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And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, Where are you? Genesis 3:8-9 ESVAdam walked with God in the garden but then after disobeying His command, withdrew and tried to hide because of it. Sin brings...

The LORD said to him, “What is that in your hand?” He said, “A staff.” And he said, “Throw it on the ground.” So he threw it on the ground, and it became a serpent, and Moses ran from it. Ex. 4:2-3 ESVMoses had a staff that he carried, and it was nothing special at the beginning. Then after meeting with God, it transformed into an object of power. At the same time...

14 For thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘The jar of flour shall not be spent, and the jug of oil shall not be empty, until the day that the LORD sends rain upon the earth.’” 1Kings 17:14 ESVBecause of a string of bad choices by the leadership of Israel, Ahab and Jezebel, the entire land suffered a famine. It did not rain for years and they could not plant crops in the dry dust....

When the angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon, he said, The LORD is with you, mighty warrior. Judges 6:12 NIVDust and chaff drifted through the air as Gideon threshed the wheat. He was hiding inside of a winepress so the Midianites would not come and take the little that he had. With no breeze at all, it was dirty and hot. While he was working, the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon and called him...

The greatest among you shall be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. Matt 23:11 ESVWhen I showed up at a church work day event, the job that got assigned to me was scrubbing all the bathrooms: upstairs, downstairs, and down the hall. I did not remember the church having that many bathrooms. Though I had once been a painting contractor, they...

There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them. Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read, Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. John 19:1719 ESV   We read these familiar words and often fail to see the depth of them. Jesus was falsely accused, condemned, beaten, stripped naked, and nailed to a cross where He was left...

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. Ephesians 2:7–9 ESVOne night we watched a movie where the people made a sacrifice every day so that the sun would come up. One day everything went wrong and they failed to make the daily sacrifice. The people were terrified, but then the sun came...

And Jesus called them to Him and said to them, You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give...

But Ruth said, Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. Ruth 1:16–17 ESVRuth walked along the road thinking about what had recently happened. Her husband had died, her father-in-law had died, and her brother-in-law...

And now I am about to go the way of all the earth, and you know in your hearts and souls, all of you, that not one word has failed of all the good things that the LORD your God promised concerning you. All have come to pass for you; not one of them has failed. Josh. 23:14 ESVWhen I was young, the Lord spoke to my heart that one day I would be in the ministry and to begin to prepare myself for it. I...

What is man, that thou shouldest magnify him? and that thou shouldest set thine heart upon him? And that thou shouldest visit him every morning, and try him every moment? Job 7:17-18 ESVWe used to sing a song in church that was “More of Jesus, Less of Me.” While this is a neat saying, and I even like the song, that is not what God actually wants. It would be better sang as “More like...

the LORD said to Joshua, “Take twelve men from the people, from each tribe a man, and command them, saying, Take twelve stones from here out of the midst of the Jordan, from the very place where the priests’ feet stood firmly, and bring them over with you and lay them down in the place where you lodge tonight.” (Joshua 4:1–3 ESV)   February Newsletter - 2015 Hello there,  Thank...

and they went a three days journey in the wilderness of Etham and camped at Marah. And they set out from Marah and came to Elim; at Elim there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees, and they camped there. Numbers 33:8–9 ESVThe Israelites had been traveling for three days through a desert wasteland when they arrived at Marah, thirsty and out of water. The water at Marah was bitter...

These wineskins were new when we filled them, and behold, they have burst. And these garments and sandals of ours are worn out from the very long journey. So the men took some of their provisions, but did not ask counsel from the LORD. Joshua 9:13–14 ESVJoshua and the Israelite leaders had believed a lie and now were betrayed. Some strangers had came to them pretending that they were from a faraway...

And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD. They forgot the LORD their God and served the Baals and the Asheroth. Judg. 3:7 ESVCenturies ago when it was time to go to church, there was an excitement in the air and no one wanted to stay home. It was a convenient religion. Baal was the god of materialism and money. Asheroth was the god of sex and fertility. Molech was the god...

Jabez called upon the God of Israel, saying, Oh that you would bless me and enlarge my border, and that your hand might be with me, and that you would keep me from harm so that it might not bring me pain! And God granted what he asked. 1 Chronicles 4:10 ESVSome people that I have met are often ashamed to ask God for anything. They feel that they have messed up so bad that they are lucky to be on the...

When Job’s three friends, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite, heard about all the troubles that had come upon him, they set out from their homes and met together by agreement to go and sympathize with him and comfort him. Job 2:11 NIV  When Job went through a terrible trial, three of his friends came to comfort him. One by one they gave long-winded speeches...

The Lord came and stood there, calling as at the other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” Then Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.” 1 Samuel 3:10 NIV  This is an amazing story to me. The Lord called to Samuel three times and each time he got up and ran to Eli, and said, “Here I am.” Eli, after the third time, told him to go back and if He calls you...

The LORD said to Gideon, The people with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand, lest Israel boast over me, saying, My own hand has saved me. Judg. 7:2 ESV  Gideon started out with thirty-two thousand men but ended up with three hundred at the start of the actual battle. God Himself took them away and separated them from him. Gideon was not abandoned, and it was completely...

After the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, the LORD said to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, Moses my servant is dead. Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the people of Israel. Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you, just as I promised to Moses. Joshua 1:1–3 ESV  Painful...

When Jesus heard this, He was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following Him, He said, I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel. Luke 7:9 NIV  We bought a huge dell server on eBay and had to pay a hundred dollars in shipping charges. When I unpacked it and started it up, it died with processor failure. I tried everything that a technician would do during the day,...

But I Only Read The King James Version? Halt! Hast thou waxed weak scum or art thou leasing a muffler? This FAQ article is in response to periodic complaints that we are not exclusively using the KJV translation of the Bible. Because we try to reply to every email, and the explanation takes a long time, we have put it all together here: First, lets cover some of my history and how that I...

One of the most difficult things in life is dealing with the death of a loved one. There is no simple answer for this, or magic cure, but I will try and explain this from 3 points of view that I have gathered in my experience. Our view, the person’s view, and then God’s view. We need to see all sides to see the whole picture, which is often beautiful in context. Think of it as a camera...

What is the Church? If you Google “What is the Church” it will return something like this: Noun: church/CH?rCH/ 1) A building used for public Christian worship. 2) A particular Christian organization, typically one with its own clergy, buildings, and distinctive doctrines: “the Church of England”. However many things the Church may be, and no matter how much...

Gen 2:24 …a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh. ~NIV    Right at the beginning, in the second chapter of the bible, God lays out the plan for marriage.  Marriage can be one of the most fulfilling things in your life, or a constant source of misery. In this talk I will try and give you tips that I have...

I blog about the adventures that I have while walking with Jesus in my everyday life, and why I believe what I write. The Words:  The words here can be very timely and usually come out of prayer or praise and worship. It is not head knowledge, but inspiration. Many people find that they address what they are dealing with on that day. I usually get up in the morning and praise and worship...

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. (Hebrews 10:22–25 ESV) January Newsletter - 2015 Thank you for reading our devotional...

One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. Romans 14:5–6 ESV December...

The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers. John 10:2–5 ESV November Newsletter Thank you for reading our devotional and being a part...

Teach me to do your will, for you are my God! Let your good Spirit lead me on level ground! Psalms 143:10 ESV October Newsletter Thank you for reading our devotional and being a part of Refreshing Hope Ministries. I wanted to update you on what is going on here because this is an exciting time in our life. For several months I had felt a restlessness, and that God wanted me to do something...