Siesta Scripture Memory Workout Verse for September 1st

Well Siestas, has this been a workout for you? Are you exercising your memory and also your spiritual insight by memorizing, meditating on, and repeating your verses over and over ? Have you run into any situations where one of your verses has popped into your mind at just the right time? If so, please share with the rest of us and let's be encouraged.

In the comments below, write the verse you chosen to memorize for the next 2 weeks, why you've chosen it, and don't forget to sign your name! Then either in the same comment box, or a new one, share anything that God has impressed on you from your verses, or maybe even an instance where you've been able to speak one of your verses into your own or someone else's life.

Under His Hand

"Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that He may lift you up in due time." I Peter 5:6

If you come over to my house and meet my dog, TJ, the first thing you'll notice (after he quits barking at you) is that he loves attention. He honestly believes that every visitor to our house is there to see him! He loves nothing more than to sit beside you and have you pet him!

In the morning when I wake up, often I'll pat the bed beside me, call his name, and he'll come over from his sleeping spot and jump on to the bed beside me to get his ears scratched and his tummy rubbed. If I move my hand away, he'll thrust his nose under my hand, wanting me to pet him. As I think about that, I am impressed by God that this is how we should approach Him every morning.

Imagine how our lives would change if our first thought or action was not, "Oh no, another day," or "Am I late for work?" For those who have experienced loss, that waking moment may hold, "I wonder where he or she is," or "I miss my loved one." I have been told that smokers often think, "I need a cigarette," immediately upon waking.

What if our first action of every day was more like TJ's in the morning? Perhaps the Lord is impressing me, through this simple canine act, that the first thing I should do every day is to get my head under His hand, so that He can guide my thoughts and order my steps.

"Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect." (Romans 12:1-2)

When God's hand rests upon our lives, wisdom will enlighten our minds and integrity will direct our feet. Jesus said that He is light, and His light guides our paths. When the light moves, we move. Where He goes, we must go. We not only walk in the light, but we freely express the glory of His light through our lives. This is life under His hand.

When TJ showers me with kisses, I appreciate his enthusiasm and affection, but sometimes it's a bit much. However, now when he pushes his head under my hand, I turn my attention to him, petting his head as I contemplate God's truth. His move is not bold or boisterous, yet I notice him. I pull him close.

I have no doubt that God never wearies of our enthusiasm and affection, but I also believe that he notices our submission. "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you," wrote James, the brother of Jesus. (James 4:8)

Under His hand there is warmth and intimacy. When we press in toward God, it's like TJ nudging my hand. God responds with divine love. He presses in toward us. This is perhaps the most intimate relationship that mankind can have with Holy God while we are still alive on this earth. It is supernatural and life-changing.

Under His hand there is security and safety. If you ever see the owner of a cat or small dog encounter a large, threatening dog, you will see the same reaction: the owner will immediately pick up their pet and hold it close. When the owner holds their beloved pet, the animal is usually safe. With God, we are always safe when under His hand. The Psalmist declared, "He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High Will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, 'My refuge and my fortress, My God, in whom I trust!'" (Psalm 91:1-2)

We cannot live in the "shadow of the Almighty" without being close. It requires the kind of trust TJ has in me: simple, yet profound. He trusts me completely, even when his limited mind cannot comprehend my plans. He obeys me, for the most part, and his obedience is rewarded with the good things I bring him. I look for ways to give him joy -- though I am just a human. How much greater is a close relationship with the Creator of the universe when we trust Him completely? The joy He gives surpasses anything we could ever conjure on our own.

Maybe you didn't wake up today seeking to have His hand resting on your head, but you can start now by drawing near and He will draw near to you. Then tomorrow, and every day after that, begin your day by pressing closer to Him, submitting your will and quieting your mind. When we truly learn to live this way, we will begin to experience the transforming power of His abiding presence.

journeys

Some of you know that at the beginning of this summer, Jodi, Kelsey and I got to hike the Grand Canyon. It was truly an incredible experience, and as we sat on the rim of the canyon the next day, and now as we have time to consider some of what we went though on that journey, the Lord has been teaching me a lot.

Even while we were hiking, the Lord was pointing things out to us. We had to start out at 4:00am in order to finish our hike before the heat of the day…even as it was, by 11:00am when we got to the bottom of the Canyon the temperature was already 100 degrees F. I couldn’t help but think about spending mornings with the Lord. Time alone with Him, first, before the phone starts ringing or I check my email, to be poured in to and filled up before the ‘heat of the day’. If we had tried to hike between 10:00am and 4:00pm we would have suffered from heat exhaustion, struggled with dehydration and probably hurt ourselves. If only I could think that way about my day spiritually, that I would be putting myself in harm’s way if I wasn’t up early, spending my time with the Lord, before attempting to start my day.

Then, as we got to the bottom, all we wanted was refreshment. We needed cold water, needed to cool our feet…we couldn’t get from our campsite to the creek beside it fast enough. I don’t think I have ever thanked the Lord for water before in my life. Although it wasn’t exactly “still waters” (Psalm 23) He definitely made us lie down beside them. It was sweet refreshment at Phantom Ranch beside the Colorado. Cool water, and even a canteen for the mule riders that had air conditioning! How often does the Lord provide perfect refreshment after a time of struggling and hard work? It was exactly what we needed to get us ready for the next part of our journey.

As we started out at 4:30am the next morning, feeling refreshed, but sore, we started the journey upwards. This second day of the trip was hard, but strangely, after the work from the day before, and as our muscles warmed up a bit, it wasn’t quite as difficult. Maybe it was knowing a bit of what to expect, maybe we were just that little bit stronger from the day before…I don’t know what it was, but we made it to our 2nd stop earlier than we expected, rested for a few hours and then decided to finish our journey that day. We had approximately 4miles to go up 5000 feet in elevation, not just an easy walk. There were moments that we all struggled, had to stop, needed encouragement, needed food or water – none of us could have done it on our own. Having teammates walking along side you, pushing you on, sometimes pulling you up – so often we think that if we can do things alone then it’ll be easier…but really, we leave ourselves weaker than we could be with others. I mean, Jesus had 12 guys to walk with Him, Paul travelled with at least one companion and we are to be the “body of Christ”…why do we think we can do things alone? We learned while we hiked up that canyon that a ‘threefold cord’ (Ecc 4:12) is definitely much stronger.

But it was the final part of our hike that was by far the most revealing to me. We just got home from camps on Sunday, after 10 weeks of travelling from Southern California to Seattle to Thunder Bay to New Hampshire to New York I am longing for rest. To stop, to take time for myself…the great dream of our western society – to retire! The end of our journeys should let us rest and think about ourselves for once. But that’s not what the end of our journey brought. The last 1.5 miles, up almost 3000 feet, was in the complete darkness. Without our headlights we couldn’t see our hands in front of our faces. We lost all sense of perception, we had no idea how far it was to the top, couldn’t get our minds around the thoughts of continuing on as we’d round one corner of a switch back to find another one stretching out in front of us. It was a struggle every minute of that climb. Where do we get the idea that the end of our journey should be all about us? There’s no evidence of that in scripture. Moses died after completing what the Lord had for him, the disciples all suffered martyrs deaths and the one who didn’t (John) when he should have been in his retirement years after serving Christ faithfully his whole life, was instead thrown into exile! They seemed to realize that our retirement plan as Christians is eternity in the presence of God…why can’t I see that? That hike in the darkness was the most difficult, but let me be amazed by God’s sustaining power even more, and the joy of crossing that finish line was that much sweeter. I don’t deserve to rest, I am blessed by God’s ridiculous grace to be allowed to rest. Yes, He makes me take refreshment because He knows I need to be refilled in order to be poured out again, but if we stop thinking about what we are entitled to and start realizing that every drop of blessing or good in our lives is God’s grace…perhaps we can view our journeys just a little bit differently as we hike this year!

A PURE HEART

Purify my heart; let me be as gold and precious silver,
Purify my heart, let me be as gold, pure gold.
Refiner’s fire, my heart’s one desire; is to be holy, set apart for you Lord,
I choose to be holy, set apart for you my Master, ready to do your will.
(song by Brian Doerksen)

We need to purify our hearts in order to be ready to do God’s will. How can God work through us or use us for his perfect purpose if our hearts are filled with guilt, animosity or anger? These are things that Satan can use against us to steer us away from God’s will in our lives and from working effectively for Him.

Recently, I have had to ask God to purify my heart from this hurt and anger I have been holding on to. I knew I had to let it go to effectively move forward in my walk with God, but I was still hanging on to the hurt and anger. My awesome Christian mentor (my dad) has been praying for me and he pointed me in the direction of forgiveness and God spoke to me through my dad about purifying my heart so I can see clearly and allow God to work through my life…to have a pure pathway ready to do his will and receive his miracles in my life. It is liberating!

We are constantly bombarded with negative people, attacks of hurt, misunderstandings, and ignorance. Don’t let them consume you. We can’t be exempt from them, but have to face these issues in our lives and deal with them, pray about them and let them go. God will allow these negative things in our lives to stretch us and refine us and bring us closer to Jesus. Keep your eyes on Jesus and allow God to speak to you through his word and the people around you.

Psalm 51:10-12
“Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.” (NIV)

God bless you all!
Tammy

August 15th Scripture Memory Challenge

Good Morning! I am in awe of God's goodness as I realize that since I've joined this Scripture Memory challenge, I've memorized 8 passages of Scripture! I love God's timing. It seems that He brings so many opportunities to put into practise, or to be mindful of the verses that I've memorized!
Today the verse I've chosen is Psalm 119:147-148
I rise before dawn and cry for help;
I have put my hope in your word.
My eyes stay open through the watches of the night,
that I may meditate on your promises.
I chose this verse because lately I've been experiencing a lot of waking up at 3 or 4am and being wide awake. Or lying in bed at midnight, not being able to get to sleep. I want to learn these verses so that I'll remind myself that I can cry out to God for help and His desire is for me to hope in Him and in His Word. I want to use that "awake" time to meditate on His promises.
Ok, so what's your verse, and why are you choosing it?
Judi

Waiting

There are certain situations and circumstances in life that make the process of waiting hard and maybe even unbearable, or at the very least, frustrating. Do you too find waiting hard? Just last week I was at the dental office waiting for my daughter to be finished with her yearly checkup. It was the end of the day with no other clients in the waiting room and as the time I had been informed that she would be finished had come and gone, more waiting ensued. As each minute passed I doubled the amount of times I looked at my watch as well as changing positions in my chair and of course, thinking of all the other pertinent things and places I should rather be attending to but couldn't. I had no other choice but to wait and it was frustrating.

I'm sure we could all come up with examples in life on the challenge of waiting. Of course, despite my frustration, I did survive the wait at the dental office. After all, in the scheme of things, this kind of waiting can be defined as nothing more than one of a hundred daily inconveniences we all face and somehow survive with not much thought after all is said and done.

But what about waiting for the bigger situations in our lives that fully depend on God to work? For example, when waiting for "Mr. Right, or waiting for healing either spiritual, physical or relational, or waiting for God's direction or confirmation?

Waiting on God to work in whatever situation we might be facing today is challenging. Oswald Chambers in his book "My Utmost for His Highest" stated; "One of the greatest stresses 'in life' is the stress of waiting on God." I believe waiting on God challenges my limited understanding of His ways and also challenges my desire to get out of a waiting situation by any human means possible.

I'm waiting on God concerning a couple situations in my own life and just as I had no choice but to wait in that dental office, I also find myself with no choice but to wait on God to do His work in His way and in His time. So the question for me is; how do I respond in a right way when waiting on God?

I'm drawn to the encouragement of God's Word that commands I wait. Psalms 27:14; "Wait for the Lord, be strong." and 37:34; "Wait for the Lord and keep his way." and 62:5; "God alone, O my soul, wait in silence." Obedience to His command to wait allows God the opportunity to provide me with His all-sufficient grace, peace and strength to wait. And I really don't want to miss the blessing of all God promises to be for me!

I also need to respond in the right way when waiting on God by trusting Him completely in the process. The longer I find myself waiting, the more tempted I am to doubt God's purpose in having me wait and then determine in my own strength to work my way out of that waiting. Can I trust Him to complete that good work in me, even when part of that good work requires waiting on Him?

Waiting is hard but may we be encouraged today in the knowledge that our good and faithful God has a perfect purpose and plan to the waiting He allows in our lives and that ultimately by it, His good work will be completed in me and in you!

"But they who wait on 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 40:31 ESV)

August Chat

Hey Ladies, this is the place, for the rest of the month of August, to write your random thoughts, post messages to one another, favourite verses, prayer requests.
In June's words: maybe a "chat" posting would be useful - people can read - or not, and respond, or not.
Let's continue to keep in touch!

Siesta Bible Study Gathering # 4

Wow, its hard to believe that we are at the end of our study.

If you haven't quite finished (like me), then grab your book & your Bible and catch up!! Then join us for our last "meeting".

Here's Beth's video - be sure to watch it start to finish - it is such a hoot!!!

Now here are the four interactives that Beth is giving us to do (copied from her Blog):

"First two from Week Five:

1. See pages 102-103. Book freak that I am, I loved the way Jennifer started the week with English author Huxley’s comparison of our memories to private collections of literature. Lock in on the graphic of the books on the shelf on p.103. Each person share the words they wrote on the first and last book.

2. See pages 112-113 where Jennifer talks about the unattractiveness of complaining. You might say, it’s like living our lives with rollers in our hair. Jennifer drew a very insightful connection between a complaining spirit and a sense of entitlement. In your gatherings, talk about what you think the term “entitlement” means and offer a few examples of it.

Second set from Week Six:

3. See p.126. As we wrap up our series, I want you guys to share your answers (even if you didn’t write them down) to Jennifer’s first questions: What’s the most significant thing you recognized about your self-talk so far? In other words, I’m asking you to share the biggest revelation you received through the study about your thought closet.

BTW, I loved Jennifer’s creativity in the interactive on p.130 about the colors in our closets. I like questions that really make me think and imagine. These are the kinds of question some of our personality types and learning styles love and others roll their eyes about. If you are the kind that loved it and you came up with a pretty creative color, share it! If you’re the kind that rolled your eyes, roll them one more moment while your sister shares. I love you both.

4. See the bottom of p.136. What is the most frequent song you’re singing right now to your soul to help you persevere and keep hope alive? I almost overlooked this exercise because we shared a post not too long ago concerning the songs that stir up our love for Jesus. This one’s a little different though. Jennifer is asking specifically about songs that stir us up to perseverance. Songs that make us essentially say, “March on, my soul, be strong!” What’s yours presently?

Siestas, I have loved EVERY MINUTE of this study! Thank you so much for participating! Be sure and start looking right away for the Bible study you’re going to do this Fall. We’ve got to plan for faithfulness and, to do that, we’ve got to stay in God’s Word! I will ask you late in August what you’re planning to do in September for Bible study so try to make up your mind by that time. Remember, accountability is KEY!!! "

Okay, this is our last session (sniff, sniff), so let's really put our hearts and thoughts out there and share some of the real stuff that God has been doing in us!!!

August 1st (oops - sorry) Scripture Memory Workout Verse

Time for our next verse in the Scripture Memory Workout! If you are doing the Scripture memory challenge, please post your verse here.
Even if you usually put your verse on the LPM Blog every 2 wks, please put it here too, to encourage the women in our group, and also maybe even to give others an idea of what to memorize!!

Monday Morning Devotional - Love is a VERB

Recently I read somewhere that "Love is a VERB" and it has stayed with me – almost constantly.
I also recently read a story on CNN. This story was about a young woman and her brother who were adopted by a man who had dated their mother. You see, the young woman writing the story had been adopted by a woman and now that woman had died. There were no family members who wanted the children so an old friend of their mother’s stepped up to the plate. He added the two children to his own family. I really identified with the pain in her story and sat in from of the computer and cried. Yet, I know my God, El-Shaddai, has comforted and healed me and could not understand why I was such a mess by reading that story. As I prayed and asked my Father to help me understand what was happening, He reminded me of the verse 2 Cor. 1:3-5 –

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows.

I told my Father that He has brought me through many things victoriously and the memories of them are in my head. As I touched my head as emphasis my hands slid down to my heart and I told my Father the memories were also in my heart. It was then, through my tears, that I spread my hands out before Him and said “Father, my head is engaged, my heart is engaged, please let all this flow out through my hands”. I then thought again of the phrase I heard recently – “Love is a VERB”.

God intends us to be His hands in the marketplace – to be the flesh and bones over His Spirit as He demonstrates His love to others and comforts them in their pain. I must die to myself and my personal selfish desires and allow Him to work in and through me. To offer through those hands a taste of Him - to the extent that others will see Him alone and taste of His goodness. Once they have really tasted of that Living Water there is absolutely no turning back – they WILL desire a full portion for themselves. We are but clay vessels containing that Living Water and it needs to be poured out.
Father, please grant us this day that we would forsake all save you. That we would fall more in love with Jesus in and through your precious word. May we love the Bride and the world as Jesus does.

Yours in Him
June