Refreshing Our Spirits With Scripture

Day of Year:102 Date:4.12.14 Favorite Verse: Matthew 26.11 11  The poor you will always have with you, [ a ] but you will not always have me. Thought for the day:     Jesus is reminding us that the way we can serve Him now is by serving the poor. There are poor people in our hometowns and when we serve and help them, we make Jesus rejoice. Jesus Reading (Ten Minutes): Matthew 26.6-13 + Rest of New Testament: Romans 14.1-12 +Psalm of the Day: Psalm 69.18-36 +Proverb of the Day: Proverbs 13.19,20 +Rest of Old Testament:Joshua 24, Judges 1

Day of Year: 101 Date: 4.11.14 Favorite Verse: Matthew 26.3 11  The poor you will always have with you, [ a ] but you will not always have me.   Thought for the day: A religious title is no sign that a person loves Jesus. Jesus Reading (Ten Minutes): Matthew 26.1-5 + Rest of New Testament: Romans 13.8-14 +Psalm of the Day: Psalm 69.1-17 +Proverb of the Day: Proverbs 13.18 +Rest of Old Testament:Joshua 22,23

  I want to be flexible, free and gracious in my relationships. I was blessed this week to spend some extra time with my only surviving aunt,  Johnnie Wishard Fink. What an enjoyable person to spend time with. Mom and Dad both would comment that she seemed to have excellent Christian qualities.  Dad said, "Well she naturally has a wonderful personality and was always loved by all her older brothers and sisters and her husband and family." Wednesday the spring trees were bursting forth with buds and hope for another year. As we were driving to Paris, Texas, to have lunch at Bodacious BBQ, I asked her what had helped her to reach the age of 87 and still have a positive attitude. She has gone through all the ups and downs of life, yet she is so alert and young at heart. "What is the key to a long and quality life?"  She hesitated quite a while before answering. "I don't know. That is a hard question. If I had to say, I think is it security. I always ha

Day of Year: 100 Date:4.10.14 Favorite Verse: Matthew 25.40 40  “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ Thought for the day: God's heart is with the least of people.  The poor, the oppressed and powerless are served. Those who serve them, serve Jesus. Jesus Reading (Ten Minutes): Matthew 25.31-46 + Rest of New Testament: Romans 13.1-7 +Psalm of the Day: Psalm 68.28-35 +Proverb of the Day: Proverbs 13.17 +Rest of Old Testament: Joshua 20,21

Day of Year: 99 Date:4.9.14 Favorite Verse: Matthew 25.29 29  For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. Thought for the day: When we trust God as generous and get busy working, it is common for there to be good growth in our work.  The more we use effectively what we have been entrusted with, the more God knows that we can use and multiply resources for our benefit and others.   Jesus Reading (Ten Minutes): Matthew 25.14-30 + Rest of New Testament: Romans 12.9-21 +Psalm of the Day: Psalm 68.19-27 +Proverb of the Day: Proverbs 143.16 +Rest of Old Testament: Joshua 18,19

Day of Year: 98 Date:4.8.14 Favorite Verse: Matthew 25.13 13  “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour. Thought for the day:   Mindfulness is an important word in living a successful life.  It is an individual matter to keep the light in your heart lit for Jesus to return for you.  I cannot borrow spiritual maturity from you and you cannot borrow it from me.  Keep your spiritual tanks full and be alert each day. Jesus Reading (Ten Minutes): Matthew 25.1-13 + Rest of New Testament: Romans 12.1-8 +Psalm of the Day: Psalm 68.15-18 +Proverb of the Day: Proverbs 13.14,15 +Rest of Old Testament:Joshua 17,18

As Sheila and I were watching Connecticut play the Florida Gators yesterday, we found ourselves pulling for the UConn Huskies.   Our blood pressure started to rise once we began to notice a severe bias in favor of the Gators.   All during the game they pointed out the good plays of the Gators.   We saw the Gator cheerleaders, but not the Husky cheerleaders.   We both observed and finally I said, “I have never heard such bias by announcers.” Then I went to my twitter account on my tablet and put search in for “announcer bias”.   Others had seen the same thing and were completely enraged. Into the tweets at number twenty someone tweeted something that shocked me.   They revealed that they liked the idea of having “teamcasts” from both teams as well as a neutral team of announcers.   Suddenly our ignorance was revealed as the reason for our frustration and high blood pressure. I thought of some lessons from this experience: -Ignorance can lead to a negative attitude.