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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Rosa Folgar Baton Rouge, LA
“Blessed is she who believed the Lord would fulfill His promises to her.” (Luke 1:45, NIV)
Rachel, Springdale AR, “who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge”. Job 38:2, NASB. Lord may I never be guilty!
Becky, Grand Rapids, MI
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Philippians 4:13
Anna Back Sheboygan Falls, WI “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” Phil. 4:13 ESV
Bobbie – Knoxville, TN
“For nothing is impossible without God.”
Luke 1:37
Addie Mueller, Broomfield, CO. “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”, Galatians 6:9 NIV
Christie Buchanan Hendersonville, TN
No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to humanity. God is faithful and He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation He will also provide a way of escape, so that you are able to bear it.
1 Corinthians 10:13 HCS
Dianna Wiggins, Pekin, Il
Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways acknowledge Him,
and He will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5-6 NIV)
Patty, Greensburg, Pa
“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
My hope is by being a role model I will help others to stop and think about the impact of what they are saying about others, and also stop to think about how others may be viewing them because of the words that come out of their mouths….if this makes any sense at all
30. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall,
31. 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: 30-31)
Mariah, Flowery Branch, GA, Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. KJV – just now starting, verse 1
Anne, Athens, Greece – Daniel 2:20-21. NIV – Praise be to the name of God for ever & ever; wisdom & power are His. He changes times & seasons; He deposed kings & raises up others. He gives wisdom to the wise & knowledge to the discerning.
Janette Winship, St Petersburg, FL. Posted yesterday but had wrong version: “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)
May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.
Psalm 19:14 (NIV)
Christy Billingsley
Terry, MS
If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.
1 Corinthians 13:2
Let all that I am praise the Lord; may I never forget the good things he does for me. Psalms 103:2
Sheila from Shirley, Indiana
“The eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him.” 2 Chronicles 16:9
Kristen High Manheim, PA
The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. WHO can understand it? “I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind,” to reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds deserve.”
Jeremiah 17:9-10
Life Application Study – NIV
Rebeca
Katy, Texas
Jeremiah 29:13
And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.
I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go; I will counsel you with My eye upon you. (NASB)
Michelle, Cinti OH
Ephesians 4:2
Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. (NIV)
Cheryl Gahm, Houston, Texas.
“Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old.
Behold I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not see it?
I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”
Isaiah 43:18-19 ESV
Jen Allen, Broomfield, CO. “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”, Galatians 6:9 NIV
Beth Belflower, Caddo Mills, Texas
2 Corinthians 1:3-4
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. ESV
For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.
Ecclesiastes 3:1 ESV
Psalm 34:12 “My soul shall make its boast in the Lord; the humble shall hear it and rejoice” NAS
Colossians 3:8-10New International Version (NIV)
8 But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. 9 Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.
James 1:25 NET
But the one who peers into the perfect law of liberty and fixes his attention there, and does not become a forgetful listener but one who lives it out – he will be blessed in what he does.
Florence, South Carolina
I am facing alot of fear, but God is doing great things!! 🙂
Isa. 43:1b-3a (Msg)
“Don’t be afraid, I’ve redeemed you. I’ve called your name. You’re mine. When you’re in over your head, I’ll be there with you. When you’re in rough waters, you will not go down. When you’re between a rock and a hard place, it won’t be a dead end, because I am God, your personal God.
Phillipians 4:13. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
Tina, KItchener, Ontario
Psalm 23:1
The Lord is my shepherd; I have everything I need. NLT
Brooklyn, NY
He was there before any of it came into existence and holds it all together right up to this moment.
Colossians 1:17
Janice, London, ON
Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that He may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you. Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist Him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings. And the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will Himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. – 1 Peter 5:6-10
Karen Glisson, Kennesaw, GA-Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” Psalm 51:10 NIV
Jer 29:11: 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.Maria, Indiana
Rachael: Tuscaloosa, Al
Ephesians 5:29 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouth, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.
Kim, Fort Worth, Texas. “Let all that I am praise the LORD; may I never forget the good things he does for me.” (â€Psalms‬ â€103‬:â€2‬ NLT)
Lori Junction City, Kansas Deuteronomy 31:8 It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; He will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.ESV
Lauren Carter, Arab, Alabama: “For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” 2 Timothy 1:7 ESV
For You, O LORD, will bless the righteous; With favor You will surround him as with a shield. (â€Psalms‬ â€5‬:â€12‬ NKJV)
I can do all things through him who gives me strength.
Phillipiams 4:13 NIV
April Vermillion
Frankfort, KY
Amy B, Montezuma, Indiana
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. (Philippians 4:13 NKJV)
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 41:10 ESV)
Above all else, guard your heart, for it affects everything you do. ( Proverbs 4:23, NLV Kids Life Application Bible)
The one thing I ask of the LORD — the thing I seek most— is to live in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, delighting in the LORD’s perfections and meditating in his Temple. (â€Psalms‬ â€27‬:â€4‬ NLT)
Candace, Nederland, TX
The Lord is good to those whose hope is in Him, to the one who seeks Him
Lamentations 3:25 NIV
Stacy – Arlington, Texas
Ephesians 3:12
In him we have boldness and confident access through faith in Him.
Exodus 14:14 ESV. The Lord will fight for you. You have only to be silent.
Kelly, Crawfordsville, IN
Rejoice always! Pray constantly. Give thanks in everything, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. (â€1 Thessalonians‬ â€5‬:â€16-18‬ HCSB)
Peggy Hale, Mauriceville, Texas
Psalm 27:4 (HCSB)
I have asked one thing from the LORD; it is what I desire: to dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, gazing on the beauty of the LORD and seeking Him in His temple.
See you Sistas on Facebook! This verse is actually my first one that I did not see on the blog. I will post amy second one next.