Refreshing Our Spirits With Scripture

 10.13- The fact that we have made foolish choices should help us to be tender and gentle with others who make foolish choices. 1 Timothy 1 12  I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, putting me into service,   13  even though I was previously a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor. Yet I was shown mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief;   14  and the grace of our Lord was more than abundant, with the faith and love which are  found  in Christ Jesus.   15  It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost.   16  Yet for this reason I found mercy, so that in me as the foremost  sinner  Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those  [ h ] who would believe in Him f...

 10.12 Our most sincere prayers at times may be a groan. Romans 8 18  For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy  to be  compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.   19  For the eagerly awaiting creation waits for the revealing of the sons  and daughters  of God.   20  For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected  it ,  [ n ] in hope   21  that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.   22  For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now.   23  And not only  that , but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for  our  adoption ...

 10.11- Make deposits of love, grace, mercy and peace into heart bank accounts of others. We never know where it can lead. There may be a day when accidently or inadvertently we make a withdrawal from the account and hopefully there is memory of the many positive interactions we have had. The contribution can be a smile, a little gift. I have a friend who travels for business and often returns with a personal mento with my name on it. Today I received a small glass with my name on it. The personal touch cannot be overestimated in its value to accelerate the growth of deep friendship. Indeed mature loves pushes out fear. 1 Corinthians 13 13  If I speak with the tongues of mankind and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.   2  If I have  the gift of  prophecy and know all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am no...

 10.10- I was watching one of the greatest football coaches, try to describe what made his coaching uniquely good. "My coaching changed when I moved from being a transactional coach to a transformational coach. Before I was focused on winning games. After I was focused on the process of helping each coach and player to be the best human being they could be and then the best player they could become." It made me think of the greatest teacher who taught What you think you can improve You can improve What you think you can't improve You can't improve. Attitude is key. Inch by inch everything's a cinch. We seek progress not perfection. Hebrews 5 11  Concerning  [ g ] him we have much to say, and  it is  difficult to explain, since you have become  [ h ] poor listeners.   12  For though  [ i ] by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the  [ j ] elementary principles of the actual words of G...

 10.9- A verbal gunslinger. Just enough knowledge to be dangerous. Some us get involved in community settings and get frustrated at how things are being done. We do a little research then we are ready go spout our "well researched" answers. The attitude, we have and the attack on our fellow man and even our content can be wrong and out of context. Don Mcglaughlin said this so well, "Early in ministry I fell into the temptation of believing that I am an expert in Biblical exegesis and interpretation. When someone came to a conclusion different than mine, I assumed they were bending the text to support their false notions and covering their deception with fine sounding arguments. As I matured I came to the realization that even when others understand a Biblical text differently than I do, we can both be devoted disciples of Jesus and committed students of the word, pursuing truth with all our hearts. I learned to take seriously the New Testament command to honor others abo...