Refreshing Our Spirits With Scripture

6.6- Entangled Dan Hardin “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” Matthew 6:33 NIV This passage brings us face-to-face with our own humanity. Being Christians does not make us immune from committing the most heinous of crimes. We may even mix a few prayers in with our lusting and sinning. No! We are not immune but we are clearly warned so that we can avoid such a state of affairs. God is so good to His children. He gives us every possible warning, so that we can flee every temptation and avoid the sin which could so easily entangle us. He even gives us early warning signs. We can examine the motive behind our prayers and redirect selfish ambition, buffeting our bodies like Paul did to bring them under subjection. We need not walk in the darkness of our own weakness and foolishness. With God’s ample warnings and constant grace, ...

6.5- Forgive to be Forgiven Colossians 3:13 Steve Blount Have you ever hurt someone or done something to a friend and then felt really, really bad about it? Have you gone to that person and asked their forgiveness, only to have them shun you or maybe give you the silent treatment? Can you imagine for a moment how hopeless we would feel if God forgave us the way we forgive others? What if God gave us the silent treatment? What if He shunned us and turned away when we approached Him? What if, when with penitent hearts, we asked God’s forgiveness and He said: “I’ll forgive you; but first, I want to drag this thing out just a little, you know what I mean. ‘Payback!’ I want to make sure you and everyone else see how much what you did has hurt me. Then, in time, maybe I’ll forgive you.” Our transgressions hurt our heavenly Father. Yet, He stands “ready to forgive” us. Forgiveness is something we must do, as much, and maybe even more f...

6.4- Everyone Will See Him Max Lucado “After I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be With me so that you may be where I am.” Jesus John 14:3 Someday, according to Christ, He will set us free. He will come back. In the blink of an eye, as fast as the lightning flashes from the east to the west, He will come back. And everyone will see him – you will, I will. Bodies will push back the dirt and break the surface of the sea. The earth will tremble, the sky will roar, and those who do not know Him will shudder. But in that hour you will not fear, because you know Him.

6.3- When to Walk Away Genesis 39:1-12 Lawrence Darmani When my father became a Christian in his old age, he fascinated me with his plan for overcoming temptation. Sometimes he just walked away! For example, whenever a disagreement between him and a neighbor began to degenerate into a quarrel, my father just walked away for a time rather than be tempted to advance the quarrel. One day he met with some friends who ordered pito (a locally brewed alcoholic beer). My father had formerly struggled with alcohol and had decided he was better off without it. So he simply stood up, said his goodbyes, and left the gathering of old friend7s for another day. In Genesis, we read how Potiphar’s wife tempted Joseph. He immediately recognized that giving in would cause him to “sin against God,” so he fled (Genesis 39:9-12). Temptation knocks often at our door. Sometimes it comes from our own desires, other times through the situations and people we encounte...

6.2- When the Water Blushed John 1:1-14 Tim Gustafson Why did Jesus come to Earth before the invention of photography and video? Couldn’t He have reached more people if everyone could see Him? After all, a picture is worth a thousand words. “No,” says Ravi Zacharias, who asserts that a word can be worth “a thousand pictures.” As evidence, he quotes Richard Crashaw’s magnificent line, “The conscious water saw its Master and blushed.” In one simple line, Crashaw captures the essence of Jesus’ first miracle (John 2:1-11). Creation itself recognizes Jesus as the Creator. No mere carpenter could turn water to wine. Another time, when Christ calmed a storm with the words, “Quiet! Be still,” His stunned disciples asked, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!” (Mark 4:39, 41). Later, Jesus told the Pharisees that if the crowd did not praise Him, “the stones will cry out” (Luke 19:40). Even the rocks know who ...

6.1- The Storms of Life Mark 4:35-5:1 Albert Lee In the book of Mark we read about a terrible storm. The disciples were with Jesus on a boat crossing the Sea of Galilee. When a “furious squall came up,” – among them some seasoned fishermen – were afraid for their lives (4:37-38). Did God not care? Weren’t they handpicked by Jesus and closest to Him? Weren’t they obeying Jesus who told them to “go over to the other side”? (v. 35). Why, then, were they going through such a turbulent time? No one is exempt from the storms of life. But just as the disciples who initially feared the storm later came to revere Jesus more, so the storms we face can bring us to a deeper knowledge of God. “Who is this,” the disciples pondered, “even the wind and the waves obey him!” (v. 41). Through our trials we can learn that no storm is big enough to prevent God from accomplishing His will (5:1). While we may not understand why God allows trials to enter our lives, we...

5.31- Who Do You Say He Is? Matthew 16:13-20 Bill Crowder In a 1929 Saturday Evening Post interview, Albert Einstein said, “As a child I received instruction both in the Bible and in the Talmud. I am a Jew, but I am enthralled by the luminous figure of the Nazarene. . . .No one can read the Gospels without feeling the actual presence of Jesus. His personality pulsates in every word. No myth is filled with such life.” The New Testament Scriptures give us other examples of Jesus’ countrymen who sense there was something special about Him. When Jesus asked His followers, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” they replied that some said He was John the Baptist, others said He was Elijah, and others thought He was Jeremiah or one of the prophets (Matthew 15:14). To be named with the great prophets of Israel was certainly a compliment, but Jesus wasn’t seeking compliments. He was searching their understanding and looking for faith. So He asked a second quest...