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Transcript

Fear Pt. 2 · Time with God with John North

0:05
Speaker 1: Good morning. I hope your Tuesday is starting well, and
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Speaker 1: we want to start it the best way possible, and
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Speaker 1: that is by taking some time with God.
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Speaker 1: God is here. He's here with me as I'm in
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Speaker 1: the studio, and He's there with you as you're listening
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Speaker 1: wherever you are, whatever you're doing. He is there with you.
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Speaker 1: That shouldn't scare you. It should encourage you because He
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Speaker 1: is someone who loves you dearly. We're talking all this
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Speaker 1: week about fear.
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Speaker 1: And how to respond to fear in our lives, and
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Speaker 1: we've said that fear is the terrified anticipation of calamity.
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Speaker 1: And that we fear what will happen in a situation
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Speaker 1: because we view the possibilities of today and tomorrow as
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Speaker 1: if God were not on our side. Well, I want
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Speaker 1: to go back to the story in the book of
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Speaker 1: Exodus in the Bible that we started reading yesterday. The
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Speaker 1: people of Israel have been slaves in Egypt for 400 years.
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Speaker 1: God has sent Moses to bring them to freedom.
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Speaker 1: Pharaoh has let them go and then he's changed his mind.
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Speaker 1: The people of Israel are already a long way out
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Speaker 1: of Egypt where they were, and Pharaoh is chasing them
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Speaker 1: down with all of his horses, his chariots, his army,
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Speaker 1: and Pharaoh catches up and the people of Israel are terrified.
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Speaker 1: They're very afraid. They accuse Moses, you've done such a
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Speaker 1: stupid thing bringing us out into the wilderness to leave Egypt,
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Speaker 1: we're just gonna die now.
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Speaker 1: Moses says to them, Fear not, stand firm and see
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Speaker 1: the salvation of the Lord which He will work for
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Speaker 1: you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you
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Speaker 1: will never see again. The Lord will fight for you,
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Speaker 1: and you have only to be silent.
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Speaker 1: Now I wonder in your life.
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Speaker 1: What is causing you fear today? Something to do with
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Speaker 1: your relationships?
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Speaker 1: Something to do with the economy or with COVID.
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Speaker 1: Or with things happening in the news, things happening in
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Speaker 1: your workplace, things happening in your family, I don't know what.
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Speaker 1: But is there fear in your life today? Well, listen
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Speaker 1: to what happened. The Lord said to Moses, Why do
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Speaker 1: you cry to me? Tell the people of Israel to
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Speaker 1: go forward, lift up your staff, stretch out your hand
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Speaker 1: over the sea, and divide it as if that were
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Speaker 1: something he would do every day.
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Speaker 1: That the people of Israel may go through the sea
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Speaker 1: on dry ground, and I will harden the hearts of
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Speaker 1: the Egyptians so that they shall go in after them,
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Speaker 1: and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his hosts,
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Speaker 1: his chariots, and his horsemen, and the Egyptians shall know
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Speaker 1: that I am the Lord when I have gotten glory
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Speaker 1: over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.
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Speaker 1: Then the angel of God who was going before the
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Speaker 1: host of Israel moved and went behind them, and the
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Speaker 1: pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them,
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Speaker 1: coming between the host of Egypt and the host of Israel,
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Speaker 1: and there was the cloud and the darkness, and it
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Speaker 1: lit up the night without one coming near the other
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Speaker 1: all night.
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Speaker 1: Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and
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Speaker 1: the Lord drove the sea back by a strong east
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Speaker 1: wind all night and made the sea dry land, and
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Speaker 1: the waters were divided, and the people of Israel went
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Speaker 1: into the midst of the sea on dry ground.
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Speaker 1: The waters being a wall to them on their right
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Speaker 1: hand and on their left, the Egyptians pursued and went
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Speaker 1: in after them into the midst of the sea, all
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Speaker 1: Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, and his horsemen.
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Speaker 1: And in the morning watch, the Lord in the pillar
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Speaker 1: of fire and of cloud looked down on the Egyptian
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Speaker 1: forces and threw the Egyptian forces into a panic, clogging
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Speaker 1: their chariot wheels so that they drove heavily, and the
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Speaker 1: Egyptians said, Let us flee from before Israel, for the
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Speaker 1: Lord fights for them against the Egyptians.
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Speaker 1: And the Lord said to Moses, Stretch out your hand
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Speaker 1: over the sea that the water may come back upon
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Speaker 1: the Egyptians, upon their chariots and their horsemen. So Moses
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Speaker 1: stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea
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Speaker 1: returned to its normal course when morning appeared. And as
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Speaker 1: the Egyptians fled into it, the Lord threw the Egyptians
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Speaker 1: into the midst of the sea. The waters returned, covered
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Speaker 1: the chariots and horsemen.
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Speaker 1: All the host of Pharaoh that had followed them into
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Speaker 1: the sea, none of them remained, but the people of
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Speaker 1: Israel walked on dry ground through the sea, the waters
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Speaker 1: being a wall to them on their right hand and
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Speaker 1: on their left. Thus, the Lord saved Israel that day. Well,
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Speaker 1: trusting God and seeing Him come through for you.
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Speaker 1: It is like building up immunity to the disease of fear.
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Speaker 1: Whatever you're facing today, trust God and move through it,
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Speaker 1: and you'll see God getting involved in a way that
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Speaker 1: will give you great confidence the next time fear rears
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Speaker 1: its head.
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Speaker 1: I'm John North.
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Speaker 2: To go deeper in your faith, visit AFCI.com.au.