Refreshing Our Spirits With Scripture

 2.21- Peacefulness ~~ Rebecca Harlow Jordan As I trust God in each situation, He gives me an attitude of peacefulness, so that I know I can handle any situation with His help. His Word gives me a strength and calmness of spirit that allows nothing to interrupt my relationship with Him. Phillipians 4. 6  Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;  7  and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

 2.20- Good Riddance Day Psalm 103:1-12 Marvin Williams Since 2006 a group of people have celebrated an unusual event around the New Year. It’s called Good Riddance Day. Based on a Latin American tradition, individuals write down unpleasant, embarrassing memories and bad issues from the past year and throw them into an industrial strength shredder. Or some take a sledgehammer to their good riddance item. The writer of Psalm 103 goes beyond suggesting that people say good riddance to unpleasant memories. He reminded us that God bids good riddance to our sins. In his attempt to express God’s vast love for His people, the psalmist used word pictures. He compared the vastness of God’s love to the distance between the heavens and the earth (Psalm 130:11). Then the psalmist talked about His forgiveness in spatial terms. As far as the place where the sun rises is from the place where the sun sets, so the Lord has removed His people’s sins from them (Psalm 103:12). The psalmist wanted God’...

 2.19- All Things New Revelation 21:1-7 James Banks Junkyards intrigue me. I enjoy working on cars, so I frequently make trips to the one near our home. It’s a lonely place, where the wind whispers through discarded hulks that were once someone’s prized possession. Some were wrecked, some wore out, and others simply outlived their usefulness. As I walk between the rows, a car will sometimes catch my eye, and I’ll find myself wondering about the adventures it had during its “lifetime.” Like a portal to the past, each has a story to tell – of human hankering after the latest model and the inescapable passage of time. But I take particular pleasure in finding new life for an old part. Whenever I can take something discarded and give it new life in a restored vehicle, it feels like a small victory against time and decline. It sometimes makes me think of Jesus’ words at the end of the Bible: “I am making everything new!” (Revelation 21:5). These words refer to God’s renewal of creation,...

 2.18- Eyes Tightly Shut Genesis 3:1-10 Kristen Holmberg He knew he shouldn’t have done it. I could clearly see he knew it was wrong. It was written all over his face! As I sat down to discuss his wrongdoing with him, my nephew quickly squeezed his eyes shut. Then he sat, thinking – with three-year-old logic – that if he couldn’t see me, then I must not be able to see him. And if he was invisible to me, then he could avoid the conversation (and consequences) he anticipated. I’m so glad I could see him in that moment. While I couldn’t condone his actions, and we needed to talk about it, I really didn’t want anything to come between us. I wanted him to look fully into my face and see how much I love him and was eager to forgive him! In that moment, I caught a glimmer of how God might have felt when Adam and Eve broke His trust in the Garden of Eden. Realizing their guilt, they tried to hide from God (Genesis 3:10), who could “see” them as plainly as I could see my nephew. When we rea...

 2.17- I suspect that generally loud, bombastic words will not draw people to be persuaded to a new world view. "Salt of the earth people." The best way to positively impact those around us is with a firm, well grounded, gentle and quiet spirit. 1 Peter 3. 3  Wives, likewise,  be  submissive to your own husbands, that even if some do not obey the word, they, without a word, may be won by the conduct of their wives,  2  when they observe your chaste conduct  accompanied  by fear.  3  Do not let your adornment be  merely  outward—arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on  fine  apparel—  4  rather  let it be  the hidden person of the heart, with the  [ a ] incorruptible  beauty  of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God.  5  For in this manner, in former times, the holy women who trusted in God also adorned themselves, being subm...

 2.16- When we start seeing interruptions as opportunities we start a new kind of life. Mark 5. A Girl Restored to Life and a Woman Healed 21  Now when Jesus had crossed over again by boat to the other side, a great multitude gathered to Him; and He was by the sea.  22  And behold, one of the rulers of the synagogue came, Jairus by name. And when he saw Him, he fell at His feet  23  and begged Him earnestly, saying, “My little daughter lies at the point of death. Come and lay Your hands on her, that she may be healed, and she will live.”  24  So  Jesus  went with him, and a great multitude followed Him and thronged Him. 25  Now a certain woman had a flow of blood for twelve years,  26  and had suffered many things from many physicians. She had spent all that she had and was no better, but rather grew worse.  27  When she heard about Jesus, she came behind  Him  in the crowd and touched Hi...

 2.15- When we understand that God is love, then His constant engagement with us, his children, is not a "bug" but a "feature". 1 John 4. 12  No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us.  13  By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit.  14  And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son  as  Savior of the world.  15  Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.  16  And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.