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
For with You is the fountain of life;
In Your light we see light. Psalm 36:9 NKJV
Lynne Kauffman, Virginia Beach, VA
Ephesians 3;16
I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power though his Spirit in your inner being.
Jennie, Denham Springs, LA
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
Philippians 4:6, NIV
Sherie
The Woodlands, TX
“For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.”
Philippians 2:13 NLT
(b)What Is Man, That You Remember Him? Or the Son of Man, That YOU ARE CONCERNED ABOUT HIM?
Heb 2:6b NASB
Dorelle, Hot Springs, “Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.” James 5:16 (NLT)
Failsha Boland – Fruitland, NM
Psalms 55:22 “Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall.” NIV
Merideth Colvert Conroe, TX
“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)
Dana Jennings, Inola, OK “May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.” 2 Thess. 2:16-17 NIV
kathy white, Modesto, California
“LORD, YOU ALONE ARE MY INHERITANCE, MY CUP OF BLESSING.
YOU GUARD ALL THAT IS MINE” PSALM 16:5 NLT
Kristel from Russellvile
“Don’t be afraid,” he said, ” for you are deeply loved by God. Be at peace, take heart and be strong! ” Daniel 10:19 NLT
Laura Sumpter, Salem, OR
Psalms 18:28-30 ESV
For it is you who lights my lamp, the Lord my God
lightens my darkness. For by you I can run against
a troop and by my God I can jump over a wall. This
God-His way is perfect, the word of the Lord proves true
he is a shield for all who take refuge in Him.
Sharon Stridde Corpus Christi, TX
2 Corinthians 10:5 (NAS)
We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.
Janeth O’Dell, Neoga, IL, “I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,” Ephesians 1:18 (NIV)
Salem, VA
In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for You alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.
Psalm 4:8 ESV
Heather Burch, Simi Valley, CA – Trust in Him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to Him, for God is our refuge.
Psalm 62:8 NIV
Emily McCargar, Elk Grove, CA
Memorizing Psalm 103…
“who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases,”
Psalm 103:3 ESV
2Corinthians 9:8: And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. (NIV)
Deena from Amarillo, Texas
“So remember this and keep it firmly in mind: The Lord is God both in heaven and on earth, and there is no other.”
Deuteronomy 4:39 NLT
Amy from Everett, WA
He said to him, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.
Matthew 22:37 (HCSB)
Ellen, Amersfoort, the Netherlands.
Wat u ook doet, doe het van harte, alsof het voor de Heer is en niet voor de mensen, want u weet dat u van de Heer een erfenis als beloning zult ontvangen – uw meester is Christus!
Kolossenzen 3:23-24, NBV
Ruthie, San Antonio, Tx. “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want” Psalm 23:1 NIV
Jeremiah 32:17 NKJV
Ah Lord God! Behold you have made
the heavens and the earth by your great
power and out stretched arm, there is
nothing to hard for you.
jami
shelby, nc
“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
Jill Lynch, Mission Viejo, CA
“I sought the Lord and He answered me; He delivered me from all my fears.”
Psalm 34:4. NIV
Kathy Kaherl, Burlington, CT
“It is good to praise the Lord and make music to your name, O Most High, proclaiming your love in the morning and your faithfulness at night,”
Psalm 92:1-2 (NIV)
Jessie, Wellsville, PA “Oh fear the Lord, you his saints! For those who fear have no lack! The young lions suffer want and hunger but those who seek the Lord lack no good ting.” Psalms 34:9-10
Ashley
Stearns, KY. Hebrews 12:2 NKJV. looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Jeannine Hale
Eagan, MN
For I will pour water on him who is thirsty,
And floods on the dry ground;
I will pour My Spirit on your descendants,
And My blessing on your offspring
Isaiah 44:3 (NKJV)
Poorna Diaz, Reston, Va.: “May God our Father himself and our Master Jesus clear the road to you! And may the Master pour on the love so it fills your lives and splashes over on everyone around you, just as it does from us to you. May you be infused with strength and purity, filled with confidence in the presence of God our Father when our Master Jesus arrives with all his followers.” 1 Thessalonians 3.11-13 MSG
Nancy- Yonges Island, SC
“But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.”
James 1:6 NKJ
Forest, VA
“Show me Your ways, O Lord, teach me Your paths; guide me in Your Truth and teach me, for You are God my Savior, and my hope is in You all day long.”
–Psalm 25:4-5 (NIV)
Orlando, FL. I praise you, O Lord; teach me your decrees. Psalm 119:12 NLV
Ephesians 6:10-11 NIV
Finally, be strong in the Lord and his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.
Theresa Dau, Chesterfield, MO
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 43:19 NIV
John 8:36 “So, if the Son sets you free, yiu will be free indeed.”
Vicki Knott, Greenwood, SC
Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now; and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes. Matthew 6:34 (The Message)
MaryJo ~ Plainfield, IN
He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and walked in the ways of his father David, not turning aside to the right or to the left. 2 Chronicles 34:2 (NIV)
Carol, Keller, TX
Psalm 18:31 “As for God, His way is perfect. The Word of the Lord is proven. He is a shield to all who trust in Him.”
Martha, Georgetown TX, ” Fight the good fight for the true faith. Hold tightly to the eternal life to which God has called you, which you have confessed so well before many witnesses. ” 1 Timothy 6 : 12 NLT
Kim Burnett, Harrisburg, PA
The Lord is righteous in all His ways and kind in all His works. Psalm 145:17
Carol Bowen, Highlands, NC
Ephesians 3:20 – 21. ESV
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, to Him be glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen
Heidi, DeLand, FL: “Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.” Romans 12:15 NIV
Cara Roberts, Reelsville, Indiana. “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now 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
Liz from Hilliard, Oh:
“Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, ‘children of God without fault.’” Philippians 2:14-15a (NIV)
do everything without grumbling or arguing so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault. Philippians 2:14-15. NIV
Kathy Daniel, Bolivar, MO
You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you,because he trusts in you.
Is. 26:3 ESV
Sherri Frey, Hagerstown MD
The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord majestic. Psalm 29:4 (NIV)
Eph. 4:23-24 and be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. (ESV)
Vickie Gainous, Cairo, GA But as for me, I will look to the Lord, I will wait for the God of my salvation; My God will hear me. Micah 7:7 NRSV