Refreshing Our Spirits With Scripture

John 7. 25  At that point some of the people of Jerusalem began to ask, “Isn’t this the man they are trying to kill? 26  Here he is, speaking publicly, and they are not saying a word to him. Have the authorities really concluded that he is the Messiah? 27  But we know where this man is from; when the Messiah comes, no one will know where he is from.” 28  Then Jesus, still teaching in the temple courts, cried out, “Yes, you know me, and you know where I am from. I am not here on my own authority, but he who sent me is true. You do not know him, 29  but I know him because I am from him and he sent me.” 30  At this they tried to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come. 31  Still, many in the crowd believed in him. They said, “When the Messiah comes, will he perform more signs than this man?” 32  The Pharisees heard the crowd whispering such things about him. Then the chief priests and the Pharisees sent t...

John 7. 14  Not until halfway through the festival did Jesus go up to the temple courts and begin to teach. 15  The Jews there were amazed and asked, “How did this man get such learning without having been taught?” 16  Jesus answered, “My teaching is not my own. It comes from the one who sent me. 17  Anyone who chooses to do the will of God will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own. 18  Whoever speaks on their own does so to gain personal glory, but he who seeks the glory of the one who sent him is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him. 19  Has not Moses given you the law? Yet not one of you keeps the law. Why are you trying to kill me?” 20  “You are demon-possessed,” the crowd answered. “Who is trying to kill you?” 21  Jesus said to them, “I did one miracle, and you are all amazed. 22  Yet, because Moses gave you circumcision (though actually it did not come from Moses, but from the ...

John 7. After this, Jesus went around in Galilee. He did not want [ a ] to go about in Judea because the Jewish leaders there were looking for a way to kill him. 2  But when the Jewish Festival of Tabernacles was near, 3  Jesus’ brothers said to him, “Leave Galilee and go to Judea, so that your disciples there may see the works you do. 4  No one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret. Since you are doing these things, show yourself to the world.” 5  For even his own brothers did not believe in him. 6  Therefore Jesus told them, “My time is not yet here; for you any time will do. 7  The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify that its works are evil. 8  You go to the festival. I am not [ b ] going up to this festival, because my time has not yet fully come.” 9  After he had said this, he stayed in Galilee. 10  However, after his brothers had left for the festival, he went also, not publicly, but in sec...

John 6. 60  On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?” 61  Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you? 62  Then what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! 63  The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit [ e ] and life. 64  Yet there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. 65  He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them.” 66  From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. 67  “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve. 68  Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69  We have come to believe and...

John 6. 41  At this the Jews there began to grumble about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 42  They said, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I came down from heaven’ ?” 43  “Stop grumbling among yourselves,” Jesus answered. 44  “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day. 45  It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’ [ d ] Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from him comes to me. 46  No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. 47  Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life. 48  I am the bread of life. 49  Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. 50  But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die. 51  I am the living br...

John 6. 30  So they asked him, “What sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? 31  Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ [ c ] ” 32  Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. 33  For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” 34  “Sir,” they said, “always give us this bread.” 35  Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. 36  But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. 37  All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. 38  For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him wh...

John 6. 26  Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. 27  Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.” 28  Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?” 29  Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”

John 6. 16  When evening came, his disciples went down to the lake, 17  where they got into a boat and set off across the lake for Capernaum. By now it was dark, and Jesus had not yet joined them. 18  A strong wind was blowing and the waters grew rough. 19  When they had rowed about three or four miles, [ b ] they saw Jesus approaching the boat, walking on the water; and they were frightened. 20  But he said to them, “It is I; don’t be afraid.” 21  Then they were willing to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the shore where they were heading. 22  The next day the crowd that had stayed on the opposite shore of the lake realized that only one boat had been there, and that Jesus had not entered it with his disciples, but that they had gone away alone. 23  Then some boats from Tiberias landed near the place where the people had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. 24  Once the crowd realized that ne...

6  Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias), 2  and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the signs he had performed by healing the sick. 3  Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples. 4  The Jewish Passover Festival was near. 5  When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” 6  He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do. 7  Philip answered him, “It would take more than half a year’s wages [ a ] to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!” 8  Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, 9  “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?” 10  Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass in th...

John 5. 45  “But do not think I will accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses, on whom your hopes are set. 46  If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. 47  But since you do not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?”

John 5. 41  “I do not accept glory from human beings, 42  but I know you. I know that you do not have the love of God in your hearts. 43  I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me; but if someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him. 44  How can you believe since you accept glory from one another but do not seek the glory that comes from the only God [ d ] ?

John 5. 31  “If I testify about myself, my testimony is not true. 32  There is another who testifies in my favor, and I know that his testimony about me is true. 33  “You have sent to John and he has testified to the truth. 34  Not that I accept human testimony; but I mention it that you may be saved. 35  John was a lamp that burned and gave light, and you chose for a time to enjoy his light. 36  “I have testimony weightier than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to finish—the very works that I am doing—testify that the Father has sent me. 37  And the Father who sent me has himself testified concerning me. You have never heard his voice nor seen his form, 38  nor does his word dwell in you, for you do not believe the one he sent. 39  You study [ c ] the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, 40  yet you refuse to c...

John 5. 24  “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life. 25  Very truly I tell you, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. 26  For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. 27  And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man. 28  “Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice 29  and come out—those who have done what is good will rise to live, and those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned. 30  By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.

Thinking of Lamar Odom this morning. Have you ever been caught in something bad?  I have.  In those situations those who knew Jesus well were the most gentle helpers that I had. My parents.  My wife.  My kids.  My siblings.  My Jesus follower friends. They were gentle.  They were honest.  They were protective. They assumed there was some of this that I didn’t cause. They knew that there was some of this that I had caused. They told me that they were there to help me face the truth. They told me that they would be there not to condemn me but to help me get a fresh start. They told me that Jesus had not given up on me and they had not given up on me and I should not give up on myself. They told me to stop doing the things that were dangerous and self destructive. They helped me to start completely over.  I mean completely. They helped me get recycled with a better crowd of people around me. I rec...

John 5. 21  For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it. 22  Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, 23  that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him.

John 5. 16  So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jewish leaders began to persecute him. 17  In his defense Jesus said to them, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.” 18  For this reason they tried all the more to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God. 19  Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. 20  For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, and he will show him even greater works than these, so that you will be amazed.

Today is my Sister, Hazanne's 80th birthday.  I have been blessed by her all my life.  She was about eleven when I was born and a real caregiver and lover of kids so she joined my mom in watching after me. She has continued this until this day.  When I decided to go to Abilene to college, she and her wonderful husband Bill Luttrell, invited me to live with them and their kids. What a blast!   On this her birthday I celebrate the accomplishments of her life.  She was leader in our school whom I looked up to.  She was and is a superwife, supermom, supergrandmother, supergreatgrandmother, superaunt and superfriend..  She loves to make people laugh at life while have a focus on the best values life has to offer.  I love all my family.  Dad, Mom, and Reed who have moved to heaven now.  We enjoyed a special dinner last night hosted by my brother Bill and his wife Helen. Thank you God for all my family and today especially Hazanne ...

John 5. 7  “Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.” 8  Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” 9  At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked. The day on which this took place was a Sabbath, 10  and so the Jewish leaders said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat.” 11  But he replied, “The man who made me well said to me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’ ” 12  So they asked him, “Who is this fellow who told you to pick it up and walk?” 13  The man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there. 14  Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, “See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.” 15  The man went away and told the Jewish leaders...

John 5. 5  Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. 2  Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda [ a ] and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. 3  Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. [4]  [ b ] 5  One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. 6  When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?”

John 4. 43  After the two days he left for Galilee. 44  (Now Jesus himself had pointed out that a prophet has no honor in his own country.) 45  When he arrived in Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him. They had seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival, for they also had been there. 46  Once more he visited Cana in Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. And there was a certain royal official whose son lay sick at Capernaum. 47  When this man heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and begged him to come and heal his son, who was close to death. 48  “Unless you people see signs and wonders,” Jesus told him, “you will never believe.” 49  The royal official said, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” 50  “Go,” Jesus replied, “your son will live.” The man took Jesus at his word and departed. 51  While he was still on the way, his servants met him with the news that his b...