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God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way. God relented of the disaster which he said he would do to them, and he didn't do it. But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry. Jonah 3:10'4:1 WEB.It was early morning during a hot summer in the South, and we were digging up a septic tank. After we located and shoveled the dirt off the lid, I grabbed a heavy bar off the truck, and...

Intentional Growth from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo. When trying to learn something new, we must invest the time needed to be successful. For example, when I was first learning to play bass guitar, I spent hours each day practicing. Soon the results of disciplined practice began to show in my playing, and people began to invite me to play in their band. Great musicians, much better than...

Caesar is in the House from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo. Jesus was born during a time of great division and strife. As so many times before, His nation of Israel had once again been conquered by a surrounding enemy. This time it was the Roman empire. Rome was the latest in a long list of nations that had invaded and occupied Israel. All through history, God used "evil" nations to bring...

You gave also your good Spirit to instruct them, and didn't withhold your manna from their mouth, and gave them water for their thirst. Yes, forty years you sustained them in the wilderness. They lacked nothing. Their clothes didn't grow old, and their feet didn't swell. Nehemiah 9:20-21 WEB.When the Israelites came out of Egypt, the Lord gave them His Spirit to teach them. He provided them food, water...

The Little Things from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo. Jesus told His disciples a parable about an unjust steward who squandered his master's possessions. The master demanded to see the books to determine what he had done with the wealth entrusted to him. Then he promptly fired the steward. The steward was too weak to dig and too ashamed to beg, so he came up with a cunning plan. He would...

For you will light my lamp, Yahweh. My God will light up my darkness. For by you, I advance through a troop. By my God, I leap over a wall. As for God, his way is perfect. Yahweh's word is tried. He is a shield to all those who take refuge in him. Psalm 18:28-30 WEB.Total darkness is the complete absence of light. In scripture, it is associated with gloom, despair, and terror in addition to the natural...

You shall seek me, and find me, when you shall search for me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:13 WEB.Remember the game "Hide and Seek"? Many of us played it when we were children. One person covers their eyes and counts down while the others go and hide as best they can. When the countdown is complete, the seeker then searches for the hiders. When I became a dad, I would reverse this game and play...

You Are Good from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo. When you get married, your life changes in many ways. Life is no longer about what I need. Instead, it becomes about what we need as a couple. The "I do" automatically brings many unspoken, "I don'ts" along with it. Your actions now reflect on your spouse, and you are now called to a higher standard. When you said yes to your spouse, you said...

When pride comes, then comes shame, but with humility comes wisdom. Proverbs 11:2 WEB.The movie "Pride and Prejudice" might have scored good ratings at the theater, but it will not score you points with God. He looks at your heart instead of your clothing. These are two great hindrances to the Holy Spirit moving in your life. And each of us has dealt with one or both of them at some point.When we are...

Wild Horses from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo. How would you like to see more divine provision, protection, peace, and rest in your life? To have less anxiety and worry about what is coming tomorrow? There is a way. Jesus told us this: (Matthew 11:28–30 NKJV)  Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me,...

God heard the voice of the boy. The angel of God called to Hagar out of the sky, and said to her, "What troubles you, Hagar? Don't be afraid. For God has heard the voice of the boy where he is. Get up, lift up the boy, and hold him with your hand. For I will make him a great nation." God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. She went, filled the container with water, and gave the boy a drink....

For the Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who was the master of a household, who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. When he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. Matthew 20:1 WEB.Vineyards that produce some of the best wines limit the grapevines' water to make their roots go deeper into the soil. The resulting grapes are small...

Divided By Pride from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo. Humanity faces a challenging new year. I pray it is not like the last one, and I hope we can start well. A key tactic of the enemy is to divide and conquer. Well, too many of us were on his team last year and happy to attack each other. As a people, we are divided more now than I ever remember, and I grew up during the school system's desegregation...

Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a right spirit within me. Don't throw me from your presence, and don't take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation. Uphold me with a willing spirit. Psalms 51:10'12 WEB.King David took a stroll around his palace's rooftop terrace one lazy afternoon when he spotted one of his neighbors bathing. It appears his balcony was above hers...

The Return of the King from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo. Have you ever not had time to complete something? Like when a teacher gives you a deadline for a report, but you just get too busy doing everything else, and the time slips away. You knew the day was coming. You knew you had to have it completed, but you still focused on something else. There is a deadline approaching, which none of...

She gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him in bands of cloth and laid him in a feeding trough, because there was no room for them in the inn. There were shepherds in the same country staying in the field, and keeping watch by night over their flock. Behold, an angel of the Lord stood by them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. The angel said to them, 'Don't...

Be strong and courageous. Don't be afraid or scared of them, for Yahweh your God himself is who goes with you. He will not fail you nor forsake you. Deuteronomy 31:6 WEB.Sometimes, we can become so withdrawn that we begin to feel that it is us against the world. That no one cares or even notices what we are going through and struggling with. Even in the middle of a crowd, we can feel alone, and all...

RHM 2020 Newsletter Photos from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo. Luke 2:7–11 NKJV  And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood...

Only Believe from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo. All Christians face the danger of becoming desensitized to the beautiful truths in Scripture. When you have been around the church a while, His word can become too familiar to us. It begins to lose the magic, wonder, and hope that it once brought when we hear it. We refer to passages by pet phrases like the "Roman Road" without even bothering...

He entered into one of the boats, which was Simon's, and asked him to put out a little from the land. He sat down and taught the multitudes from the boat. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch." Simon answered him, "Master, we worked all night and caught nothing; but at your word I will let down the net." When they had done this,...

Acts of Kindness from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo. When you do what the Lord asks you with the right attitude, it brings a reward. God is really good with numbers, and He always pays His debts. Now we don't earn our salvation, for we are saved by grace alone, and it is a free gift if we choose to accept it (Ephesians 2:8). Not everyone does. What I mean is, there is a pattern in scripture...

Yahweh said to Joshua, 'Get up! Why have you fallen on your face like that? Joshua 7:10 WEB.The first town the Israelites came to when they entered the promised land was Jericho. They marched around it seven times, shouted, and the walls of the city crumbled. God was working with them, and He gave them an incredible victory. They were instructed to put all the loot from the first city into the Lord's...

Bearing Your Burdens from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo. There is too much sickness in the body of Christ today. This should not be. Obviously, we are failing to do something right. I want to take a closer look at what we should do when sick by examining the prayer of faith and divine healing. (James 5:13–16 NASB)  Is anyone among you suffering? Then he must pray. Is anyone cheerful?...

Then he answered and spoke to me, saying, 'This is Yahweh's word to Zerubbabel, saying, 'Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says Yahweh of Armies. Zechariah 4:6 WEB.David wrote in Psalm 37:4: "Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart." Once I was laid off from a great paying job as a foreman with an international construction company. Then I spent a...

The lamp of the body is the eye. Therefore when your eye is good, your whole body is also full of light; but when it is evil, your body also is full of darkness. Therefore see whether the light that is in you isn't darkness. If therefore your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, it will be wholly full of light, as when the lamp with its bright shining gives you light.' Luke 11:34-36 WEB.After...

Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness Luke 4:1 WEB.I 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. When we had to take a job we did not like. Only to find that it was a stepping stone for...

The Voice of a Stranger from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo. (John 10:1–5 NKJV)  “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name...

Gathering the Manna from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo. (Exodus 16:4–5 NKJV)  Then the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you. And the people shall go out and gather a certain quota every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in My law or not. And it shall be on the sixth day that they shall prepare what they bring in, and it shall be...

He called the multitude to himself with his disciples and said to them, 'Whoever wants to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it; and whoever will lose his life for my sake and the sake of the Good News will save it. Mark 8:34 WEB.If you follow Jesus one day at a time, no power on Earth can stop you from fulfilling...

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you,' says Yahweh, 'thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you hope and a future. You shall call on me, and you shall go and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You shall seek me and find me, when you search for me with all your heart. I will be found by you,' says Yahweh Jeremiah 29:11'14 WEB.When things begin to go smoothly in our lives and everything...