Refreshing Our Spirits With Scripture

Matthew 21. 12  And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves. 13  And He *said to them, “It is written, ‘ My house shall be called a house of prayer ’; but you are making it a robbers ’ [ c ] den .” 14  And the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them. 15  But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that He had done, and the children who were shouting in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they became indignant 16  and said to Him, “Do You hear what these children are saying?” And Jesus *said to them, “Yes; have you never read, ‘ Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies You have prepared praise for Yourself ’?” 17  And He left them and went out of the city to Bethany, and spent the night there. Psalm 60 60  O God, You have rejected us. You have [ d ] broken us; Yo

Matthew 21. 21  Now when they drew near Jerusalem, and came to Bethphage, [ a ] at the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, 2  saying to them, “Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Loose them and bring them to Me. 3  And if anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord has need of them,’ and immediately he will send them.” 4  All [ b ] this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying: 5  “Tell the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your King is coming to you, Lowly, and sitting on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey.’” [ c ] 6  So the disciples went and did as Jesus commanded them. 7  They brought the donkey and the colt, laid their clothes on them, and set Him [ d ] on them. 8  And a very great multitude spread their clothes on the road; others cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9  Then the multitudes who went before and those wh

Matthew 20. 29  Now as they went out of Jericho, a great multitude followed Him. 30  And behold, two blind men sitting by the road, when they heard that Jesus was passing by, cried out, saying, “Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!” 31  Then the multitude warned them that they should be quiet; but they cried out all the more, saying, “Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!” 32  So Jesus stood still and called them, and said, “What do you want Me to do for you?” 33  They said to Him, “Lord, that our eyes may be opened.” 34  So Jesus had compassion and touched their eyes. And immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed Him. Psalm 58. 58  Do you indeed speak righteousness, you silent ones? Do you judge uprightly, you sons of men? 2  No, in heart you work wickedness; You weigh out the violence of your hands in the earth. 3  The wicked are estranged from the womb; They go astray as soon as they are born, speaking lies. 4  Their poison is like the poi

Matthew 20. 17  Now Jesus, going up to Jerusalem, took the twelve disciples aside on the road and said to them, 18  “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death, 19  and deliver Him to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucify. And the third day He will rise again.” Psalm 57. 7  My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and give praise. 8  Awake, my glory! Awake, lute and harp! I will awaken the dawn. 9  I will praise You, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing to You among the nations. 10  For Your mercy reaches unto the heavens, And Your truth unto the clouds. 11  Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; Let Your glory be above all the earth.

Matthew 20. 20  1-2  “God’s kingdom is like an estate manager who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. They agreed on a wage of a dollar a day, and went to work. 3-5  “Later, about nine o’clock, the manager saw some other men hanging around the town square unemployed. He told them to go to work in his vineyard and he would pay them a fair wage. They went. 5-6  “He did the same thing at noon, and again at three o’clock. At five o’clock he went back and found still others standing around. He said, ‘Why are you standing around all day doing nothing?’ 7  “They said, ‘Because no one hired us.’ “He told them to go to work in his vineyard. 8  “When the day’s work was over, the owner of the vineyard instructed his foreman, ‘Call the workers in and pay them their wages. Start with the last hired and go on to the first.’ 9-12  “Those hired at five o’clock came up and were each given a dollar. When those who were hired first saw that, they assumed

Matthew 19. 27  Then Peter chimed in, “We left everything and followed you. What do we get out of it?” 28-30  Jesus replied, “Yes, you have followed me. In the re-creation of the world, when the Son of Man will rule gloriously, you who have followed me will also rule, starting with the twelve tribes of Israel. And not only you, but anyone who sacrifices home, family, fields—whatever—because of me will get it all back a hundred times over, not to mention the considerable bonus of eternal life. This is the Great Reversal: many of the first ending up last, and the last first.” Psalm 56. 56  1-4  Take my side, God—I’m getting kicked around,      stomped on every day. Not a day goes by      but somebody beats me up; They make it their duty      to beat me up. When I get really afraid      I come to you in trust. I’m proud to praise God;      fearless now, I trust in God.      What can mere mortals do? 5-6  They don’t let up—      they smear my reputation      and huddle t

Matthew 19. 16  Another day, a man stopped Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?” 17  Jesus said, “Why do you question me about what’s good? God is the One who is good. If you want to enter the life of God, just do what he tells you.” 18-19  The man asked, “What in particular?” Jesus said, “Don’t murder, don’t commit adultery, don’t steal, don’t lie, honor your father and mother, and love your neighbor as you do yourself.” 20  The young man said, “I’ve done all that. What’s left?” 21  “If you want to give it all you’ve got,” Jesus replied, “go sell your possessions; give everything to the poor. All your wealth will then be in heaven. Then come follow me.” 22  That was the last thing the young man expected to hear. And so, crestfallen, he walked away. He was holding on tight to a lot of things, and he couldn’t bear to let go. 23-24  As he watched him go, Jesus told his disciples, “Do you have any idea how difficult it is for