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We gather here today with open hearts and mind To grow in faith and truth
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In every word we find the pages of the word alive and full of grace, inspiring faith with him as we seek his face, Bible.
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Bites, eyeball bites, in starting fake one bite at a time.
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With every verse we find
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our way to live our lives in his light and shine.
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Welcome to Bible Wights, the podcast where we work to inspire faith one bite at a time.
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I'm your host, Randy Black.
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The story of Sarah, or Sarai as she was originally named, invites us into the deeply human experience of wrestling with God's promises during a season of delay.
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In Genesis chapters fifteen and sixteen, we witness the contrast between Abram's belief and Sarai's struggle to wait, revealing the delicate balance between faith and doubt.
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Sarah, desperate to see God's promise fulfilled, chose a culturally acceptable but spiritually problematic path to take
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Yet, her story reminds us that even in our missteps, God's promises endure, and his grace remains constant
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Through this episode today, we'll explore what it means to trust God in the waiting and learn how faith is not the absence of doubt.
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But the choice to rely on God in the midst of it.
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Before we start our study of the scripture, let's open up with a word of prayer
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Heavenly Father, we come before you today seeking wisdom, patience, and a deeper understanding of your faithfulness
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Teach us through Sarah's journey how to wait on you when the answers seem far off.
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Help us to trust in your timing and promises, even when our circumstances tempt us to take control.
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Strengthen our faith where it is weak, and guide us in walking according to your will.
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In Jesus' name we pray.
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Amen.
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In Genesis 15, God appears to Abram in a vision to reassure him.
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In verse 1, we read: Do not fear, Abram.
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I am a shield to you.
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Your reward shall be very great.
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Despite the comforting words, Abram's heart is heavy with concern.
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He remains childless
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His response is raw and vulnerable in verse 2.
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What will you give me since I am childless?
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It's a heartfelt admission that the promise of a great nation feels hollow without a sun.
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God responds not with rebuke, but with reassurance.
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He brings Abram outside and tells him to count the stars
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We see that in verse 5.
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So shall your descendants be.
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This is not just poetic.
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It's a divine declaration of abundance and certainty
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Abram's response in verse 6 is monumental.
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Then he believed in the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness
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This belief, despite no physical evidence, becomes a model for biblical faith
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While Sarah is not explicitly mentioned in this passage, she is integral to the fulfillment of this promise.
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She too is being invited into this faith journey, though her response will differ.
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By the time we reach Genesis chapter 16, ten years have passed since Abram left Haran.
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We see that from Genesis 12:4 as well as in 16.
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3.
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And Sarah at this time is still barren.
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In verse 1 of chapter 16, it says, Now Sarai had not borne him a child.
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Her opening words in verse 2 reveal a shift in perspective at the time.
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The Lord has prevented me from bearing children
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This statement speaks to deep disappointment and possibly disillusionment illusionment with God's timing
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In her pain, Sarah decides to take matters into her own hands, offering her maidservant Hagar to Abram as a surrogate
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This plan, while culturally acceptable of the time, circumvents God's covenant intention.
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Abram agrees and Hagar conceives.
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But what follows is not relief.
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It's tension and resentment.
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Hagar looks down on Sarah, and Sarah in turn blames Abram.
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In verse 5 we see, May the wrong done to me be upon you.
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Abram steps back, leaving Sarah to handle the fallout.
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She treats Hagar harshly, driving her to flee.
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This passage shows the painful consequences of acting out of desperation rather than faith
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Sarah's plan not only fails to bring peace, it adds emotional and relational turmoil to an already heavy situation.
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And yet, through it all.
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God does not abandon Sarah, Hagar, or the plan that He set in motion
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Sarah's doubt did not end God's promise.
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We see later in Genesis 17:19, God speaking clearly when he says, Your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you shall name him Isaac.
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Despite the earlier detour, God's intention remains unchanged.
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Later in Genesis chapter 18, Sarah laughs at the idea of giving birth in old age
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But God gently confronts her unbelief and reaffirms the promise.
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And in Hebrews 11.
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11 we read, By faith even Sarah herself received ability to conceive.
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Since she considered him faithful who had promised.
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This transformation from doubt to belief
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From barrenness to motherhood, marks the redemptive arc of Sarah's story.
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Her failures didn't define her
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God's faithfulness did.
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Her journey mirrors ours, sometimes filled with detours, but never outside the reach of grace.
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We have some key takeaways from our scripture viewing today.
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The first is that God's promises require patience
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God's timeline often challenges our expectations, especially when we're suffering or waiting on something deeply personal, like Sarah's desire for a child.
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The long delay in fulfillment was not due to God's forgetfulness, but part of a divine plan meant to shape character and reveal his glory.
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God used the waiting period to build faith in Abraham and Sarah, ultimately proving that nothing is too difficult for him.
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Learning to wait on the Lord is a spiritual discipline that draws us closer to his heart
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And aligns us with his purposes.
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Our next takeaway is that faith and doubt can coexist.
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Sarah's story shows
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That moments of doubt do not negate genuine faith.
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She believed, yet she struggled.
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She hoped, yet she feared
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This is not a contradiction, but a reflection of the human condition.
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The Bible does not whitewash the lives of its heroes, and this gives us hope.
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God works with imperfect people
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Sarah doubted so much that she laughed when God reaffirmed his promise in Genesis 1812.
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Yet she is later listed in Hebrews chapter eleven as a woman of faith
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God sees the totality of our journey, not just the moments of weakness
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Our next takeaway is that taking matters into our own hands can complicate things.
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Acting outside of God's timing can create unnecessary pain.
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Sarah's decision to give Hagar to Abram resulted in strife, jealousy, and division that reverberated through generations.
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While God still fulfilled his promise, the consequences of human interference were real and lasting.
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This reminds us to prayerfully seek God's direction, especially when tempted to fix things in our own strength
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Trusting God often means surrendering control, even when the weight feels unbearable
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Our next takeaway is that God still honors our faith.
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Despite Sarah's missteps, God did not revoke his promise.
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He reaffirmed it this time by name, and followed through with the birth of Isaac.
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God honors even mustard seed faith, because his promises are based on his character, not our performance
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This truth is incredibly freeing.
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Our trust in him may falter, but he never fails.
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His commitment to us remains steady, and he often uses our stumbles as part of the journey toward maturity.
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And our last takeaway is that God redeems our missteps.
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Sarah's legacy is not defined by her failures, but by how God used her in his redemptive plan.
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She is remembered not for doubting, but for ultimately believing
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Her transformation from a woman who gave her maid to her husband to one who laughed with joy as she held her promised son is a testament to God's redemptive power
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Even when we mess up, God can rewrite the narrative.
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No mistake is too great for his mercy
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And no season is too late for his promises.
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Sarah's journey is not just a story from ancient history.
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It's a mirror for many of us today.
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Her struggle with delayed promises speaks to anyone who has waited on God in the silence, wrestled with his timing, or felt forgotten.
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There's there's something profoundly relatable about her initial trust, followed by fear, followed by action that was not god-led.
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It is a cycle many believers experience in their walk of faith to this day.
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Waiting tests us.
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It reveals what we truly believe about God.
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Do we see him as faithful even when he delays?
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Do we trust his character when our situation doesn't change?
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Sarah's initial decision to offer Hagar was driven by a belief that maybe God needed help fulfilling his word.
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That idea, though false, grows strong in seasons of long silence.
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Yet Scripture reminds us in Isaiah chapter 40, verse 31, that those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength.
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They will mount up with wings like eagles
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Waiting on God is never passive.
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It is an active, strengthening experience when rooted in trust.
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Another powerful aspect of Sarah's story is her transformation.
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Her laughter in Genesis 18 is cynical, born of doubt and disbelief
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But later in Genesis 21, verse 6, after Isaac is born, her laughter turns to joy
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God has made laughter for me.
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Everyone who hears will laugh with me.
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This teaches us that God not only fulfills his promises.
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but also restores joy to the heart that once doubted.
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He is not offended by our questions.
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He is patient in leading us from skepticism to celebration
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Sarah's story also highlights the importance of community in the faith journey.
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Her actions impacted those around her.
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Abram.
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Hagar, and later Isaac and Ishmael.
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Her faith walk is never isolated.
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When we act in fear or doubt, others can be caught in the crossfire
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But God is just and merciful.
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He protected Hagar.
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We see that in Genesis 16, verses 17 through 13.
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He comforted Sarah, and he worked redemptively in all lives involved.
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In our own relationships, we are called to trust God, not just for ourselves.
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But for those affected by our decisions.
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Lastly, Sarah's inclusion in Hebrews 11, 11 is a beacon of hope
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By faith even Sarah herself received ability to conceive, since she has considered him faithful who had promised.
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This tells us that God sees the full arc of our journey.
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He remembers our faith, not just our failures.
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Our story is not ruined by our doubts or our missteps.
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It is completed by his faithfulness.
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No matter
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Where we are in our waiting, we can be confident that God is working behind the scenes, crafting something more beautiful than we could ever imagine.
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Let's close out our study of the scripture with a word of prayer.
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Lord God, thank you for the story of Sarah, a woman whose life teaches us to trust you, even when the waiting is long and the way is unclear.
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Help us to see that your promises are worth waiting for and that your timing is perfect.
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Give us the grace to walk by faith when doubt creeps in
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Forgive us for the times we've taken matters into our own hands and remind us that you can redeem every mistake.
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Let our lives reflect the same transformation that you brought about in Sarah.
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Lives of faith, hope, and joyful fulfillment in your promises.
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It's in Jesus' name we pray.
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Amen.
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If you want to learn more about the whole value for value model and how it is that we apply it to this show, head over to our website and read up on it
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That's bible dash bytes with a y b-y-t-e-s dot com slash the letter V, the number four, and the letter V.
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We hope that if you have a prayer request, you would share it with us here on the show that we can uh share it out with the audience and we can work together to raise those requests up to the Lord.
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This week, let's continue the prayer request we've had for a while.
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Both my parents, if you've listened, you know the story, but let's let's continue to pray for my parents
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Pray for our family, friends, Greg and Kim.
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I want to continue to remember Tim and Kim Kalecka.
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Tim is uh still dealing with his illness, so is doing well and his wife there to support him, but we want to lift them up
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Uh continue to remember me as I go through these these health things that are going on.
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Uh things are starting to seem like they're okay, but I've got this cough that just
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won't go away and I don't know what it's from and we've tried several things.
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So I'm gonna speak when I go to my doctor here in a few weeks and try to see what we can look at and see if we can determine wh where this is coming from, what's causing it
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I still want to continue to remember my my dad's cousin Kevin who works for him.
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Kevin has been back in the hospital.
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He's having issues again.
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They've there's another spot on his leg that may be a problem
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uh that could lead to uh additional removal of the of of the limb.
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Um he's had a lot of issues with fluid retention and they've taken fluid off of him and
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It's just uh it's a rough, a very bad situation, uh, but we want to continue remembering that uh number one, if if he's not saved, if he doesn't know Jesus as his savior, that he does.
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But that then God can touch him and help him and heal him and try to make things better for him.
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Let's take these requests and let's go to the Lord in prayer one more time.
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Heavenly Father, we thank you once again for this chance.
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Each week, the ability to take your word and share it is such, such a privilege that I'm so happy to have.
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We come together to lift up these requests to you.
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My parents, our friends Greg and Kim.
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Tim and Kim, who know you, are good Christian people but are dealing with Tim's illness.
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Myself, my dad's cousin Kevin.
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Also remember any unspoken requests from those who listen in our audience that you know those.
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You know the proper way to handle each of these requests
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We have faith in your decision making that whatever whatever answer you provide is going to be within your will.
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We thank you for the time we have each week to put forth the effort and produce these episodes to share your word
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We hope that in some way it touches someone and that your son Jesus and you can stir their heart to get that calling, that they can accept him.
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as their Savior, and then be able to spend eternity in heaven with all of us who are saved.
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We thank you for these things in the name of your Son Jesus that we pray.
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Amen
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Before we talk about next week's episode, just a reminder we've had over the last several weeks music playing after we finish up the episode.
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Uh those are tracks that are from what we call the Valuverse, the Value for Value Music Space.
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They are religious worship-based tracks out there.
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If you are listening in a modern podcast app, you can boost those artists.
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There is a value time split in place that allows you to send value to them for that.
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If you're streaming sats, those sats will go to that artist
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Uh, in this case, on this show, when I set those up, those are split at 100%.
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Anything you send goes to that artist.
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So please, if you're if you're finding value in those, please send that back to them to lift them up and show them the value you're receiving.
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On today's episode, we're going to go with a track.
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From a a group called City Beach.
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And the track is Psalm 54.
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That'll play after the show closes
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Our next episode is going to look at the birth of Isaac.
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We've looked at Sarah and talked about it in faith and doubt and what it led to.
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But we're going to look specifically at the birth of her son Isaac, a lesson in miraculous fulfillment.
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You can read about that in Genesis.
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Chapter 21, verses 1 through 7.
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So please join us on the next episode of Bible Bites, the podcast where we work to inspire faith.
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One bite at a time.
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Bible bites.
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Bible bites.
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Inspiring faith one bite at a time.
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With every verse, we find our way To live our lives in his light and shine
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Bubble bites, bubble bites, inspiring faith one bite at a time
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Tiny
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By your name, vindicate me by your mind, oh God, hear my prayer.
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Give it to the words of my mouth.
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Oh God, save me by your name and
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And it came in by your might.
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Oh God, pray, give it to the world.
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My four strangers have reason against me.
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Ruthless men seek my seas They can set God before themselves.
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The Lord is the puller of my life, He will return the evil to my enemies.
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In your faithfulness, put in it I only
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With a free will love.
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I will sacrifice to you I will give thanks to your name alone, for it is good with a free will offering I will sacrifice to the owner.
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I will give thanks to your name alone, for it is good For he has delivered me from every trouble
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But I just looked in triumph for my enemies.
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For he has delivered me from every trouble And my explicit triumph from my enemy