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Speaker 1: Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick.

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Speaker 2: I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our

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Speaker 2: podcast and I wanted to thank you for joining us today.

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Speaker 2: Hope this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith. Hope

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Speaker 2: it gives your perspective to see God is moving.

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Speaker 1: In your life. Enjoy the message.

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Speaker 2: Are you excited for the Word of God today? I

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Speaker 2: sure am grateful to preach and share this with you.

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Speaker 2: Thank you worship team. If you want to look at

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Speaker 2: Joshua chapter two today with me for a moment, very

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Speaker 2: interesting story in scripture. Those of you at our Uptown

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Speaker 2: location and our Melbourne campus, you heard me share from

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Speaker 2: this scripture.

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Speaker 1: Right.

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Speaker 2: You heard me share from the scripture at our Vision

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Speaker 2: nights over the last few weeks. And I want to

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Speaker 2: share this with the church today and it's a subject

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Speaker 2: that I think will be relevant for each of us.

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Speaker 2: And I pray that you'll hear this personally for yourself.

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Speaker 2: By the way, what an awesome advantage it is when

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Speaker 2: everyone in the church is leaned in to hear the

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Speaker 2: word of God. I was telling one of the people

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Speaker 2: who helps me on the weekend how exhausting it is

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Speaker 2: when preaching feels like mixed martial arts, you know, And

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Speaker 2: I don't want to be like Connor McGregor up here.

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Speaker 2: And it's not like that, you know, it's not.

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Speaker 1: Even a performance. When we do this, God speaks.

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Speaker 2: And when everybody comes with that attitude and that perspective,

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Speaker 2: we realize that it is our responsibility to receive the

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Speaker 2: word of God. And we don't put all this pressure

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Speaker 2: on some guy with a microphone as if somehow I

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Speaker 2: could fix your life.

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Speaker 1: I can't.

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Speaker 2: My opinion is empty. But God's word is powerful. And

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Speaker 2: so when you bring that expectation to the Word of God,

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Speaker 2: it really makes it dynamic and explosive. So all that

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Speaker 2: just to say, look at your name and say wake up,

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Speaker 2: pay attention. I know you're ready. Joshua Chapter two, verse one,

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Speaker 2: then Joshua's Son of None secretly sh secretly. You don't

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Speaker 2: have to tell everybody everything you're doing secretly. You don't

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Speaker 2: have to post every time you pray on Instagram. You

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Speaker 2: don't have to put a coffee mug post for every devotion.

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Speaker 2: You know, I'm talking about the coffee mug and the

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Speaker 2: Bible and spread open and then you highlight a few

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Speaker 2: extra verses before you take the picture make it look

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Speaker 2: like then Joshua's son of none, sh don't tell everybody,

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Speaker 2: but just secretly sent two spies from Shiitem. And that's

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Speaker 2: a long eye when you pronounce shi them. You want

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Speaker 2: to be careful when you pronounce shyt them if you

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Speaker 2: ever preach from Joshua, chapter two, verse one, Go look

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Speaker 2: over the land, he said, especially Jericho. Notice he didn't

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Speaker 2: tell them to look at every city, because you can

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Speaker 2: get overwhelmed if you think about all the battles you

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Speaker 2: have to fight.

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Speaker 1: This is just the first one, the next one.

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Speaker 2: And when we get so focused on everything that we

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Speaker 2: have to overcome, it SAPs our strength and we can't

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Speaker 2: take our next step because we're thinking fourteen steps ahead.

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Speaker 2: And you can wreck looking at your GPS instead of

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Speaker 2: keeping your eyes on the next turn. Okay, So they

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Speaker 2: went and entered the house of a prostitute ooh named

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Speaker 2: Rahab and stayed there. Why there there was nothing else

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Speaker 2: available on Airbnb, so they.

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Speaker 1: Stayed in the house of a prostitute named Rahab.

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Speaker 2: King of Jericho was told, look, some of these relights

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Speaker 2: have come here tonight to spy out the land. So

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Speaker 2: the King of Jericho sent this message to Rehab bring

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Speaker 2: out the men who came to you and entered your house,

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Speaker 2: as they have come to spy out the whole land.

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Speaker 2: But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. Now,

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Speaker 2: if there's one thing that Rahab's profession has taught.

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Speaker 1: Her, it is discretion.

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Speaker 2: I'm saying she might not have lived the most holy life.

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Speaker 2: The Bible says she was a prostitute, but she knew

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Speaker 2: how to hide men.

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Speaker 1: And so I point that out to let you know.

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Speaker 2: God is going to use everything, even the stuff that

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Speaker 2: you're not proud of, if you offer it to him.

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Speaker 2: He'll use even the things that you want to hide.

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Speaker 2: And Rahab hid the men because that's something she knew

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Speaker 2: how to do. I won't say any more about that,

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Speaker 2: because y'all are looking at me so angelic. She said, Yeah,

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Speaker 2: the men came to me, but I did not know

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Speaker 2: where they had come from.

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Speaker 1: At dusk, when it was time to close the city gate,

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Speaker 1: they left.

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Speaker 2: I don't know which way they went by the way.

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Speaker 2: All of this is a lie. This is a lie.

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Speaker 2: So we got a lying prostitute that God uses to

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Speaker 2: fulfill his purpose and demonstrate his glory in the earth.

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Speaker 1: Put that in your theological pipe. And to that vape.

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Speaker 2: That so she's lying and she's hiding the men, and

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Speaker 2: then she uses misdirection. TuS can go after them quickly.

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Speaker 2: You may catch up with them parentheses. But she had

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Speaker 2: taken them up to the roof and hidden them under

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Speaker 2: the stalks of flax she'd laid out on the roof.

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Speaker 2: This was not her first time hiding a man in

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Speaker 2: her house. So the men set out in pursuit of

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Speaker 2: the spies on the road that leads to the fords

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Speaker 2: of the Jordan, And as soon as the pursuers had

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Speaker 2: gone out.

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Speaker 1: The gate was shut.

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Speaker 2: Before the spies laid down for the night, she went

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Speaker 2: up on the roof and said to them, I know

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Speaker 2: that the.

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Speaker 1: Lord has given you this land, and that.

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Speaker 2: A great fear of you has fallen on us, so

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Speaker 2: that all who live in this kind of tree are

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Speaker 2: melting in fear because of you. These are the same

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Speaker 2: enemies that the Israelites were so afraid of forty years

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Speaker 2: earlier that they wouldn't go in. But what they were

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Speaker 2: running from was actually afraid of them. You realize sometimes

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Speaker 2: you're running from a defeated foe. You realize sometimes you're

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Speaker 2: running from stuff God has already dealt with if you

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Speaker 2: would move forward. And so she says, we've heard about

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Speaker 2: you firstin we've heard how the Lord dried up the

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Speaker 2: water of the Red Sea.

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Speaker 1: That was four decades ago, they're still talking about it.

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Speaker 2: We heard how the Lord dried up the water the

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Speaker 2: Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt,

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Speaker 2: and what you did to Sion in Augu, the two

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Speaker 2: kings of the Emirites east of the Jordan, whom you

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Speaker 2: completely destroyed. And when we heard of it, our hearts

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Speaker 2: melted in fear, and everyone's courage failed because of you.

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Speaker 1: For the Lord, your.

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Speaker 2: God is God in heaven above and on the earth below.

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Speaker 2: So turn to the person next to you and tell

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Speaker 2: them what Rehab told. The spies say, you got a reputation.

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Speaker 2: The title of this message is reputation Rehab. You didn't

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Speaker 2: just come to church today, You came.

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Speaker 1: To reputation Rehab.

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Speaker 2: How many realized that everything people called you is not

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Speaker 2: something you should respond to at this stage in your life.

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Speaker 2: You got to move past some things and see yourself

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Speaker 2: in a new light. At least that's what God told

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Speaker 2: Joshua when he stated him as the new leader of

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Speaker 2: Israel after Moses left. He said, it's a new day,

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Speaker 2: and you are the leader I have chosen and appointed

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Speaker 2: to lead these people into the land that I promised

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Speaker 2: their ancestors. And God in Joshua Chapter one reminds Joshua

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Speaker 2: of his reputation, not the reputation of Joshua, the reputation

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Speaker 2: of Jehovah.

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Speaker 1: He said, I am the God.

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Speaker 2: Who spoke to the forefathers of this faith tradition, which

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Speaker 2: you are a continuation of. But it didn't start with you.

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Speaker 2: God says, I have a reputation. And when you face

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Speaker 2: the resistance, when you go into this new land that

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Speaker 2: I've called you to conquer, I want you to remember

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Speaker 2: my reputation.

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Speaker 1: God said, I have a.

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Speaker 2: Reputation of picking people out that are obscure and unknown

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Speaker 2: and using them to accomplish my purpose in the earth.

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Speaker 1: I have a reputation.

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Speaker 2: I have a reputation for calling men like Abraham and

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Speaker 2: taking him from her of the Chaldeans. And even though

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Speaker 2: he's too old to have babies and there's no prescriptions

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Speaker 2: available to help him pro create, I have a reputation

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Speaker 2: for doing what cannot be done in the flesh. For

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Speaker 2: it's not by might nor by power. But by my spirit,

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Speaker 2: says the Lord.

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Speaker 1: I have a.

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Speaker 2: Reputation, and sometimes we need to be reminded of God's reputation.

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Speaker 2: You know, we need to be reminded every once in

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Speaker 2: a while that the wind and.

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Speaker 1: The waves know who he is. They know that voice.

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Speaker 2: To you, my sheep, know my voice. I'm the one

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Speaker 2: who dried up the red Sea. I just want you

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Speaker 2: to remember my reputation. That's why I mentioned Bible stories

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Speaker 2: in church, like Daniel and the Lions den because the

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Speaker 2: lions knew that when God speaks, their mouths had to

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Speaker 2: stay shut. They knew that voice, they knew that voice.

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Speaker 2: I'm encouraged to know that God's reputation is the basis

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Speaker 2: of my faith, not mine, not mine. I think it's

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Speaker 2: really funny sometimes how much time we spend trying to

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Speaker 2: build our reputation with people whose opinions don't ultimately matter.

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Speaker 2: You know, when I first started the church, a well

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Speaker 2: meaning minister gave me a piece of advice. He said,

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Speaker 2: protect your reputation. You only get one. I wish that

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Speaker 2: were that's true, you know, I wish you could protect

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Speaker 2: your reputation and that if you always did the right thing,

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Speaker 2: people would always say the right things about you. The

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Speaker 2: fact is we live in a world that doesn't know

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Speaker 2: the difference between a rumor and a reputation anymore, and

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Speaker 2: to spend all of your energy trying to protect your reputation.

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Speaker 2: The Lord really spoke to me and dealt with me

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Speaker 2: the first time that I would defend myself against people

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Speaker 2: who were critical of my ministry. And you know, you

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Speaker 2: can spend so much time trying to protect your reputation,

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Speaker 2: which is really ego wanting people to have a certain

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Speaker 2: image of you, that you start preaching to the people

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Speaker 2: who don't like you, and you're angry at people who

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Speaker 2: are smiling at you because you're not really talking to them.

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Speaker 2: It happened to me early in ministry, and the Lord

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Speaker 2: spoke to me.

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Speaker 1: He spoke to me very specifically.

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Speaker 2: He said, why don't you worry about protecting your integrity

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Speaker 2: and let me protect your reputation. When you stop to

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Speaker 2: think about it, even the premise that you only have

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Speaker 2: one reputation is faulty. I mean, really, you have as

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Speaker 2: many reputations as you have relationships in that room.

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Speaker 1: What I mean is some people at work think.

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Speaker 2: You're quiet because you are around them, because you don't

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Speaker 2: trust them or like them, or have anything to say

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Speaker 2: to them. But if we ask your family like I

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Speaker 2: will never forget when our middle child, Graham, first went

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Speaker 2: to school and the teacher emailed us how he talked

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Speaker 2: too much in class, and it was so funny because

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Speaker 2: we could not get him to talk at home.

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Speaker 1: He was so quiet at home.

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Speaker 2: And the teacher said, he will not shut up in class.

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Speaker 2: He's a wonderful child, but could you just talk to

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Speaker 2: him about talking out of.

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Speaker 1: Turn in class? I said, well, could you talk to

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Speaker 1: him about talking intern at home? Because we can't get

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Speaker 1: him to say anything. And now he's.

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Speaker 2: Eleven and he talks all the time. But I remember

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Speaker 2: thinking how strange it was that he could be known

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Speaker 2: as the talkative kid in class. But maybe the birth

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Speaker 2: order or something at home. Maybe we won't shut up

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Speaker 2: long enough to give him a chance at home. And

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Speaker 2: you know, it's really true, because sometimes we only get

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Speaker 2: to know church you.

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Speaker 1: I wonder how big is the gap.

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Speaker 2: Between your reality and your reputation, because it's never been

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Speaker 2: easier to develop a virtual reputation. You know, where I

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Speaker 2: see people online and in their profile it says life coach,

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Speaker 2: and they're thirteen I don't understand.

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Speaker 1: How you're going to coach me, and you've never been

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Speaker 1: on the field.

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Speaker 2: It says public figure, and you got a private account

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Speaker 2: with twelve followers.

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Speaker 1: I don't.

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Speaker 2: I don't understand it, but I do because we are

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Speaker 2: living in a world that wants to watch this. Reputation

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Speaker 2: without repetition, and a true reputation is not built by

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Speaker 2: what you occasionally do or wish that you were, or

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Speaker 2: want people to see you as.

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Speaker 1: It's not something that you project or perfect.

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Speaker 2: Your real reputation comes from relationship and repetition, and relationship

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Speaker 2: and repetition. And I had to come to the point

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Speaker 2: where I realized it is not what people who don't

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Speaker 2: know me think about me, or what I can convince

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Speaker 2: them of that brings me peace in my heart and.

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Speaker 1: Fulfills my calling.

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Speaker 2: I want to focus my life on developing a reputation

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Speaker 2: that is based on repetition and relationship, that I would

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Speaker 2: do the right thing over and over and over and

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Speaker 2: over and over again, and when I don't, I'll apologize

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Speaker 2: and I'll get back on and do it over and

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Speaker 2: over and over. Isn't that how God built his reputation

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Speaker 2: in your life?

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Speaker 1: Because he helped.

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Speaker 2: You over and over and over and over again, and

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Speaker 2: he gave you mercy over and over and over and

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Speaker 2: over again. And he made ways over and over and

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Speaker 2: over and over again. And he heard your cry over

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Speaker 2: and over and over again. And he forgave you for

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Speaker 2: that same sin that you committed over and over and

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Speaker 2: over again. But when you needed grace, you found it

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Speaker 2: over and over and over again. And he woke you

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Speaker 2: up over and over and over again. And he lets

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Speaker 2: you see another day over and over and over again.

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Speaker 2: So I will praise Him over and over and over again.

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Speaker 2: Because God has a reputation with me. I know him

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Speaker 2: as faithful. And watch this. I don't let anybody else

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Speaker 2: build my belief about who God is. I don't need

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Speaker 2: to believe somebody else's report about God.

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Speaker 1: I have a.

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Speaker 2: Personal relationship with Him, and God's reputation with me is

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Speaker 2: based on his faithfulness in my life.

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Speaker 1: I don't go off of what I heard about. I

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Speaker 1: go off what I know.

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Speaker 2: Don't ever let somebody else misrepresent God and run you

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Speaker 2: away from church.

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Speaker 1: You ought to know God for yourself. It's a it's

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Speaker 1: a relational thing.

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Speaker 2: So we're losing that, and we're so quick to tear

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Speaker 2: people down, and God forgive us for all the times

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Speaker 2: where we've believed a report about someone that we didn't

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Speaker 2: even know. In a day where it is so easy

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Speaker 2: to project a false reputation and so easy to destroy

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Speaker 2: a reputation, you can destroy your own reputation with two

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Speaker 2: hundred and eighty characters.

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Speaker 1: Am I right?

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Speaker 2: I don't call names from this pulpit, but you know

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Speaker 2: what I'm talking about. And yet we stand between the

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Speaker 2: reality of who we are and kind of who we

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Speaker 2: think we need to be.

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Speaker 1: And into that gap.

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Speaker 2: God speaks and it's the most amazing thing. I can't

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Speaker 2: get over this, and it doesn't seem like a smart strategy,

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Speaker 2: but God chooses over and over again. The faithful God

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Speaker 2: entrusts his reputation.

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Speaker 1: To faithless people.

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Speaker 2: And so for forty years the Israelites will wander in

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Speaker 2: the wilderness because they believed a bad report, even though

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Speaker 2: they had a history with God.

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Speaker 1: Now Joshua does something interesting.

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Speaker 2: After he calls the people together and tells them prepare

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Speaker 2: and consecrate yourselves for what God is going to do,

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Speaker 2: and reminds them of what God has already done. He

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Speaker 2: sends back to verse one, two spies, two Spies, instead

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Speaker 2: of twelve. When Moses got ready to check out Canaan

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Speaker 2: four decades ago, he sent twelve spies and ten came

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Speaker 2: back with a fear report. So it's almost as if

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Speaker 2: Joshua has learned from that exploit, being one of the

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Speaker 2: two spies who said, if God is with us, we

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Speaker 2: can't fail, and he made up his mind this time.

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Speaker 2: I only need to, somebody shout, I only need to

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Speaker 2: look at the person on either side of you and

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Speaker 2: tell both of them I.

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Speaker 1: Only need to. I don't need too many opinions in

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Speaker 1: this stage of my life.

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Speaker 2: I'm out of middle school now, and I can't live

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Speaker 2: by what everybody else thinks or does not anymore. I

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Speaker 2: only need too, somebody say, I only need to. And

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Speaker 2: I read in my Bible that surely goodness and mercy

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Speaker 2: will follow.

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Speaker 1: Me all the days of my life.

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Speaker 2: So I got goodness and I got mercy.

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Speaker 1: I only need to say it again.

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Speaker 2: I only need to, and I can't afford to consult

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Speaker 2: everybody's opinion and every cable news channel. I got goodness

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Speaker 2: and I got mercy. I don't need Fox, I don't

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Speaker 2: need CNN, I don't need Twitter, I don't need Facebook.

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Speaker 2: I don't need Instagram. I don't need my past to consult.

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Speaker 2: I don't need to consult too many people. You know,

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Speaker 2: we start calling people and asking them for advice. You

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Speaker 2: really don't want advice anymore after you've called the third person.

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Speaker 2: You want affirmation and attention. I have a shortcut now

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Speaker 2: as a pastor. When people say I'd like your advice

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Speaker 2: on whatever they say next, I don't respond to I

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Speaker 2: say what do you want, because I'll just say what

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Speaker 2: you want to hear and save you the time from

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Speaker 2: calling the next person and the next person until somebody

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Speaker 2: will finally tell you what you want to hear. Because

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Speaker 2: a lot of us, maybe not you, maybe somebody. You know,

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Speaker 2: a lot of us live our whole life consulting opinions.

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Speaker 2: And when you get too many opinions, it really crowds

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Speaker 2: out the voice of God. And you know what's funny

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Speaker 2: about people. You got to be so careful because people

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Speaker 2: will a lot of times and situations will a lot

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Speaker 2: of times feel they will categorize stuff. Look, the Bible

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Speaker 2: says they went into Jericho and entered the house of

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Speaker 2: a prostitute named Rahab. Why would you go into the

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Speaker 2: house of a prostitute in order to discern the promise

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Speaker 2: of God. Let me tell you a little secret. God

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Speaker 2: uses who he wants to use. I'm losing amens by

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Speaker 2: the minute. You must be from out of town. God

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Speaker 2: uses who he wants to use.

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Speaker 1: And so.

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Speaker 2: Isn't it fascinating that the God, who has a spotless reputation,

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Speaker 2: when he gets ready to bring his people into the promise,

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Speaker 2: uses a woman with a reputation, not a reputation like

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Speaker 2: we think God can use, not a reputation of perfection.

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Speaker 2: But God uses someone with a reputation. And furthermore, someone

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Speaker 2: who the spies would consider an enemy. Technically, Rehab was

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Speaker 2: an enemy of Israel, and yet God used their.

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Speaker 1: Enemy to show them who they were. She said, I

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Speaker 1: know who.

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Speaker 2: You are, and I know that God has given you

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Speaker 2: the victory. Is it possible that your enemy knows more.

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Speaker 1: About who you are than you do?

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Speaker 2: And is that why he's been fighting you like he's

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Speaker 2: been fighting you.

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Speaker 1: It's just a question, saints.

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Speaker 2: Is it possible, just a little bit possible, that the

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Speaker 2: trial that you're going through is actually a testament to

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Speaker 2: the power that lives within you.

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Speaker 1: The devil doesn't waste bullets if he's leaving you alone.

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Speaker 1: He knows you aren't anything worth fighting against. God used

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Speaker 1: their enemy to show them who they were God.

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Speaker 2: God used their struggle to confirm his word.

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Speaker 1: It's crazy, how I said, Now let me teach you.

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Speaker 1: It's crazy how we have set.

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Speaker 2: Up a false expectation that the proof of God's favor

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Speaker 2: in our life will always be that our fights will

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Speaker 2: decrease and our comfort will increase. But when God was

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Speaker 2: revealing himself in the Book of Job, the devil was

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Speaker 2: going all through the earth trying to look for somebody

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Speaker 2: he could tamper with. And when the devil presented himself

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Speaker 2: before the throne with the angels, because the enemy can't

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Speaker 2: do anything without God's permission, I'm afraid in a lot

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Speaker 2: of our churches we've given the devil a reputation that

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Speaker 2: he is an equal power with God.

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Speaker 1: He's not. He's not.

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Speaker 2: And God asked a quest question to Satan. He said,

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Speaker 2: have you considered my servant job? Have you thought about

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Speaker 2: picking on him? Because he's my guy? Now, whatever you

390
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Speaker 2: have to do to get on that list where God

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Speaker 2: tells the devil he can mess with you, I don't

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Speaker 2: want to be that holy. I want to find that

393
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Speaker 2: mark a.

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Speaker 1: Slipping of men. But God said, have at his stuff.

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Speaker 2: You can touch him, his family, you can't touch him.

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Speaker 1: And when the devil came back and said, I.

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Speaker 2: Tried it and you were right, he didn't curse you.

398
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Speaker 2: But if you let me hurt him, it's one thing

399
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Speaker 2: for everything around him.

400
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Speaker 1: To be affected.

401
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Speaker 2: But if you let me hurt his body, he'll curse you.

402
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Speaker 2: And God said, you can do it, but you can't

403
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Speaker 2: kill him. And after that period of testing had been completed,

404
00:23:56,320 --> 00:23:58,160
Speaker 2: after Job survived all.

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Speaker 1: Of the rounds.

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Speaker 2: Now, this means he lost not only his income, not

407
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Speaker 2: only his business, not only his belongings, but his children.

408
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Speaker 2: And the only person who stayed alive with Job was

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Speaker 2: his wife.

410
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Speaker 1: And if you read about her.

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Speaker 2: He'd probably praying God would go ahead and wipe her

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Speaker 2: out too, because she wasn't a very good wife. She said,

413
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Speaker 2: go ahead and curse God and die. Let's get it

414
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Speaker 2: over with. You're really gonna put up with this and

415
00:24:25,960 --> 00:24:29,840
Speaker 2: still serve God. But Job would not charge God with wrongdoing.

416
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Speaker 2: And yes, at the end of God's at the end

417
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Speaker 2: of Job's life, he was doubly blessed. But I don't

418
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Speaker 2: think the point of the book of Job is that Job.

419
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Speaker 1: Got double for his trouble.

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Speaker 2: That's nice for a bumper sticker, but he still lost

421
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Speaker 2: his children.

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Speaker 1: What's the point.

423
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Speaker 2: The point is that the devil didn't mention Job's name.

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Speaker 1: God did.

425
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Speaker 2: Job had a reputation with Heaven, and Heaven knew about Job.

426
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Speaker 2: He can be trusted with trouble. He won't break beneath

427
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Speaker 2: the weight of a burden.

428
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Speaker 1: Heaven knows about you.

429
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Speaker 2: You can raise those ADHD kids, those abcd fghijk.

430
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Speaker 1: Elemento pea kids.

431
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Speaker 2: God knew he could give you the whole alphabet and

432
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Speaker 2: you wouldn't kill him. God knew he could trust you

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Speaker 2: with sorrow. God knew he could trust you with trial

434
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Speaker 2: and with tribulation.

435
00:25:22,840 --> 00:25:28,640
Speaker 1: He knew that about you. And if the devil isn't

436
00:25:28,680 --> 00:25:30,840
Speaker 1: messing with you, maybe he doesn't even know you're here.

437
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Speaker 2: Like one time in the Book of Acts, these seven

438
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Speaker 2: sons of a Jewish priest, they saw Paul laying hands.

439
00:25:41,720 --> 00:25:46,920
Speaker 1: On people and they were like, oh, that's cool. Huh.

440
00:25:47,080 --> 00:25:48,520
Speaker 1: Maybe we say what he says, we can do what

441
00:25:48,560 --> 00:25:50,680
Speaker 1: he does, and maybe we can make money off of it.

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Speaker 1: All right, in the name of Jesus, come out. And

443
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Speaker 1: when they said it.

444
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Speaker 2: The demons for and said, I heard you say Jesus,

445
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Speaker 2: and we know him. I heard you say Paul, and

446
00:26:12,720 --> 00:26:17,560
Speaker 2: we know him. We hate him. We're an assignment against him.

447
00:26:18,440 --> 00:26:23,040
Speaker 2: We send snakes to bite him. We put Paul through shipwrecks.

448
00:26:23,560 --> 00:26:26,480
Speaker 2: We stir up people and create contentions so that stones

449
00:26:26,520 --> 00:26:27,280
Speaker 2: are thrown at Paul.

450
00:26:28,000 --> 00:26:32,280
Speaker 1: We've heard of Jesus, We've heard of Paul. But who

451
00:26:32,280 --> 00:26:32,480
Speaker 1: are you?

452
00:26:36,160 --> 00:26:37,800
Speaker 2: Look at somebody next to you and say it in

453
00:26:37,960 --> 00:26:40,160
Speaker 2: that falsetto voice like I said it, like prince, say

454
00:26:40,320 --> 00:26:45,520
Speaker 2: who are you? Who are you? Who are you?

455
00:26:50,600 --> 00:26:51,520
Speaker 1: I'm concerned.

456
00:26:52,400 --> 00:26:56,600
Speaker 2: I'm concerned that a lot of times we are convinced

457
00:26:57,480 --> 00:27:02,000
Speaker 2: that our trouble is an indication of the absence of

458
00:27:02,080 --> 00:27:07,720
Speaker 2: God's resence, when more times than not, in the scripture

459
00:27:07,800 --> 00:27:13,840
Speaker 2: you can find that trouble accompanies God's presence. He is

460
00:27:13,920 --> 00:27:17,200
Speaker 2: an ever present help in the time of trouble.

461
00:27:17,680 --> 00:27:30,199
Speaker 1: So if you're in trouble, you're in God. Who are you?

462
00:27:31,880 --> 00:27:33,640
Speaker 1: Who are you? The Devil's looking at some of y'all,

463
00:27:33,680 --> 00:27:36,320
Speaker 1: Who are you? I don't even have to I don't

464
00:27:36,359 --> 00:27:37,960
Speaker 1: even have to mess with your life. You're doing a

465
00:27:37,960 --> 00:27:42,040
Speaker 1: good job by yourself. Who are you? Who are you?

466
00:27:43,480 --> 00:27:54,320
Speaker 1: I'll get paid to argue, would you no, So they.

467
00:27:55,080 --> 00:28:00,000
Speaker 2: Go to the house of Rehab the prostitute, and y'all

468
00:28:00,160 --> 00:28:04,480
Speaker 2: probably would not preach about a prostitute if she were

469
00:28:04,480 --> 00:28:09,399
Speaker 2: only mentioned in Joshua chapter two, because I would figure

470
00:28:09,960 --> 00:28:15,199
Speaker 2: that's the Old Testament. But a funny thing happened in

471
00:28:15,240 --> 00:28:15,800
Speaker 2: the Book.

472
00:28:15,600 --> 00:28:17,720
Speaker 1: Of Matthew.

473
00:28:18,600 --> 00:28:23,720
Speaker 2: When the writer started listening the genealogy of Jesus and

474
00:28:23,840 --> 00:28:26,919
Speaker 2: all of the generations that he came through. It's like

475
00:28:27,080 --> 00:28:31,800
Speaker 2: fourteen generations and then fourteen more, and then fourteen more.

476
00:28:32,640 --> 00:28:35,560
Speaker 2: And this is the stuff that we skip over sometimes

477
00:28:35,600 --> 00:28:38,840
Speaker 2: when we're reading the Christmas story because it's all these

478
00:28:38,920 --> 00:28:42,840
Speaker 2: names that we don't recognize, and so and so begot so,

479
00:28:42,960 --> 00:28:45,800
Speaker 2: and so begot so, and so begot so and so.

480
00:28:45,880 --> 00:28:47,360
Speaker 1: And really, all I want to do is get to

481
00:28:47,480 --> 00:28:49,320
Speaker 1: verse eighteen. Then came Jesus.

482
00:28:50,040 --> 00:28:51,960
Speaker 2: But some of the stuff you skip is some of

483
00:28:52,000 --> 00:28:55,400
Speaker 2: the places where God speaks. I said, some of the

484
00:28:55,440 --> 00:28:59,160
Speaker 2: stuff you skip is some of the stuff God speaks through.

485
00:28:59,200 --> 00:29:01,760
Speaker 2: And Matthew said in Matthew one, verse five, I feel

486
00:29:01,800 --> 00:29:05,960
Speaker 2: like preach him Salmon the father of Boas, whose mother

487
00:29:06,200 --> 00:29:11,280
Speaker 2: was Rayhab, whose mother was Rehab. Now to get to

488
00:29:11,440 --> 00:29:14,880
Speaker 2: Jesus in the genealogy, you got to go through Rehab,

489
00:29:14,960 --> 00:29:19,800
Speaker 2: the prostitute. God works through who he wants to work through,

490
00:29:20,560 --> 00:29:24,400
Speaker 2: and all things work together for the good of Him

491
00:29:24,400 --> 00:29:29,360
Speaker 2: that loved the Lord whose mother was Rayhab. Stop being

492
00:29:29,480 --> 00:29:33,480
Speaker 2: so stuck up. Stop categorizing people and casting them out

493
00:29:33,800 --> 00:29:35,200
Speaker 2: like you don't have issues.

494
00:29:41,040 --> 00:29:43,200
Speaker 1: You ought to be glad to see Rahab's name in there.

495
00:29:44,240 --> 00:29:45,040
Speaker 1: Hope for me too.

496
00:29:46,440 --> 00:29:49,960
Speaker 2: If Rahab made it, maybe I can by faith shout

497
00:29:49,960 --> 00:29:53,440
Speaker 2: it out by faith by faith. So then you get

498
00:29:53,480 --> 00:29:57,720
Speaker 2: to Hebrews eleven, and not just once, but for the

499
00:29:57,760 --> 00:30:02,200
Speaker 2: second time. In the New Testament, Rehab gets an honorable

500
00:30:02,280 --> 00:30:06,640
Speaker 2: mention in the Hall of Faith where they're inducting all

501
00:30:06,680 --> 00:30:12,160
Speaker 2: of the Sunday School heroes. All of the classic events

502
00:30:12,240 --> 00:30:15,560
Speaker 2: on which redemptive history hinged are mentioned in.

503
00:30:15,560 --> 00:30:19,000
Speaker 1: Hebrews chapter eleven. By Faith twenty nine.

504
00:30:19,720 --> 00:30:23,080
Speaker 2: The people passed through the Red Sea on dry land,

505
00:30:23,800 --> 00:30:25,640
Speaker 2: but when the Egyptians tried to.

506
00:30:25,560 --> 00:30:27,560
Speaker 1: Do so, they were drowned. Side note.

507
00:30:27,840 --> 00:30:30,160
Speaker 2: God doesn't bring you into deep waters to kill you.

508
00:30:30,640 --> 00:30:33,280
Speaker 2: He brings you into deep water to drown your enemies.

509
00:30:33,560 --> 00:30:37,400
Speaker 2: He knows they can't swim, and in deep waters that's

510
00:30:37,440 --> 00:30:40,280
Speaker 2: where you deal with your doubts, and in deep waters,

511
00:30:40,320 --> 00:30:42,680
Speaker 2: that's where you come face to face with your dysfunction

512
00:30:43,080 --> 00:30:45,520
Speaker 2: and have to lean and rely on the grace of God.

513
00:30:45,960 --> 00:30:49,480
Speaker 2: So the Egyptians drowned by faith. The walls of Jericho

514
00:30:49,560 --> 00:30:52,960
Speaker 2: fell not because they fought so well, but because the

515
00:30:53,000 --> 00:30:55,240
Speaker 2: faith that they had enabled them to do what made

516
00:30:55,320 --> 00:30:58,520
Speaker 2: no sense naturally. And by faith, the walls of Jericho

517
00:30:58,600 --> 00:31:02,360
Speaker 2: fell after the army had marched around them for seven days.

518
00:31:02,680 --> 00:31:09,120
Speaker 2: And here comes Reyhab, by faith, the prostitute Rayhab, because

519
00:31:09,160 --> 00:31:11,960
Speaker 2: she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who

520
00:31:11,960 --> 00:31:16,360
Speaker 2: are disobedient. And what more shall I say? I don't

521
00:31:16,400 --> 00:31:23,920
Speaker 2: have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jefta, David, Samuel,

522
00:31:24,400 --> 00:31:25,120
Speaker 2: the prophets.

523
00:31:25,680 --> 00:31:28,320
Speaker 1: You mean you don't have time to talk about David.

524
00:31:28,600 --> 00:31:32,160
Speaker 2: The greatest king that Israel ever knew, a man after

525
00:31:32,240 --> 00:31:34,840
Speaker 2: God's own heart, But you had time.

526
00:31:34,640 --> 00:31:35,680
Speaker 1: To mention Rayhab.

527
00:31:36,840 --> 00:31:40,440
Speaker 2: God says, I don't look at people based on your

528
00:31:40,560 --> 00:31:44,680
Speaker 2: standard of importance. I don't look at people based on

529
00:31:44,840 --> 00:31:50,120
Speaker 2: your standard of significance. God doesn't check your followers to

530
00:31:50,160 --> 00:31:52,200
Speaker 2: see how much favor he gives you.

531
00:31:53,080 --> 00:31:54,640
Speaker 1: God is looking at your faith.

532
00:31:59,480 --> 00:32:03,200
Speaker 2: And then James jumps in and for a third time,

533
00:32:03,680 --> 00:32:08,320
Speaker 2: this Harlot is mentioned alongside the heroes of scripture.

534
00:32:09,400 --> 00:32:12,000
Speaker 1: Hero Harlot, Harlot hero.

535
00:32:12,680 --> 00:32:16,240
Speaker 2: And now I can't tell the difference because God calls

536
00:32:16,280 --> 00:32:19,920
Speaker 2: someone that I call a Harlot a hero, and.

537
00:32:19,880 --> 00:32:21,480
Speaker 1: I know you don't like it, and.

538
00:32:21,440 --> 00:32:23,520
Speaker 2: I know it doesn't go down easy, and I know

539
00:32:23,560 --> 00:32:25,680
Speaker 2: we can't eat it with vanilla wafers and put it

540
00:32:25,720 --> 00:32:27,160
Speaker 2: on a flannel graph because.

541
00:32:26,960 --> 00:32:28,200
Speaker 1: The story of Rahab is r.

542
00:32:28,240 --> 00:32:30,320
Speaker 2: Rated and it doesn't teach very well.

543
00:32:30,120 --> 00:32:30,760
Speaker 1: In the kids.

544
00:32:33,600 --> 00:32:36,480
Speaker 2: But James said, in the same way till twenty five,

545
00:32:36,680 --> 00:32:41,160
Speaker 2: in the same way, was not even Rayhab the prostitute

546
00:32:41,960 --> 00:32:45,240
Speaker 2: considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging

547
00:32:45,320 --> 00:32:47,400
Speaker 2: to the spies and sent them off in a different direction.

548
00:32:49,200 --> 00:32:55,240
Speaker 2: And keep calling her that Rahab the prostitute, keep labeling her.

549
00:32:57,800 --> 00:32:58,400
Speaker 1: It's crazy.

550
00:32:58,400 --> 00:33:12,440
Speaker 2: God didn't change her before he used her. You know

551
00:33:12,480 --> 00:33:14,840
Speaker 2: how we think God can't use me because I currently

552
00:33:14,880 --> 00:33:19,240
Speaker 2: struggle with It's not like she was a prostitute and

553
00:33:19,280 --> 00:33:20,480
Speaker 2: then she became a prophet.

554
00:33:21,040 --> 00:33:22,760
Speaker 1: She was still a prostitute.

555
00:33:23,320 --> 00:33:26,680
Speaker 2: This doesn't excuse bad behavior, but it helps me to

556
00:33:26,680 --> 00:33:29,120
Speaker 2: see that the love of God is not the reward

557
00:33:29,200 --> 00:33:32,640
Speaker 2: for change. It is the resource by which I am changed.

558
00:33:34,240 --> 00:33:37,920
Speaker 2: That revelation of the love of God is so powerful.

559
00:33:39,680 --> 00:33:41,719
Speaker 2: And you know, I was telling you my son Graham,

560
00:33:42,160 --> 00:33:44,840
Speaker 2: he talks a lot more now and he actually says

561
00:33:44,880 --> 00:33:46,080
Speaker 2: some really funny stuff.

562
00:33:47,080 --> 00:33:49,479
Speaker 1: I'm praying that he will not become a stand up comic.

563
00:33:51,240 --> 00:33:54,680
Speaker 2: I'm praying that you know, he'll well, I'm not praying

564
00:33:54,680 --> 00:33:55,160
Speaker 2: that he'll.

565
00:33:54,960 --> 00:33:56,240
Speaker 1: Be a preacher either. I really don't.

566
00:33:56,360 --> 00:33:58,560
Speaker 2: I really don't care if my kids take on this

567
00:33:58,640 --> 00:34:01,080
Speaker 2: profession or not like that. I might even tell him,

568
00:34:01,240 --> 00:34:03,440
Speaker 2: you know, do something else if you can, because you

569
00:34:03,760 --> 00:34:06,320
Speaker 2: got to be called to do this. But all my

570
00:34:06,440 --> 00:34:08,400
Speaker 2: kids have heard so many sermons. They come up with

571
00:34:08,480 --> 00:34:11,560
Speaker 2: funny little questions about the Bible that I never thought

572
00:34:11,560 --> 00:34:14,320
Speaker 2: of before, but just from a child's mind is so funny.

573
00:34:14,719 --> 00:34:15,839
Speaker 1: And Graham asked me the.

574
00:34:15,760 --> 00:34:19,360
Speaker 2: Other day, he said, I hear people say all the

575
00:34:19,440 --> 00:34:22,680
Speaker 2: time when I get to Heaven, I want to see Jesus.

576
00:34:23,520 --> 00:34:25,239
Speaker 2: And he said, but have you ever thought about how

577
00:34:25,280 --> 00:34:30,319
Speaker 2: long the line is going to be? And we had

578
00:34:30,360 --> 00:34:32,600
Speaker 2: just been to Disneyland, so he had that in his mind,

579
00:34:32,680 --> 00:34:37,000
Speaker 2: like the you know, and he said, it's going to

580
00:34:37,040 --> 00:34:39,440
Speaker 2: be a long line to see Jesus. I wonder if

581
00:34:39,480 --> 00:34:42,080
Speaker 2: you could get somebody to hold your place in line

582
00:34:42,120 --> 00:34:44,759
Speaker 2: to see Jesus and then go see some of the

583
00:34:44,760 --> 00:34:51,040
Speaker 2: other characters in the Bible. So I kind of played

584
00:34:51,040 --> 00:34:54,279
Speaker 2: it out, and I was thinking, you know, you probably could.

585
00:34:54,320 --> 00:34:57,080
Speaker 2: There are probably some characters in the Bible that no

586
00:34:57,120 --> 00:34:59,080
Speaker 2: one will want a selfie with, and you could probably

587
00:34:59,080 --> 00:35:02,680
Speaker 2: just walk right up to him, like Jonah, who wants

588
00:35:02,719 --> 00:35:06,920
Speaker 2: to meet Jonah. He's the most dysfunctional, discouraging prophet in

589
00:35:06,960 --> 00:35:09,480
Speaker 2: the Bible. He preached and God sent a revival, and

590
00:35:09,480 --> 00:35:11,759
Speaker 2: he went outside and wanted to die.

591
00:35:12,400 --> 00:35:13,480
Speaker 1: So Jonah's available.

592
00:35:13,480 --> 00:35:15,200
Speaker 2: You could go see Jonah for a few minutes, a

593
00:35:15,200 --> 00:35:17,319
Speaker 2: few hundred years while you wait to see Jesus, you know,

594
00:35:17,640 --> 00:35:20,759
Speaker 2: eternities long, and then you could probably go see You

595
00:35:20,800 --> 00:35:27,279
Speaker 2: could probably go see Bartholomew. Apostle Paul might be unavailable,

596
00:35:27,800 --> 00:35:30,480
Speaker 2: and John the disciple who Jesus loved. He might he

597
00:35:30,560 --> 00:35:33,800
Speaker 2: might have a little wait list, but you can probably

598
00:35:33,800 --> 00:35:43,200
Speaker 2: see Bartholomew. Jewish legend says that Rahab was one of

599
00:35:43,239 --> 00:35:45,040
Speaker 2: the most four beautiful women.

600
00:35:44,800 --> 00:35:49,320
Speaker 1: Who ever lived. I don't know if that's true, but maybe.

601
00:35:49,080 --> 00:35:51,319
Speaker 2: You want to see for yourself, you know, get to heaven.

602
00:35:53,280 --> 00:35:57,920
Speaker 2: There's Samson. Walk over to the front desk. There's Peter,

603
00:36:00,040 --> 00:36:05,759
Speaker 2: got his iPad and uh, you say, hey, I'm in

604
00:36:05,800 --> 00:36:08,480
Speaker 2: line to see Jesus. I'm number fifteen million, nine hundred

605
00:36:08,480 --> 00:36:10,680
Speaker 2: and seventy three, two hundred and twenty three.

606
00:36:11,320 --> 00:36:14,680
Speaker 1: While I'm waiting. That was kind of stranger class. Could

607
00:36:14,680 --> 00:36:19,040
Speaker 1: I see ah? I see Rahab the prostitute.

608
00:36:21,120 --> 00:36:23,759
Speaker 2: You know feeders loud, Rayab the prostitute.

609
00:36:23,800 --> 00:36:35,759
Speaker 1: Let me check sounds bad man, Keep it down. Oh,

610
00:36:35,800 --> 00:36:37,120
Speaker 1: I'm sorry.

611
00:36:38,360 --> 00:36:43,680
Speaker 2: We do have a rehab up here, But you said

612
00:36:43,719 --> 00:36:47,440
Speaker 2: Rehab the prostitute.

613
00:36:47,960 --> 00:36:58,120
Speaker 1: There's nobody here by that name because up here we

614
00:36:58,200 --> 00:37:00,360
Speaker 1: don't call people what they want her.

615
00:37:03,160 --> 00:37:08,600
Speaker 2: We don't call people what they did. We don't call

616
00:37:08,680 --> 00:37:13,759
Speaker 2: people what they were labeled. Up here, she doesn't go

617
00:37:13,880 --> 00:37:18,239
Speaker 2: by that name. So you can see ray Have, but

618
00:37:18,400 --> 00:37:21,399
Speaker 2: make sure you call her by her new name. Up here,

619
00:37:21,800 --> 00:37:25,720
Speaker 2: we call her Rayhaf the righteous. There is a righteousness

620
00:37:26,680 --> 00:37:30,680
Speaker 2: that comes from God by faith. I said, there is

621
00:37:30,760 --> 00:37:34,480
Speaker 2: a righteousness that it's not of worse, so.

622
00:37:34,400 --> 00:37:35,760
Speaker 1: That no one can boast.

623
00:37:36,680 --> 00:37:39,239
Speaker 2: And I don't know about Sue, but I'm grateful for

624
00:37:39,400 --> 00:37:42,359
Speaker 2: the blood of Jesus that covered my pan.

625
00:37:44,040 --> 00:37:47,200
Speaker 3: I'm not what I did, and I'm not what I was,

626
00:37:47,719 --> 00:37:50,880
Speaker 3: and I'm not what I think, and I'm not where I'm.

627
00:37:50,719 --> 00:37:52,960
Speaker 1: Broken, and I'm not what they said.

628
00:37:53,400 --> 00:38:01,799
Speaker 3: I got a new name, I got a new name,

629
00:38:03,920 --> 00:38:05,359
Speaker 3: I got a new reputation.

630
00:38:06,120 --> 00:38:08,200
Speaker 1: I am a child of God.

631
00:38:09,000 --> 00:38:14,040
Speaker 2: I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus, look

632
00:38:14,080 --> 00:38:15,600
Speaker 2: at somebody, say, don't call me that.

633
00:38:17,120 --> 00:38:18,359
Speaker 1: You don't know me like that.

634
00:38:18,640 --> 00:38:21,400
Speaker 2: Don't call me according to how you memorized me in

635
00:38:21,440 --> 00:38:27,160
Speaker 2: my past. God is doing a new thing in my life.

636
00:38:30,800 --> 00:38:33,719
Speaker 2: And when condemnation comes in, you know, to remind you

637
00:38:34,719 --> 00:38:37,319
Speaker 2: of all of those reasons that God can't use you.

638
00:38:37,760 --> 00:38:38,759
Speaker 1: Remember Rehab.

639
00:38:40,600 --> 00:38:45,480
Speaker 2: Remember Rehab who had nothing to offer except faith.

640
00:38:47,680 --> 00:38:49,799
Speaker 1: And God said even.

641
00:38:49,600 --> 00:39:01,600
Speaker 2: She was considered righteous. Because that's what church is. It's

642
00:39:01,640 --> 00:39:05,160
Speaker 2: a place for you to come and leave all of

643
00:39:05,200 --> 00:39:09,040
Speaker 2: the labels that you've accumulated in your life because of

644
00:39:09,080 --> 00:39:09,799
Speaker 2: your behaviors.

645
00:39:10,840 --> 00:39:12,160
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, some.

646
00:39:12,120 --> 00:39:15,040
Speaker 2: Of the stuff people said about you is facts.

647
00:39:16,320 --> 00:39:17,720
Speaker 1: It's not always that they were lying.

648
00:39:19,200 --> 00:39:23,200
Speaker 2: It's just that there is a greater truth that supersedes

649
00:39:24,520 --> 00:39:25,880
Speaker 2: whatever they can say about you.

650
00:39:26,080 --> 00:39:30,240
Speaker 1: And every weakness is potential strength.

651
00:39:31,800 --> 00:39:34,680
Speaker 2: But when I was writing this message, I made a

652
00:39:34,680 --> 00:39:38,360
Speaker 2: critical mistake. I was typing so fast in my phone,

653
00:39:38,360 --> 00:39:43,040
Speaker 2: I kept misspelling Rehab's name, and I kept spelling it

654
00:39:43,160 --> 00:39:48,480
Speaker 2: our eh Ab because I was writing fast, not because

655
00:39:48,520 --> 00:39:54,960
Speaker 2: my IQ is love. And after writing it down ten times,

656
00:39:55,000 --> 00:39:57,520
Speaker 2: I noticed I keep spelling it Rehab.

657
00:39:58,800 --> 00:40:00,960
Speaker 1: And God said, you got it right.

658
00:40:01,760 --> 00:40:03,799
Speaker 2: Because what I want you to tell the people when

659
00:40:03,800 --> 00:40:07,320
Speaker 2: you preach it is that I am in the business

660
00:40:08,320 --> 00:40:15,160
Speaker 2: of rehabilitating. In my title again on the screen, you

661
00:40:15,239 --> 00:40:19,839
Speaker 2: did not come to a religious service today. You came

662
00:40:19,880 --> 00:40:25,919
Speaker 2: to rehab. And the place it starts is not with

663
00:40:26,120 --> 00:40:28,520
Speaker 2: what others think of you. We spend so much time

664
00:40:28,560 --> 00:40:32,960
Speaker 2: on that, and we fail to realize that really the

665
00:40:33,000 --> 00:40:38,600
Speaker 2: issue is how you see you. The greatest place my

666
00:40:38,680 --> 00:40:42,360
Speaker 2: reputation needs repair is within myself, because I've let myself

667
00:40:42,440 --> 00:40:46,000
Speaker 2: down so many times, and I've made promises to myself

668
00:40:46,040 --> 00:40:46,920
Speaker 2: and others over.

669
00:40:46,800 --> 00:40:47,440
Speaker 1: And over again.

670
00:40:47,800 --> 00:40:50,120
Speaker 2: And I'm really going to have a better attitude this time,

671
00:40:50,360 --> 00:40:52,359
Speaker 2: and I'm really good at this time, and I'm really

672
00:40:52,360 --> 00:40:54,960
Speaker 2: going at this time. And some of you have developed

673
00:40:55,000 --> 00:40:59,200
Speaker 2: a reputation with yourself that does not reflect your reputation

674
00:40:59,280 --> 00:41:04,680
Speaker 2: with Heaven. God doesn't see you like that, and see

675
00:41:04,719 --> 00:41:09,160
Speaker 2: you like that and the gap between your reality and

676
00:41:09,200 --> 00:41:14,239
Speaker 2: your reputation with yourself could cost you the opportunity to

677
00:41:14,280 --> 00:41:17,400
Speaker 2: see God use you in the future. If if you

678
00:41:17,440 --> 00:41:22,000
Speaker 2: don't deal with that, it costs the spies. Ten of

679
00:41:22,000 --> 00:41:25,120
Speaker 2: the twelve said we can't go in. That's eighty three

680
00:41:25,239 --> 00:41:28,680
Speaker 2: points sixty sixty six sixty six percent of the people

681
00:41:28,719 --> 00:41:30,960
Speaker 2: that went into the land came back with the wrong report.

682
00:41:32,080 --> 00:41:34,480
Speaker 2: And I think eighty three point sixty sixty sixty sixty

683
00:41:34,560 --> 00:41:38,040
Speaker 2: six percent of stuff I tell myself is probably wrong

684
00:41:38,560 --> 00:41:42,759
Speaker 2: at least at least And if I don't deal with that,

685
00:41:43,719 --> 00:41:47,440
Speaker 2: I can have a new reality, a new nature. I

686
00:41:47,480 --> 00:41:50,960
Speaker 2: could be chosen by God, loved by God, accepted by God,

687
00:41:51,600 --> 00:41:54,080
Speaker 2: and He can even have an assignment for me. He

688
00:41:54,120 --> 00:41:56,839
Speaker 2: can even want to use my house to bring forth

689
00:41:56,880 --> 00:42:03,040
Speaker 2: the promise. If I don't see myself that way, I'll.

690
00:42:02,840 --> 00:42:03,800
Speaker 1: Be like those spies.

691
00:42:05,520 --> 00:42:08,040
Speaker 2: The reason they didn't go into the land wasn't how

692
00:42:08,040 --> 00:42:14,080
Speaker 2: they saw God, with how they saw themselves. And the

693
00:42:14,160 --> 00:42:17,040
Speaker 2: reason they saw themselves as small is because they had

694
00:42:17,080 --> 00:42:21,520
Speaker 2: spent four hundred and thirty years enslaved, and sometimes you.

695
00:42:21,560 --> 00:42:22,319
Speaker 1: Carry that with you.

696
00:42:22,560 --> 00:42:26,120
Speaker 2: The Bible actually says that before they could go into

697
00:42:26,239 --> 00:42:30,760
Speaker 2: the land God had to roll away the reproach of Egypt.

698
00:42:31,239 --> 00:42:35,120
Speaker 1: Their past, their shackles, their former condition.

699
00:42:36,680 --> 00:42:39,960
Speaker 2: And when you carry forward with you the reproach of

700
00:42:40,000 --> 00:42:42,719
Speaker 2: different things that you struggled with or currently struggle with,

701
00:42:42,760 --> 00:42:45,920
Speaker 2: it will always keep you from realizing your righteousness in Christ,

702
00:42:46,239 --> 00:42:50,239
Speaker 2: always always, and you.

703
00:42:50,200 --> 00:42:52,480
Speaker 1: See your life through the lens of self. It's very small.

704
00:42:52,920 --> 00:42:54,719
Speaker 2: That's what the spies came back and said they had

705
00:42:54,719 --> 00:42:58,120
Speaker 2: totally lost sight of God's reputation because they were so

706
00:42:58,200 --> 00:42:59,520
Speaker 2: concerned about their own.

707
00:43:01,000 --> 00:43:01,320
Speaker 1: Numbers.

708
00:43:01,360 --> 00:43:04,440
Speaker 2: Thirteen thirty three says that they gave the men of

709
00:43:04,440 --> 00:43:08,200
Speaker 2: God Moses this report. They said, we saw the Nephilim there.

710
00:43:09,480 --> 00:43:10,719
Speaker 1: The Nephelom were giants.

711
00:43:12,280 --> 00:43:14,920
Speaker 2: It might represent anything in your life that's too powerful

712
00:43:14,920 --> 00:43:18,600
Speaker 2: for you and your own strength. It might represent your fear,

713
00:43:18,719 --> 00:43:24,680
Speaker 2: your insecurity, that chronic thing keeps creeping into your life,

714
00:43:25,360 --> 00:43:26,080
Speaker 2: taking you down.

715
00:43:26,440 --> 00:43:26,720
Speaker 1: Thought.

716
00:43:26,719 --> 00:43:30,200
Speaker 2: Pattern doesn't have to be a physical giant or a

717
00:43:30,200 --> 00:43:33,200
Speaker 2: physical enemy. In fact, the Bible says, we wrestle not

718
00:43:33,239 --> 00:43:35,480
Speaker 2: against flesh and blood. There's a good chance that your

719
00:43:35,560 --> 00:43:37,759
Speaker 2: Nephilim has a different name.

720
00:43:39,840 --> 00:43:40,480
Speaker 1: And we saw the.

721
00:43:40,440 --> 00:43:45,240
Speaker 2: Giants, and we seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes.

722
00:43:47,360 --> 00:43:50,720
Speaker 1: Why were you comparing yourself to the giants?

723
00:43:50,800 --> 00:43:53,840
Speaker 2: You were supposed to be comparing your giants to your God.

724
00:43:54,719 --> 00:43:59,600
Speaker 1: But you lost sight of that, didn't you. And you

725
00:43:59,640 --> 00:44:02,160
Speaker 1: start thinking, what's.

726
00:44:01,920 --> 00:44:04,640
Speaker 2: Wrong with me is more powerful than what's right with God.

727
00:44:08,200 --> 00:44:11,319
Speaker 2: We look like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we

728
00:44:11,400 --> 00:44:14,960
Speaker 2: look the same to them. Because when you don't know

729
00:44:15,440 --> 00:44:17,160
Speaker 2: who you are, you depend on the rest of the

730
00:44:17,160 --> 00:44:21,399
Speaker 2: world to tell you. And now you're empty, and now

731
00:44:21,400 --> 00:44:26,120
Speaker 2: you're projecting, and now you're trying to perfect this reputation.

732
00:44:26,239 --> 00:44:29,799
Speaker 1: But God brought you here for rehabit. God brought you

733
00:44:29,880 --> 00:44:32,520
Speaker 1: here for a reminder of who he is.

734
00:44:34,360 --> 00:44:37,960
Speaker 2: The Lord, the Lord, slow to anger, abounding in love,

735
00:44:38,080 --> 00:44:40,480
Speaker 2: maintaining faithfulness to a thousand generations.

736
00:44:40,520 --> 00:44:42,719
Speaker 1: That's who he is. He has a reputation.

737
00:44:43,840 --> 00:44:47,600
Speaker 2: He's picked up people like you and like me at

738
00:44:47,640 --> 00:44:51,279
Speaker 2: our lowest point. He's picked up people like you and

739
00:44:51,320 --> 00:44:56,959
Speaker 2: me on our highest mountaintop. He specializes in imperfection. Would

740
00:44:56,960 --> 00:44:59,280
Speaker 2: you stand to your feet, no one leaving, no one moving.

741
00:45:00,480 --> 00:45:05,160
Speaker 2: I'd like to pray for you, please, If this word

742
00:45:05,200 --> 00:45:10,400
Speaker 2: has ministered to you today and there is a reproach

743
00:45:10,480 --> 00:45:13,680
Speaker 2: that you have been carrying forward into your future, that

744
00:45:13,719 --> 00:45:19,320
Speaker 2: needs to be rolled into your past. I would like

745
00:45:19,400 --> 00:45:23,080
Speaker 2: to pray for you today that God would remind you

746
00:45:23,960 --> 00:45:31,319
Speaker 2: of his reputation. He's never lost a battle, He's never

747
00:45:31,360 --> 00:45:37,160
Speaker 2: met a need that he couldn't meet. He never created

748
00:45:37,200 --> 00:45:40,920
Speaker 2: a life he did not intend to use. And so

749
00:45:40,960 --> 00:45:49,040
Speaker 2: we find hope today in this story of Rahab, that

750
00:45:49,120 --> 00:45:53,600
Speaker 2: God is rehabilitating our eyes, that we could see him

751
00:45:53,640 --> 00:45:54,360
Speaker 2: as he really is.

752
00:45:54,480 --> 00:45:54,760
Speaker 1: Father.

753
00:45:55,840 --> 00:46:00,960
Speaker 2: I pray that not one of your children but brush

754
00:46:01,040 --> 00:46:04,960
Speaker 2: this message off. I pray that it would not fall

755
00:46:05,000 --> 00:46:07,120
Speaker 2: on death fears, and I pray that our pride would

756
00:46:07,120 --> 00:46:10,359
Speaker 2: not keep us from receiving it, because probably we could think, well,

757
00:46:10,360 --> 00:46:15,359
Speaker 2: I'm not that bad, I'm not some prostitute. We all

758
00:46:15,400 --> 00:46:20,920
Speaker 2: have broken places, we all have many reasons why we

759
00:46:20,960 --> 00:46:26,680
Speaker 2: feel useless and unworthy, and yet you call us righteous

760
00:46:26,880 --> 00:46:28,360
Speaker 2: by faith.

761
00:46:29,920 --> 00:46:30,760
Speaker 1: Speak over your.

762
00:46:30,600 --> 00:46:36,360
Speaker 2: People today, Lord, in direct contradiction to every lie that

763
00:46:36,400 --> 00:46:39,239
Speaker 2: the enemy has planted in their mind, it is not so,

764
00:46:39,360 --> 00:46:43,160
Speaker 2: and it will not prevail. Whatever has been spoken over

765
00:46:43,200 --> 00:46:45,600
Speaker 2: their life by others or by themselves that does not

766
00:46:45,680 --> 00:46:48,560
Speaker 2: align with your word. We come against it now. In

767
00:46:48,600 --> 00:46:50,760
Speaker 2: the name that is above every name, the name of Jesus,

768
00:46:51,719 --> 00:46:54,040
Speaker 2: the name that is able to heal, saved, deliver, and

769
00:46:54,120 --> 00:46:56,759
Speaker 2: set free in the name of Jesus, the name that

770
00:46:56,840 --> 00:46:59,440
Speaker 2: is above every name, the name that is above every nephilum,

771
00:46:59,440 --> 00:47:01,840
Speaker 2: the name that is above every dysfunction, the name that

772
00:47:01,920 --> 00:47:03,239
Speaker 2: is above all shame and sin.

773
00:47:04,280 --> 00:47:05,200
Speaker 1: And we ask you that.

774
00:47:05,719 --> 00:47:11,480
Speaker 2: In this moment of worship, we would remember who you say.

775
00:47:12,360 --> 00:47:18,480
Speaker 1: We already are chosen, not forsaken.

776
00:47:19,960 --> 00:47:22,960
Speaker 4: I am who you say I am.

777
00:47:23,000 --> 00:47:27,959
Speaker 1: You are for me, not against me. I am who you.

778
00:47:27,960 --> 00:47:31,879
Speaker 4: Say I am, saying I am who you say I am.

779
00:47:32,239 --> 00:47:35,520
Speaker 4: Lift your hands to your father, say I am who

780
00:47:35,560 --> 00:47:40,160
Speaker 4: you say I am.

781
00:47:40,200 --> 00:47:41,319
Speaker 1: Thank you for joining us.

782
00:47:41,640 --> 00:47:44,080
Speaker 2: Special thanks to those of you who give generously to

783
00:47:44,160 --> 00:47:47,640
Speaker 2: this ministry. Is because of you that this ministry is possible.

784
00:47:48,080 --> 00:47:50,640
Speaker 2: You can click the link in the description to give now,

785
00:47:51,160 --> 00:47:54,520
Speaker 2: or visit Elevation Church dot org slash podcast for more

786
00:47:54,520 --> 00:47:58,200
Speaker 2: information and if you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe.

787
00:47:58,640 --> 00:47:59,920
Speaker 1: You can share it with your friends.

788
00:48:00,239 --> 00:48:02,520
Speaker 2: You can click the share button, take a screenshot and

789
00:48:02,560 --> 00:48:04,680
Speaker 2: share it on your social stories and tag us at

790
00:48:04,680 --> 00:48:05,560
Speaker 2: Elevation Church.

791
00:48:05,640 --> 00:48:07,359
Speaker 1: Thanks again for listening. God bless you