Refreshing Our Spirits With Scripture

 12.6-   Clothes for the Climate Colossians 3:8-17 David McCasland While removing the price tag from an item of winter clothing I had purchased, I smiled at these words on the back: “WARNING: This innovative product will make you want to go outdoors and stay there.” When properly clothed for the climate, a person can survive and even thrive in harsh and changing weather conditions. The same principle is true in our spiritual lives. As followers of Jesus, our all-weather spiritual wardrobe has been prescribed by the Lord in His Word, the Bible. “As God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience . . . . Forgive as the Lord forgave you” (verses 12-13). These garments that God provides – such as kindness, humility, and gentleness – allow us to meet hostility and criticism with patience, forgiveness, and love. They give us staying power in the storms of life. When we fa...

12.5-   We’ve Got the Power! Romans 7:14-25 Xochitl Dixon The loud crackling noise startled me. Recognizing the sound, I raced to the kitchen. I’d accidently tapped the start button on the empty coffee maker. Unplugging the appliance, I grabbed the handle of the carafe. Then touched the bottom of the container to ensure it wasn’t too hot to place on the tile counter. The smooth surface burned my fingertips, blistering my tender skin. As my husband nursed my wound, I shook my head. I knew the glass would be hot. “I honestly do not know why I touched it,” I said. My response after making such a mistake reminded me of Paul’s reaction to a more serious issue in Scripture – the nature of sin. The apostle admits to not knowing why he does things he knows he shouldn’t do and doesn’t want to do (Romans 7:15). Affirming that Scripture determines right and wrong (verse 7), he acknowledges the real, complex war constantly waging between the flesh and the ...

 12.4-      Room 5020 Genesis 50:15-20 Dave Branon Jay Bufton turned his hospital room into a lighthouse. The fifty-two old husband, father, high school teacher and coach was dying of cancer, but his room – Room 5020 – became a beacon of hope for friends, family and hospital workers. Because of his joyful attitude and strong faith, nurses wanted to be assigned to Jay. Some even came to see him during off-hours. Even as his once-athletic body was wasting away, he greeted anyone and everyone with a smile and encouragement. One friend said, “Every time I visited Jay he was upbeat, positive, and filled with hope. He was, even while looking cancer and death in the face, living out his faith.” At Jay’s funeral one speaker noted that Room 5020 had a special meaning. He pointed to Genesis 50:20, in which Joseph says that although his brothers sold him into slavery, God turned the tables and accomplished something good: “the saving of many...

 12.3-  Businesses that hurt people will go down.  Those that help people will increase.  There are dangers in certain business situations such where people get drunk and then get in a car and drive.  That would not be a good business for a godly person. Proverbs 23. 31  Do not look on the wine when it is red, When it [ s ] sparkles in the cup, When it goes down smoothly; 32  At the last it bites like a serpent And stings like a viper. 33  Your eyes will see strange things And your [ t ] mind will utter perverse things. 34  And you will be like one who lies down in the [ u ] middle of the sea, Or like one who lies down on the top of a [ v ] mast. 35  “They struck me, but I did not become [ w ] ill; They beat me, but I did not know it . When shall I awake? I will seek [ x ] another drink.”    

 12.2-   We are sent by God out into each day to be in places where Jesus is needed. Our God is strong and pours His strength into our weakness.  He is our refuge.   Psalm 125 125  Those who trust in the Lord Are as Mount Zion, which cannot be moved but abides forever. 2  As the mountains surround Jerusalem, So the Lord surrounds His people From this time forth and forever. 3  For the scepter of wickedness shall not rest upon the [ a ] land of the righteous, So that the righteous will not put forth their hands to do wrong. 4  Do good, O Lord , to those who are good And to those who are upright in their hearts. 5  But as for those who turn aside to their crooked ways, The Lord will lead them away with the doers of iniquity.  

 12.1-   We pray for people and God sends us as an answer to our prayers for them.   Our prayers are often not easy.  They come in the midst of our own brokeness and our family issues.   Job 23. 23  Then Job [ a ] replied, 2  “Even today my complaint is rebellion; [ b ] His hand is heavy despite my groaning. 3  “Oh that I knew where I might find Him, That I might come to His seat! 4  “I would present my case before Him And fill my mouth with arguments. 5  “I would learn the words which He would [ c ] answer, And perceive what He would say to me. 6  “Would He contend with me by the greatness of His power? No, surely He would pay attention to me. 7  “There the upright would reason with Him; And I [ d ] would be delivered forever from my Judge. 8  “Behold, I go forward but He is not there , And backward, but I cannot perceive Him; 9  When He acts on the left, I cannot behold Him ; He turns on the right, I cannot s...

 11.30- What if you go to a place where you are not welcomed?   Move on to where you find a town that will welcome you. When you are welcomed you will help people in your job and you will help others with compassion and love.   That is where God is working and leading us.   Jesus is in the middle of the storm saying don’t be afraid and come to me. He reminds these workers to be content people.   Food.   Housing. Jobs. When you move on because you were rejected or not welcomed it is good to do some self examination and do all you can to improve what you are doing.   If it turns out that the move was because of something that you can’t control, determine to remain peaceful.   Be better.   Not bitter. Jesus teaches us to be real about warnings for those who make bad choices.   Choices have consequences.   Ezekiel 30. 25  Thus I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, but the arms of Pharaoh will fall. Then they...