Siesta Scripture Memory Team - Verse #3

\

I can hardly believe that it is already time to memorize our THIRD verse of scripture in the Siesta Scripture Memory Team challenge for 2011.  There are so many verses that I want to commit to memory this year, but for some reason I had a hard time settling in on one for this week.

Last night as I was reading, I ran across this passage in Malachi and I felt like this was the ONE that I was supposed to choose for my SSMT Verse # 3.

Then those who feared the Lord talked with each other, 
and the Lord listened and heard.  
A scroll of remembrance was written in His presence 
concerning those who feared the Lord and honored His name.

Malachi 3:16 (NIV)

How awesome is this!  When I am boasting in the Lord with a friend over a cup of coffee, writing a post on my blog, sending an email, or speaking with a girlfriend on the phone - the Lord stops what He is doing and pays attention to what I am saying! He listens and He hears and His heavenly "secretary" is recording the "minutes" from my conversations in a "scroll of remembrance".

I want that heavenly "secretary" to have "writer's cramp" from having to write so quickly to record all of my conversations that honor the Lord! 

The Message puts it this way  -- the names of the God-fearers were written down, all the names of those who honored God's name.

I don't know about you, my sweet friends, but oh, how I want my name to be written among the God-fearers and those who bring honor to His name!

When I live my life in reverence and awe of who He is, He stops what He is doing and listens in to my conversations! Isn't that amazing!

When my life honors God, He keeps a historical record of my conversations in a scroll of remembrance that is being recorded in His presence!

Oh, Lord...how I pray that my life would bring honor to Your name and that there would be PLENTY of stuff to write in your scroll about me!

Interruptions...or Divine Appointments?

This past Thursday morning, as I was having my Quiet Time with the Lord before leaving for work, the Holy Spirit impressed upon me during my prayer time to pray that I would be an encouragement to someone that day that needed encouraging. The last thing that I wrote in my journal that morning was asking God to bring someone across my path that day that I could be an encouragement to.

Shortly after arriving at work, I placed a call to a business colleague and God CLEARLY answered that prayer.  He had me call a person I had not spoken with in at least 3 months and this person, on this very day, was dealing with extreme loss, grief and pain and just needed a "shoulder to cry on" and a listening ear.   God had scheduled a "Divine Appointment" for me!

I had an opportunity to share the love of Jesus and the comfort of the Holy Spirit to this person experiencing so much hurt and pain in her life right now.  I was filled with compassion and my heart broke as she shared with me the circumstances that she was currently facing in her life.

Have you ever had a coincidence that was so special that you felt like God was in it?

I believe many times those "coincidences" are divine appointments -  "meetings" which are God led or inspired.

God is Sovereign. He is all-knowing and all-powerful. He knew that on this very day that this person would need a call from me...to listen to her, cry with her and most importantly, covenant to pray for her. He knew that I ALSO needed this appointment! The more that I shared with her about my faith...the more MY faith increased!

I couldn't help but wonder about how many appointments that God may have orchestrated for me in the past that I was "too busy" to see.  


Those divine appointments that I may have viewed as "interruptions" to my already busy schedule. 


Those situations that came across my path that I ignored because I didn't have time to "get involved".

As I thought about this encounter throughout the rest of the day, the Holy Spirit convicted me of the times that I have not allowed my daily life to be led by the Spirit.  I was challenged to slow down long enough to see, REALLY SEE, the people He has placed in my path; people that need to experience the love and compassion of Christ.  To take a second look at the "interruptions" in my schedule and see possible divine appointments orchestrated by my Heavenly Father.

I was reminded of the lyrics to a popular Christian song by Brandon Heath:

Give me your eyes for just one second
Give me Your eyes so I can see
Everything that I keep missing
Give me Your love for humanity.


Give me Your arms for the broken hearted
The ones who are far beyond my reach
Give me Your heart for the ones forgotten
Give me Your eyes so I can see.


I pray that, as I go about my daily life, that I would be sensitive to the divine appointments that God, in His Sovereignty, has arranged for me. I know that if I am willing to be led by the Holy Spirit, GREAT things are possible!

Make me willing, Lord....


Give me YOUR eyes....
                                       YOUR heart....
                                                                 YOUR arms....    
                                                                                            Give me YOUR love, Lord! 

Siesta Scripture Memory Team - Verse #2

In 2009, I joined the Siesta Scripture Memory Team (SSMT) for a one year plan of scripture memorization with Beth Moore. God used His Word to speak to my heart in amazing ways that year!

I have been looking forward to the beginning of 2011 so that I could make another commitment to memorize 24 passages of God's Word over the next 12 months. I found in the year 2009 that the accountability of memorizing scripture with other ladies was such an encouragement.

So.....On January 1rst, I decided to join the Siesta Scripture Memory Team again this year. I've got my spiral bound index cards and and I am already on my second entry for 2011. 

The verse that I have chosen for my memory verse for January 15th is:

Ah, Sovereign Lord, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm, 

NOTHING is too hard for YOU.

Jeremiah 32:17 NIV

I listened to this interview yesterday on the LPM Blog and I could hardly believe that in just 1 short month (from Dec. 13 - Jan. 13) LPM has mailed out 8009 Spirals for their 2011 Scripture Memory plan! Isn't that incredible to think that over 8000 people have committed to memorize at least 2 verses of scripture per month over the next 12 months! LPM also has developed an "App" for those of you that are IPhone or IPad users! How awesome is that! So check it out here if you're interested.

And...don't feel like you can't participate because you don't have your cute little Siesta Scripture Memory Spiral. I don't have one of those, either...I am still just using my plain index cards I got from Walgreens. If I end up ordering a "Siesta Spiral", I will just transfer them over to the new "cute" one later.

So...come on, Siestas....won't you join in with me and over 8000 others and commit to hide God's Word in your heart this year? He promises that His Word will NEVER return void, but will accomplish what He sends it forth to do!

Looking Forward to 2011...

I have never really been one who makes New Year's Resolutions...I guess I just don't like setting myself up for failure. lol   I do, however, try to set some spiritual goals for myself at the beginning of each new year; i.e. Scripture memorization, journaling, Bible reading plans, books I want to read, etc.

I LOVE the idea of having a "fresh slate" every January 1rst.  For the previous year's goals that I failed to reach, I have a brand new opportunity to start over and do better in the new year. For the goals that I WAS able to attain in the previous year, it is a time to reevaluate and "set the bar a little higher" in the new year.

I can hardly believe how fast the year 2010 has gone by. It has been a difficult year, but it has also been one in which I have learned so much and seen God's hand on my life in so many ways.  I would not trade the difficulties of the year for all the life lessons that I have learned through the process.

As I was riding home on Tuesday, I was listening to the radio and thinking about the new year that is right around the corner and some of the things that I hope to accomplish next year.  A lyric to a Casting Crown song that I have heard many times suddenly jumped out at me and I have not been able to get it off my mind.  The lyric was,

"I want to sign Your name to the end of this day, knowing that my heart was true...".  

I couldn't help but wonder how many days in 2010 that I would actually have been able to sign His name to?  


How many days did the words I said and the things I did bring a smile to Him? 


How many days was I His hands and feet to reach a dying world?

Oh, how I want to be able to sign His name to the end of each day, knowing that my heart was true. If I could do that, then 2011 would surely be a year with no regrets and would definitely be my BEST year yet! If I could do that, I would be one step closer to that day when I will hear those words that I so long to hear from Him, "Well done, Thou good and faithful servant".

So for the year 2011, Lord....

May the words I say and the things I do bring a smile to You, God.


May my life be a living sacrifice so that I will be Your hands and feet to a dying world that is very much in need of You.


Give me Your eyes to see the things that I keep missing.


Remove all the distractions that are constantly competing for my attention and keep me focused only on You.


Quieten all the "voices" that are "screaming" at me to listen to them and give me only ears to hear Your still small voice. 


Give me Your love for humanity. 


And this time next year as 2011 comes to a close...
                     I pray that I would be able to sign Your name to it, 
                                                                                  knowing that my heart was true.

I'll Be There

With the death of the "King of Pop" this past week, the news has been full of stories about the life of this very talented, but obviously troubled man. It got me to thinking, though, about all of the "hit" songs he had and some of my fondest memories of Michael Jackson were when he was a part of the Jackson 5. That cute little boy with the high-pitched voice.

The one song of Jackson's that really sticks out in my mind is "I'll Be There". I can still remember being at the county fair with 3 of my very best friends in the early 70's, when that song was being played over the loud speaker system throughout the fairgrounds. To this day, when I hear this song, it conjures up fond memories of fresh-cooked corn dogs and french fries sprinkled with salt and vinegar!

You may recall that the chorus went something like this:

Don't you know, baby, yeah
I'll be there, I'll be there, just call my name, I'll be there

(Just look over your shoulders, honey )
I'll be there, I'll be there, whenever you need me, I'll be there

As I was reminiscing about those days some 25+ years ago and the lyrics to that song, God began to take me in a different direction with my thoughts. As a wife and mother like so many of you, I feel like I am pulled in so many directions. Many days I feel overwhelmed by all the tasks that I need to accomplish that day. I do laundry, answer phone calls and emails, pay bills, shop for groceries, make dinner, clean house AND work a full-time job OUTSIDE the home. 

I am a serious list maker and I LOVE the feeling of being able to cross off something on my to-do-list when I have completed it. As I have confessed to you before, I have even been known to write down something on my list AFTER I have already completed it, just so I could mark it off the list! That's pretty bad, huh?

Sometimes in an effort to multi-task and be able to cross off more things on my list, I find that I do not give the proper amount of attention to my family members. When my little granddaughter is asking me question number 200 in the last 30 minutes, I find that I am not really listening to her, but rather preoccupied about what I need to accomplish that night before bedtime. Or, when my husband is telling me about his day, my mind is thinking about what I am going to fix for dinner or my day at work and I'm not really listening.

God reminded me that I need to be there for my family - to give love and attention to my family members - not just try to check things off of my never-ending task list.  I need to learn to prioritize and realize that it is OK for some things to wait. 

Lord, I want to be there for my family. When my husband comes in the house at the end of his day, help me to get off the computer or phone and give him my undivided attention. When I pick up my granddaughter from daycare, help me to give her my full attention as she recounts all of the "events" of her day. When one of my children call and I am in the middle of cooking dinner, help me, Lord, to stop what I'm doing and listen to their concerns.

I want my family to know that I'll Be There for them!

"She looks well to the ways of her household,

And does not eat the bread of idleness.

Her children rise up and bless her;

Her husband, also, and he praises her"

Proverbs 31:27-28

She Who Has A "Hamans's Ear", Let Her Hear

Wednesday was my final class in my Beth Moore study, Esther - It's Tough Being A Woman. 

This is a picture of the room where we spent the past 10 weeks digging into God's Word and applying what we learned from Esther's life, to our own lives. 

This is a picture of my sweet leader and me. I have known Libby for years, but it had been a long time since we had seen each other prior to this class.  She had not changed a bit -- she is truly one of the sweetest, godliest ladies that I have ever met. (And did I say cute as a button!) I so appreciate all of her hard work that she put into praying and studying for this class and her willingness to facilitate, week in and week out. She did an awesome job!

As I mentioned in my previous post, we ended our class on Purim (how cool is that!) and so Libby decided that we would have our own little "Feast of Purim" -- complete with Hamantashen, otherwise known as, "Haman's Ears", and noisemakers. The "Haman's Ears" are a triangular-shaped, fruit-filled cookie that are called by this name because they resemble the shape of an an ear. Some Jewish people call them "Haman's Hats" because Haman was said to have worn a three-cornered hat shaped much like these cookies. 

Libby attempted to make the cookies at home, but she said that they did not turn out well. So......Plan B was to quickly call a local Jewish bakery  and amazingly (on the last day of Purim) they managed  to save 50 cookies for our class. God is so good!

The one I tasted was filled with an apricot filling and it was actually pretty tasty. Probably not something that you would want to sit down in front of the TV with a big ole' glass of milk and chow down on, though. (If you want that, you would be better served with these !)  

The true flavor is concealed within the cookie. The fruit center being hidden represents the intrigue associated with Queen Esther and Mordecai's uncovering of Haman's evil plot. The miracle was not revealed at first.

One of the many things that I took away from this awesome study is that I am the Esther in MY own sphere of influence and, guess what ---- you are the Esther in YOUR sphere of influence.  Even though you and I may never enter a place of great public power, we have each been positioned here on this earth "for such a time as this". 

Each of us are called to pass down what we have learned to our descendants. I am to pass down the seeds of the Word that have been sown in me --to entrust them to the next generation and they will entrust them to the next generation....and on and on and on.  We are called to keep passing them down.

"The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law."

Deuteronomy 29:29 NIV

My sweet friends, just like the hidden fruit filling inside the "Haman's Ears", we carry the sweet treasure of Jesus inside of us. I wonder......

How are we doing at passing it down to our sons and daughters? 

Are we keeping it hidden or are we letting others have a "taste" of this sweet treasure on a daily basis?  

God has placed each of us here "for such a time as this".

I'M SO EXCITED......

Even though I had a difficult and demanding week at work, I have had the most amazing week in the Lord!

After much "agonizing" over whether to sign up for the class or not, I attended my first Esther class Tuesday evening, with about 40 other ladies. Let me just say that I had forgotten just how much I love Beth Moore!  The subtitle of the course is "It's Tough Being A Woman".  Can I get an Amen from anyone on that!  

The first class was an introduction and we watched a video of Beth and she was just as amazing as she always is!  I came out of my class "pumped" and excited about 5 nights a week of homework and 10 weeks of the class! I know that the enemy will be relentless in trying to discourage me from studying God's Word and attending the classes.  Please pray for me that I will stay strong and faithful, as I know this class is exactly what I need right now in my life.

I had also been giving some thought to trying to attend the next "Deeper Still" Conference if they had one anywhere in the Southeast.  I got online recently and found out that they added one more 2009 conference in Greensboro, NC at the end of July. Faith and I got our tickets to the conference and we were also able to get our hotel room reserved. I AM SO EXCITED! This is going to be so much fun!

I have done several Precept Bible Study courses over the years, but have never seen Kay Arthur in person. The Bible that I use and dearly love is The International Inductive Study Bible that she recommended when doing the Precept classes. 

 

I have had the privilege, many years ago, of seeing Beth Moore in person in Columbia, SC. She was awesome and I can hardly wait to see and hear her again. 

I have never actually had the privilege of hearing Priscilla Shirer, but Faith has and she has told me how awesome she is, so I am confident that after this conference I will have another hero in the faith!

To end up this awesome week, we experienced the most amazing praise and worship service last night.  I woke up all throughout the night with this song on my mind and heart.  (Note: The video doesn't start until the singing starts.)

We'll dance on streets that are golden! Praise the Lord that we will soon look on His face and join in the Song of The Lamb! 

May you find strength and encouragement for this week through the words to this song!