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! Modesty Brantley from Myrtle Beach, SC: “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come. The old is gone, the new is here! 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV)
I commit! Renae from Estill, SC: Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7 NIV
I committ! Tami Fite from Platte, South Dakota
“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 act of worship.”
Romans 12:1 ESV
I commit! Kaye from Hamburg,AR.
The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.
Romans 8:6 NIV
I commit! Abbey from Waco, Texas: “Belssed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.” Psalm 32:1 NIV
I committ! Shirley Jones from Atlanta, GA. “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Phil 4:13 NKJV
I commit! Michal Lee from Helotes, Texas “Hear my prayer, O LORD, give ear to my supplications: in thy faithfulness anser me and in thy righteousness.” Psalm 143:1 KJV
I commit!
Nerissa from Columbia, South Carolina.
“In you, Lord my God,
I put my trust.
I trust in you;
do not let me be put to shame,
nor let my enemies triumph over me.”
Psalm 25:1-2, NIV
I commit! Tajuana from Midland, Texas
Psalm 119:11 NIV
I have hidden your word in my heart
that I might not sin against you.
Charlotte Caudill-Glockner from Lexington, KY :Isaiah 61:10 “I will greatly rejoice in the Lord,My soul shall be joyful in my God; For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation,
He has covered me with the robe of righteousness,
As a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments,
And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.” (NKJV)
I commit! Ronda from Marion, IN
We wait in hope for the Lord; he is our help and our shield.
In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name.
Psalms 33:20-21 NIV
Tullis, Montgomery, AL I commit!! “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
“So do not fear, for I am with you;
do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”
Isaiah 41:10 NIV
I commit! Lynn Brenneman, Lakeport, CA. In you, Lord my God, I put my trust. I trust in you; do not let me be put to shame, nor let my enemies triumph over me. Psalm 25:1-2, NIV.
I commit!
Angela from RiverVale, NJ
“Lord, hear my prayer, listen to my cry for mercy; in your faithfulness and righteousness come to my relief.” Psalm 143: 1
NIV
I commit!
Hannah Marks, Harare, Zimbabwe,
Psalm 25:4-5 NLT
‘Show me the right path O LORD,
Point out the road for me to follow
Lead me by your truth and teach me,
for you are the God who saves me.
All day long I put my hope in you’
I commit! Mindy M., Selmer, TN. “You have circled this mountain long enough: Now turn north.” Deuteronomy 2:3 MEV
I commit! Allison from Mishawaka: “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.” Matthew 6:19 NIV
I Commit! Jessica from Telford, PA: ” Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” John 14:27 ESV
I commit! Michelle of Mosinee, WI
Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. Hebrews 10:23 ESV
Katy Bloker From Killeen Texas. Proverbs 31:10.
An excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels.
I commit. “rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.” Colossians 2:7 NIV Shelby, Oklahoma City
I commit to memorize Psalm 90- Susan K from Katy TX. “Lord you have been our dwelling place , in all generations. Psalm 90:1 ESV
I commit!! Stephanie from The Woodlands, TX:
Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!
Psalm 46:10 ESV
Paula Ashton cocoa FL
“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:”
â€â€Ecclesiastes‬ â€3:1‬ â€NIV‬‬
I commit. Amber, D.C. “Rejoice in the Lord ALWAYS. I will say it again: Rejoice!” Philippians 4:4 (NIV)
Myrna Mason Rockledge FL
“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:”
â€â€Ecclesiastes‬ â€3:1‬ â€NIV‬‬
I commit! Tracey from Toronto: I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ. Ep 3:17b-18 (NIV)
I COMMIT, Lisa from Dillsburg, PA:
Proverbs 12:18 NKJV
There is one who speaks like the piercings of a sword. But the tongue of the wise promotes health.
I commit. Chandel, Kaohsiung Taiwan
26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. John 14:26 ESV
I commit! Mihaela from Riverside,Ca
“My Father will honor the one who serves Me”John 12:26 Nlt
I commit, Randi Zetting from Lynden WA, Genesis 1:24 “Then God said, ‘let the earth bring forth living creatures after their kind; cattle and creeping things and beasts of the earth after their kind’ and it was so.”
Maria in Oxford, MS
Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love.
Ephesians 4:2 NLT
Vicki Brown, Midwest City, OK
I commit.
“He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. Psalm 91:1
I commit!! Julianne Jones, Olathe, KS: 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
I commit! Sue from Hallsville: “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Hebrews 11:1. King James.
I commit! Laura from Aurora, MO. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8 (NIV)
I commit!
Rachel from Vancouver, Washington: “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
â€â€2 Timothy‬ â€3:16-17‬ â€NKJV‬‬
I commit! Kathy Griffin, Redlands, Ca.
O Lord, I give my life to you.
Psalm 25:1 NKJ
With help from our Lord Jesus Christ; I am committed !
Jennifer Olmstead; Janesville, Wisconsin
Ephesians 1:2 : May grace and peace be yours, sent to you from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. (NIV, personalized)
(This Scripture verse was personalized for me, by my dear friend, Bryan Z.; who was the man who had the strongest faith in Christ Jesus whom I have ever been blessed to have known; and to have loved, on this Earth; and yet, circumstances beyond our control kept us apart. He lived in Texas, and I live in southern Wisconsin …
In his memory; I want to get this beautiful verse into my mind, heart, and life, forevermore… until we meet again in Heaven one day… [Bryan Z.: 9/29/1959 to 9/24/2015; He died from Cancer last fall.]
I commit, Heather from Sherwood, OR
Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name.
He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him and show him My salvation.
Psalm 91:14-16
Caitlyn – Toledo, Ohio: “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord it near.” Philippians 4:4-5 (NIV)
I commit! As Jesus and the disciplescontinued on their way to Jerusalem, they came to a certain village where a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home. NLT Luke 10:38
Hi Nivea, I am so excited you have joined me (and this community of ladies) in memorizing scripture.
Vicki Reeves from Corpus Christi Tx: Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go. Joshua 1:7 NKJV
I Commit! Heather G. Fredericksburg, VA
The Lord who made you and helps you says: Do not be afraid, OÂ Jacob, my servant, OÂ dear Israel, my chosen one.
Isaiah 44:2 NLT
I commit!!!! Rhonda Tupelo,MS
For God, who said let light shine out of the darkness,” made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.
2 Corinthians 4:6
I commit! “And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice- the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Romans 12:1 NLT
I commit! Anne from Negaunee Michigan : There is a time for everything, a season for every activity under Heaven. Ecclesiastes 3:1, NIV
I commit! Grace Young from Chandler Oklahoma: “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.” Psalm 20:7 ESV
I commit. John 14: 27 ESV
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.