Refreshing Our Spirits With Scripture

 11.21- Clear Communication                          Romans 8:18-27                                Bill Crowder     While traveling in Asia, my iPad (containing my reading material and many work documents) suddenly died, a condition described as “the black screen of death.” Seeking help, I found a computer shop and encountered another problem – I don’t speak Chinese and the shop’s technician didn’t speak English. The solution? He pulled up a software program in which he typed in Chinese, but I could read it in English. The process reversed as I responded   in English and he read in Chinese. The software allowed us to communicate clearly, even in different languages.     At times, I f...

 11.20- Hope is the anchor to our soul.  All who believe in Jesus are taught to be baptized to show their public confession of Jesus in a connection to the death and resurrection of Jesus.  God promises salvation to all who believe in Jesus and who take Him as their teacher and guide through life. Hope is the anchor for our souls through the storms of life. Priscilla J Owens wrote: Will your anchor hold in the storms of life, When the clouds unfold their wings of strife? When the strong tides lift and the cables strain, Will your anchor drift, or firm remain? Refrain: We have an anchor that keeps the soul Steadfast and sure while the billows roll, Fastened to the Rock which cannot move, Grounded firm and deep in the Savior’s love. It is safely moored, ’twill the storm withstand, For ’tis well secured by the Savior’s hand; And the cables, passed from His heart to mine, Can defy that blast, through strength divine. It will surely hold in the straits of fear, When the breake...

 11.19- The disciples of Jesus get off track often, but our mission is to go and tell people the good news.  The good news is that Jesus lived and died on the cross and was resurrected.  He sent His followers out to tell people the good news that all sins can be forgiven.   Our best life is living in the grace of God. Mark 16. 14  Later He appeared to the eleven  disciples  themselves as they were reclining  at the table ; and He reprimanded them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who had seen Him after He had risen  from the dead .   15  And He said to them,  “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.   16  The one who has believed and has been baptized will be saved; but the one who has not believed will be condemned.   17  These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they wil...

 11.18- Jesus shows up in forms that we don't recognize.  He is there in the poor, the hungry and the lonely.  When we help them we help Him.  He is in the prisoners.  When we visit prisoners we visit Him. Mark 16. 9  [[ [ c ] Now after He had risen early on the first day of the week, He first appeared to Mary Magdalene, from whom He had cast out seven demons.   10  She went and reported to those who had been with Him, while they were mourning and weeping.   11  And when they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, they refused to believe  it . 12  Now after that, He appeared in a different form to two of them while they were walking along on their way to the country.   13  And they went away and reported it to the rest, but they did not believe them, either. Luke 24. 13  And behold, on that very day two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, which was  [ g ] si...

 11.17- God Looms Larger                               I Samuel 17:41-50                            Winn Collier     Giles Kelmanson, a South African game ranger, described the incredible scene: two honey badgers battling a pride of six lions. Although outnumbered, the honey badgers refused to back down from ferocious predators ten times their size. The lions thought the kill would be simple, but video footage shows the badgers walking away with something like a swagger.     David and Goliath offer an even more improbable story. Young, inexperienced David confronted the fierce Philistine Goliath. Towering above his young combatant, Goliath possessed brute strength and unrivaled...

 11.16- Your Eulogy                                 Ecclesiastes 7:1-6                                   Mike Wittmer     My heart is full from attending the funeral of a faithful woman. Her life wasn’t spectacular. She wasn’t known widely outside her church, neighbors, and friends. But she loved Jesus, her seven children, and her twenty-five grandchildren. She laughed easily, served generously, and could hit a softball a long way.     Ecclesiastes says, “It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting” (verse 2). “The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning” because there we learn what matters most (verse 4). New ...

 11.15- Honest to God                                    Isaiah 1:12-28                                   James Banks     My three-year-old grandson’s day was off to a rotten start. He couldn’t find his favorite shirt. The shoes he wanted to wear were too hot. He fussed and fumed at his grandmother and then sat down to cry.      “Why are you so upset?” I asked. We talked for a while and after he calmed down, I gently inquired, “Have you been good for Grandma?” He looked thoughtfully at his shoes and responded, “No, I was bad. I’m sorry.”     My heart went out to him. Instead of denying what he had done, he w...

 11.14- God uses all kinds of people to work for the good of others.  Some have in the past been mentally ill but with God's help became healthy.  One of the ways that God heals the sick is to help them understand that He has given His Son to provide forgiveness of sins for them.  Every kind of sin can be forgiven if we bring it to God honestly and sincerely and ask His forgiveness with a repentant heart. Mark 16. 9  [[ [ c ] Now after He had risen early on the first day of the week, He first appeared to Mary Magdalene, from whom He had cast out seven demons.   10  She went and reported to those who had been with Him, while they were mourning and weeping.   11  And when they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, they refused to believe  it . Acts 13. 38  Therefore let it be known to you,  [ r ] brothers, that through  [ s ] Him forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you,   39  and  [...

 11.13- The God presented by Jesus is a God who shows that death is not the end but a transition to a new level of existence.  He is Holy, Just, full of mercy and compassion.  He raised Jesus from the dead and will raise all of us from the dead. Mark 16. 16  When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the  mother  of  [ a ] James, and Salome bought spices so that they might come and anoint Him.   2  And very early on the first day of the week, they *came to the tomb when the sun had risen.   3  They were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone from the entrance of the tomb for us?”   4  And looking up, they *noticed that the stone had been rolled away;  [ b ] for it was extremely large.   5  And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting at the right, wearing a white robe; and they were amazed.   6  But he *said to them, “Do not be amazed; you are look...

 11.12- "Only someone who finds the courage to be different from others can ultimately exist for 'others'." Juergen Miltmann 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.