*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!
Dana, San Angelo, Texas
“Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
1 Thessalonians 5:18 (NIV).
Jackie Pope, Covington, IN. Let the lowly brother glory in his exaltation. James 1:9 NKJV
Nancy Rottschafer
Holland, MI
For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared, in advance, for us to do.
Ephesians 2:10
Erin Hall, Magnolia TX, Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, “Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.” And God granted his request. (â€1 Chronicles‬ â€4‬:â€10‬ NIV)
Holly Cox, Greenwood, SC
“Jesus said, ‘You are asking the wrong question. You’re looking for someone to blame. There is no such cause-effect here. Look instead to what God can do.”
John 9:3-5 (MSG)
Lauren, Pittsburgh, PA. “All that we have accomplished you have done for us.” (Isaiah 26:12 NIV)
Donna Banks from Franklin, TN
“In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will,”
Ephesians 1:5 (ESV)
Casey, Cheney, WA
But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.
John 14:26 (NIV)
Kathy, Madison, CT
Ephesians 4:31 (ESV)
Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.
Lauren Hance, Houston formerly New Orleans
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
Doretta, Ada, OK
“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 NV
Sandra, Keller TX
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” – Matt. 5:6 (NIV)
Sheila, Williston, ND:
“Every word of God is tested; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him.”
Proverbs 30:5 (NASB)
Dana from Avon, IN
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.
Jodhua 1:9 (ESV)
Shannon Vasquez, Littleton, CO
Deep in your hearts you know that every promise of the Lord your God has come true. Not a single one has failed! ~Joshua 23:14, NLT
Michigan:
So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “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 8:31,32
Madeleine,Corrales; May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13 NIV
Kathy, Danvers, MA
Psalm 37:3 NIV
Trust in the LORD and do good;
dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.
Kathy Darnell
Princeton TX.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful. I know that full well.
Psalm 139:14
“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”
Galatians 2:20 NIV
Kristin R.
Fort Worth, TX
Delores O.
Lake Stevens, WA
We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. For Christ did not please Himself, but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached You fell on Me.”
Romans 15:1-3 ESV
I’ve never seen this quoted before. Thank you for sharing it!
Melanie Toups
Bridge City, TX
You, LORD, are my shepherd. I will never be in need. –Psalm 23:1 (Contemporary English Version)
Alice, Chesapeake, Va.
Deuteronomy 33:27 NLT
The eternal God is your refuge, and His everlasting arms are under you.
Teresa Maldonado, Austin, TX
Psalm 16:8 ESV
I have set the LORD always before me, because he is at my right hand; I shall not be shaken.
Mary from Tiffin.
This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.
1 John 5:14-15NIV
Terri Sickles, Richmond, MO
And now, O Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in you.
Psalm 39:7
Jill, Oak Ridge, TN
Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Romans 12:12 (ESV)
Wendy P. Milwaukee, WI “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most high will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.” Psalm 91:1 ESV
(He) has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity. 2 Tim. 1:9 (NASB)
Robyn in San Antonio
“But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves;”
2 Corinthians 4:7
NASB
Albuquerque, NM
Psalm 139:9
“If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea.”
Angi, Pelham, AL
Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit. Psalm 51:12 KJV
Shelly Slagle, Mount Ulla NC – For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. (â€Ephesians‬ â€2‬:â€10‬ NLT)
Danielle, Beaver Dam, WI
“For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.”
2 Timothy 1:7 (NIV)
Sandra M. Arnold, Paris, Tennessee
“Therefore, those also who suffer according to the Will of God shall entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right.” 1 Peter 4:19 (NASB)
Deborah Meabon, Warren, PA
Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is kept safe. Proverbs 29:25 (NIV)
Emily C, Bothell WA
Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 NIV
When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. (â€Colossians‬ â€3‬:â€4‬ ESV)
Amee from Hercules, CA
But as for me, I will look to the Lord and confident in Him I will keep watch; I will wait with hope and expectancy for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me. (â€Micah‬ â€7‬:â€7‬ AMP)
Kim Bunting, Colfax, LA
“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go. ” Joshua 1:9 NIV
Cherie, poulsbo WA:
Yet amid all these things we are more than conquerors and gain a surpassing victory through Him Who loved us. Romans 8:37 AMP
Ruth – Madison, GA
Search me, Oh 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 NIV
Barb McCafferty, Elizabeth City, NC
Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever. Psalm 118:1
As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.
Eph 4:1-2
Amy, Marietta, Ga “For the vision is yet for an appointed time; But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; Because it will surely come, It will not tarry.” (â€Habakkuk‬ â€2‬:â€3‬ NKJV)
Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
Isaiah 41:10 (ESV)
Julia, Redmond, OR
Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
Ephesians 5:1-2 NIV
Kaylee Schlabach – Tampa, Fl
“And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons?
My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,
Nor be weary when reproved by Him.
For the Lord disciplines the one He loves,
And chastises every son whom He receives.”
Hebrews 12:5-6
Cara Gabrielse, Parker, CO, For who can know the Lord’s thoughts?
Who knows enough to give him advice? Romans 11:34, NL5
Stacy B detroit, mi
Matthew 6:27 (NIV)
“Can anyone of you by worrying add a single hour to his life?”