The day has finally arrived! Wooooohooooo! Let’s get into the Scriptures, Girls! This is our official launch where you will officially register as participants in our summer Bible study but here’s the important part: YOU WILL SIGN IN AFTER YOU AND YOUR GROUP VIEW THIS VIDEO AND HAVE YOUR DISCUSSION TIME. (If you’re going solo, you’ll view it by yourself, of course, and answer the questions succinctly in your comment as your way of discussing the subject matter.)
Please read the following instructions carefully:
If you are participating in a small group (even on line), choose a name for it in your first gathering. It does not need to be clever although you’re welcome to do it that way. It can be as simple as “Greensboro Summer Siestas.” Mine will be “The LPM Village” because I’ll be going through it with my in-house staff and we call our merry band of sisters the Village. You will use your group name every time you leave a comment on Bible study day.
After watching the video and participating in the discussion time with your small group, appoint ONE representative from your group to sign in through a comment to this post. You’re welcome to appoint a different representative each week that we meet. The main idea is to make sure only one person signs in for your group.
This is the way your group representative will sign in:
City, State; Name of group, Number in group. *A brief summary about your group time.
(*This might convey something interesting that came up in your time together or the question that motivated the most discussion. It’s wide open. Just give us a succinct report on your time in small group. Remember to keep them short and specific so that we can read as many as possible!)
Mine would look something like this:
Houston, Texas; The LPM Village, 12. Summary: We talked most about the challenges we have this summer and specific ways we each need God to “keep steady our steps.” (Then I’d give a couple of examples that came up in our discussion time. Get the idea?)
Sisters going solo: you will sign in individually and answer the questions very briefly in your comment. (You are welcome to limit your answers to the ones that resonate most to you.) If I were going solo, mine might look like this:
Houston, Texas; Beth Moore (you can just use your first name if you prefer). Questions 5 and 6 resonated most with me because…
NOW! You are good to go. Just watch the video and proceed according to the instructions I’ll give you within it. As you’ll see below, I will always put the instructions in print in case you’re unable to view the video or if, for any reason, it malfunctions. Keep in mind that you don’t need to read what follows unless you can’t watch the video.
Written instructions:
Today in small group time, read Psalm 119:129-135 together. If you have access to several translations, read it first in a formal translation – ESV, NAS, NKJ, NIV, etc – and, second, just for the richness of it, a modern translation like The Message or the New Living Translation. You know I love The NET Bible so that’s another option.
1. List every term the psalmist uses for God’s communication/revelation to man. (Example: V.129 ESV – “testimonies”)
2. Psalm 119:129 says, “Your testimonies are wonderful: therefore my soul keeps them.” Each of you (as time allows) share a specific way that you’ve come to know personally that God’s testimonies are “wonderful.” If you don’t have a newcomer to the Bible in your group, imagine that you do. Let your answer help explain to her why YOUR soul desires to keep God’s testimonies and why she should even consider it.
3. Psalm 119:132 says “Turn to me and be gracious to me, as is Your way with those who love Your name.” If you have placed your faith in God through Jesus Christ, you have demonstrated one titanic way of “loving His name.” Discuss the importance of trusting that God’s “way” is to deal with His children graciously. Talk about whether you tend to expect God to be gracious to you or indifferent or harsh and condemning. If you tend toward the latter, would you be willing this summer to seek God with the grateful expectation of His graciousness toward you.
4. Psalm 119:133a says, “Keep steady my steps according to Your promise.” What specific challenges are before you this summer that could cause you to really need God to “steady your steps”?
5. Psalm 119:133b says, “Let no iniquity get dominion over me.” THAT, Beloved, is a prayer that could have huge impact in our lives. If you are willing, share a particular tendency of your flesh that you’re really praying will not get the best of you this summer. (By all means, get personal as the Spirit leads but stop short of really graphic specifics. Give people the idea without the mental images.)
6. Psalm 119:134 says, “Redeem me from man’s oppression, that I may keep Your precepts.” Look up several definitions of “oppression” and discuss the vital differences between oppression and authority. How can they be confused? Once we know for certain we’re not just resisting authority but we are genuinely experiencing oppression, realize that God’s will is to REDEEM us from it. Pray fervently for Him to do so. He is perfectly capable of redeeming us from oppression while redeeming the relationship.
7. According to Psalm 119:135, conclude by asking God with a full heart of faith to make His face shine upon you, His servant, this summer and to TEACH you vividly through the Book of Nehemiah.
8. Sometime today, write Psalm 119:129-135 on a note card and keep it as your prayer for our Siesta Summer Bible Study. (After the video was already made, it occurred to me that I should have suggested we all write this segment on the inside of the front cover of our Nehemiah workbooks so, if I caught you in time, do that instead of a note card. That way it will serve as a Scriptural dedication of sorts for our summer experience.)
Have Weeks 1 and 2 of your homework done by Tuesday, July 10th and we’ll have our next Mini-Session then and your group discussion.
I love you guys so much! Isn’t it fabulous to be back together again in God’s Word??
We’ll meet in two weeks! If you’re meeting over a meal, try to fix Lauri’s Beef Enchiladas on p.32 and Mom’s ginger snaps on p.33.
(Remember! Comments only after your group time!)
Worship the Lord for He is good….His loves endures forever!
Arlington, VA. The 2025 girls – We have a group of 4 women meeting and we had a great discussion last week! Specifically, we had a wonderful discussion about God’s gracious from Psalm 119 and how we all desire to believe this promise more and more in our hearts — that He is “always” gracious to those who love his name. How wonderful is our God that his promises are true and he cannot lie and that He is always gracious and merciful to us; that it has nothing to do with our works or actions, but is only based on his character! Really looking forward to the rest of this study!! Blessings!
We are the WOW (Women of the Word) Bible study group and we are totally online via a Facebook group. I am in Albuquerque, NM, we have ladies from Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and I believe I’m forgetting one other right now. We are so excited. Our first two weeks took some time for us to all get used to each other and share God’s goodness of Psalm 119.
Houston, TX. I am going solo, but if any other ladies from the Houston area are available in the evenings, let me know. I had shoulder surgery 3 weeks ago, so my life is a bit reclusive this summer. It has been hard and painful! I need His new life and the Word to keep His statutes, words, commands, precepts, decrees and law ever before me. My challenge this summer: painful physical therapy, no group exercise 🙁 but most of all . . . not to allow food to become my god and become a glutton! Overeating is my biggest struggle. Thanks sisters!
Five friends who were blessed to move into the same neighborhood in Elkhorn, Nebraska. We live very close to one another but still have the challenge of finding time to be together. We are meeting for the second time this morning.
We are sisters. Even though we see each other frequently this is our first Nehemiah meeting. We are getting together at my house in our office. we are learning our unique struggles and insecurities and how we need to trust God and share with Him first about our heartaches before going to others.
Sunnyvale, TX There are four of us in “The Other Kelly’s” group. We got started a bit late, but are diligently catching up. During our first meeting, our main topic of discussion was our individual needs and struggles this summer and how to navigate those waters. We are looking forward to learning together and ministering to each other this summer.
We have been so busy we haven’t had a minute to post this. Our group meets every other Saturday in New Palestine, IN. We haven’t named ourselves yet, but there are currently 5 of us. Thank you for doing this…we are amazed at this study!
this is Grami’ village —– rowing thru the bible studies in Corpus Christi streaming north to Interstate 35 to Trophy Club and Southlake Texas. via internet…
Kissimmee, FL, Patti – I need God to “steady my steps” as I am currently going through a divorce. It has been a very “challenging” process, but God has been more than awesome!! I know I am in the palm of His hand, and I look forward to everything He will teach me through this study!
Our little group from Women’s Bible Cafe have been following this wonderful study and have named ourselves Daughter’s In Christ. I haven’t got much participation as far as following Beth’s blog…some may just be doing it on their own, which is great! I will share my answers for this week’s session with Beth:
1. Write out some of your Revelations from God ( a good example would be a testimony). Personally share why you feel God’s testimonies are wonderful. Why do you seek to be obedient to God?
That he painfully jealous. He wants me for Himself and will do whatever it takes to keep me. His words are love. His mercies know no bounds. I seek to remain obediant to God because He is my Maker, my Redeemer, My Saviour. He died for me-why would I not seek to obey Him?
2. Do you believe Gods way is gracious to you? Do you feel He’s harsh? Condemning? Pray to God to show His graciousness to you.
I feel He may lead me down a hard, long road to show me the good and the light at the end. Sometimes we have to struggle to see what He’s trying to accomplish for us. We must remain faithful and allow Him to work through us.
3. What challenges do you have this summer that will require God to steady your steps? Share a particular tendency of your flesh that you pray will not take over you this summer. (Please-nothing graphic). I have a horrible habit of spending without thinking. I need to remain diligent and thoughtful whild in a store or on online.
4. Look up the definition of oppression and authority in a dictionary. Write down what these words mean to you. Pray for God bring out of any sort of oppression.
Oppression: Oppression to me means the disallowing of individual beliefs and not allowing an individual to live life according to his way. Authority to me means one who is in charge. This could be for good or bad depending on whether oppression is involved.
5. Ask God to make His face shine upon you. Ask Him to teach you to have ears that hear and a heart that breaks.
My Lord and Saviour, I ask that I hear your Word more often, that I read it more often with a clear heart and mind. I ask you to allow my heart to break to do your will.
Chesapeake, VA, Sistas Reveling in Restoration, 2: We are joining really late but very excited and jumping in with both feet! The biggest thing we noticed is how personal this study is and we like that. We are asking ourselves tough questions and opening our hearts to take action.
The Jersey Girls of PCUM – Nehemiah prayed for 4 months for direction from God what to do. We often lose our urgency and enthusiasm of the quest after a few days. We need to pray for persistance.
We are the ABQ Siestas of Albuquerque, NM. There are 3 of us meeting together in my living room. We are starting late but are so looking forward to seeing how God will develop our compassionate hearts beyond our comfort zones. We are looking forward to the journey this summer!
Winchester, Kentucky
Mountain Mommas Summer Siesta, 4
We’re coming in a little late. Just heard about it and grabbed our books, and we’re seeing Kelly Minter next month!! Woohoo!!! Loving the material and getting lots out of it. Amazed by how God brings people with a wide variety of experiences and needs and giftings together to have broken hearts together, so we can go about rebuilding for Him.
Milton, Georgia
My friend Lynn and I have committed to this summer study primarily because we both feel our hearts are as breakable as they’ve ever been as we are preparing to send our sons off to college in a few weeks. Our boys were HS classmates, seem both to very “James-like” personalities, and yet somehow they became best buddies. We now need each other to get through the torrents of emotion that will come with “releasing” them out of our (physical) care. We are both LOVING this study, and Kelly’s approach and guidance through Nehemiah is truly hitting our most tender hearts.
WE LOVE YOU, KELLY….WE LOVE YOU, BETH and we are so grateful to God for you both!
Will be better about posting in a “more timely” fashion from here on 🙂
Leslie and Lynn
Mesquite, TX, A Queen and 2 Matrons of Honor, 3
We do believe that God’s testimonies are good. It was interesting to hear exactly why. God has used a fatherless home, a BIG, senior-year move, and even providing when there was simply no other resource to reveal His goodness to us. We all decided that we struggle with being gracious to others who don’t “follow the rules.” Two of us tend to lean toward seeing God as gracious, the other sees Him more ready to strike a blow when she blows it. We each homeschool our kids and enjoy our summer, but we realize that God doesn’t take a break and is working on us in ways we can’t even imagine that He is. After listing the challenges that we see ahead, we discussed the ones we don’t or can’t even imagine. We are praying that no iniquity will get domoinion over us and that He will TEACH us vividly through the Book of Nehemiah. We are getting a later start than most, but we are thrilled to be doing this!
Hilton Head Island, SC, Island Siestas, 8
We are meeting in either my or Samantha’s home each Tuesday for an hour. We are taking it slow so that we get to know each other’s hearts. We met for the first time on July 3rd and had an alligator across the street. Maybe he wanted to be a siesta…
Mixco, San Christobal, Guatemala; Solo, Just beginning the study.
I struggle with remembering that God is gracious to those who love Him.
Hoping to be able to download the study guide from Lifeway. Not available here.
Nehemiah Study. Unable to purchase the study guide here in Guatemala and Lifeway doesn’t offer it in ebook format.Wish they did.
St.Thomas, ON Canada; Solo.
Just beginning the study!
God’s testimonies are wonderful! He never fails me! God has shown me over and over His Love and has given me more “second chances” than I can count (none deserved). He redeemed me years ago from a destructive path. I will never forget one specific night many years ago, that I cried lying on my bedroom floor… having been raised by faithful Christian parents,and having known better than the path I chose to take at a young age… that night many years later; it was then that I prayed for God’s forgiveness, and handed over the steering wheel to Him. I prayed…”ok God, please let me feel real love right now cause I’m in so much pain” and He did! That was the first night in months that I slept, feeling His loving arms of comfort around me – knowing that He would carry me through the heart-aching trenches ahead of me to get me back on the right path. He never failed me then… and so many promises from His word have become real and alive in me…that I KNOW, I truly KNOW that He will NEVER fail me.. His statutes are wonderful; therefore I obey Him!
(From Temple, Texas) I am starting a little late. I just found this bible study.I had a brain tumor 18 months ago. I am now cancer free. Praise God! Going through this ordeal has left me with a more profound love for God than I ever thought possible. I am looking forward to God “steadying my steps” as I learn to live a new way of life in this earthly body. I have been left with some disabilities. Along with that comes insecurities. This Bible study is exactly what I have been looking for! God is so awesome!
Salem, Oregon – RTR (Reason to Rejoice) – 2 ladies, Stacy and Kellie – Started a little late, but two friends wanted another reason to meet and discuss our mutual friend, Jesus. Highlights from our first meeting included several ways God has been so gracious to us specifically with our marriages and family situations. We also talked extensively about the things we try and conquer everyday when it comes to iniquity and how we are both trying to grow, with God’s help, to not allow these things to have dominion over us.
SUPER late in posting! So sorry!
Aqua Room Girls (inside joke!), Willow Spring, NC, 5 ladies. We had a great night sharing and getting to know one another better and talking about how timely this study was for all of us. We discussed the questions and shared for several hours and it was so refreshing! God truly brought together a fantastic group of ladies!
I’m flying solo! I’m using this study to keep me faithfully in the word over the summer while I anxiously await the start of James! I’m starting a little late, but I plan on working hard to catch up as much as I can.
I just began the summer siesta bible study, and I am looking forward to turning on the light of Gods Word! Thank you for this opportunity! Solo for now.
I’m just me joining this study from the Hoosier state, starting LATE because my work’s busy season is just now slowing down. A little on the outs with the Almighty and, by the Holy Spirit, doing all I can to believe God is good and gracious. Thank you for shepherding me through this.