For even as we have many members in one body, and all the members don't have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another, having gifts differing according to the grace that was given to us: if prophecy, let's prophesy according to the proportion of our faith; or service, let's give ourselves to service; or he who teaches, to his teaching;...

Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time; casting all your worries on him, because he cares for you. 1 Peter 5:6–7 WEB. We love to get a tub of buttered popcorn at the movies. It is rare for us to go, but popcorn just seems to make the whole movie experience better. It makes us happy. One day we went to see a movie with some friends at a local theater....

Moses said to Yahweh, "O Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before now, nor since you have spoken to your servant; for I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue." Yahweh said to him, "Who made man's mouth? Or who makes one mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Isn't it I, Yahweh? Therefore, go, and I will be with your mouth, and teach you what you shall speak." Moses said, "Oh, Lord, please send someone...

Wonder Bread from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo. In Matthew 14:16-21 Jesus fed 5,000 men plus all the women and children who were there with only five loaves of bread and two fish. The disciples picked up twelve baskets of scraps afterward. In Matthew 15:33-38 Jesus fed 4,000 men plus women and children with seven loaves of bread and a few...

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 at some point. When we are prideful,...

For we were saved in hope, but hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for that which he sees? But if we hope for that which we don't see, we wait for it with patience. Romans 8:24-25 WEB. "Oh, I just can't face tomorrow. I have a bad feeling about this." On and on we go, into a spiral of self-pity and hopelessness. Fear, anxiety, and depression begin to snowball around us, and it soon consumes...

For you formed my inmost being. You knit me together in my mother's womb. I will give thanks to you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Your works are wonderful. My soul knows that very well. My frame wasn't hidden from you, when I was made in secret, woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my body. In your book they were all written, the days that were ordained for me, when...

Jesus answered him, "If I don't wash you, you have no part with me." Simon Peter said to him, "Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head!" Jesus said to him, "Someone who has bathed only needs to have his feet washed, but is completely clean. You are clean, but not all of you." For he knew him who would betray him, therefore he said, "You are not all clean." John 13:8-11 WEB. After spending...

Jesus, looking at them, said, "With men it is impossible, but not with God, for all things are possible with God." Mark 10:27 WEB. Have you ever faced a seemingly impossible circumstance that looked entirely hopeless? Jesus said that ALL things are possible with God. There is nothing out of reach or that He cannot do. The Bible is a possibilities book. It contains so many instances of God creating...

They answered him, "Our father is Abraham." Jesus said to them, "If you were Abraham's children, you would do the works of Abraham. But now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth which I heard from God. Abraham didn't do this. You do the works of your father." They said to him, "We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father, God." Therefore Jesus said to them, "If God were...

Devil Cane from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo. Some years ago, we bought an adjacent property that had been neglected for years after my brother passed away. It was mostly reclaimed by the woods and covered in pine trees, thorns, briars, poison ivy, and poison oak. We spent time clearing away the collapsing house and debris, hauling in...

Early in the morning, while it was still dark, he rose up and went out, and departed into a deserted place, and prayed there. Simon and those who were with him searched for him. They found him and told him, "Everyone is looking for you." Mark 1:35-37 WEB. Jesus often withdrew from the noisy crowds to be alone with His Heavenly Father in prayer. Here, He chose His Apostles, refreshed His strength,...

Jesse made seven of his sons to pass before Samuel. Samuel said to Jesse, "Yahweh has not chosen these." Samuel said to Jesse, "Are all your children here?" He said, "There remains yet the youngest. Behold, he is keeping the sheep." Samuel said to Jesse, "Send and get him, for we will not sit down until he comes here." He sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, with a handsome face and good appearance....

God made the two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He also made the stars. Genesis 1:16 WEB. He also made the stars—what a sentence. I sometimes read this and am amazed by how much the Bible packs into a single verse. Humans cannot create a single star, but they keep finding more of them as they develop devices that let them see further into...

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....

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered the king, "Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If it happens, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace; and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image which you have set up." Daniel 3:16-18 WEB. While...

Therefore be merciful, even as your Father is also merciful. Don't judge, and you won't be judged. Don't condemn, and you won't be condemned. Set free, and you will be set free. Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will be given to you. The same measure you measure will be measured back to you. Luke 6:36-38 WEB. I once heard an elder at...

Grace Under Fire from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo. In the book of Acts, the Apostle Paul and his group left their home church at Antioch, planning to visit some of the house churches they had established on their first missionary journey. However, soon after they began, the Holy Spirit stopped them. (Acts 16:6–8 NKJV) Now when they had...

He who is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much. He who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. If therefore you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? If you have not been faithful in that which is another's, who will give you that which is your own? Luke 16:10–12 WEB. It was a gray, cold morning in Myrtle...

He said, "Go out, and stand on the mountain before Yahweh." Behold, Yahweh passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains, and broke in pieces the rocks before Yahweh; but Yahweh was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake; but Yahweh was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake a fire passed; but Yahweh was not in the fire. After the fire, there was a still small voice....

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...

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...

Surely I have stilled and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with his mother, like a weaned child is my soul within me. Psalm 131:2 WEB. Thunderstorms in the deep south can be terrible, especially for children. Blackened skies, winds that blow down trees, walls of rain you cannot see through, accompanied by bolts of lightning that hit the ground and sound as if an artillery shell exploded. Once...

He said to Abram, "Know for sure that your offspring will live as foreigners in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them. They will afflict them four hundred years. I will also judge that nation, whom they will serve. Afterward they will come out with great wealth" Genesis 15:13–14 WEB. God told Abram that his descendants would become slaves for four hundred years in a foreign land. But He...

Son Shine from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo. In the book of Exodus in the Old Testament, when Moses emerged from speaking with the Lord. His face was so radiant that people were scared of him, and he had to wear a veil over his face. The Glory of God affected the surface of Moses' skin, like being in the sun for too long affects mine, but Moses'...

Let it happen, that the young lady to whom I will say, 'Please let down your pitcher, that I may drink,' then she says, 'Drink, and I will also give your camels a drink,'—let her be the one you have appointed for your servant Isaac. By this I will know that you have shown kindness to my master. Genesis 24:14 WEB. The man in this story was a servant of Abraham. Other than that, we know little about...

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. Several times in my walk with the Lord, I have seen the idle words I spoke...

But when they continued asking him, he looked up and said to them, "He who is without sin among you, let him throw the first stone at her." Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground with his finger. They, when they heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning from the oldest, even to the last. Jesus was left alone with the woman where she was, in the middle. Jesus,...

In nothing be anxious, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6–7 WEB. In the past, many saints and martyrs have faced terrible trials and death with peace in their hearts that no one could explain. Some sang...

Furthermore, we had the fathers of our flesh to chasten us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much rather be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? For they indeed for a few days disciplined us as seemed good to them, but he for our profit, that we may be partakers of his holiness. All chastening seems for the present to be not joyous but grievous; yet afterward it yields the peaceful...