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Speaker 1: And I will bless them that bless THEE and curse

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Speaker 1: him that curseth THEE. And in THEE shall all families

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Speaker 1: of the earth be blessed. Genesis twelve three. Dear God,

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Speaker 1: the seasons of uncertainty and adventure begin. Like Abraham. Give

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Speaker 1: me the courage to move without hesitation. Give me the

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Speaker 1: ability to see through your eyes, so that the journey

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Speaker 1: to my destiny does not overwhelm me, causing me to

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Speaker 1: hesitate and miss what you have for me.

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Speaker 2: Lord.

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Speaker 1: From this moment on, I declare that I will move

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Speaker 1: in faith and power as I take steps in the

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Speaker 1: direction of my promised land, decreeing that everything my feet

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Speaker 1: touch has already been established and given to me. I

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Speaker 1: will not use manipulation and lies to try to protect

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Speaker 1: myself or the ones I love, but rather through honesty

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Speaker 1: than trust in the Lord, I know that everything will

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Speaker 1: work out for my good. Thank you Jesus that even

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Speaker 1: though like Abraham, I try to take things into my

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Speaker 1: own hands, your grace and love is enough to redirect

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Speaker 1: my steps. Then set me on the right path in

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Speaker 1: Jesus's name. Amen, thanks for making prayer a priority in

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Speaker 1: your life. To hear the Bible come to life. Stay

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Speaker 1: tuned for the Bible in a Year, brought to you

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Speaker 1: by Bible in a Year dot.

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Speaker 2: Com, Abram and Sarah. Before this story, we learned about

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Speaker 2: the Tower of Babel and mankind's attempts to be their

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Speaker 2: own God and make their name great. Now we learn

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Speaker 2: about Abram, God's chosen hero to be the father of nations.

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Speaker 2: The following is inspired by the Book of Genesis.

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Speaker 3: Hello, I'm Jack Graham with today's episode of the Bible

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Speaker 3: in a Year podcast. But before we begin, I want

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Speaker 3: to let you know about a unique ebook that's yours

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Speaker 3: to download absolutely free today, is called Breaking Free from Stress,

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Speaker 3: and my prayer is that it will help you conquer

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Speaker 3: the daily task and pressures and burdens that bring stress

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Speaker 3: in your life. Download your free copy of Breaking Free

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Speaker 3: from Stress today by visiting Jack Graham dot org slash stress.

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Speaker 3: That's Jack Graham dot org slash stress. As I said

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Speaker 3: in yesterday's episode, God was already at work to bring

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Speaker 3: about his great plan of redemption for the world, and

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Speaker 3: today we're going to look at a pivotal figure in

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Speaker 3: his plan, a man named Abram. If you've ever had

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Speaker 3: to pick up and move from a place you've called

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Speaker 3: home your entire life, you will relate to Abram. He

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Speaker 3: was seventy five years old when God called him to

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Speaker 3: take his wife Sarah, leave his home and go to

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Speaker 3: a place he did not know. That sounds like a

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Speaker 3: very stressful move to me. But you see, God had

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Speaker 3: a plan for Abram, and it couldn't or wouldn't be

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Speaker 3: accomplished if he stayed where he was. He needed to

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Speaker 3: step out with faith and trust in God. Faith is

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Speaker 3: the central things aroout Abram's life. Often he passed the

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Speaker 3: test of faith. Other times, as we'll see today, he struggled,

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Speaker 3: tried to work out the problem in his own strength

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Speaker 3: and wisdom, and as you can imagine, that doesn't work

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Speaker 3: out well at all. But through it all we'll continue

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Speaker 3: to see how God is present, that he is provider

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Speaker 3: and protector for Abraham and Sarah and all who trust

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Speaker 3: in Him. Let's listen in now to the story.

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Speaker 2: Out of the line of Shem came Abram, a man

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Speaker 2: well advanced in years. When Abram was seventy five years old,

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Speaker 2: the Lord spoke to him, saying, go away from your

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Speaker 2: country and your people to an unknown land. I have

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Speaker 2: a place for you. I will bless those who bless you,

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Speaker 2: and curse those who dishonor you, and through you all

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Speaker 2: the nations shall be blessed. This was Abram's call to adventure,

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Speaker 2: and he had no idea what the Lord would truly

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Speaker 2: do through him. Yet he obeyed and left his father's

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Speaker 2: land with his wife SARAHI, and his nephew Lot. They

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Speaker 2: journeyed together, determined to see God's will unfold before them.

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Speaker 2: They set out to Canaan, the land God had chosen

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Speaker 2: for them. There, God spoke to Abram, saying, this is

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Speaker 2: the land I have promised to you and your descendants.

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Speaker 2: Even now, as the Lord's will was being shown to Abram,

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Speaker 2: he could not fathom what great things God would do.

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Speaker 2: Abram pitched their tent in between Bethel in a place

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Speaker 2: called Ay and built an altar there and dedicated it

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Speaker 2: to the Lord. Shortly after, they ventured forth towards Negev

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Speaker 2: to explore more of God's promised land. Later, there was

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Speaker 2: a severe famine in the land. The land, once bursting

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Speaker 2: with promise and opportunity, became desolate, and the once hopeful

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Speaker 2: Abram decided to take his family and all his possessions

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Speaker 2: to Egypt. There they lived until the famine was over.

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Speaker 2: As they entered Egypt, doubt and paranoia began to seep

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Speaker 2: into Abram's mind. Abram became fearful that Sarah's beauty would

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Speaker 2: cause the Egyptians to kill him so they could take her. Abram,

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Speaker 2: fearful and faithless, devised a lie. He spoke to his wife, saying,

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Speaker 2: when we enter Egypt, do not tell tell them that

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Speaker 2: you are my wife. Instead tell them you are my sister.

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Speaker 2: This way my life will be spared and they will

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Speaker 2: treat me well as expected. Pharaoh caught notice of Sarah's

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Speaker 2: beauty and brought her into his courts so that he

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Speaker 2: might be with her. And just as Adam put himself

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Speaker 2: before his wife in the garden, so Abram did to

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Speaker 2: his wife in Egypt. Pharaoh, to gain favor with SARAHI,

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Speaker 2: blessed Abram and adorned him with sheep, cattle, servants, and camels.

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Speaker 2: Abram's lie was working, Yet God is not one to

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Speaker 2: play partner and a lie. The Lord afflicted Pharaoh and

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Speaker 2: his house with great plagues and revealed that SARRII was

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Speaker 2: Abram's wife. Pharaoh, frantic and confused, demanded answers from Abram,

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Speaker 2: what is this you have done to me? Why did

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Speaker 2: you not tell me that she was your wife? He shouted, Now,

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Speaker 2: then here is your wife, Take her and go. So

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Speaker 2: they went their way back to Canaan and settled in Bethel.

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Speaker 2: This would be the first of many failures by Abram,

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Speaker 2: yet God's enduring protection over him and his future was steadfast.

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Speaker 2: Abram would need it, for the journey would only become

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Speaker 2: more difficult.

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Speaker 3: Before father Abraham, the one with many sons, was called

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Speaker 3: by that name. He lived in the land of Erth

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Speaker 3: and was named Abram. Genesis twelve starts out with God

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Speaker 3: speaking to Abram. I just absolutely love this promise that

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Speaker 3: God makes to Abram in verses one through three. Go

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Speaker 3: from your country and from your relatives, and from your

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Speaker 3: father's house to the land which I will show you.

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Speaker 3: And I will make you into a great nation. And

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Speaker 3: I will bless you and make your name great, and

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Speaker 3: you shall be a blessing. And I will bless those

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Speaker 3: who bless you, and the one who curses you will curse,

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Speaker 3: and in you all the families of the earth will

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Speaker 3: be blessed. What an honor, what a privilege it must

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Speaker 3: have felt like for Abram. To hear God's promise that

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Speaker 3: through him, God would bless the entire world. In order

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Speaker 3: for that promise to be fulfilled, however, Abram and his

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Speaker 3: wife Sarah had to trust in God like they had

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Speaker 3: never done before. Imagine being told to leave your home,

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Speaker 3: your family, your friends, your land, and go somewhere to

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Speaker 3: be determined. Just go. Would you take that step? Abram,

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Speaker 3: one of our great examples of faith in the Bible,

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Speaker 3: did answer the call and embarked on the great adventure

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Speaker 3: of faith. In many ways, this is a story of

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Speaker 3: contrast that reveals a truth about our own journey of faith.

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Speaker 3: At many moments, Abram is faithful, trusting, and fully in

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Speaker 3: step with God's plans. He follows God to Canaan, the

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Speaker 3: land that God chose for him. But then a famine

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Speaker 3: head and Abram decided to leave for greener pastures. Without

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Speaker 3: consulting God, he left, and he went to Egypt. We're

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Speaker 3: not told that God directed him there, so this was

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Speaker 3: clearly Abram's idea. It was the beginning of a series

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Speaker 3: of poor choices that demonstrated a lack of faith. This

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Speaker 3: is not unlike you and me. When things get tough,

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Speaker 3: we may often try to take things into our own

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Speaker 3: hands rather than resting and trusting in the care and

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Speaker 3: the providence and the promises of God. And then one

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Speaker 3: bad choice begets another, and soon we find ourselves in

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Speaker 3: a desert. That's what happened to Abram. He lied about

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Speaker 3: his own wife, giving her to the Pharaoh to save

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Speaker 3: his own skin. It seemed to work at first, but

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Speaker 3: sin and lies always catch up to us, don't they.

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Speaker 3: God stepped in and set Abraham back on course. But

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Speaker 3: just imagine the loss of trust between Abram and Sarah

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Speaker 3: and the erosion in their relationship. And still, as we've

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Speaker 3: been seeing over and over again in each story, God's

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Speaker 3: hand was there, his presence there to protect and provide

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Speaker 3: for Abram and his family and for the ultimate purpose

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Speaker 3: of God's glory and their redemption and the redemption of

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Speaker 3: the world. May we be like the Abram who stepped

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Speaker 3: out in faith, believing God, rather than the Abram who

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Speaker 3: set off on his own course in fear. And may

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Speaker 3: we find hope and comfort knowing that even when Abram

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Speaker 3: lost faith for a while, God did not abandon him.

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Speaker 3: Dear God, thank you for this beautiful story of your

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Speaker 3: promise to bless the world through Abram help us to

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Speaker 3: follow his example of faith and learn from his mistakes

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Speaker 3: that were born of fear and faithlessness. May we trust

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Speaker 3: in your ever present grace and mercy to call us

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Speaker 3: back to you when we walk away. In Jesus' name. Amen,

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Speaker 3: Thank you for listening to today's Bible in a Year podcast.

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Speaker 3: Before we go, I want to let you know about

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Speaker 3: a unique book that's yours to download absolutely free today.

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Speaker 3: Is called Breaking Free from Stress, and my prayer is

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Speaker 3: that it will help you conquer the daily task and

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Speaker 3: pressures and burdens that bring stress into your life. Download

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Speaker 3: your free copy of Breaking Free from Stress today by

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Speaker 3: visiting jaggraham dot org slash stress. That's jagraham dot org

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Speaker 3: slash stress