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1 John 4:16-18: And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. the one who fears is not made...

James 2:17- In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.Ephesians 2:10: For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. I have spent an enormous amount of time focusing on the word of God that liberates those oppressed by not seeing themselves as good enough for salvation in Jesus Christ. They feel...

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,...

Isaiah 46:1- Bel bows down, Nebo stoops low; their idols are borne by beasts of burden. Isaiah 46:6,7: Some pour out gold from their bags and weigh out silver on the scales; they hire a goldsmith to make it into a god, and they bow down and worship it. They lift it to their shoulders and carry it; they set it up in its place, and there it stands. From that spot it cannot move. Though one cries out...

Hear, then, the parable of the farmer. When anyone hears the word of the Kingdom, and doesn't understand it, the evil one comes, and snatches away that which has been sown in his heart. Matt. 13:18 WEBOnce while praying about something, I felt like I heard a small whisper back from the Lord, encouraging me to go ahead with what I was praying about. Then immediately afterwards came doubt, unbelief,...

Acts 9:1-3: Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord's disciples. He went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell...

Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus. Acts 4:13 ESVThe disciples of Jesus were mostly uneducated fishermen, but later people lined up in the streets wanting even the shadow of Peter to fall on them (Acts 5:15). There is certainly nothing wrong with an education,...

James 1:17: Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the heavenly lights who does not change like the shifting shadows.Philippians 2:13: for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. Have you ever given a gift to someone or done what you perceive as a good work, and then found out later that it missed the mark? For years I would go around looking...

You were running well! Who interfered with you that you should not obey the truth? This persuasion is not from him who calls you. Galatians 5:7'8 WEBThe Apostle Paul wrote to the Galatians, who had turned away from following Jesus, and back to keeping the law. He asked them who had cut in on them to keep them from obeying the truth. The term 'cut in' means 'to hinder, interrupt, to get in the way.'...

Isaiah 29:13-14: The Lord says: These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men. Therefore once more I will astound these people with wonder upon wonder; the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish. Philippians 3:3-6:For it is we who are the...

Isaiah 54:17: No weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and this is their vindication from me," Declares the Lord.Collossians 1:21-23:Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death...

Matthew 11:28-30: Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Jesus wants us to find rest in Him. One of the biggest ways to be outside of that rest is to be stressed. When we are stressed about something, we...

For the body is not one member, but many. If the foot would say, 'Because I'm not the hand, I'm not part of the body,' it is not therefore not part of the body. If the ear would say, 'Because I'm not the eye, I'm not part of the body,' it's not therefore not part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole were hearing, where would the smelling be? 1 Corinthians...

However, not to give offense to them, go to the sea and cast a hook and take the first fish that comes up, and when you open its mouth you will find a shekel. Take that and give it to them for me and for yourself. Matt 17:27 ESVWhen Jesus came to Capernaum, the tax collectors asked Peter for taxes. Jesus told him to go fishing and the first fish that he caught would have a silver coin in its mouth,...

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be on his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6 WEB RHM December Newsletter - 2015 Hi there,Thank you for reading our devotional and being a part of Refreshing Hope Ministries. This is our monthly update on what has been happening here...

For a righteous man falls seven times, and rises up again; But the wicked are overthrown by calamity. Proverbs 24:16 WEBI once adopted a little dog that no one wanted and she had been abused in the past. Whenever she did something that she thought was wrong, she would tuck her tail between her legs, walk away slowly, and hide behind the couch. No amount of coaxing would stop her or bring her back out....

Philemon verses 6-7: I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ. Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the saints. 1 Thessalonians 5:11: Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. One of my favorite...

Then the king gave Daniel high honors and many great gifts, and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon and chief prefect over all the wise men of Babylon. Dan. 2:48 ESVDaniel, who was born of royal family, was taken prisoner when Nebuchadnezzar captured Jerusalem in 597 BC. He was taken from his homeland, made a eunuch and a servant in Babylon against his will. It wasn't the happiest of...

Isaiah 27:1-5: The Lord will punish with His sword, His fierce, great and powerful sword, Leviathan the gliding serpent, Leviathan the coiling serpent; He will slay the monster of the sea. In that day-- Sing about a fruitful vineyard; I, the Lord, watch over it; I water it continually, I guard it day and night so that no one may harm it. I am not angry. If only there were briers and thorns confronting...

Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel, and cast him into the den of lions. Now the king spoke and said to Daniel, Your God whom you serve continually, he will deliver you. A stone was brought, and laid on the mouth of the den; and the king sealed it with his own signet, and with the signet of his lords; that nothing might be changed concerning Daniel. Daniel 6:16 WEBAfter serving God faithfully,...

Samuel 2:15-16: But even before the fat was burned, the servant of the priest would come and say to the man who was sacrificing, Give the priest some meat to roast; he won’t accept boiled meat from you, but only raw. If the man said to him, Let the fat be burned up first, and then take whatever you want, the servant would then answer, No hand it over now; if you don’t, I'll take it by force....

Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil. He ate nothing in those days. Afterward, when they were completed, he was hungry. The devil said to him, 'If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.' Jesus answered him, saying, 'It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but...

"But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.’” 2 Cor. 12:9 The other day the Lord sent me a dream that beautifully illustrated the power of His grace and how He saw the folly of perfectionism. In the dream, I was having...

Samuel 1:27- I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him. So now I give him to the Lord. For his whole life he will be given over to the Lord. And he worshiped the Lord there. Hannah is a great example of faith, prayer, blessing, and fulfillment of a promise. A lot of times we can go through struggles in areas of our lives that can be very difficult. If you have an area...

For his anger is but for a moment; His favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may stay for the night, But joy comes in the morning. Psalms 30:5 WEBAnother night without sleep I thought as I tossed and turned on the bed. The pressure of what was going on in our life was tormenting and even though we were exhausted, we could not sleep because we knew what we had to face the next day. But when the morning arrived,...

Psalm 110:1- The Lord says to my Lord: Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet. Jesus sits at the right hand of God the Father (Colossians 3:1, Ephesians 1:20). For those of us who accept Jesus Christ, our lives are now hidden in Him (Colossians 3:3). We too have rest at the right hand of God the Father.Right now, we are all at war. There is a very real war going on...

You shall not be scared of them; for Yahweh your God is in the midst of you, a great and awesome God. Deuteronomy 7:21 WEBMoses called the Israelites together right before they went into the promised land and told them to not be afraid, for the Lord who is in the midst of you, is a great and 'awesome' God.The definition of Awesome: adjectivebreathtaking, awe-inspiring, magnificent, wonderful, amazing,...

Call to me, and I will answer you, and will show you great things, and difficult, which you don't know. Jeremiah 33:3 WEBWhen Jesus saw the crowds, He had compassion on them for they were lost and without a Shepherd. He would stop, teach, and heal them. He would touch them and heal their wounds. Jesus said several times in His teachings that He was the good Shepherd, and that He came to seek out and...

Luke 10:38-41: As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lords feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, Lord, dont you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help...

2nd Timothy 1:7-For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline. Go boldly into anything you face. Experience often dictates our fears and our aversions to things that are valuable. You would think the greatest goals and achievements are guarded by an army of giants meant to keep you away from the finish line. On a recent training ride on my bicycle,...