Refreshing Our Spirits With Scripture

 5.8- When Jesus said, "Our Father in heaven" what kind of Father do we pray to? A Father who.. Forgives our sins and heals our diseases Who lifts us out of the pits And crowns us with love and compassion And works righteousness and justice for the oppessed. Psalm 103. 103  Bless the  Lord , my soul, And all that is within me,  bless  His holy name. 2  Bless the  Lord , my soul, And do not forget any of His benefits; 3  Who pardons all your guilt, Who heals all your diseases; 4  Who redeems your life from the pit, Who crowns you with favor and compassion; 5  Who satisfies your  [ a ] years with good things, So that  your youth is renewed like the eagle. 6  The  Lord  performs  [ b ] righteous deeds And judgments for all who are oppressed. 7  He made known His ways to Moses, His deeds to the sons of Israel. 8  The  Lord  is compassionate and gracious, Slow to anger and abounding in mercy. 9  He will not always contend  with us , Nor will He keep  His anger  forever. 10  He has

 5.7- Honesty is necessary for all growth and improvement in life. When we pretend we are not broken we are only deceiving ourselves and delaying our treatment and recovery. 1 John 1. 6  If we say that we have fellowship with Him and  yet  walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth;   7  but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.   8  If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.   9  If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous, so that He will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.   10  If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us. 1 John 2. 2  My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an  [ a ] Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous;   2  and He Himself is the  [ b ] propitiat

 5.6- "When I have learnt to love God better than my earthly dearest, I shall love my earthly dearest better than I do now. In so far as I learn to love my earthly dearest at the expense of God and instead of God, I shall be moving towards the state in which I shall not love my earthly dearest at all. When first things are put first, second things are not suppressed but increased."  C. S. Lewis Matthew 6. 33  But  [ u ] seek first  [ v ] His kingdom and His righteousness, and  all these things will be  [ w ] provided to you.

 5.4- Accountability I   recognize that my actions, thoughts and attitudes affect those around me. I can humble myself and let God and others help me become responsible and accountable for my own growth and behavior. Philippians 2. 2  Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any  [ a ] affection and compassion,   2  make my joy complete  [ b ] by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose.   3  Do nothing  [ c ] from  [ d ] selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility consider one another as more important than yourselves;   4  do not  merely  look out for your own personal  interests , but also for the  interests  of others.   5  Have this attitude  [ e ] in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,   6  who, as He  already  existed in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be  [ f ] grasped,   7  but  [ g ] emptied Himself 

 5.3- The King’s Crown                                Matthew 27:27-31                      Amy Boucher Pye     We sat around the table, each person adding a toothpick to the foam disc before us. At our evening meal in the weeks leading up to Easter, we created a crown of thorns – with each toothpick signifying something we had done that day for which were sorry and for which Jesus had paid the penalty. The exercise brought home to us, night after night, how through our wrongdoing we were guilty and how we needed a Savior. And how Jesus freed us through His death on the cross.     The crown of thorns that Jesus was made to wear was part of a cruel game the Roman soldiers played before He was crucified. They all dressed Him in a royal robe and gave Him a staff as a king’s scepter, which they then used to beat Him. They mocked Him, calling Him “king of the Jews” (Matthew 27:29), not realizing that their actions would be remembered thousands of years later. This was no ordinary king.

 5.2- I Will Fear No Evil                               Psalm 23                                          Lisa Samra     In 1957, Melba Pattillo Beals was selected to be one of the “Little Rock Nine,” a group of nine African-American students who first integrated the previously all-white Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. In her 2018 memoir, I Will Not Fear: My Story of a Lifetime of Building Faith Under Fire, Beals gives a heartbreaking account of the injustices and harassment she struggled to face courageously every day as a fifteen-year-old student.     But she also wrote about her deep faith in God. In her darkest moments, when fear almost overwhelmed her, Beals repeated the familiar Bible verses she had learned at an early age from her grandmother. As she recited them, she was reminded of God’s presence with her, and Scripture gave her courage to endure.    Beals frequently recited Psalm 23, finding comfort in confessing, “Even though I walk through the darkest va