Refreshing Our Spirits With Scripture

 4.25- Have you had a Doctor of nurse that changed you life.  I have.  I broke my ankle on this date twenty years ago.  I went to a specialist who did not have a very good bedside manner, but he helped to adjust to my new reality.  He said, "I have some good news for you and some bad news for you. The bad news is that you will never run and play sports like you have in the past after this event.  I am going to get you connected with a good man who will fix you a perfect orthodic for your ankle and fit you with braces and you will not have great pain and you will be able to walk effectively. By being blunt and honest with me and not giving me false hope he actually helped me.  He did that and I have been able to walk ever since and for is help as well as his nursing staff.   I should mention teachers and coaches and principals who helped us rear our children. These were angels from God. Mark 1 29  And immediately after they left the ...

 4.24- Spiritual growth with God happens most commonly in times of intense stress and suffering. Scripture indicates the best prayers are honest conversations between God and some of His children.  Moses. Jonah. David and others had powerful conversations together.  The poetry of the prayers and the drama is developed through dark times of pain.   Jesus, famous sermon on the Mountain that gives the basic tenets of his way of life is set up to encourage the poor and suffering who are under attack of very difficult times.  We don't have a prayer problem as much as we have a comfort problem.   We want to be disciple of Jesus without any times of discomfort.  This is not possible because learning by its nature is a discipline  A man heard a great performance of a famous musician.  He came to compliment the man and said, "I would give my life to play like that."  The man said, "That is what it has cost me is my life."  A resear...

 4.23- When you have two people who are close to God and close to each other there is a powerful prayer team. Godly couples have found that the closer they draw to God the more aligned their prayers can be for the benefit of their family. There is a reminder to the men who are married to a Godly woman to be humble, sympathetic and harmonious.with them or your prayers will be ineffective. A question? Are prayers together non-existent? Do we feel hindered in reaching our goals? Are we as husbands listening to our wives and supporting them in a good way? I found recently that my attitude and words had harmed my closeness to some godly friends. Thank God for forgiveness. 1 Peter 3. 3  In the same way, you wives, be subject to your own husbands so that even if any  of them  are disobedient to the word, they may be won over without a word by the behavior of their wives,   2  as they observe your pure  [ a ] and respectful behavior.   3 ...

 4.22- Religion can be of at least two types. Pure. Impure. Pure religion is guided to be good by God. He says it is being away from evil and involved in good. Good is supporting the widows and fatherless. Long prayers and devouring the means of poor widows is not pure religion. God is the ultimate judge. I am not. He knows the secrets of the heart. I do not. He has taught lovers to seek to save, not judge. James 1 26  If anyone thinks himself to be religious, yet does not  [ z ] bridle his tongue but deceives his  own  heart, this person’s religion is worthless.   27  Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of  our  God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress,  and  to keep oneself unstained  [ aa ] by the world.

 4.21- On Sunday we see the effects and power of Friday. Jesus said if he be "lifted up" he would draw all men to himself. "Lifted up" meant this price was good for the exchange. Jesus was referred to as the "lamb of God."by John. Among the Jewish people, "Passover" was a holiday remembering how God had taught his children to mark their homes with the blood of a lamb "without defects". This mark delivered them from death., When you purchased something in a shop, in those days, you saw a robe you wanted and you placed a sign of what you would give for the robe. You laid a sign with what you would give in exchange on top of the robe. Maybe a dozen eggs. To avoid the shame negotiating in the culture a shop owner would lift up the sign to say the exchange would work. The price for the forgiveness of my sins was the perfect lamb without defects. When he was "lifted up" and the tomb was empty on Sunday morning it showed the plan ...

 4.20- We know humans long for good, deep family connections. Since family and family love is messy we must keep our focus on mercy and compassion toward all wandering sheep. Some religious people are more focused testing Jesus and his followers than truly helping people in the long term. They want to put the holy spirit in their logical boxes. We teach the best way to live as family, but none of us lives up it it, thus the need for the forgiveness message of the cross on this Easter weekend. In our hearts, we say to Jesus what the repentant thief said, "Lord remember me." then we can go where they went when they breathed their last breath. Paradise. We forgive others as we have been forgiven and live in the hope and joy of the empty tomb. 2025 years ago. Love, romance and little children at Easter are so beautiful. The best of all things are possible because God's love makes them possible. We more we release our white knuckle grip on our lives, the more the blessed famil...