Latest / Bible Chat Devotional / March 18 - The Power of Pause

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March 18 - The Power of Pause · Bible Chat Devotional

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  Welcome to Bible Chat, where we have devotional conversations
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  rooted in Scripture and relevant for today, March 18th.
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  The power of pause. Some of the greatest regrets in
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  life happen in a moment. A text sent too quickly.
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  A sharp response spoken in pride.
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  A reaction that felt justified in the moment but left damage
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  afterward. We live in a fast world that
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  rewards immediate reactions, but God often works in the space we
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  call waiting. There is strength in the pause.
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  Proverbs chapter 12, verse 16 says the vexation of a fool is
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  known at once, but the prudent ignores an insult.
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  That does not mean the prudent person never feels hurt.
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  It means they do not let every offense control them.
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  They are not ruled by emotion. They do not need to answer every
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  insult, defend every misunderstanding, or react to
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  every provocation. They have learned that restraint
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  is wisdom. Then in Job chapters 38 to 39,
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  God speaks to Job through the wonders of creation.
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  He points to mountain goats, deer, Ravens, the wildness and
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  order of the natural world. In all of it, God is saying,
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  look at my wisdom, look at my care, look at how much I govern.
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  That you do not even notice. That matters because when life
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  feels unfair or confusing, our first instinct is often to
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  react. We want immediate answers,
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  immediate justice, immediate relief.
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  But creation itself teaches us that God is not rushed.
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  He is attentive. He is wise.
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  He knows timing. He knows limits.
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  He knows what to do and when to do it.
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  The pause is not empty. The pause is where prayer
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  happens. It is where humility grows.
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  It is where anger loses some of its heat and truth becomes
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  easier to hear. Sometimes the holiest thing you
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  can do is stop before speaking. Stop before posting.
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  Stop before assuming, Stop long enough to ask, Lord, what would
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  honor you here? Not every battle needs your
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  reaction. Not every insult deserves your
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  energy. Not every feeling needs to
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  become a decision. God can do deep work in a heart
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  that learns to be still before Him, and maybe that is the word
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  for you today. Pause, breathe, pray.
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  Trust the God who governs creation to govern your
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  situation too. Let's pray.
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  Heavenly Father, thank you that you are wise, patient, and in
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  control. Help me not to be ruled by quick
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  reactions or wounded pride. Teach me the power of pause, the
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  strength of self-control, and the peace that comes from
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  trusting you. Give me wisdom to respond in
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  ways that honor you and bring peace instead of harm.
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  In Jesus name, Amen. What if the most important
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  question in your life deserves more than a shallow answer?
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  Does God Exist is a powerful, thought provoking series that
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  explores reality, meaning, and truth through reason, evidence,
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  human experience, and scripture without preaching pressure or
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  assumptions. Book 1, Something from Nothing,
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  confronts the mystery of existence itself and asks why
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  anything exists at all. Book 2, The Cause behind the
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  Cosmos, examines the origin of the universe and whether it
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  points beyond itself. Book 3, Design or Accident,
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  wrestles with order and complexity.
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  Are they products of chance or intelligence?
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  Book 4, The Moral Signature, explores why objective right and
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  wrong may require a source beyond human opinion.
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  Book 5, The God We Cannot Escape, considers conscience,
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  longing, and humanity's persistent awareness of God.
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  Book 6, From Reason to Revelation, asks whether the God
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  who exists would also speak. And Book 7, Denying God,
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  examines the internal tensions of unbelief and the deeper
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  implications of rejecting the divine.
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  Written in clear, accessible language for seekers, skeptics,
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  students, and curious minds, this series invites honest
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  reflection and careful thinking. If you're ready to explore the
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  question seriously, Order Does God Exist?
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  On Amazon or visit prayerscripts.org today.
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  Now I invite you to spend time with God in today's three-year
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  Bible reading plan. Proverbs Chapter 12, verse 16
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  World English Bible A fool shows his annoyance the same day, but
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  one who overlooks an insult is prudent.
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  Job Chapters 38 to 39, World English Bible Then Yahweh
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  answered Job out of the whirlwind.
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  Who is this who darkens counsel by words without knowledge?
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  Brace yourself like a man, for I will question you.
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  Then you answer me, Where were you when I laid the foundations
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  of the earth? Declare if you have
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  understanding, who determined its measures, if you know, or
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  who stretched the line on it, what were its foundations
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  fastened on, or who laid its cornerstone When the morning
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  stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
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  Or who shut up the sea with doors when it broke out of the
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  womb, When I made clouds its garment and wrapped it in thick
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  darkness, Marked out for it my bound, set bars and doors and
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  said, You may come here, but no further.
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  You're proud. Waves shall be stopped here.
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  Have you commanded the morning in your days, and caused the
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  dawn to know its place, that it might take hold of the ends of
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  the earth and shake the wicked out of it?
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  It is changed as clay under the seal, and presented as a garment
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  from the wicked. Their light is withheld, the
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  high arm is broken. Have you entered into the
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  springs of the sea, or have you walked in the recesses of the
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  deep? Have the gates of death been
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  revealed to you, or have you seen the gates of the shadow of
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  death? Have you comprehended the earth
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  in its width? Declare, if you know it all,
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  what is the way to the dwelling of light?
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  As for darkness, where is its place that you should take it to
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  its bound that you should discern the paths to its house?
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  Surely you know, for you were born then, and the number of
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  your days is great. Have you entered the storehouses
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  of the snow, or have you seen the storehouses of the hail
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  which I have reserved against the time of trouble, against the
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  day of battle and war? By what way is the lightning
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  distributed or the east wind scattered on the earth?
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  Who has cut a channel for the flood water, or the path for the
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  thunderstorm to cause it to rain On a land where there is no man,
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  On the wilderness in which there is no man to satisfy the waste
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  and desolate ground to cause the tender grass to grow?
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  Does the rain have a father, or who fathers the drops of dew?
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  Whose womb did the ice come out of?
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  Who has given birth to the grey frost of the sky?
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  The waters become hard like stone when the surface of the
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  deep is frozen. Can you bind the cluster of the
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  Pleiades, or loosen the chords of Orion?
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  Can you lead the constellations out in their season, or can you
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  guide the bear with her Cubs? Do you know the laws of the
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  heavens? Can you establish its dominion
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  over the earth? Can you lift up your voice to
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  the clouds that abundance of waters may cover you?
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  Can you send out lightnings that they may go?
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  Do they report to you? Here we are.
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  Who has put wisdom in the inward parts, or who has given
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  understanding to the mind? Who can count the clouds by
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  wisdom, or who can pour out the containers of the sky when the
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  dust runs into a mass and the clods of earth stick together?
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  Can you hunt the prey for the lioness, or satisfy the appetite
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  of the Young Lions when they Crouch in their dens and lie in
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  wait in the thicket? Who provides for the Raven his
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  prey when his young ones cry to God and wander for lack of food?
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  Do you know the time when the mountain goats give birth?
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  Do you watch when the dough bears fawns?
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  Can you count the months that they fulfill?
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  Or do you know the time when they give birth?
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  They bow themselves, they bear their young, they end their
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  labor pains. Their young ones become strong.
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  They grow up in the open field. They go out and don't return
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  again. Who has set the wild donkey
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  free, or who has loosened the bonds of the swift donkey?
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  Who's home? I have made the wilderness and
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  the salt land his dwelling place.
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  He scorns the tumult of the city.
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  Neither does he hear the shouting of the driver.
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  The range of the mountains is his pasture.
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  He searches after every green thing.
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  Will the wild ox be content to serve you, or will he stay by
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  your feeding through? Can you hold the wild ox in the
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  furrow with his harness, or will he till the valleys after you?
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  Will you trust him because his strength is great, or will you
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  leave to him your labor? Will you confide in Him that he
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  will bring home your seed and gather the grain of your
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  thrashing floor? The wings of the ostrich wave
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  proudly, but are they the feathers and plumage of love?
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  For she leaves her eggs on the earth, warms them in the dust,
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  and forgets that the foot may crush them, or that the wild
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  animal may trample them. She deals harshly with her young
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  ones, as if they were not hers. Though her labor is in vain, she
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  is without fear because God has deprived her of wisdom.
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  Neither has He imparted to her understanding.
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  When she lifts up herself on high, she scorns the horse and
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  his rider. Have you given the horse mite?
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  Have you clothed his neck with a quivering mane?
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  Have you made him to leap as a locust?
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  The glory of his snorting is awesome.
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  He pause in the valley and rejoices in his strength.
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  He goes out to meet the armed men.
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  He mocks at fear, and is not dismayed.
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  Neither does he turn back from the sword.
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  The quiver rattles against him, the flashing spear and the
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  javelin. He eats up the ground with
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  fierceness and rage. Neither does he stand still at
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  the sound of the trumpet. As often as the trumpet sounds.
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  He snorts. Aha.
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  He smells the battle afar off, the Thunder of the captains and
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  the shouting. Is it by your wisdom that the
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  hawk soars and stretches her wings toward the South?
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  Is it at your command that the eagle mounts up and makes his
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  nest on high on the Cliff? He dwells and makes his home on
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  the point of the Cliff and the stronghold.
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  From there he spies out the prey.
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  His eyes see it afar off. His young ones also suck up
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  blood. Where the slain aren't.
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  There he is. Thanks for joining us on Bible
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  Chat, where Scripture meets everyday life.
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  conversation. Until next time, stay rooted in
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  truth, anchored in hope, and walking daily with Jesus.