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God spoke all these words, saying, "I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourselves an idol, nor any image of anything that is in the heavens above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: you shall not bow yourself down to them, nor serve them, for...

Pharaoh said to his servants, "Can we find such a one as this, a man in whom is the Spirit of God?" Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Because God has shown you all of this, there is no one so discreet and wise as you. You shall be over my house. All my people will be ruled according to your word. Only in the throne I will be greater than you." Genesis 41:38–40 WEB. While serving a prison sentence in Egypt...

Moses said to Yahweh, "Behold, you tell me, 'Bring up this people:' and you haven't let me know whom you will send with me. Yet you have said, 'I know you by name, and you have also found favor in my sight.' Now therefore, if I have found favor in your sight, please show me now your ways, that I may know you, so that I may find favor in your sight: and consider that this nation is your people." He...

Pentecost from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo. We have recently covered the events of Holy Week and the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. What happened next? After Jesus was crucified, laid to rest in a tomb, and resurrected early Sunday morning, He remained on Earth for another forty days and appeared to many (Acts 1:3). Here is a brief summary: *...

But you, when you pray, enter into your inner chamber, and having shut your door, pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. In praying, don't use vain repetitions, as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard for their much speaking. Matthew 6:6–7 WEB. As the speaker walked up to the pulpit, I could feel the hair on the back of...

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us. For it is written, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree," that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Christ Jesus; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. Galatians 3:13–14 WEB. In the Roman Empire, slaves were sold on an auction block with a spear held over their heads. The...

See the birds of the sky, that they don't sow, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns. Your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren't you of much more value than they? Which of you, by being anxious, can add one cubit to the measure of his life? Why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They don't toil, neither do they spin, yet I tell you that even Solomon...

Immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, and he cried out, saying, "Ha! What do we have to do with you, Jesus, you Nazarene? Have you come to destroy us? I know you who you are: the Holy One of God!" Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be quiet, and come out of him!" The unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying with a loud voice, came out of him. They were all amazed, so that...

For the thing which I fear comes on me, That which I am afraid of comes to me. Job 3:25 WEB. As we worked to get the fish hook free of my eyelid, an actual calmness came over me. I grew up on the rivers of South Carolina fishing, and I always got nervous when people began swinging their fishing lines around. I dreaded the thought of them snagging me with their fish hook, especially in the eye. One...

They said to you that "In the last time there will be mockers, walking after their own ungodly lusts." These are they who cause divisions, and are sensual, not having the Spirit. But you, beloved, keep building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit. Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life. Jude 1:18–21 WEB. I...

The Blood of the Lamb from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo. Today, we celebrate the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, which occurred around 1992 years ago. Last week, we covered the events that happened during "Holy Week," beginning with Palm Sunday and ending with Jesus being arrested, scourged, and crucified on Friday, mostly because...

Is any among you suffering? Let him pray. Is any cheerful? Let him sing praises. Is any among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the assembly, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer of faith will heal him who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. If he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. James 5:13–15 WEB. When I got out of bed, I...

If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world is mine, and all that is in it. Will I eat the meat of bulls, or drink the blood of goats? Offer to God the sacrifice of thanksgiving. Pay your vows to the Most High. Call on me in the day of trouble. I will deliver you, and you will honor me." Psalms 50:12–15 WEB. God owns the entire universe, above, below, both seen and unseen. Some people...

You shall seek me, and find me, when you shall search for me with all your heart. I will be found by you, says Yahweh, and I will turn again your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places where I have driven you, says Yahweh; and I will bring you again to the place from where I caused you to be carried away captive. Jeremiah 29:13–14 WEB. Israel was on a slow...

He said to Jesus, "Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom." Jesus said to him, "Assuredly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise." Luke 23:42–43 WEB. As they hung there bleeding on the crosses they had been nailed to, one of the two thieves beside Jesus asked Him to remember him when He came into His kingdom. Jesus replied, "Today, you will be with Me in paradise." So even...

I have said these things to you, while still living with you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and will remind you of all that I said to you. John 14:25–26 WEB. My heart was racing, and I had no answers. Then I mindlessly rested my hand on the little box, and another light came on. When I moved my hand away, it went out. The...

Jesus answered them, "Most assuredly I tell you, everyone who commits sin is the bondservant of sin. A bondservant doesn't live in the house forever. A son remains forever. If therefore the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed." John 8:34–36 WEB. As I dropped the heavy luggage in the hotel lobby, the sound echoed through the room. I had lugged it nearly a mile in the August heat, and I was...

Holy Week from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo. Today marks the beginning of Holy Week—the week leading up to the most important events in Jesus' life. Tradition tells us that Holy Week began on Palm Sunday, around 33 AD. At that time, Jesus was in his early thirties. We use the BC/AD dating system, which was established around his birth,...

I give eternal life to them. They will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all. No one is able to snatch them out of my Father's hand. John 10:28–29 WEB. We often worry about so many things in this life, but when all is stripped away, the fact remains that we are held in God's strong hands. When you give your life to Jesus,...

God said to Abraham, "As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but her name shall be Sarah. I will bless her, and moreover I will give you a son by her. Yes, I will bless her, and she will be a mother of nations. Kings of peoples will come from her." Then Abraham fell on his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, "Will a child be born to him who is one hundred years old? Will Sarah,...

Now on the last and greatest day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink! He who believes in me, as the Scripture has said, from within him will flow rivers of living water." But he said this about the Spirit, which those believing in him were to receive. John 7:37–39 WEB. It gets really hot here in South Carolina during late summer. The air conditioners...

He said to the woman, "Yes, has God said, You shall not eat of any tree of the garden?" The woman said to the serpent, "Of the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat, but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, You shall not eat of it, neither shall you touch it, lest you die." The serpent said to the woman, "You won't surely die, for God knows that in the day...

Yahweh appeared of old to me, saying, Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love: therefore with loving kindness have I drawn you. Jeremiah 31:3 WEB. So many times in my life, I've stumbled in some way. Then I began to feel that I had let God down, failed Him, and should just give up. I felt like He was disappointed in me anyway. I would sulk and walk away like a puppy with his tail between his...

Gideon said to God, If you will save Israel by my hand, as you have spoken, behold, I will put a fleece of wool on the threshing floor; if there be dew on the fleece only, and it be dry on all the ground, then shall I know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you have spoken. It was so; for he rose up early on the next day, and pressed the fleece together, and wrung the dew out of the fleece, a...

The God of the Valley from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo. The human brain is a natural gap-filler—it quickly fills in missing details even when we don't give it the whole picture. For instance, if I simply say "dog," you likely picture an image in your mind based on your own experiences, even before I mention the breed. The same applies...

Then Nebuchadnezzar was full of fury, and the form of his appearance was changed against ccc. He spoke, and commanded that they should heat the furnace seven times more than it was usually heated. He commanded certain mighty men who were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace. Then these men were bound in their pants, their tunics, and their...

So Hannah rose up after they had finished eating and drinking in Shiloh. Now Eli the priest was sitting on his seat by the doorpost of Yahweh's temple. She was in bitterness of soul, and prayed to Yahweh, weeping bitterly. 1 Samuel 1:9–10 WEB. Hannah poured out her heart to the Lord. She wanted a child so badly that the rest of her life seemed empty, and nothing else mattered. Her husband, Elkanah,...

When David and his men came to the city, behold, it was burned with fire; and their wives, their sons, and their daughters were taken captive. Then David and the people who were with him lifted up their voice and wept until they had no more power to weep. David's two wives were taken captive, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite. David was greatly distressed, for the...

Elijah said to her, "Don't be afraid. Go and do as you have said; but make me a little cake from it first, and bring it out to me, and afterward make some for you and for your son. For Yahweh, the God of Israel, says, 'The jar of meal will not run out, and the jar of oil will not fail, until the day that Yahweh sends rain on the earth.' " She went and did according to the saying of Elijah; and she,...

Remain in me, and I in you. As the branch can't bear fruit by itself, unless it remains in the vine, so neither can you, unless you remain in me. I am the vine. You are the branches. He who remains in me, and I in him, the same bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. John 15:4–5 WEB. The ministry of Jesus, from the first recorded miracle of turning water into wine at the wedding...