psalm 86:4 NIV
Isaiah 49:13 NIV
Shout for joy, O heavens; rejoice O earth; burst into song, O mountains!
For The Lord comforts his people and will have compassion on his afflicted ones.
Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own.
But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
-Philippians 3:13-14
Joanna Dunton / Houston, Tx
Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. Colossians 3:13 NIV
Erin Marie Sills, Lexington, KY
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Philippians 4:8 ESV
Lois Wilder, Southbury, CT
But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ. Eph. 2:13 NIV
Katie
Marble Falls, TX
“For I know the plans that I have for you, says the Lord, plans of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11 NKJV
Lynne Molyneaux, Pittsburgh, Pa. “Careful planning puts you ahead in the long run; Hurry and scurry puts you further behind.” Prov. 21:5 MSG (Thanks Leah DiPascal!)
Vickie Anderson, League City, Texas — “Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; 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. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:8-9 NIV
Lynn Feist, Red Deer, Alberta
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
You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. Genesis 50:20 NIV
Susan King, Denton, Texas
“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. Colossians 3:22-23 NIV
Romans 12:2 (ESV)
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind that by testing you may discern what is the word of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
Tracey Newcomer, Grapevine, TX
‘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,’ – Ephesians 3:14-17 NASB
Tammy Clarksburg, West Virginia “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”
Philippians 4:6 ESV
Hilory Brown, Rosalia, WA.
In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Proverbs 3:6
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
Alice, Chesapeake Va.
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 NIV
Abi Welch, Luverne, AL. in honor of Katherine Wolf at Hope Heals: “We have this Hope as an Anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain.”
Barbara Dunton
Midland,Texas
Psalm 103:1-2 (ESV)
Bless the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! Bless the LORD, O my soul and forget not all his benefits
Shannon Ginn, Marion, Arkansas- ” For the LORD is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.” Psalm 100:5 ESV
2Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new has come! NIV
Journey2061, Pilot Point, TX
“Now listen daughter, don’t miss a word….the king is wild for you. Since He is your Lord, adore Him. ” Psalm 45:10-11 (The Message)
Laura Nguyen, Dallas, GA
Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Phil. 4:8 (KJV)
Jennifer Fike- Melbourne, FL
“I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands. I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.”
Psalms 119:10-11 NIV
Becky, Houston Tx, “You know how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now if you will obey me and keep my covenant, you will be my own special treasure from among all the peoples on earth; for all the earth belongs to me.” Exodus 19:4-5 NLT
Theresa Anderson, Grove, Oklahoma
“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. Psalms 23:1 NKJV