Refreshing Our Spirits With Scripture

Matthew 19. 13-15  One day children were brought to Jesus in the hope that he would lay hands on them and pray over them. The disciples shooed them off. But Jesus intervened: “Let the children alone, don’t prevent them from coming to me. God’s kingdom is made up of people like these.” After laying hands on them, he left. Psalm 55. 15  Haul my betrayers off alive to hell—let them      experience the horror, let them      feel every desolate detail of a damned life. 16-19  I call to God;      God will help me. At dusk, dawn, and noon I sigh      deep sighs—he hears, he rescues. My life is well and whole, secure      in the middle of danger Even while thousands      are lined up against me. God hears it all, and from his judge’s bench      puts them in their place. But, set in their ways, they won’t change;  ...

How would the most unexpected person possible write the best non fiction Christian writing in the world? "We are not competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God" Paul (2 Cor. 3.5) How does God make His children competent? He makes sure they know they have been born into His family by His choice first and our choice second. He empowers them by His Spirit. He guides them by His Son, the living word and the commands of Jesus, the written word. He gets them to get their mind off of themselves and on to the suffering of others. He shows them by His life how to love the world.   He gives weak and wicked people the blessings of rain and food and resources even though they don’t deserve it. He tells the truth.   He cares for them with understanding but there comes a time that He lays down the clear truth that cannot be ignored. He causes them to learn the language of truth and love nothing but the truth.  He giv...

Matthew 18. 21  At that point Peter got up the nerve to ask, “Master, how many times do I forgive a brother or sister who hurts me? Seven?” 22  Jesus replied, “Seven! Hardly. Try seventy times seven. 23-25  “The kingdom of God is like a king who decided to square accounts with his servants. As he got under way, one servant was brought before him who had run up a debt of a hundred thousand dollars. He couldn’t pay up, so the king ordered the man, along with his wife, children, and goods, to be auctioned off at the slave market. 26-27  “The poor wretch threw himself at the king’s feet and begged, ‘Give me a chance and I’ll pay it all back.’ Touched by his plea, the king let him off, erasing the debt. 28  “The servant was no sooner out of the room when he came upon one of his fellow servants who owed him ten dollars. He seized him by the throat and demanded, ‘Pay up. Now!’ 29-31  “The poor wretch threw himself down and begged, ‘Give me a...

Matthew 18. 15-17  “If a fellow believer hurts you, go and tell him—work it out between the two of you. If he listens, you’ve made a friend. If he won’t listen, take one or two others along so that the presence of witnesses will keep things honest, and try again. If he still won’t listen, tell the church. If he won’t listen to the church, you’ll have to start over from scratch, confront him with the need for repentance, and offer again God’s forgiving love. 18-20  “Take this most seriously: A yes on earth is yes in heaven; a no on earth is no in heaven. What you say to one another is eternal. I mean this. When two of you get together on anything at all on earth and make a prayer of it, my Father in heaven goes into action. And when two or three of you are together because of me, you can be sure that I’ll be there.” Psalm 54. 54  1-2  God, for your sake, help me!      Use your influence to clear me. Listen, God—I’m desperate. ...

Matthew 18. 12-14  “Look at it this way. If someone has a hundred sheep and one of them wanders off, doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine and go after the one? And if he finds it, doesn’t he make far more over it than over the ninety-nine who stay put? Your Father in heaven feels the same way. He doesn’t want to lose even one of these simple believers. Psalm 53. 53  1-2  Bilious and bloated, they gas,      “God is gone.” It’s poison gas—      they foul themselves, they poison Rivers and skies;      thistles are their cash crop. God sticks his head out of heaven.      He looks around. He’s looking for someone not stupid—      one man, even, God-expectant,      just one God-ready woman. 3  He comes up empty. A string      of zeros. Useless, unshepherded Sheep, taking turns pretending     ...

Matthew 18. 18  At about the same time, the disciples came to Jesus asking, “Who gets the highest rank in God’s kingdom?” 2-5  For an answer Jesus called over a child, whom he stood in the middle of the room, and said, “I’m telling you, once and for all, that unless you return to square one and start over like children, you’re not even going to get a look at the kingdom, let alone get in. Whoever becomes simple and elemental again, like this child, will rank high in God’s kingdom. What’s more, when you receive the childlike on my account, it’s the same as receiving me. 6-7  “But if you give them a hard time, bullying or taking advantage of their simple trust, you’ll soon wish you hadn’t. You’d be better off dropped in the middle of the lake with a millstone around your neck. Doom to the world for giving these God-believing children a hard time! Hard times are inevitable, but you don’t have to make it worse—and it’s doomsday to you if you do. 8-9  ...

Matthew 17. 24  When they arrived at Capernaum, the tax men came to Peter and asked, “Does your teacher pay taxes?” 25  Peter said, “Of course.” But as soon as they were in the house, Jesus confronted him. “Simon, what do you think? When a king levies taxes, who pays—his children or his subjects?” 26-27  He answered, “His subjects.” Jesus said, “Then the children get off free, right? But so we don’t upset them needlessly, go down to the lake, cast a hook, and pull in the first fish that bites. Open its mouth and you’ll find a coin. Take it and give it to the tax men. It will be enough for both of us.” Psalm 50. 50  1-3  The God of gods—it’s God !—speaks out, shouts, “Earth!”      welcomes the sun in the east,      farewells the disappearing sun in the west. From the dazzle of Zion,      God blazes into view. Our God makes his entrance,      he’s not shy in his comi...

Matthew 17. 14-16  At the bottom of the mountain, they were met by a crowd of waiting people. As they approached, a man came out of the crowd and fell to his knees begging, “Master, have mercy on my son. He goes out of his mind and suffers terribly, falling into seizures. Frequently he is pitched into the fire, other times into the river. I brought him to your disciples, but they could do nothing for him.” 17-18  Jesus said, “What a generation! No sense of God! No focus to your lives! How many times do I have to go over these things? How much longer do I have to put up with this? Bring the boy here.” He ordered the afflicting demon out—and it was out, gone. From that moment on the boy was well. 19  When the disciples had Jesus off to themselves, they asked, “Why couldn’t we throw it out?” 20  “Because you’re not yet taking God seriously,” said Jesus. “The simple truth is that if you had a mere kernel of faith, a poppy seed, say, you would tell thi...