Refreshing Our Spirits With Scripture

 6.13- There is always plenty to give for those who are generous. He provides for the providers. We give out in teaspoons and He puts in in tablespoons. We move up to tablespoons for our giving and He starts putting in with a soup ladle. There is the illusion that this world world and its things are the real and permanent things, but it turns out that the use of them is the real and permanent thing. Luke 6- 38  Give, and it will be given to you. They will  [ z ] pour  into your lap a  good measure—pressed down, shaken together,  and  running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.” 1 Kings 17. 8  Then the word of the  Lord  came to him, saying,   9  “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and stay there; behold, I have commanded a widow there to provide food for you.”   10  So he arose and went to Zarephath, and when he came to the entrance of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks; and he called to her and said, “Please ge

 6.12= There is a tension in living in this world. We are not in heaven where there is no more mourning, pain and death. These tensions are more easily handled living in community with others. Luke 15. 11  And He said,  “A man had two sons.   12  The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the estate that  [ e ] is coming to me.’ And  so  he divided his  [ f ] wealth between them.   13  And not many days later, the younger son gathered everything together and went on a journey to a distant country, and there he squandered his estate in  [ g ] wild living.   14  Now when he had  [ h ] spent everything, a severe famine occurred in that country, and he began doing without.   15  So he went and  [ i ] hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed pigs.   16  And he longed to have his fill of the carob pods that the pigs were eating, and no one was giving him  anything .   17  But when he came to  [ j ] his sens

 6.11- Wake-UP Call                                    I Peter 5:1-9                                     Bill Crowder     One early autumn morning as I drove to work in the dark, I was startled by a flash of brown in my headlights followed by the sound of something hitting the front of my car. I had clipped a deer at 70 miles per hour! It was only a glancing blow, and no damage was done to my car (or the deer, as far as I could tell), but it really shook me up. I had been in my usual “autopilot mode” for the familiar drive to the office, but the shock of the incident certainly got my attention. I was now fully alert and trying to calm a racing heartbeat. It was an unpleasant wake-up call.     The apostle Peter offers us a different kind of wake-up call – one that   while unpleasant is necessary. He alerts us to a spiritual battle we are engaged in with a powerful enemy. Peter warns, “ Keep awake! Watch at all times. The devil is working against you. He is walking around like a hung

 6.10- The Sounds of Silence                 Proverbs 10:19-21; John 8:1-11                  David Roper     A fishing buddy of mine observed, “Shallow streams make the most noise,” a delightful turn on the old adage, “Still waters run deep.” He meant, of course, that people who make the most noise tend to have little of substance to say.     The flip side of that problem is that we don’t listen well either. I’m reminded of the line in the old Simon and Garfunkel song Sounds of Silence about folks hearing without listening. Oh, they hear the words, but they fail to silence their own thoughts and truly listen. It would be good if we all learned to be silent and still.       There is “a time to be silent and a time to speak” (Ecclesiastes 3:7). Good silence is a listening silence, a humble silence. It leads to right hearing, right understanding, and right speaking. “The purposes of a person’s heart are deep waters,” the proverbs says, “but one who has insight draws them out” (Pro

 6.9- Did You Say No?                        Genesis 3:1-7                                    Cindy Hess Kasper     “Okay, here are the rules,” Marty said. “You can do whatever you want, wherever you want, whenever you want until someone tells you no.”     Those were our instructions on our first visit to our friends’ lake house. Marty and his wife, Lynn, who enjoy entertaining, give their guests lots of freedom to enjoy themselves. When we noticed the sailboat next to the paddleboat next to the pontoon boat, we knew we were in for a fun afternoon.       Marty told us no only once – when he saw that we were about to feed the swans that swam up next to us. He knew that if the birds were fed once, they would become aggressive if they didn’t get fed the next time.     Adam and Eve lived in the most beautiful locale, and they too had lots of freedom. However, when God said no, they resisted (Genesis 3). He told them not to eat from a certain tree, but they thought they knew better.

 6.8- Wisdom is the flashlight to guide our conduct in dark times. John 1. 9  [ h ] This  was the true Light  [ i ] that, coming into the world, enlightens every person.   10  He was in the world, and the world came into being through Him, and  yet  the world did not  [ j ] know Him.   11  He came to His  [ k ] own, and His own people did not  [ l ] accept Him.   12  But  [ m ] as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who  [ n ] believe in His name,   13  who were  [ o ] born, not of  [ p ] blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of a man, but of God. Proverbs 8. 12  “I, wisdom, dwell with prudence, And I find knowledge  and  discretion. 13  The fear of the  Lord  is to hate evil; Pride, arrogance, the evil way, And the perverted mouth, I hate. 14  Advice is mine and sound wisdom; I am understanding, power is mine. 15  By me kings reign, And rulers decree justice. 16  By me princes rule, and nobles, All who judge rightly. 17  I

There are things I believe in that I can't see.  Love. There are things I believe in that I can see. The power of family. Blessed are those who believe when they can't see until they can see. John 9. 38  And he said, “I believe, Lord.” And he worshiped Him.   39  And Jesus said,  “For judgment I came into this world, so that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.”   40  Those who were with Him from the Pharisees heard these things and said to Him, “We are not blind too, are we?”   41  Jesus said to them,  “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now  that  you maintain, ‘We see,’ your sin remains.

 6.6- Where is the location of God's temple? I was able to virtually attend the memorial for Travis Snyder yesterday. He moved to be with God from cancer at only 53. A beautiful story of noticing the worship moment wherever we are. Travis was walking to worship and a couple approached him distraught about their lost cat. He asked if they believed in God. They said yes and he asked if they could pray together about this. They did.. He gave them his number and said please call him when the cat was found. Two days later the cat was found and Travis received a text. The God encounter moment happened in the listening, praying and trusting. The location of the temple of God is within the hearts of His children. Thank God for Travis and his awareness of human need. I am reminded to be more alert and to listen better for God given opportunities. John 4.24 24  God is  [ j ] spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”   1 Corinthians 3 16  Do you not know that y