Refreshing Our Spirits With Scripture

5.2- Humans are loveable. The greatest teachers believe in their students They teach students their subjects.  Good outcomes happen when students feel wanted and believed in.  They are directed into the correct lane of learning for them. They respect themselves and those around them.  After proper training they will fall down and loving family and friends will extend a hand until they can ride the bike called "life on planet earth".

 5.1 What Will Be Revelation 22:1-5 Jennifer Benson Schuldt You and I have something in common. We live in a mixed-up, tarnished world and we have never known anything different. Adam and Eve, however, could remember what life was like before the curse. They could recall the world as God intended it to be – free of death, hardship and pain (Genesis 3:16-19). In pre-fall Eden, hunger, unemployment and illness did not exist. No one questioned God’s creative power or His plan for human relationships. The world we have inherited resembles God’s perfect garden only slightly. To quote C. S. Lewis, “This is a good world gone wrong, but [it] still retains the memory of what ought to have been.” Fortunately, the cloudy memory of what the earth should have been is also a prophetic glimpse into eternity. There, just as Adam and Eve walked and talked with God, believers will see His face and serve Him directly. There will be nothing between God and us. “No longer will there be any curse” (Reve...

 4.30- When a road-construction foreman was killed in an accident, the love of this man for his family, co-workers and community resulted in an overwhelming sense of loss. His country church couldn’t accommodate all the mourners so planners moved the service to a much larger building. Friends and family packed the auditorium. The message was clear: Tim touched many lives in a way uniquely his. So many would miss his kindness, sense of humor and enthusiasm for life. As I returned from the funeral, I thought about the life of King Jehoram. What a contrast! His brief reign of terror is traced in 2 Chronicles 21. To solidify his power, Jehoram killed his own brothers and other leaders (verse 4). Then he led Judah into idol worship. The record tells us, “He passed away, to no one’s regret” (verse 20). Jehoram thought that brute force would ensure his legacy. It did. He is forever commemorated in Scripture as an evil man and a self-centered leader. Although Jesus also was a king, He came...

 4.29- No Need Is Too Trivial Isaiah 49:13-18 Joanie Yoder Several mothers of small children were sharing encouraging answers to prayer. Yet one woman said she felt selfish about troubling God with her personal needs. “Compared with the huge global needs God Faces,” she explained, “my circumstances must seem trivial to Him.” Moments later, her little son pinched his fingers in a door and ran screaming to his mother. She didn’t say, “How selfish of you to bother me with your throbbing fingers when I’m busy!” She showed him great compassion and tenderness. As Psalm 103:13 reminds us, this is the response of love, both human and divine. In Isaiah 49, God said that even though a mother may forget to have compassion on her child, the Lord never forgets His children (verse 15). God assured His people “I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands” (verse 16). Such intimacy with God belongs to those who fear Him and who rely on Him rather on themselves. As that child with throbbing finger...

The rich according to many Proverbs have certain traps and  cul-de-sacs that are different from the poor.  Proverb 28.11 is an example.  They are tempted to have pride in their own wisdom rather than Jesus' wisdom. Money was given to the guards of Jesus' tomb to lie and say Jesus disciples stole the body.  History teaches us that some them died for their faith.  People with hope based on an empty tomb can lay down their lives. A few days before MLK was killed he said he was aware he might not live long but he had high hopes for his children and grandchildren.  That empty tomb means that love wins over hate.  Tyler Perry made some good remarks this week.  He said his mother taught him to hate no one. Jesus said love your enemies and pray for them to be blessed.   The good news is that Jesus is in heaven now helping our prayers to get the right answers.  When our work is finished He comes and takes us to our reward.  If that were...

The difference between life and death is forgiveness.  Be careful when you choose your close friends and partners that they are honest, transparent and able receive forgiveness and pass it on to their family and close friends.  This is one of the keys to a healthy, enjoyable life.  When we mess up, it is deadly if we regret it in a self destructive way.  If we accept the grace and mercy from God, we can get up and help others who need a hand up.

Our responses to the needy and poor is our response to God.  Do we look through them or past them or ignore them? Worse do we trample them in our aggressive push to get ahead.  Jesus said, "when you care for them you care for me."   There is a clear teaching from Jesus that after this life there will be a resurrection of the good and evil.  Things are not always settled with justice here on earth.  God is the only perfect judge because only God knows the secrets of the heart. Only because of the Amazimg Grace of God can we have hope.  In the teachings of Jesus the most clear story of someone going to torment after death involved a rich man who ignored the needs of a very poor sick man. When we stand for abuse of the poor in our government systems we are not using our salt and light influence in a good way.  A good leader wants children in the inner city to have an equal educational opportunity as those in the rich suburbs. Hear this, you who tramp...

Could it be that if we stop blaming God and others for our life choices and outcomes and we can have immediate improvement.  God brings in His love power to accelerate transformation.  If we turn our lives over to walking with Jesus we will not regret it.  If we stay stiff necked and unrepentant, we will regret it.