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.
I commit. Ganise C from Ottawa, Canada : “J’aime l’Éternel car il entend ma voix, mes supplications; car il a penché son oreille vers moi et l’invoquerai toute
ma vie.” Psalms 116:1-2 LSG
I commit!!! Denise Cholak from Euless, TX.
Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good. His love endures forever.
Psalm 136:1 NIV
I commit!Linda Hammett from Wake Forest ,N.C. says:
“If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for him.”
(James 4:17, NIV)
I commit! Nance, Newmarket, ON Canada
“Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm.”
Ephesians 6:13 NLT
I commit! Okie Murray from Edisto Island, SC 29438
As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul fir you, O God.”-Psalm 42:1 NKJ
Linda Ryan from Springfield, MO: I cling to Your commands and follow them as closely as I can. LORD don’t let me make a mess of things. Psalms 119:31 Living Bible
“I commit!” Brittney Zimprich from Mildenhall, England, United Kingdom:
You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book.
Psalms 56:8 NLT
I commit! Lynda from Dallas, Texas.
Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers.
Psalms 1:1
I commit! Eva, Knoxville, TN – “Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist,” -Ephesians 6:14a NIV
I commit! Nedra from Bucyrus, Ohio.
Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;
– Ephesians 5:20 KJV
April Edwards from Lewisville, Texas: For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland. Isaiah 43:19 NLT
I COMMIT!!! Dawndrums, in Windsor, CT. One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple. Psalm 27:4 NIV (Older)
I commit!!! Brigette Brock, Morehead, Ky- “…I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain,’ Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.
Matthew 17:20 NIV84
I Committ! Sissy from Waycross
2Cor. 4:7HCSB
“Now we have this treasure in clay jars, so that this extraordinary power may be from God and not from us.”
I commit!
Sheila from Williston, ND – “My heart overflows with a good theme; I address my verses to the King; my tongue is the pen of a ready writer.” Psalm 45:1 (NASB)
I commit!!! Annette from Escondido,Ca May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace. Philippians 1:2 Nlt
Kim, Fayetteville, NC…Cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you. 1 Peter 5:7 (NIV)
I commit! Laura Graves from Charleston, SC- “Behold, children are a gift of the Lord, the fruit of the womb is a reward.” Psalm 127:3 NASB
Terri, State College PA
I commit! That night the king could not sleep; so he ordered the book of the chronicles, the record of his reign, to be brought in and read to him. Esther 6:1 NIV
I commit: Ann from Ft Lauderdale, FL “To you O Lord, I lift up my soul.” Psalm 25:1 NKJV
I commit! Linda Pierson from Las Vegas, NV
Blessed are they whose ways are blameless, who walk according to the law of the Lord.
Psalm 119:1 NIV
Wideman, AR
James, a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad: Greetings. James 1:1 NKJV
I commit! Deena from Amarillo, Texas
“that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life.” Deuteronomy 30:20a NIV
I COMMIT! Betty S. From Elk Grove,CA: “To You,O LORD, I lift up my soul.” -Proverbs 25:1 NKJV
I commit! Beckie, Nacogdoches, TX – Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you (and me) in Christ Jesus. 1Thessalonians 5:16 NASB
I commit! Marsha Brown, MidlandTX:
Psalms143:8(NIV)- Let the morning bring me news of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way that I should go, for to you I lift up my soul.
I Commit! Jessica Robinson from Maryland – “If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.” – Galatians 5:25 ESV
I commit! Amy Guth Canton, MS
“Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.”
1 John 4:4 ESV
I commit! Debbie from St. Paul, MN
“To you, O lord, I lift up my soul” Ps. 25:1 NIV
I commit! Cindy Kessler from Rock Hill, SC: Even to your old age and gray hairs, I am He. I am He who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you. I will sustain you and I will rescue you. Isaiah 46:4 NIV
Marilyn Leslie from Mentor on the Lake, Ohio
Psalm 31:3-4 NIV
“Since You are my rock and my fortress, for the sake of your name lead and guide me. Free me from the trap that is set for me, for you are my refuge.”
I commit! Robin Marsh Edgewater, Florida: “The Lord is on my side, I will not fear. What can man do to me?” Psalms118:6
Candice Simpson in Bloomington, Indiana
I commit! “James, a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ: to the 12 tribes in the Dispersion. Greetings. Consider it a great joy, my brothers, whenever you experience various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. But endurance must do its compete work, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing.”
James 1:1-4 HCSB
I commit! Stephanie Marchbanks from Ennis, TX – “Let everything be done decently and in order.” 1 Corinthians 14:40, NKJV
I commit! Deborah Starkey from Proctorville, Ohio:”Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” Ephesians 1:2 ESV
Colleen, Kissimmee, Florida.
I commit!
Lo que existía desde el principio, lo que hemos oído, lo que hemos visto con nuestras propias ojos, lo que hemos contemplado y tocando con nuestras manos en relación con la palabra de la vida 1 Juan 1:1 (BLPH)
I commit! Michel Knepper from Carlsbad, California:
30 “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”
Mark 12:30-31 (NIV)
I commit! Judy from Runnells, IA “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” Eph. 6:12 KJV
Lori McGuire from Muscle Shoals, AL…I COMMIT! “Not that I have already obtained all this or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.” Phil 4:12 NIV
I commit.
Amanda Barr from Willard,MO.
“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
Crystal Baggett from Sulphur, LA
“But He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.” – 2 Corinthians 12:9 NIV
Julie, Deer Park, Tx I commit! Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life; you stretch out your hand against the anger of my foes, with your right hand you save me. Psalm 138:7 NIV
I commit! Natalie posting from Marrakech, Morocco
“For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands,”
2 Timothy 1:6 ESV
I commit!! Debbie from Stafford Virginia: “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,” Ephesians 3:20 NIV
I commit! Vicki from Surprise, AZ
For we live by faith, not by sight.
2 Corinthians 5:7 NIV
I commit! Diane from Mesa Arizona:
“Bless the Lord, O my soul;
And all that is within me, bless His holy name.
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
And forget none of His benefits;
Who pardons all your iniquities;
Who heals all your diseases;”
Psalm 103:1-3 NASB
I commit!!! Fawnda Dooley from Denton, TX –
“Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.”
1 Corinthians 15:58 NIV
I commit! Kim Davis from Piney Flats, TN. – “To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul; in you I trust, O my God. Do not let me be put to shame nor let my enemies triumph over me.” – Psalm 25:1 (NIV)
I commit! Lora Lovin Osburn from Morristown, Tennessee
“For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12 NASB
I commit! Kisha Majors from Wylie, TX : “My heart has heard you say “Come and talk to me.” And my heart responds, “Lord I am coming.” Psalm 27:8 NLT