water in the desert

  • Gather The Girls Together!

    Right from the heart of God… a call to Gather The Girls Together!

    Soul H2O Devotion

    The Lord said, Gather The People Together
    and I will give them water.
    Numbers 21:16

    REFRESH CONFERENCE GET THE GIRLS TOGETHERGather The Girls Together

    I read this verse and was blown away that I’d never noticed it before. It was a timely word the Lord brought to my attention earlier this week. I feel it was just another confirmation that we’re doing the right thing by putting the Refresh Conference on next Saturday. Answering an ancient call to gather God’s people together, so they can be refreshed by Him!

    Where The People Were At

    In the portion of Scripture where this verse comes from, the people of God were tired and worn out. They’d been fighting battle after battle. One of their favourite leaders; Aaron, the brother of Moses had just died. They wandered around the desert, thirsty for water to feed their bodies and souls.

    The struggle was so intense it says in verses 4-5 of this chapter that they began to grumble and complain about how difficult their circumstances were and God got fed up with their bad attitude.

    I know you’d never be like that, but me… 
    I might be a little #guilty of it!

    I Don’t Have It All Figured Out

    I don’t write this to you as someone who’s gotten this right all the time, but someone who keeps picking herself off the floor whenever she falls. God sees your human frailty and loves you in spite of it. 

    This verse is so amazing to me because right after the people failed their test of faith, God still gives them a promise and brings them to the water. 

    I believe God has something great for you at the Refresh Conference. It’s no mistake you bought a ticket, or someone bought it for you. 

    Get Yourself Ready

    I encourage you to start spending time in prayer today, asking God to prepare your heart for what He’s about to do in you! I know He wants to build you UP!

    We’ve been gathering HIS girls online for the past couple of years and now *live* an in-person! If you’re one of the girls who’s answered the call and is coming the Refresh  💧 Conference next Saturday… I can’t wait to see you! 

    Refresh Conference Gather The Girls TogetherIf you know of anyone sitting on the fence about coming or God has brought them to your mind as you’re reading, why not contact them and see if they might join you… but don’t delay, today is the last day to buy tickets (details below).

    Hope to cya soon!

    In His Grip,
    Sherry
    xoxo

    Ticket Timer

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    TICKETS AVAILABLE UNTIL FRIDAY, OCT. 14 @ MIDNIGHT

    Refresh Conference Gather The Girls Together
    Get Your Tickets Today

    Because tomorrow you can’t!

    Refresh Conference
    GRAB A GIRLFRIEND & JOIN US! Saturday, October 22, 2022 | 10am – 4pm EST LakePoint Family Church – Leamington, ON
    CLICK ON REFRESH PAGE

    💧 Sherry Stahl is the keynote speaker 

    💧 Brianne Danter is the worship leader 

    💧 6 Breakout Session Options 

    💧 Lunch & Snacks served 

    ⏰ Tickets on sale *ONLY* until Fri. Oct. 14, 2022 ⏰

    Check the webpage for full details: https://www.sherrystahl.com/refresh/

    Conference put on by Soul H2O Ministries in partnership with Lakepoint Family Church.

    Soul H2O Resources

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    #musicpic

    #musicpic SONG: 
    Overcome by Elevation Worship

    Youtube Video: https://youtu.be/mvF9Hc5XZOo
    Soul H2O Spotify Playlist: Online | On App

    MUSICPIC SONGS SPOTIFY PLAYLISTS
    Soul H2O Radio & Podcast Show Joy Radio Original Sherry Stahl
    Tuning In God’s Voice | EP #69

    Tuning In God’s Voice is Part 4 in the Hearing God’s Voice Series on the Soul H2O Radio & Podcast Show Episode #69. You can find the  Show Notes at http://www.soulh2o.com/69

    REPEATS

    Where it all began

    Want to read the first Soul H2O Devotion? 
    Repeats (Do Not Worry)

    https://www.sherrystahl.com/repeats/

    Soul H2OIf you liked the refreshing in this #SoulH2O devotion, you’ll love my latest Soul H2O Devotional book: 40 Thirst Quenching Devotions for Women.


    DOWNLOAD THESE REFRESHING RESOURCES TO HELP QUENCH YOUR SPIRITUAL THIRST!

    ENDNOTES

    1. None This Week

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  • Obedient Faith…Brings Rest

    “…since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful…”
                                            Hebrews 4:1  NIV
    Why is it so funny when others wipe-out?  I love the TV show where everyone is on a competition to finish the race without wiping out but, it’s inevitable!  You can see the fall coming before they do!

    The Israelites are always an example to us.  We can either learn by our mistakes or theirs!  Disobedience and lack of faith in God took their rest away.  Obedience and faith are the keys that will open the door to your rest.  No more striving to do enough, have enough or be good enough.  A simple obedience in faith is what it takes to enter into rest.
    When I hear the word obedience, I immediately think of a set of rules.  It seems to me in this passage from Hebrews 3 & 4 that God is not describing rules.  He’s talking about living in obedience to who He’s designed you to be, and following where he’s destined you to go.  To live that out—you need faith.  Faith to believe in who God says you are and faith to believe that He will accomplish it through you!
    When we are being obedient to God’s calling on our lives that’s when we’re most at rest.   No more striving to do enough, have enough or be good enough.  A simple obedient faith that believes in what He says over every circumstance we face…that my friend brings rest!
    Prayer: 
    Father…Help me to see the difference between striving and, being at rest to follow You in obedient faith.  Help me to believe in Your Word above all my thoughts, experiences and circumstances.  I declare my obedient faith to Your call.  May I live in the rest you promise!   In Jesus name, Amen

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  • Happy Holiday!

    Happy Presidents Day to all my American friends!

     Happy Family Day to all my Canadian friends!

    “There remains, then a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his.”
                                                                     Hebrews 4:10-11 NIV
    Today is a holiday for Canadians and Americans alike.  A day to kick back, relax and for most, take a day off of work!  Could there be a better time in the calendar to have a holiday than in the dead of winter?  I know you southerners can’t understand, but this year has been one of the harshest winter’s North America has ever experienced!  It leaves you tired and worn out.  Like bears in winter, we need a little extra time to rest.

    Genesis 2:2 says “By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work.” (NIV)

    We live in such a fast-paced society that the work never seems to be done.  It’s hard to let ourselves take the time to rest.  The problem with not following God’s example and later His law to rest is that we go beyond the limitations God set in the human body.  Without adequate rest our bodies get run-down and burn out.

    Wikipedia gives a review of a report from the Journal of Health Psychology,8. It says that Burnout decreases your job performance, causes physical and mental health issues, along with cognitive impairments.  The study found that “burned out workers reported as many depressive symptoms as clinically depressed patients”2

    The writer of Hebrews encourages us that “anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work”.  Allow yourself the blessing to enter into His rest and Have a Happy Holiday!

    Prayer

    Father… I thank-you that you have provided rest for my.  Please help me to enter into your rest and allow you to renew my spirit today!  In Jesus name, Amen

    If you think you may be struggling with clinical depression or anxiety, check out my MENTAL HEALTH page for some guidance and links to great resources.

    1Bianchi, R., Boffy, C., Hingray, C., Truchot, D., & Laurent, E. (2013). Comparative symptomatology of burnout and depression. Journal of Health Psychology, 18 (6), 782–787.
    2https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burnout_(psychology)

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  • God Of The Turnaround

    turnaround
     “I’ll turn things around for you. I’ll bring you back…you can count on it”
                                                    Jeremiah 29:14 MSG
    In a week Olympic Fever will hit our TV’s!  I think my favorite part is hearing people’s life journey to the Olympics.  There’s something about a great turnaround story that gives you hope, especially when you seem to have lost your own!
    So many times in life I could not see how my life could turnaround: how God could take my mess and turn it into a message.  All I saw was brokenness and heartache, yet there was an underlying trust in my heavenly father.  When Jeremiah spoke these words recorded in scripture, the people of Israel felt like I did.  They couldn’t see how God’s promises to bless their nation could ever happen when they were in bondage—again.  They had been caught in the cycle of sin, slavery, sorrow and salvation for centuries.  How could things ever change for them?  They seemed to keep getting themselves back in the same trouble over and over.  The key to breaking free is found in verse 13.  Through Jeremiah God tells His people “when you come looking for me, you’ll find me…when you get serious about finding me…you won’t be disappointed.”  (The MSG) When the Israelites turn to God and away from their sin, God breaks them out of this cycle and brings them back into the Promised Land!
    No matter what your situation…whether you brought this bondage on or if it’s a result of others choices, believe God’s Word and His promises over your feelings.  He is the God of the Turnaround…you can count on it!
    Prayer:
     Father…I thank-you that you are all powerful.  Nothing is too hard for you!  No problem to difficult for you to break me free from.  Help me to stand on Your Word today and trust You for the turnaround in my life!  In Jesus name, Amen

    On Thursday, my blog
    http://www.soul-h2o.com
    will feature a story about an Olympic athlete’s incredible life story.
    A “must read” kind of post!

     

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  • Parkwood Event


    I had such an amazing time on Monday Night with the women from Parkwood Gospel Temple in Windsor, ON for their

    women's connection logo

     Event!  This has to be the best job in the world–meeting amazing people wherever I go!  It was such a treat to have Brenda and Marg Rice there to cheer me on!  I so appreciated all of Brenda’s help at the book table.  I never could have done it without you!  Amy McKnight did an awesome job leading us into worship.  She tried telling me she had a sore throat, but I couldn’t hear it 🙂  What a great voice, but even better was her sensitivity to the Holy Spirit: knowing when to play, when to sing and when to wait on the Lord!  The sign of a truly great worship leader!   It was an honour to hear the life stories of so many girls that night as they shared with me after the meeting.  I spoke on  “Lessons To Learn In The Desert”, encouraging the women that God would bring them water in every desert they face.  This is one thing I am SURE of!  We really do learn more in the hard times than in the good times.  I used the illustrations from my book for the Power Point and it helped to solidify the message as many girls commented.   I want to thank Debbie Sylvester for planning such a powerful night!  Your team was great to work with!  Beth Waddell I appreciate all your ‘technical’ support 🙂  Rosie Wagner, so great to finally meet you!  Thanks for having me everyone!  Hope we can do it again sometime!
    If you’re looking for a church in the Windsor, ON area, Check out:Screen Shot 2014-01-23 at 9.58.55 PM
     
     

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  • Payback or Reward?

    Screen Shot 2014-01-06 at 8.29.29 AM“The faithless will be fully repaid for their ways, and the good man rewarded for his.”  Proverbs 14:14
    What’s in your wallet?  Ever since stores started coming out with Rewards Programs my wallet started getting thicker!   I had to get a separate wallet of sorts to hold them all!  I love all these programs.  It’s so nice to get to the checkout and have the cashier ask you if you want to use your reward.  Who wouldn’t choose that?  Stores reward us for shopping with them.  God rewards us for the way we live.
    Rewards are blessings for doing something good.  Merriam Webster describes the word Payback as “punishment for something that was done in the past”1.   http://www.ThePayBack.com is a strange website dedicated to recording “payback” stories of revenge.  The funniest one I read was about a girl who played a “payback” prank on a cheating boyfriend by giving him a pair of boxers rubbed in poison ivy, before she told him she knew!  Now that’s one sassy lassy!
    Without the grace of God in our lives we would all reap the payback for our sins.  Through Christ’s work on the cross we receive His righteousness, His goodness and are rewarded with His eternal blessings.
    Payback or Reward?  It’s your choice, but like I said, who wouldn’t choose a reward?
    Prayer
    Father… I thank you for your grace that frees me from the law of the payback.  May I continue to place my faith in you so that I may receive every reward you have for me here on earth and in heaven.  In Jesus name, Amen

    1.  https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/payback

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  • Immanuel–Astounding Christmas

    The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son and they will call him Immanuel—which means, ‘God with us’.”
    –    Isaiah 9:6-7

    Astounding Christmas

    This verse comes after the record of the angel visiting Joseph.  If I ever wondered before, reading through the Christmas story this year shows me how much God loves to astound people with His presence!

    The Group 4 HIM captured Joseph’s encounter with the angel best in their song “Strange Way To Save The World”.  The chorus is supposed to be Joseph questioning God while holding baby Jesus.  The words say so much:

    “Why me, I’m just a simple man of trade
    Why Him, with all the rulers in the world
    Why here, inside this stable filled with hay
    Why her, she’s just an ordinary girl
    Now I’m not one to second guess what angels have to say,
    But this is such a strange way, to save the World”

    Immanuel-Astounding Christmas

    Immanuel -God With Us

    The biblical stories of Christmas are more shocking than putting up your Christmas lights in an electrical storm!  A pregnant virgin rides a donkey to a town far away where she has to give birth to the King of kings in a stable, angels appearing to lowly shepherds, Magi travelling for years looking for a king and worshipping a child, giving him costly gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.  Nothing in the story makes natural sense…but they are the events that supernaturally changed the world!

    This Christmas, open up your heart, giving God room to show up in your life as “Immanuel”.  He wants to be God “with us”.  May His presence overwhelm and astound you with His peace!

    Merry Christmas!

    Prayer

    Father…I’m so thankful that you desire to be “God with us”, not “God far away from us”.  May I, along with the world, sense Your presence anew this Christmas in astounding ways!  In Jesus name, Amen.

    Soul H2OIf you liked the refreshing in this #SoulH2O devotion, you’ll love my latest Soul H2O Devotional book: 40 Thirst Quenching Devotions for Women.

    WHERE YOU CAN OFTEN FIND ME LINKING UP MY BLOG WITH OR PLACES WHERE MY WRITING HAS BEEN FEATURED

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  • Do you trust God with your Due Date?

     Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.
    —1 Peter 5:6

    When I was pregnant with my son Brandon, the doctor made me stop working a month and a half before the due date because I was in danger of preterm labor. The doctor knew Brandon’s best chance at a healthy life lay in prolonging his birth.
    I had to go in for weekly checkups, and every week they warned me about the situation. Days went by. Weeks went by. A month passed. Almost two months passed. By the time Brandon’s due date came and went, I felt like I had been pregnant for two years! All this talk of an early delivery for months on end kept me ready for the birth, but it didn’t happen. After the due date came and went, I wondered if he was ever coming out!
    Finally, it happened. Labor pains began, and a baby was born!

    Waiting for God’s due date often involves a lot of waiting. You hear God’s promise. Others confirm the promise and build your expectation of it. You see signs of it being fulfilled, and even a few false starts get your heart pumping!
    Then it seems like it’s never going to happen. It’s taking too long. Will it ever happen?

    The beginning of Proverbs 13:12 says,
    “Hope deferred makes the heart sick…”

    When we’ve been hoping for something to be birthed for a long time and we don’t see it happening, we get heartsick. We can lose hope and give in to discouragement.

    The ending of Proverbs 13:12 explains that
    “a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.”

    Just as surely as my son had a due date, so does your promise from God! Ecclesiastes 3:11 says, “He has made everything beautiful in its time.”
    Your time will come. Your promise will come. God knows what’s best for you and those around you. He knows what needs to take place so you’ll be ready to take care of your promise.
    Trust God with your due date!
    PRAYER:
    Father, today I humble myself before You. I put my life in Your mighty hand. Help me to trust You and believe that Your timing is best! May I know that You will bring to pass all that You have promised—on the perfect due date! In Jesus’ name, amen.
    DRAWING FROM THE WELL

    • 1 Peter 5:6
    • Proverbs 13:12
    • Ecclesiastes 3:11
    • Galatians 6:9

     
    This devotion is being shared on the SEE HOPE LOVE show website:  March 8, 2017

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