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Speaker 1: Hi, this is Jolan Victorium. Thanks so much for listening

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Speaker 1: to the podcast and thanks for supporting the ministry. We

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Speaker 1: believe you're going to have an awesome twenty twenty four, healthy, productive,

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Speaker 1: and favor filled. God bless you today and enjoy the message.

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Speaker 1: For God bless you and welcome. It's always great to

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Speaker 1: come into your homes. We love you and we know

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Speaker 1: God has great things in store for each one of you.

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

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Speaker 1: be a part of one of our services.

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Speaker 2: I promise you we'll make you feel right at home.

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Speaker 1: But thanks so much for tuning in, and again thanks

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Speaker 1: for coming out today. And I like to start with

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Speaker 1: something funny each week, and I heard about this man.

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Speaker 1: He was on vacation in Jerusalem with his family. All

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Speaker 1: of a sudden, his mother in law died. He went

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Speaker 1: to make arrangements to get her body back home, and

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Speaker 1: the consulate said it had cost five thousand dollars to

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Speaker 1: have her shift and one hundred and fifty dollars to

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Speaker 1: have her buried right there in Jerusalem. After deep thought,

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Speaker 1: he told the consulate he wanted to have her body shit.

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Speaker 1: The consulate said, well, boy, you must have really loved

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Speaker 1: your mother in law. He said, no, it's not so

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Speaker 1: much that. I just remember a case here many years

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Speaker 1: ago where they buried somebody and on the third day

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Speaker 1: he arose, and.

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Speaker 2: I can't take that chance.

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Speaker 1: All right now, I'm blessed to have a great mother

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Speaker 1: in law, beautiful annointed fun Hold up your Bible, say

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Speaker 1: it like you mean it. This is my Bible. I

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

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

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Speaker 1: can do. Today I will be taught the word of God.

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

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Speaker 1: I will never be the same. In Jesus' name, God

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Speaker 1: bless you. I want to talk to you today about

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Speaker 1: God's headge of protection. We hear so much in the

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Speaker 1: news about terrorist threats and violence in schools, and how

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Speaker 1: cities are becoming less and less safe. Just recently I

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Speaker 1: saw a big report on gain violence and how it

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Speaker 1: was spreading across the nation. I read an article that

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Speaker 1: talked about how dangerous the freeways are and how many

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Speaker 1: people are being hurt in accidents. If we're not careful,

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Speaker 1: we'll go through life in fear instead of faith. But

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Speaker 1: the scripture talks about how God has placed a hedge

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Speaker 1: of protection around his children. It is a barrier that

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Speaker 1: cannot be broken without God's permission. That's why in the

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Speaker 1: Book of Job, Satan had to ask permission to test Job.

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Speaker 1: He wanted to, but he said, God, I can't touch

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Speaker 1: him or his family, his property, his business, because you've

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Speaker 1: got this hedge all around him. And it'll help you

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Speaker 1: to stay in faith if you'll realize as long as

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Speaker 1: you do like Job and do your best to honor God,

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Speaker 1: then you two have a hedge of protection that cannot

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Speaker 1: be penetrated without God's permission.

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Speaker 2: It is not.

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Speaker 1: Subject to a terrorist attack, to a drunk driver, to

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Speaker 1: a crazy accident. It's subject to the most high God.

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Speaker 1: You remember the rapper mc hammer. He used to have

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Speaker 1: a popular song.

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Speaker 2: That said, can't touch this, can't touch this.

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Speaker 1: Well, that's the way you are to the enemy.

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Speaker 2: Can't touch you, can't touch you.

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Speaker 1: When you realize the creator of the universe is watching

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Speaker 1: over you, you won't go around worried thinking, Oh, it's

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Speaker 1: so dangerous, I'm afraid to drive on the freeways.

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Speaker 2: Crime is so bad. No, you'll say, like David, I

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Speaker 2: will fear no evil.

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Speaker 1: I will fear no accident, I will fear no crime,

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Speaker 1: I will fear no terrorist attack. I'm not worried about

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Speaker 1: what someone can or cannot do to me.

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Speaker 2: The Lord is my protector.

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Speaker 1: The Lord is my shield, my strong power, my defender,

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Speaker 1: my fortress. Whom shall we be afraid? So, in the message,

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Speaker 1: Trends says, your guardian God is right at your side

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Speaker 1: to protect you, shielding you from every evil. He guards

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Speaker 1: you when you leave and guard you when you return.

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Speaker 2: He guards you now and he will guard you always.

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Speaker 1: Friends, there's no reason to be afraid. There's no reason

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Speaker 1: to go around worried thinking about what might happen. Your

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Speaker 1: guardian God is watching over you. Our son, Jonathan is

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Speaker 1: learning how to drive. He's fifteen years old and just

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Speaker 1: recently got his learners permit. That means that he can

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Speaker 1: drive as long.

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Speaker 2: As there's an adult in the car.

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Speaker 1: I've been riding with him a lot lately, and I

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Speaker 1: must say that my prayer life has increased greatly. Jonathan

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Speaker 1: has helped me grow closer to the Lord. But it's

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Speaker 1: easy to be worried and think, well, I do wonder

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Speaker 1: what's gonna happen A lot of crazy drivers. I hope

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Speaker 1: he's okay out there now. When we dwell on fear,

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Speaker 1: talk about what might happen, all we're doing is putting

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Speaker 1: our faith in the fear instead of faith in Almighty God.

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Speaker 1: Some of you are living way too worried, worried about

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Speaker 1: your children, worried about your safety, worried about accidents, worried

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Speaker 1: about not getting sick.

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Speaker 2: Listen, if it's not your.

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Speaker 1: Time to go, you're not going to go. The enemy

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Speaker 1: does not have the power to end your life. God

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Speaker 1: has you in the palm of his hand. Nothing can

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Speaker 1: snatch you out of God's hand. No accident, no drunk driver,

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Speaker 1: no terrorists, no sickness, no bad break. God controls the

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Speaker 1: whole universe. I know a police officer. He was responding

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Speaker 1: to a call late one night for a break in

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Speaker 1: at a home. When he got to the house, he

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Speaker 1: ran around the back and a burglar was hiding in

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Speaker 1: the bushes. This burglar was high on drugs, didn't know

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Speaker 1: what he was doing. He stepped out and shot the

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Speaker 1: officer point blank range, right in the chest. They rushed

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Speaker 1: the officer to the hostel took him into surgery. The

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Speaker 1: surgeon discovered that the bullet missed the main artery in

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Speaker 1: his chest by less than.

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Speaker 2: One sixteenth of an inch. He told the family.

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Speaker 1: Afterwards, if he would have been a fraction over, that

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Speaker 1: bullet would have ended his life. Come to find out,

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Speaker 1: the bullet hit the man's badge, and it caused it

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Speaker 1: to ever so slightly changed the course of a bullet.

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Speaker 1: What am I saying, as a child of the Most

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Speaker 1: High God, you have a hedge of protection that cannot

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Speaker 1: even be penetrated by a bullet.

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Speaker 2: You have a guardian, you have a defender. Quit worrying

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Speaker 2: about your safety.

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Speaker 1: Quit worrying about accidents. God said, no weapon formed against

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Speaker 1: you will ever prosper. And I realized that we can

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Speaker 1: get out from under God's protection. If we're not living right,

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Speaker 1: not honoring God, if we're doing things that are foolish,

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Speaker 1: we can certainly bring trouble on ourselves.

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Speaker 2: It's like this man I heard about.

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Speaker 1: He was driving down the freeway going ninety miles an

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Speaker 1: hour in a sixty mile an hour zone. His friend said, man,

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Speaker 1: you need to slow down. This is dangerous.

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Speaker 2: He said, Oh, I'm not worried about it.

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Speaker 1: I've got the Angel of the Lord with me. His

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Speaker 1: friend said, no, the Angel of the Lord got out

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Speaker 1: at sixty five. But of course we shouldn't do foolish things.

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Speaker 1: We shouldn't not use our common sense. The one thing

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Speaker 1: I love about God is even when we do do

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Speaker 1: dumb things, even when we don't use common sense, God

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Speaker 1: is so merciful, so full of loving kindness. Most of

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Speaker 1: the time, he'll still protect us and keep us from harm.

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Speaker 1: I read about a young man twenty one years old.

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Speaker 1: He was raised in church. He knew the right thing

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Speaker 1: to do, but he started partying, drinking, running with the

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Speaker 1: wrong crowd.

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Speaker 2: The whole time his mother back at home was praying

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Speaker 2: and praying.

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Speaker 1: She would constantly call him and encourage him to get

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Speaker 1: his life straightened out.

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Speaker 2: Wouldn't do it.

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Speaker 1: One night, after it had way too much to drink,

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Speaker 1: some of his friends dared him to climb up a

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Speaker 1: power pole. He was crazy enough to do it. He

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Speaker 1: climbed up that pole forty feet in the air, as

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Speaker 1: drunk as can be. When he almost made it to

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Speaker 1: the top, he lost his footing, slipped and fell As

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Speaker 1: he began to tumble down backwards toward a certain death. Somehow,

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Speaker 1: his leather belt caught hold of one of the metal

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Speaker 1: rods sticking out of the pole, and it acted.

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Speaker 2: Just like a harness.

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Speaker 1: It saved his life. He was dangling up there in

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Speaker 1: the middle of the night. The rescuers came and got

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Speaker 1: him down. The newspaper headline said, pants saved drunk.

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Speaker 2: Man from fall.

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Speaker 1: That was the mercy of God leaving that hedge of protection. Parents,

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Speaker 1: all those prayers you've been praying for your children, it

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Speaker 1: does make a difference. They may still be acting foolishly,

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Speaker 1: doing crazy things. Maybe they don't even deserve God's protection.

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Speaker 1: They don't deserve God's goodness. But let me tell you,

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Speaker 1: but because of your prayers, because of your faith, because

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Speaker 1: of your goodness, God will protect them and keep them

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Speaker 1: from harm. And every day we should get in a

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Speaker 1: habit of thanking God for his protection. I never leave

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Speaker 1: the house without saying, Father, thank you that you have

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Speaker 1: a hedge of protection around me, over my family, over

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Speaker 1: our ministry, over our property.

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Speaker 2: I learned this from my mother. Growing up.

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Speaker 1: We never went to school without my mother saying Father,

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Speaker 1: thank you that your angels have charge over my children.

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Speaker 1: My mother prayed every day that not one of us

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Speaker 1: five children would ever break a bone. Do you know

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Speaker 1: we all grew up playing sports, very active, but not

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Speaker 1: one of us has ever broken a bone. My brother

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Speaker 1: Paul's knows it's naturally that big.

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Speaker 2: So ninety one. If you do well in.

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Speaker 1: The secret Place of the Most High, you will abide

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Speaker 1: under the shadow of the Almighty. What does that mean?

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Speaker 2: The secret place?

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Speaker 1: It means stay close to God, honor Him with your

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Speaker 1: life all through the day. Under your breath you should

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Speaker 1: be whispering God, I love you, I need you, I

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Speaker 1: trust you. God, help me to make good decisions today.

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Speaker 1: When you're close to God, you're in the secret place

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Speaker 1: under the shadow of the Almighty. The next verse says,

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Speaker 1: I will say of the Lord, you are my refuge,

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Speaker 1: you are my fortress, you are my God.

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Speaker 2: In you will I trust.

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Speaker 1: Then it goes on to list all these great promises

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Speaker 1: of protection. But what I want you to see is

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Speaker 1: it's not enough to just dwell in the secret place.

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Speaker 1: You need to do like the Psalmist and start saying,

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Speaker 1: of the Lord Father, I want to thank you that

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Speaker 1: you're my shield, you're my refuge, You're my fortress. Lord,

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Speaker 1: thank you for this hedge of protection around me and

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Speaker 1: my family. I have a friend that works in commercial construction.

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Speaker 1: He's one of our faithful volunteers. I see him here

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Speaker 1: all the time. He's dwelling in that secret place. His

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Speaker 1: company builds these big high rises, and he's a foreman.

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Speaker 1: One day he was on the job site, standing right

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Speaker 1: next to this big crane that they used to lift

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Speaker 1: the steel beams into place.

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Speaker 2: He needed some equipment back.

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Speaker 1: At the office and he was going to radio them

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Speaker 1: and ask them to bring it. But when he went

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Speaker 1: to use his radio, for some reason, it wasn't working.

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Speaker 1: And that was odd because it had been working just

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Speaker 1: ten minutes earlier. In fact, it had worked perfectly all

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Speaker 1: day long. And he finaggled with the radio five or

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Speaker 1: ten minutes. Finally he just gave up and started walking

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Speaker 1: back toward his truck. He was going to go to

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Speaker 1: the office and pick up the equipment himself. When he

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Speaker 1: got about three hundred yards away, he heard a loud

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Speaker 1: kaboom sounded like an explosion, literally shook the ground. He

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Speaker 1: looked back and that massive crane right where he was standing,

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Speaker 1: it toppled over. There was a big mass of steel,

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Speaker 1: cable smoke dust going up in the air. He would

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Speaker 1: have certainly been killed. What caused his radio to not work?

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Speaker 1: The Angel of the Lord. That was the hedge of

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Speaker 1: protection God had around him. God was saying, I'm not

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Speaker 1: finished with your life. I've got something else for you

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Speaker 1: to do. Well, you say, Joel, If God's so good,

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Speaker 1: why didn't he stop the crane from toppling over in

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Speaker 1: the first place. Now, God is not going to prevent

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Speaker 1: every accident. But he did say, I'll be your refuge,

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Speaker 1: I'll be your fortress. I'll keep my shield around you.

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Speaker 1: I was talking to a lady last week and she

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Speaker 1: was very upset because somebody ran into her car on

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Speaker 1: the freeway and it ended up totaling her car. She

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Speaker 1: was complaining, didn't understand why that happened. I said, listen,

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Speaker 1: you'll complaining about the car. I would be thanking God

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Speaker 1: that I'm still alive. If it had not been for

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Speaker 1: those angels, if it had not been for that headge

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Speaker 1: of protection, she might not even be here. Be grateful.

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Speaker 1: God's not going to prevent every accident. Think about the

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Speaker 1: three Hebrew teenagers Shadrack, knee Jack in a Bendigo. They

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Speaker 1: got thrown into the fiery furnace. God didn't deliver them

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Speaker 1: from the fire. He took them through the fire. Do

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Speaker 1: you remember what the King said, didn't we throw three

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Speaker 1: men in here bound? I see four men loosed, and

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Speaker 1: one looks like the son of the Living God. They

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Speaker 1: came out without the smell of smoke. It wasn't their

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Speaker 1: time to go. God's heade of protection can withstand fire, cranes, falling,

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Speaker 1: automobile accidents, gunshots, even falling off of a power pole.

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Speaker 1: No power can stand against our God. I was talking

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Speaker 1: to Bishop Jakes the last time he was here, and

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Speaker 1: he told how one Sunday morning he was about to

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Speaker 1: get dressed to come to his church.

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Speaker 2: There was a loud explosion at his house.

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Speaker 1: In fact, the whole back end of his house was

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Speaker 1: blown apart. In his basement, there were some big heaters

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Speaker 1: and they didn't have the proper ventilation.

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Speaker 2: It created this massive explosion.

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Speaker 1: Normally, at that time of morning, he would have been

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Speaker 1: back there getting dressed, but it just so happened. A

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Speaker 1: few weeks earlier, he decided to move the start time

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Speaker 1: of his Sunday morning service from eight o'clock in the

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Speaker 1: morning to nine o'clock in the morning. If he had

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Speaker 1: not moved it an hour later, he would have been

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Speaker 1: in those rooms that were totally blown apart. And he

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Speaker 1: wouldn't even be here today. Friends, you have a protector.

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Speaker 1: The Most High God is watching over you. You're not just

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Speaker 1: going through life on your own hoping that it.

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Speaker 2: All works out.

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Speaker 1: You know, the creator of the universe has put this

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Speaker 1: hedge all around you that cannot be penetrated without God's permission. Means,

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Speaker 1: as long as you're in the secret place, nothing can

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Speaker 1: accidentally happen to you. Now, I'm not saying that you'll

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Speaker 1: never have an accident, but I am saying that accident

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Speaker 1: will not be a surprise to God. Well, you say, Joel,

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Speaker 1: I don't see a lot of this divine protection. I've

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Speaker 1: had a lot of bad things happen to me. Now.

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Speaker 1: You just don't know all the things that God has

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Speaker 1: protected you from. You don't know. God may have spared

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Speaker 1: your life from an accident driving over here today, You

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Speaker 1: just didn't know about it. God may have held back

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Speaker 1: the forces of darkness last week and kept you from

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Speaker 1: being at the wrong place at the wrong time. You

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Speaker 1: just couldn't see it. I'm gonna choose to live my

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Speaker 1: life in faith. I'm gonna thank God for what I

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Speaker 1: can see and thank God for what I can't see.

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Speaker 1: I'm gonna thank him for the times where it's obvious

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Speaker 1: that he's protected me, and I'm gonna thank him every

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Speaker 1: day for what didn't happen. Father, Thank you that a

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Speaker 1: car didn't hit me on the freeway, that I didn't

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Speaker 1: get sick last week, thank you that I didn't get

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Speaker 1: bad news.

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Speaker 2: Today.

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Speaker 1: When we have the right perspective, we can thank God

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Speaker 1: for nothing. I was watching the news a while back

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Speaker 1: and a man was on the side of the freeway

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Speaker 1: changing a flat tire. This police officer pulled over to

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Speaker 1: help him out, and this was all caught on video

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Speaker 1: from the dash camera of the police officer's car. At

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Speaker 1: one point, the men stood up to come over to

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Speaker 1: talk to the officer. Just as he did, you can

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Speaker 1: see this huge tire that came off of an eighteen

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Speaker 1: wheeler going by sixty miles an hour. It comes into

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Speaker 1: frame and plows through right where he had been changing

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Speaker 1: the tire. If he had not got up at that

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Speaker 1: split second to talk to the officer, that tire would

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Speaker 1: have flattened him out. There's a lot of things like

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Speaker 1: that where we can look back and say, Father, thank

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Speaker 1: you for the tire that didn't hit me, thank you

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Speaker 1: for the wreck that I didn't have. Thank you that

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Speaker 1: my child didn't get hit hurt in the football game.

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Speaker 1: Thank you that my daughter came back safely from camp

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Speaker 1: last week. The more you thank God for his protection,

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Speaker 1: the more you brag on God's goodness, the stronger that

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Speaker 1: hedge will become. And God has all kinds of ways

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Speaker 1: to protect us. I have a friend. He was involved

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Speaker 1: in a situation that was very big in the press

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Speaker 1: at one time. It was the hottest news story around

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Speaker 1: and practically every news organization, every reporter was trying to

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Speaker 1: get to him to get his point of view, and

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Speaker 1: the press wasn't very favorable toward him, so he wanted

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Speaker 1: to stay out of it. And for the first several

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Speaker 1: months after the big incident, he had to travel back

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Speaker 1: and forth between two cities, and somehow the press would

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Speaker 1: always get word of when he was going to be

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Speaker 1: at the airports. All these cameras would be lined up,

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Speaker 1: But he said, Joel, it was the most amazing thing.

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Speaker 1: I would walk right by those cameras and not one

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Speaker 1: person would recognize me. For three months, the press never

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Speaker 1: got a shot of him. A reporter even went to

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Speaker 1: his house knocked on the door. He answered, even at

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Speaker 1: his own house. The reporter did not recognize him. He said,

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Speaker 1: it was like God made me invisible to the people

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Speaker 1: that wanted to do me wrong. Friends, God has all

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Speaker 1: kinds of ways to protect us. God can make blind

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Speaker 1: eyes sea. Plus, God can make sea and eyes become blind.

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Speaker 1: God can cause you to become invisible to the people

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Speaker 1: that want to do you harm. Now, I want you

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Speaker 1: to have this sense of security. You don't have to

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Speaker 1: go through life afraid. You've got a guardian, you've got

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Speaker 1: a protector, you've got a defender. Right now, every one

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Speaker 1: of you has an invisible shield around you. You can't

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Speaker 1: see it with your natural eyes, but if you were

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Speaker 1: to be able to look into that unseen realm, you

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Speaker 1: would see these mighty.

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Speaker 2: Angels all around.

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Speaker 1: They stand like powerful warriors, constantly watching, making sure that no.

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Speaker 2: Harm comes near you.

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Speaker 1: That's why it says in Psalms, don't be afraid of

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Speaker 1: the terror by night, nor from the dangers during the day.

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Speaker 1: A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand

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Speaker 1: at your right hand, but it will not come near you.

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Speaker 2: That means it may get.

356
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Speaker 1: Bad all around you. Watch the news and you're gonna

357
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Speaker 1: see violence and burglaries and accidents and terrorists, threats, on

358
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Speaker 1: and on. But God is saying, don't panic, don't be afraid.

359
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Speaker 1: As my child, I've got you covered.

360
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Speaker 2: It may get.

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Speaker 1: Bad, but my angels are at work. I've got my

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Speaker 1: shield up. Nothing can happen without my permission. My promise is,

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Speaker 1: as your guardian God, I'll watch over you and keep

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Speaker 1: you from harm.

365
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Speaker 2: Remember when my father went to be with the Lord.

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Speaker 1: It's been eleven years now, and I stepped up to

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Speaker 1: pastor the church. I had never been in the public

368
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Speaker 1: eye before, always been behind the scenes. And at one

369
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Speaker 1: point there was a lot going went on. First off,

370
00:20:01,320 --> 00:20:03,680
Speaker 1: I didn't really know if I could do this. Then

371
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Speaker 1: some other people were talking. It seemed like from every

372
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Speaker 1: possible direction there was opposition and negative things were happening

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Speaker 1: during that time. One night I had a dream, and

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Speaker 1: in this dream, I was running through an open field.

375
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Speaker 1: There were planes flying very low all around, and they

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Speaker 1: began dropping bombs right there close to me. It's just

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Speaker 1: like it's right out of a war movie. I mean,

378
00:20:28,320 --> 00:20:31,520
Speaker 1: those bombs weren't fifteen or twenty feet away, and when

379
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Speaker 1: they would go off, the noise was deafening. I would

380
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Speaker 1: just brace myself and get ready for the shrapnel to

381
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Speaker 1: hit me.

382
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Speaker 2: I knew it was the end, but.

383
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Speaker 1: Somehow, every time the bombs exploded, the shrapnel would miss me.

384
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Speaker 1: I never felt anything, even in my dream. I was

385
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Speaker 1: amazed that I was still alive. Now. I ended up

386
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Speaker 1: running to this small house, hiding inside in a room

387
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Speaker 1: so afraid. I could hear the soldiers and these people

388
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Speaker 1: going by that were trying to get at me, and

389
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Speaker 1: I was praying and hoping that they wouldn't check that house.

390
00:21:04,320 --> 00:21:08,280
Speaker 1: But then my worst nightmare came true. They came bursting

391
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Speaker 1: in the room. I was standing right there. They had

392
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Speaker 1: their guns grown I thought, oh, well, I'm dead, that's it.

393
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Speaker 1: But much to my amazement, they looked at me and

394
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Speaker 1: then just turned around and went back out. It was

395
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Speaker 1: like I had been invisible to them. And at that

396
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Speaker 1: point I woke up from the dream and I felt

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Speaker 1: a peace like I'd never felt before. I heard God saying,

398
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Speaker 1: down in here, Joel, things may be exploding all around you,

399
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Speaker 1: but I've got you in the palm of my head.

400
00:21:39,280 --> 00:21:42,480
Speaker 1: He said, you keep your trust in me, and no

401
00:21:42,640 --> 00:21:47,720
Speaker 1: weapon formed against you will prosper. And now every time

402
00:21:48,160 --> 00:21:51,159
Speaker 1: things start to come against me, I just remind myself.

403
00:21:51,200 --> 00:21:53,760
Speaker 1: What I'm telling you that I've got a hedge of

404
00:21:53,880 --> 00:21:58,160
Speaker 1: protection that the enemy cannot cross. Instead of being afraid,

405
00:21:58,280 --> 00:22:01,520
Speaker 1: instead of getting discouraged, instead of talking about who's trying

406
00:22:01,520 --> 00:22:03,800
Speaker 1: to make me look bad, who's trying to harm me? No,

407
00:22:03,960 --> 00:22:06,520
Speaker 1: my report is I will say of the Lord. He

408
00:22:06,680 --> 00:22:10,000
Speaker 1: is my refuge, my fortress, my strong power, my deliverer.

409
00:22:10,400 --> 00:22:14,200
Speaker 1: He is my God. You talk like that, and fear

410
00:22:14,320 --> 00:22:17,760
Speaker 1: doesn't have a chance. Not only that, the scripture says,

411
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Speaker 1: the angels hearken to the voice of the Lord. That

412
00:22:21,880 --> 00:22:25,000
Speaker 1: means when you go around speaking words of faith, when

413
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Speaker 1: you go out saying, Father, thank you that you're watching

414
00:22:27,880 --> 00:22:31,320
Speaker 1: over me, thank you that you're taking care of my children. Father,

415
00:22:31,400 --> 00:22:32,960
Speaker 1: thank you that you'll help me to get to work

416
00:22:33,040 --> 00:22:37,240
Speaker 1: safely today. When you do that, the angels come to attention.

417
00:22:37,880 --> 00:22:41,280
Speaker 1: They say among themselves, listen to what he's saying, listen

418
00:22:41,359 --> 00:22:43,960
Speaker 1: to what she's declaring. They're speaking words of faith. Let's

419
00:22:43,960 --> 00:22:47,240
Speaker 1: get busy, let's go to work. The angels hearken to

420
00:22:47,280 --> 00:22:49,520
Speaker 1: God's word, even coming out of our mouth.

421
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Speaker 2: I know this minister.

422
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Speaker 1: He was planning a big event overseas at a nation

423
00:22:55,280 --> 00:22:58,439
Speaker 1: that was very unstable. This country had a lot of

424
00:22:58,520 --> 00:23:01,080
Speaker 1: violence and a lot of upright in the past, but

425
00:23:01,480 --> 00:23:04,240
Speaker 1: the government leaders invited him to come and hold this

426
00:23:04,480 --> 00:23:09,520
Speaker 1: massive outdoor crusade where they were expecting several hundred thousand people.

427
00:23:09,960 --> 00:23:12,639
Speaker 1: The local leaders had been working on this project for

428
00:23:12,760 --> 00:23:16,400
Speaker 1: over a year. The big week finally came. They had

429
00:23:16,400 --> 00:23:20,040
Speaker 1: everything ready, the platform in place, the sound, the lighting.

430
00:23:20,480 --> 00:23:24,639
Speaker 1: Hundreds and hundreds of volunteers and technicians had worked tirelessly

431
00:23:24,680 --> 00:23:28,600
Speaker 1: getting it all prepared. Not only that, his ministry had

432
00:23:28,640 --> 00:23:33,359
Speaker 1: spent many thousands of dollars advertising and inviting people to come.

433
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Speaker 1: But the night before the big event, it began to rain,

434
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Speaker 1: and it rained and rained and rained. The next morning,

435
00:23:41,040 --> 00:23:44,680
Speaker 1: still raining cats and dogs. By noon of the next day,

436
00:23:45,000 --> 00:23:48,800
Speaker 1: the field was totally underwater. It would be impossible to

437
00:23:48,840 --> 00:23:51,919
Speaker 1: have the event. Much to their disappointment, they had to

438
00:23:51,960 --> 00:23:55,120
Speaker 1: cancel it. The minister flew back home to the States,

439
00:23:55,720 --> 00:23:59,479
Speaker 1: very discouraged, thinking it was a big waste of time, energy,

440
00:23:59,520 --> 00:24:02,920
Speaker 1: and money. But about two weeks later, when the grounds

441
00:24:03,040 --> 00:24:06,480
Speaker 1: finally dried out, the crew was there taking down the

442
00:24:06,520 --> 00:24:10,199
Speaker 1: equipment and cleaning the grounds. One of the workers noticed

443
00:24:10,200 --> 00:24:13,200
Speaker 1: something interesting in the middle of the field. The ground

444
00:24:13,359 --> 00:24:17,679
Speaker 1: was disturbed he saw cables and wires and boxes. He

445
00:24:17,800 --> 00:24:21,600
Speaker 1: called the authorities over come to find out someone had

446
00:24:21,640 --> 00:24:25,159
Speaker 1: buried a huge bomb in the middle of the field.

447
00:24:25,560 --> 00:24:28,240
Speaker 1: They were planning on blowing it up during the event.

448
00:24:28,920 --> 00:24:31,680
Speaker 1: The authorities said there was so much firepower it would

449
00:24:31,680 --> 00:24:34,840
Speaker 1: have wiped out the whole field, possibly killing hundreds of

450
00:24:34,920 --> 00:24:39,320
Speaker 1: thousands of people. The headlines in that paper said floods

451
00:24:39,359 --> 00:24:43,680
Speaker 1: saved people's lives. The true headlines should have read, God

452
00:24:43,720 --> 00:24:47,720
Speaker 1: saved people's lives. Friends, we have this hedge of protection.

453
00:24:49,240 --> 00:24:52,879
Speaker 1: God can cause rain to protect you. He can cause

454
00:24:52,920 --> 00:24:55,880
Speaker 1: your cell phone to not work to move you from danger.

455
00:24:56,320 --> 00:24:58,800
Speaker 1: God can make you invisible to people that want to

456
00:24:58,840 --> 00:25:02,160
Speaker 1: harm you. Can even use your belt to catch you

457
00:25:02,320 --> 00:25:05,960
Speaker 1: and break a dangerous fall. And things may be exploding

458
00:25:06,080 --> 00:25:08,640
Speaker 1: all around you like I saw in my dream. But

459
00:25:08,680 --> 00:25:12,080
Speaker 1: my encouragement is don't be afraid because you're in the

460
00:25:12,160 --> 00:25:15,920
Speaker 1: secret place, because you're honoring God. He's got you in the.

461
00:25:15,840 --> 00:25:18,359
Speaker 2: Palm of his hand. He's saying it's not going to

462
00:25:18,400 --> 00:25:18,880
Speaker 2: harm you.

463
00:25:19,600 --> 00:25:22,600
Speaker 1: Years ago, there was a fire in Yellowstone National Park.

464
00:25:23,160 --> 00:25:26,360
Speaker 1: After the fire, these forest rangers begin to go through

465
00:25:26,400 --> 00:25:29,000
Speaker 1: the park to get an idea of the damage.

466
00:25:29,200 --> 00:25:29,879
Speaker 2: At one point.

467
00:25:29,920 --> 00:25:33,719
Speaker 1: This ranger saw a dead bird on the ground with

468
00:25:33,800 --> 00:25:39,119
Speaker 1: its wings spread out wide, literally petrified in ashes. It

469
00:25:39,160 --> 00:25:43,080
Speaker 1: looked very stately, very majestic, almost like the bird was

470
00:25:43,119 --> 00:25:46,600
Speaker 1: posing for a picture. Out of curiosity, the ranger took

471
00:25:46,600 --> 00:25:48,960
Speaker 1: his stick and he moved the bird, and much to

472
00:25:49,040 --> 00:25:53,119
Speaker 1: his surprise, three baby chicks ran out from under the

473
00:25:53,119 --> 00:25:58,680
Speaker 1: bird's wings. That mother bird, sensing danger, spread out her

474
00:25:58,760 --> 00:26:00,720
Speaker 1: wings to protect her babies.

475
00:26:01,359 --> 00:26:03,119
Speaker 2: She could have easily flown away.

476
00:26:03,600 --> 00:26:06,280
Speaker 1: The mother could have risen above the fire the smoke,

477
00:26:06,680 --> 00:26:09,160
Speaker 1: but she refused to abandon her babies.

478
00:26:09,760 --> 00:26:11,000
Speaker 2: That's the way our God is.

479
00:26:11,280 --> 00:26:13,600
Speaker 1: No matter how hot the fire, no matter how big

480
00:26:13,640 --> 00:26:17,040
Speaker 1: the trouble, no matter how hard the difficulty, God will

481
00:26:17,080 --> 00:26:21,159
Speaker 1: never abandon us. Psalm ninety one four says he will

482
00:26:21,200 --> 00:26:24,720
Speaker 1: cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you

483
00:26:24,760 --> 00:26:27,760
Speaker 1: will find refuge. I want you to go out today

484
00:26:28,200 --> 00:26:33,080
Speaker 1: knowing that you have this hedge of protection. The Most

485
00:26:33,160 --> 00:26:36,040
Speaker 1: High God has commended his angels to.

486
00:26:36,000 --> 00:26:37,200
Speaker 2: Watch over you.

487
00:26:37,200 --> 00:26:39,240
Speaker 1: You are covered underneath his wings.

488
00:26:39,359 --> 00:26:39,919
Speaker 2: Right now.

489
00:26:40,440 --> 00:26:43,560
Speaker 1: Now, when those thoughts of fear come, don't dwell on them.

490
00:26:43,920 --> 00:26:46,280
Speaker 1: Don't go around saying I'm so worried, I'm so afraid.

491
00:26:46,640 --> 00:26:50,240
Speaker 1: No say with the psalmist David, I will fear no evil,

492
00:26:50,320 --> 00:26:53,919
Speaker 1: for the Lord is with me. Friends, You've got a defender.

493
00:26:54,200 --> 00:26:57,480
Speaker 1: Almighty God has got your back. Now, get up every

494
00:26:57,520 --> 00:27:00,720
Speaker 1: morning and activate your faith in this area. You do

495
00:27:00,800 --> 00:27:03,920
Speaker 1: it by saying, Father, thank you for your head, your protection.

496
00:27:04,400 --> 00:27:07,720
Speaker 1: Thank you that your angels are watching over my children. Lord,

497
00:27:07,800 --> 00:27:11,320
Speaker 1: thank you that you're my guardian God, protecting me from

498
00:27:11,359 --> 00:27:15,120
Speaker 1: all evil. If you do that, God promises he will

499
00:27:15,160 --> 00:27:17,960
Speaker 1: guard you when you come, and guard you when you leave.

500
00:27:18,359 --> 00:27:21,320
Speaker 1: He will protect you now and he will protect you always.

501
00:27:21,600 --> 00:27:24,480
Speaker 1: Now I declare every one of you will fulfill your

502
00:27:24,520 --> 00:27:29,320
Speaker 1: destiny in peace, in safety, in victory, in Jesus's name.

503
00:27:29,720 --> 00:27:31,439
Speaker 1: If you receive it, can you say amen.

504
00:27:33,600 --> 00:27:37,000
Speaker 3: It's a new year, an opportunity for a fresh start.

505
00:27:37,480 --> 00:27:40,480
Speaker 3: It's a new year, time to forget the struggles of

506
00:27:40,520 --> 00:27:43,679
Speaker 3: the past and make room for new blessings. It's a

507
00:27:43,800 --> 00:27:47,560
Speaker 3: new year, the perfect time to build expectation and faith

508
00:27:47,760 --> 00:27:49,320
Speaker 3: for an amazing new season.

509
00:27:50,119 --> 00:27:52,320
Speaker 1: The beginning of the year is a great time to

510
00:27:52,400 --> 00:27:55,680
Speaker 1: start afresh and anew to let go of negative things

511
00:27:55,680 --> 00:27:57,840
Speaker 1: of the past and to get ready for the new

512
00:27:57,880 --> 00:28:01,760
Speaker 1: things God has in store. Every January we create a

513
00:28:01,800 --> 00:28:03,359
Speaker 1: new devotional calendar.

514
00:28:03,840 --> 00:28:04,880
Speaker 2: When you start off.

515
00:28:04,680 --> 00:28:07,720
Speaker 1: Each day in faith, grateful for what God has done,

516
00:28:08,119 --> 00:28:12,399
Speaker 1: making positive declarations over your future, you're setting the tone

517
00:28:12,440 --> 00:28:16,280
Speaker 1: for a blessed day and a victorious year. This devotional

518
00:28:16,359 --> 00:28:18,760
Speaker 1: calendar will help you get your mind going in the

519
00:28:18,880 --> 00:28:22,320
Speaker 1: right direction so you can live in faith expecting the

520
00:28:22,359 --> 00:28:23,280
Speaker 1: goodness of God.

521
00:28:24,000 --> 00:28:26,440
Speaker 3: As our way of saying thank you for your gift

522
00:28:26,440 --> 00:28:29,000
Speaker 3: of any amount this first month of the year, we

523
00:28:29,040 --> 00:28:31,160
Speaker 3: would like to send you a copy of our brand

524
00:28:31,280 --> 00:28:34,400
Speaker 3: new twenty twenty five three hundred and sixty five day

525
00:28:34,480 --> 00:28:39,280
Speaker 3: devotional calendar. Using this devotional calendar is as easy as one,

526
00:28:39,400 --> 00:28:44,040
Speaker 3: two three. One wake up with an expectancy in your heart.

527
00:28:44,360 --> 00:28:48,200
Speaker 3: Two reflect on the daily scripture, verse and devotional from Joel.

528
00:28:48,480 --> 00:28:52,400
Speaker 3: Three capture the Lord's promises to you on journaling lines

529
00:28:52,400 --> 00:28:53,720
Speaker 3: for writing and reflection.

530
00:28:54,520 --> 00:28:56,560
Speaker 1: This is going to be one of your best years.

531
00:28:56,880 --> 00:28:59,800
Speaker 1: Our twenty twenty five devotional calendar is going to help

532
00:28:59,800 --> 00:29:02,400
Speaker 1: you stay in faith and see the goodness of God

533
00:29:02,600 --> 00:29:05,840
Speaker 1: in ways you've never seen. Victoria and I pray for

534
00:29:05,920 --> 00:29:08,480
Speaker 1: you and your family every day and thank you so

535
00:29:08,600 --> 00:29:12,680
Speaker 1: much for your prayer and support. Your generosity is impacting

536
00:29:12,720 --> 00:29:15,600
Speaker 1: lives around the world, and a special thank you to

537
00:29:15,640 --> 00:29:17,680
Speaker 1: our Championship Hope partners.

538
00:29:17,280 --> 00:29:18,520
Speaker 2: For your monthly gifts.

539
00:29:18,800 --> 00:29:21,720
Speaker 1: If you're not a partner, I hope you'll consider becoming one.

540
00:29:22,080 --> 00:29:26,080
Speaker 1: Remember you can watch the services online live every Sunday morning,

541
00:29:26,560 --> 00:29:30,479
Speaker 1: download our daily podcast, watch on YouTube now the new

542
00:29:30,560 --> 00:29:33,320
Speaker 1: joel Osteine Network twenty four hours a day, and of

543
00:29:33,360 --> 00:29:36,880
Speaker 1: course listen live on SERIOUSXM as well. But until we

544
00:29:36,920 --> 00:29:39,800
Speaker 1: meet again, met the Lord bless you and keep you,

545
00:29:40,080 --> 00:29:42,560
Speaker 1: may show you his favor and watch over you.

546
00:29:43,320 --> 00:29:46,040
Speaker 3: Be sure to request your copy of the twenty twenty

547
00:29:46,040 --> 00:29:50,640
Speaker 3: five devotional calendar today. Visit Joelostein dot com or call

548
00:29:50,720 --> 00:29:54,520
Speaker 3: us toll free