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Now Yahweh said to Abram, "Leave your country, and your relatives, and your father's house, and go to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation. I will bless you and make your name great. You will be a blessing. Genesis 12:1'2 WEB.Abram came to a crossroads in his life where he had to make a radical choice: to follow God's path or to continue on where he was. Following God meant...

How Low Can You Go from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo. (James 4:10 NKJV)  Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up. One Sunday morning, several years ago, I was working at the coffee counter at our local church when the Lord gave me a word for a member of the praise team. It was just a single sentence that dropped into my spirit when I saw him come in that...

As they went on their way, he entered into a certain village, and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house. She had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus' feet, and heard his word. But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she came up to him, and said, "Lord, don't you care that my sister left me to serve alone? Ask her therefore to help me." Jesus answered her, "Martha,...

Therefore don't be anxious, saying, 'What will we eat?', 'What will we drink?' or, 'With what will we be clothed?' For the Gentiles seek after all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first God's Kingdom, and his righteousness; and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore don't be anxious for tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for...

Let the Wind Blow from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo. Jesus had thousands of followers. Some were with Him occasionally, while others almost constantly. In Matthew 14:13, Jesus miraculously multiplied food and fed over 5,000 people who had been listening to Him teach. Out of all those followers, Jesus chose twelve, and He named them Apostles. Then there was an inner three, Peter, James, and...

David was greatly distressed; for the people spoke of stoning him, because the souls of all the people were grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters; but David strengthened himself in Yahweh his God. 1 Samuel 30:6 WEB.David was distressed. When they had returned to their village earlier, they found it burned to the ground. All of their wives, children, and belongings had been taken away...

Therefore all those who devour you will be devoured. All your adversaries, everyone of them, will go into captivity. Those who plunder you will be plunder. I will make all who prey on you become prey. For I will restore health to you, and I will heal you of your wounds, says Yahweh, "because they have called you an outcast, saying, 'It is Zion, whom no man seeks after.' " Jeremiah 30:16-17 WEB.It was...

When they had come, he looked at Eliab, and said, "Surely Yahweh's anointed is before him." But Yahweh said to Samuel, "Don't look on his face, or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for I don't see as man sees. For man looks at the outward appearance, but Yahweh looks at the heart." 1 Samuel 16:6-7 WEB.When Saul was chosen to be the first king of Israel, he was handsome and...

The Anointing from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo. In Scripture, God commanded certain people and items to be anointed with oil. It set them apart for His use, and it was often done before they took on a new office or role of authority. Some of the things anointed in the Old Testament were pillars, the tabernacle, its furniture, shields, kings, priests, and prophets. It's probably easiest to...

But when the kindness of God our Savior and his love toward mankind appeared, not by works of righteousness which we did ourselves, but according to his mercy, he saved us through the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior; that being justified by his grace, we might be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life....

Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, "So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I don't make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time!" When he saw that, he arose and ran for his life, and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there. But...

In those days Hezekiah was terminally ill, and he prayed to Yahweh; and he spoke to him, and gave him a sign. But Hezekiah didn't reciprocate appropriate to the benefit done for him, because his heart was lifted up. Therefore there was wrath on him, Judah, and Jerusalem. However, Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart, both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that Yahweh's wrath didn't...

Sons and Daughters from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo. I had a great Dad who always managed to have hope even in the darkest times. I remember once when I was little, the engine in his car began knocking, and he had no money for parts. So he jacked it up in the yard and pulled the oil pan off. Then he cut some leather strips from an old boot and used it as a spacer behind the worn-out main...

The man said, "They have left here, for I heard them say, 'Let's go to Dothan.' " Joseph went after his brothers, and found them in Dothan. They saw him afar off, and before he came near to them, they conspired against him to kill him. They said to one another, "Behold, this dreamer comes. Come now therefore, and let's kill him, and cast him into one of the pits, and we will say, 'An evil animal has...

As you would like people to do to you, do exactly so to them. Luke 6:31 WEB.We had to park way out in the parking lot that day, and it was hot when we came out of the grocery store. There were no cart returns nearby, and I didn't really feel like taking the buggy all the way back to the building. I saw a few other shopping carts nearby that people had left out in the parking lot. As I contemplated...

The Golden Era from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo. There is a time coming that will be the most glorious the Earth has ever seen, the golden era. A time of complete peace. A world free from war, sickness, and disease. When Jesus Christ rules and reigns on the Earth. Yes, there may be dark days between now and then, but this hope we have and hold onto. Occasionally we need to remind ourselves...

Here Comes the Son from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo. Noah was a righteous man in his generation. He lived differently than the others. Though it had never rained on the Earth, the Lord told Noah to build an ark because there was a flood coming. Noah didn't know what day or hour the rain would start, but he believed God, and he started working on that boat. When the rain began to fall, Noah...

Consider the lilies, how they grow. They don't toil, neither do they spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if this is how God clothes the grass in the field, which today exists and tomorrow is cast into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith? "Don't seek what you will eat or what you will drink; neither be anxious. For...

And from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us, and washed us from our sins by his blood Revelation 1:5 WEB."Jesus 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. They are so simple, but yet today, so forgotten....

You shall remember all the way which Yahweh your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, to test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. Deuteronomy 8:2 WEB.It was summertime. An elder at our church had a leaky spot on his roof, and I was helping him repair it. My dad was a life-long carpenter, and I got to work with...

Making Water Into Wine from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo. There is an interesting story in John chapter 2 at the beginning of Jesus' public ministry. Jesus, His Mother, and His new disciples were invited to attend a wedding in Cana of Galilee. Cana was a small town about 8 miles northeast of their hometown of Nazareth. In Hebrew culture, the wedding celebration was considered the grandest...

Nevertheless I tell you the truth: It is to your advantage that I go away, for if I don't go away, the Counselor won't come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. When he has come, he will convict the world about sin, about righteousness, and about judgment; John 16:8 WEB.When I first started attending church, I often stood with my head down, too ashamed to look around me. Every fiber of my being...

The Door in the Distance from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo. The Lord Jesus Christ appeared to the Apostle John, who lived in exile on a small island called Patmos. Tertullian, an early Christian author, and "Foxes Book of Martyrs," record that the Roman emperor Domitian tried to publicly execute John in the Coliseum by plunging him into boiling oil in front of a crowd. But John suffered nothing...

By faith, Abraham, when he was called, obeyed to go out to the place which he was to receive for an inheritance. He went out, not knowing where he went. By faith, he lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a land not his own, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise. Hebrews 11:8-9 WEB.In Genesis 12:1, the Lord told Abram to leave his father's house, relatives,...

So Yahweh blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, one thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand female donkeys. He had also seven sons and three daughters. Job 42:12'13 WEB.Job was a very wealthy man who went through a terrible trial. He lost everything he had. Yet, when it was over, and Job prayed for his friends, all he had lost was...

Unstoppable from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo. The Apostle Paul had a "thorn in the flesh" that he asked the Lord to remove three times, yet, the Lord refused to do so. He told Paul this: "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." Paul wrote about it later in 2nd Corinthians: (2 Corinthians 12:9–10 NKJV)  And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient...

He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor repaid us for our iniquities. For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is his loving kindness toward those who fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. Psalms 103:10-12 WEB.We drove from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, to Long Beach, California, during our last big road trip. We traveled...

Supply and Demand from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo. There is a chronic drug addiction problem in our country. Nearly every family has someone or knows someone who is struggling with it. Drugs are everywhere, and the supply is more abundant than ever before. It has become a trillion-dollar-a-year industry. Why is there such an abundant supply of drugs available? Because there is great demand...

When they began to sing and to praise, Yahweh set ambushers against the children of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; and they were struck. For the children of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of Mount Seir to utterly kill and destroy them. When they had finished the inhabitants of Seir, everyone helped to destroy each other. 2 Chronicles 20:22 WEB.A great army...

Yahweh appeared of old to me, saying, 'Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love. Therefore I have drawn you with loving kindness.' Jeremiah 31:3 WEB.There is an old saying that you can catch more flies with honey than you can with vinegar. Yet, when I was growing up in the Bible Belt, most of the things I heard about God were seasoned with vinegar. As in, "God loves you, but He will kill you...