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Speaker 1: Hi, this is Joel and Victoria. Thanks so much for

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Speaker 1: listening to the podcast. We believe You're gonna finish twenty

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Speaker 1: twenty three strong, twenty twenty four is even gonna be greater.

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Speaker 1: Thanks so much for being with us and enjoy the podcast. Well,

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Speaker 1: God bless you. Always a joy to coming to your homes.

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Speaker 1: We love you, We pray for you every single day.

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Speaker 1: We're believing you're gonna have a blessed, prosperous, supernatural year.

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Speaker 1: If you're ever in our area, please stop by and

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Speaker 1: be a part of our services. I tell you often,

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Speaker 1: but these guys are the finest people in all of Houston.

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Speaker 1: Right here at Lakewood. We'll make you feel right at home.

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Speaker 1: Thanks for tuning in today. I like to get started

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Speaker 1: with something funny, and I heard about this kindergarten teacher.

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Speaker 1: She was trying to explain to her students about self esteem.

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Speaker 1: So she said to her class, anyone who feels like

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Speaker 1: you're dumb, please stand up. She didn't think anybody would stand,

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Speaker 1: and she'd make the point how no one is dumb.

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Speaker 1: But about that time little Johnny stood up, she thought,

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Speaker 1: Oh no, Now what am I gonna say? He said, Now, Johnny,

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Speaker 1: do you really feel like you're dumb. He said, no, ma'am,

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Speaker 1: I just hate to see you standing there all by yourself.

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Speaker 1: All right, hold up your bible. Say it like you

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Speaker 1: mean it. This is my Bible. I am what it says.

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Speaker 1: I am. I have what it says I have. I

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Speaker 1: can do what it says I can do. Today I

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Speaker 1: will be taught the word of God. I boldly confess.

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Speaker 1: My mind is alert, my heart is receptive. I will

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Speaker 1: never be the same. In Jesus' name, God bless you.

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Speaker 1: I want to talk to you today about how Sunday

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Speaker 1: is coming as we celebrate the resurrection of Christ. I

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Speaker 1: think about how when they crucified Jesus on that Friday,

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Speaker 1: it was the darkest, most painful, discouraging day of his life.

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Speaker 1: In fact, it was so bad earlier he had swept

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Speaker 1: great drops of blood. It looked like it was over.

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Speaker 1: It looked like his enemies had gotten the best of him.

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Speaker 1: But God had other plans. They put him in the

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Speaker 1: grave on Friday, celebrating their victory. But Sunday morning was

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Speaker 1: a different story. The grave could not hold him, Death

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Speaker 1: couldn't contain him. The forces of darkness couldn't stop him.

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Speaker 1: On the third day, he came out of the grave,

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Speaker 1: and he said, I was dead, but now I am

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Speaker 1: alive forevermore. One principle that the Resurrection teaches us is

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Speaker 1: that God will always finish what he started, no matter

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Speaker 1: how dark it looks, no matter how long it's been,

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Speaker 1: no matter how many people are trying to push us down.

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Speaker 1: If we will stay in faith, God will always take

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Speaker 1: us from Friday to Sunday. He will complete what he starts.

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Speaker 1: You may feel like it's Friday in your life right now.

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Speaker 1: You have some major obstacles in your path. You don't

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Speaker 1: see how you could ever accomplish your dreams, or how

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Speaker 1: you could be well, how that legal situation would ever resolve,

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Speaker 1: and the negative thoughts telling you it's over. Just accept it.

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Speaker 1: It's never going to get any better. It may feel

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Speaker 1: like Friday, but my encouragement is Sunday is coming. God

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Speaker 1: is a faithful God. That promise he put in your

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Speaker 1: heart that you're going to be well, that you're coming

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Speaker 1: out of death, that your family will be restored, that

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Speaker 1: you're going to have a supernatural year. God has every

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Speaker 1: intention of bringing that promise to pass. He's called the

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Speaker 1: author and the finisher of our faith. God will never

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Speaker 1: start something that he cannot finish. When God put the

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Speaker 1: dream in your heart, a dream to write a book,

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Speaker 1: a dream to start a business, a dream to be

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Speaker 1: in ministry, the good news is God already has a

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Speaker 1: completion date. God can already see it done. You may

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Speaker 1: not see how it can happen. May be taking a

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Speaker 1: long time. All the odds are against you. But if

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Speaker 1: you'll just keep believing, keep praying, keep being your best,

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Speaker 1: then God promises he's going to finish what he started.

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Speaker 1: He's going to take you from Friday to Sunday. That

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Speaker 1: means your children may have served God when they were younger,

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Speaker 1: but now they've gotten off course, they're not doing what's right. Well,

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Speaker 1: God is saying, get ready, they're coming back. It may

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Speaker 1: be today, maybe next month, maybe next year, but it

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Speaker 1: will happen. God finishes what he starts. Maybe you have

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Speaker 1: a dream to get out of debt, to pay off

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Speaker 1: your house, to be free from that burden of black

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Speaker 1: but it looks like it's impossible. Business is slow, the

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Speaker 1: economy is down. You've gone as far as your education allows.

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Speaker 1: But God is saying, I'm not limited by those things.

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Speaker 1: I've got resurrection power. I can give you one break

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Speaker 1: that will thrust you to a new level. I can

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Speaker 1: open up doors that no man can shut. I can

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Speaker 1: bring talent out of you that you didn't know you had.

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Speaker 1: I can cause people for no reason to go out

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Speaker 1: of their way to wanna be good to you. You

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Speaker 1: keep believing, and you're gonna come in to supernatural increase.

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Speaker 1: Maybe you're single and you have a desire to meet somebody.

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Speaker 1: You've been through a couple relationships that didn't work out,

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Speaker 1: and now it's been a long time. The thoughts are

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Speaker 1: telling you you're never going to meet anybody. You're washed up.

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Speaker 1: You had your chance. No God is saying, I've already

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Speaker 1: got the right person picked out. I'm lining up things

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Speaker 1: in your favor. I'm causing you to be at the

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Speaker 1: right place at the right time. You will see that

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Speaker 1: promise come to fulfillment. Friends, God finishes what he starts.

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Speaker 1: What is it in your life that you used to

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Speaker 1: be excited about? Are there dreams that you push down,

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Speaker 1: goals that you've let go of too often because it's

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Speaker 1: taken a long time, we've been through some disappointments, we

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Speaker 1: become complacent and we start accepting the fact that it's

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Speaker 1: probably not going to happen for me. First place we

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Speaker 1: lose the battle is in our own mind. We think,

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Speaker 1: never start that business, Joel. I don't get any good breaks.

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Speaker 1: I could never get a new house. I can't even

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Speaker 1: sell my old house. I'll never go back to college.

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Speaker 1: I don't have the funds. No, just because you gave

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Speaker 1: up doesn't mean God gave up. God never aborts a dream.

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Speaker 1: That dream he put in your heart. May be pushed

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Speaker 1: down by disappointments, by setbacks, by failures, by rejection, but

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Speaker 1: know this, the seed is still alive. The promise is

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Speaker 1: still in you. You need to fan that flame, get

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Speaker 1: your fire back. It may look like it's dead, but

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Speaker 1: the fact is it's not buried. It's planted. That means

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Speaker 1: he's coming back. Our attitude should be. It may be

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Speaker 1: taken a long time. I had some bad breaks. I

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Speaker 1: don't see how it could happen. But I know God

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Speaker 1: already has the completion date. So I'm not gonna give

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Speaker 1: up on my dreams. I'm not gonna go through life

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Speaker 1: with no goals, no enthusiasm, no passion. No, I'm getting

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Speaker 1: my vision back. I'm gonna get up every morning with expectancy.

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Speaker 1: It may be Friday, but this I know Sunday is coming.

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Speaker 1: It's interesting. The last thing Jesus said on the cross

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Speaker 1: was it is finished. It certainly looked like the end.

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Speaker 1: It looked like it was over. But I believe that

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Speaker 1: wasn't just a statement of fact. It was a statement

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Speaker 1: of faith. He was saying to his father, I've done

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Speaker 1: my part. I fulfilled my destiny. Now I've got total

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Speaker 1: trust and confidence in you that you're gonna finish what

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Speaker 1: you started. And even though it looked like the end,

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Speaker 1: in reality it was only the beginning. When it looks

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Speaker 1: dark in your own life, things aren't going your way,

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Speaker 1: dare to make that declaration of faith, just like Jesus,

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Speaker 1: it is finished. What you're really saying is God, I

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Speaker 1: know you're gonna turn this situation around. I know you're

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Speaker 1: gonna heal my body. I know you're gonna restore my family.

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Speaker 1: I know you're gonna give me the breaks that I need.

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Speaker 1: Don't go around complaining. Speak victory over your circumstances. If

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Speaker 1: you have a contract that needs to close, doesn't look

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Speaker 1: like it's going to happen. Father, Thank you, It is finished.

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Speaker 1: This house is going to sell this agreement is going

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Speaker 1: to go through. This new client is going to be mine.

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Speaker 1: If you have debt in your life, you need to

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Speaker 1: start announcing to that debt it is finished. Look at

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Speaker 1: that house payment, it is finished. Look at those college loans,

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Speaker 1: it is finished. Look at those unpaid bills, it is finished.

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Speaker 1: Maybe you're struggling in a relationship, having difficulties at home.

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Speaker 1: Don't go around thinking, oh, man, I'll never get out

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Speaker 1: of this mess. Why did these people treat me like this?

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Speaker 1: Don't go through the house saying it is finished. Your

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Speaker 1: husband asked, what did you say? I said, you are finished.

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Speaker 1: I mean it is finished. Say it by faint. I

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Speaker 1: heard a story about this young couple. They were Americans

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Speaker 1: doing missionary work in Mexico T' twenty two years old.

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Speaker 1: Their dream was to help the less fortunate, to bring

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Speaker 1: God's message of hope to the Mexican people. So they

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Speaker 1: left the comforts of home. They were raising their three

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Speaker 1: small boys in a foreign land. This was back in

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Speaker 1: the nineteen sixties. One Sunday, while they were here in

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Speaker 1: the States visiting family, they came to a service at Lakewood.

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Speaker 1: It was very small back then, just a couple hundred people. Beforehand,

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Speaker 1: they met my parents and talked for a moment. During

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Speaker 1: the service, my dad told a little to their story,

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Speaker 1: and at the end he received an offering for this

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Speaker 1: young couple. The first group there at Lakewood gave this

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Speaker 1: couple a check for six hundred dollars. They were so excited,

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Speaker 1: so appreciative. They went back to Mexico and used that

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Speaker 1: money to start a Bible school. Two years later, the

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Speaker 1: husband was tragically killed when his small plane crashed. As

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Speaker 1: you can imagine, it was a dark day in this

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Speaker 1: young lady's life. It was definitely Friday. It looked like

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Speaker 1: her dreams had died. Now she was a twenty four

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Speaker 1: year old widow raising three boys, all under the age

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Speaker 1: of four. She could have easily come back to the

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Speaker 1: States and given up on that dream. People would have

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Speaker 1: accepted that, But she didn't do that. She understood this principle.

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Speaker 1: She knew that God always finishes what he starts. She

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Speaker 1: knew that even though it was Friday, Sunday was coming,

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Speaker 1: so she stayed there and continued on the Bible school.

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Speaker 1: Over time, she noticed how one of her sons had

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Speaker 1: an incredible gift for music. He could sing, play the piano.

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Speaker 1: He had a natural gift of communication. Long story short,

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Speaker 1: her son and our friend, our Spanish pastor, Marcos Witt

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Speaker 1: went on to do great things. Marcos, our friend and

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Speaker 1: her son, Marcus went on to touch all of Latin America.

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Speaker 1: He fills up these huge stadiums. He's won multiple Grand awards.

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Speaker 1: What happened Sunday came God completed what he started. That's

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Speaker 1: what the scripture says, Philippi is one verse six. Be

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Speaker 1: confident of this. He that began a good work in

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Speaker 1: you will bring it to completion. Notice we're supposed to

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Speaker 1: be confident. That means talk like it's gonna happen. Act

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Speaker 1: like it's gonna happen, Plan like it's gonna happen. Think

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Speaker 1: like it's gonna happen. Not any of this. I don't

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Speaker 1: know if my son's ever gone straighten up. The more

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Speaker 1: I pray, the worse he gets. Joel, No, be confident. Yes,

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Speaker 1: he's making poor choices right now, but I know he's

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Speaker 1: gonna turn around. I know it's just a matter of

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Speaker 1: time before he gets back on the right track. That's confidence,

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Speaker 1: that's your faith speaking. Not I thought I would get married.

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Speaker 1: I thought i'd meet someone, but it's been so long.

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Speaker 1: I don't know. Maybe I'm just supposed to be single. Now,

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Speaker 1: you gotta be confident that God's gonna finish what he started.

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Speaker 1: Instead of speaking defeat, you need to be saying, no,

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Speaker 1: God's gonna bring somebody great into my life. I can't

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Speaker 1: wait to meet them. They may be in this building

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Speaker 1: right now. Quit looking around. One translation says be confident

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Speaker 1: God will bring you to a flourishing finish. That means

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Speaker 1: God's not only gonna finish what he started, but it's

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Speaker 1: gonna turn out bigger and better than you ever imagined.

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Speaker 1: Marcus's mom had a dream to touch your community. But

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Speaker 1: now because Sunday came through her son, she's touching the

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Speaker 1: whole world. God didn't just complete the promise, but he

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Speaker 1: brought his mom out to a flourishing finish. I know

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Speaker 1: a young lady named Dawn. We grew up here together

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Speaker 1: in the church, and after she and her husband got married,

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Speaker 1: they had a dream to have a baby. They tried

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Speaker 1: and tried, went through all the fertility treatments with no success.

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Speaker 1: Year after year went by. At that time, Dawn was

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Speaker 1: the head of our children's ministry, and when my father

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Speaker 1: went to be with the Lord over his pastor. She

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Speaker 1: had already been believing to have that baby for over

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Speaker 1: twenty years. I didn't talk to Dawn that much, just

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Speaker 1: Tello every once in a while. But one day we

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Speaker 1: were in a meeting together about the children's ministry. She

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Speaker 1: made the comment, I've got a good assistant trained, because

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Speaker 1: when I go to have my baby, I'm going to

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Speaker 1: be out for a little while. After the meeting, I

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Speaker 1: asked my sister Lisa, she was in it as well,

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Speaker 1: if don was pregnant. I thought I had missed something.

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Speaker 1: Lisa kind of laughed and said, no, she's just still

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Speaker 1: believing for this baby. And me, being the great man

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Speaker 1: of faith that I am, I thought, Dawn, you have

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Speaker 1: been believing for this child forever. Maybe God wants to

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Speaker 1: do it another way, Maybe you should adopt children. No,

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Speaker 1: Dawn had a made up mind. The promise was in her.

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Speaker 1: She was confident that it was going to happen. That's

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Speaker 1: why you should not let other people talk you out

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Speaker 1: of your dreams. God didn't put the promise in them.

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Speaker 1: He put the promise in you. Only you. You really

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Speaker 1: know what God put in your heart. And instead of complaining,

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Speaker 1: Dawn would go around just thinking God that one day

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Speaker 1: that promise would come to pass. Twenty nine years later,

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Speaker 1: Dawn went to the doctor for a checkup. He said, congratulations,

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Speaker 1: you're not gonna have one baby. You're gonna have twins.

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Speaker 1: God brought her to a flourishing finish. I know some

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Speaker 1: of you are thinking, God, please don't flourish me that way.

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Speaker 1: But I love the fact that God does not abort dreams.

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Speaker 1: And some of you, at one time, just like Dawn,

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Speaker 1: you knew you were gonna get well. You knew you're

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Speaker 1: gonna have that baby. You knew you're gonna overcome that problem.

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Speaker 1: But now, because it's been a long time and you

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Speaker 1: don't see anything changing, you're tempted to think that it's

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Speaker 1: not gonna happen. Now, get back in agreement with God,

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Speaker 1: start thinking him that he is bringing those promises to pass.

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Speaker 1: And even when it looks like a dream has died,

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Speaker 1: know this, God can resurrectream, just like he raised Christ

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Speaker 1: from the dead. God can breathe new life into your marriage,

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Speaker 1: new life into your finances, new life into your health.

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Speaker 1: Instead of being discouraged, go around all through the day

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Speaker 1: saying Father, thank you that you're going to finish what

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Speaker 1: you started in my life. This is one reason we

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Speaker 1: miss God's best. We give up on our promises too soon.

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Speaker 1: We have to learn to trust God's timing. Most often,

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Speaker 1: it doesn't happen as quickly as we would like. There's

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Speaker 1: always going to be a period of testing. Are we

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Speaker 1: going to get discouraged? Are we going to start complaining?

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Speaker 1: Are we going to make decisions that will hinder the promise?

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Speaker 1: I think about David and how when he was seventeen

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Speaker 1: years old he was anointed to be king, but he

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Speaker 1: did not take the throne until he was thirty. I'm

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Speaker 1: sure during those thirteen years there were plenty of times

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Speaker 1: he was tempted to think it wasn't going to happen.

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Speaker 1: I'm sure he was tempted to get frustrated, to even

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Speaker 1: feel like a failure, thinking, God, did I hear you wrong?

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Speaker 1: I thought you said you're going to do something great

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Speaker 1: with my life, but nothing is going my way here

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Speaker 1: he was almost thirtieth. Year after year had gone by,

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Speaker 1: he saw no sign of the promise coming to pass.

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Speaker 1: David had to fight the same negative thoughts that we do,

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Speaker 1: thoughts that were telling him it's not gonna happen. David

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Speaker 1: you heard God wrong. Just accept it, Just settle where

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Speaker 1: you are. The battle was taking place in his mind.

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Speaker 1: To make matters worse. One day, a man by the

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Speaker 1: name of Nabel insulted David and his men. They had

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Speaker 1: been protecting Nabel's property. David told his men to go

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Speaker 1: ask Nabel for some food and water, and when they did,

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Speaker 1: Nabel was extremely rude. He said, I'm not gonna give

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Speaker 1: you guys anything. I never asked you to protect me.

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Speaker 1: Just get off my property. When David heard this, it

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Speaker 1: set him off. He was ready to let Nabel have it.

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Speaker 1: He told his men pack up, we're gonna go wipe

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Speaker 1: out Nabel and everyone that's even halfway associated with him.

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Speaker 1: And I don't believe that it was so much what

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Speaker 1: Nabel did that wasn't some huge offense, but it was

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Speaker 1: magnified by the fact that David was already frustrated that

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Speaker 1: his promise had not yet come to pass. He knew

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Speaker 1: in his heart he was chosen to be a king,

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Speaker 1: but he's out there living in the wilderness like a pauper.

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Speaker 1: Now he's distracted, he's lost his focus, and he's about

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Speaker 1: to make a decision that will hinder his destiny. Now,

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Speaker 1: as he's headed toward Nabel's property, God sent a young

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Speaker 1: lady by the name of Abigail. Abigail was a wise woman.

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Speaker 1: She was Nabel's wife. She met David on the road,

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Speaker 1: had gifts in her hand, and she said, David, why

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Speaker 1: are you going to blow your whole kingdom on such

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Speaker 1: a fool like my husband? Are you going to allow

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Speaker 1: him to stop you from doing and what God wants

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Speaker 1: you to do. You are our next king. You are

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Speaker 1: destined to do great things. Are you gonna blow it

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Speaker 1: on something so small such as this? She not only

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Speaker 1: talked since into David, she spoke victory into his future.

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Speaker 1: She reminded him who he was and the promise God

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Speaker 1: put in him. At that moment, David turned around, said,

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Speaker 1: you're right, I've got a destiny to fulfill. The promise

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Speaker 1: is still in me, and I'm not gonna get frustrated

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Speaker 1: and make decisions that I'm gonna regret later on just

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Speaker 1: because the promise has not yet come to pass. David

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Speaker 1: passed that test, and I've learned that God will always

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Speaker 1: send you an Abigail before you give up on a dream.

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Speaker 1: Many of you know that you've got the promise in

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Speaker 1: your heart. You know you've got a great future, a

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Speaker 1: future filled with hope, with faith, with blessings, with promotion.

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Speaker 1: But the problem is right now you're not seeing any

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Speaker 1: of it. You're tempted to get discouraged, tempted to be frustrated,

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Speaker 1: maybe even tempted to make decisions like the dream is

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Speaker 1: never going to come to pass. But today God sent

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Speaker 1: me to be your Abigail. I want to remind you

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Speaker 1: of who you are and what you have. On the inside.

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Speaker 1: You are a child of the most High God. You

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Speaker 1: have seeds of greatness on the inside of you. You

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Speaker 1: have royal blood flowing through your veins. You have been

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Speaker 1: crowned with glory and honor. You are destined to leave

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Speaker 1: your mark on this generation. It may not have happened yet,

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Speaker 1: but the promise is still in you. Don't be careless

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Speaker 1: towards your future. Don't make decisions that you're gonna regret

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Speaker 1: later on. It's easy in the heat of the moment,

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Speaker 1: like David, to want to blow somebody off. It's easy

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Speaker 1: to just want to walk out of a marriage. It's

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Speaker 1: easy on the fridays of your life. Business is slow

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Speaker 1: when it's taking a long time, when everybody is promoted.

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Speaker 1: Accept you to just think, man, I'm never gonna get ahead.

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Speaker 1: I'm just gonna start goofing off like everybody else at work.

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Speaker 1: This marriage is never gonna last. I'm gonna try something else.

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Speaker 1: I'm never gonna get well. Joel, I'm just gonna accept it. Now.

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Speaker 1: Listen to the abigail God sends you. You will get well,

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Speaker 1: you will be promoted, you will be restored, you will

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Speaker 1: be vindicated. You will see your dreams come to pass.

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Speaker 1: It may be Friday, but Sunday is coming, and when

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Speaker 1: it's time for God to promote you, to vindicate you,

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Speaker 1: to restore you, all the forces of darkness cannot stop

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Speaker 1: it from happening. And God's looking for people that have

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Speaker 1: a made up mind, people that will trust his timing.

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Speaker 1: It usually does not happen overnight, but it will happen.

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Speaker 1: Abraham waited twenty years. He saw that promise come to pass.

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Speaker 1: He had his son, Moses waited forty years. He came

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Speaker 1: in to his promise. He helped deliver God's people. You say, Joel,

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Speaker 1: I've been waiting for a year and I don't see

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Speaker 1: anything happening. Now something is happening right now. God is

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Speaker 1: working behind the scenes in your life. He is arranging

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Speaker 1: the right people, the right breaks, the right opportunities, and

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Speaker 1: sometimes the reason it's taken longer is because even though

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Speaker 1: you're ready, somebody else that's involved is not ready yet.

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Speaker 1: The scripture says, at the appointed time, the promise will

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Speaker 1: come to pass, and it will not be one second late.

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Speaker 1: When is the appointed time, It's when God knows it's

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Speaker 1: best for you. When you understand this principle, it takes

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Speaker 1: all the pressure off. It's a very freeing way to

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Speaker 1: live knowing that as long as we stay in faith,

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Speaker 1: God will release his favor, his increase, his restoration, his

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Speaker 1: healing at exactly the right time in our lives. That

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Speaker 1: means I don't have to be frustrated because it's not

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Speaker 1: happening as fast as I would like. I don't have

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Speaker 1: to be worried because I don't see anything changing. I

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Speaker 1: am confident that God will finish what he started. I

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Speaker 1: may not see it happening, but my report is it's

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Speaker 1: on its way. It may be today, next week, next year,

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Speaker 1: five years, twenty five years. That's okay. I'm staying in faith.

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Speaker 1: I know God is not only going to bring the

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Speaker 1: promise to pass, but He's going to bring us out

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Speaker 1: with a flourishing finish. I think about my brother Paul.

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Speaker 1: He told how ever, since he was a little boy,

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Speaker 1: he had a desire to do medical missions in Africa.

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Speaker 1: He went there when he was twelve years old with

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Speaker 1: my father and it made such a lasting impression on him.

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Speaker 1: He went back again as a college student with a

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Speaker 1: group from the university and they spent a month there

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Speaker 1: in the summer helping the underprivileged people. Paul went on

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Speaker 1: to graduate from medical school become a surgeon. For seventeen years,

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Speaker 1: he practiced surgery in Arkansas, very successful. He worked his

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Speaker 1: way all the way up to the chief of surgery.

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Speaker 1: But still he and my sister in law, Jennifer, had

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Speaker 1: this overwhelming desire to do medical missionary work, and so

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Speaker 1: they sent off for applications to different missions organizations. But

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Speaker 1: every time they went to fill them out, just didn't

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Speaker 1: feel right. They just didn't think it was the right timing,

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Speaker 1: and so they put it off. They delayed it. In

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Speaker 1: nineteen ninety nine, our father went to be with the Lord.

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Speaker 1: After Daddy's memorial service, Paul was driving back home to

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Speaker 1: Little Rock and he heard God speak to him not

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Speaker 1: out loud, but an impression right down in here. He said, Paul,

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Speaker 1: I want you to give up your medical practice and

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Speaker 1: go back to Lakewood and help your family with the ministry.

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Speaker 1: In the natural. It didn't make a lot of sense here.

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00:23:49,560 --> 00:23:52,600
Speaker 1: He had trained all those years in medicine. It looked

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Speaker 1: like it was just the opposite of what he had

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Speaker 1: in his heart. He was having to give up the

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00:23:57,440 --> 00:24:00,560
Speaker 1: thing that he loved the most. He came back. For

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Speaker 1: ten years, he's helped us pasture the church. Last year

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Speaker 1: a group of doctors were going over to Africa from

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Speaker 1: the ministry. They invited Paul to go. He felt good

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Speaker 1: about it, so he went. He got to the little clinic.

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Speaker 1: They put him in the operating room. He hadn't done

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Speaker 1: surgery in nearly ten years time, but he said it

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Speaker 1: was just like riding a bike. It came back to

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Speaker 1: him like he'd never even stopped doing it. He was

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Speaker 1: so excited. He came back home and got his whole

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Speaker 1: family and went back over to the clinic and spent

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Speaker 1: three months there. This time he was doing surgeries that

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Speaker 1: he had never even done before. The end of that

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00:24:37,280 --> 00:24:41,400
Speaker 1: three month period, one night, Paul went outside all alone.

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Speaker 1: He looked up in the African sky, and all of

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Speaker 1: a sudden it hit him. He was living his dream.

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Speaker 1: He was doing exactly what God put in his heart

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Speaker 1: as a little boy. God brought that promise to pass.

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Speaker 1: What am I saying? You can trust God with your dreams.

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Speaker 1: Sometimes you may feel like you have to put but

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Speaker 1: the thing you love the most on the altar. Times

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Speaker 1: you may feel like you're taking a detour going in

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Speaker 1: the opposite direction. But know this, God has a plan.

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Speaker 1: He's got it all figured out. Be patient, It may

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Speaker 1: take some time. Paul first felt that desire at twelve

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Speaker 1: years old, he felt it again at twenty two when

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Speaker 1: he went back as a college student, and today, at

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Speaker 1: seventy five, he's as happy as can do it. You remember,

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Speaker 1: I am his younger, better looking brother. But I know

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Speaker 1: every one of us has dreams and desires that have

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Speaker 1: not yet come to pass. Maybe there are things in

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Speaker 1: your heart you've never told anybody about. Know this God

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Speaker 1: knows he's the one that put them there. Don't get

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Speaker 1: discouraged because you don't see anything happening. Just keep being

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Speaker 1: your best each day, Keep being a person of excellence

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Speaker 1: and integrity, Keep being good to other people. Every day

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Speaker 1: you do that, you are passing the test, and you

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Speaker 1: are one day closer to seeing the promise come to fulfillment.

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Speaker 1: It says in Psalm one O six talking about the

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Speaker 1: people of Israel, they did not wait for God's plan

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Speaker 1: to unfold. In other words, they missed their promise because

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Speaker 1: they got discouraged. They started complaining. They didn't think it

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Speaker 1: would ever happen. Don't let that be. You stay in

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Speaker 1: faith when it's taken a long time, know that God's

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Speaker 1: plan is going to unfold. It may look like the end.

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Speaker 1: It may look like you've got to give up the

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Speaker 1: thing you love the most, but recognize that is only

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Speaker 1: a test. When you give it up, God will always

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Speaker 1: give you back something better. And on the fridays of

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Speaker 1: your life when things aren't going your way, you have

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Speaker 1: to keep reminding yourself that Sunday is coming, your resurrection

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Speaker 1: is on its way. Now. I want you to be

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Speaker 1: confident of this, not wondering thinking, well, maybe this will

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Speaker 1: happened for me. Joel, I don't know. I've made a

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Speaker 1: lot of mistakes, been a long time, you know, beyond

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Speaker 1: the shadow of a doubt, no matter what it looks like,

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Speaker 1: no matter how many odds are against you. God is

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Speaker 1: going to finish what he started in your life. That

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Speaker 1: dream he put on the inside, the promise that's in

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Speaker 1: your heart, it is still alive and well. If you

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Speaker 1: will get up each day in faith, live with expectancy,

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Speaker 1: then I believe and declare You're not only going to

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Speaker 1: see your dreams and promises come to pass, but it's

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Speaker 1: gonna be better than you expected. God's gonna bring you

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Speaker 1: to a flourishing finish a been. Do you receive that today?

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Speaker 1: I know you do well. We never like to close

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Speaker 1: our broadcast without giving you an opportunity to make Jesus

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Speaker 1: the lord of your life. Would you pray with me?

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Speaker 1: Just say, Lord, Jesus, I repent of my sins. Come

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Speaker 1: into my heart. I make you my Lord and savior. Friends,

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Speaker 1: if you prayed that simple prayer, we believe you got

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Speaker 1: born again. Get in a good Bible based church, Keep

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Speaker 1: God first place. He's gonna take your places never dreamed of.

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Speaker 2: Sometimes life can make you feel like you are just

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Speaker 2: living in the dark. Even your prayers don't feel like

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Speaker 2: they are making it to heaven. But God is listening

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Speaker 2: and his light is about to shine.

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Speaker 1: We know God is all powerful that he can answer

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Speaker 1: any prayer. But sometimes we don't know what to pray.

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Speaker 1: We don't think we deserve God's goodness. Maybe we're inconveniencing him,

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Speaker 1: or he has more important things to deal with. But

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Speaker 1: God is concerned about every detail of your life. He's

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Speaker 1: waiting to hear your prayers. I have a new resource

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Speaker 1: called Praying with Confidence Guided Prayers for Life's Moments. When

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Speaker 1: you face challenges or obstacles that seem too big, you'll

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Speaker 1: find prayers that will build your faith, prayers that will

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Speaker 1: move the hands of God. There are prayers you can

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Speaker 1: pray for peace and comfort, prayers for your family and hell,

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Speaker 1: prayers for your dreams and goals. As you make these

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Speaker 1: prayers your own, pray with confidence, that's when you'll see

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Speaker 1: the creator of the universe go to work. I hope

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Speaker 1: you'll request your copy today.

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Speaker 2: With a gift of any amount this month, we would

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Speaker 2: like to immediately send you a copy of Praying with

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Speaker 2: Confidence Guided Prayers for Life's Moments. In this new resource,

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Speaker 2: Joel shares how to pray when you need a breakthrough,

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Speaker 2: when you need strength, Yes, when life's moments happen and

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Speaker 2: you're not sure how to pray praying Confident prayers will

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Speaker 2: put you on the right path. You'll enter new seasons

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Speaker 2: in your prayer life that will turn challenges to victory's

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00:29:34,360 --> 00:29:39,320
Speaker 2: heartache to hope, frustration to new found favor. Be sure

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00:29:39,320 --> 00:29:42,880
Speaker 2: to request your copy of Praying with Confidence Guided Prayers

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00:29:42,920 --> 00:29:47,200
Speaker 2: for Life's moments today. Visit Joeloustein dot com or call

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Speaker 2: eighty eight five six seven Joel