Daily Dose of Hope from New Hope

New Hope Church
New Hope Church
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The Daily Dose of Hope is a devotional intended to provide context and reflection to the New Hope Church Bible Reading Plan. It's our goal to read the Bible in a year together as a family of faith. Five days a week we read. Two days a week we either rest or catch up. Reading the Bible is the number one way to grow in our walk with Jesus. We have to know God's Word to live God's Word. Now for our Daily Dose of Hope.

  1. 14h ago

    September 18, 2026; Genesis 31 + Going Deeper with Emmy

    Daily Dose of Hope September 18, 2026   Scripture:  Genesis 31 + Going Deeper with Emmy Roberts   Prayer:  Holy and Merciful God, Thank you for a new day and thank you that your mercies are new every morning.  As we enter into this weekend, help us be aware of your presence in a new way, Lord.  And right now, help us gather our scattered thoughts and focus on you and your Word.  In these next few moments of silence, help us be still and know that you are God...In Your Name, Amen.   Welcome back to the Daily Dose of Hope, the devotional and podcast that complements the New Hope daily Bible reading plan.  We are currently doing a deep dive into the book of Genesis.  Today's reading is Genesis 31, plus we have our going deeper discussion with youth and next gen lead, Emmy Roberts.   In today's reading, God tells Jacob to take his wives, children, livestock, and belongings, and head to the land of his father.  Laban is not to be trusted.  Although the Scripture doesn't explicitly say so, it appears that Laban and his sons may have plans to harm Jacob.  They are incredibly jealous of his success.    So, that is exactly what they do.  They secretly leave, without telling Laban.  This ends twenty years of Jacob being taken advantage of by Laban.  If it were only that easy.  Laban hears about what has happened and comes to find Jacob.  He acts hurt.  He does put on a good show.   The odd part of this situation is Rachel taking Laban's household gods.  Why did she do this?  One possibility is that Rachel and Leah felt that their father Laban treated them like strangers and consumed their money. Taking the idols may have acted as a form of financial payback or a way to secure their household's wealth.  There is also the real possibility that while Rachel knew God, she may have still had some kind of unhealthy attachment to the false gods.  Finally, some commentators suggest Laban used the idols for divination to track fugitives. Rachel may have stolen them to keep her father from finding out which route Jacob's fleeing caravan took.   Regardless, she took them and was able to outsmart her father, Laban, who was the ultimate deceiver and trickster.  God ensured that Jacob and his family were protected.   With that, let's get into our going deeper conversation with Emmy about this week's reading.   Blessings, Pastor Vicki

  2. 1d ago

    September 17, 2026; Genesis 30

    Daily Dose of Hope September 17, 2026   Scripture: Genesis 30   Prayer:  Heavenly Father, We come before you today in awe of your Word. Thank you for speaking to us through Scripture.  Help us commit to being grounded in your truth.  Help us make learning more about you a priority.  We get so distracted!  The world comes at us from all sides.  Lord, in these next few moments of silence, help us set aside our scattered thoughts and focus on you...In Your Name, Amen.   Welcome to the Daily Dose of Hope, the devotional and podcast that complements the daily Bible reading plan at New Hope church in Brandon, Florida. We are currently doing a deep dive into the book of Genesis.  Today's reading is Genesis 30   Today, we continue the saga of Jacob and his wives.  As we mentioned yesterday, it appears that Leah, the older sister/first wife, got a raw deal, discarded by her dad and not loved by her husband.  But we mentioned yesterday that God blessed her with many sons.  With each child, we see a spiritual change in Leah based on what she names her boys.  Reuben was the first-born and his name means "behold, a son."  When Leah had Reuben, she felt like the Lord had seen her misery.  Simeon was second and his name means "God has heard."  Levi was third and his name means "joined in harmony," because Leah thought after three sons, her husband would finally feel attached to her.  By the fourth son, Judah, we see a change in Leah.  Judah's name means "the praised one."  It took four births before we see some healing.  Instead of lamenting about her life, she begins to see God's hand and starts to praise him!   But while Leah has born Jacob four boys, Rachel has been unable to conceive.  Now, she is incredibly jealous of her sister.  This is when the drama begins!  Rachel has Jacob sleep with her handmaiden and through her, they have two sons.  Leah, who has stopped having kids, responds by having Jacob sleep with her handmaiden and they have two sons together.  Rachel is desperate for a baby of her own and there is this interesting interaction between sisters, sharing some mandrakes (which were thought to increase fertility in barren women) and making arrangements about who gets to sleep with Jacob when.  As a result, Leah has two more babies, a boy and a girl, and Rachel finally has Joseph.    So, what in the world was Jacob thinking?  Scripture certainly doesn't mention him having an opinion or taking any kind of stand against this craziness.  It appears to the outside observer that he was perfectly fine being thrown from wife to wife to handmaiden to handmaiden.  It appears he will sleep with whomever and whenever.  We have perspective, of course, so what we know is that God's purpose is for all of these sons to be the leaders of the twelve tribes of Israel.  God was planning to fulfill the covenant he made with Abraham through these sons.  We just get to witness a lot of messiness in the process.   It's also in this chapter that Jacob asks Laban either for his freedom or his wages.  He is ready to go off on his own, but his father-in-law seems to be aware that the only reason that he has been successful is because of Jacob's skill, labor, and blessing.  So Laban agrees to give Jacob all his speckled and spotted goats and dark-colored sheep as his payment for continuing to tend Laban's flocks.  But remember Laban is a deceiver and a trickster.  He tries to cheat Jacob by removing all patterned animals ahead of time and sending them a three-day journey away, leaving Jacob with only solid white sheep and solid-colored goats.   But Jacob also has some things up his sleeve.  Jacob decides on a rather unusual methodology for what appears to be selective breeding of sheep and goats. This section is often heavily criticized as being superstitious folklore. The charge is made that these goat-herders in Canaan obviously knew nothing about genetics.  What was Jacob doing and what did he understand about breeding?   I had to read this a few times.  It is rather confusing.  So, Jacob put the peeled sticks in the watering trough so that the flocks would breed near the troughs.  Just FYI, these kinds of sticks would have been really tasty to the sheep.  The females would be attracted to the troughs with the sticks, drink from the troughs, and the males would come behind them to breed.      The spotted or speckled traits must have been recessive, so it was possible for the solid-colored sheep to have a few babies who carried the recessive trait.  It seems maybe that God gave Jacob a vision of which animals carried this recessive trait.  It was those animals that he gave extra food or medicines to keep them really healthy.  Basically, God is making it so Jacob will prosper, even though Laban is underhanded and deceiving.   Blessings, Pastor Vicki

  3. 2d ago

    September 16, 2026; Genesis 29

    Daily Dose of Hope September 16, 2026   Scripture:  Genesis 29   Prayer:  Abba Father, Prepare our hearts for your Word today.  Help us approach this Scripture with an openness to learning something new from you.  Jesus, thank you for your perfect example of mercy and love.  More of you and less of me.  In Your Name, Amen.   Welcome back to the Daily Dose of Hope, the devotional and podcast that complements the New Hope daily Bible reading plan.  We are currently working our way through the book of Genesis.  Today, we read Genesis 29.   Jacob is not in Haran, where his mother's brother, Laban, lives.  He meets his cousin, Rachel, and falls for her, basically saying he will work for his Uncle Laban for seven years in exchange for the ability to marry Rachel.  Romantic love is very uncommon in the Old Testament so this is a bit of a unusual circumstance.  Laban is a deceiver and trickster, not unlike Jacob himself.  After seven years of labor, there is a wedding and Laban gives Jacob Leah (the older sister) instead of Rachel.  We don't know why Jacob didn't notice the sister switch.  Maybe it was dark, maybe she was veiled, or maybe he was drunk.  Regardless, Leah becomes his first wife.    I have always felt so sorry for Leah.  Not only was she the less favored sister, but her father pawns her off to a man who doesn't want her.  I can't imagine how humiliating this must have been for her.   Jacob wakes up the morning after the wedding and realizes that he has married Leah instead of Rachel.  He is really mad and insists on Laban giving him Rachel.  After a week, Laban does so, but Jacob must agree to seven more years of labor.   The text refers to Leah as the unloved wife.  But she does have many children, four boys right off the bat.  Rachel, on the other hand, has none.  What Laban has done is create a wedge between the sisters and many sad years of competition.   Did Jacob get a taste of his own medicine?  Maybe, but it was at the cost of these two women, who had very little control over their lives.    But regardless, God is going to work his plan.  Leah's boys (at this point in the story) are Reuben, Simeon, Judah, and Levi.  Levi will be the ancestor of Israelites priests and Judah will be the ancestor of Israelites kings.  And we should also mention God's promise to Abraham that he will be the father of many nations.  This covenant will be fulfilled even with Laban's trickery and the sad rivalry between Leah and Rahel.  God fulfills his promises, even through flawed human beings.   Once again, that should bring us a sense of encouragement!   Blessings, Pastor Vicki

  4. 3d ago

    September 15, 2026; Genesis 28

    Daily Dose of Hope Sept. 15, 2026   Scripture:  Genesis 28   Prayer:  Amazing Father and Lord, Thank you for who you are.  Thank you for how you care for us.  We get distracted.  We veer away from you and your Word.  For that, we are so very sorry.  Forgive us, Lord.  Help us to abide in you.  Help us to remain close so that we can be fruitful and effective for your Kingdom.  Help us get outside ourselves and see others as you see them.  Lord, we belong to you.  In Your Name, Amen.   Welcome back to the Daily Dose of Hope, the devotional and podcast that complements the New Hope Church daily Bible reading plan.  We are currently doing a deep dive into the book of Genesis, and we are about halfway through.  There is still so much to learn and wrestle with!  Today, we continue with the life of Jacob in Genesis 28.   Our reading today starts with Isaac sending Jacob off to find a wife, a woman who was not a Canaanite.  The interesting thing to me here is Esau's reaction.  Esau was already married to two Canaanite women.  He must have known that his choices displeased his parents.  This wasn't something that would be kept a secret.  In fact, at the end of Genesis 26, the text says that Esau's choice in wives made life bitter for Isaac and Rebekah.  Now, Esau decides to choose a third wife who was not a Canaanite, possibly to gain some favor with his parents.  This seems like a superficial attempt to gain his parent's approval.  Probably a genuine change of heart and a sincere apology would go further.  Regardless, now he has three wives.    Let's move on to Jacob.  The rest of the chapter contains what is typically referred to as "Jacob's Ladder."  Jacob heads off of his own and sleeps in the desert, using a stone for a pillow.  He dreams of a staircase connecting heaven and earth with angels descending and ascending.  God tells Jacob that he will protect him and God confirms the covenant He made with Abraham that his offspring will be many and that the Promised Land will one day belong to his descendants.   Some people see this dream of Jacob's as highly symbolic, representing Jesus Christ, who came to earth as a mediator and became that ladder or stairway for us to reconnect the relationship with God that was severed because of sin.  So, if you ever hear Jesus being called our "Jacob's ladder," that is why.    Again, it's interesting that God chose Jacob, the youngest child and the one who deceived his father and brother.  But God chooses certain people for his own reasons.  Jacob will come to symbolize so much more as we move forward in the book of Genesis.     More tomorrow.   Blessings, Pastor Vicki

  5. 4d ago

    September 14, 2026; Genesis 26:34-35 and 27

    Daily Dose of Hope September 14, 2026   Scripture: Genesis 26:34-35  & 27   Prayer: Holy God, We rejoice in your name today.  You are almighty and wise, the Alpha and the Omega.  You are the one who was, and is, and is to come.  We give you all the glory and praise.  Help us now, Lord, gather our scattered thoughts and focus on you.  In these next few moments of silence, hear our prayers...  In Your Name, Amen.   Welcome back to the Daily Dose of Hope, the devotional and podcast that complements the New Hope daily Bible reading plan.  We are currently doing a deep dive into the book of Genesis.  Today's reading is the very end of Genesis 26 and the full chapter of Genesis 27.   It's easy to wonder why God chooses to bless some of the guys in Genesis.  Take Jacob, for instance.  He and his mom devise a plan to deceive Isaac, his dad.  Disguised as Esau, wearing his brother's clothes, and attaching animal skins to his arms and neck, Jacob offers his father a savory meal to replace the one that Esau was supposed to prepare for him.  Jacob then lies to his blind and dying father, saying, "I am Esau your firstborn.  I have done as you told me; now sit up and eat of my game, so that you may bless me."  Isaac at first seems to know that something is up; he says that the voice seems to belong to Jacob.  But he goes ahead and offers Jacob his blessing.    When Esau finds out what has happened, he is devastated.  He mentions another meaning of Jacob's name, deceiver.  He says something like, "Is he not rightly named Jacob?  For he has now deceived me two times.  He took away my birthright and now he has taken away my blessing."    Jacob seems to cross every line that presents itself.  There is no rule or relationship that is beyond him.  If he wants something, he will get it.  He doesn't mind messing up the line of inheritance and the chain of blessing.  He isn't worried about disrespecting his father or hurting his brother.  He appears to only be interested in himself.  The weirdest thing to me is that his mom is complicit in the whole thing.  Favoritism is always bad news.   But even though Jacob has tried to steal every advantage with mom helping him all the way, life doesn't turn out so well for him.  If he is seeking an advantage, it doesn't come.  As we are about to see in the next few chapters, Jacob will meet his match with his Uncle Laban who is also a deceiver.  And then his own sons will deceive him after they sell Jacob's youngest son and their brother into slavery.  Jacob ends up getting a taste of his own medicine big time.  For us as the readers, there is no satisfaction in any of it, only heartache.    But there is something we will learn from Jacob.  God is going to use him.  God is going to take this deceitful man who lies to his dad and openly tries to harm his brother, and form him into someone who will serve and work for God.  Jacob is going to have to go through the mill but he is going to meet God in some pretty incredible ways.  God can change and transform anyone.  We get to see that over and over again in Scripture.   The other thing that we will see is that the Bible doesn't sugarcoat people.  Scripture is very open about people's flaws and brokenness.  In many ways, this gives me a weird sense of encouragement.  God doesn't need perfect people.  In fact, his specialty seems to be broken, messed up people.  And if God can use all of these people, then he can also use you and me.  And while I don't want to be a deceiver like Jacob, I know I have my own flaws and sins.  And I love that God can still change me and use me.  In fact, I pray that he will.  Thank you, God, for being a God who is still in the business of transforming lives.   Blessings, Pastor Vicki

  6. Sep 11

    September 11, 2026; Genesis 26:1-33

    Daily Dose of Hope September 11, 2026   Scripture:  Genesis 26:1-33   Prayer:  Holy God, We rejoice and give praise for the ways you care for us.  We rejoice and give praise for how you continue to forgive us and give us second and third chances.  Help us seek lives characterized by your holiness.  Help us seek pure hearts.  Lord, in these next few moments of silence, hear our prayers and help us bring together all our scattered thoughts and focus on you...It's in your name we pray, Amen.   Welcome back to the Daily Dose of Hope, the devotional and podcast that complements the New Hope daily Bible reading plan.  We are currently working our way through the book of Genesis.  Today, our reading is the bulk of Genesis 26, through verse 33.   We read in today's chapter that there is a famine in the land so Isaac goes down to Gerar.  Gerar was a town south of Canaan, located in a fertile valley, which makes sense why Isaac would choose that location.  But when he gets there, he does something that will sound very familiar to us.  He tells the local king that Rebekah is his sister!  Like father, like son.  Even though God has promised to protect him, Isaac is still fearful.  How often we fall into the same pattern as our parents.   It's here that we see God's grace.  God blesses Isaac despite himself.  Even after the king finds out that Rebekah is his wife, God ensures that Isaac is blessed and protected.  His flocked multiply.  His wells are plentiful.  He is so very successful that the locals are feeling threatened and he keeps moving around.  He ends up settling in Beersheba, where God reinforces that he is with Isaac and will make his descendants great.    Isaac's success ends up being a witness for the Lord.  Eventually, the king comes and finds him.  He admits that he knows that Isaac is successful because of God Almighty is with him.  It isn't anything that Isaac has done (it's actually despite Isaac).  It's all God.  This leads to Isaac making a covenant of peace with the king.  Again, we see God's hand at work.   How often have you seen God's hand at work in your life, even when you have been disobedient or sinful?  It's amazing to me how God's grace can persist through our mess and stubbornness.    Blessings, Pastor Vicki

  7. Sep 10

    September 10, 2026; Genesis 25

    Daily Dose of Hope Sept. 10, 2026   Scripture: Genesis 25   Prayer:  Almighty God, we start by pausing before you.  Help us set aside the distractions of the morning or the day and focus on you.  In these next few moments of silence, help us gather our scattered thoughts and think only of you...Help us be still and know you are God.  God, we rejoice that we can freely read your Word and we are grateful that you speak to us through it. It's truly a miracle.  Holy Spirit, we also invite you to join us as we seek to grow deeper in relationship with you.  In Your Name, Amen.   Welcome to the Daily Dose of Hope, the devotional and podcast that complements the daily Bible reading plan at New Hope Church.  We are currently doing a deep dive into the books of Genesis and Exodus.  Today, our reading is Genesis 25.   The chapter begins with Abraham taking a new wife.  Remember, Sarah has passed.  This new wife, Keturah, has quite a few kids.  But the chapter makes it clear that despite these additional children, Abraham gives everything he has to Isaac.  He is the son who God promised to him and the one through whom God's promise will pass.   But then the Scripture says something kind of interesting.  It says that Abrahm gave gifts to the sons of the concubines.  I don't know about you, but I was initially like, what???  Did Abraham have concubines?  Upon some deeper study, the only untoward relationship we know of in Abraham's life is with Hagar.  So, it could be that this is a reference to both Hagar and Keturah, letting us know that God's covenant promise was through Sarah.  The other women did not have the same status.   And then, Abraham dies.  His sons bury him in the same cave as his first wife, Sarah.   We then read about the birth of Isaac's twin boys, Jacob and Esau.  They were fraternal twins that seemed to be in competition with each other from birth.  Some Jewish commentators actually say that they tried to kill one another in the womb, but that certainly does not seem to be evident in the Scripture.  What we do know is that God revealed to Rebekah that the older (stronger) brother will be subordinate to the younger (weaker) brother. But in some ways, the boys divided the parents.  Isaac favored Esau while Rebekah favored Jacob.   Let's fast-forward.  The Scripture moves quickly to when the boys are young men.  It's a story most of us have heard before.  Esau sells his firstborn right for a bowl of Jacob's delicious stew.  We get a picture of Esau as impulsive.  His hunger needs to be dealt with immediately!  He doesn't think about the long-term consequences.   I've always thought this story is so strange.  Esau seems to be impulsive, but he also seems to be treated unfairly.  Thus, we have to look at the deeper themes here.  By favoring Jacob, God is siding with the powerless, the weak, and the younger brother.  By favoring Jacob, God is actually identifying with Israel, the tiny, powerless nation who lived in the middle of much stronger nations.    And while God identifies with Jacob, Jacob is still not always characterized in the best light.  God's favor comes in spite of Jacob's negative behavior.  We can actually get a picture of God's grace here.  Despite his brokenness, God has decided to work through Jacob.  Despite our brokenness, God will work through us.   Blessings, Pastor Vicki

  8. Sep 9

    September 9, 2026; Genesis 24

    Daily Dose of Hope September 9, 2026   Scripture:  Genesis 24   Prayer:  Dear Heavenly Father, We are so grateful that your mercies are new every single morning.  No matter what our week has been like, we can come to you today afresh and anew.  Lord, forgive us for our many failings.  We want to do better.  In these next few moments of silence, Lord, hear our prayers...In Your Name, Amen.   Welcome to the Daily Dose of Hope, the devotional and podcast that complements the New Hope daily Bible reading plan.  We are currently working our way through the book of Genesis and today we are looking at Genesis 24.   Today, we read about Isaac's marriage to Rebekah.  The chapter begins with Abraham asking his senior servant to swear an oath that he will find a wife for Isaac among his father's people rather than the surrounding Canaanites.  You probably noticed that when asking his servant, Abraham has the servant place his hand under Abraham's thigh.  I definitely needed to look this up.   This was the typical way of swearing a solemn oath in the ancient world.  The thigh was considered the source of posterity. Or, more properly, the "loins" or the testicles. The phrase "under the thigh" could be a euphemism for "on the loins."  We really don't know.  But there are two reasons why someone would take an oath in this manner.  First, Abraham had been promised a "seed" by God, and this covenantal blessing was passed on to his son and grandson. Abraham made his trusted servant swear "on the seed of Abraham" that he would find a wife for Isaac.  Second, Abraham had received circumcision as the sign of the covenant. Our custom is to swear on a Bible; the Hebrew custom was to swear on circumcision, the mark of God's covenant. The idea of swearing on one's loins is found in other cultures, as well. The English word testify is directly related to the word testicles.  So, there's your trivia for today.   Other scholars say that's totally hogwash.  They would say placing a hand under the thigh indicated someone was under their authority.  I'll let you decide which interpretation works.   The senior servant heads out to find a wife for Isaac.  He goes to the land of Nahor, where Abraham's brother and family live.  I kind of feel sorry for the servant here.  It's kind of an awkward situation.  He needs to find an appropriate wife and convince her family to allow him to take her far, far away.  His sincerity and humility certainly help his case though.  He truly wants to do the right thing and it seems that people can sense it.   God makes sure his promises are fulfilled here.  Rebekah agrees to go with the servant, even when her family seeks to delay it.  She goes back with the servant and takes her place in Sarah's tent, demonstrating that she is the new matriarch.    We get to learn more about Isaac in the next few chapters.  Get ready!   Blessings, Pastor Vicki

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The Daily Dose of Hope is a devotional intended to provide context and reflection to the New Hope Church Bible Reading Plan. It's our goal to read the Bible in a year together as a family of faith. Five days a week we read. Two days a week we either rest or catch up. Reading the Bible is the number one way to grow in our walk with Jesus. We have to know God's Word to live God's Word. Now for our Daily Dose of Hope.

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