Refreshing Our Spirits With Scripture

Matthew 13. 45  “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, 46  who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it. Psalm 38. 13  But I, like a deaf man, do not hear; And I am like a mute who does not open his mouth. 14  Thus I am like a man who does not hear, And in whose mouth is no response. 15  For in You, O Lord , I hope; You will hear, O Lord my God. 16  For I said, “Hear me, lest they rejoice over me, Lest, when my foot slips, they exalt themselves against me.” 17  For I am ready to fall, And my sorrow is continually before me. 18  For I will declare my iniquity; I will be in anguish over my sin. 19  But my enemies are vigorous, and they are strong; And those who hate me wrongfully have multiplied. 20  Those also who render evil for good, They are my adversaries, because I follow what is good. 21  Do not forsake me, O Lord ...

The reality is that my relationship with God is based on His mercy toward His children and not my perfect performance. This is the basis for how I am supposed to treat others. Luke 6. 27  “But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28  bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you. 29  To him who strikes you on the one cheek, offer the other also. And from him who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your tunic either. 30  Give to everyone who asks of you. And from him who takes away your goods do not ask them back. 31  And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise. 32  “But if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. 33  And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. 34  And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive bac...

There is a blessing to being poor and there is a bad side to being rich. Poor people with friends know they are there for good reasons and will not leave them if money is not there. Rich people don't know why exactly their friends are friends.  They might leave when the money is gone. Luke 6. 20  Then He lifted up His eyes toward His disciples, and said: “Blessed are you poor,      For yours is the kingdom of God. 21  Blessed are you who hunger now,      For you shall be filled. 24  “But woe to you who are rich,      For you have received your consolation. 25  Woe to you who are full,      For you shall hunger. Proverbs 19. 4 Wealth makes many friends, But the poor is separated from his friend. 6  Many entreat the favor of the nobility, And every man is a friend to one who gives gifts. 7  All the brothers of the poor hate him; How much more do his friend...

Matthew 13. 44  “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Psalm 38. 38  O Lord , do not rebuke me in Your wrath, Nor chasten me in Your hot displeasure! 2  For Your arrows pierce me deeply, And Your hand presses me down. 3  There is no soundness in my flesh Because of Your anger, Nor any health in my bones Because of my sin. 4  For my iniquities have gone over my head; Like a heavy burden they are too heavy for me. 5  My wounds are foul and festering Because of my foolishness. 6  I am troubled, I am bowed down greatly; I go mourning all the day long. 7  For my loins are full of inflammation, And there is no soundness in my flesh. 8  I am feeble and severely broken; I groan because of the turmoil of my heart. 9  Lord, all my desire is before You; And my sighing is not hidden from You. 10...

Matthew 13. 36  Then Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field.” 37  He answered and said to them: “He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. 38  The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. 39  The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels. 40  Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. 41  The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, 42  and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. 43  Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear! ...

On the Release of Children and Grandchildren 1. They get involved with some fairly big systems that seem hard to deal with at times. These seem to not work well at times. As big as they are I know that God is bigger. 2. As I am tempted to be afraid for them I must remember words from God as we have lived through hard times, “Do not be afraid.”. 3. Jesus is the Savior, I am not. 4. Great things happen in humble places. 5. The children and grandchildren are not mine. They are God’s. He loaned them to me for a time for my learning and growth. Thank you God. 6. They must become independent. It is God’s plan that they fly out of the nest. That is not failure. That is success. 7. Others have survived and flourished through generations of releasing and turning them over to God. 8. God is a good, good Father and He knows what is best. 9. I wanted freedom of choice for myself and I want it for them. I do not want to pressure and manipulate them. I must quit t...

Matthew 13. 33  Another parable He spoke to them: “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures [ c ] of meal till it was all leavened.” Prophecy and the Parables 34  All these things Jesus spoke to the multitude in parables; and without a parable He did not speak to them, 35  that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying: “I will open My mouth in parables; I will utter things kept secret from the foundation of the world.” [ d ] Psalm 37. A little that a righteous man has Is better than the riches of many wicked. 17  For the arms of the wicked shall be broken, But the Lord upholds the righteous. 18  The Lord knows the days of the upright, And their inheritance shall be forever. 19  They shall not be ashamed in the evil time, And in the days of famine they shall be satisfied. 20  But the wicked shall perish; And the enemies of the Lord , Like the splendor of the meadows, ...

Matthew 13. 24-26  He told another story. “God’s kingdom is like a farmer who planted good seed in his field. That night, while his hired men were asleep, his enemy sowed thistles all through the wheat and slipped away before dawn. When the first green shoots appeared and the grain began to form, the thistles showed up, too. 27  “The farmhands came to the farmer and said, ‘Master, that was clean seed you planted, wasn’t it? Where did these thistles come from?’ 28  “He answered, ‘Some enemy did this.’ “The farmhands asked, ‘Should we weed out the thistles?’ 29-30  “He said, ‘No, if you weed the thistles, you’ll pull up the wheat, too. Let them grow together until harvest time. Then I’ll instruct the harvesters to pull up the thistles and tie them in bundles for the fire, then gather the wheat and put it in the barn.’” 36  Jesus dismissed the congregation and went into the house. His disciples came in and said, “Explain to us that story of ...

I have friends who are going through the sadness of the loss of their father.   They need to hear again the good news.   There is a certain place the story has to end, resurrection  and so it has to have a certain kind of beginning. It does have that beginning. There is Herod, the murderer of innocent children and a madman. But there is Elisabeth  and Zechariah  and John the Baptist born amazingly to people who were well along in years. There is Herod But there is  Gabriel,  Joseph  and Mary. Highly favored Mary. The Lord is for us Mary. You have found favor with God Mary. There is Herod But there is Jesus. Great Jesus. Son of David Jesus. Reign forever Jesus. There is nothing impossible with God Jesus. Baby jumping in the womb because of Jesus. God scatters the proud and exalts the humble Jesus. Salvation from our enemies Jesus. We can serve without fear Jesus. Knowledge of forgivenes...

Matthew 13. 44  “God’s kingdom is like a treasure hidden in a field for years and then accidentally found by a trespasser. The finder is ecstatic—what a find!—and proceeds to sell everything he owns to raise money and buy that field. Psalm 38. 38  1-2  Take a deep breath, God ; calm down—      don’t be so hasty with your punishing rod. Your sharp-pointed arrows of rebuke draw blood;      my backside smarts from your caning. 3-4  I’ve lost twenty pounds in two months      because of your accusation. My bones are brittle as dry sticks      because of my sin. I’m swamped by my bad behavior,      collapsed under gunnysacks of guilt. 5-8  The cuts in my flesh stink and grow maggots      because I’ve lived so badly. And now I’m flat on my face      feeling sorry for myself morning to night. All my insides are on ...

Matthew 13. 10  The disciples came up and asked, “Why do you tell stories?” 11-15  He replied, “You’ve been given insight into God’s kingdom. You know how it works. Not everybody has this gift, this insight; it hasn’t been given to them. Whenever someone has a ready heart for this, the insights and understandings flow freely. But if there is no readiness, any trace of receptivity soon disappears. That’s why I tell stories: to create readiness, to nudge the people toward receptive insight. In their present state they can stare till doomsday and not see it, listen till they’re blue in the face and not get it. I don’t want Isaiah’s forecast repeated all over again: Your ears are open but you don’t hear a thing.      Your eyes are awake but you don’t see a thing. The people are blockheads! They stick their fingers in their ears      so they won’t have to listen; They screw their eyes shut      so they won’t...

Matthew 13. 13  1-3  At about that same time Jesus left the house and sat on the beach. In no time at all a crowd gathered along the shoreline, forcing him to get into a boat. Using the boat as a pulpit, he addressed his congregation, telling stories. 3-8  “What do you make of this? A farmer planted seed. As he scattered the seed, some of it fell on the road, and birds ate it. Some fell in the gravel; it sprouted quickly but didn’t put down roots, so when the sun came up it withered just as quickly. Some fell in the weeds; as it came up, it was strangled by the weeds. Some fell on good earth, and produced a harvest beyond his wildest dreams. 9  “Are you listening to this? Really listening?” 18-19  “Study this story of the farmer planting seed. When anyone hears news of the kingdom and doesn’t take it in, it just remains on the surface, and so the Evil One comes along and plucks it right out of that person’s heart. This is the seed the farmer...

Matthew 12. 46-47  While he was still talking to the crowd, his mother and brothers showed up. They were outside trying to get a message to him. Someone told Jesus, “Your mother and brothers are out here, wanting to speak with you.” 48-50  Jesus didn’t respond directly, but said, “Who do you think my mother and brothers are?” He then stretched out his hand toward his disciples. “Look closely. These are my mother and brothers. Obedience is thicker than blood. The person who obeys my heavenly Father’s will is my brother and sister and mother.” Psalm 34. 34  I bless God every chance I get; my lungs expand with his praise. 2  I live and breathe God ; if things aren’t going well, hear this and be happy: 3  Join me in spreading the news; together let’s get the word out. 4  God met me more than halfway, he freed me from my anxious fears. 5  Look at him; give him your warmest smile. Never hide your feelings from him. ...

Matthew 12. 38  Later a few religion scholars and Pharisees got on him. “Teacher, we want to see your credentials. Give us some hard evidence that God is in this. How about a miracle?” 39-40  Jesus said, “You’re looking for proof, but you’re looking for the wrong kind. All you want is something to titillate your curiosity, satisfy your lust for miracles. The only proof you’re going to get is what looks like the absence of proof: Jonah-evidence. Like Jonah, three days and nights in the fish’s belly, the Son of Man will be gone three days and nights in a deep grave. 41-42  “On Judgment Day, the Ninevites will stand up and give evidence that will condemn this generation, because when Jonah preached to them they changed their lives. A far greater preacher than Jonah is here, and you squabble about ‘proofs.’ On Judgment Day, the Queen of Sheba will come forward and bring evidence that will condemn this generation, because she traveled from a far corner of th...

Matthew 12. 33  “If you grow a healthy tree, you’ll pick healthy fruit. If you grow a diseased tree, you’ll pick worm-eaten fruit. The fruit tells you about the tree. 34-37  “You have minds like a snake pit! How do you suppose what you say is worth anything when you are so foul-minded? It’s your heart, not the dictionary, that gives meaning to your words. A good person produces good deeds and words season after season. An evil person is a blight on the orchard. Let me tell you something: Every one of these careless words is going to come back to haunt you. There will be a time of Reckoning. Words are powerful; take them seriously. Words can be your salvation. Words can also be your damnation.” Psalm 33. Psalm 33 The Message (MSG) 33  1-3  Good people, cheer God !      Right-living people sound best when praising. Use guitars to reinforce your Hallelujahs!      Play his praise on a grand piano! Invent your ...

Matthew 12. 30  “This is war, and there is no neutral ground. If you’re not on my side, you’re the enemy; if you’re not helping, you’re making things worse. 31-32  “There’s nothing done or said that can’t be forgiven. But if you deliberately persist in your slanders against God’s Spirit, you are repudiating the very One who forgives. If you reject the Son of Man out of some misunderstanding, the Holy Spirit can forgive you, but when you reject the Holy Spirit, you’re sawing off the branch on which you’re sitting, severing by your own perversity all connection with the One who forgives. Psalm 32. 32  Count yourself lucky, how happy you must be—      you get a fresh start,      your slate’s wiped clean. 2  Count yourself lucky—      God holds nothing against you      and you’re holding nothing back from him. 3  When I kept it all inside,    ...