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Abraham and Sarah's New Life - The Book of Genesis · Bible in a Year with Jack Graham

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  Speaker 1: And the Lord visited Sarah as he had said, and
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  Speaker 1: the Lord did unto Sarah as he had spoken. Genesis
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  Speaker 1: 21.1 My God, the Master of Time Through today's reading
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  Speaker 1: of Genesis 18, I now make the declaration that I
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  Speaker 1: will not become a victim of time. I will not
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  Speaker 1: go another moment believing that the best of my life
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  Speaker 1: is behind me. or that I missed my opportunity to
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  Speaker 1: become what you've called me to become. Instead, I will
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  Speaker 1: look to Abraham and Sarah and see your hand move
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  Speaker 1: outside the confinements of man and create something supernatural. Today,
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  Speaker 1: I declare that it's not too late. Today, I declare
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  Speaker 1: that I will give birth to my dreams. Today, I
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  Speaker 1: declare that God has the final say. I will not
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  Speaker 1: look to others or to my circumstance to determine if
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  Speaker 1: my breakthrough can occur. Through Christ, my answer is yes
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  Speaker 1: and amen. So if God said it, I choose to
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  Speaker 1: believe it, and that settles it. Thank you for my
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  Speaker 1: new season and for the birth of what's next. My
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  Speaker 1: new life is upon me, and I will not laugh
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  Speaker 1: but rejoice. in the impossible becoming possible. Time is on
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  Speaker 1: my side. In Jesus' name, amen. Thanks for making prayer
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  Speaker 1: a priority in your life. To hear the Bible come
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  Speaker 1: to life, stay tuned for The Bible in a Year,
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  Speaker 1: brought to you by BibleInAYear.com.
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  Speaker 2: Abraham and Sarah's New Life Before this story, we learned
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  Speaker 2: about Abram and Sarai's slow descent into madness from impatience
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  Speaker 2: with God's promises. Per Sarai's request, Abram slept with her
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  Speaker 2: servant to have a son, Ishmael. In doing so, they
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  Speaker 2: took the promises of God in their own hands and
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  Speaker 2: furthered their dysfunction and woes. Now, we will learn about
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  Speaker 2: how God still makes promises despite their disobedience. As God
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  Speaker 2: blessed them, He changes their names as inspired by the
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  Speaker 2: book of Genesis.
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  Speaker 3: Hello, I'm Pastor Jack Graham with today's episode of the
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  Speaker 3: Bible in a Year podcast. Yesterday, we learned that despite
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  Speaker 3: Abram and Sarah's impatience with God and lack of faith
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  Speaker 3: in His plans, God reaffirmed His promise to give them
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  Speaker 3: a child that would bless the nations. Their sin wasn't
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  Speaker 3: without consequence, of course, and as we join them in
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  Speaker 3: today's story, it has been over a decade since Hagar
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  Speaker 3: bore Ishmael. Throughout the Bible, we see examples of God
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  Speaker 3: giving people new names to signify a new start and
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  Speaker 3: a fresh identity. This is what we find here with
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  Speaker 3: God once again reassuring Abram and Sarah of His covenant
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  Speaker 3: and now giving them new names, Abraham and Sarah. So
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  Speaker 3: the theme of new beginnings is clear with the outset here,
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  Speaker 3: but there are other themes to pay attention to. You
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  Speaker 3: will see also how it is okay to question God
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  Speaker 3: in faith when we have doubts and even when we
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  Speaker 3: wonder out loud or if he is able to deliver
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  Speaker 3: on a promise. Faith and questions can exist in the
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  Speaker 3: same mind and hearts without nullifying each other. You will
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  Speaker 3: find this in today's story. We'll also see that God's
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  Speaker 3: blessings are not limited. They are often different in nature
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  Speaker 3: from one person to the next, but God has no
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  Speaker 3: shortage of blessing to give to those who trust in Him.
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  Speaker 3: And finally, today's story will mark an important step forward
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  Speaker 3: in enacting God's plan to save the world through the
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  Speaker 3: sacrifice of one of Abraham's descendants. Now, let's get to
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  Speaker 3: today's story of new life and reaffirmed covenant.
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  Speaker 2: Abram and Sarai following their shameful attempts to fulfill the
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  Speaker 2: will of God themselves, had waited thirteen years. They were
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  Speaker 2: both growing old, and their already small chances of being
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  Speaker 2: able to have children were all but lost. Abram was
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  Speaker 2: ninety-nine years old. Yet God is not a God to
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  Speaker 2: fail on his promises. God spoke again to Abram, saying,
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  Speaker 2: I am the Almighty.
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  Speaker 3: Walk with me.
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  Speaker 2: Be blameless, and I will make my covenant between us,
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  Speaker 2: and I will multiply you greatly. Abram, in prayer to God,
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  Speaker 2: prostrated himself in the dirt. Face down on the ground,
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  Speaker 2: Abram responded to God, broken and discouraged. God continued, saying,
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  Speaker 2: My covenant is with you, and you shall be the
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  Speaker 2: father of many nations. Behold, no longer shall your name
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  Speaker 2: be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, because
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  Speaker 2: I have made you a father of all nations. My
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  Speaker 2: promise to you will last for thousands of generations, an
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  Speaker 2: everlasting covenant. I will be God to you and all
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  Speaker 2: your offspring. Abraham looked to heaven. God had promised him
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  Speaker 2: again that he would provide him a namesake, and through
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  Speaker 2: him all nations would be blessed. God knowing that Abraham
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  Speaker 2: needed reassuring, spoke again. My promises are true, you will see.
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  Speaker 2: But first, your promise to me must be made. Go
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  Speaker 2: and circumcise yourself and all the men in your family.
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  Speaker 2: This will be a sign of our covenant, that you
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  Speaker 2: will be mine and I will be yours. From now on,
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  Speaker 2: when a baby boy is eight days old, you will
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  Speaker 2: circumcise him. Any male who is not circumcised will be
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  Speaker 2: estranged from the people of God, since he has broken
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  Speaker 2: my promise with you. God also spoke of Sarai, saying,
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  Speaker 2: As for your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai,
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  Speaker 2: but Sarah. I will bless her abundantly, and I will
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  Speaker 2: give you two a son, and you will call his
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  Speaker 2: name Isaac. I will bless her, and she shall the
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  Speaker 2: mother of nations to come. Abraham fell on his face again,
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  Speaker 2: but this time it was not in worship. Abraham laughed
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  Speaker 2: at the notion of his wife giving birth in her
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  Speaker 2: old age. He said to himself, Shall a child be
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  Speaker 2: born to a man who is a hundred years old?
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  Speaker 2: Is my ninety-year-old wife going to conceive? Abraham trusted God,
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  Speaker 2: but saw plenty of reasons to doubt before him. This
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  Speaker 2: is the struggle of man with God, trusting him despite
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  Speaker 2: all circumstances, saying the opposite. Abraham looked to God and said,
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  Speaker 2: What of my son Ishmael? Could you just bless him instead?
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  Speaker 2: I doubt we will be able to have children. No,
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  Speaker 2: God said. But Sarah, your wife, shall bear you a son,
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  Speaker 2: and you shall call his name Isaac. I will establish
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  Speaker 2: an everlasting covenant with him, I will bless him and
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  Speaker 2: all the children beyond him. As for Ishmael, I have
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  Speaker 2: heard you. I have already blessed him and will make
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  Speaker 2: him fruitful. He shall be the father of twelve princes,
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  Speaker 2: and I will build a great nation through him. But
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  Speaker 2: I will establish my covenant with Isaac, and Sarah will
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  Speaker 2: bear him to you at this time next year. Abraham
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  Speaker 2: believed in God, though he did not completely understand Abraham
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  Speaker 2: and Sarah were victim to the time they felt slipping away.
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  Speaker 2: Mankind was not built to endure the entropy of age. Abraham,
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  Speaker 2: in faith, did as he was told. He circumcised his family.
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  Speaker 2: The tearing away of the foreskin was a symbol that
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  Speaker 2: Abraham's seed belonged to the Lord. It was a strange
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  Speaker 2: sacrifice with eternal and metaphysical meaning. Abraham and Sarah's family
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  Speaker 2: was blessed by God forever, and he carried them through
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  Speaker 2: all the strife of living. The whole world would soon
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  Speaker 2: come to know intimately Abraham's blessing from God. One day,
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  Speaker 2: the sacrifice of a descendant of Abraham would shower the
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  Speaker 2: entire earth with blessing. Yet for now, they waited on
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  Speaker 2: the Lord.
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  Speaker 3: As a result of their impatience and attempt to control
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  Speaker 3: the working out of God's plan, Abram and Sarah have
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  Speaker 3: suffered 13 years of waiting as we open today's story.
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  Speaker 3: Hagar has long since given birth to Ishmael, and God
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  Speaker 3: has reaffirmed that it will not be through him that
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  Speaker 3: he will deliver the promised blessing to the world. But
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  Speaker 3: Sarah and Abram are now old, and though they are
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  Speaker 3: still trusting God, the promise of Sarah getting pregnant seems minuscule.
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  Speaker 3: Did you notice that once again God makes a covenant
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  Speaker 3: with Abram? But this time there is a big difference.
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  Speaker 3: With the covenant comes a new name, a name that
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  Speaker 3: further solidifies the promise. Listen to Genesis 17 verses 4
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  Speaker 3: and 5 as God records the promise and the new
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  Speaker 3: name Abram receives. As for me, behold, my covenant is
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  Speaker 3: with you, and you will be the father of a
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  Speaker 3: multitude of nations. No longer shall you be named Abram,
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  Speaker 3: but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made
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  Speaker 3: you the father of a multitude of nations. He also
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  Speaker 3: gives Sarah's wife a new name, Sarah. God does not
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  Speaker 3: tire of reassuring those who trust in him. He knew
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  Speaker 3: Abraham and Sarah were weary. He knew they were holding
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  Speaker 3: onto something that from a human perspective seemed downright crazy,
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  Speaker 3: that an old man and an old woman would conceive
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  Speaker 3: and have a child. So God lovingly restated his promise
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  Speaker 3: and he gave them new names and a visible new
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  Speaker 3: sign of the promise, circumcision. This would be a constant
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  Speaker 3: reminder that God has set Abraham and his descendants apart.
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  Speaker 3: And although in his heart Abraham believed God and had
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  Speaker 3: faith in him, this story shows that it is possible
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  Speaker 3: to question God and wonder, honestly, how a promise will
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  Speaker 3: come about. It's not as though God does not know
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  Speaker 3: of these doubts. God can handle your questions. He can
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  Speaker 3: take care of your doubt, even your laughter at the
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  Speaker 3: seeming impossibility of his plans. He is pleased by your
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  Speaker 3: honesty and will comfort you as he did Abraham, even
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  Speaker 3: in the moments of doubt. So Abraham falls on his face,
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  Speaker 3: laughing at the thought of him and Sarah having children.
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  Speaker 3: God is not upset or angry. He once again confirms that, indeed,
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  Speaker 3: they will be the parents of a child. We even
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  Speaker 3: see Abraham trying to offer another alternative. Just use Ishmael
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  Speaker 3: to fulfill it, he suggests. Again, making a suggestion or
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  Speaker 3: an offer isn't offensive to God. It was when Abraham
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  Speaker 3: took things into his own hands without consulting God that
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  Speaker 3: problems arose. But God told him, no, I will do
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  Speaker 3: what I said. We also see here that God's blessings
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  Speaker 3: are not limited. He promises to bless Ishmael just in
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  Speaker 3: a different way. So Abraham demonstrates his faith with action.
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  Speaker 3: He circumcises the males in his household. And so finally,
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  Speaker 3: God gives Sarah and Abraham a son, Isaac. It is
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  Speaker 3: through Isaac that God will bring about his great redemptive plan,
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  Speaker 3: a perfect sacrifice once for all time. Holy God, your
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  Speaker 3: timing and your plans are perfect. And we thank you
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  Speaker 3: for this powerful story today that shows us just how
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  Speaker 3: true this is, that you keep your promises, just as
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  Speaker 3: you kept every promise to Abraham and his descendants. You
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  Speaker 3: are faithful to keep your promises to us through Jesus Christ.
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  Speaker 3: And we praise you for this, and we thank you.
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  Speaker 3: Help us to honestly always come before you, even in
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  Speaker 3: times of doubts and questions and fears and anxiety, and
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  Speaker 3: that we would trust you and trust ourselves to your
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  Speaker 3: loving care and for your assurance every day of our lives.
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  Speaker 3: In Jesus' name, amen. Thank you for listening to today's
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  Speaker 3: Bible in a Year podcast. I'm Pastor Jack Graham from Dallas, Texas.
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  Speaker 3: Download the Pray.com app and make prayer a priority in
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  Speaker 3: make a difference in someone's life. And if you want
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  Speaker 3: more resources on how to tap into God's Word for
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  Speaker 3: power in living the Christian life, be sure to visit jackgraham.org.
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  Speaker 1: This episode is sponsored by MediShare, an innovative healthcare solution
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  Speaker 1: for Christians to save money without sacrificing quality.