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 legalisticĀ about much around here but I am a drill sergeant about the precise way we accept comments for SSMT verse entries. OneĀ 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. Ā 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 itĀ 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 wordsĀ this time toĀ the front of theĀ 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 becauseĀ 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 againstĀ evil rulers, powers and principalitiesĀ 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 committ. Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicker stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers. Palms1:1.NIV
I COMMIT! Joan from Mansfield, Ohio
“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord,
plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give
you hope and a future”. Jeremiah 29:11. NIV
I commit! Patti Lechner from Grovetown, GA – “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God according to the promise of the life that is in Christ Jesus, To Timothy, my beloved child: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. I thank God whom I serve, as did my ancestors, with a clear conscience, as I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day.” 2 Timothy 1:1-3, ESV
I COMMIT! Connie Haines, Elgin Texas: Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. John 17:17 NIV
Teri, Kalamazoo, MI: Isaiah 43:2 “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they will not overflow you, When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, Nor will the flame burn you.” NASB
I commit!
Kimera Turrubiarte, Groesbeck, Texas
“I love Thee, O Lord, my strength.” The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, My God, my ock, in whom I take refuge; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.” Psalm18:1-2 tNOB
I commit!
Sally, from Brentwood, TN: But if anyone obeys his word, God’s love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did. 1 John 2:5-6 (NIV)
I COMMIT!!! Denise Wilkin of The Woodlands, Texas
“So, I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” Luke 11:9 NIV
I commit! Paula from Portland, TN ~ “I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh.” Ezekiel 11:19 NIV
I commit!
Kimberlie, Kernersville, NC
“O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.” Psalm 63:1 ESV
I commit! Dana Nance from Blue Ridge, Texas
O Lord, you have searched me and you know me.
Psalm 139:1 NIV (1984)
I commit! Fran from Alex City, AL ‘Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus for the promise of life in Christ Jesus’ II Timothy ESV
I commit! Kathy Waco Tx
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Romans 8:1 NIV
My husband passed away in June on Father’s day. He was able to plan his funeral in the last few days, he wanted Romans 8 preached and it was! My daughter and I are doing this together, I am blessed.
Romans 8 is my absolute FAV. God bless your family and your husband’s legacy!!! Amen!!!
We COMMIT!! Christy&Elicia from Sherwood Psalm 33:20 We wait in hope for the Lord, He is our help and our shield. NIV
I commit! Cindy A. Farmville, N.C. “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 commit! Linda Wright from Sugar Land, Texas: “And Mary said, ‘My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior…'” Luke 1:46-47 NIV
I commit ! Stephanie from Chattanooga, TN
1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.
2 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;
3 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.
4 But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.
5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. James 1-1-5 KJV
I commit!
Pam
La Grange, KY
Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.
Isaiah 43:18 NIV
So needed this verse today! Great way to start a new year. Thank you and enjoy this scripture journey this year.
Julie from Gresham, OR: “I know that You can do anything, and no one can stop You.” Job 42:2 (NLT)
I , Kathy from Milledgeville, GA, commit: For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Ephesians 6:12(NIV)
I commit. Jen from Santa Maria, CA IPeter 1:3 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” KJV
I commit: ” I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of living. Psalms 27:13 NAS
I forgot to mention where I am from.
From Katy, TX
I commit! Dutchess from Winterville, NC
When You said, āSeek My face,ā My heart said to You, āYour face, Lord , I will seek.ā
Psalms 27:8 NKJV
I commit! Michelle Mason; Lehigh Acres, FL: This letter is from Paul, chosen by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and from our brother Sosthenes.1 Corinthiansā¬ ā1:1ā¬ āNLT
I’m writing it out. Speaking it out. I’m creating an “acrostic” formula. I’m going to memorize the first book of Corinthians!! There are 31 verses……so 7 of them will continue into 2018:))))).
OH AND CAN I JUST SAY – I never noticed that important sentence until now!!! “And from our brother Sosthenes”. This one sentence is everything to me today! And I never noticed it because I never took it apart piece by piece before.
I commit!
Kim, Richland, WA.
He who began a good work in me will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
Phil 1:6b NIV
I commit! Patricia Clevenger from Midland, Texas.
“Get wisdom, get understanding; do not forget my words or swerve from them.”
Proverbs 4:5 NIV
Sharleen from Gresham, OR: “Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” Isaiah 43:19 (NKJ)
I commit! Patricia from Pasadena, TX.: Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you. Eph 4:32 (NASB)
Linda, Fort Collins, CO
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ,
He is a new creation.
The old has passed away,
Behold, the new has come.”
2 Corinthians 5:17
Hi, I’m Brittany from Orlando, Florida.
“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:14
I commit! Sara from Indianapolis, IN “And he said to all, āIf anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?” Luke 9:23-25 ESV
I commit! Wanda Litchenberg from N Charleston, SC
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! Tammy from Atoka, OK: “Send out your light and your truth; let them lead me; let them bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling!” Psalm 43:3 ESV
I commit! Mary Williams from Jones, OK
The word of the Lord is a strong tower; The righteous run to it and are safe. Proverbs 18:10 NKJV
I commit!
Linda, Fort Collins, CO
āTherefore, if anyone is in Christ,
He is a new creation.
The old has passed away,
Behold, the new has come.ā
2 Corinthians 5:17
I commit!
Bethany, Modesto Ca.
Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who are elect exiles of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,
1 Peter1:1 (ESV)
I commit!
Connie
Fulton, KY
Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.
Colossians 3:12 NIV 1984
I commit! Rebecca, Louisa, VA
I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to His voice, and hold fast to Him. For the Lord is your life. ~ Deut. 30:19b-20a NIV
I commit! Deborah from Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. “Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth.” Psalm 124:8 KJV
I commit, Deb Cochran Milan, MI
“I will praise You with my whole heart; Before the gods I will sing praises to You”
Psalm 138:1 NKJV
I commit! Dina Emery, Grand Rapids MI. I cry aloud to the Lord; I lift up my voice to the Lord for mercy. – Psalm 142:1 NIV
I commit!
London Bradshaw
Choctaw, OK
Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more then clothing?
Matthew 6:25 (ESV)
I commit! Desiree Richardson from Dallas, TX: “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.” Colossians 3:1 NIV
I commit!
Connie
Fulton, KY
Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.
Colossians 3:12 NIV 1984
Sam from Kenosha, WI
Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.
Colossians 3:1-2 NIV
I commit! Melony from Littleton, CO
Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying.
Romans 12:12, NLT
I commit! April from Pleasant Garden, NC
Since ten, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. Col. 3:1-2 NIV
I commit!
Stephanie Kail from Jackson TN: “You keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.” Isaiah 26:3 ESV
I commit! Jane Preas from Cooper, Texas: “But blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence.” Jeremiah 17:7 NLT
I commit! Moreen, Sydney Aust.
Your own ears will hear Him. Right behind you a voice will say,
“This is the way you should go,” whether to the right or to the left. Isaiah 30:21 (NLT)