Have you ever
wondered how you can have
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a closer walk with Jesus?
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Stay tuned and we'll share with
you how you can do just that
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in this edition of
Walking With Jesus.
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Greetings!
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I'm Eric Garloff, your
host for Walking With Jesus.
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I'm so glad that you joined
us because in today's program
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we're going to be talking
about a very important topic.
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We're going to be talking
about faith and acceptance.
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Now in our last three programs
we dealt with repentance,
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confession, and consecration.
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And that's what makes
today's program so important
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because faith and acceptance
in the life of the believer
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needs to be acted upon to
receive the blessings found in
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repentance,
confession, and consecration.
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So what is faith?
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How do we understand it?
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How do we define it?
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And how do we
apply it to our lives?
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I once heard a story about a
missionary in a foreign land.
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He was translating the
Bible into the native language
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of the people.
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As it often goes there were
certain problems, or obstacles,
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in translating from
one language to another.
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In this case there was no
word in the people's language
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to describe what faith is.
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Then one day a member of the
tribe had been running a very
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long distance to
see the missionary.
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In fact he had
been running for hours.
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When he finally arrived at
the village he came into the hut
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of the missionary.
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He immediately threw his
whole weight into the chair
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so that he could
rest and catch his breath.
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The man didn't stop to ask
the missionary if it was safe
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to sit in that chair, or if the
chair would hold up his weight.
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He simply trusted that it would.
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The missionary then understood
how he could translate
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the word faith.
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He told the villagers that faith
is as if you were resting your
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entire weight on a chair,
never questioning or doubting
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that the chair will
be able to hold you up.
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Applying this to the Christian
faith would then mean that
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we are to place the
weight of our burdens upon God,
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doubting nothing, with
full knowledge that He's able
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to hold us up.
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Let's dig a little deeper here.
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In earlier programs we've
seen God's love for humanity
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and our great need for God.
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We've understood that
sin separates us from God
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and that through confession
and repentance we can be
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forgiven and
made right with God.
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We've also seen the need
to consecrate our lives to God
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asking Him to live
within us each and every day
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supplying us with the
strength to live a victorious
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life in Jesus.
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Through the presence of
the power of the Holy Spirit
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working within us, all of
these things are accomplished
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in and through our lives.
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Now let's look at a
Biblical application of
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faith and acceptance.
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Quoting from the book Steps
to Christ, page 33, we read:
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You believe this promise.
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You confess your sins
and give yourself to God.
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You will to serve Him.
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Just as surely as you
do this God will fulfill
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His word to you.
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If you believe the promise,
believe that you are forgiven,
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and cleansed, God
supplies the fact.
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You are made whole.
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Just as Christ gave
the paralytic power to walk
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when the man
believed that he was healed.
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It is so if you believe it.
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I'd like to share a short
story which illustrates this
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point of faith and belief.
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The story is told of a
lady who week after week,
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month after month, and year
after year, would always pray
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for victory over a certain sin.
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It came to the point where
a teenager, who nearly always
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sat behind this woman in
church, and who continually
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heard this woman's prayer,
one day said to the lady,
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"Don't you think it's about
time that you give up that sin?"
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You see friends, it's
like we mentioned in the past,
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when we step out in faith and
ask God to remove sin from us,
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we need to act on it as
if He has already done it.
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We need to make decided changes
in our lives by taking hold
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of the power of God
which He promised to give us.
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We need to accept His word as
being real, complete with real
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power to make
changes in our lives.
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This is how we live a life
of faith, the life of victory,
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the life of decided change, the
life of belief in God's word.
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Faith is really nothing more
than taking God at His word,
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and taking the
next step forward.
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Now the statement was made
earlier that there's a condition
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for claiming the
promises of God and having Him
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answer our prayers.
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When we pray we must pray
according to the will of God.
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Let me ask you, "Don't you think
it's God's will to cleanse us
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from sin and make us His
children; to grant us the power
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for victory in our lives?"
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Of course it is!
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Therefore we can have confidence
in God and in the scriptures.
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As it is written in John
1:9, If we confess our sins,
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He is faithful and
just to forgive us our sins
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and to cleanse us
from all unrighteousness.
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Now that's something
to be joyful about, Amen?
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Steps to Christ,
pages 34 and 35 says this:
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They must have His grace; the
Spirit of Christ to help their
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infirmities or
they cannot resist evil.
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Jesus loves to have us come
to Him just as we are; sinful,
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helpless, and dependent.
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We may come with all
our weakness, our folly,
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our sinfulness, and fall
at His feet in penitence.
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It is His glory to encircle
us in the arms of His love
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and to bind up our wounds,
to cleanse us from all impurity.
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I'm continuing to
quote from page 35:
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This passage echoes the
sentiments of God as found in
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Ezekiel 18:32 which says: I
have no pleasure in the death
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of him that dies,
says the Lord God.
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Wherefore turn
yourselves and live.
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Isaiah 55:7 also
makes this theme clear.
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It says, Let the wicked forsake
his way and the unrighteous
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man his thoughts, and
let him return unto the Lord
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and He will have mercy
upon him, and to our God,
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for He will abundantly pardon.
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The old sentiment is true folks.
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God hates sin but
He loves the sinner,
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and He desires everyone,
young and old, rich and poor,
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to come to Him that they
might have everlasting life.
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God not only wants to cleanse
us from our sin, but He wants
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to give us the power in
our lives to overcome sin,
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and live a life of
victory over our sin.
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He wants us to bury our past and
to move forward in His power.
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One Biblical passage
speaks about putting our hand
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to the plow and
not looking back.
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The Apostle Paul wrote
in Philippians 3:13, 14:
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Yes, to be called a Christian
is a privilege and an honor;
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a privilege that we day
by day strive to live up to.
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Not in our own power, but in
the power of the Almighty God.
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By faith we believe,
and by acting upon our faith
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God makes it so.
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This is His
promise to all of mankind.
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Now a few words
about the opposition.
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Satan is artful in his craft.
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He's had thousands of years
to perfect his ability of lying
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to us and tricking us
into thinking things about God
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that just simply aren't true.
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He wants to destroy us, and it's
his goal to steal away every
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little bit of hope
that the human race has.
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In doing this he discourages
the sinner and convinces
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him to give up.
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This we cannot allow him to do.
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We need to realize that
all of the angels of heaven
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are at our disposal; that
God will move heaven and earth
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to save the repentant
sinner who takes Him at His word
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and acts in faith upon His word.
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If God would offer His only
Son to save us, there is nothing
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that He would withhold from us
for the salvation of our souls.
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There is no sincere
prayer that He would not answer.
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He yearns for the repentant
sinner to yield his life to Him.
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He longs for you and me to
make a decision to follow Him.
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God says it this
way in Jeremiah 29:11:
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Yes, God has a plan for your
life, and He has an expected end
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for each and every one of us.
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And that expected end
is for us to spend eternity
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with Him in heaven
and on the earth made new.
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Speaking of heaven and the
new earth, when we by faith
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take God at His word, this
is what we have waiting for us
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and it's found
in Revelation 21:1-7
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which reads the following:
And I saw a new heaven
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and a new earth: for the
first heaven and the first earth
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were passed away; and
there was no more sea.
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And I John saw the holy
city, new Jerusalem, coming down
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from God out of
heaven, prepared as a bride
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adorned for her husband.
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And I heard a great
voice out of heaven saying,
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Behold, the tabernacle of God
is with men, and he will dwell
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with them, and they shall
be his people, and God himself
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shall be with
them, and be their God.
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And God shall wipe away
all tears from their eyes;
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and there shall be no
more death, neither sorrow,
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nor crying, neither
shall there be any more pain:
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for the former
things are passed away.
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And he that sat upon
the throne said, Behold,
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I make all things new.
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And he said unto me,
Write: for these words
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are true and faithful.
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And he said unto me, It is done.
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I am Alpha and Omega,
the beginning and the end.
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I will give unto him that
is athirst of the fountain
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of the water of life freely.
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He that overcometh shall inherit
all things; and I will be
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his God, and he shall be my son.
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Isn't that a beautiful thought
to leave you with, friends?
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He will be our God and
we shall be His children.
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May God's rich blessings be
upon you and your loved ones
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as you find
yourselves walking with Jesus.
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Walking with Jesus is the most
rewarding thing a person can do.
00:13:41.35\00:13:48.89
In Him we find eternal life.
00:13:48.92\00:13:51.69
We pray you draw
close to Jesus each time
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as you study the Bible.
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Join us again for our next
program where you will learn
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how to be a disciple of Jesus.
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