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<v Speaker 1>You know, Thanksgiving is not an easy holiday for a

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<v Speaker 1>lot of people. How do you be thankful when you've

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<v Speaker 1>just gotten really bad news? I mean, some people this

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<v Speaker 1>week all over the world heard the news the dreaded

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<v Speaker 1>word cancer. How do you be thankful at Thanksgiving when

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<v Speaker 1>the doctor just told you you have cancer? How do

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<v Speaker 1>you be thankful Thanksgiving when you just got laid off?

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<v Speaker 1>How do you be thankful Thanksgiving when the person you

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<v Speaker 1>love the most just told you I don't love you anymore.

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<v Speaker 2>And I'm walking out.

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<v Speaker 1>How do you be thankful when you have a chronic

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<v Speaker 1>illness that isn't getting any better. How do you be

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<v Speaker 1>thankful when your dream has exploded, when an economic tsunami

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<v Speaker 1>has wiped out all of your retirement. Well, the Bible

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<v Speaker 1>says it like this in Onest Thessalonians, chapter five, verse eighteen,

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<v Speaker 1>give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will

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<v Speaker 1>for you in Christ Jesus.

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<v Speaker 2>Now, the key to that verse is the word in.

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<v Speaker 1>It doesn't say for give thanks in all circumstances. It

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<v Speaker 1>doesn't say give thanks for all circumstances. There's a lot

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<v Speaker 1>of things in life you shouldn't be grateful for. If

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<v Speaker 1>somebody gets leukemia. I'm not grateful for that. If a

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<v Speaker 1>woman gets raped, I'm not grateful for that. If somebody

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<v Speaker 1>is put through the indignity of racial profiling and is

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<v Speaker 1>treated unjustly, I'm not grateful for that. We're not to

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<v Speaker 1>be grateful for sin.

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<v Speaker 2>We're not to be.

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<v Speaker 1>Grateful for evil and be grateful for the suffering that

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<v Speaker 1>comes as a result of those things that would make

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<v Speaker 1>God and make you a masochist. To be thankful for

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<v Speaker 1>everything would be masochistic. To be thankful in everything is maturity.

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<v Speaker 1>Why because even in the darkest days of your life,

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<v Speaker 1>there are always some things you can be grateful for.

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<v Speaker 1>And no matter what you're going through, there are five

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<v Speaker 1>things you can thank God and express your thanks and

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<v Speaker 1>gratitude him for. Number One, I can always thank God

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<v Speaker 1>for the grace He has shown me.

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<v Speaker 2>What is grace.

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<v Speaker 1>Grace is when God gives me what I need, not

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<v Speaker 1>what I deserve. If I got to what I deserved,

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<v Speaker 1>I wouldn't be alive and needed with jew. Grace is

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<v Speaker 1>God's riches at Christ's expense. Grace is everything God is

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<v Speaker 1>able to do in your life, not because of who

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<v Speaker 1>you are, but because of what Jesus did for you.

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<v Speaker 1>Grace is God's free gift, and the Bible says in

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<v Speaker 1>Ephesians two eight, you have been saved by grace through

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<v Speaker 1>faith or through believing. You do not save yourselves. It

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<v Speaker 1>was the gift of God. I can't earn my salvation.

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<v Speaker 1>I can't work for my salvation. I can't deserve my salvation.

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<v Speaker 1>I can't be religious enough to earn my salvation. I

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<v Speaker 1>can't bargain with God. I can't bribe with God. It's

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<v Speaker 1>simply a gift that's called grace. And because it's a

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<v Speaker 1>gift to grace, not dependent upon me, I can always

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<v Speaker 1>be thankful that God forgives me, not because they deserve it,

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<v Speaker 1>but because of his grace. That God loves me, not

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<v Speaker 1>because he deserves it, but because of his grace. That

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<v Speaker 1>God blesses me and uses me and protects me and

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<v Speaker 1>takes me to heaven, not because of what I do,

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<v Speaker 1>but because of His grace. That is an incontrovertible truth,

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<v Speaker 1>and it is a gift of God. Now, in the

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<v Speaker 1>Book of Psalms, chapter one oh three psal one oh three,

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<v Speaker 1>it gives us a list of God's gifts of grace.

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<v Speaker 2>Let me read them to you.

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<v Speaker 1>David is having a thanksgiving psalm, and he says, I

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<v Speaker 1>will not forget the glorious things or the gracious things

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<v Speaker 1>that God does for me. He forgives all my sins.

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<v Speaker 1>That's grace. He heals me, that's grace. He ramsoms me

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<v Speaker 1>from hell, that's grace. He surrounds me with love. He

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<v Speaker 1>fills my life with good things. He's merciful and ten

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<v Speaker 1>towards those who don't deserve it. He's slow to get angry.

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<v Speaker 1>That's grace. He never bears a grudge. I'm really grateful

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<v Speaker 1>for that one, aren't you That God does not hold

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<v Speaker 1>a grudge. He has not punished us as we deserve

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<v Speaker 1>for our sins. That's grace. And no matter what happens

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<v Speaker 1>in my life, I can say God, I thank you

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<v Speaker 1>for the grace of God in my life.

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<v Speaker 2>The air I breathe is a gift of God.

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<v Speaker 1>The fact that I can hear, that I can see,

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<v Speaker 1>that I can talk to you, that I can think,

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<v Speaker 1>those are all everything in your life is a gift

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<v Speaker 1>of God's grace. Now, the first way the Bible tells

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<v Speaker 1>us to express thanksgiving is by singing, and all through

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<v Speaker 1>the Book of Psalms, it says make a joyful noise. Now,

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<v Speaker 1>even pigs do that when they're eating. So it doesn't

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<v Speaker 1>mean you have to be on key. It doesn't mean

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<v Speaker 1>you have to have the correct note. You could be

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<v Speaker 1>a prison singer, always behind a few bars and.

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<v Speaker 2>Never have the right key.

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<v Speaker 1>But the Bible says, make a joyful noise. Psalm ninety five,

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<v Speaker 1>Verse two says, let us come to God with thanksgiving,

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<v Speaker 1>singing songs of thanks to him. Number two is for

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<v Speaker 1>the plans He has for me. I could always thank

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<v Speaker 1>God for the good plans that He has for my life.

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<v Speaker 2>Now.

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<v Speaker 1>Life is not always good. In fact, it's bad. A

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<v Speaker 1>lot of the time.

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<v Speaker 2>Life is tough.

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<v Speaker 1>And I'm not going to stand here as some Pollyanna

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<v Speaker 1>pastor and lie to you and tell you, well, just

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<v Speaker 1>believe the sun will come out tomorrow, because he doesn't

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<v Speaker 1>always come out tomorrow. There are a lot of bad

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<v Speaker 1>things happening in the world all the time. Life is

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<v Speaker 1>not always good. But God is always good, and his

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<v Speaker 1>plan for your life is always good. Now, not everything

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<v Speaker 1>that happens in your life is something he planned, but

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<v Speaker 1>everything that happens in your life he fits into your plan.

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<v Speaker 1>Here's what the Bible says, Jeremiah twenty nine to eleven.

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<v Speaker 1>I have good plans for you. I have good plans

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<v Speaker 1>for you, says the Lord. I don't plan to hurt you.

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<v Speaker 1>I plan to give you hope and a good future.

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<v Speaker 1>A lot of people will go around think of God's

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<v Speaker 1>mad at him. God isn't mad at you. God is

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<v Speaker 1>mad about you. He loves you more than anybody else.

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<v Speaker 1>The only reason you're alive is because God created you

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<v Speaker 1>to love you. If God didn't want to love you, you

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<v Speaker 1>wouldn't take your next breath. You are alive because God

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<v Speaker 1>made you to love you. He's mad about you, and

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<v Speaker 1>he says, I have good plans for your life, not

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<v Speaker 1>bad plans. Some people worship of God, who they think

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<v Speaker 1>causes all their suffering. I worship a God who bears

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<v Speaker 1>all my suffering.

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<v Speaker 2>Look at the cross.

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<v Speaker 1>The Bible says, he was bruised for our transgressions, He

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<v Speaker 1>was wounded for our inick gooities.

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<v Speaker 2>By his stripes, your healed.

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<v Speaker 1>He took my suffering, my sin, my shame, my guilt

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<v Speaker 1>on him. We have a God who suffers not just

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<v Speaker 1>with us, but he suffers for us.

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<v Speaker 2>That's good news.

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<v Speaker 1>God says, I have the plans for you and their

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<v Speaker 1>good plans. Now, as I said, God doesn't plan your sins,

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<v Speaker 1>and a lot of things that happen in your life

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<v Speaker 1>are because of dumb decisions. God didn't plan those things.

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<v Speaker 1>A lot of things happen because people make bad decisions.

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<v Speaker 1>So God doesn't plan the sins done by you, and

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<v Speaker 1>God doesn't plan the sins of other people done against

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<v Speaker 1>you that hurt you and leave you as.

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<v Speaker 2>An innocent victim.

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<v Speaker 1>But what God says is, you make choices, but I

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<v Speaker 1>already know in advance all the choice you're going to make.

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<v Speaker 1>So God says, I can fit that into the plan.

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<v Speaker 1>I can fit that in the plan. And God looks

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<v Speaker 1>at all of the dumb decisions I'm going to make

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<v Speaker 1>in life, I can fit that in.

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<v Speaker 2>I can fit that in. I can fit that in.

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<v Speaker 1>God has no plan B for your life because he

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<v Speaker 1>already knows all the other things that other people will

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<v Speaker 1>do that he didn't agree with, and other things that

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<v Speaker 1>you'll do that he didn't agree with. God's plan for

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<v Speaker 1>you is good, and he says, I'll even take the

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<v Speaker 1>bad and bring good out of it. I liken God's

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<v Speaker 1>will and your will to like a cruise line. You

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<v Speaker 1>have a free will, but it's not completely free. You're

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<v Speaker 1>only free to do certain things, and it is limited.

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<v Speaker 1>For instance, if you and I were to get on

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<v Speaker 1>a cruise line and we were to go from La

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<v Speaker 1>to Tokyo, you'd have a lot of freedom for the

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<v Speaker 1>next ten days on that cruise. You could go to

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<v Speaker 1>all seven buffets, even the midnight one. You could pack

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<v Speaker 1>on the pounds. You could walk around the cruise ship.

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<v Speaker 1>You could go swimming, you could go dancing, you could

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<v Speaker 1>go probably buy some stuff. You could sleep on the

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<v Speaker 1>sun deck, you could do listen to the entertainment. There's

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<v Speaker 1>lots of freedom you could do. But no matter what

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<v Speaker 1>you do, that's ship's going to Tokyo and you're not

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<v Speaker 1>stopping it. And God's great or plan for your life

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<v Speaker 1>is much bigger than the problems you're going through. God's

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<v Speaker 1>purpose for your life is bigger than the problems, even

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<v Speaker 1>the ones you bring on yourself. And he says, I

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<v Speaker 1>can fit that in, I can even use that. I

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<v Speaker 1>can even use the harmful things that people do against you,

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<v Speaker 1>and I can bring good out of those. God loves

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<v Speaker 1>to turn crucifixions into resurrections.

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<v Speaker 2>He specializes in it.

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<v Speaker 1>When we go through a difficult time when we face

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<v Speaker 1>a tragedy, when something happens, a road wind hits us

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<v Speaker 1>and we have no idea where it came from or

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<v Speaker 1>why it happened. We always want an explanation, and we

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<v Speaker 1>start with all the why why why why why? Explanations

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<v Speaker 1>do not comfort. What comforts is the presence of God.

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<v Speaker 2>You don't need an explanation.

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<v Speaker 1>All my explanations are never going to In fact, my

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<v Speaker 1>brain is too small to understand why everything happens in

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<v Speaker 1>the world. You don't understand either, and you're not gonna

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<v Speaker 1>know why most things happen in your life until you

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<v Speaker 1>get to heaven. So you need to stop worrying about it,

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<v Speaker 1>and instead you need to thank God that his grace

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<v Speaker 1>is sufficient to show you what you need.

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<v Speaker 2>His plan is good for you.

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<v Speaker 1>And the other thing is that we can be thankful

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<v Speaker 1>in bad times because of this.

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<v Speaker 2>Verse Romans eight twenty eight.

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<v Speaker 1>We know that in all things, not just the good things,

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<v Speaker 1>in all things, in all things, God works, God works

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<v Speaker 1>for the good.

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<v Speaker 2>Doesn't say all things are good. They're not.

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<v Speaker 1>But God works in all things for good for those

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<v Speaker 1>who love Him, not for everybody, but for those who

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<v Speaker 1>place their lives in him and have been called according

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<v Speaker 1>to his purpose. Now, I don't know what has you worried.

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<v Speaker 1>You may be worried about your finances. You may be

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<v Speaker 1>worried about your health. You may be worried. Are we

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<v Speaker 1>ever going to work out these marriage problems? Am I

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<v Speaker 1>ever going to get married? Will we ever have a baby?

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<v Speaker 1>Will I ever get hired again? And I don't know,

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<v Speaker 1>But you feel the tension and the anxiety and the

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<v Speaker 1>insecurity welling up inside of you, and you go, how

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<v Speaker 1>in the world can I be thankful in this situation

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<v Speaker 1>right now?

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<v Speaker 2>Because we know if you've put.

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<v Speaker 1>Your hand in the hand of the Lord, in all things,

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<v Speaker 1>God is working for the good. You've got somebody on

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<v Speaker 1>your side. In all things, God is working for the

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<v Speaker 1>good of those who love him. And I don't know

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<v Speaker 1>what's got you nervous, what's got you worried right now?

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<v Speaker 1>But I do know the antidote. And the antidote is

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<v Speaker 1>the second way we express thanksgiving to God. The first

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<v Speaker 1>is by singing, second is by praying. And all through

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<v Speaker 1>Scripture we are told to cast our cares, our anxieties,

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<v Speaker 1>our worries on God.

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<v Speaker 2>We're to not worry. Instead, we're to pray.

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<v Speaker 1>Do you remember that verse we looked at and the

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<v Speaker 1>Philippians study Philippians four to six. It's there in your outline.

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<v Speaker 1>Don't be anxious or worried about anything. Instead pray about everything.

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<v Speaker 1>If you're not praying, you're worrying. If you're worrying, you're

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<v Speaker 1>not praying. The Bible says, don't be anxious or worried

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<v Speaker 1>about anything. Instead pray about everything, always making your request

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<v Speaker 1>to God. Read it aloud with me, with thanksgiving. With thanksgiving,

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<v Speaker 1>that's the second way you show thanksgiving to God. First

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<v Speaker 1>is by singing, the second is by praying. So I

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<v Speaker 1>want us to pause right now.

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<v Speaker 2>I want you to bow your head.

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<v Speaker 1>I want you to think about what you're worried about

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<v Speaker 1>most right now, and then listen to this verse again.

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<v Speaker 1>Don't be anxious or worried. Instead pray about everything and

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<v Speaker 1>make your request to God with thanksgiving.

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<v Speaker 2>So here's how I.

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<v Speaker 1>Want you to say, God, you know this problem that

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<v Speaker 1>I'm worrying about, and mention it to him. God, you

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<v Speaker 1>know this problem. You know it's got me upset and

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<v Speaker 1>I'm stressed out about it. And here's what I want

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<v Speaker 1>you to do and make your request to God.

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<v Speaker 2>Ask him. Right now, here's what I want to take

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<v Speaker 2>the problem away.

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<v Speaker 1>Solve the problem, resolve the problem, show me the answer,

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<v Speaker 1>show me the way out. And then it says with thanksgiving.

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<v Speaker 1>So right now in your heart, say, Dear God, thank

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<v Speaker 1>you for the grace that you've shown me, that you

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<v Speaker 1>forgive me, you ransom me from hell, you surround me

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<v Speaker 1>with love, you fill my life with good things. Thank

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<v Speaker 1>you for all the gifts of grace, and thank you

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<v Speaker 1>for your plan that it's a good plan. Others people

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<v Speaker 1>may have a bad plan for my life, but your

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<v Speaker 1>plan is good. And God, I want to thank you

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<v Speaker 1>that in all things that are happening in my life,

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<v Speaker 1>you are working for the good of my life. Because

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<v Speaker 1>I love you and I want to fulfill your purpose.

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<v Speaker 1>Thank you in your name, I pray Amen.

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<v Speaker 2>Okay.

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<v Speaker 1>Number three, The third thing I can be thankful for

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<v Speaker 1>no matter how bad things get in my life is this.

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<v Speaker 1>I can always thank God for his promise.

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<v Speaker 2>To never leave me. That's a big one.

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<v Speaker 1>I can always thank God, no matter what I'm going through,

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<v Speaker 1>for his promise to never leave me. You will never

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<v Speaker 1>go through anything in your life on your own. You

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<v Speaker 1>might feel alone, but you're not on your loan on you.

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<v Speaker 1>You're just not aware of it. There is no moment

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<v Speaker 1>in your life when God is not with you. The

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<v Speaker 1>Bible says this for Hebrews thirteen six thirteen five. I

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<v Speaker 1>will never leave you, and I will never abandon you. Now,

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<v Speaker 1>I looked up that word in the original Greek in

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<v Speaker 1>the Bible, and the word means never never never never

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<v Speaker 1>never never never never never never never never never, never

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<v Speaker 1>never never. For the next ten years, it means no way, Jose,

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<v Speaker 1>not a zero, no zip, not a chance, not on

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<v Speaker 1>your life. Forget about it, don't worry about it. I

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<v Speaker 1>will never leave you. I will never abandon you. There

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<v Speaker 1>will never be a second in your life when you're

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<v Speaker 1>going through the darkest dungeons and valleys of life.

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<v Speaker 2>God says, I'm going to be with you. I'm not

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<v Speaker 2>just gonna watch you. I'm going to be with you.

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<v Speaker 1>That's where thanking God for that. He will never leave me.

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<v Speaker 1>He will never Some of you have been abandoned by

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<v Speaker 1>your dad. Some of you are abandoned by your mother.

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<v Speaker 1>Some of you are abandoned by a husband or a wife,

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<v Speaker 1>or a boyfriend or a friend or somebody who are

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<v Speaker 1>counting on God will never do that.

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<v Speaker 2>He said, I will never leave you.

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<v Speaker 1>I will never aband I can thank God no matter

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<v Speaker 1>what I'm going through, He's going through it with me.

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<v Speaker 1>We have a God who doesn't just watch our suffering,

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<v Speaker 1>who doesn't just care about our suffering.

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<v Speaker 2>He suffers with us.

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<v Speaker 1>The Bible says this in Isaiah forty three too, when

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<v Speaker 1>you go through deep waters, I will be with you.

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<v Speaker 1>When you pass through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown.

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<v Speaker 1>And when you walk through the fire, you will not

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<v Speaker 1>be burned. It will not consume you. That's promise, and

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<v Speaker 1>I can always be thankful for that when you go

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<v Speaker 1>through deep waters. You know, there's a song popular song

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<v Speaker 1>we sing it side of that called Oceans, and it

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<v Speaker 1>has a line in that says, your grace abounds in

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<v Speaker 1>deepest waters.

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<v Speaker 2>Your grace abounds in deepest water. That's true. What does

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<v Speaker 2>that mean?

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<v Speaker 1>It means you don't know God is all you need

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<v Speaker 1>until God's all you got. When you come to the

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<v Speaker 1>point that you've got no support, no financial support, no

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<v Speaker 1>emotional support, no relational support, you feel like, man, I'm

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<v Speaker 1>out here on my own, I'm on the point, and

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<v Speaker 1>I'm by myself, and there's nobody with me. God says,

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<v Speaker 1>I'm with you. I'm with you, and you don't know

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<v Speaker 1>God is all you need until God is all you got.

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<v Speaker 1>Number four, I can always be thankful no matter what

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<v Speaker 1>happens in my life. I can be thankful for the

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<v Speaker 1>changes God's make in me because he's not letting me

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<v Speaker 1>stay by myself. He's changing me on the inside. I

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<v Speaker 1>can thank God for the grace he's shown me, for

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<v Speaker 1>the plans he has for me, for the promise that

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<v Speaker 1>he'll never leave me, and for the changes he's making

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<v Speaker 1>in me now. The Bible says in Romans five, three

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<v Speaker 1>and four, we can have joy even in our troubles.

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<v Speaker 2>In other words, we can be thankful than even in.

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<v Speaker 1>Dark days because we know that these troubles produce endurance,

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<v Speaker 1>and endurance produces character, and character produces hope. Now, what's

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<v Speaker 1>the big deal about character? Why should I be so

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<v Speaker 1>concerned about my character? You see, you're not interested in

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<v Speaker 1>your character most time, you're interested in your comfort. God

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<v Speaker 1>is far more interested in your character than your comfort.

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<v Speaker 1>God's goal in your life is not to make your

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<v Speaker 1>life easy. God's goal in your life is to grow

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<v Speaker 1>you up. Why because this life is preparation.

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<v Speaker 2>For the next.

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<v Speaker 1>The comfort is coming in eternity, forever and ever and

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<v Speaker 1>ever and ever and ever. No more sorrow, no more suffering,

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<v Speaker 1>no more sickness, stormer sadness, no more depression, no more disease,

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<v Speaker 1>no more.

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<v Speaker 2>Despair, none of that.

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<v Speaker 1>The comfort is coming forever and ever in eternity. Right now,

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<v Speaker 1>you're in the get ready stage. And why is God

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<v Speaker 1>interested in your character? Because it's the only thing you're

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<v Speaker 1>taken with you. You're not taking your money with you,

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<v Speaker 1>you're not taking your reputation with you. You're not taking

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<v Speaker 1>your career or your car, or your china or your clothes,

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<v Speaker 1>but you are taking your character. It's the only thing

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<v Speaker 1>that's going to heaven you. And so you better be

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<v Speaker 1>working on your character because that's all you've got for eternity.

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<v Speaker 1>You could pile up all kinds of stuff here on

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<v Speaker 1>this planet and have a little, tiny, weak, wimpy character,

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<v Speaker 1>and that's what you're stuck with. Really, God is more

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<v Speaker 1>interested in who you are than what you do.

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<v Speaker 2>We're always a god. Which job should I take? Which

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<v Speaker 2>job you want me to?

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<v Speaker 1>God's probably saying, you know, any one of those dozen

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<v Speaker 1>jobs will be fine, because I'm more interested in what

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<v Speaker 1>you become.

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<v Speaker 2>Than who you work for.

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<v Speaker 1>And God says, I want you to be working on that,

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<v Speaker 1>and He's making changes in me. And that's why we

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<v Speaker 1>can have joy in our troubles, because God says, even

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<v Speaker 1>in troubles, I'm refining you. I'm polishing you, I'm making you.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm developing endurance. I'm developing patience. Love and joy and

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<v Speaker 1>peace and patience, all those things, I'm building them in

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<v Speaker 1>your life even in the tough times. So I can

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<v Speaker 1>thank God that he's working inside me, He's changing me.

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<v Speaker 1>The great musician, concert musician, it's a pearlman. One time

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<v Speaker 1>he was doing a concert at Lincoln Center and he

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<v Speaker 1>walked out on stage, and you know, he has to

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<v Speaker 1>wear leg braces and takes quite a long time to

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<v Speaker 1>walk down on stage, take the braces off, sit down

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<v Speaker 1>to start playing. And as he got ready to play,

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<v Speaker 1>he broke a string and everybody heard it break. The

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<v Speaker 1>whole concert hall heard it break. Now he's either got

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<v Speaker 1>to get up, put those braces on, and walk back

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<v Speaker 1>off stage and change and get a new string, or

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<v Speaker 1>go on the way he is. And as a great

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<v Speaker 1>musician that he was, he went ahead and played that

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<v Speaker 1>entire concert with one less string. He played that entire

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<v Speaker 1>concert on a broken instrument, and at the end of

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<v Speaker 1>the conference, as one person, the entire audience rose to

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<v Speaker 1>its feet in thunderous applause for this magnificent feet. They

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<v Speaker 1>had just watched a man play an entire concert on

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<v Speaker 1>a broken instrument, and it's not Pearlman said something very profound,

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<v Speaker 1>and it applies to your life.

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<v Speaker 2>He said this, Sometimes it is.

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<v Speaker 1>The artist's task to find out how much music you

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<v Speaker 1>can still play with what you have left between now

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<v Speaker 1>and when you die. How much music can you make

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<v Speaker 1>with your life for the glory of God with what

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<v Speaker 1>you have left. You don't have the body you used

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<v Speaker 1>to have, you don't have the energy you used to have.

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<v Speaker 2>You may not have.

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<v Speaker 1>All the supports system around you you used to have.

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<v Speaker 1>It is sometimes the duty of the artist to find

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<v Speaker 1>out how much music you can play.

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<v Speaker 2>Still with what you have left.

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<v Speaker 1>You need to stop focusing on what you've lost, and

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<v Speaker 1>you need to start focusing on what's left. Stop looking

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<v Speaker 1>at what's lost, and start looking at what's left and

401
00:22:07.279 --> 00:22:09.880
<v Speaker 1>what you can do to make the most of what

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<v Speaker 1>you still got for the glory of God. That's character.

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<v Speaker 1>That's not being a victim. That's character. The Bible says

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<v Speaker 1>this in Philippians two thirteen. For God is working in you,

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<v Speaker 1>giving you the desire to obey him and the power

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<v Speaker 1>to do what pleases him.

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<v Speaker 2>Tewod Corinthians three eighteen.

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<v Speaker 1>As the spirit of the Lord works within us, we

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00:22:34.440 --> 00:22:37.720
<v Speaker 1>become more and more like him.

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<v Speaker 2>I'll think about this.

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<v Speaker 1>God not only says I'm going to be with you

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<v Speaker 1>the rest of your life.

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<v Speaker 2>He says I'm going to be in you the rest

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<v Speaker 2>of your life. I'm going to put my power in you. Now.

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<v Speaker 1>Often we don't feel that power. In fact, oftentimes we

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<v Speaker 1>feel pretty weak. We think I don't have the energy

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<v Speaker 1>to get out of bed, I don't have the energy

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<v Speaker 1>to face all the demands on my life. I'm sick

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<v Speaker 1>and tired of being sick and tired.

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<v Speaker 2>I just feel weak. And God says that.

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<v Speaker 1>Is when my strength shows up, and I can be

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<v Speaker 1>grateful for the changes He's making in me. Two Corinthians

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<v Speaker 1>twelfth nine says this. God said to Paul, my grace

424
00:23:22.559 --> 00:23:27.319
<v Speaker 1>is all you need when you're weak. My power is

425
00:23:27.359 --> 00:23:31.920
<v Speaker 1>made perfect in you. So Paul says, I'm happy to

426
00:23:31.960 --> 00:23:33.319
<v Speaker 1>brag about my weaknesses.

427
00:23:34.319 --> 00:23:36.559
<v Speaker 2>Then Christ's power can live in me.

428
00:23:37.000 --> 00:23:41.920
<v Speaker 1>I get God's presence, I get God's peace, I get

429
00:23:41.960 --> 00:23:46.480
<v Speaker 1>God's pardon, and I get God's power. I get God's

430
00:23:46.559 --> 00:23:50.359
<v Speaker 1>plan and I get God's purpose. These are things I

431
00:23:50.400 --> 00:23:55.559
<v Speaker 1>can thank God for when my life is falling apart

432
00:23:56.000 --> 00:23:58.599
<v Speaker 1>and when the roague winds are blowing me over sideways.

433
00:24:00.000 --> 00:24:04.880
<v Speaker 1>When was the last time you thank God really for

434
00:24:04.960 --> 00:24:08.240
<v Speaker 1>the grace that he's shown you, for the good plan

435
00:24:08.319 --> 00:24:11.880
<v Speaker 1>that he has for you, for the changes he's making

436
00:24:11.920 --> 00:24:15.200
<v Speaker 1>in you, and for the promise that He's never going

437
00:24:15.240 --> 00:24:20.160
<v Speaker 1>to leave you. The Bible says this giving thanks is

438
00:24:20.240 --> 00:24:24.480
<v Speaker 1>a sacrifice that truly honors me. Did you know that

439
00:24:24.559 --> 00:24:27.039
<v Speaker 1>every time you say thanks to God? God says, that's

440
00:24:27.079 --> 00:24:29.960
<v Speaker 1>like a sacrifice. It's like a sacrificial gift to me

441
00:24:30.359 --> 00:24:35.400
<v Speaker 1>as God. Every time you remember to say thanks, Let

442
00:24:35.440 --> 00:24:38.960
<v Speaker 1>me show you another verse Psalm ninety seven, verse twelve.

443
00:24:39.559 --> 00:24:44.559
<v Speaker 1>Remember what your Holy God has done for you, and

444
00:24:44.640 --> 00:24:49.799
<v Speaker 1>give thanks to him. This is the third way we

445
00:24:49.920 --> 00:24:53.759
<v Speaker 1>express thanks at thanksgiving. This is how we give thanks

446
00:24:54.000 --> 00:24:59.000
<v Speaker 1>by remembering what we have been given. Let me give

447
00:24:59.000 --> 00:25:01.279
<v Speaker 1>you the fifth thing you can always thank God for

448
00:25:02.200 --> 00:25:04.359
<v Speaker 1>no matter how bad things get in your life, no

449
00:25:04.400 --> 00:25:07.799
<v Speaker 1>matter how terrible the situation is that you're going through

450
00:25:07.839 --> 00:25:13.200
<v Speaker 1>at that moment, and it's this, I can always thank God.

451
00:25:14.559 --> 00:25:19.640
<v Speaker 2>For the home he's prepared for me. I'm talking about Heaven.

452
00:25:20.720 --> 00:25:23.000
<v Speaker 1>I can thank God for the home he's prepared for me,

453
00:25:24.200 --> 00:25:27.720
<v Speaker 1>the grace he's shown me, the plans he has for me,

454
00:25:28.400 --> 00:25:32.519
<v Speaker 1>the promise he'll never leave me, the changes that he's

455
00:25:32.599 --> 00:25:39.119
<v Speaker 1>making in me, and the home he's prepared for me.

456
00:25:39.319 --> 00:25:41.599
<v Speaker 1>By the way those changes he's making in me, you know,

457
00:25:41.680 --> 00:25:45.480
<v Speaker 1>I love this fact that I'm not all that I

458
00:25:45.519 --> 00:25:48.319
<v Speaker 1>should be, and by the way, neither are your. I'm

459
00:25:48.359 --> 00:25:51.039
<v Speaker 1>not all I should be, But thank God I'm not

460
00:25:51.079 --> 00:25:55.079
<v Speaker 1>what I used to be, and neither are you. That's

461
00:25:55.079 --> 00:25:57.880
<v Speaker 1>something to be grateful for. You can say three things

462
00:25:57.920 --> 00:26:03.599
<v Speaker 1>with confidence, say thank God, I'm not what I used

463
00:26:03.640 --> 00:26:08.920
<v Speaker 1>to be. Thank God I am what I am right now.

464
00:26:09.960 --> 00:26:11.920
<v Speaker 1>Thank God, I'm not what I'm going to be.

465
00:26:12.880 --> 00:26:14.839
<v Speaker 2>If you don't like me, just hang around.

466
00:26:14.920 --> 00:26:18.640
<v Speaker 1>I'm getting better and one day I'm going to be

467
00:26:18.680 --> 00:26:22.720
<v Speaker 1>made into perfection in Christ. And that's going to happen

468
00:26:22.839 --> 00:26:24.920
<v Speaker 1>in that home that God has prepared for me. I

469
00:26:24.960 --> 00:26:27.960
<v Speaker 1>am grateful that this life is not all there is.

470
00:26:29.039 --> 00:26:31.799
<v Speaker 1>I'm grateful that this isn't the end of the story.

471
00:26:32.920 --> 00:26:36.119
<v Speaker 1>I am grateful that the final chapter on my life,

472
00:26:36.279 --> 00:26:39.680
<v Speaker 1>your life, and everybody else hasn't been written yet. That

473
00:26:39.759 --> 00:26:42.000
<v Speaker 1>there is more to life than here and now, that

474
00:26:42.039 --> 00:26:44.480
<v Speaker 1>there is an ever after that's going to go on

475
00:26:44.559 --> 00:26:46.920
<v Speaker 1>and on and on. That you were made to last

476
00:26:46.920 --> 00:26:49.640
<v Speaker 1>for eternity. The Bible says, God has put eternity in

477
00:26:49.680 --> 00:26:52.119
<v Speaker 1>your hearts. It's why sometimes you go, there's got to

478
00:26:52.119 --> 00:26:55.079
<v Speaker 1>be more to life than this, because there is. You

479
00:26:55.119 --> 00:26:57.960
<v Speaker 1>were made for more than just this life. You were

480
00:26:57.960 --> 00:27:01.920
<v Speaker 1>made for eternity. And I could always be thankful no

481
00:27:01.920 --> 00:27:04.119
<v Speaker 1>matter what I'm going through, the pain I'm going through,

482
00:27:04.240 --> 00:27:07.400
<v Speaker 1>for the hope of heaven, that He's preparing a place

483
00:27:07.400 --> 00:27:10.039
<v Speaker 1>for me. Jesus said it like this, John fourteen two

484
00:27:10.079 --> 00:27:13.599
<v Speaker 1>and three. I am going there where heaven. I'm going

485
00:27:13.680 --> 00:27:17.440
<v Speaker 1>there to prepare a place for you. And if I

486
00:27:17.559 --> 00:27:19.920
<v Speaker 1>go and prepare a place for you, I'll come back.

487
00:27:21.359 --> 00:27:23.839
<v Speaker 1>I'll come back and I'll take you to be with me,

488
00:27:24.160 --> 00:27:28.119
<v Speaker 1>that you may be where I am. God has been

489
00:27:28.160 --> 00:27:32.000
<v Speaker 1>preparing a place for you. It's called heaven. You want

490
00:27:32.039 --> 00:27:36.559
<v Speaker 1>to know how long He's been decorating that place. You

491
00:27:36.599 --> 00:27:39.559
<v Speaker 1>want to know how long God has been preparing a

492
00:27:39.640 --> 00:27:43.799
<v Speaker 1>place for you, his family, his child. Look at the

493
00:27:43.880 --> 00:27:48.079
<v Speaker 1>next verse, Jesus said it here, then the King will say, come, you,

494
00:27:48.119 --> 00:27:53.079
<v Speaker 1>who are blessed of my father, Take your inheritance. The

495
00:27:53.279 --> 00:27:58.160
<v Speaker 1>kingdom prepared for you. Since the creation of the world.

496
00:27:58.440 --> 00:28:00.480
<v Speaker 1>That's a long time to beating.

497
00:28:03.319 --> 00:28:04.279
<v Speaker 2>That's a long.

498
00:28:04.160 --> 00:28:09.759
<v Speaker 1>Time, you know, you know how long? What is heaven

499
00:28:09.799 --> 00:28:12.119
<v Speaker 1>going to be like? It's amazing when you think about it,

500
00:28:12.279 --> 00:28:17.440
<v Speaker 1>because most people have this really boring image of heaven white,

501
00:28:17.559 --> 00:28:18.599
<v Speaker 1>everything is white.

502
00:28:19.079 --> 00:28:19.920
<v Speaker 2>You think the god.

503
00:28:19.759 --> 00:28:22.720
<v Speaker 1>Who invented color is going to make everything white in heaven.

504
00:28:23.799 --> 00:28:26.680
<v Speaker 1>That you're going to sit in a white robe with angels,

505
00:28:26.720 --> 00:28:30.640
<v Speaker 1>wings on a on a you know, on a cloud,

506
00:28:30.720 --> 00:28:36.440
<v Speaker 1>and play a harp. That would be hell. I can't

507
00:28:36.440 --> 00:28:39.000
<v Speaker 1>think of anything more boring. I don't know how people

508
00:28:39.119 --> 00:28:42.880
<v Speaker 1>make heaven, you know, think of the greatest experiences that

509
00:28:42.920 --> 00:28:47.480
<v Speaker 1>you can think of here on Earth, like sunsets okay,

510
00:28:47.599 --> 00:28:50.440
<v Speaker 1>and beautiful beaches and bora borer. There's a lot of

511
00:28:50.480 --> 00:28:54.400
<v Speaker 1>cool things on this planet, and it's broken. This is

512
00:28:54.440 --> 00:28:57.200
<v Speaker 1>an imperfect place, and there's still a lot of beauty

513
00:28:57.480 --> 00:29:01.200
<v Speaker 1>and cool things on this planet. Think of a place

514
00:29:01.400 --> 00:29:07.119
<v Speaker 1>with perfection, with no sorrow, no sadness, no economic disasters,

515
00:29:07.160 --> 00:29:12.000
<v Speaker 1>no environmental disasters, no man messing it all up.

516
00:29:13.119 --> 00:29:15.559
<v Speaker 2>It's a perfect It's going to be unbelievable.

517
00:29:17.559 --> 00:29:23.200
<v Speaker 1>The Bible says, I has not seen, hear, has not heard,

518
00:29:23.920 --> 00:29:26.920
<v Speaker 1>neither hath entered into the heart of man, the wonderful

519
00:29:27.000 --> 00:29:29.240
<v Speaker 1>things that God has prepared for.

520
00:29:29.359 --> 00:29:35.119
<v Speaker 2>Those who love him in heaven.

521
00:29:35.319 --> 00:29:38.640
<v Speaker 1>We know at least four things. We know we will

522
00:29:38.640 --> 00:29:43.880
<v Speaker 1>be reunited with those that we love. I have a

523
00:29:43.880 --> 00:29:45.640
<v Speaker 1>father in heaven. I have a mother in heaven. I

524
00:29:45.680 --> 00:29:47.359
<v Speaker 1>have a brother in heaven, and I now have a

525
00:29:47.400 --> 00:29:51.160
<v Speaker 1>son in heaven. I have a father in law, and

526
00:29:51.200 --> 00:29:55.680
<v Speaker 1>I have many others. We will be reunited with those

527
00:29:55.680 --> 00:30:00.000
<v Speaker 1>who love the Lord. I know that we will be released.

528
00:30:00.920 --> 00:30:03.240
<v Speaker 1>The Bible says there will be no more pain, no

529
00:30:03.319 --> 00:30:07.000
<v Speaker 1>more sorrow, no more tears, no more sadness, because there

530
00:30:07.000 --> 00:30:10.519
<v Speaker 1>will be no more death. The Bible says there will

531
00:30:10.599 --> 00:30:15.400
<v Speaker 1>be no disease, no despair, no discouragement, no depression. There

532
00:30:15.440 --> 00:30:22.039
<v Speaker 1>will be no broken minds, there will be no broken bodies,

533
00:30:22.599 --> 00:30:27.440
<v Speaker 1>there will be no broken relationships, there will be no

534
00:30:27.519 --> 00:30:35.440
<v Speaker 1>broken promises. It will all be made whole. We will

535
00:30:35.440 --> 00:30:37.559
<v Speaker 1>be reunited. We will be released. The Bible says, we

536
00:30:37.599 --> 00:30:40.680
<v Speaker 1>will be rewarded. There will be rewards in heaven based

537
00:30:40.720 --> 00:30:43.519
<v Speaker 1>on what did you do with what I gave you.

538
00:30:43.799 --> 00:30:46.440
<v Speaker 1>The Bible says, if you're faithful and little things, you'll

539
00:30:46.480 --> 00:30:50.240
<v Speaker 1>be faithful. And much are you storing up treasure in heaven?

540
00:30:51.519 --> 00:30:55.559
<v Speaker 1>Are you spending it all on yourself right now? And

541
00:30:55.640 --> 00:30:57.839
<v Speaker 1>the Bible says, we will not only be rewarded, we

542
00:30:57.880 --> 00:31:00.599
<v Speaker 1>will be reassigned. You're not going to around on your

543
00:31:00.599 --> 00:31:01.880
<v Speaker 1>blessed assurance in heaven.

544
00:31:03.240 --> 00:31:04.640
<v Speaker 2>You're going to work. Only.

545
00:31:04.680 --> 00:31:06.240
<v Speaker 1>It's going to be work that you like to do,

546
00:31:06.319 --> 00:31:08.759
<v Speaker 1>and there won't be problems and weeds in it. But

547
00:31:08.799 --> 00:31:12.480
<v Speaker 1>you will have things to do that are fulfilling, and

548
00:31:12.519 --> 00:31:15.400
<v Speaker 1>you will be useful to yourself and to others.

549
00:31:16.039 --> 00:31:17.200
<v Speaker 2>Here's what the Bible says.

550
00:31:19.119 --> 00:31:24.079
<v Speaker 1>First, Peter, God has reserved for his children the priceless

551
00:31:24.160 --> 00:31:26.119
<v Speaker 1>gift of eternal life.

552
00:31:26.119 --> 00:31:28.039
<v Speaker 2>And I want to stop right there first. It says

553
00:31:28.039 --> 00:31:28.839
<v Speaker 2>God is reserved.

554
00:31:28.920 --> 00:31:33.079
<v Speaker 1>That reservation for you has already been made. It's been

555
00:31:33.119 --> 00:31:35.640
<v Speaker 1>made long before you need it. God has put a

556
00:31:35.680 --> 00:31:41.480
<v Speaker 1>reservation in heaven for you, for his children. Is everybody

557
00:31:41.559 --> 00:31:47.319
<v Speaker 1>going to be in heaven? Absolutely? Not only his children

558
00:31:47.359 --> 00:31:49.720
<v Speaker 1>are going to heaven. Is everybody a child of God?

559
00:31:49.799 --> 00:31:54.960
<v Speaker 1>Absolutely not. Everybody is loved by God. Everybody is created

560
00:31:55.000 --> 00:31:57.480
<v Speaker 1>by God. God has never made a person he didn't

561
00:31:57.519 --> 00:32:00.519
<v Speaker 1>want in heaven. God has never made a person love.

562
00:32:00.680 --> 00:32:03.559
<v Speaker 1>God has never made a person he doesn't want to

563
00:32:03.640 --> 00:32:05.920
<v Speaker 1>know him. But you got to choose to be in

564
00:32:05.960 --> 00:32:08.359
<v Speaker 1>God's family. And God is not going to force you

565
00:32:08.559 --> 00:32:11.599
<v Speaker 1>to love him. And you can thumb your nose God

566
00:32:11.599 --> 00:32:12.960
<v Speaker 1>and say, God, I'm going to be my own God.

567
00:32:13.039 --> 00:32:15.240
<v Speaker 1>I don't need Jesus, I don't need a savior, I

568
00:32:15.240 --> 00:32:19.000
<v Speaker 1>don't need any grace. I'm good enough in your dreams.

569
00:32:19.759 --> 00:32:22.119
<v Speaker 1>There's not a snowball's chance in hell. You're getting into

570
00:32:22.160 --> 00:32:24.880
<v Speaker 1>Heaven on your own effort. The only way you're getting

571
00:32:24.920 --> 00:32:27.200
<v Speaker 1>in is God's way. And Jesus said it like this,

572
00:32:27.519 --> 00:32:30.039
<v Speaker 1>I am the way, not on one way, not I'm

573
00:32:30.039 --> 00:32:32.039
<v Speaker 1>a good way, Not I'm a best way, not in

574
00:32:32.160 --> 00:32:32.799
<v Speaker 1>one of the ways.

575
00:32:32.960 --> 00:32:33.599
<v Speaker 2>I'm the way.

576
00:32:35.039 --> 00:32:37.920
<v Speaker 1>Now, either Jesus is true or he's the biggest liar

577
00:32:37.960 --> 00:32:41.039
<v Speaker 1>ever lived. I'm betting my life that he was right.

578
00:32:41.240 --> 00:32:47.079
<v Speaker 1>What are you betting your life on? You need to decide,

579
00:32:47.599 --> 00:32:50.039
<v Speaker 1>am I going to accept or reject the love of God?

580
00:32:50.720 --> 00:32:51.519
<v Speaker 2>To miss heaven.

581
00:32:51.759 --> 00:32:54.079
<v Speaker 1>You have to have so much pride you say, I

582
00:32:54.119 --> 00:32:57.960
<v Speaker 1>don't need God's grace. I don't need Jesus to die

583
00:32:58.000 --> 00:33:01.319
<v Speaker 1>for me. I don't need salvation. I'm good enough on

584
00:33:01.400 --> 00:33:05.000
<v Speaker 1>my own. Are you kidding me? That is the ultimate

585
00:33:06.279 --> 00:33:12.599
<v Speaker 1>audacious arrogance. If you haven't settled this issue, you need

586
00:33:12.640 --> 00:33:14.559
<v Speaker 1>to settle it. The greatest thing you need to do

587
00:33:14.680 --> 00:33:16.799
<v Speaker 1>is you need to humbly say to God, God, there's

588
00:33:16.839 --> 00:33:18.519
<v Speaker 1>no way I'm getting into heaven on my own, and

589
00:33:18.559 --> 00:33:21.279
<v Speaker 1>I know it. I've done too many wrong things. I'm

590
00:33:21.279 --> 00:33:25.039
<v Speaker 1>not perfect, and I need you to be my savior.

591
00:33:25.960 --> 00:33:26.240
<v Speaker 2>God.

592
00:33:26.319 --> 00:33:30.759
<v Speaker 1>I need grace, I need forgiveness. And if you haven't

593
00:33:30.759 --> 00:33:37.359
<v Speaker 1>done that, I would encourage you to do it. In

594
00:33:37.400 --> 00:33:41.839
<v Speaker 1>the heavens, the Bible says God gives us the hope

595
00:33:42.079 --> 00:33:46.279
<v Speaker 1>of heaven that He's prepared for us. This is why

596
00:33:46.319 --> 00:33:50.599
<v Speaker 1>we believe Second Corinthians for That says this. We often suffer,

597
00:33:51.720 --> 00:33:55.400
<v Speaker 1>but we're never crushed. Even when we don't know what

598
00:33:55.440 --> 00:34:01.000
<v Speaker 1>to do. We never give up. In time trouble, God

599
00:34:01.079 --> 00:34:04.440
<v Speaker 1>is with us, and when we're knocked down, we get

600
00:34:04.519 --> 00:34:08.400
<v Speaker 1>up again. We know that God raised the Lord back

601
00:34:08.440 --> 00:34:12.599
<v Speaker 1>to life, and just as he raised Jesus. He will

602
00:34:12.639 --> 00:34:16.159
<v Speaker 1>also raise us back to life, will bring us into

603
00:34:16.239 --> 00:34:22.280
<v Speaker 1>His presence together. So we don't focus on the trouble,

604
00:34:22.880 --> 00:34:25.840
<v Speaker 1>the pain, the sorrow, the suffering that we see right now.

605
00:34:26.079 --> 00:34:30.719
<v Speaker 1>Instead we look forward to what we don't see yet.

606
00:34:32.000 --> 00:34:35.039
<v Speaker 1>For the troubles we see are temporary, but the joys

607
00:34:35.079 --> 00:34:40.679
<v Speaker 1>to come will last forever. I am so thankful I'm

608
00:34:40.679 --> 00:34:43.880
<v Speaker 1>not going to have to live with pain forever. I'm

609
00:34:44.039 --> 00:34:47.280
<v Speaker 1>grateful for death on this earth because I don't want

610
00:34:47.320 --> 00:34:51.480
<v Speaker 1>to live on a broken planet forever. I wasn't made

611
00:34:51.519 --> 00:34:53.519
<v Speaker 1>to live on a broken planet, for I was made

612
00:34:53.559 --> 00:34:55.880
<v Speaker 1>to live in the presence of God forever.

613
00:34:57.440 --> 00:35:00.159
<v Speaker 2>And God will wipe everyway, every tear, no more.

614
00:35:00.119 --> 00:35:02.840
<v Speaker 1>Or death, no more mourning, no more suffering. And I

615
00:35:02.880 --> 00:35:05.199
<v Speaker 1>can be thankful for that no matter what's going on

616
00:35:05.239 --> 00:35:05.760
<v Speaker 1>in my life.

617
00:35:07.400 --> 00:35:08.199
<v Speaker 2>That's power. Heads.

618
00:35:12.079 --> 00:35:15.320
<v Speaker 1>Have you settled the issue of eternity? If you were

619
00:35:15.320 --> 00:35:18.880
<v Speaker 1>to die tonight, are you absolutely certain you'd go to heaven?

620
00:35:19.639 --> 00:35:21.320
<v Speaker 1>If God were to say to you, why should I

621
00:35:21.400 --> 00:35:22.679
<v Speaker 1>let you into my heaven?

622
00:35:23.000 --> 00:35:25.239
<v Speaker 2>What would you say? Would you know the right answer?

623
00:35:26.280 --> 00:35:29.840
<v Speaker 1>Would you say, because I humbly admitted I cannot save

624
00:35:29.920 --> 00:35:35.920
<v Speaker 1>myself because I've developed a relationship with you, and I

625
00:35:35.960 --> 00:35:36.559
<v Speaker 1>got to know you.

626
00:35:36.679 --> 00:35:36.960
<v Speaker 2>Lord.

627
00:35:39.920 --> 00:35:42.519
<v Speaker 1>I've been a friend of Jesus Christ for over fifty years,

628
00:35:43.000 --> 00:35:45.800
<v Speaker 1>and I know he sees, he cares, and he suffers

629
00:35:45.840 --> 00:35:49.800
<v Speaker 1>through everything that I go through. I want you to

630
00:35:49.840 --> 00:35:52.760
<v Speaker 1>have that relationship to him. I'm going to pray a

631
00:35:52.840 --> 00:35:55.639
<v Speaker 1>prayer right now. You may have been in church your

632
00:35:55.800 --> 00:35:57.440
<v Speaker 1>entire life, but you're not sure of it.

633
00:35:57.440 --> 00:35:59.239
<v Speaker 2>It's time to settle this issue.

634
00:35:59.320 --> 00:36:03.360
<v Speaker 1>Whether you're saying or not, you need to pray this

635
00:36:03.480 --> 00:36:06.639
<v Speaker 1>prayer right now and mean it sincerely, to say it

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00:36:06.679 --> 00:36:10.679
<v Speaker 1>in your mind. Dear God, I humbly admit I cannot

637
00:36:10.760 --> 00:36:17.360
<v Speaker 1>save myself. I humbly admit that I have done wrong things.

638
00:36:19.599 --> 00:36:21.880
<v Speaker 1>I have rebelled, I've done things that you didn't want

639
00:36:21.920 --> 00:36:28.280
<v Speaker 1>me to do, and I'm sorry for my sin. I

640
00:36:28.360 --> 00:36:34.639
<v Speaker 1>need your grace, I need your forgiveness. I need your

641
00:36:34.719 --> 00:36:40.000
<v Speaker 1>love in my life. I want to be grateful for

642
00:36:40.079 --> 00:36:43.400
<v Speaker 1>the grace you've shown to me. I want to be

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00:36:43.480 --> 00:36:46.159
<v Speaker 1>grateful for the good plan you have for my life,

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00:36:46.559 --> 00:36:48.639
<v Speaker 1>and I want to follow that plan as best I

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00:36:48.679 --> 00:36:49.119
<v Speaker 1>know how.

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00:36:49.440 --> 00:36:51.159
<v Speaker 2>I want the rest of my life to be the

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<v Speaker 2>best of my life.

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<v Speaker 1>Thank you for the promise that you will never leave me.

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00:36:57.159 --> 00:36:59.760
<v Speaker 1>Thank you that you're working in me. I'm not what

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00:36:59.840 --> 00:37:02.159
<v Speaker 1>I I used to be, but I'm not what I'm

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00:37:02.199 --> 00:37:07.760
<v Speaker 1>going to be. And I thank you that you have

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00:37:07.840 --> 00:37:12.320
<v Speaker 1>prepared heaven for me. And today I trust my life

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<v Speaker 1>into your hands. I want you to be the manager

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00:37:15.360 --> 00:37:18.599
<v Speaker 1>of the rest of my life, my Lord and my savior,

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<v Speaker 1>and I humbly pray this in your name.

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<v Speaker 2>Amen.
