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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hi, Rebecca from Alvarado, tx. Exodus 14:14, The lord will fight for you; you need only to be still. NIV
Linda Dews. Orrville, OH. “Look to the Lord and His strength; seek his face always.” Psalm 105:4 (NIV)
Jeani from Niceville, FL
Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.
Proverbs 19:21 (NIV)
Judy Libby, Cleveland , Ohio, ” For judgment is merciless for the one who has shown no mercy. But mercy triumphs over judgment” James 2:13 NET
Deesa Stephens; Eastaboga, AL
Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy meditate on these things. Philippians 4:8; NKJV
Bobbi Wingard, Conroe, Tx
Oh that my ways may be steadfast in keeping your statues. Psalms 119:5 (ESV)
John 14:1-3 (ESV)
Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to Myself, that where I am you may be also.
Karen, from San Antonio
Never stop praying, be thankful in all circumstances. For this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. 1 Thess. 5:17-18 NLT
Annette Stokes, Arlington,Texas.
Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. (James 5:16 ESV)
“For no one is abandoned be The Lord forever. Though He brings grief, he also shows compassion because of the greatness of His unfailing love. For He does not enjoy hurting people or causing them sorrow.” Lamentations 31-33 NLT
Lori Wilbanks, Taylor, Texas: “How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord Almighty! My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the Lord, my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.” Psalms 84:1-2 NLT
Virginia Hudson from Whitehouse, Tx.
” Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.”
1John 3:18
Kristi Foster, Gardner, KS: He grants a treasure of common sense to the honest. He is a shield to those who walk with integrity. (â€Proverbs‬ â€2‬:â€7‬ NLT)
Tammy Rife from Tampa, Fl
“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9 ESV
2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
Spring, TX
Rachael Heard, San Antonio, TX
“Do not call to mind the former things, Or ponder things of the past. “Behold, I will do something new, Now it will spring forth; Will you not be aware of it? I will even make a roadway in the wilderness, Rivers in the desert.” Isaiah 43:18 – 19 NASB
Nancy Kourmoulis, Birmingham, AL “I will keep my eyes always on the Lord, with Him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.” Psalm 16:11 niv
Melany, Nashville, TN
“Behold, I will do something new. Now it will spring forth; will you not be aware of it? I will even make a roadway in the wilderness, rivers in the desert.” -Isaiah 43:19, NASB
Shannon Bennett, Chattanooga, TN. I lift my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come from? My help comes from The Lord who made heaven and earth. Psalm 121:1-2 ESV.
Chelsea Landis / austin, tx
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. (â€Galatians‬ â€5‬:â€22-25‬ ESV)
Lisa Tereshko, Greensburg, PA
“For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And that is the victory that has overcome the world-our faith.”
1John 5:4 (NKVJ)
Sarah, St. Louis, MO
“Finally brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever thing are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy – meditate on these things. The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.”
Philippians 4:8-9 NKJV
Katy Halyburton, Ooltewah, TN “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to proper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11, NIV
Cast all your anxiety on Him for He cares for you.
1 Peter 5:7
“for God does speak – now one way, now another – though man may not perceive it.”
Job 33:14. NIV
“Commit to the Lord whatever you do and he will establish your plans” Prov 16:3 NIV
Tammy Johnson, Booneville “Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.” NKJV
Lauren Sanders, Fultondale, AL
“Because he loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. (â€Psalm‬ â€91‬:â€14‬ NIV)
Monte Armstrong, Dickson, Tennessee, “Arise, shine; For your light has come! And the glory of the LORD is risen up on you.” ~Isaiah 60:1~NKJV
Alison Van Duyne, Clearwater, Florida
“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.” 2 Corinthians 12:9 NIV
Julie, Kingsport, TN
Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, 0 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.
Ephesians 2:19-20 (NIV)
Kristin Dickerson- Hephzibah,GA
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. (â€Isaiah‬ â€43‬:â€2‬ NIV)
Hallie Klecker, Middleton, WI.
“Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.” 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NASB)
Marian Knopp, York, Pennsylvania. “So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.” Matthew 19:6 NIV
Hebrews 13:5
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.”
Naomi Rozak, Edmonton, Alberta (Canada):
“What goes into a man’s mouth does not make him ‘unclean,’ but what comes out of his mouth, that is what makes him ‘unclean.'” Matthew 15:11 (NIV – older version)
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. (â€Romans‬ â€15‬:â€13‬ ESV)
Julie Hill, Cordova Tennessee.
For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. (â€Romans‬ â€14‬:â€7-8‬ ESV)
Vicki Nichols, West Chicago, IL. ” For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11 ESV
Kristen Grant, Sanger, TX- “Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” Philippians 2:8 NASB
Penny Yonts, Troutville, VA. “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. 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 43:18,19 NIV
Gloria Huffman, Freeport, FL. “God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.” Hebrews 6:10, NIV.
Kelsey Baker from Marietta, GA.
“So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.”
Colossians 2:6-7 NIV
Regina Orr~ Floydada, Texas
“Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercede for us with groanings too deep for words.” Romans 8:26~ESV
Aj Malvey, Houston TX
that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ, (â€Colossians‬ â€2‬:â€2‬ ESV)
Janae Elling, Napoleon, 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
Tami – Spring, Texas
“Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.” Hebrews 10:23(NIV)
May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. (â€Colossians‬ â€1‬:â€11-12‬ ESV)
Caroline~Conway SC
“They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.” Lamentations 3:23 NKJV
Katie ~ Augusta, Ga:
God is supremely esteemed. His center holds.
Zion brims over with all that is just & right.
God keeps your days stable & secure- salvation, wisdom, & knowledge in surplus,
And best of all, Zion’s treasure – fear of God.
Is. 33:5-6 (Msg)