Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness Luke 4:1 WEBI would not be here, if I had not first been there. So many times in our life we can look back and say those words. Where we were when we met our spouse, and how narrow a time frame that it was. Taking a job that we did not really like, only to find that it was a stepping stone for something...

The next day, he saw Jesus coming to him, and said, 'Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!' John 1:29 WEBDo you ever feel guilt or shame over something in your past? Is there something haunting you and saying: 'God is mad at you because'' or 'You are not worthy to do this?' That is the enemy trying to immobilize you and to keep you from doing God's will. That is what he does,...

RHM Devotional: Treasure Chests from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo. Today I want to talk about containers, particularly treasure chests: boxes that hold things. Let’s start with the Ark of the Covenant in Exodus 25. God told Moses: They shall make an ark of acacia wood. Two cubits and a half shall be its length, a cubit and a half its breadth, and a cubit and a half its height. You...

For there is no good tree that brings forth rotten fruit; nor again a rotten tree that brings forth good fruit. For each tree is known by its own fruit. For people don't gather figs from thorns, nor do they gather grapes from a bramble bush. Luke 6:43 WEBWe find it humorous when we get cut off in traffic by a rude driver, and they have a Christian fish symbol on their bumper. Less humorous is that...

RHM Devotional: Doors from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo. Today I want to talk about recognizing the doors that God opens for us in our life. Think of them as doors of opportunity. This has always His way, He opens a door for us, and then we have to walk through it. Paul prayed that doors would open in his life: Colossians 4:2–3: "Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with...

Your servant struck both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he has defied the armies of the living God. David said, 'Yahweh who delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine.' 1 Samuel 17:36 WEBGoliath must have been a fearful sight to behold when he walked out onto...

RHM Devotional: The Missing Bread from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo. Today I want to talk about the lack of provision, and all the things that seem to come with it. When we are faced with the lack of something, we tend to look at ourselves, what can “we” do, in our strength, and with the provisions that we have. We tend to take our eyes off Jesus, and soon plummet into a life...

Then we turned, and took our journey into the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea, as Yahweh spoke to me; and we encircled Mount Seir many days. Yahweh spoke to me, saying, 'You have encircled this mountain long enough. Turn northward.' Deuteronomy 2:1-3 WEBThe Israelites wandered forty years in the wilderness while God worked out some differences with them. Twice while they were circling a mountain,...

I will get up and go to my father, and will tell him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight. I am no more worthy to be called your son. Make me as one of your hired servants.' He arose, and came to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him, and was moved with compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. Luke 15:18 WEBThe younger son in the story...

Now Yahweh's word came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, 'Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach against it, for their wickedness has come up before me.' But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of Yahweh. He went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid its fare, and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of Yahweh. Jonah...

Bible Study, Acts Chapter 26 from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo. Transcript: Today we are going to study Acts chapter 26 in depth. You can follow along in your own Bible if you like. I will be reading from the World English Bible because it is the only modern English translation that is copyright free, and I can read the entire Bible on video without any legal drama or breaking anyone’s...

Video Devotional: Love Mercy from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo. Today I want to share some things that I have learned about walking with God in a sustainable way. I am talking about long term lifestyle, and what exactly is required to please God. Israel had these same questions thousands of years ago. The priests had burdened the people down with religious rituals until they literally broke...

It happened in these days, that he went out to the mountain to pray, and he continued all night in prayer to God. When it was day, he called his disciples, and from them he chose twelve, whom he also named apostles Luke 6:12 WEBEven though Jesus was the son of God, He prayed a lot. He continually developed His relationship with His Father. Jesus lived as our example. Intimacy and infinite knowledge...

He said to them, 'Wherever you enter into a house, stay there until you depart from there. Whoever will not receive you nor hear you, as you depart from there, shake off the dust that is under your feet for a testimony against them.' Mark 6:10 WEBWhen Jesus sent the disciples out to preach the good news, they often faced rejection. Jesus told them to shake it off, and then go on to the next town. There...

Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will be given to you. For with the same measure you measure it will be measured back to you. Luke 6:38 WEBOnce when they were taking an offering for a visiting speaker at our church, I gave $40 in the offering basket. Two weeks later, someone who was just an acquaintance, gave me $4,000. It was exactly...

RHM Devotional: He Changed My Mind from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo. Today I want to talk about breaking bad habits, or destructive patterns in our life. It requires allowing the Holy Spirit to change our mind. We tend to put on our Christian faces and look like we have it all together, but all of us have our inner struggles that the Holy Spirit knows about. He wants to help us change, to...

RHM Devotional: Fruit Trees from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo. Today I want to talk about the fruit of the spirit, which should be developing in our lives. Jesus said in Matthew 12:33 that a tree is known by the fruit that it bears. In light of this, trees meant people, and the fruit were their actions and attitudes. The disciples were called Christians because their behavior, activities,...

The heavens are the heavens of Yahweh; But the earth has he given to the children of men. Psalms 115:16 WEBI watched my son wrestle with connecting the wiring harness to the motherboard of the computer that he was building. I could have done it for him, but he needed to learn to do this himself, and that the plug only fits one way. He wanted a gaming computer for his sixth Christmas, so being a computer...

One of them, a lawyer, asked him a question, testing him. 'Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law?' Jesus said to him, 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. A second likewise is this, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.'...

Elijah said to him, Elisha, please wait here, for Yahweh has sent me to Jericho. He said, As Yahweh lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you. So they came to Jericho. 2 Kings 2:4 WEBElisha had worked serving the prophet Elijah for several years when he suddenly asked him to stay behind. Elisha said no, and he kept following him. Three times in a row Elijah asked him to stay behind somewhere,...

RHM Bible Study, Acts Chapter Twenty-five from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo. Today we are going to study Acts chapter 25 in depth. You can follow along in your own Bible if you like. I will be reading from the World English Bible because it is the only modern English translation that is copyright free, and I can read the entire Bible on video without any legal drama or breaking anyone’s...

RHM Devotional: Life or Death from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo. Today I want to talk about life or death, in the Spirit. God is the Giver of life, and He breathed the breath of life into Adam in the beginning. His Spirit brings a freshness, a revitalization, freedom, an excitement, It gives life to our spirit. Scripture is very clear about this: “For the letter kills, but the Spirit...

Sanballat and Geshem sent to me, saying, Come, let us meet together in one of the villages in the plain of Ono. But they thought to do me mischief. I sent messengers to them, saying, I am doing a great work, so that I can't come down: why should the work cease, while I leave it, and come down to you? Nehemiah 6:2 WEBNehemiah was organizing the rebuilding of the wall around Jerusalem after it had been...

Which of you by being anxious can add a cubit to his height? If then you aren't able to do even the least things, why are you anxious about the rest? Luke 12:25 WEBWe were so concerned about tomorrow that we could not sleep. We had received a subpoena late that evening and had to appear in court at seven in the morning, but so many things ran through our mind that we watched the sun go down, and then...

if my people, who are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. 2 Chronicles 7:14 WEBI have a Dilbert cartoon about tech support taped to our internet router because it reminds me of our service provider here. Each time that we call them with a problem,...

It happened, when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, that they said, It is the king of Israel. Therefore they turned about to fight against him: but Jehoshaphat cried out, and Yahweh helped him; and God moved them to depart from him. It happened, when the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel, that they turned back from pursuing him. 2 Chronicles 18:31 WEBJehoshaphat,...

RHM Devotional: Understanding God from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo. Today I want to talk about understanding God. I believe that this is a crossroads that everyone comes to at some point, and it causes many to stumble. I have seen so many people turn back from their commitment to Jesus because they could not understand what He was doing. Many of us like to sketch out things like an architect,...

RHM Newsletter #33, 2018 Year-end Wrap-up from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo. (For those interested, there are quite a few more photos in the video version of this newsletter :)) For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be on his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6 WEB Hi...

RHM Devotional: Spiritual Bullies from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo. Today I want to talk about the heart of Jesus towards the lost sheep, compared to the heart of the religious leaders that should have been taking care of them. Luke chapter 15 reads: Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man...

and your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, This is the way, walk you in it; when you turn to the right hand, and when you turn to the left. Isaiah 30:21 WEBA shepherd herding sheep down a path does not have to interact that much, he just follows behind them watching. His presence is there, but he does not have to say anything. However if they come to a fork in the road, or a path leading off...