Hi SSMT partners! I’m Bailie – the newest and youngest member of the LPM staff.
A few weeks into my time here at LPM, I kept hearing the term “SSMT” being thrown around by my coworkers, and I wondered what on earth are they talking about? And when one of them explained, “Oh, it’s stands for Siesta Scripture Memory Team,” I was even more confused. What’s a Siesta? I thought. Doesn’t that mean “nap” in Spanish? Smile.
So if any of you are new to SSMT, I’m right there with you! Now I couldn’t be more on board with this simple, achievable way to sear God’s Word into our hearts and minds.
Do you have a section of Scripture that you find yourself referring back to all the time? Maybe you leave your little Bible bookmark there or the Lord keeps proving its relevance to you season after season. For me, it’s Hebrews 4:14-16:
14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. 16 Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
These verses have ministered to me for years. They encouraged me through months of living in a foreign country. They motivated me to get back up and fight when temptation overcame me. They showed me how Jesus is so fully human, truly, He can relate to everything I feel. And they reminded me of my God-given dignity and confidence to approach His throne of grace (thank you JESUS!). I’ve read them so many times, I could give you a great paraphrasing, but I decided it was time to commit them to memory.
Stay strong, Siestas!
Louisville KY
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself for me. Galatians 2:20 NIV
John 17:20-21, NKJV
20 “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; 21 that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.”
Sherry, Owensboro, KY
so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love,
Ephesians 3:17 NIV
Joanna from Dallas, TX
But you are a shield around me, O LORD; you bestow glory on me and lift up my head. -Psalm 3:3 NIV
(Sorry this is so late, but better than never, eh?) 🙂
Carrizo Springs, TX
Mine eyes are ever toward the Lord; for He shall pluck my feet out of the net. Psalms 25:15 (KJV)
Anita – Alberta – Canada
Eph. 3:16-19 (NIV)
I pray that out of his glorious riches, he will strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ.
Janice W Barber, Virginia Beach, VA.
Psalm 51:8 NIV
Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
Susan from Locust Grove, VA
Psalm 86:11
Teach me your ways, O Lord,that I may live according to your truth!
Grant me purity of heart,so that I may honor you.
Ashley Asselta from Waco, TX: “which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight”
Ephesians 1:8 ESV
Susan from Locust Grove, VA
Psalm 86:11 (NLT)
Teach me your ways, O Lord,that I may live according to your truth!
Grant me purity of heart,so that I may honor you.
Valerie Kyte from Sparks, Nevada
For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases Him. Philippians 2:13 NLT
Nikki Gack, Park Rapids, MN
Some friendships do not last, but some friends are more loyal than brothers (sisters).
Proverbs 18:24 GNT
Ann, Cataula, GA
I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised Him from the dead. I want to suffer with Him, sharing in His death, so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead!
–Colossians 3:10, 11
San Bernardino Ca
Good and upright is the Lord therefore he teaches sinners in the way. psalms:25:8 nkjv.
Deborah Harney, Columbia City, IN, ““Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.””
Deuteronomy 31:6 NIV
Anita Gray – Cabot, AR — “Further, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you. 2Watch out for those dogs, those evildoers, those mutilators of the flesh. 3For it is we who are the circumcision, we who serve God by his Spirit, who boast in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh— 4though I myself have reasons for such confidence.” Philippians 3: 1-4
Phoebe Knoxville, TN
“for we brought nothing into the world and we cannot take anything out of the world”
1 Timothy 6:7 ESV
Melanie Beaudin, Winchester, Va “But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.” James 1:6, NIV
Marg, Nepean, Ontario, Canada
“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 3:17 ESV
I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in His holy people, and His incomparably great power for us who believe.
Ephesians 1:18, 19a
Sara Gillian, Round Rock, NIV, Verses 7-10
Isaiah 40:28-31
The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. 29 He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. 30 Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; 31 but those who hope in the LORDwill renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
Kaye from Hamburg,AR
“Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,”. Psalm 46:2 NIV
Anita, Miami, FL
Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely. Psalm 139:4 (NIV)
Kimberly Balles Rolling Meadows, IL
“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.
Ezekial 36:26 NIV
Dawn Tolley, Appomattox, VA “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” – Matthew 5:6 (NIV)
2 Peter 1:2
“Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord;”
(NAS)
Carolyn
Wheaton, IL
Carley McCracken from Hereford, Texas: “Being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 1:6 (NIV)
Arilee H. From Saskatoon, SK Canada
“Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.”
1 John 3:18 NIV
Judy, Tyler, Texas
Psalm 16:6, ESV
“The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance. “
Sarah ~ Appleton, WI
Psalm 139:7, ESV
Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence?
April from Vermilion, Ohio
He sent out his word and healed them; he rescued them from the grave.
~Psalm 107:20 (NIV)
Bobbie, Radium Springs NM
And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.
John 1:5 NKJV
Psalm 31:16
Let y our face shine on your servant save me in your unfailing love.
Cindy Gandy, Hazlehurst, MS, Psalm 103:8, ESV,
The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
Jean Neumeister, Missoula, MT
Psalm 25:7 NIV
Do not remember the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways;
according to your love remember me,
for you, Lord,are good.
Kelly Snodgrass
Rogersville, TN
Luke 10:16 ESV
(Jesus speaking) “The one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me.”
Ruth, Providence
“and what is the immeasurable greatness of His power in us who believe according to the working of His great might, which He accomplished in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and made Him to sit at His right hand in the heavenly places…”
Ephesians 1:19,20 RSV
Kayley H
Quincy, IL
1 Corinthians 16:13-14 NIV Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. Do everything in love.
So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Romans 2:1 (Message)
Mary, Orlando, FL
Romans 7:15-17 RSV
15 I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the thing I hate. 16 Now if I do what I do not want, I agree that the law is good. 17 So then, it is no longer I that do it, but sin which dwells within me.
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:3 NIV)
Margie Rodriguez San Angelo Texas
Lamentations 3:22
The steadfast love of the Lord never ends His mercies never cease.
Karen from Hen derson, NV. Romans 5:1-5. NIV Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we[a] have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we[b] boast in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we[c] also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.Romans 5:1-5 NIV
II Corinthians 4:16-18 NIV Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
Gay Beck, Plain City, OH
He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.
Revelation 21:4 (NIV)
Thank You Jesus for your Victory over death. Easter Morning’s Resurrection assures believers (and I am a believer!!) of eternal life.
Starkville, MS “Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. ” 1 Peter 4:9 ESV
Oh bless our God. you peoples! and make the voice of His praise to be heard…Psalm 66;8 NKJV NSFL
Hebrews 22: 14 Work at getting along with each other and with God. … keep a sharp eye out for weeds of bitter discontent. A thistle or two gone to seed can ruin a whole garden in no time.
Wendy from Buckeye, AZ “for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” 2 Timothy 1:7, ESV
Holly Smith
College Station, TX
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14 NIV