Refreshing Our Spirits With Scripture

 10.24- Juergen Moltmann Only someone who finds the courage to be different from others can ultimately exist for 'others'. Matthew 7. 13  “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it.   14  For the gate is narrow and the way is constricted that leads to life, and there are few who find it.

 10-23- Timothy Keller @timkellernyc · Oct 17 “In reading Chesterton, as in reading MacDonald, I did not know what I was letting myself in for. A young man who wishes to remain a sound Atheist cannot be too careful of his reading. There are traps everywhere... God is, if I may say it, very unscrupulous.” - C.S. Lewis Matthew 6. 26  Look at the birds of the sky, that they do not sow, nor reap, nor gather  crops  into barns, and  yet  your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more important than they?   27  And which of you by worrying can add a single  [ s ] day to his  [ t ] life’s span?   28  And why are you worried about clothing? Notice how the lilies of the field grow; they do not labor nor do they spin  thread for cloth ,   29  yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these.   30  But if God so clothes the grass of the fiel...

 10.22- Bob Goff @bobgoff · Oct 18 Don’t be mean; it makes mean people look normal. Ephesians 4.   32  Be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven  [ y ] you.

10.21-   God gave us two types of choices. There are forward choices and backward choices. Forward choices lead us to happiness, serenity, abundance’s, everything God had in mind for us to have and enjoy. Backward choices lead us to anger, hatred, resentment, and jealousy, things like that. When you start taking care of yourself and you start making forward choices, your going to have to start leaving people behind. With all those friends, family, and people making bad choices, there’s going to be a gap growing between you and them. It’s not up to you to make those changes for those still making backward choices. If you attempt to close those gaps with others, your going to have to make some of those backward choices and start walking your progress in life backward. It should be up to them to start walking forward and begin making forward choices. You can’t make those choices for them they need to do it for themselves. Don’t do that, when you start walking forward in your life and ...

 10.20- She surprised me with the call to celebrate our birthday month. She wished me happy birthday and I returned the favor. We caught up on losses in her family due to the pandemic. Her two daughters had been raised by this single parent mother and she had many difficulties to overcome. She lived in a hard section of her town. This last week she was out walking her dog and was chased by a thug trying to mug her. She ran into her apartment with her little dog she had taken out for the short walk. She had persisted even though working against the odds. Her two daughters had succeeded in their education. They had gotten good jobs that fit with their hard work ethic. She told me that they had gotten their money together and bought her a car because her car had "died". She was so moved that they used their money to provide a car for her. I asked her what she felt was the key to the success of her family in spite of the long odds. "Forgiveness." "This i...

 10.19- Yesterday I was in the swimming pool with a couple of grandparents and their grandson who appeared to be about six months old.  They both carried him and he seemed afraid at first.  Then they kept relaxing him and he kept trusting them and finally he was laughing.  Trust is so great to change our whole attitude when we completely entrust ourselves to God as little child. Matthew 19. 13  Then  some  children were brought to Him so that He would lay His hands on them and pray; and the disciples rebuked them.   14  But Jesus said,  “ [ i ] Leave the children alone, and do not  [ j ] forbid them to come to Me; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”   15  After laying His hands on them, He departed from there.

 10.18- Who of my readers here would know what happened on October 17, 1962? I still remember sitting and reflecting at the young age of 16. Why? Why did people have to die and why did they have to weep and mourn in pain over loss? That was the day I lost my first mentor, my grandad, “Papa Woods.” My friend, Ron Rose, reminded me this morning of some of the qualities of good influences in his life and it reminded me of my grandad. Yes, he had his own bad habits that he warned me not to start. Chewing White Tag Tinsley Tobacco. Yes, he had one strength that when pushed too far out can become what seems like a weakness. He walked by great faith in God and he was willing to risk all his assets on something he believed in. He had a partnership in a small bottling plant in a small town that never succeeded. He built a house that he had to rent out during the depression rather than being able to live there. Still, he kept his faith in God and his hope was in God rather than in hims...