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! Amy Carter from Charleston, SC. “To You, O Lord, I lift up my soul.” Psalm 25:1 NKJV
I COMMIT! Alice Hinckley, Dallas, TX: “For the Lord gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding; He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk uprightly.” Proverbs 2:6-7 NKJV
I commit!!
Meg
Loveland, Colorado
The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.
Isaiah 40:8, esv
I commit! Connie Adams, Yulee, FL “In thee, O LORD,do I put my trust;let me never be ashamed;deliver me in thy righteousness. Psalms 31:1 KJV
I commit! Julie from Tuscaloosa, AL
“Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always.” Psalm 105:4 NIV
I commit! Emily from San Francisco, CA
3 Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, 4 who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, 5 to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
Galatians 1:3-5, NKJV
I COMMIT! Juliet Wilkinson, Wilmington, North Carolina
“Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose trust is the LORD.
He is like a tree planted by water,
that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.” Jeremiah 17:7-8 ESV
I Commit: Shirley, from Wilmore, KY
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” John 1:1-5
I commit. Katherine, Pittsburgh, PA. 2 Peter 2:7
Consider what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.
Melissa from Redmond, OR
I commit! But I say, walk by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. Galatians 5:16 (NASB)
I commit! Kaitlyn from Houston, Texas
“Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.” Isaiah 40:28 (ESV)
Evelyn from Virginia Beach, VA. “Jude, a bond servant of Jesus Christ. and brother of James, to those who are the called, beloved in God the Father, and kept for Jesus Christ: Jude 1:1 NASB
I commit! Joanna Harris from Sanford, FL. “Be at rest once more, O my soul, for the LORD has been good to you.” Psalm 116:7 NIV 1984
I commit! Debbie Sanford, Hattiesburg, MS
“James, a bondservant of God and the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes scattered abroad: Greetings. My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.” James 1:1-3 (NKJV)
I commit! Linda Howard from Frankenmuth Michigan. 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. Isaiah 55:11 (NIV)
I Commit!! Pattie from Mabel, MN. “Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.” Psalm 91 NIV
I commit! Adrian from Houston TX.
“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! Rhonda from Wellsville, Utah: “Be devoted to prayer, keeping alert in it with thanksgiving.” Colossians 4:1 NET
I Will! Edwanna from Orlando,FL.”I fix my gaze on things that cannot be seen.” 2 Corinthians 4:18 (NIV)
I commit …Robin from Paris, TX
‘Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail.’ Lamentations 3:22 NIV
I commit! Dustalyn Graham from Murdock, NE: “Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, to Philemon our beloved fellow worker.” Philemon 1 ESV
I commit! Shelley from Longview, Texas “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. John 1:1 NKJV
I commit!! Melanie from Royse City, TX Search me O God and know my heart; rest me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
Oops i forgot where to find this verse…..sorry! Psalm 139:23-24 NIV
I COMMIT! Susan Fisher from San Angelo, Texas: In you, Lord my God, I put my trust. Psalm 25:1 NIV
I commit! Chas from Saratoga California: “All my fresh springs shall be in Thee.” Psalm 87.7 PBV
I commit!! Lacy, Eugene, OR. “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” Colossians 3:16(ESV)
I commit! Hannah from Fort Bragg, NC.
“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
I COMMIT! Ellen from Chester, VA
“Not that I have already obtained it [this goal of being Christlike] or have already been made perfect, but I actively press on so that I may take hold of that [perfection] for which Christ Jesus took hold of me and made me His own.”
â€â€PHILIPPIANS‬ â€3:12‬ â€AMP‬‬
I commit!
Jennifer in Cincinnati, OH
Having one’s mind controlled by the old nature is death,
but having one’s mind controlled by the Spirit is life and shalom.
Romans 8:6 CJB
I commit! Darcy from Spokane, WA: “Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him and He will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.” Psalms 37:3-6 NIV
I COMMIT! Carla, Maple Grove, MN “Fools vent their anger, but the wise quietly hold it back.” Prov 29:11
I commit! Abi, Arvada, CO:
“We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.” Romans 6:4 (ESV)
I commit! Lindsay Whitty – Dedham, Maine
“The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy.” Psalm 126:3 NIV
Yes! Kim, Dickinson, ND
The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness,
Exodus 34:6
Lindsey, Dubach, LA – “Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” -Psalm 37:3-4 ESV
I commit! Erin from Laredo, TX; “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” Philippians 4:6 (NIV)
Karen, Cullman, Alabama, 1 Peter 5:6-7 NIV
Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that He may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.
Oops, didn’t read all the way through like you asked, sorry.
I COMMIT! … and will post correctly next time. Thank you! Happy New Year, so excited for the SSMT!
I commit! Kathryn, Oceanside, CA. “Never let loyalty and kindness leave you! Tie them around your neck as a reminder. Write them deep within your heart.” Proverbs 3:3 NLT
I commit! Jamie Wagner, Billings, MT: “To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul;” (Psalm 25:1, NIV 1984)
I commit! Julie Foster from Greensboro, AL.
Colossians 3:15 (ESV) And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.
I commit! Jenni D from Neosho, MO
I give you peace, the kind of peace only I can give. John 14:27 CEV
I commit. Twyla from Cottam, Ont, Canada. Jude, the servant of Christ, and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ and called. Jude 1:1
I commit!
Sandra, Rock Hill, SC
Romans 12:2 NIV
Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
I commit! Sharon, Gilmer, TX “The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever,” Isaiah 40:8 (NIV)
Maria, Warner Robins, GA- “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.” -Ephesians 4:2
Lana, Stigler OK–Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance The Lord will bring you today .” Exodus 14:13. NIV
I Commit!!!
Pam, Hotchkiss, CO
Commit your work to the Lord, and then your plans will succeed.
Proverbs 16:3 – NLT
I COMMIT! Janet-Battle Ground WA
Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ.To those who are elect exiles of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia ad Bithynia.
1 Peter 1:1 ESV
I am going to work on the whole chapter for the year.
I Commit! Donna Carson from DeKalb, Tx
“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything
give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ
Jesus for you.”
Teresa, Tyler TX
I commit! “Now all glory to God, who is able to keep you from falling away and will bring you with great joy into his glorious presence without a single fault.”
â€â€Jude‬ â€1:24‬ â€NLT‬‬