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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Janice Thacker, Sumner, IL
It is the same with my word.
I send it out, and it always produces fruit.
It will accomplish all I want it to,
and it will prosper everywhere I send it.
Isaiah 55:11 (NLT)
Psalm 119:11″I have treasured Your word in my heart so that I may not sin against You”
Holman CSB
Emily, Greensburg, Louisiana.
“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Hebrews 11:1 KJV
Leisa Hale, Sheridan, Indiana
Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,
Ephesians 3:20 NIV
Bobbie Underwood – Jefferson City, MO
“I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” – John 15:5 (ESV)
Sierra Mauter , Cullman , alabama
So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. (â€1 Peter‬ â€1‬:â€6‬ NLT)
Kena McClenny – Lindale,TX
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”
Philippians 4:6 (ESV)
Pam Durr, Carlsbad,NM. “He only is my rock and my salvation.He is my defense. I shall not be greatly moved.” Ps.62:2 NKJV My life verse!!
Melissa – Black Creek, GA
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)
Lisa from Plano, TX: “God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the Hope offered to us maybe greatly encouraged. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.” Hebrews 6:18-19 NIV
Melissa ONeal, Tyler, TX. “But now you must also put away all the following: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and filthy language from your mouth.” Colossians 3:8 HCSB
Heather C. – Cedar Hill, TX – So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most. (â€Hebrews‬ â€4‬:â€16‬ NLT)
For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self discipline. (2 Timothy 1:7 NLT)
Jessica Jere from Germantown, WI
“My prayer is not for them alone, I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are i me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.” John 17:20-21 NIV
“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
Michele Lively, Tishomingo, Oklahoma “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer”
Romans 12:12 NIV
Mary Ann Davis , Clarksdale , Mississippi . “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
Michelle from Flowery Branch, GA “Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.” Ephesians 5:15-16, NIV
Marie Bond. Marietta OK. Zephaniah 3:17 (ESV)
The Lord your God is in your midst,
a mighty one who will save;
he will rejoice over you with gladness;
he will quiet you by his love;
he will exult over you with loud singing.
Anne Boone, Chesterfield, MI. Slow down. Take a deep breath. What’s the hurry? Why wear yourself out? Just what are you after anyway? Jeremiah 2:25a MSG (The Message)
Sandy, Gray, TN
Do not conform any longer 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
My word for 2015 is TRUST!! There are going to be several things going on this year concerning health issues for my daughter. At the age of 34 and a mom of a 4 year old little fella, she has been diagnosed with MS, so I am going to lean on Proverbs 3:5-6 –“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.”
Susan Stephens, Garland, Texas I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Phil 4:13, NKJV
Elizabeth Groves from Clarkton, NC. “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:14, ESV
Tiffany Wooldridge, Bolivar, Missouri
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.” Romans 1:16 NKJV
Michelle Weihing – Frisco, Texas
“I will go before you and make the crooked places straight.” Isaiah 45:2
Tammi Metz, Booneville, MS
“Call on Me in a day of trouble; I will rescue you, and you will honor Me.” Psalms 50:15. HCSB
Cassie Williams, Bells, TX “Then He who sat on the throne said, ‘Behold, I make all things new.’ And He said to me, ‘Write, for these words are true and faithful.” ~ Revelation 21:5, NKJV
and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. Romans 5:5 NASB
His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who has called us to his own glory and excellence (2 Peter 1:3 ESV)
Soni from Gulfport,MS Romans 14:17 RSV
For the kingdom of God is not food or drink but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
Tricia from Chesterfield, Va.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20
Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you whom you have received from God? You are not your own, you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.
Kendra Webb from Keller, TX “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
1 Peter 5:10 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.
Pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:17-18 NIV
“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
Lori Bordas, Louisville, KY
“Forget the former things;(BI)
do not dwell on the past.
19 See, I am doing a new thing!(BJ)
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness(BK)
and streams in the wasteland.(BL)
Isaiah 43:18-19, NIV
Jenny Kreil from Irvine, CA-
“Forget the former things; do not remember 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 desert and streams in the wasteland.” Isaiah 43:18-19
Kelsey Richert Waverly Iowa- “Therefore God’s Chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience” Colossians 3:12 NIV
Judith, Orillia, Canada
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 43:19 NIV)
Meredith Peterson, Douglasville, GA. “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think about such things.” Philippians 4:8 NIV
Dana Vasey, Illinois- “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”- Psalm 139:23-24.
Brothers and sisters, I myself don’t think I’ve reached it, but I do this one thing: I forget about the things behind me and reach out for the things ahead of me. Philippians 3:13 (CEB)
Phil 1:20 NET
My confident hope is that I will in no way be ashamed but that with complete boldness,
even now as always, Christ will be exalted in my body, whether I live or die.
Paulette P. Mays
Elmer, La
Jamie Sorensen from Waconia, Minnesota :” May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” Romans 15:13 NIV
Tina Bellnier from Liburn, Ga
“Praise be to the God and Father our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.” 2 Corinthians 1:3-4
Georgia Wight, Tucson AZ. “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 43:19 NIV
Melina Baird
Nashville, TN
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you. Joshua 1:9
“I am praying to you because I know you will answer, O God. Bend down and listen as I pray.”
Psalms 17:6 NLT
Jennifer Cunio from Quincy, Massachusetts
Hebrews 6:15 (NIV) – “And so, after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised.”