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!
Carol Burns from Round Rock, TX
“You fast with contention and strife to strike viciously with your fist. You cannot fast as you do today, hoping to make your voice heard on high.” Isaiah 58:4 (HCSB)
Amy
Columbia, SC
But be sure to fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things he has done for you. I Samuel 12:24 NIV
Debbie, Hattiesburg, MS:
“Of His own will He brought us forth by the Word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.” (James 1:18 NKJV)
Linda O’Neill, Elk Grove,CA:
“For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11 NLT
Sandy Deming NM
O LORD our Lord how excellent is your name in all the earth, who have set your glory above the heavens. Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have ordained strength, because of your enemies, that you may silence the enemy and the avenger. When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars which you have ordained, what is man that you are mindful of him and the son of man that you visit him? For you have made him a little lower than the angels and have crowned him with glory and honor. Ps. 8:1-5 NKJV
Brenda Lyon from Wagoner, OK: “You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.” ~ Psalm 139:15 NLT
Victoria, Salt Lake City, UT
“Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him.”
Mark 11:23
Rachel, Vancouver, WA “In speaking of the angels he says, ‘He makes his angels spirits, and his servants flames of fire.'” Hebrews 1:7 NIV
The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. Isaiah 40:8 (ESV)
Peggy, Yorktown, VA
Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law. Romans 13:10 NRSV
Jamie, Crossett, AR
Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; & the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. ” Galatians 2:20 NKJV
Julie from Pittsburgh, PA
“Out of the mouth of babes and infants, you have established strength because of your foes, to still the enemy and the avenger.” Psalm 8:2 ESV
Nancy Cozad from Kingwood, Texas
Isaiah 40:31 NIV
but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
Sharon Macri Huntington, West Virginia
John 15:5 I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.” (NASB)
Renea Bentley from Hendersonville, TN – “And this is His command, to believe in the name of the His Son, Jesus Christ and to LOVE one another as He commanded us” –1John 3:23 (NIV)
Kirby from Parsons, KS.
“If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.” James 1:5 NIV
in Corpus Christi, TX.
Isaiah 30:19 – JPS Tanakh Translation
Indeed, O people in Zion, dwellers of Jerusalem, you shall not have cause to weep. He will grant you His favor at the sound of your cry; He will respond as soon as He hears it.
Allison Crook
Albuquerque, NM
“Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever.”
Daniel 12:3 NIV
For no sooner has the sun risen with a burning heat than it withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beautiful appearance perishes. So the rich man also will fade away in his pursuits.
James 1:11 NKJV
June 1
Exodus 14:14
The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.
The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever.”
Isaiah 40:8
NKJV
Elizabeth
Fort Smith, AR
“For I know the plans I for you, plans to prosper and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and future.”
Jeremiah 29:11 HCSB
Olivia C. from Georgetown, TX: “I have revealed and saved and proclaimed- ‘I, and not some foreign god among you. You are My witnesses,’ declares the Lord, ‘that I am God. Yes, and from ancient days I am He. No one can deliver out of My hand. When I act, who can reverse it?'” Isaiah 43:12-13 NIV
I sought the Lord, and He answered me; He delivered me from all my fears.
Psalm 34:4 NIV
Joshua 10:11:
There were more who died from the hailstones than the children of Israel killed with the sword.
Kathryn from Austin, TX
Commit your way to the Lord; trust him and he will do this:
He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn, your vindication like the noonday sun.
-Psalm 37: 5-6, NIV
John 7:38
“Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within
him.”
Charne, Secunda South Africa – For you, O Lord, have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling, that I may walk before the LORD in the land of the living. Psm 116: 8&9 NIV
but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
James 3:8 ESV
D’Anna Nowack
New Braunfels, Tx.
1 John 5:14 (NIV)
This is the confidence we have in approaching God; that if we ask anjything according to His will, he hears us.
Joni, Port Neches, TX. “which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and growing–as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth.” Col. 1:6, ESV
Conyers, GA. 1 Peter 5:8 KJV
Be sober, be vigilant: because your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.
Jennifer R. Houston, TX “Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” Romans 8:8 HCSB
For I am waiting for You, O LORD. You must answer for me, O LORD my God. Psalm 38:15 (NLT)
June 15
Psalm 139:1
O Lord, you have searched me and known me!
Dana Pace, FL
“Now my heart is troubled and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour?’ No, it was for this very reason that I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name!”
John 12-27-28 NIV
Janet T, Midland, TX
I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust.”
Psalm 91:2 NIV
Johnine Adomitis from Anna, Texas
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 8:39 NIV
Michelle, Bossier City, LA
For God did not give us a spirit of fear, but of power, love and discipline. 2 Timothy 1:7 NIV
The name of the Lord is a strong fortress; the godly run to him and are safe. Prov. 18:10 NLT
Cindy, Beaumont, Texas. He will cover you with His pinions, and under His wings you will find refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and buckler. Psalm 91:4 ESV
Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done.
Philippians 4:6 (NLT)
Tanya from Lorton, VA
1 Corinthians 15:55-57 NIV
Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?
56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Addie Ables, Marble Falls, TX
“If I ascend to heaven,You are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, You are there!” Psalm 139:8
Missie Ables, Marble Falls, TX
“Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us – for it is written, ‘cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree.'” Galatians 3:13 ESV
For You, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive,
And abundant in lovingkindness to all who call upon You. Psalm 86:5 nasb
Sharon.Modesto,ca
You will be made rich in everyway so that you can be generous on every occasion and through us your generosity will result in Thanksgiving to God!!!!
II Corinthians 9:11 NIV
Sara, Indiana
..if service, in our serving; the one who teachers, in his teaching. -Romans 12:7 (esv)
Natalie-Austin, Tx
Gal 5:13
For you have been called to live in freedom my brothers and sisters but don’t use your freedom to satisfy your own sinful nature. Instead use your freedom to serve one another in love.
He led them by a straight way to a city where they could settle. Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind, for he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things. Some sat in darkness, in utter darkness, prisoners suffering in iron chains, because they rebelled against God’s commands and despised the plans of the Most High.
Psalm 107:7-11 NIV