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
Jodee Walker, Mountain View, WY “So now faith, hope, and live abide, these three, but the greatest of these is love.” 1 Corinthians 13:13 (ESV)
Mary Anne Kent, Austin, Texas
“Only let your manner of life be worthy[a] of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel.” Philippians 1:27 ESV
Terry, Psalm 57:5, KJV
Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let Thy glory be above all the earth.
With tears flowing, the child’s father at once cried out, I do believe! Help my unbelief!
Mark 9:24 ISV
Debbie
Portland, OR
Jackie Brantley
Rockledge, FL
“Put on the full armor of God so that you can stand against the tactics of the Devil.”
Ephesians 6:11
2Thes. 3:5
May the Lord lead you into a greater understanding of God’s love and the endurance that is given by Christ.
Kay Guerrero, Deer Park, TX
Romans 12:12 NIV
“12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.”
Debra Thomas
So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in Him,
Col. 2:6 NIV
Marrie Gardner Cullman, AL
Proverbs 24:3
By wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established. (ESV)
“Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?”
1 Corinthians 3:16
Carolyn Dotts, Spruce Pine, NC
Psalms 130:5 NIV
I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in His word, I put my hope.
All caught up!
Proverbs 3:7-8
“Do not be wise in your own eyes,
Fear the LORD and depart from evil,”
“It will be health to your flesh,
And strength to your bones.”
Magan Lewis, Lakeway, Texas
“For now we live
if you are standing fast in the Lord.”
! Thessalonians 3:8b (ESV)
“But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved.) Ephesians 2:4-5 (NLT)
Shelley from San Angelo
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him,
so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Romans 15:13 NIV
Danielle Rye
Cedar Park, TX
“Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and he brought them out of their distress.”
Psalm 107:28 NIV
Kathy Rye
Cedar Park, TX
“Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and he brought them out of their distress.”
Psalm 107:28 NIV
Sarah Carroll, Springfield, Ohio
Deuteronomy 31:6; New Living Translation (NLT)
6 So be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid and do not panic before them. For the LORD your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you.”
Diane, Flagstaff, AZ
“…far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named not only in this age but also that which is to come.” Eph. 1:21 NKJV
Lynn Watson Hurst TX
Psalm 55:22 NIV
Cast your cares on the Lord and He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous be shaken.
Cathy Clark, Umatilla, FL
But you, O Lord, are a compassionate and merciful God. You are patient and demonstrate great loyal love and faithfulness.
Psalm 86:15
Matthew 11:28-29 NIV
Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon your and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
Anna, Little Elm, TX
So she called Adonai who was speaking to her, “You are the God who sees me.”
Genesis 16:13a (TLV)
Barbara from Wisconsi
17. How precious to me your designs, O God;
How vast the sum of them!
(NAB Psalm 139:17)
Remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me. Isiah 46:9
Psalm 61:2
From the end of the earth I will cry to You,
When my heart is overwhelmed;
Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.
Danielle, Weymouth, MA
“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me”
Psalm 51:10 ESV
Sheri, Austin TX
Phillipians 2: 9-10
Therefore God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth.
Angelina Eger, Moscow, ID
1 Corinthians 13:6 NIV
6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
Lee Ann Wimer, Norman, Oklahoma
“and what is the exceeding greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of His might power,” Ephesians 1:19 NKJV
Wanda Young
Osborn, Missouri
Happy are those who hear the joyful call to worship,
for they will walk in the light of your presence, LORD.
Psalm 89:14 (NLT)
West Des Moines, Iowa
You prepare a feast for me in the presence of my enemies. You honor me by anointing my head with oil. My cup overflows with blessings. Psalm 23:5(NLT)
Pattie, Holland MI
Prov 18:21 NIV
The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.
“We accept man’s testimony, but God’s testimony is greater because it is the testimony of God, which he has given about his Son.” 1 John 5:9
NIV
Sherry from Momence, IL
Lisa, West Columbia, TX
“with long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.”
Psalm 91:16 (NIV)
Molly Legg, Gainesville, GA
“For her profit is better than the profit of silver and her gain better than fine gold.”
Proverbs 3:14 NASB
Sandra, Springville, Al
The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still. Exodus 14:14 NIV
Beth D, Madison, MS
He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, Psalm 23:2 NIV84
barbara from Malakoff tx
1 Corinthians 6:12
Everything is permissible for me but not everything is beneficial…
I will not be mastered by anything
Colossians 3:12
“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.” NIV
Anita, Justin, TX
Proverbs 16:7
When a man’s ways are pleasing to the Lord, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.
Prov. 16:7(NAS)
Psalm 55:2 NIV
Cast your cares on the Lord and He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous be shaken.
Laura Naiser, Georgetown Tx
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding
Proverbs 3:5, NIV
Ps 29:2 NLT “Give honor to the Lord for the glory of his name. Worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness.”
Chrystal – Coachella, CA “If sin rules us, it will inevitably ruin us” (Romans 6:13)
Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.
Colossians 3:2
NIV
Emily Hayes. Conway, Arkansas.
Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me.
2 Corinthians 12:8. NIV.
Christy McCreight Wylie Tx. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here. 2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV
Prescott, Az
James 4:8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you doible-minded.
NAS
The LORD is my potion, says my soul, therefore, I will hope in Him. Lam 3:24 ESV
Regina, Birmingham, AL