*This post is coming to you a few days early as our staff travels with Beth, which you will read more about below.
Hey, Everybody! It’s May! We are making progress, Girls! By now you are getting some verses down in your bones. I was thrilled two weekends ago when we had our clandestine Siesta picture after the end of our Albuquerque Living Proof Live and a bunch of them brought their spirals. Talk about teacher’s pets! Here they are:
OK! I’ve done a little video – a really, really short one this time – where I say my verses to you while I’m on a walk in our woods so this stands as my official entry for Verse 9! I’m doing memory work right now out of Ephesians Chapter Four and it is so powerful. As you’ll hear in this segment, God seems to have a tremendous partiality to the number ONE.
Y’all, I love doing this with you. I love an SSMT year. You are so dear to us. By the time you’re submitting your verses, I’ll be speaking in London at Hillsong Colour Conference. Our whole LPM staff is coming and many of our volunteers. Melissa is with me and will be heading up a short tour with our volunteers after the Hillsong conference ends, giving emphasis to several figures in Christianity who had tremendous influence on Spiritual formation. We are looking extremely forward to it. Her suitcase weighed 10 whole pounds more than mine strictly from books. Made me grin. The girl is a book nerd if you’ll ever meet one. We were so sad Amanda couldn’t come on this trip but she needed to be home with her very busy family this round. We miss her like nobody’s business. Would all of you please pray for us as we labor in this gorgeous field of harvest? Please ask Jesus to pour out His Holy Spirit lavishly upon us and to give us such hearts of love for every person we serve.  When I say, ask Jesus to pour out His Spirit, I mean like GUSHES. FLOODS, TIDAL WAVES of Living Water. Understand what I’m saying? PRAY BIG. Get in there with your faith if you’d be willing and ask God to be enormously present among us here. Ask for many to be saved, many to be delivered from strongholds, healed, and made whole in Jesus. Ask for multitudes to awaken to the breadth and length and height and depth of the borderless love of Jesus. Thank you! I owe you a debt of love which I gladly, joyfully pay.
Ok, Girls! Hit it with those verses!
Numbers 6:24-26New King James Version (NKJV)
24 “The Lord bless you and keep you;
25 The Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
26 The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.”’
Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; He is the faithful God, keeping His covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love Him and keep His commandments.
Deuteronomy 7:9
Sherron Watkins, Houston, Tx, “And He replied to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great, most important, and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as you do yourself. These two commandments sum up and upon them depend all the Law and the Prophets. ” (â€Matthew‬ â€22‬:â€37-40‬ AMP)
Lawton, Okla.
Isaiah 42:8 NIV
“I am the Lord; that is my name!
I will not give my name to another
or my praise to idols.”
Stephanie, El Cajon, CA, Psalm 62:8 (NIV) – “Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge.”
Jessie, Chittagong, BD “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.” Romans 8:29 ESV
Leighann Holloway, Longview, TX
“We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.”
2 Corinthians 4:7
Judy, Simi Valley, CA
Look to the Lord and His strength, seek His face always. Psalm 105:4 NIV
MaryJo ~ Plainfield, IN
Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. 1 Peter 4:8 (NIV)
Liza Kirschner Monmouth Junction, NJ
“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)
Sarah Winslow Durant, OK
Isaiah 41:10 NIV
Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you; I will help you; I will hold on to you with My righteous right hand.
Bobbie, Litchfield, MN
You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day,
nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday.
Psalms 91:5-6 (NIV)
Kelly, CA
“and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” Ephesians 3:19
Know therefore today, and lay it to your heart, that the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other. ~Deuteronmy 4:39 ESV
Tshaka; Overijse, Belgium
And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.
Hebrews 11:6 NIV
2 John 1:6
And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love. NIV
Linda from Enumclaw
Deuteronomy 31:8
The LORD Himself goes before you and will be with you;
He will never leave you or forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.
Elizabeth Mitchell- living in Haverhill, England- Ephesians 3:20 “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,” NKJV
Christy Hamrick, Shelby, NC- “You stretch out your hand against the anger of my foes; with your right hand you save me. The Lord will vindicate me; your love, Lord, endures forever—do not abandon the works of your hands.” Psalm 138:7-8, NIV
Waco, TX
2 Corinthians 12:9 (NLT)
Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.
Paula Rutherford, Decatur, Tx (continuing through Philippians)
Philippians 3:20-21 (KJV)
“For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.”
Jackie UK
Ephesians 3:19. NIV
And to know this love that surpasses knowledge that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Malinda Hiles, Hurst, 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 a hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity…” Jeremiah 29:11-14 (NIV)
Jackie UK
3 Ephesians 19 NIV
I made a mistake in my previous verse!
And to know this love that surpasses ALL knowledge that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Richmond, TX
John 1:1-2 NIV
In the beginning was the Word’
and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
He was with God in the beginning.
Marsha from Carmel IN
Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. (â€Romans‬ â€12‬:â€11-12‬ ESV)
DeeDee Martin
Katy, Texas
Psalms 90:8. NET
You are aware of our sins, You even know about our hidden sins.
Psalm 86:11-12 (NIV) Teach me your way, Lord, that I may rely on your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart that I may fear your name. I will praise You, Lord my God, with all my heart; I will glorify Your name forever.
Anne Boone, Chesterfield, MI Proverbs 18:13 MSG
Answering before listening is both stupid and rude. Proverbs 18:13 MSG
Lynn Bennett, Stowe, Vt.
And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, (â€Ephesians‬ â€3‬:â€17-18‬ NIV)
Mary A, Belleville, Ontario, Canada
If you abide in my Word, you are truly my disciples and you will know the truth and the truth will set you free. John 8:31, ESV
2 Samuel 22:29 NIV
“You are my lamp, O Lord; the Lord turns my darkness into light.”
Mishawaka, Indiana
Psalm 100:2 ESV
Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into His presence with singing!
Christy Billingsley, Terry, MS
“Israel, put your hope in the Lord, for with the Lord is unfailing love and with Him is full redemption. He Himself will redeem Israel from all their sins.”
Psalm 130:7-8 NIV
Vickie Gainous, Cairo, GA
I believe that I shall see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Psalm 27:13 NRSV
Shelby, NC
“I waited patiently for the Lord and He inclined to me and heard my cry. He brought me up out of a pit of destruction and despair, out of the miry clay. He set my feet on a rock making my footsteps firm. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and will trust in the Lord.” Psalm 40:1-3
Sue, Mazomanie, Wisconsin
II Samuel 22:31 NKJV
As for God, His way is perfect; the Word of the Lord is proven. He is a shield to all who trust in Him.
Amy, Miamisburg, OH
May the Lord of peace Himself give you peace always in every way. The Lord be with all of you.
2 Thessalonians 3:16 HCSB
Vanessa from Victoria, TX
Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and you will delight in the richest of fare. (â€Isaiah‬ â€55‬:â€2‬ NIV)
Moreen, Sydney Australia
that according to the riches of His glory He may grant you to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in your inner being,
Ephesians 3: 16 ESV
Margaret, Kingsport, TN
He has sent me to tell those who mourn that the time of the Lord’s favor has come, and with it, the day of God’s anger against their enemies.
Isaiah 61:2 NLT
Odessa, Tx
The spirit helps us in our weakness. When we do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. Romans 8:26 NIV
Pamela Shaw, Bangor, Northern Ireland
“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.” Zeph 3:17 (NIV)
Bettie Tolar
Pasadena, TX
Isaiah 49:17 NIV
“Your sons hasten back and those who have laid you waste depart from you.”
Rebecca M., Clifton, NJ. “So I will bless you as long as I live; in your name I will lift up my hands.” Psalm 63:4 ESV
Peru, In. ITimothy 6:12 (ESV), 12Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness an self-control. Against such things there is no law.
Gal. 5:22-23 (NIV)
Stacy, Cape Girardeau, Missouri
Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices
Colossians 3:9 NIV
Lisa B. Taylorsville NC
Colossians 1:10. KJV
That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;
Lindsey Barnett
Sevierville, TN
Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.
Colossians‬ â€4‬:â€6‬ ESV