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! Christy, Waterloo, Ontario. “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” Genesis 1:1 NIV
I commit! Vicki from Harrisonville, Missouri: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven,
Matthew 5:3 niv
I commit! Kristine from DFW: “God made my life complete when I placed all the pieces before him. When I cleaned up my act, he gave me a fresh start. Indeed, I’ve kept alert to God’s ways; I haven’t taken God for granted. Every day I review the ways he works, I try not to miss a trick. I feel put back together, and I’m watching my step. God rewrote the text of my life when I opened the book of my heart to his eyes.” 2 Sam. 22:21-25 MSG
I commit! Angie Evon from Windsor Mill, Maryland. Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not to thine own understanding. Proverb 3:5 KJV
Vicki Knott, Greenwood, SC
“Blessed is the one You discipline, Lord, the one You teach from Your law.” Psalm 94:12 (NIV)
I commit!! Natalie Plakosh from Pittsburgh, PA: “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 43:19 NIV
Tami, Louisiana
Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)
“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.”
Paula Rutherford, Decatur, Tx–
“O, God, You are my God, earnestly I seek You; my soul thirsts for You, my body longs for You, in a dry and weary land where there is no water.” Psalm 63:1–1985 NIV
Paula Rutherford, Decatur, Tx–I commit!
“O, God, You are my God, earnestly I seek You; my soul thirsts for You, my body longs for You, in a dry and weary land where there is no water.”
Psalm 63:1–1985 NIV
I commit! Ashley Asselta from Waco, TX: “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to the saints who are in Ephesus and are faithful in Christ Jesus:” Ephesians 1:1 ESV
I commit! Barbara Menefee from Fisherville, KY: “Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion” Philippians 2:1 NIV
I commit! Beth, Toronto, Ontario: “To You, O LORD, I lift up my soul.” Ps. 25:1 (NKJV)
I commit 🙂 Liz Hunter from Bronx, NY: “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.”
-John 15:1 NIV
I COMMIT! RaeLeen in Bloomington Indiana: ” so is my word that goes out of my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire & achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” Isaiah 55:11 NIV
I commit! Theresa Haskins from Newport News, VA: “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end;” Lamentations 3:22 ESV
I commit! Vicki Creed from Kenora, Ontario, It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it.
Isaiah 55:11 NLT
Keri Lee Robbins, Las Vegas, NV “O God, You are my God; Early will I seek You; My soul thirsts for You; My flesh longs for You In a dry and thirsty land Where there is no water. So I have looked for You in the sanctuary, To see Your power and Your glory. Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, My lips shall praise You.”
Psalms 63:1-3 NKJV
I commit!
I commit!!!Roseanne, Tacoma WA
But the end of all things is at hand;
therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers.
And above all things have fervent love for one
another, for “love will cover a multitude of sins.
1Peter 4:7-8
Angie In pa, i commit, Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Psalm 51:10 NIV
I commit! Jill Sherbet from Plano TX: Romans 12: 11-12The Message (MSG)
11-12 Don’t burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame. Be alert servants of the Master, cheerfully expectant. Don’t quit in hard times; pray all the harder.
I commit! Shannon from Greensboro, NC. “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 ESV
I commit! from Youngstown: “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!Tammy from Pottsboro,TX: But be very careful to keep the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the Lord gave you: to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, to keep his commands, to hold fast to him and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul. Joshua 22:5 NIV
Marilyn from Houston, TX ; “But he said to me, my grace is sufficient for you for my power is made perfect in your weakness. Therefiore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weakness, so that Christ’s power may rest on me”. 2 Corinthians 12:9, NIV
I commit! Jill Couri from Washington, PA: “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, 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 ESV
I commit! Bonny from Katy, Tx: “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! Heather Turner from Morristown, TN: “Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear.” Ephesians 4:29 NASB
I commit! June Greenstreet from Bradford Ontario: “”Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”” – Luke 2:14 ESV
I commit! Jeanie in Weatherford, TX. “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father Who is in heaven.” Matthew 5:16 (NAS)
I COMMIT!!!!!! Jeannine Hale, Eagan, MN
You cause the grass to grow for the livestock and plants for man to cultivate that he may bring forth food from the earth and wine to gladden the heart of man, oil to make his face shine and bread to strengthen man’s heart. Psalm 104:14-15 ESV
I commit! Jennifer Millican from Spring Texas: “But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ.” Philippians 3:7-8, NASB
I Commit! Vonda from Milton, GA
“In you, Lord my God, I put my trust.”
PS 25:1 NIV
I Commit! Alluwph Leumim! Chrissy Billingsly from Pittsburg KS: All of you, take up my yoke and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for yourself. Matthew 11:29 HCSB and The Cow Quran
I commit! “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:38-39,NIV
Anne Statz from Parma, Ohio
I commit! Anne Acker from Johnson City, TN:
“Shout for joy, you heavens! Earth rejoice! Mountains break into joyful shouts! For the Lord has comforted His people, and will have compassion on His afflicted ones.”
I commit!!! Christy, Conifer, Colorado: “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” Hebrews 12:1 NIV 1984
I commit! Gail Niles from Cary, North Carolina
“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 desert and streams in the wasteland.”
Isaiah 43:18-19 NIV 1984
I commit! Wendy C. Cheyenne, WY.
“Every word of God proves true. He is a shield to all who come to him for protection.”
Proverbs 30:5 NLT
I commit! Jessica Pritchett from Pelham North Carolina. “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” Romans 12:2 NIV
I commit! Jennifer from Norman, Oklahoma: “For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” Colossians 1:13-14 NASB
I love your verse. I lived in Norman years ago when my spouse was at OU. God bless your year.
Claire Phillips, Topeka, KS
I commit! Christy Vines from Midland Texas: ” We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might, and the wonders that he has done.” Psalms 78:4 ESV
Yael Hernandez from New York City
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your souls and with all your might.”
Deuteronomy 6:5 NASB
I commit! Georgina A. Hyattsville, MD “And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.” 2 Corinthians 9:8 NKJV
I commit! “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
I commit! Lynnet Asselta from Flower Mound, TX: “After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: ‘Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you.'” John 17:1 NIV
Yael Hernandez from New York City
I commit “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your souls and with all your might.”
Deuteronomy 6:5 NASB
I commit! Jennifer from Rockwall, TX:
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. John 14:27, NIV
I commit! Michelle Krogulski, West Des Moines, IA
We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.
2 Corinthians 4:7 NLT
I commit! Amber from Nicholasville, KY:
“Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:10 NKJV
I commit! Karen Morgan from Hanahan, SC: “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. And He is not served by human hands, as if He needed anything. Rather, He Himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else.” Acts 17:24, 25 NIV
I commit!
Carrie from Boston
But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God,
slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness. Psalm 86:15 NIV