*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!
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
Bette from Danville, PA
Ephesians 3:18 ESV
…may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,….
Lisa Parker Arkansas 4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrong. 1Corinthians 13:4-5(NIV)
Adina
Pittsburgh PA
If I take the wings of the morning and dwell on the uttermost parts of the sea,
Psalm 139:9
Janet, Midlothian, Texas
You shall follow the Lord your God and fear Him; and you shall keep His commandments, listen to His voice, serve Him and cling to Him. Deuteronomy 13:4 NAS
Sherri, Galena, OH
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.
1 Peter 5:10 NIV
Know this, my beloved brothers; let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger,
James 1:19 (ESV)
Courtney Dougan, Gainesville, GA: “love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.” 1 Corinthians 13:4 NIV
Laura Grassi, Denver, CO
1 Cor 13:12-13 (ESV)
For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. So now faith, hope and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
Meredith, Virginia Beach,VA
Know this, my beloved brothers; let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger,
James 1:19 (ESV)
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)
And how wonderful to live in the sunshine! Even if you live a long time, don’t take a single day for granted.
Ecclesiates: 11:7-8
Message
Deb Hansard, E Tennessee
Words kill, words give life; they’re either poison or fruit–you choose. Proverbs 18:21 Message
Becky from Vicksburg, MS
The Lord gives strength to his people; the Lord blesses his people with peace. Psalm 29:11 (NIV).
Lisa Griffin, Lincoln City, OR;
4. For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. 5. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
1 John‬ â€5‬:â€4-5‬ (ESV)
ambria, wiggins, Mississippi
“By standing firm you will gain life.”
–Luke 21:19 NIV
“The LORD will give strength to His people, the LORD will bless His people with peace.” Psalm 29:11
Olive Branch, MS
Lindsay Newman, Prophetstown, IL. “And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.” Romans 5 : 5 NIV
Linda W. from Tomball, TX
“Redeem me from man’s oppression, that I may keep Your precepts.”
Psalm 119:134
Angela Scott Lexington, Tennessee
The Lord watches over you- the Lord is your shade at your right hand. Psalm 121:5
Dawn Fuhrman, Cape Coral, FL
Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us…
Eph 3:20 ESV
Lisa from Huntsville TX. “The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life,
And he who wins souls is wise.” Pro.11:30 NKJV
Charlene Morgan–Lincoln City, OR
“Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.” Romans 12:12 NIV
Elizabeth Peck, Fairfax Station, VA: Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life. Prov 4:23 NIV 1984
Ephesians 4:32 (NIV)
“Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”
Laura Hagedorn, Rib Mountain, WI., I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
– Luke 10:19-20 (NIV)
JulieB
Sharpsburg, Ga.
Ephesians 3:17 ESV
“so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith – that you, being rooted and grounded in love”
Lee Ann Kelley, Fairhope, AL
Serve wholeheartedly, as if you serving the Lord, not people. Ephesians 6:7 NIV
Anne Roline Morristown, TN
So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as lord, continue to live in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.
Colossians 2:6. NIV
Sharon Littlw Rock: Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Kathy, Leamington, Ontario, Canada
“The Lord longs to be gracious to you;
He rises to show you compassion.”
Isaiah 30:18 Living Bible
Debbie Alix, Valley Falls, NY
“Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”
Ephesians 4:32 (ESV)
Becky, Cleveland ,TN
And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me. Matthew 18:5 NIV
Pam, Sioux Falls, SD
“2 Thus says the Lord:
“The people who survived the sword
found grace in the wilderness;
when Israel sought for rest,
3 the Lord appeared to him[a] from far away.
I have loved you with an everlasting love;
therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.
4 Again I will build you, and you shall be built,
O virgin Israel!
Again you shall adorn yourself with tambourines
and shall go forth in the dance of the merrymakers.”
Jeremiah 31:2-4, ESV
Praise you, Lord, and thank you!!
Carrie Donnell Tallmadge, OH
“He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed,
miracles that cannot be counted.” Job 5:9 NIV
Staunton, IL
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
Eph 6:12
Connie, Iowa, Psalm 124:8 NKJV Our help is in the name of the Lord, Who made heaven and earth.
Monica
Cheyenne, WY
The Lord makes firm the steps of the one who delights in him; Psalm 37:23 NIV
Janell Dixon, Virginia Beach,VA
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 12:2 (ESV)
Tammy Bradshaw, Bluffton, Ohio
One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple.
Psalm 27:4 NIV
When a man’s ways are pleasing to the LORD, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him. (â€Proverbs‬ â€16‬:â€7‬ NASB)
Locust Grove, VA
Romans 15:7 NLT
Therefore, accept each other just as Christ has accepted you so that God will be given glory.
Heidi Worthey, Moreland, GA
so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, (â€Ephesians‬ â€3‬:â€17‬ NASB)
Amanda, Chesapeake, VA
So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him. (â€Colossians‬ â€2‬:â€6 NIV)
Meagan R, Burke, VA
For He will give His angels orders concerning you, to protect you in all your ways. Psalms 91:11, HCSB
Laurie Watkins Arlington Tx
For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him should not shall not parish but have ever lasting life.
John 3:16 kJV
Mallory Barker, Floyds Knobs, IN
“This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” 2 Corinthians 5:17 NLT
Tammy Martinez, Burleson, TX
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. (â€1 Thessalonians‬ â€5‬:â€16-18‬ ESV)
Marcy in Garland, Texas “Renewing your mind”, cont’d. I love the strong action words in this…
rejoicing in hope;
patient in tribulation;
continuing steadfastly in prayer;
Romans 12:12 ASV
Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you. Ephesians‬ â€4‬:â€32‬ NLT