Refreshing Our Spirits With Scripture

 7.9- Amy Wishard Goggins birthday is today. Extreme needs that no one can fulfill is where she shows up to do what she can. Sheila and I had gone through some hard times with getting our second child in God's timing and His way. Maybe this why Sheila would say that the day Amy came to us was the greatest day of her life. Amy has always filled a special place in our little family. She specializes in the impossible. Getting her degree in accounting. Raising two sons. Cleaning messes in high school concession stands. Developing a career in the restaurant business. Living through hard racial realities and never giving up hope. Helping her mother to graduate to glory. These are few impossible jobs she has done. Happy birthday Amy. Enjoy New York. John 4. 4  So then, when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that  [ a ] He was making and baptizing more disciples than John   2  (although Jesus Himself was not baptizing; rather, His disciples...

 7.8- If you are a child of God and know Him then you know that you are the light of the world. At times you might be a part of a giant bonfire. At other times you are a small pilot light to be a steady source to light up other larger sources of light and heat. A couple of weeks ago the congregation where I grew up sent the children of to kids class with this song "This little light of mine I'm gonna let it shine." All the darkness in the world cannot put out the light of God's love for children and elderly and everyone in between. Matthew 5. 13  “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how  [ d ] can it be made salty  again ? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by people. 14  “You are the light of the world. A city set on a  [ e ] hill cannot be hidden;   15  nor do  people  light a lamp and put it under a  [ f ] basket, but on the lampstand, and i...

 7.7- An outstanding employee at work is someone who never complains or argues. Anyone who is not perverse when everyone else is. Straight instead of crooked. Honesty in a context duplicity shines like a light. Philippians 2. 14  Do all things without complaining or arguments;   15  so that you will  [ k ] prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you  [ l ] appear as  [ m ] lights in the world,   16  holding firmly the word of life, so that on the day of Christ I can take pride because I did not run in vain nor labor in vain.   17  But even if I am being poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I rejoice and share my joy with you all.   18  You too,  I urge you , rejoice in the same way and share your joy with me.

 7.6- Even if the fig tree does not blossom, And there is no fruit on the vines, If the yield of the olive fails, And the fields produce no food, Even if the flock disappears from the fold, And there are no cattle in the stalls, Yet I will triumph in the Lord, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength, And He has made my feet like deer’s feet, And has me walk on my high places. Habbakuk 3. Even if the fig tree does not blossom, And there is no  [ p ] fruit on the vines, If  the yield of the olive fails, And the fields produce no food, Even if  the flock disappears from the fold, And there are no cattle in the stalls, 18  Yet I will triumph in the  Lord , I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. 19  The Lord  [ q ] God  is my strength, And He has made my feet like deer’s  feet , And has me walk on my high places.

 7.5- Jordan Goggins, my 22 year old grandson, is a leader. He is kind to those he leads but challenges them to be the best they can be. He is a great chef and comic. He asks me the hard questions that no one else asks me. Managers who move up want to take him with them. I don't blame them. Honest, hard working people are hard to find. Happy Birthday Jordan. 1Timothy 4, 11  [ d ] Prescribe and teach these things.   12  Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but  rather  in speech, conduct, love, faith,  and  purity, show yourself an example  [ e ] of those who believe.   13  Until I come, give your attention to the  public   [ f ] reading, to exhortation,  and  teaching.   14  Do not neglect the spiritual gift within you, which was granted to you through  words of  prophecy with the laying on of hands by the  [ g ] council of elders.   15  Take pains with the...

 7.4- When prayer works. I listen to the need or want. I pray. I ask, seek, knock and keep on doing so until answer is final. A supposed answer is in my mind. Then an answer comes in a short or long period of time. It may be along the line of my supposition. Then at times it is shocking and disappointing "No." (God, your will be done.) Then as happened to me once or twice yesterday there was a surprising and positive ""Yes". (Thank you God.) His ways and thoughts are so much higher than mine. Lord help me to be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger and never give up on seeking Your best. Luke11. 11  It happened that while  [ a ] Jesus was praying in a certain place, when He had finished, one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John also taught his disciples.”   2  And He said to them,  “When you pray, say: ‘ [ b ] Father,  [ c ] hallowed be Your name. [ d ] Your kingdom come. 3  Give us each day our...

 7.4- Someone rubbing you the wrong way? Will you walk away from that relationship? Could it be that that relationship is sharpening your life for more fruit, success and effectiveness. I have some learning partners in life that I have been working with intensely together for over 46 years. At times I am sure these learning partners ask themselves about me, “How long?” “How long until Larry grows up and quits being so immature about this or that?” Many of these learning partners have just kept going helping me to become sharper in certain areas. Before we would go to the cotton field to hoe out the Johnson grass and crab grass and it was important that we take a file and sharpen our hoes. Iron sharpens iron and close learning friendships sharpen our focus on becoming all we can be. When someone loves you and tries to help you be a better person it is not to be walked away from because someone rubs you the wrong way, but to grow and mature in the partnership. Proverbs 27 17...

 7.3- I've heard it said that there are two important days in your life. The day you were born and the day you discovered why you were born. That resonates with me. Philippians 3. 12  Not that I have already  [ g ] grasped  it all  or have already become perfect, but I press on if I may also take hold of that  [ h ] for which I was even taken hold of by Christ Jesus.   13  Brothers  and sisters , I do not regard myself as having taken hold of  it yet ; but one thing  I do : forgetting what  lies  behind and reaching forward to what  lies  ahead,   14  I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.   15  Therefore, all who are  [ i ] mature, let’s have this attitude; and if in anything you have a different attitude, God will reveal that to you as well;   16  however, let’s keep  [ j ] livi...