Hello, Siestas! My name is Diane Vaccaro, and I live in Fresno, CA. I’m a pastor’s wife and a mom of 3. I’m honored to share my verse today in a more formal way than usual. Often in our family we talk about how reflecting on scripture is paramount for transforming our hearts. God’s living Word can do more than we could ever imagine if we only give it time to seep into our thoughts and heart for a moment or two… or ten. It’s in those moments of reflection that I’m open and available to consider how the verse applies to my own life and heart. A quick read often leaves me with a short memory of what I’ve read, and a missed opportunity for revelation of who God is and how he loves. Memorization isn’t the goal, but a tool to continue to mediate on the Word, wherever I am, and ponder it, repeating it in my mind and mouth so that it becomes part of me.
Here’s my verse:
Diane – Fresno, CA
“The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.” Zephaniah 3:17
What I love about this verse is that it brings together God’s attributes as a mighty warrior and as one who delights, even to the point of singing over me. Strength and tenderness. He is a God that can take on my enemies without neglecting the tender and vulnerable places of my heart. And I’ve got an enemy…I don’t know about human ones, but I’m confident that The Enemy is always on the hunt. It is part of being a believer. It’s part of my life in ministry.
As I reflect on this verse I wonder where I’m trying to be the warrior instead of letting God do the fighting. I wonder if I fight fights that aren’t mine, neglecting the ones God has put before me for victory if I’d only fight.
And I wonder if I’ve become so distracted that I miss the singing. Has God been singing over me a melody so sweet while I’ve been straining to hear the world’s approval? I really want to hear the song of God. The world’s song pales in comparison.
One day I was alone in my car and not listening to music (both are seldom). I was praying and pleading and at one point simply asked God, “Do you delight in me?” This verse was pulled from somewhere in my memory as if to say, “Yes, I delight in you. You bring me great joy. I’m singing over you.”
Mighty God, my prayer is that you would set my feet in the direction of my battles, that I would fight with courage and bravery, knowing that you will supply all I need. Show me when I try to fight battles meant for you. I want to duck when your sword comes crashing through, bowing to your will and power. Quiet my heart and soul that I would hear you – hear your direction and your joyful singing over me. I want your song to be the soundtrack of my days.
My prayer is that you, Siesta, will experience the Mighty Warrior and the songs of delight that he sings over you today.
Calee McElwain, Butler, MO
Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you.
Psalms 63:3 NIV
and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.
Ephesians 6:15 NIV
Nancy Dal Pian, Port Charlotte, Florida
You are my hiding place;
you will protect me from trouble
and surround me with songs of deliverance. Psalm 32:7
Lindsey, Scenery Hill, PA
Exodus 34:7a (ESV)
keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin…
Marsha R. Lexington Park, MD
Praise the Lord from the earth,
you great sea creatures and all ocean depths,
Psalm 148:7 NIV
Selena – Cordele, GA
He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.
Ecclesiastes 3:11, NIV
ruth tulsa. oklahoma
“The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.” Zephaniah 3:17
Duet. 29:29 NIV
The secret things belong to the Lord our God
But the things revealed belong to us, and our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law.
Hudsonville MI
“But you, Lord, are a shield around me, my glory, the One who lifts my head high.”
Psalm 3:3 NIV
Psalm 145:20 (ESV)
The LORD preserves all who love Him, but all the wicked He will destroy.
Terri McKeever Katy, Tx
However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me- the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace. Acts 20:24 (NIV)
Connie Ozbirn, Dallas TX
1 John 4:16, NIV
“And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.”
Renee-Kennesaw,GA
Good sense makes one slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook offense. Proverbs 19:11 ESV
“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
Candie Ittner, Beaverton, OR
“Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them fade from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them.”
Deuteronomy 4:9 (NIV)
Kelly, Auburn Al, “so that Christ may dwell in your hearts throught faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love,” Ephesians 3:17 NIV
Fresno, CA
“Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.” Ephesians 4:29 (NIV)
Terri Tripp from Winchester, VA
“Now He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.”
2 Corinthians 9:10-11 NIV
Judy from Cleveland, Ohio
Sow your seed in the morning,and at evening let your hands not be idle,for you do not know which will succeed,whether this or that,or whether both will do equally well.
Ecclesiastes 11:6
NIV
Shawna, Aurora, NE
“From His fullness, we have received grace upon grace.”
John 1:16 ESV
LeAnn Nichols, Spring, TX
Isaiah 43:18-19
“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 desert and streams in the wasteland.”
Isaiah 43:18-19 (NIV)
Beverly, Vicksburg, MS
“I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation so that you can know Him better.” Ephesians 1:17 NIV
Diane Flook, Flagstaff, Az
“that He would grant you according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man.” Ephesians 3:15 NKJV
Karen Stark
Tallahassee, FL
3 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. Colossians 3:1-3 NIV
Isaiah 43:2
When you go thru deep waters, I will be with you.
Tanya – Raleigh, NC
“This is how everyone will know you are my disciples, when you love one another.” John 13:35 CEB
Faith Tausch, Helotes TX
2 She saw two white-robed angels, one sitting at the head and the other at the foot of the place where the body of Jesus had been lying. John 20:12 NLT
Natalie -Austin Tx
Prov 16:3
Commit to The Lord whatever you do and your plans will succeed.
Allison, houston, tx
Consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you face trials of many kinds because the testing of your faith develops perserverance. James 1:2 (NIV)
Shannon, Columbia, SC
“For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence,
for my hope is from him.”
Psalm 62:5 English Standard Version (ESV)
Bowling Green, KY
Be on guard! If your brother sins,
rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive
him. Luke 17:3 (NASB)
Julie Grissett, Sugar Land, TX
“I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth.”
Job 19:25 NIV
Melissa, Sacramento, CA
“The Lord does whatever He pleases in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all the depths. He causes the clouds to rise from the ends of the earth. He makes lightening for the rain and brings the wind from His storehouses.”
Psalm 135: 6-7 HCSB
Julie Jones, Knoxville, TN: Lamentations 3:24-25 (NIV)
24 I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion;
therefore I will wait for him.”
25 The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him,
to the one who seeks him;
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23 ESV
Proverbs 16:7
“When a man’s ways are pleasing to the LORD, he makes even his enemies live at peace with him.” NIV
Jamie Buchanan, Wausau WI
She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue. She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness.
Proverbs 31:26-27
Sharon, Little Rock. Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Janice Bells, Orillia, Ontario, Canada
#8 Romans 15:13 NIV
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.
Gail in Bremerton, WA – “Therefore, do not throw away your confidence which has great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what is promised.” Hebrews 10:35-36
Hannah Rodriguez, Dallas, Tx. “Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp.” Psalm 150:3
Candice from Wallingford, PA
“so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love”
Ephesians 3:17 ESV
Lorna Coonrad Austin TX
Romans 8:39 NIV
Neither height nor depth, nor anything else in
all creation, will be able to separate us
from the love of God that is in
Christ Jesus our Lord.
Laura, Greenbrier, AR “And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.” II Corinthians 5:15 NIV
Jamie Stellingwerf – Paramount, Ca
““But blessed are those who trust in the LORD and have made the LORD their hope and confidence. They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they never stop producing fruit.”
Jeremiah 17:7-8 nlt
Leslie Dorrough , longview, texas
Being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience.
Colossians 1:11
Kimberly Orr
Zionsville, Indiana
He is a rock.
What he does is perfect.
All his ways are fair.
He is a faithful El, who does no wrong.
He is honorable and reliable.
Names Of God Bible–God’s Word Translation
Please forgive me for being late. My mom is in the hospital and I just couldn’t get to this yesterday.
Denisha Bonds, Boynton Beach, FL: You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Isaiah 26:3 ESV
Wendy, Littleton, CO
The heart of the righteous weighs its answer, but the mouth of the wicked gushes evil.
Proverbs 15:28
NIV
Psalm 100:2 ESV
“Serve the Lord with gladness!”