Refreshing Our Spirits With Scripture

3.10- Could it be difficult for a Holy, pure God to make a way for fellowship and intimacy with rebellious, stiff-necked humans? Yes. To take away the sin would require blood of the lamb of God, His only Son. Forgiveness is possible but difficult.

 4.9- "After the resurrection, Jesus comes back to his failed disciples & instead of bringing up their mistakes, he sends them on mission. In the Kingdom of God, our mistakes don't make us “unusable.” It’s through our mistakes that God demonstrates his incomparable grace in our lives." Rich Villodas John 21.   15  So when they had finished breakfast, Jesus *said to Simon Peter,  “Simon,  son  of John, do you  [ f ] love Me more than these?”  He *said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I  [ g ] love You.” He *said to him,  “Tend My lambs.”   16  He *said to him again a second time,  “Simon,  son  of John, do you  [ h ] love Me?”  He *said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I  [ i ] love You.” He *said to him,  “Shepherd My sheep.”   17  He *said to him the third time,  “Simon,  son  of John, do you  [ j ] love Me?”  Peter was grieved because He sai...

 4.8- It’s Good to Ask Psalm 143:4-11 John Blasé My father has always had a directional sense I’ve envied. He’s just immediately known where north, south, east, and west are. It’s like he was born with that sense. And he’s always been right. Until the night he wasn’t. That was the night my father got lost. He and my mother attended and event in an unfamiliar town and left after dark. He was convinced he knew the way back to the highway, tut he didn’t He got turned around, then confused, and ultimately frustrated. My mother reassured him, “I know it’s hard, but ask your phone for directions. It’s okay.” For the first time in his life that I’m aware of, my seventy-six-year-old father asked for directions. From his phone. The psalmist was a man with a wealth of life experiences. But the psalms reveal moments when it appears David felt lost spiritually and emotionally. Psalm 143 contains one of those times. The great king’s heart was dismayed (Psalm 143:4). He was in trouble (verse 11)...

 4.7- What Kind of Savior Is He? John 6:47-51, 60-66 Anne Cetas Last year, friends and I prayed for healing for three women battling cancer. We knew God had the power to do this, and we asked Him to do so every day. We’d seen Him work in the past and believed He could do it again. There were days in each one’s battle where healing looked like it was a reality, and we rejoiced. But they all died that fall. Some said that was “the ultimate healing,” and in a way it was. Still the losss hurt us deeply. We wanted Him to heal them all – here and now – gut for reasons we couldn’t understand, no miracle came. Some people followed Jesus for the miracles He performed and to get their needs met (John 6:2, 26). Some simply saw Him as the carpenter’s son (Matthew 13:55-58), and others expected Him to be their political leader (Luke 19:37-38). Some thought of Him as a great teacher (Matthew 7:28-29), while others quit following Him because His teaching was hard to understand (John 6:66). Jesus ...

 4.6- It is better to live empowered by love than by fear. 1 John 4. 15  Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.   16  We have come to know and have believed the love which God has  [ d ] for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.   17  By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world.   18  There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear  [ e ] involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love.   19  We love, because He first loved us.   20  If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.   21  And thi...

 4.5- A personal friendship with Jesus doesn't cause someone to see themselves as more important but to see God as more awesome. Matthew 16. 13  Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples,  “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”   14  And they said, “Some  say  John the Baptist; and others,  [ h ] Elijah; but still others,  [ i ] Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.”   15  He *said to them,  “But who do you say that I am?”   16  Simon Peter answered, “You are  [ j ] the Christ, the Son of the living God.”   17  And Jesus said to him,  “Blessed are you, Simon  [ k ] Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal  this  to you, but My Father who is in heaven. John 15.   15  No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for a...