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Speaker 1: This is Joel and Victoria. Thanks so much for listening

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Speaker 1: to the podcast.

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Speaker 2: We appreciate your support and we have a brand new

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Speaker 2: resource we'd like to send you this month.

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Speaker 1: It's called Playing with Confidence. I'll tell you more about

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Speaker 1: it at the end of the podcast.

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Speaker 2: We love you and we sure hope you enjoy the message.

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Speaker 2: It's good to have you in the House of the

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Speaker 2: Lord today. I want to encourage us all this morning

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Speaker 2: to keep our heart free from a fence. Offense is everywhere,

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Speaker 2: Jesus said, as long as you're here, offense will come.

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Speaker 2: As long as we live in this world. Someone's going

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Speaker 2: to say something that we don't understand, something that hurts

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Speaker 2: our feelings. Maybe your husband doesn't listen to your opinion.

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Speaker 2: There's always going to be reasons to take up an offense,

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Speaker 2: an opportunity to take it in. You know, it's interesting

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Speaker 2: because you know, the people that you're around are one thing,

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Speaker 2: but how about the people that you've never even met?

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Speaker 2: And you know what I mean by that. Everybody's opinion

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Speaker 2: can go public these days on social media. You begin

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Speaker 2: to read somebody's opinion, you hear what they're railing against.

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Speaker 2: Kind of flusters you you think, I don't agree with that.

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Speaker 2: Why would they say that? Then you begin getting all upset.

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Speaker 2: You call your brother, you call your sister, you call

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Speaker 2: your neighbor. Can you believe that they think that? In

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Speaker 2: that crazy you see, you begin to get frustrated and

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Speaker 2: upset and spend energy on that offense, on those things

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Speaker 2: that don't really even matter. You See, it's as if

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Speaker 2: we're taking the bait. See, we cannot take the bait

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Speaker 2: of offense and live in victory, joy and peace. We

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Speaker 2: gotta let it go. We can't let it get on us.

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Speaker 2: We can't swallow the bait. In fact, in the scripture,

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Speaker 2: the word offense comes from the Greek word that means bait.

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Speaker 2: It was used to lure animals into a trap. See,

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Speaker 2: the bait or the offense was what got the animals

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Speaker 2: to come on in and take the bait. And sometimes

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Speaker 2: that's what happens to us. With a fence, It lures

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Speaker 2: us right into a trap. We get caught up in

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Speaker 2: this circle of a fence, in this trap of a fence.

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Speaker 2: We get upset, we get frustrated, we get bitter because

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Speaker 2: we've swallowed it, hook line and sinker. So we spend

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Speaker 2: our time trying to figure out what somebody meant. Dissecting

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Speaker 2: every word. That's a waste of our time. What in

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Speaker 2: the world could be so important that we have to

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Speaker 2: take our time to figure it all out? What in

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Speaker 2: the world could someone say that would be that important

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Speaker 2: to your destiny? If it's a you, Now you know what.

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Speaker 2: We take up offense sometimes when no one really means anything.

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Speaker 2: Now that's a whole nother subject. But we're talking today

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Speaker 2: about thinking twice about any offense, any offense. We got

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Speaker 2: to recognize what's happening when we're frustrated and when we're

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Speaker 2: going in the circle of offence, and we've got to

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Speaker 2: learn to drop it and let it go. See, the

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Speaker 2: quicker we let go of offense, the more free we're

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Speaker 2: going to be. The other day, I was cleaning a

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Speaker 2: spot off of my carpet, so I went and got

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Speaker 2: some carpet spot remover. I looked on the back to

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Speaker 2: see what the instruction said about it, and it said

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Speaker 2: get the spot off as quickly as you can. Why

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Speaker 2: because the longer that spot's there, the harder it is

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Speaker 2: to remove. I see that's the same way with a fence. Well,

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Speaker 2: if you have a staining of a fence, on your heart.

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Speaker 2: The longer you allow it to be there, the harder

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Speaker 2: it's going to take to get rid of it. See,

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Speaker 2: but the sooner you let it go, the better off

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Speaker 2: you'll be. Don't go hour by hour, day to day

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Speaker 2: trying to figure it all out. It's not that important.

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Speaker 2: If it's offended you, it's not that important. Proverbs nineteen

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Speaker 2: eleven says good sense makes one slow to anger, and

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Speaker 2: it is to one's glory to overlook an offense. Good

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Speaker 2: sense makes one slow to anger. And it's to our

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Speaker 2: glory to overlook an offense. You see, it's to our good.

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Speaker 2: It tas us no good to go around offended, allowing

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Speaker 2: that to take root in our heart. See. If we'll

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Speaker 2: get good at overlooking offense, we're gonna live a more

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Speaker 2: satisfied and happy life. Jesus was no stranger to offense.

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Speaker 2: People were constantly trying to trap him into a fence.

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Speaker 2: It says in Second Peter that they hurled insults at him.

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Speaker 2: You know what he did. It says he entrusted himself

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Speaker 2: to the one who judges justly. He didn't entrust his life.

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Speaker 2: He didn't give his life his ways to some opinion

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Speaker 2: false accusations. He entrusted his life to the one who

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Speaker 2: was in control of his life, the one who could

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Speaker 2: judge justly. That's where he found his result. He found

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Speaker 2: it by knowing other people's opinions, whether they mean it

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Speaker 2: or not, don't have to affect him. You see, we're

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Speaker 2: all going to have to learn how to let go

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Speaker 2: of offense, and it is a process we're all going

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Speaker 2: to have to learn. The apostle Paul in two Timothy

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Speaker 2: fourteen four had to work at keeping a fence off

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Speaker 2: of him as well. He said, Alexander the Coppersmith did

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Speaker 2: me a great wrong, but God will judge him. God

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Speaker 2: will take care of what he's done. You see, he

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Speaker 2: gave it to God. He wasn't taking the responsibility on

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Speaker 2: himself to be the judge and jury of everyone's opinion.

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Speaker 2: He said, I'm giving it to God. I have things

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Speaker 2: to do. I can't walk around with an offended heart.

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Speaker 2: I can't walk around with bitterness and anger and expect

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Speaker 2: to be everything God called me to be. See, we

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Speaker 2: need to have that kind of attitude. We need to

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Speaker 2: turn the situation around like Paul did and turn it

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Speaker 2: over to God. Offense will show up. It's just how

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Speaker 2: are we going to handle that offense? When it shows up.

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Speaker 2: It's gonna be there. I can tell you it's gonna

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Speaker 2: be there. As long as you live on this earth

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Speaker 2: with people, it's gonna be there. Have you ever put

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Speaker 2: like a bite of food in your mouth, maybe you're

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Speaker 2: going to try something new, and it was like, ooh,

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Speaker 2: I don't like the way it tastes, and you have

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Speaker 2: to stop for a minute, and you're thinking, what am

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Speaker 2: I gonna do? Am I gonna spit it out? Or

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Speaker 2: am I gonna swallow it? And you're thinking, you know, what,

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Speaker 2: what do I do? I mean, who am I with?

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Speaker 2: You're just thinking, right, a lot of this stuff. I

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Speaker 2: have literally done that and taking my napkin and win.

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Speaker 2: I know that's not very ladylike, but if there's something

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Speaker 2: that's hucky in your mouth and you don't wanna swallow it,

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Speaker 2: that's kind of what you need to do is spit

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Speaker 2: it out. If you ever taste the bitterness of a fence,

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Speaker 2: that yucky feeling in your mouth, don't swallow it, just

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Speaker 2: spit it out in your napkin. Don't let it go

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Speaker 2: down in your innermost parts. We've got to take a

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Speaker 2: moment and think twice about taking up a fence. Is

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Speaker 2: it gonna benefit you any Is it gonna make your

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Speaker 2: life better? Is it gonna make you more happy? More joyful? See,

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Speaker 2: you may be rinding up your day at work, a

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Speaker 2: coworker leaves you out of an important meeting. You have

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Speaker 2: till four point fifteen to decide if you're gonna take

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Speaker 2: that offense. Are you gonna spit that offense in your napkin?

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Speaker 2: Are you gonna take it home with you? Are you

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Speaker 2: gonna let it upset your whole day? Are you gonna

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Speaker 2: let it disturb the peace in your home? What are

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Speaker 2: you gonna do with that offense? We gotta learn to

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Speaker 2: step back and think twice about taking an offense. And

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Speaker 2: John kN The scripture tells us that there were certain

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Speaker 2: people in the crowds when Jesus would go places that

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Speaker 2: wanted to capture him. They wanted to seize his life,

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Speaker 2: They wanted to take him and stone him. There was

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Speaker 2: certain people that were always trying to stir up trouble.

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Speaker 2: But there's such an important thing that it says that

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Speaker 2: Jesus did, And I've always kind of wondered what it said.

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Speaker 2: And the other day when I read it, I thought,

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Speaker 2: could this mean? It says that Jesus would slip out

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Speaker 2: of the crowd and go on his way. Now, I

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Speaker 2: thought about that just a minute. Here's some people in

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Speaker 2: the crowd that were trying to seize him and trap him,

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Speaker 2: but he like slipped away and moved on. And I

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Speaker 2: thought about you know what Jesus did. He wasn't playing Houdini,

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Speaker 2: he wasn't being some magic man. He didn't give into

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Speaker 2: their opinions. He didn't go try to defend himself. He

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Speaker 2: didn't stir up strife. He didn't say, Peter and John,

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Speaker 2: why are they being so unfair? Will you go over

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Speaker 2: there and talk to those people. No, he ignored the

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Speaker 2: opinions of others, and he moved on his way. He

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Speaker 2: literally slipped through the fingers of a fence and moved on.

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Speaker 2: You see, nobody captured Jesus' life. Nobody could capture him.

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Speaker 2: Jesus gave his life. He made the decision to lay

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Speaker 2: it down. He didn't allow anybody to change the course

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Speaker 2: of his destiny by offense, by insults. He said, no,

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Speaker 2: I've got an assignment from God. I'm gonna entrust my

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Speaker 2: life to the one who judges justly, And can I

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Speaker 2: tell you you've got to slip through the fingers of

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Speaker 2: offense if you're gonna move on your way, if you're

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Speaker 2: gonna keep going to those places that God has you,

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Speaker 2: Nothing is that important to waste your time. Listen. If

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Speaker 2: a fence can't upset you, offense can't control you. And

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Speaker 2: if offense can't control you, you're gonna be free to

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Speaker 2: live a life of joy and victory. Shake off any offense.

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Speaker 2: You have a decision to make today, Give it to God.

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Speaker 2: Live mappy, healthy and home. Amen. Amen.

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Speaker 3: Sometimes life can make you feel like you are just

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Speaker 3: living in the dark. Even your prayers don't feel like

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Speaker 3: they are making it to heaven. But God is listening

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Speaker 3: 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 3: With a gift of any amount this month, we would

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Speaker 3: like to immediately send you a copy of Praying with

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Speaker 3: Confidence Guided Prayers for Life's Moments. In this new resource,

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Speaker 3: Joel shares how to pray when you need a breakthrough,

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Speaker 3: when you need strength. Yes, when life's moments happen and

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Speaker 3: you're not sure how to pray, Praying confident prayers will

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Speaker 3: put you on the right path. You'll enter new seasons

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Speaker 3: in your prayer life that will turn challenges to victories,

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Speaker 3: heartache to hope, frustration to new found favor. Be sure

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Speaker 3: to request your copy of Praying with Confidence Guided Prayers

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Speaker 3: for Life's Moments today. Visit Joeloustein dot com or call

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Speaker 3: eighty eight five six seven. Joel