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.
1 Corinthians 13:4
Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,
I commit! Penny from Chipley, Florida
Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
Roman’s 8:37 ESV
I commit! Chris from Osceola, Indiana “In you, Lord my God, I put my trust. Psalm 25:1(NIV)
I commit! Dallas Tausch, Helotes Tx
“The elder, To my dear friend Gaius, whom I love in the truth.”
â€â€3 John‬ â€1:1‬ â€NIV‬‬
I commit! Ginger from Shelby Twp., MI
“He has kept this secret for centuries and generations past, but now at last it has pleased him to tell it to those who love him and live for him, and the riches and glory of his plan are for you Gentiles too. And this is the secret: that Christ in your hearts is your only hope of glory.” Colossians 1:26-27 (Living Bible)
I commit! Lori Anthony from Pine River, MN
“Make me to know Your ways, O LORD; teach me Your paths. ” Psalm 25:4 ESV
I commit! Gretchen Cunningham from Dallas, TX
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 of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 2 Corinthians‬ â€12‬:â€9‬ ESV
I commit! Mandy from Grapevine, Texas
“Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James,
To those who have been called, who are loved by God the Father and kept by Jesus Christ”
Jude 1 (NIV)
I commit!! Ashley Noland. Butler, AL. “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! Ada from Rochester, MI
“For it is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose.” Philippians 2:13 NIV
Holly Lung from Longmont Colorado.
For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! 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! Ange from Ontario, Canada
Commit your way to the Lord. TRUST in Him and He will act!
Psalm 37:5 (ESV)
I commit! Liza Kirschner Monmouth Junction NJ
“For I am the LORD your God Who takes hold of your right hand and says to you: ‘Do not fear; I will help you.” Isaiah 41:13 (NIV)
I commit! Pamela from Bronx, NY: “And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!”
Revelation 5:13 ESV
Make a joyful shout to God, all the earth!
Sing out the honor of His name:
Make His praise glorious.
Psalms 66:1-2 NKJV.
I commit! Kelley Cherry from Frisco, TX
“And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together will all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ”
Ephesians 3:17-18 (NIV)
I commit! Abby from Denver, Colorado
“Behold, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs forth; do you not perceive and know it and will you not give heed to it? I will even make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”
Isaiah 43:19 (AMPC)
I commit! Heather from Ooltewah, TN
“In you, Lord my God, I put my trust.”
â€â€Psalm‬ â€25:1‬ â€NIV‬‬
Dana Logan from Idabel, OK
“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” (NKJV)
I commit! Suzi from Richmond VA:
Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Cordaro 13:4-7 ESV
***1 Corinthians 13:4-7 ESV thanks auto correct
Booneville, MS
I committ. Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers NKJV
Vicki, Madisonville, KY
For I know the thoughts that I think towards you, sainthood the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Jeremiah 29:11 KJV
I commit! Cheryl from Lebanon, TN.
If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.
1 Corinthians 13:1 (NIV)
I commit! Michelle J. Thomas from Manchester, NH
“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
Forgot the translation – ESV!
I commit! Melody Hemphill from Birmingham, AL
“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,”
â€â€Ephesians‬ â€4:1-2 ESV
I commit! Molly from Nashville, TN: “O LORD, I give my life to you.”
â€â€Psalm â€25:1‬ â€NLT‬‬
Lorri Sapp, Waco, 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. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.” Colossians 3:1-6, NIV
I commit! Justine Tausch Helotes, TX
“Therefore, my brothers and sisters, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, dear friends!”
Philippians‬ â€4:1‬
I commit! Caroline Knaps from Geismar, LA. “Oh 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” Psalm 63 NKJV
I commit! Michelle Robertson from Gardnerville Nevada.
“We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you”
Colossians 1:3 NIV
Elizabeth, Wilmette, IL
I commit!
“The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace.”
Romans 8:6 NIV
Sabrina from Leander, Texas. “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in
Christ Jesus.” Romans 8:1 NAS
I commit. Kim Dent,from Albuquerque NM. “You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds ate steadfast, because they trust in you.” Isaiah 26:3 (NIV)
Tori- Alexandria, Louisiana- Psalm 105:15 HCSB
“Do not touch My anointed ones, or harm My prophets.”
I commit! Arezou from Dallas, TX
“The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”
â€â€Psalm‬ â€34:18‬ â€NIV‬‬
I commit! Cathy from Suwanee, GA: “Don’t worry about anything; instead pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done.” Phil 4:6 NLT
I commit Jana from Garland, TX.
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 lift my soul. ( Psalms 143:8)NIV
I Commit! Charmaine Land from Jefferson City, MO
“For we all stumble in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body as well.” James 3:2 (NASB)
I commit! Toni Sidler, Argyle, TX
“Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.” James 1:2-3 (NASB)
I commit! Psalm 84:1, How lovely are your dwelling places oh Lord of Hosts. NASB
Oops, I’m from Houlton, WI
I Commit! Paula from Vancouver Wa, “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God” Col 3:1 (ESV)
I commit! Crystal from Lantzville, British Columbia. “The seed that fell among the thorns represents those who hear God’s word, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life and the lure of wealth, so no fruit is produced.” Matthew 13:22 NLT
I commit! Amy, Myrtle Beach, SC. “Then he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace.” ” Luke 8:48 NIV
I commit! Carole, Richmond, TX
“I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe. I will not speak with you much longer, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold on me,”
John 14:29-30 NIV
I commit! Susan from Locust Grove, VA
Psalm 62:5-6 NLT
Let all that I am wait quietly before God, for my hope is in him. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will not be shaken.Â
I commit! Megan Columbus, Ohio
“It will be said on that day, ‘Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us.
This is the Lord; we have waited for him,
let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”
Isaiah 25:9 ESV
Jan.3,2017 at 12:57
I commit! Paula from Crestwood,Ky.
Paul a prisoner of Christ Jesus , and Timothy our brother ,
To Philmont our dear friend and fellow worker ,
Philemon 1 (Niv)
I commit! Laura from Fayetteville, TN
John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (CJB) Complete Jewish Bible
I commit! This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun.
2 Corinthians 5:17 NLT
I commit! Alexandra from Coatesville, Indiana
“I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13 (NLT)