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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Isaiah 55:11 NIV ..so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
Tami Arceneaux, Denham Springs, LA
Luke 7:50 NIV
Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
Celia Jackson, Athens, AL “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He created the world.” Heb. 1:1-2 ESV
Melissa S, Humble, TX
Matthew 6:19-21
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” NASB
Jill Petersen, Byron, MN “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” Phil 4:8 NIV
Yanna, College Station, Texas “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Genesis 1:1 ESV
Crissy Lopp, Warren, Michigan “He knows how we were made; he remembers that we are dust.” Psalm 103:14 NCV
Farmerville, La “No one should seek his own good, but the good of the other person.” 1 Cor 10:24
Lori Sevedge, Chanute, Kansas “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful 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.” Joshua 1:8 ESV
Ambria Gates, Wiggins, Mississippi
“As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another”
Proverbs 27:17
Because the mouth speaks out of the overflow of my heart I am doing Eph 4:29
Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as it fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.
Ephesians 4:29 ESV
Amy, Gonzales, LA
“Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” Romans 12:2 NLT
Rebecca Enriquez, Orlando, FL
“Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that He may lift you up in due time.”
1 Peter 5:6, NIV
Michelle Kimberly-Rhoades, Big Springs, Nebraska
2 Corinthians 12:9-10a New International Version (NIV)
9 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 about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
“Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow.” – Matthew 6:34-Remix Winchester, VA
Carol Busse, Battle Creek, Michigan: 2 Corinthians 12:9 – 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 about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.”
Natalie Zigweid, Big Timber, Montana. “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.” (Isaiah‬ â€41‬:â€10‬ ESV)
Brentwood,TN
“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 43:19 NIV
Psalm: 139:16 NIV
“Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.”
Amy Herring, Daytona Beach, FL
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight”
Proverbs 3:5-6, NIV
“For I am the Lord, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.” Isaiah 41:13, NIV
Hi Rita! Scrolling through the verses and was excited to see your name and verse. God bless your efforts! Joyce
Allison Ashton – Houston, TX
“I will praise You with my whole heart;
Before the gods I will sing praises to You.” (KJV)
Julie Zager – Kirkland, Washington
May The Lord direct your hears into the love of God and into the steadfastness of Christ. 2 Thessalonians 3:5 NASB
Tethered Sista – we’ve got this!
Ellen Roth from Bad Axe Michigan: You shall not leave in haste or go in flight; for the LORD will go before you, the God of Israel will be your rear guard. Isaiah 52:12NIV
Stacey Gaines
Corpus Christi, TX
“The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.  He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners…” (Isaiah 61:1, NIV)
Carlsbad, CA
“Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you if you have faith the size of a mustard seed you can say to this mountain, ‘move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” Matthew 17:20
My verse is Jeremiah 29:13
You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. NIV
is this opal from branson?
Dana Camp – Newnan, Georgia
“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 HSCB
Heidi — Maineville OH — Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. James 1:27 NIV
Anne: Westminster, CO
As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious
1 Peter 2:4 ESV
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.” Hebrews 6:19 NIV
O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water. Palm 63:1 NIV
Rebecca, Corpus Christi, TX
“For the word of the Lord holds true, and we can trust everything he does.” Psalm 33:4 NLT
Laura Hagedorn, Wausau, WI., Hebrews 13:5 New International Version
Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”
This is my Grandma H’s confirmation verse so she probably knew it in the KJV. She passed away on December 15, 2014.
King James Bible
Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 18:4
Debra from Goodyear, AZ. Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Psalm 51:10. NIV – I want to start this year with a new heart.
Joy Schilli
Anna, Texas
We have this hope-like a sure and firm anchor of the soul- that enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain. Hebrews 6:19, Holman
Penny Ritter, Vian, OK
But let all those that put their trust in you rejoice: let them ever shout for joy, because you defend them: let them also that love your name be joyful in you.
Psalm 5:11
Love it, Penny! Thanks for taking this journey with me. We can rejoice together.
Isaiah 43:19 behold, I will do a new thing, Now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.
Jane Bryan~Harrisburg, PA
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 will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect
Rebecca McCann, Ft Wayne IN “Listen to my voice in the morning, LORD. Each morning I bring my requests to you & wait expectantly.” Psalm 5:3, NLT
April Jones, Springfield, IL…For the Lord gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. Proverbs 2:6 NIV
I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.” (â€Lamentations‬ â€3‬:â€24‬ NIV)
Heidi from Ridgecrest, Ca. “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.” Joshua1:8, NIV
Angela Manross Perryton, TX –
Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers. But they delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night. They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do. Psalm 1:1-3 (NLT)
Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. Hebrews 12:14(NIV)
Shelby Innabnit, Mobile, AL “Invigorate my soul so I can praise You well, use Your decrees to put iron in my soul.” Psalm 119:175 MSG
Jodi LaHaise, Grafton, ND
“Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.” Psalms 46:10
Romans 12:12 New International Version
12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.
Stacie Livonia, Michigan
Set a guard over my mouth, LORD; keep watch over the door of my lips. Psalm 141: 3 (NIV)