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Simon Peter said to them, 'I'm going fishing.' They told him, 'We are also coming with you.' They immediately went out, and entered into the boat. That night, they caught nothing. But when day had already come, Jesus stood on the beach, yet the disciples didn't know that it was Jesus. John 21:3 WEBP... -
RHM Bible Study, Acts Chapter Twenty-five from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo. Today we are going to study Acts chapter 25 in depth. You can follow along in your own Bible if you like. I will be reading from the World English Bible because it is the only modern English translation that is co...
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RHM Devotional: Life or Death from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo. Today I want to talk about life or death, in the Spirit. God is the Giver of life, and He breathed the breath of life into Adam in the beginning. His Spirit brings a freshness, a revitalization, freedom, an excitement, It giv...
Skeletons in The Closet
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So Joseph went after his brothers and found them near Dothan. But they saw him in the distance, and before he reached them, they plotted to kill him. Here comes that dreamer! they said to each other. Come now, lets kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns and say that a ferocious animal devoured him. Then well see what comes of his dreams. Genesis 37:1720 NIV
Joseph had it all. He was his fathers favorite, God had given him dreams showing that he would be a ruler, his father had given him an ornate coat of many colors, and he was a prince. Life should have been great except that his brothers were very jealous and most of them wanted to kill him. Reuben tried to save him and got him thrown into an empty well. The only thing that stopped them was his brother Judah who told them, after all he is our brother, our own flesh, so they all compromised on selling him as a slave.
Joseph was just a boy and he had no control over this. He was just doing what his father had told him. It was not his fault that bad things were done to him by others, even his loved ones. He was not at fault, and his father still loved him dearly. Going from a prince to a dark pit, to being a slave, to being falsely accused of attempted rape and then serving time in prison, Josephs life went into a downward spiral. It was a very dark time for him but it did not end there. Eventually, Joseph became the ruler of Egypt, second only to Pharaoh himself and his dreams came true.
When people are abused as a child they often blame themselves. Things that happened to you when you were young were not your fault. You had no control over that! Lay it down. Like Joseph, forgive, and in doing so you will free yourself as well. Do not let things that happened years ago, that you had no control over, drain your energy today. Your Father loves you and wants you to focus on your future, not your unchangeable past.
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Boy, can I sympathize with Joseph--so much so that several of my old passwords contained his name--LOL. I still see a therapist because I have a hard time forgiving myself, my parents--you name it! Sadly, it seems the only way for peace is to restrict all contact with my birth family; they are just too evil.Please pray for me and my kids. Thanks.
This is a powerful message. I wish I had read this message many, many, many years ago. It would have helped me through the struggles I have gone through. However, even though time has passed, God was always with me, though at times, I had my doubts. Now, my faith has been renewed and strengthened and I am truly blessed that he sustains me and gives me the love and support that gets me through each and every day. Thank you GOD for loving me and always being there with me and for your son Jesus who is the lifeline to you! To the Glory of God the Father!!! AMEN, AMEN! Happy Easter Pastor Todd
I am saved 27 years today from a hell filled 13 year drug addiction.
After my deliverance and salvation, I was not happy deep inside. And several years ago THE LORD started to reveal things I had hidden deep inside my mind. I was sexually abused from age 2 or 3 until I was around 8 or 9. I lived in such bitterness and anger.
And JESUS/YESHUA in all of HIS GLORY taught me how to forgive. He brought me freedom again on that night that HE spoke "Shari, you don't forgive them for them, you forgive them for you" and it broke!
I cried for what seemed hours! But I forgave those 3 family members! Forgiveness is only possible when THE LORD shows you how!
HE is AMAZING!!
Thank you. Too many of God's children have been abused as children. And while forgiveness is VERY HARD and a process to go through it is a struggle we must take. Otherwise NOT forgiving is like us drinking poison and hoping the other person dies. Please find a therapist and a pastor to help you work through this. When Jesus makes you free you will be free indeed!
Thank you for this lesson, we should always look ahead but if we ever look back we should remember the many times that we in dangerous and even life-threatening situations and realize that it was Our Father watching out for us that brought us through. He said " I will never leave you or forsake you"
This is so good, Things that you have no control over God brings some thing so beautiful out of it. His blessings are more than we can comprehend. God wants us to live our life right now in His joy, peace and security. Our future is so amazing and awesome. Every day I am so excited to see what He has for me. I am learning to live one day at a time, not to take on tomorrow, because today has enough troubles of its own. God is the only one that can give me the ability to not let my circumstances have control of me, but to live in peace no matter what my circumstances are. To trust that God knows what He is doing. He is in charge of my life. I don't think God is nearly as conserned about my circumstances as He is at how I am responding to my circumstances. How Joseph responded to his circumstances was such a great lesson to me. God blessed him so much in his life. I love how his story ends. And how this efficted his family and others.
Wow Pastor Todd, for the second time in a row, your message hit home! Not physical, but emotional. And yesterday I had another painful incident with a family member who I believe has emotional issues. So hurtful and painful to me. I pray and ask God to reveal to me if I am doing/saying something wrong to cause this, because they always say 'it takes two'. And this person is saved. This has been going on my whole life, and I am near retirement age. It's only this one family member. This has everything to do with my comment yesterday.
To be honest, I really don't think the story of Joseph fits what you're trying to convey! Joseph was not abused as a child, he was his father's favorite. When I think of abused children, I think of those who are neglected by their parents; those who are beaten, ridiculed, and compared to the child that is the parent's favorite. Joseph's lot in life was not at the hands of his parents ... it was sibling rivalry which to me, is far different from being an abused child. Maybe Joseph always got the best of things and his brothers' got the left overs. Maybe Joseph gloated that he was the favorite, and his brother's got tired of it. It is hard to believe that the brothers plotted this over one coat; no, I believe it was years of pent up frustration. The Bible doesn't say this, but none-the-less, we know Joseph was the favorite ... not an unwanted, abused child ... and he still came out on top!
The story of Joseph also shows us that he was a person of integrity. Everyone noticed this even the jailer because even there he was put in charge of all those in prison. (Gen 39:22). In verse 23 it says, "The keeper of the prison paid no attention to anything that was in Joseph's charge, because the Lord was with him. And whatever he did, the Lord made it succeed." Others noticed this about Joseph also and because of his Godly character the whole nation of Egypt was saved from seven years of famine. God tell us in Matt 5:16, "In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven." God gives us the works, He gets the glory, and others are saved! He still works through us this same way today. Praise God.
The point is that Joseph suffered a betrayal at the hands of his family members that no child should be subjected to. I myself was involved in some of the older children's sexual experiments with each other when I was only 7 years old. This is abuse, even though the adults in my family were unaware and provided for all of my needs. I was still damaged by theses events and needed deliverance. It is important to be able to find ourselves in the word of God, and rightly divide it to properly apply it to our lives. It is more effective when we identify rather than comparing. There is no justification for what Joseph's brothers did to him. Likewise, there is no justification when any child suffers abuse from whomever, but there is healing and deliverance in Christ Jesus!
I love the story of Joseph. I only wish I was as strong as he and able to hold on to the faith that the Lord loves me and will take care of all. Some days my depression is so ugly, that I try to hide from everyone. But even when I do, I know that the Lord still sees me. STill loves me. Still wants me. Thank You, Father God, for loving me when I feel so very unlovable and ugly.
I'm sure Joseph had his moments when sitting in prison all that time :). Ruth, have you checked out the FAAD group (Fight Against Anxiety & Depression) on this site? Here is the link: http://www.refreshinghope.org/group/5. In the name of Jesus, I pray that the Lord delivers you from the shackles of depression and helps you to walk in freedom!
In this case, what Joseph suffered was retaliation for being the "favorite." I guess I'm just looking at it a little bit deeper. I know where you're trying to go, but I just don't think it aligns with the intended message. I hope my reply is as valued as others. This is supposed to be for everyone, whether they agree with your message or not, right?
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