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.
Anna from Ontario, Canada “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, and love, and self-control.”
2 Timothy 1:7 MEV
I commit! Kandace, Medicine Lodge, KS
“The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.” Exodus 1:14 NIV
I commit! Kathy from Bryant, AR:
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
Connie Salmen, Longmont, Colorado
But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
Matthew 6:33
NASB
I commit!! Andra from Versailles, IN
And I will ask the Father and He will give you another helper to be with you forever, even the
Spirit of truth, …for He dwells with you and will be in you. John 14:16-17 ESV
I commit! Alicia Zornes from Carl Junction, Missouri: “Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” 1 Peter 1:13 NASB
“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”
â€â€Philippians‬ â€4:6-7‬ â€NLT‬‬
I commit! Maria Schoolcraft Michigan.
2 Corinthians 12:9 NLT
MY GRACE IS ALL YOU NEED. MY POWER WORKS BEST IN WEAKNESS. SO NOW I AM GLAD TO BOAST ABOUT MY WEAKNESSES SO THAT THE POWER OF CHRIST CAN WORK THROUGH ME.
I commit!Tina, Yakima, Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own. 1 Corinthians 6:19 NIV
I commit! Teri Stinson, Wellington, Ks. “So then we pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another.” Romans 14:19 NASB
I Commit! Trish Herron from Gray, Kentucky “so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.” Isaiah 55:11 ESV
I commit! Sandy Epperson; Kansas City, Missouri: “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” Galatians 5:1. NIV.
I commit! Pati from Macomb, MI: Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. 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: 18-19 NIV
Evy in Arcadia, CA
I commit
As he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct. 1Peter 1:15 ESV
I commit! Annette from Summerville, SC: “He will once again fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy.” Job 8:21 NLT
I commit! Denise S. from Gainesville, GA. “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In His great mercy, He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” 1 Peter 1:3 NIV
I commit! Gail,Longview,Texas
” And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.” Ephesians 6:18 (NIV)
I COMMIT! April, Rochester Washington. I come to you, Lord, for protection; never let me be defeated. You are a righteous God; save me, I pray! Psalm 31:1. GNTD
I commit! Robin from Bradenton, Florida
“For I am about to do something new. 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! Julianne, Kitchener, Ontario
Romans 12:2Â NLT
Do not conform yourselves to the standards of this world, but let God transform you inwardly by a complete change of your mind. Then you will be able to know the will of God—what is good and is pleasing to him and is perfect.
I commit! Catherine Curl from Florence, SC. “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.” Isaiah 43:18 NIV
I commit! Melissa, Bonney Lake WA. Psalm 119:1-2 (NLT) “Joyful are people of integrity, who follow the instructions of the Lord. Joyful are those who obey his laws and search for him with all their heart.”
I commit! Ellen H. from Albuquerque, NM
I will take my stand at my watchpost and station myself on the tower, and look out to see what he will say to me, and what I will answer concerning my complaint.
Habakkuk 2:1, ESV
I commit! Beth from Oxford, MS: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. John 1:1 NIV
Monica Pribe, Blacklick, OH
Psalm 103:1 “Bless the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name!”
ESV
I commit! Kasyn, Longview, Texas
“the people living in darkness
have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.” Matthew 4:16 (NIV)
I commit!!! Audrey, Lebanon, IN
Romans 6:15 NIV
What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? By no means!
I commit.
I commit. For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways, declares the Lord. Isaiah 55:8
I commit! jamie @ brentwood, tn: “For we live by believing and not by seeing”; 2 Cor 5:7 (NLT)
I commit! Alyssa Porter from Oklahoma City, OK ” Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love, according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my inquity, and cleanse me from my sin.” Psalm 51:1-2 ESV
I commit! Rachel Farley Indianola, Iowa
“Those who cling to worthless idols forsake faithful love, but as for me, I will sacrifice to You with a voice of thanksgiving. I will fulfill what I have vowed. Salvation is from the Lord!”
â€â€Jonah‬ â€2:8-9‬ â€HCSB‬‬
I commit! Jamee Miller from Sanford, FL: “They do not fear bad news;they confidently trust the Lord to care for them.” Psalm 112:7 NLT
I commit! Natalia, Longview, Texas
” So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.” 2 Corinthians 5:9-10
I commit!
II Corinthians 10:5 (NIV)
We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
I commit! Amber Boskers from Huntington Beach, CA. “So is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace” (Isaiah 55: 11-12, NIV).
I commit! Angie Wilt from Kansas City, Missouri: “Listen, my sons (daughters), to a father’s instruction; pay attention and gain understanding. Proverbs 4:1 NIV84
I commit! Jennifer from Chattanooga, TN
“We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” NIV
I commit! Janet from Parrish, Florida: In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. John 1:1. KJV
I commit! Kim from New Port Richey,FL-
“If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.” Colossians 3:1 ESV
I commit! Cathy Pernsteiner from Clarkston, WA “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Romans 8:1 ESV
I commit! Lindsey from St. Augustine, FL “In you, Lord my God, I put my trust.” Psalm 25:1 NIV
I will commit! Rosemary Osborne from Central City, Nebraska. Psalm 62:2, “He alone is my rock and my deliverance, my citadel high on the hill; I will not be shaken.” (Voice)
I commit! Tanya Inman from Tuscumbia, AL “No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead,” Philippians 3:13 NLT
Theda Dawson in Front Royal VA. Habakkuk 3:2 Lord I have heard of Your fame; I stand in awe of Your deeds, O Lord renew them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy. NIV
I commit! For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. NIV
I commit! Sherie from The Woodlands, TX: “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
I commit! Tricia from Oakville, Ontario: “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Galatians 2:20 KJV
Oops. My verse is from the NIV. I posted KJV.
I Commit!
Courtney Morgan, Fort Worth, TX
O Lord, You have examined my heart and know everything about me
Psalm 139:1 NLT
I commit! Cindy from Summerville, SC
“Look, I am about to do something new. Now it begins to happen! Do you not recognize it? Yes, I will make a road in the desert and paths in the wilderness.” Isaiah 43:19 NET
Theda Dawson in Front Royal VA. I commit!! Habakkuk 3:2 Lord I have heard of Your fame; I stand in awe of Your deeds, O Lord renew them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy. NIV