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
Michele ~ Kenosha, WI
Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.
II Timothy 2:15 NIV
Hi Michele,
I live in Janesville, Wisconsin !
However, my niece, nephew-in-law, and 2 great nieces live in Kenosha !!!
In Christ’s Love, Jennifer Olmstead
Carla Kaney, Adel, Iowa
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33
O Lord my God, if I have done this, if there is wrong in my hands,
Psalm 7:3
If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that home or town.”
Matthew 10:14
NIV
Jen from Round Rock, TX
James 5:16 NLT
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.
Suzanne Kragt
Eden Prairie, MN
Colossians 3:6 NIV
Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.
Melissa, Vicksburg, MS: “so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.” 1 Thess 4:12 NIV
Thanks for writing this encouragement. I really needed it today. I am going to go a claim God’s promises. Many blessings!
Lindsey Fellers, Myrtle Beach, SC
“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12 ESV
Carrie from Cary, NC:
The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,
because the Lord has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners Isaiah 61:1 NIV
Martha Blacklock
Lubbock, Texas
Hebrews 4:16 “Let us therefore draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, that we might receive mercy and may find grace to help in time of need.”
NASB
Lesley, Oceanside
“Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. 2 For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the LORD will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you. 3 And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.”
Isaiah 60:1-3,ESV
Natalie
San Diego, CA
I John 2:7 (NKJV) Brethren,I write no new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which you heard from the beginning
Pam Luschei in El Cajon, Ca.
“This is what the Lord says – your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am the Lord your God who teaches you what is best for you and directs you in the way you should go.” Isaiah 48:17 NIV
Margie Rodriguez
San Angelo, Texas
Proverbs 3: 7 NIV Do not be wise in your own eyes;
fear the Lord and shun evil.
Kimberley Cathey, North Carolina. “Do not hasten in your spirit to be angry, For anger rests in the bosom of fools.”
(Ecclesiastes 7:9 NKJV)
“Not by might nor by power, but by my spirit,” says The Lord Almighty. Zech. 4:6 (NIV)
Sheri Martens
Fairview, Oklahoma
“Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.” Ecclesiastes 4: 12
Dianne Detrick – Magnolia, TX
John 14:1(NIV)
Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, trust also in me.
Katherine Emerson, Livingston, Tx
“Be not quick in your spirit to become angry, for anger lodges in the heart of fools.”
Ecclesiastes 7:9 ESV
Natalie Gumpl
Austin, Tx
Matt 17:20 NLT
If you have faith as small as a mustard seed you can say to this mountain move from here to there and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.
“For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength.”
I Cor 1:25 NIV
Maria Cristina Bruschi – Orlando, Florida
After this, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.” Gen. 15:1, NIV
Gina Jordan
Edgar Springs, MO
Zephaniah 3:17 NIV
The LORD your God is with you, He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.
So neat to stumble upon you. Encouraging and…I bet you know my cousin Michael Lee.
For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. John 3:17 NASB
Lisa Williams
Houston, TX
No one has ever seen God. Yet if we love one another God dwells in us, and his love is brought to perfection in us.
1 John 4:12 NAB
Michelle, Julian WV
Numbers 6:26 KJV
The Lord lift up His countenance upon thee,and give thee peace.
Donna Lange, Mobile, AL
For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; Colossians 1:9 KJV
Sharon, Bowling Green, KY
For the Lord delights in his people; he crowns the humble with victory.
Psalms 149:4 (NLT)
Jinga, Royal Palm Beach, FL, Isaiah 60:1 AMP, Arise from the depression and prostration in which circumstances have kept you—rise to a new life! Shine be radiant with the glory of the Lord, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you!
Diana Rice
Wooster Oh
Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. James 5:16 NIV
Victoria, Hooksett NH
Lift your eyes up on high, and see who has created these stars, the One who leads forth their hosts by number, He calls them all by name; because of the greatness of His might and the strength of His power, not one of them is missing. Isaiah 40:26
NASB
Sara, Garden City, Ks
“But that is not the way you learned Christ!—”
Ephesians 4:20 ESV
Onda Jenks, Morgantown, WV-Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. (Matt. 10:39, NIV)
D’Anna Nowack
New Braunfels, Tx.
Galatians 5:5 New International Version (NIV)
5 For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope.
Kim Haines-Ashland, Maine
Trust in Him at all times O people; pour out your hearts
to Him, for God is our refuge. Psalm 62:8 (NIV)
Michelle Vardeman, Russellville, AR
So is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. Isaiah 55:11 NIV
Lora Lovin Osburn
Morristown, TN
“But if any of you lack wisdom, you should pray to God, who will give it to you; because God gives generously and graciously to all.” James 1:5 GNT
Hey Fran!!! Love you sister!!!
Janet Bell
Pinson, Alabama
Teach me to do your will, for you are my God;
May your good spirit lead me on level ground.
Psalm 143:10. NIV
Rene Sandifer, College Station, TX “Go to the Lord for help; and worship him continually.” Psalm 105:4 GNT
We love because he first loved us. 1 John 4:19 ESV
Carol
Carthage, NY
…turning your ear to wisdom and
applying your heart to understanding.
(continuing) Proverbs 2:2 NIV
Tamara, Austin TX
We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain…
Hebrews 6:19. NIV
Autumn,Glasgow,KY
“The words of the reckless pierce like swords,
but the tongue of the wise brings healing.”
Proverbs 12:18 (NIV)
Marcy Euless, TX
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.
Mark 12:30 (NIV)
Diane – Mesa, Arizona
Without counsel plans fail, but with many advisers they succeed. Proverbs 15:22 ESV
Gay Beck, Plain City, OH
Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.
Matthew 7:7 (NIV)
Melissa Sangster, Simpsonville, KY
“But when I am afraid, I will put my trust in you.” Psalm 56:3 NLT
jamie, Crossett, AR
“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.”
John 10:27 NKJV