Hey sweet siestas!
How much fun is this? Can we all just stop for a minute and thank our beloved leader, Bible teacher and yes, friend, for spurring us on in this world of scripture memory? I fail every time on my own. We need our people to conquer this task, don’t we? I’m good for a couple of months and then I flat out quit and blame it on something other than myself. But, I won’t quit if I have y’all! I’m thankful for this community. I’m thankful for the accountability. Memorizing scripture has transformed my heart and mind…the Word is living, and we have the privilege to breathe it in when we open those sacred pages and be changed from the inside out.
Something that I have done as I have memorized scripture is to write a brief synopsis of why I chose the verse on the back of the index card. I also date it. At the end of the year, it’s so powerful to go back and read a mini-journal of God’s faithfulness and the journey you’ve taken together that particular year. Go back and do that if you haven’t done it already. I’ll bet it won’t take you long to recall why you picked a particular verse. It will be a sweet gift to read through at the end of 2015.
Ok, my name is Fran Thomas and I’ve been married to Chip for 21 years! That’s crazy to me! I swear I’m still 30-something. We have 3 teenage boys. That’s another kind of crazy! Our oldest is 18. (Insert tears of high school graduation, starting college and hoping you can cook and do laundry on your own) It’s nuts, y’all. Savor the moments, mommas. It flies.
We are living life in Jackson, TN, and I love our community of people here. I work at Union University, teach college girls on Sunday mornings, sing in the choir, and serve with our jail ministry at Englewood Baptist Church. I am also a partner in a non-profit ministry with my two best friends, Christy and Robyn, that we founded called “More than a Mission Trip.” Our heart is missions in every form and fashion. Our heart is for the lost, the saved who are lost, God’s precious people at the ends of the earth and those who are around the corner. Our desire is to encourage other women to serve God locally and globally…there is no better time than NOW to love, obey and serve Him with all we have! We can’t question or delay what God clearly calls us to do.
So how appropriate for me to choose a verse that has me in a season of being scared to death of what God has called me to do. Would this be the Christian “pot calling the kettle black” or what? I like safe and comfy just like you do. It’s predictable and doesn’t make my stomach hurt. I know the scriptural promises from Him, but there is simply something terrifying about taking new steps with Him after a season of predictability. *sigh*
So, we press on, sisters. We believe Him and take Him at His word. I’m doing this even with the butterflies alive and churning about! Unfortunately, I think I have an unbelief issue right now, but I’m choosing to believe Him for this season because He is able! He is faithful… Me? Not so much. He never fails. NEVER.
“But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.” James 1:6
I don’t want to doubt or be tossed around because of my unbelief. I want my feet to be steady and secure in Him, His voice, and His direction. I really want to believe Him and trust Him even with these butterflies during this new season. I don’t just want to say, “Yes, Lord I believe you,” but it only be a temporary belief or trust. We’ll start strong and then fade, don’t we?
Lord, help my unbelief.
It’s easy to say, “Sure, I’ll get out of the boat, and walk toward Jesus,” but it’s a whole other thing to actually put the feet into motion, isn’t it? Let’s not be tossed around, sisters. Let’s walk by faith and take Him at His Word. Let’s choose to believe Him girls!! Declare it even when we don’t feel it. We’ll begin to believe what we know and speak over that situation. Let’s declare the Truth that we are hiding in our hearts.
Y’all are such a blast! Hang in there and march on strong and steady because we are MORE than conquerors! We CAN do this because He WILL show us the way! He will NOT leave us! He WILL show Himself faithful! He has good plans for this season! He will NOT harm us! And on and on and on the promises go. Declare them. Believe them.
It’s such an honor to journey alongside you. I will be your biggest fan and cheer you on like nobody’s business. Fix those pretty eyes on Jesus and let’s run our race well. I’m praying for us all. I desperately need Jesus and His Word.
Love y’all,
Fran
Sharon, Little Rock
Ephesians 4.31-32 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.
Jennie Marie Knoll – DeWitt, AR – Ephesians 5:33 (NIV) However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.
Julie, Gresham, OR
“If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” 2 Chronicles 7:14 (ESV)
Phil 3:10 (AMP)b
perceiving and recognizing and understanding the wonders of His Person more strongly and more clearly], and that I may in that same way come to know the power outflowing from His resurrection [[a]which it exerts over believers],
“The Lord will guide you always; He will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.” Isaiah 58:11 NIV
Carla, San Antonio
The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the person who seeks Him.
Lamentations 3:25, HCSB
Bobbi Wineberg, Lake City, FL. I have told you these things so that in Me you may have perfect peace and confidence. In the world you have tribulation and trials and frustration; but be of good cheer (take courage, be confident,certain, undaunted)! For I have overcome the world. John 16:33 (AMP)
Alicia Stewart (Loveland, CO)
“…live at peace with everyone.”
Rom 12:18 (NIV)
Suzy from Cedar Falls,
1 Corinthians 13:8 ESV
” Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.”
Susan. Norfolk, VA. If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food and one of you say to them, “Go in peace, be warm and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? James 2:15-16 ESV
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Ephesians 6:12 ESV
Renee Hui, British Columbia, Canada
Isaiah 26:3 NIV
You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you.
Angie Wilt, Kansas City, Missouri. He gives power to the tired and worn out, and strength to the weak. Even the youths shall be exhausted, and the young men will all give up. But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. Isaiah 40:29-31 TLB
Sally, Gahanna, OH
“She considers a field and buys it; out of her earnings she plants a vineyard. She sets about her work vigorously, her arms are strong for her tasks.”
Proverbs 31:16-17 NIV
Libby Eutawville, SC
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
Heather – Boulder, CO
“May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Rom 15:5-6 NIV
“I have set the LORD always before me; Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved.”
Psalms 16:8 NKJV
Lisa S., Cibolo, TX
“Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth does not become weary or tired. His understanding is inscrutable.” Isaiah 40:28 (NASB)
Robin Byrd, Columbia, S.C.
Psalm 3:2
“Many there be which say of my Soul…
There is no help for him in God… Selah
KJV
Kathy, Easley SC
Isaiah 61:3 NIV
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of joy
instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
a planting of the Lord
for the display of his splendor.
Pam G., Centreville, VA
Ephesians 2:10 NKJV
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
Sue in Duncanville, TX:
The wise are glad to be instructed, but babbling fools fall flat on their faces. Proverbs 10:8 (NLT)
Bonnie, Alexandria, LA
“Daniel said, ‘Praise the name of God forever and ever, for He has all wisdom and power.'” Daniel 2:20 NLT
August 15, 2015 Josephine M. Kerley
Psalm 59:16 I will sing of your strength, in the morning, I will sing of your love; for you are my fortress.
Amy Brown
New Palestine, IN
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. (John 15:5 NIV)
Lisa Cooper – Fort Worth, Texas
Your boundary lines mark out pleasant places for me. Indeed, my inheritance is something beautiful. Psalm 16:6 God’s Word Translation
Angela Pisel, Hickory NC
“Keep me safe, my God, for in you I take refuge.”
Psalm 16:1 NIV
But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.” James 1:6
Jenny Fridge, Richmond, TX
But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.
James 1:6 NIV
Nedra, Blue Springs, MO “…and perseverance, proven character, and proven character, hope;…” Romans 5:4 NASB
Phillipians 4:6-7
6. Don’t worry about anything; instead pray about everything; tell God your needs and don’t forget to thank Him for His answers. 7. If you do this you will experience God’s peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace, will keep your thoughts and your hearts quiet and at rest as you trust in Jesus Christ.
Abigail Dubbe, Red Lion PA, 1 John 3:21 (NIV) “Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God”
Dayle Sheridan Wyoming 2 Corinthians 1:21-22 ESV
And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ,and has anointed us,and who also has put His seal on us and given us His Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.
Dawn Moore Conway, AR
Psalm 86:11 ESV
Teach me your ways, oh Lord, that I may walk in your truth; unite my heart to fear your name
Tina Crouch
Waxahachie, Texas
Proverbs 12:28 NIV
In the way of righteousness there is life: along that path is immortality.
Jo Ellen Chance, Shawnee, KS
Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” – John 14:21 ESV
Judy Pauley, Norfolk, Va.
Ps. 147:15
He sends His Command to the earth;
His word runs swiftly.
Debbie Fitzpatrick, Bossier City, LA
For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.
2 Timothy 1:7 NIV
Angela Wagner, El Paso, Tx (formerly Pittsburgh, Pa)
“And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia.
That was 1 Thessalonians 1:6-7, ESV
Johannah, Alexandria, LA
“For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”
John 1:17 ESV
Jackie from Plano, TX
Psalm 33:4 NIV – For the Word of the Lord is right and true, He is faithful in all He does.
Marsha, Angleton TX “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28 (NIV84)
Lynda from Ocala, FL (NIV) Deuteronomy 31:6. Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; He will never leave you or forsake you.
Hi, I’m Kim from Denver CO
Psalm 141:2 NLT
Accept my prayer as incense offered to you and upraised hands as an evening offering.
Christine of Media, PA:(ESV) “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God.”
Brenda McGurk, Medina,Ohio
Trust in Him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts
To Him, for God is our refuge.
Psalms 62:8. (NIV)
Candie – Waterloo, Iowa
But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one.
2 Thessalonians 3:3 (ESV)
Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. Psalm 119:105 NKJV
Sonia Kibe, Morrilton, AR
“Let your conversation be gracious and attractive so that you will have the right response for everyone.” 1 Thess. 4:6 (NLT)
Rene’ Adee, Canyon, Tx
Psalm 34: 5 (ESV)
“Those who look to Him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed.”