Refreshing Our Spirits With Scripture

Day of Year: 53 Date: 2.22.14 Favorite Verse: Matthew 13.55 55  Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not His mother called Mary, and His brothers, James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? Thought for the day: If you feel that members of your own local community discount you and your family, don't feel you are alone.  Jesus understands.  He will transform your self image as you walk with Him. He was discounted by His hometown.  "This is the carpenter's son."  The meaning was this: 'His wisdom and words are nothing special.'  Allow Jesus to set your value, not the opinions of others. He thought you were precious enough that he was willing to die on the cross to give you freedom from shame and guilt. Jesus Reading (Ten Minutes): Matthew 13.53-58 + Rest of New Testament: Acts 24.1-9 +Psalm of the Day: Psalm 40.1-8 +Proverb of the Day: Proverbs 10.8,9 +Rest of Old Testament:

Day of Year: 52 Date:  2.21.14 Favorite Verse: Matthew 13.49 49  So it will be at the [ y ] end of the age; the angels will come forth and [ z ] take out the wicked from among the righteous, Thought for the day:  Yes, there are wicked people.  These will be separated from the rest at some point.  Jesus teaches that grace and forgiveness are keys to breaking with wickedness. The more we are forgiven by Jesus, the more we desire to love Him and follow Him.  It is by the grace and mercy of God that we are transformed from wickedness into being more like Jesus.  If people wish to remain wicked, they will be separated at the end  of the age.  Jesus said they are cast into a furnace of fire.  So I appeal to you and me today to receive the forgiveness, grace and mercy and enjoy Jesus now and forever. Jesus Reading (Ten Minutes): Matthew 13.47-52 + Rest of New Testament: Acts 23.23-35 +Psalm of the Day: ...

Guest Post: Alan Smith This is a picture of my favorite student in Russia.  The man is named Ernst and he is a psychiatrist in Siberia.  His job was to treat patients in an insane asylum.  He told me that his patients were those who believed in God. In the days of Communism all believers in God were considered to be mentally ill.  He started to study the Bible.  He saw that Jesus' principles were good mental health principles.  He had studied by correspondence and then we studied intensely for a week.  He was converted to Jesus.  I went back the next year and he came to see me.  He had been writing a mental health column for the village paper because his way of teaching was the most mentally healthy teaching they had heard.  To be mentally healthy, don't compare yourself with others. Comparing Ourselves With Others   Morris walks out into the street and manages to get a taxi just ...

Guest Post: Alan Smith This is a group of friends who saw me off to one of my mission trips to Russia.  I could not have made the trip except the support of friends.  The Olympics have reminded me of the great friends I made on the multiple trips to Russia.  Thanks God for friends.   What Is a Friend?   Through the years, we have different ideas of what having a friend means to us. Someone has composed the following list, showing the way that friendship changes through the years: In kindergarten, your idea of a good friend was the person who let you have the red crayon when all that was left was the ugly black one. In first grade, your idea of a good friend was the person who went to the bathroom with you and held your hand as you walked through the scary halls. In second grade, your idea of a good friend was the person who helped you stand up to the class bully. In third...

Day of Year: 51 Date: 2.20.14 Favorite Verse: Matthew 13.46 46  and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it. Thought for the day: We place a value on things by what we trade for them.  Do you know anyone at the end of their life who was comforted by money or power gotten at the expense of disloyalty and betrayal?  No. Do the things that are worth the investment over the long haul of life. Jesus Reading (Ten Minutes): Matthew 13.45,46 + Rest of New Testament: Acts 23.12-22 +Psalm of the Day: Psalm 38.13-22 +Proverb of the Day: Proverbs 10.1-5 +Rest of Old Testament: Leviticus 15,16  

Day of Year: 50 Date:  2.19.14 Favorite Verse: Matthew 13.44 44  “ The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again ; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Thought for the day: What is the life that you would sell everything for. Once a musician was playing and a man listening said, "I'd give my life to play like that.  He replied, "That's what is will cost you." Jesus Reading (Ten Minutes): Matthew 13.44 + Rest of New Testament: Acts 23.1-11  +Psalm of the Day: Psalm 38.1-12 +Proverb of the Day: Proverbs 9.13-18 +Rest of Old Testament: Leviticus 13,14

Day of Year: 49 Date: 2.18.14 Favorite Verse: Matthew 13.39 39  and the enemy who sowed them is the devil, and the harvest is the [ u ] end of the age; and the reapers are angels. Thought for the day: Jesus believed in the devil.  He doesn't describe him as one with an obvious appearance of a red body, pointed tail and a pitchfork.  He looks like someone who plants evil in the midst of good.  He describes him as one working in places where people are gathered to do good works and he plants secret agents to do bad works.  Using arrogance, pride, lies, gossip and slander, he influences growth in very bad things among good-hearted people.  He is the influence that messes up good things. This is good to know. Jesus Reading (Ten Minutes): Matthew 13.36-43 + Rest of New Testament:  Acts 22.1-29 +Psalm of the Day: Psalm 37.27-40 +Proverb of the Day: Proverbs 9.10-12 +Rest of Old Testament:

Day of Year: 48 Date: 2.17.14 Favorite Verse: Matthew 13. 34  All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables, and He did not speak to them without a parable. Thought for the day:  People who think and say, "Don't waste time telling stories," are off track as far as Jesus' example.  For stories to be well done, they require some waste.  Anne Lamott, the great story teller says, "I learned to waste a lot of time, which is the opposite of the fourth thing you're told after you're born: Don't waste time. (It goes right after "Go clean your room.")  The fifth rule is Don't waste paper, but in order to become who I was meant to be, I Iearned  I had to waste more paper, to practices messes, false starts and blunders; these are necessary stops on the route of creativity and emotional growth." Stitches, P. 33  Jesus always taught them with stories and the message has reached about 3 billion around the world who claim to ...

Day of Year: 47 Date: 2.16.14 Favorite Verse: Matthew 13.31,32 31  He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. 32  Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.” Thought for the day:  Steady progress is what we seek.   Inch by Inch everythnig's a cinch.  Growth is normal. Allow the natural progression of fruitfulness to take place. Do not worry and be anxious. Jesus Reading (Ten Minutes): Matthew 13.31,32 + Rest of New Testament: Act 21.15-26 +Psalm of the Day:  Psalm 37.1-15 +Proverb of the Day: Proverb 9.1-6 +Rest of Old Testament: Leviticus 7,8