Refreshing Our Spirits With Scripture

 4.17- Many of these principles I have seen lived out in the families I know. 1.        Private, secret, between you and your Father in heaven is the best kind of prayer. 2.        Do not worry. Do not let your heart be troubled. Control your thinking and your emotions. 3.        Do not pursue money, pursue serving with excellence.   We are born with a longing in our hearts for a beautiful world.   A wisdom writer about 3,000 years ago wrote that we are born with eternity in our hearts. Art stops us in our tracks because of our attraction to beauty.   I had a friend return from Israel and one of the things that captured him the most was a giant mural in a chapel which captured the moment when a woman needed Jesus’ help and reached out and touched the hem of Jesus’ garment.   The artist, Daniel Cariola had captured and shared this beauty.   Beauty reminds us of the difference between the world we live in and the one we can imagine and envision on a good day. We should pay atte

 4.16-   I have come to the belief that the process of working through dirty things can result in getting important messages. Dishwashing and putting away dishes and silverware. Vacuuming. Cleaning the microwave and the front of the refrigerator and the mirrors. Taking out the trash and the garbage. Washing the car to remove gifts from birds and other dirt. These jobs can be considered dirty work. The servant workers get these jobs. I have two mail boxes in front of my house because the house was built as the beginning or end of one phase of construction of the neighborhood. The sidewalk stops at my house. The house to the West of me has a double mailbox. One is my neighbors and one is mine. Then in front of my house is an individual mailbox. My regular mail person delivers my snail mail to the neat, clean and non-rusty mailbox in front of my house. My back up mail person delivers my snail mail to the dirty, rusty, inconvenient for me mail box. Why? Because he/she finds this is

 4.15- God is very close to us when we are broken hearted. He is the great God who created the universe and can create a way for us through the storm. If He can make a star and a brain in a man who can make a camera to take a picture of it with the light traveling 13 billion light years away. He can make a way for me to keep my friendship with Jesus through this season of my life. Isaiah 40. The Greatness of God 40  “Comfort, comfort My people,” says your God. 2  “Speak  [ a ] kindly to Jerusalem; And call out to her, that her  [ b ] warfare has ended, That her  [ c ] guilt has been removed, That she has received of the  Lord ’ s  hand Double for all her sins.” 3  The voice of one calling out, “Clear the way for the  Lord  in the wilderness; Make  [ d ] straight in the desert a highway for our God. 4  Let every valley be lifted up, And every mountain and hill be made low; And let the uneven ground become a plain, And the rugged terrain a broad valley; 5  [ e ] Then the glory of the 

 4.14- I have had two Jesus follower friends this week who told me that the evil one had tempted them with disorder and chaos. This kind of spiritual fog can disorient us. I reminded them as I remind myself daily that Jesus also was tempted like we are so turning to Him for prayer training is good. He tells us the best prayer is just with us and our Father. Then we must remember that He is 100% loving. That is who He is. Is the birth of Jesus and the Christmas story real? Yes. Is the story of Easter and the empty tomb and our hope of life after death real? Yes. Is the ability of God to guide us to enjoy a loving family real? Yes. Is it true that where two or three are gathered together that there the Spirit of God is working with them? Yes. These verses can help in times of complexity, confusion, chaos and disorder. Set your attitude and stay focused. Matthew 5.3-12 5  Now when Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on the  [ a ] mountain; and after He sat down, His disciples came to Hi