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For I, Yahweh your God, will hold your right hand, saying to you, Don't be afraid; I will help you. Isaiah 41:13 WEBWe have a proverb that we live by in music while performing: "If you hit a bad note, hit it good.' (technically, it would be "hit it well", but that's what the phrase is here). Do not let the fear of failure keep you from performing your best. If you are going to fail at something, let...
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Luke 5:27-28, 30: After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. Follow me, Jesus said to him, and Levi got up, left everything and followed him. 30- But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?
I was on a run in the battlefield park near...
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Mark 5:25-34- A large crowd followed and pressed around him. And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, because she thought, If I just touch his clothes,...
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2 Samuel 6:22: I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes. But by these slave girls you spoke of, I will be held in honor.
When we allow ourselves to let go of our perception of dignity, in exchange for worship that goes beyond our limits, we will never be in a position of dishonor. We can often get caught up in the idea that we are above a certain level...
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Yahweh opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, 'What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?' Balaam said to the donkey, 'Because you have mocked me, I wish there were a sword in my hand, for now I would have killed you.' The donkey said to Balaam, 'Am I not your donkey, on which you have ridden all your life long until today? Was I ever in the habit of doing...
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Yahweh said to Joshua, 'Get up! Why have you fallen on your face like that?' Joshua 7:10 WEBJoshua lay on his face before the ark of the Lord all evening. Yesterday he was a mighty warrior, but now Israel had lost the first battle at Ai because one of the men with him had broken the Lord's commandment concerning Jericho. When they crossed the river into the promised land, Jericho was the first city...
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2 Samuel 6:11-18: The ark of the Lord remained in the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite for three months, and the Lord blessed him and his entire household. Now King David was told, The Lord has blessed the household of Obed-Edom and everything he has, because of the ark of God. So David went down and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the city of David with rejoicing.
Do you want...
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2nd Samuel 14:14-Like water spilled on the ground that can never be recovered, so we must die. But God does not take away life; instead, he devises ways that a banished person may not remain estranged from Him.Isaiah 59:2- But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.John 19:28- Later, knowing that all was now completed, and...
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For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven: A time to be born, And a time to die; A time to plant, And a time to pluck up that which is planted; Ecclesiastes 3:1 WEBSpringtime is so beautiful when all of nature is blooming, then comes summer and fall. Eventually winter comes and things begin to die. The weather is no longer pleasant and inviting as it once was. All...
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and your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, This is the way, walk you in it; when you turn to the right hand, and when you turn to the left. Isaiah 30:21 WEBA shepherd herding sheep down a path does not have to interact much, he just follows behind them watching. His presence is there, but he does not have to say anything. But if they come across a fork in the road, or a path on the side, the...
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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...
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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...
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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,...
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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...
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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,...
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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...
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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,...
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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...
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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.'...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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,...
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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...
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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....
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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,...