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For to the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy; but to the sinner he gives travail, to gather and to heap up, that he may give to him who pleases God. This also is vanity and a chasing after wind. Ecclesiastes 2:26 WEB. In dog racing, they have a lure called a mechanical rabbit that runs along a rail beside the race track. At the start of the race, the dogs line up and then chase...

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." John 13:34–35 WEB. At the last supper, Jesus rose and washed His disciple's feet. Then He told them to love one another, just as He had loved them. By this, all people would know they were His disciples....

For we don't desire to have you uninformed, brothers, concerning our affliction which happened to us in Asia: that we were weighed down exceedingly, beyond our power, so much that we despaired even of life. Yes, we ourselves have had the sentence of death within ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead, who delivered us out of so great a death, and does deliver,...

Whatever you will ask in my name, I will do it, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you will ask anything in my name, I will do it. John 14:13–14 WEB. It was another cold, dreary morning at work. After several months of unemployment, I got a job polishing brass plumbing parts on a buffing wheel. When I was laid off from my last job, I was a supervisor, but I longed to work in a Christian...

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

Yahweh said to Aaron, "Go into the wilderness to meet Moses." He went, and met him on God's mountain, and kissed him. Moses told Aaron all Yahweh's words with which he had sent him, and all the signs with which he had instructed him. Exodus 4:27–28 WEB. The Lord spoke to Aaron and told him to meet his brother Moses in the wilderness. We don't know what Aaron was busy doing when the Lord began talking...

The Mustard Seed from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo. Jesus told His disciples a parable about the kingdom of God using a tiny mustard seed. Though mustard was the smallest seed a Palestinian farmer would plant in his field, it would grow into the largest plant in his garden.  (Matthew 13:31–32 NKJV)  Another parable He put forth...

I heard something like the voice of a great multitude, and like the voice of many waters, and like the voice of mighty thunders, saying, "Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns! Let's rejoice and be exceedingly glad, and let's give the glory to him. For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his wife has made herself ready." Revelation 19:6–7 WEB. I have a great wife, and we have...

being confident of this very thing, that he who began a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. Philippians 1:6 WEB. It was late Saturday night, and we were both exhausted. We were working on a networked accounting system that was bloated and slow. A simple upgrade job that should have taken a couple of hours on Friday had now taken a couple of days. Still, we chose to honor...

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, 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."...

The Philistines came up yet again and spread themselves in the valley of Rephaim. When David inquired of Yahweh, he said, "You shall not go up. Circle around behind them, and attack them in front of the mulberry trees. 2 Samuel 5:22–23 WEB. The Philistine army invaded the Valley of Rephaim, and David asked the Lord what to do. The last time David had faced the Philistines, he met them straight on...

Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, "How long shall I bear with this evil congregation that complain against me? I have heard the complaints of the children of Israel, which they complain against me. Tell them, 'As I live, says Yahweh, surely as you have spoken in my ears, so I will do to you.' Numbers 14:26–28 WEB. The Israelites came out of Egypt and saw incredible miracles each day while...

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. The sons of the prophets who were at Jericho came near to Elisha, and said to him, "Do you know that Yahweh will take away your master from over you today?" He answered, "Yes, I know it. Hold your peace." Elijah said to...

Rise From the Dust from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo. Moses was a fiery young man in Egypt, raised by the daughter of Pharaoh and reared with all the wisdom of the Egyptians (Acts 7:22). He was mighty in words and deeds, but when he turned forty years old, things seemed to fall apart. One day he went to visit his people, the Hebrews, who...

After many days, Yahweh's word came to Elijah, in the third year, saying, "Go, show yourself to Ahab; and I will send rain on the earth." 1 Kings 18:1 WEB. Some friends once pulled me onto a high roller coaster with them. We waited for everyone to get on board and locked in, then the ride operator started it up. The coaster slowly rattled and climbed up the rails. After a long wait, it finally crossed...

Jesus cried again with a loud voice, and yielded up his spirit. Behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from the top to the bottom. The earth quaked and the rocks were split. Matthew 27:50–51 WEB. Under the old covenant, the high priest entered a room in the temple called the "Holy of Holies" once a year on Yom Kippur. The Day of Atonement. The ark of the covenant was kept there. The manifest...

Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, "Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall come again to you, and you shall be clean." But Naaman was angry, and went away and said, "Behold, I thought, 'He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of Yahweh his God, and wave his hand over the place, and heal the leper.' Aren't Abanah and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus,...

Sanballat and Geshem sent to me, saying, "Come! Let's meet together in the villages in the plain of Ono." But they intended to harm me. 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 6:2–3 WEB. Jerusalem had been pillaged and destroyed. The inhabitants who were not killed, were taken...

Simon Peter said to them, "I'm going fishing." They told him, "We are also coming with you." They immediately went out, and entered into the boat. That night, they caught nothing. But when day had already come, Jesus stood on the beach, yet the disciples didn't know that it was Jesus. John 21:3–4 WEB. Peter stood on the shore of the sea of Galilee and watched the waves roll in. He was so discouraged....

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 12:25–26 WEB. We were so concerned about tomorrow that we couldn't sleep. We had received a subpoena late that evening and had to appear in court at seven the following morning. There was no time to prepare. That was intentional. Many things ran...

                     Crazy Prayers from     Refreshing Hope Ministries on     Vimeo.    Over the years, I have spent a lot of time praying with others. For example, we led an intercessory prayer team for a while. We also volunteered at the healing rooms, where...

He spoke to them many things in parables, saying, 'Behold, a farmer went out to sow. As he sowed, some seeds fell by the roadside, and the birds came and devoured them. Others fell on rocky ground, where they didn't have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, because they had no depth of earth. When the sun had risen, they were scorched. Because they had no root, they withered away. Others fell...

Most assuredly I tell you, whatever you may ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. Until now, you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be made full. John 16:23'24 WEB.I once heard a story about a man that was given a ticket on a luxury ocean liner. He had very little money, so he stayed in his room and made sandwiches to eat. He admired all the...

The rooster crowed the second time. Peter remembered the words that Jesus said to him, 'Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.' When he thought about that, he wept. Mark 14:72 WEB.Peter said that he would die before he would deny Jesus. Then later that night, Peter denied that he knew Jesus three times in a row. He was scared. Fear can be a powerful enemy. Sometime later, Peter...

Resurrection Day from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo. This is Resurrection Day, the final day of Holy Week, which began on Palm Sunday around 33 AD. Jesus Christ would have been in his early thirties. The numbers coincide because BC and AD were created to date the birth of Jesus Christ, so he was 33 years old, and it was about 33 AD, though historical date discrepancies may put his birth a...

Yahweh opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, "What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?" Balaam said to the donkey, "Because you have mocked me, I wish there were a sword in my hand, for now I would have killed you." The donkey said to Balaam, "Am I not your donkey, on which you have ridden all your life long until today? Was I ever in the habit of doing...

Yahweh said to Joshua, "Get up! Why have you fallen on your face like that?" Joshua 7:10 WEB.Joshua lay prostrate before the ark of the Lord all that evening. Yesterday, he had been a mighty warrior. Now Israel had lost the battle at Ai, all because one of the men with him had become greedy and broken the Lord's commandment concerning Jericho. When the Israelites crossed the Jordan River and entered...

Palm Sunday from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo. Palm Sunday marks the beginning of the last week of Jesus' life on Earth. It was five days before Passover, the day He would be crucified, a day we know as Good Friday. Palm Sunday leads up to Resurrection Sunday, which we call Easter. It also marks the beginning of Passion Week, also called Holy Week. Jesus traveled from Galilee to Jerusalem...

I have been young, and now am old, Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, Nor his children begging for bread. All day long he deals graciously, and lends. His seed is blessed. Psalms 37:25'26 WEB.Today is the tomorrow you were so worried about yesterday, and it is not as bad as you thought. Many times throughout my life, I have been worried about what was coming. But when the problem arrived,...

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 WEB.A shepherd herding his sheep along a path does not have to interact with them much. He follows behind them, watching. He doesn't have to say anything while the sheep continue in the right direction, though His presence is there with them....