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And Agrippa said to Paul, In a short time would you persuade me to be a Christian? Acts 26:28 ESVI was in awe of power of the Holy Spirit as I saw this hardened drug dealer begin to weep. He was a friend whose life had gone the other way. One day I was going to town and he wanted to come, so I brought him along. As we drove down the highway, I began to tell him about some scripture that I had been...

And David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because all the people were bitter in soul, each for his sons and daughters. But David strengthened himself in the LORD his God. 1 Samuel 30:6 ESVDavid was distressed. He and his men had wept until they no longer had the strength to weep. When they returned to their town, they had found it burned to the ground and all of their...

Luke Chapters 2 & 3    >> Click Here For Audio Version <<  Take the Quiz on Luke chapters 2 & 3 when done Luke 2 Outline:2:1-7  The birth of Jesus in Bethlehem.2:1-3  The census decreed by Caesar Augustus.2:4-5  Joseph and Mary travel to Bethlehem.2:6-7  Mary gives birth to Jesus.2:8-14  The Angels appear to the shepherds by night.2:15-20...

   The Gospel According to Luke   This week we will be discussing Luke chapter 1. Here are some thoughts and questions for this weeks segment to think over while you are listening / reading. We will get feedback as we move forward and try and improve each week as we learn together. Feel free to post your comment below!   >> Click Here For Audio Version <<  Take...

But while they were all marveling at everything he was doing, Jesus said to his disciples, Let these words sink into your ears: The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men. But they did not understand this saying, and it was concealed from them, so that they might not perceive it. Luke 9:43 ESVJesus told His disciples, Let these words sink into your ears: The Son of Man is about to...

Welcome to our online Bible study. Here we plan to journey through the Bible a little each week as a community. There is no set pattern and this is not a "Read the Bible in a Year" plan, it will be whenever we get there. I believe that understanding a single verse is more valuable than reading an entire book. Each week we will choose a chapter or more of the Bible according to how dense the subject...

Now the LORD said to Abram, Go from your country and your kindred and your fathers house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. Genesis 12:1 ESVAbram had to make a choice: obey God, or continue on with his life as it was going. He was going to have to move away from his hometown, abandoning...

Seek the LORD while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; Is. 55:6 ESVI enjoy playing music, computers, gaming and I generally have my quiet time with the Lord each morning. However for a couple of months, I was called to pray every day at about 3 PM. It became a driving desire and the most important thing in my life. Rather than doing the usual things that I would normally do, each day...

Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Phil. 3:13 ESVI was at a very dark place in my life. Doctors had placed me on anti-depressants, yet I remained a recluse with suicidal thoughts. Once I had carried the precious...

And Jesus said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men." Mark 1:17 ESVWhile growing up, I spent a lot of time on the rivers near my home in South Carolina. The black water of the Waccamaw was just a few miles away and fishing and hunting were a normal part of everyday life in the country. Bait selection was imperative, crickets for bream, nightcrawlers for catfish, minnows or...

And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood Rev. 1:5 ESVJesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so; Little ones to Him belong. They are weak, but He is strong. Many of us learned these words when we were kids. So simple and yet so long...

So then the Lord Jesus, after He had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by accompanying signs. (Mark 16:19–20 ESV) April Newsletter - 2015 Hello there, Thank you for reading our devotional and being a part of Refreshing Hope Ministries. This...

Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers. Luke 22:31 ESVPeter told Jesus that he was ready to go to prison and die for Him if needed, a very bold statement. Jesus told Peter that satan had asked to test him, to reveal what was inside of him, and...

Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me. But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. Jonah 1:13 ESVThe Lord told Jonah to go to the city of Nineveh, but instead Jonah set out for Tarshish, which was in the opposite direction. After he boarded a ship,...

And as they sailed He fell asleep. And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water and were in danger. And they went and woke Him, saying, Master, Master, we are perishing! And He awoke and rebuked the wind and the raging waves, and they ceased, and there was a calm. He said to them, Where is your faith? Luke 8:23-25 ESVWho is going to tell Him? They had put it off as long as...

Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful. Heb 10:23 NIVMy home state of South Carolina carries this inscription on the state seal: Dum spiro spero. In Latin, this phrase means "While I breathe, I hope". This is a profound statement because where there is hope, there is life and where there is no hope, there is no life. That is the goal of Refreshing Hope Ministries,...

But Samson said to his father, Get her for me, for she is right in my eyes. His father and mother did not know that it was from the LORD, for he was seeking an opportunity against the Philistines. At that time the Philistines ruled over Israel. Judg. 14:3-4 ESVSamson wanted to marry a Philistine woman and it upset his parents terribly. What on earth is wrong with that kid? his parents must have thought....

It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements: You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things. Farewell. Acts 15:28–29 NIV After Jesus ascended to the Father and the gospel started to spread, non-Jewish people...

For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead. James 2:26 ESV Growing up on a farm with two brothers and ten step-siblings, I got to see first-hand those who were pleasing to their parents, and those who were not. The parents could ask one child to do something and they would. This pleased them and there would sometimes be a reward for the child. The child...

For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look at Him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Luke 7:33–34 ESVThere was a melancholy feeling that settled over us when we entered the sanctuary. Everyone was somber with long faces...

Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. Phil 4:5 KJVThere are so many things in this life that God has given us to enjoy and He wants us to have pleasure while we are here. Relationships, eating, drinking, work, health, exercise, hobbies, are all valuable pursuits. However, none of these are to become the end goal and focus of your life.When something becomes more important...

For the vision is yet for an appointed time; But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; Because it will surely come, It will not tarry. (Habakkuk 2:3 NKJV)Twenty years ago the Lord gave me a word that I would be a pioneer of new things in ministry and to prepare myself. I was excited and told some friends, but they just gave me a dumb look and asked if I was...

Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. Psalm 103:2-5 ESVAre there any benefits? I asked when they told me the pay. I had worked so many low-end jobs that had...

The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram, and Ram the father of Amminadab, and Amminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of...

Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the LORD will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you. And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the rightness of your rising. Is. 60:1 ESVNightfall came faster than I was anticipating and it was black night as I made...

And a man of God came near and said to the king of Israel, Thus says the LORD, Because the Syrians have said, The LORD is a god of the hills but he is not a god of the valleys, therefore I will give all this great multitude into your hand, and you shall know that I am the LORD. 1 Kings 20:28 ESVWhen the Syrians attacked Israel, they thought that God was only a god of the mountains and not of the valleys....

Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed, and whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed. But Moses’ hands grew weary, so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it, while Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side. So his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. And Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and his people with the...

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....