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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Susie Handy, Swampers, LA. Isaiah 43:19 … “Do not call to mind the former things, Or ponder on things of the past.” NASB
Julie Johnson Oliver Springs, TN “Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.” Jeremiah 33:3 NIV
Melodie Ocampo from Bullhead City AZ, –
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
For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (â€2 Corinthians‬ â€12‬:â€10‬ ESV)
Mindy Dunlap, Coldwater,MS
 A righteous man is careful in dealing with his neighbor,
but the ways of the wicked lead them astray. Proverbs 12:26 HCSB
So prepare your minds for action and exercise self-control. Put all your hope in the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world.
1 Peter 1:13 – NLT
Mary, Panama City, FL “With promises like this to pull us on, dear friends, let’s make a clean break with everything that defiles or districts us, both within and without. Let’s make our entire lives fit and holy temples for the worship of God.” 2 Corinthians 7:1 MSG
Julie, Lafayette, LA. “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petitiion, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7 (NIV)
Hi Julie I am in Lafayette too!
“Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers” (Ephesians 4:29, KJV).
Rene’ Pingel, Cape Girardeau, MO
“As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God.” Psalm 42:1 NIV
Heidi / Sugarcreek, Ohio
verse:
“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.” Jeremiah 29:11, NIV
Leann Faircloth Bethel, NC “Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.” Prov. 19:21 ESV
Pat S., Lago Vista, TX
“Teach me your way, O LORD, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name.” Psalm 86:11
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
‘Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.’ (Isaiah 43:19 ESV)
Glenda Robinson, Ocoee, Florida. “But I will restore you to health and heal your wounds, declares the LORD, because you are called an outcast, Zion for whom no one cares.” Jeremiah 30:17 NIV
Jess R, Katy, TX
Let me hear of your unfailing love each morning,
for I am trusting you.
Show me where to walk,
for I give myself to you.
-Psalm 143:8 NLT
Proverbs 13:20
He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm.
Jennifer, Middleburg, Florida. “I can do everything through him who gives me strength.” Philippians 4:13 NIV
Tiffani, Idaho Falls- Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the NEW creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 2 Cor. 5:17 NIV
Leta, Lawrenceburg, KY. “Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh.” (Romans 13:14)
Mary Williams – Scottsdale, AZ
“Is not thy fear of God thy confidence, And the integrity of thy ways thy hope?” Job 4:6 ASV
Candy Seale, Winchester, Texas
“I looked on my right hand, and behold, but there was NO MAN that would know me, refuge failed me; NO MAN cared for my soul.
I cried unto thee, O LORD: I said, THOU art my refuge and my portion in the land of the living!
Psalm 142 4,5 KJV
“I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.”
Psalm 27:13 NIV
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. Psalm 84: 1-2 (NIV)
LaDonna Lorick from West Columbia, SC
“Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things” (Philippians 4:8 NASB)
Julie Webb City, MO
O Lord, Our Lord, How excellent is your name in all the earth. NKJV Ps 8:9
Carrie Hobbs Garland, TX
I lift up my eyes to the mountains. Where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the maker of Heaven and Earth.
Psalm 121:1-2 NIV
Debbie, Waconia, Minnesota. “Forget about what’s happened; don’t keep going over old history! Be alert, be present. I’m about to do something brand new. It’s bursting out! Don’t you see it? There it is! I’m making a road through the deserts, rivers in the badlands.” Isaiah 43:19, MSG
Sarah, Montrose, CO:
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.
Ephesians 6:10-11 (ESV)
Chandler, OK
“[For I always pray to] the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, that He may grant you a spirit of wisdom and revelation [of insight into mysteries and secrets] in the [deep and intimate] knowledge of Him,” Ephesians 1:17
Carol Rice, Deer Park, TX
“Even when I am old and gray, God, do not abandon me. Then I will proclaim Your power to another generation, Your strength to all who are to come.” (Psalm 71:18 HCSB)
Let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest time, if we do not give up” Galatians 6:9
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
2 Corinthians 5:17, ESV
Shelby Capuano, Hamilton, ON (Canada)
” Incline my heart to Your testimonies, and not to covetousness. Turn away my eyes from looking at worthless things, and revive me in Your way.”
Psalms‬ â€119‬:â€36-37‬ NKJV
Tina, Earth,TX.. May these words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemed. Psalm 19:14. NIV
Cherry, Friendswood, Tx
“Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness, out of reverence for God.”
2 Corinthians 7:1 NIV
Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. – Philippians 3:13-14
“But my eyes are on You, O God, the Lord; in You I take refuge; do not leave my soul destitute.” Psalm 141:8 NKJV
Ruth Elmer from New Gloucester, Maine – “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; and lean not unto your own understanding.” (Proverbs 3:5 NASB)
Courtney Wilde from Lyford, TX
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, Colossians‬ â€3‬:â€23‬ NIV
Lisa Bryan, Birmingham, Alabama
“May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.” Psalms 19:14 NIV
Stacy Mc/Southaven, MS
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
Jen Massillon, Ohio
Hebrews 12:1 [NIV]
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.
Cassandra Brandon, FL
Isaiah 40:29 “He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.”
Terra Martinez, O’Brien, Texas – Jeremiah 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.” NIV
Christy MacDonald, St. Clements, Ontario. “Though the mountains be shaekn and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken or my covenat of peace be removed, says the Lord, who has compassion on you.” Isaiah 54:10 NIV.
And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
Ephesians 4:30 (KJV)
Callee Wells Kaufman, Texas
Deuteronomy 6:23 ESV
And He brought us out from there, that He might bring us in and give us the land that he swore to give to our forefathers. I
Donna Bearman from Vista, CA–
“My heart says of you, “Seek His face! Your face, LORD, I will seek.” Psalm 27:8