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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Angie Johnson, Sandersville, Ga
For You, Lord, bless the righteous one; You surround him with favor like a shield. Psalms 5:12 HCSB
Sherry Medick, Houston, TX: “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.” Rom 8:1 NKJV
Sarah, Albuquerque, NM
Look to the Lord and his strength;
seek his face always.
-1 Chronicles 16:11 NIV
That you may love The Lord your God, that you may obey his voice, and that you may cling to Him, for he is your life and the length of your days. Deut 30:20 NIV
Bekah Moore from Sevierville, TN: We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. (â€2 Corinthians‬ â€10‬:â€5‬ NIV)
Akron Ohio
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.
Romans 12:2 NIV
Dena Finley, Fort Jones, CA. “Better a patient person than a warrior, one with self control than one who takes a city.” Proverbs 16:32 NIV
Aubrey Hancock, Colorado Springs, CO
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,” Hebrews 12:1 ESV
Amy – Kentucky
Deuteronomy 33:12 NIV
“Let the beloved of the Lord rest
secure in him,
for he shields him all day long,
and the one the Lord loves rests,
between his shoulders.”
Kierstan Dodd, Portland, Oregon
Teach me to do your will, for you are my God.
May your gracious Spirit lead me forward on a firm footing.
Psalm 143:10
New Living Translation (NLT)
Kathy Springer, Baton Rouge, LA
“Be merciful to me, Lord, for I am faint;
O Lord, heal me, for my bones are in agony.
My soul is in anguish.
How long, O Lord, how long?” Psalm 6:2-3 NIV
Pam Drewery, Springfield, Ohio
So then He told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.”
John 11:14-15, NIV
Teri Wray, Wake Forest, NC
“And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ” Philippians 1:9-10, NIV
This is the life verse I chose for my daughter when she was born. She is 13 and joining me on this journey.
Dawn R., Panama City, Florida
But The Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things.
Only one thing is important. Mary has chosen the better thing, and it will never be taken away from her.
Luke 10:41-42
Meredith B
Collierville TN
Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid, do not be discouraged. Have you not heard that the Lord your God goes with you wherever you are. Joshua 1:9 NIV
Linda G. Crawfordsville, Indiana. “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.” John 14:27 (NASB)
Do not remember the past events, pay no attention to things of old. Isaiah 43:18 (HCSB)
I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. (â€Galatians‬ â€5‬:â€16‬ NKJV).
Andrea Dublin OH
Richelle L, Greeley CO
Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing and perfect will of God. Romans 12:2 HCSB
“Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.” Romans 12:12
Leah-Austin, TX
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. (â€Isaiah‬ â€43‬:â€19‬ NKJV)
Tracey Knight ~ Arkadelphia AR
He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” Revelation 21:5 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. Ephesians 3:16-17
Carrie Eichler, Grand Rapids, Michigan, “The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.” Psalm 103:8, NIV
Tatiana, Houston, TX. “Cast your cares on the LORD and He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous fall.” Psalm 55:22, NIV84.
Is this my friend, Tatiana from Panama trip?? If so, how are you doing?
Alisa Phillips living in Doha, Qatar (Middle East)
“Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory of the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen” Ephesians 3:20-21 NASB
Sarah, Kingwood, Texas
For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor; no good thing does He withhold from those whose walk is blameless. LORD Almighty, blessed is the one who trusts in you. Psalm 84:11-12 NIV
Selynda
Purcell OK
Those who wait for perfect weather will never plant seeds; those who look at every cloud will never harvest crops. You don’t know where the wind will blow, and you don’t know how a baby grows inside the mother. In the same way, you don’t know what God is doing, or how he created everything. (â€Ecclesiastes‬ â€11‬:â€4-5‬ ) NCV
Tammy Cosby; Siloam, NC—“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (NIV)
denise
Asheville, NC
Colossians 3:16 (ESV)
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
Janny Carlson Everett Wa
Isaiah 43:19 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. NIV
Shayla, Leavenworth Washington.
“Seek the Lord and His strength;
seek His presence continually!”
Psalm 105:4 ESV
Elizabeth Mitchell, Haverhill, England
I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. John 16:33 NIV
Kayla Card, Gainesville, Florida. “Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.” Proverbs 19:21 ESV
Katherine Bateman, Rome, GA, “In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. (â€1 Peter‬ â€1‬:â€6-7‬ ESV)”
Karen Gilmore, Houston, TX
God, create a clean heart for me and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Psalm 51:10 HCSB
Adria, Jackson, TN
“Restore us , O God; make Your face shine upon us, that we may be saved.” Psalm 80:3 NIV
Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. Psalms 119:105 King James Version
Kristie Lovely, Van Alstyne, TX. “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
Stephanie and daughter Madison, Louisville, KY: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him shall never die but have eternal life.” John 3:16 RSV
Pat Perry Houston,Texas: I have set the Lord always before me; because He is always at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.Psalm 16:8, ESV
Andra Powell, Blacksburg, Virginia. “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
Lisa Lucik – Sugar Land, TX
“Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.”
Lamentations 3:22
I love this, Lisa, and I love you! 🙂
Amy Guth, Canton,MS
“I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” Ephesians 4:1-3 ESV
Fort Worth, TX
Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.
Philippians 2:3
ESV
Jill P., Ames, IA
“I am the Lord, who opened a way through the waters, making a dry path through the sea.” Isaiah 43:16 (NLT)
Christi Beerley, Denton TX. “Make me to know your ways, O Lord;
teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me,
for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long.”
Psalm 25: 4-5 ESV
Lucy Rump from Miami, Florida. “Do not be anxious for anything but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your request to God.” Philippians 4:6 NIV
Cathy
Mobile, Al
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. (â€Isaiah‬ â€43‬:â€19‬ NKJV)
patty, thankful girl,peoria az Psalm 32:7 You are my hiding place;you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance. Psalm 32:7. NIV