Refreshing Our Spirits With Scripture

4.22- What is important? Joshua 23. 6  “Be very strong; be careful to obey all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, without turning aside to the right or to the left.

4.21- Psalm 94. 18  When I said, “My foot is slipping, ”      your unfailing love, Lord , supported me.

4.20- Careful with shadenfreude. Have you as a Christian allowed yourself to defend what your political allies do? Do you love your friends and hate your opponents? I hope not.  Jesus teaches us better ... Were you glad when something bad happened to those you don’t agree with?  Matthew 5. 43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor[i] and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47 And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. Proverbs 24.17 Do not gloat when your enemy falls; when they stumble, do not let your heart rejoice,

4.20- The amazing promises of Jesus Matthew 19. 28  Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29  And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife [ e ] or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. 30  But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.

4.19-How do we lock ourselves up in the prison of the past and bitterness? The revolutionary power of forgiveness. Forgive and be forgiven and enjoy freedom and blessing after blessing. Life is too short to stay locked in the prison of bitterness and resentment. Let God's grace, mercy and peace flow into your heart and it will bring health to your bones. John 17. 3  Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. According to Jesus to know God is to experience Eternal Life.   Randy Alcorn that For those who know Christ, this earthly life is the closest we come to hell.   For those who don’t know Christ, this earthly life is the closest they will ever come to heaven. We need to change.   We need to become more humble and modest like children.   We need to be careful that we never cause children to sin.   We need to get rid of those things that cause us to sin.   Our rebellion not only causes problems for us,

4.18- Proverbs 17. 7  Eloquent lips are unsuited to a godless fool—      how much worse lying lips to a ruler! Ecclesiastes 6 11  The more the words,      the less the meaning,      and how does that profit anyone?

4.17- Humans have a limit to their patience.  "How long do I have to put up with this?"  We have all felt this feeling.  The key to keeping going is have faith in God and keeping on keeping on and often what seemed impossible becomes possible. Matthew 17. 17  “You unbelieving and perverse generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me.” 18  Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed at that moment. 19  Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?” 20  He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” [21]  [ a ]

4.16 Easter Sunday And Every Sunday                 What were the earliest rules and rituals that you can remember from church services as a child? I remember sitting in Bible class and watching the lips of my teacher who had red lipstick.   She spoke to us about God and the stories in the Bible that were so interesting. David and Goliath.   Daniel in the lion’s den and many more.   Then when our class was over we went to the larger group.   There would be a man to get up and lead some songs. I don’t remember anything happening like this anywhere else except church.   Then a man would get up and teach or preach.   He would be confident and bold and quote scripture in the Bible or ask us to read it from the Bible.   This too was something a bit unusual in my experience.   After the sermon something real unusual happened.   A man would walk up to the front with a couple of other guys and he would take off   the little table a white, starched table cloth and fold it very

4.16- Be careful about focusing your life in the wrong direction.   We can easily look to the wrong sources for support.   If we focus on money for provision we are tempted to misuse money.   If we focus on God for provision then we put money in the proper place as a means to an end and not an end in itself.   Money is a wonderful servant and a bad master.   The bedrock of our faith is not money but those who taught us the Scriptures. Those who taught us the Scriptures have not been overcome by death.   Their lessons live in our hearts. Life includes suffering and pain, but that is not the end of the story.   There is hope and this hope feeds our constant spirit of joy even in times of horrible difficulty. We have the choice of what to set our minds upon.   We can set it upon the things of God or the things of men.   To set our hearts and minds on God’s things is to put Satan in His place.   We make him get behind us and not in our face. We have learned by watching the