Hey, Everybody! Drumroll please! Welcome to the 2017 Siesta Scripture Memory Team! The entry of your Verse 1 selection acts as your registration. Please read this brief post before you leave your comment so you’ll know exactly how to do it. We are not legalistic about much around here but I am a drill sergeant about the precise way we accept comments for SSMT verse entries. One perusal through the first several hundred comments and you’ll understand why. It’s such a powerful sight you will almost want to cry. Or shout. Or throw your head back and howl your loudest hallelujah. It just all depends on how you process a fresh glimpse of divine revelation. You’ll have before you a feast spread out lavishly on a huge banqueting table. Keeping the comments to the bare minimum makes Scripture itself stand out on the page. If we add a lot of other verbiage to the comment, the verse is more likely to get lost in it.
Not only will your soul be fed by the entries of others, you’ll discover verses you didn’t even know existed and get ideas for future selections. Any time you can’t decide what verse to memorize, jump on the comments and see what resonates with you. Any time you feel bone-dry or downcast or distracted or discouraged or just plain directionless, open up the comments on any SSMT post and behold the words of the Lord. It’s so powerful I could slap my desk thinking about it.
OK, this is how the information should appear in your comment:
Name (first is fine), city: verse, reference, Bible translation.
(Don’t forget your translation! People love knowing exactly which translation your selection came from.)
So you’ll have a paradigm for how it looks, here is my entry for Verse 1 and you’ll see at the end of the post where I made a slight little addition to add some soul-deep conviction if you wish:
Beth Moore from Houston Texas: “Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, to Philemon our beloved fellow worker.” Philemon 1 ESV
You get to choose your own verse according to what you need most right now, what resonates with you in your present circumstances or what God just simply seems to land you on. This year I feel like He’s leading me to use my 24 entries to memorize the one-chapter book of Philemon. It contains 25 verses but the last one is easy so I’ll throw it in with my 24th verse as my final entry. I’ve done stacks of spirals full of unrelated Scriptures for my memory work in previous years. Other times I’ve done several different chunks or one solid chapter. There is no wrong way to do it. It just all depends on what the Holy Spirit seems to be energizing us to do. If something about chipping away at one chapter through the course of the year rings your bell, you are so welcome to join me or you can look through the Scriptures and choose a different chapter of similar length. I so loved memorizing Psalm 25 several years ago. I recited it as recently as yesterday. It has 22 verses ready to go if you’d like to consider it. You’d only need to tag on 2 separate verses after you memorized the psalm to fulfill your 24-verse goal. Jude is another one-chapter book I memorized. It contains 25 verses but I will warn you in advance, take that one on only if you like a challenge. It is pretty wordy.
Let’s just add two little words this time to the front of the entry of our first verse: I commit! And go right ahead and add that exclamation mark at the end of it for the sake of some very appropriate enthusiasm. What you’re about to do bears FRUIT. God’s Word does not return empty. He sends it forth with accomplishing power and divine purpose. That’s worth anticipating with excitement. (In fact, Isaiah 55:11 is a fabulous Scripture to memorize if you’re still searching for a great launch verse.) I think we ought to add those two little words because I keep reading how allergic we’re growing culturally to making commitments of almost any kind. I’m sure you’ve read the same thing. But here’s the deal. We will never be mighty servants of Jesus Christ, alive and awake in the Holy Spirit, bringing glory to God the Father all while standing against evil rulers, powers and principalities without commitment.
Ain’t happenin’.
Nothing was tentative to those early New Testament believers about following Jesus. They didn’t fulfill their callings by being scared of commitment. They gave Him their lives. They bore His name. They testified to the death. Let’s do this thing, Sisters. Let’s do it deliberately. We’re not destined to be weak-willed women. We’re called to be stunningly strong willed about God’s will. So, here’s my official entry for verse 1 of the Siesta Scripture Memory Team challenge of 2017!
I commit! Beth Moore from Houston Texas: “Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, to Philemon our beloved fellow worker.” Philemon 1 ESV
Your turn, sisters! Try to make each of your entries within 24-48 hours after the posts go up around the 1st and the 15th of each month. Also remember not to worry if you don’t see your comment posted for a day or so. Wait a while before you post the same verse a second time. We moderate all comments to filter through spam and trash and general nastiness so the process can take a little time. Here we go! I’m beside myself with joy. Thank you for the privilege to store up the very words of God with you. They are life and breath to us. Iron in our blood. Steel in our bones. So much love to you.
Rosanne from Amarillo Tx
Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands!
Psalms 100:1
I commit! Peggy Welch of Bloomington, Indiana. But now you must also put away all the following: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and filthy language from your mouth. HCSB
I commit! Lindsay Venable from Tullahoma, TN.
“I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.”
Isaiah 61:10 NIV
“For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.”
2 Timothy 1:7 NLT
I commit! Karen – Redfield, AR
Psalms 25:5 (NKJV)
[5] Lead me in Your truth and teach me,
For You are the God of my salvation;
On You I wait all the day.
I commit! Lynn Feist from Lake Country, BC
“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” Ezekiel 36:26 NIV
I commit! Cara Masters from Tustin, CA
“Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love,
for I have put my trust in you.
Show me the way I should go,
for to you I entrust my life.”
Psalm 143:8 NIV
I commit! Cherie Wilson from Bloomington, Indiana
Whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.
1 John 2:6
I commit! Meredyth Cann from Houston Texas: “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love and a sound mind.” 2 Timothy 1:7 ESV
I forgot to mention, I COMMIT! ☺
I commit!
Cedar Rapids, IA
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you,
5 who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. – 1 Peter 1:3-5 ESV
I commit. Margaret from Plaquemine, LA.
You crown the year with Your goodness; Your ways overflow with plenty.
HCSB
Erin from Littleton, CO: “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” Hebrews 4:16 KJV
I commit! Amy Andrews from Bellaire, TX
“Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct,
In love, in spirit, in faith, in purity.”
1Timiothy 4:12 NKJV
I commit! Emily Miceli in Porter, TX
“I pray the faith you share with us may deepen your understanding of every blessing that belongs to you in Christ.”
Philemon 6, NET
I Commit! Elizabeth Burns from Brattleboro, Vermont: “Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.” Is. 55:1 ESV
I commit! Barb from Cincinnati, OH. “God doesn’t want us to be shy with his gifts, but bold and loving and sensible.” 2 Timothy 1:7 The Message
I commit!
Cyndi Patterson from Bloomdale, OH: “Search me, O God and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” Psalm 139:23-24 NIV
Jenn Glass from Orlando, FL
I commit!!
Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known. Jer 33:3 ESV
Becky, Roswell, GA
“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.”
Romans 12:1, ESV
I commit!
I commit! Tracey Moyers from Loganville, GA
Phil 4:4 ESV ” Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice”
I commit!! Nicky Ernsting from Camas Washington: “You do not have to fight this battle.
Position yourselves, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord. He is with you. Do not be afraid or discouraged. Tomorrow, go out to face them, for Yahweh is with you.’” 2 Chronicles 20:17 HCSB
There are so many great verses for 2017. This jumped out at me because it is 20:17!!! God has great ways to get us to pay attention! It is a perfect verse for me to start the year. I am fighting a battle with weight loss and I need to stand firm!!
I commit! Michelle Wynne, Spokane, WA: “But for me it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord God my refuge, that I may tell of all your works.” Psalm 73:28 ESV
I commit! Robbin from Suwanee, GA:
“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” Matthew 6:33 KJV
I commit! Becky from Kentucky
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.
Colossians 3:23 (NIV)
I commit! Charmaine, Miami, Florida: “Behold I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” Isaiah 43:19 ESV
I commit! Kim from Hickory NC
Genesis 1:31 God saw all that he had made and it was very good. And there was evening and there was Morning the sixth day. (NIV)
I commit. Peggy Welch of Bloomington, Indiana. But now you must also put away all the following: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and filthy language from you mouth. Colossians 3:8.
I commit! Audra Davis from Americus, GA: Isaiah 61:1-3 The Living Bible
“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the suffering and afflicted. He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted, to announce liberty to captives, and to open the eyes of the blind. He has sent me to tell those who mourn that the time of God’s favor to them has come, and the day of his wrath to their enemies. To all who mourn in Israel he will give: beauty for ashes; joy instead of mourning; praise instead of heaviness. For God has planted them like strong and graceful oaks for his own glory.”
I commit! Kristen Fowler from Marble, NC: Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. Hebrews 10:23 ESV
I commit! Susan McAnally from Mars, PA
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Matthew 6:33 NIV
I commit! Margaret Neil from Jackson, TN
When I discovered your words, I devoured them. They are my joy and my heart’s delight, for I bear your name, O Lord God of Heaven’s Armies. Jeremiah 15:16 NLT
I commit! Laura from Clay Center, KS: “But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.” John 3:21, NIV
I commit! Cristi from Lindale 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
I commit! Mitzi from Long Beach, CA.
Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge him, and He shall direct your paths. Proverbs 3:5-6 NKJV
I committ! Angie Du Plessisfrom London,UK. “Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name!” Psalm 100:4 ESV
Poorna Diaz from Reston, Virginia: “I, Paul, am under God’s plan as an apostle, a special agent of Christ Jesus, writing to you faithful believers in Ephesus. I greet you with the grace and peace poured into our lives by God our Father and our Master, Jesus Christ. How blessed is God! And what a blessing he is! He’s the Father of our Master, Jesus Christ, and takes us to the high places of blessing in him. Long before he laid down earth’s foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love. Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure he took in planning this!) He wanted us to enter into the celebration of his lavish gift-giving by the hand of his beloved Son.” Ephesians 1.1-6 MSG
Forgot two very important words: I COMMIT!
I commit! Robin, Mobile, Alabama,
Then they said to each other, What we’re doing is not right. This is a day of good news and we are keeping it to ourselves.
2 Kings 7:9. NIV
I commit! Jessica from Penrod, Kentucky: “for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” 2 Timothy 1:7 ESV
“After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you by the Messiah Jesus to his eternal glory, will restore you, establish you, strengthen you, and support you.” ~ 1 Peter 5:10 ISV
Kay Wammack
in Muscle Shoals, AL
I commit!
“Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” Romans 7:24-25a ESV
Sarah, Georgia, all scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting,and training in righteousness,2 Timothy 3:16 NIV
I commit! Laura Grassi, Denver, CO
Therefore, preparing your minds for action,and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
1 Peter 1:13 ESV
I Commit! “But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from old, from ancient days.”
Micah 5:2 NIV
I commit! Cathie Mazeika from Franklin, TN: “Now all glory to God, who is able, through His mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or imagine.” Ephesians 3:20 NLT
I commit! Karen Orr from Lynnwood, Washington
“See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”
Isaiah 43:19 (NIV)
I commit!
Tabitha Westbrook, Raleigh NC
“Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother,To Philemon our beloved fellow worker and Apphia our sister and Archippus our fellow soldier, and the church in your house:” Philemon 1:1-2 ESV
I commit! Lorrie Moudy from El Dorado, Arkansas:”But go and learn what this means: I desire mercy, not sacrifice. For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” Matthew 9:13 (NIV)
Phyllis,
Gilmer, Tx
NIV
John 20:31 ” These are written that you might believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God.”
I commit! Tanya from Moose Jaw, SK, Canada: “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:10 NIV