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! Casey, San Antonio, TX. “Do not be afraid, little flock, for Your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom.” NIV
I commit! Michelle from Prosser “The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.” Ex 14:14 NIV
I commit! Katera from Kentwood, LA
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! Erin from San Angelo, Texas
Call to me and I will answer you, and tell you great and hidden things that you have not know. Jeremiah 33:3
I commit! Mitzi from Cleveland, TN Psalm 33:4 For the word of the Lord holds true,and we can trust everything he does. NLT
I commit! Marsha, Lee’s Summit, MO
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1 NKJ
I COMMIT! April Lopez, Bonney Lake, WA
Christ has set us free for freedom. Therefore, stand firm and don’t submit to the bondage of slavery again. Galations 5:1 CEB
I commit! Kathy from Mitchell, SD
I lift my eyes up to the hills-where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.
Psalms 121:1-2
Katie Auburn AL
I commit!
2 Corinthians 12:9
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.ESV
I commit! Maria from Waco, TX
Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy
1 Peter 1:8 NIV
I commit! Zoey from Pacific NW –
Ephesians 1:11 AMP
11)In Him also we have [d]received an inheritance [a destiny—we were claimed by God as His own], having been predestined (chosen, appointed beforehand) according to the purpose of Him who works everything in agreement with the counsel and design of His will,
I commit! Sarah from Alexandria, Louisiana.”I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.”John‬ â€15:1-2 NASB
I commit!
Allison Crook
Albuquerque, NM
“If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, he will turn and bring disaster on you and make an end of you, after he has been good to you.”
â€â€Joshua‬ â€24:20‬ â€NIV‬‬
I commit! Andrea from Berkeley Springs, WV
“But the Lord has become my fortress, and my God the rock in whom I take refuge”
Psalm 94:22 NIV
I commit! Tracy Goldblum from San Diego, California: “I go east, but he is not there. I go west, but I cannot find him.” Job 23:8
I commit! Anita from Fresno, California
You have searched me, LORD, and you know me.
Psalms 139:1 NIV
I commit! Michelle from Chehalis, WA. Turn my life from worthless things. Preserve my life according to your word. Ps 119:37 NIV
I commit! Jeanne from Nixa, Missouri
Now to him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us.
Eph 3:20 NKJV
I commit! Valerie Mathura from Newnan, Georgia
Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise,… [Eph. 5:15]
I commit! Molly, Cypress, TX:
Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.
1 Peter 4:8 NIV
Ursula Webb Moore, OK I commit!
Proverbs 3:5-6New King James Version (NKJV)
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
6 In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths
I commit! Tellina from Bayard, NE
“Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid; for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation.” – Isaiah 12:2 KJV
I commit!
Debbie from Boyd, Texas
“To You , O Lord, I lift up my soul.” Psalm 25:1 ESV
I commit! Cheryl from Houston, TX
Colossians 3:12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. (NIV)
I commit! Tessa from Alliance, Nebraska. “Keep me safe, O God, for in You I take refuge.” Psalm 16:1 NIV
I commit. I will bless the Lord at all times: his praise will constantly be in my mouth .Psalm 34:1 KJV
I commit! Emily from Houston, TX
“In you, LORD, my God, I put my trust.” Psalm 25:1 NIV
I commit! Becky from Brownsburg, IN
James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,
To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations.
Greetings, James 1:1 NIV
I commit! Mary Ann from Lubbock, Texas
I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
Ephesians 4: 1-3, ESV
I commit! Johnnie, Wake Forest, NC. For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. Romans 1:16 ESV
I commit! Robin, Grants Pass, Oregon: Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love,for in you I trust. Make me know the way I should go for to you I lift up my soul, Psalm 143:8, ESV
I will exalt you, my God and King,
and praise your name forever and ever. Psalm 145:1 (NLT)
I commit! Sherrie Lynn, Collierville, TN
“Finally, all of you be like-minded [united in spirit], sympathetic, brotherly, kindhearted [courteous and compassionate toward each other as members of one household], and humble in spirit;”
â€â€1 PETER‬ â€3:8‬ â€AMP‬‬
Stephanie
Augusta, GA
I commit!
The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.
Zephaniah‬ â€3‬:â€17‬ ESV
Staci, Holland, MI, Galatians 5:1 NIrV
“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by the chains of slavery.”
Linda Cox-Indianapolis
Jerimiah 29:11
For I know the plans I have for you, says
the Lord,. They are plans for GOOD and
not for disaster, to give you a FUTURE
and a HOPE.
Ronna from Temecula, CA
I commit! Psalm 25:1 ESV
To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
I commit! Nancy from Sebree, Kentucky. “Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls,”. Habakkuk 3:17 NIV (Wait for it, next verse brings it!)
I Commit! Jann Sanicola, Holtsville, New York
“Come now, and let us reason together,” says the Lord, “though your sins are like scarlet,they shall be as white as snow.” Isaiah 1:18 (NKJV)
I commit!! Sarah Martinez- Mcallen, TX
“So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.”
â€â€Isaiah‬ â€55:11‬ â€NASB‬‬
I commit! Allie Love from Fairway, Kansas
Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me. Revelation 3:20 NIV
I Commit!!! Susan Akin, Madison, Mississippi. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Genesis 1:1, HCSB
I commit! Soozi from Fishers, Indiana: “Ease me down the path of Your truth. Feed me Your word because You are the true God who has saved me. I wait all day long, hoping, trusting in You.” Psalm 25:5 The Voice
I commit! Bekah from Kansas City, MO. 1 Peter 1:3 “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.” NIV
I commit! Christy from Gardendale, AL “I will extol the Lord at all times; his praise will always be on my lips.” Psalm 34:1 NIV
I commit! Tammy from Greeley, CO
“Forget the former things;
do not dwell on the past.” Isaiah 43:18 NIV
I Commit! Jerrianne from Gastonia,NC
I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, 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. NRSV.
I commit! Christy from Indianapolis. Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them. Ephesians 4:29 NLT
I Commit! Beth frim Prairieville, La
“The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”
Deuteronomy 31:8 New International Version (NIV)
I commit!
Revelation 21:5 (NIV)
He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”