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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Here’s what I want you to do: Find a quiet, secluded place so you won’t be tempted to role-play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense His grace. Matthew 6:6 Message Bible
Marcene Saxman, Watsonville, CA
Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim You, who walk in the light of your presence, O LORD. Psalm 89:15 NIV
Leigha, White Oak, TX, Psalm 3:6 ESV
I will not be afraid of many thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around.
Chrystal, Coachella – Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit – Eph 5:18
Angel Clifton Georgetown TX: “So I say to you; Ask and it will be given to you; Seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. ” Luke 11:9 NIV
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus and are faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians 1:1-2
Micah 6:8
As the prophet Micah said, “Mainkind, HE has told you what is good and what it is the LORD requires of you, to act justly to love faithfulness and to walk humbly with your GOD.
Harlan, IA
“If you love me, keep my commands.” John 14:15
Julie Lee
Calgary, AB
Nehemiah said, “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” Nehemiah 8:10 NIV
Maddy Clemens
Los Angeles, CA
For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases Him.
Philippians 2:13, NLT
Robbi in Louisville, KY “Let them praise his name with dancing; let them sing praises to him with timbrel and harp” NAS
Leah Harrell, Daegu S. Korea- Do not be wise in your own eyes. Fear The Lord and shun evil. This will be bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones. Psalm 3:7-8 NASB
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do niot be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. Joshua 1:9 ESV
“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 41:13NIV
Charlotte
Philadelphia MS
Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.
Hebrews 11:1
NIV
Jill from Peoria, IL
“Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.” Hebrews 11:6 NIV
Elizabeth, St Paul, Mn – God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved; God will help her when morning dawns. Psalms 46:5 ESV
Sandra Jones from Knoxville, TN- Psalm 91:14: “Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name.” KJV
Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. For everything in the world-the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and th pride of life- co es not from the Father but from the world. 1 John 2:15-16 NIV
Joan Ford, Springfield VA
Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire, he breaks out against all sound judgment. Proverbs 18:1 ESV
Psalm 46:5 God is within her, she will not fall;God will help her at break of day.
Jan Henderson, Portland, Tx. “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.
Matthew 11:29-30 NIV
Katrina in Chandler, OK. James 1:1-2 “James a servant of God and The Lord Jesus Christ to the twelve tribes in the dispersion: Greetings. Count it all joy by brothers when you meet trials of various kinds”. ESV
1 John 4:19 – We love Him, because He first loved us. NKJV
Lainee, Flagstaff, “And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh”. ESV
Kimberly McClure, Palmdale, CA
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.
Psalm 118:1 NIV
Terri in Lowell, AR – For the spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love, and self-discipline. II Tim 1:7
Ana-Maria, Saint Joseph Missouri, “Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.” Jeremiah 33:3 NIV
Alicia Bush
Los Angeles, CA
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away, and look, new things have come.” – 2 Corinthians 5:17 (HCSB)
“I am the light of the world. He who follows Me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.
John 8:12 NASB
Suzanne Landrum, Covington, Louisiana. “Donât worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.” Philippians 4:6 NLT
“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me.” Psalm 51:10
“He who covers up an offense promotes love, but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends.” Proverbs 17:9
Cindy Gibbs, Kennesaw, GA “Lead me in Your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; on You I wait all the day.” Psalm 25:5
(NKJV)
Kim Batesville,Ms
Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek His will in all you do, and He will show you which path to take. Proverbs 3:5,6 NLT
Careful words make for a careful life;
careless talk may ruin everything.
Proverbs 13:3
Casey, Cheney, WA
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
Philippians 4:6 NIV
I will stand at my watch and station myself on the ramparts; I will look to see what he will say to me, and what answer I am to give to this complaint. Habakkuk 2:1 NIV
April Jackson, Lagrange, Georgia. “Am I now trying to get people to think well of me? Or do I want God to think well of me? Am I trying to please people? If I were, I would not be serving Christ.” Galatians 1:10 NIRV
Ashlyn Techau, Lexington, KY
“In the desert prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God. Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it.” Isaiah 40:3-5 NIV
“Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.” Proverbs 16:3, NIV
Cindy Bowman, Boones Mill, Virginia.
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witness in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the Earth.
Acts 1:18
Stephanie Garoufalis, Macomb, MI. So do not fear for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Isaiah 41:10 NIV
Lauren, Houston – “The wise woman builds her house, but the foolish tears it down with her own hands.” Proverbs 14:1, NASB
Crystelle, Clayton, WA
Above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. Ephesians 6:16 NKJV
Shelby Shacklefird, Hendersonville, Tennessee
Neither the one who plants not the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth. 1Cor.3:7
Mary Green, Tupelo,MS
For by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is a gift of God. Ephesians 2:8 KJV
Mona Saxonburg
Everything is permissible–but not everything is beneficial. Everything is permissible–but not everything is constructive.
I Corinthians10:23 NIV
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit but in humility consider others better than yourselves.
(Phil 2:3 NIV)
Barbara Chupp, Claremore, Oklahoma. “And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is.” Ephesians 3:18 NLT