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Hagar and Ishmael - The Book of Genesis (2024) · Bible in a Year with Jack Graham

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  Speaker 1: Let us pray. And the angel of the Lord said
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  Speaker 1: unto her, Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear
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  Speaker 1: a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael, because the
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  Speaker 1: Lord hath heard thy affliction. Genesis 16.11 To my Lord
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  Speaker 1: and Savior, thank you that you are so many things
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  Speaker 1: in my life, and in this moment I choose to
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  Speaker 1: thank you for being a shield and a covering for
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  Speaker 1: my heart. May the cry of Hagar also serve as
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  Speaker 1: my cry when others seem to mistreat me, even when
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  Speaker 1: my heart is in the right place. When my good
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  Speaker 1: deeds go unnoticed like Hagar in Genesis 16, I will
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  Speaker 1: run to my place of refuge and seek your face
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  Speaker 1: with the full assurance that you are a good God.
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  Speaker 1: and that you have a love like no other for
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  Speaker 1: me and my heart. I rest in the finished fact
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  Speaker 1: that no matter what others do to me, I can
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  Speaker 1: walk with my head held high, because in spite of
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  Speaker 1: how I'm treated, you will elevate and vindicate my life.
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  Speaker 1: Thank you, God, that my story doesn't end with hurt,
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  Speaker 1: but begins with your goodness. In Jesus' name.
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  Speaker 2: Amen.
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  Speaker 1: Thank you for praying with me today. Continue listening for
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  Speaker 1: an incredible Bible story brought to you by BibleInAYear.com.
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  Speaker 3: Hagar and Ishmael. Before this story, we learned about the
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  Speaker 3: covenant God made to Abram. and a promise that his
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  Speaker 3: descendants would be as many as the stars in the sky.
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  Speaker 3: Abram showed faith, and God accounted it to him as righteousness.
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  Speaker 3: Now we will learn about the lack of faith Abram shows,
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  Speaker 3: and the birth of Ishmael inspired by the book of Genesis.
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  Speaker 2: Hello, I'm Jack Graham with today's episode of the Bible
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  Speaker 2: in a Year podcast. We've been looking at the life
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  Speaker 2: of Abram and God's promise to bless the world through him.
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  Speaker 2: But Abram wasn't the only one in that plan. His
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  Speaker 2: wife Sarah was to be the one to give him descendants.
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  Speaker 2: And today we'll take a look at her and the
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  Speaker 2: discouragement she and Abram felt as they continued to wait
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  Speaker 2: on a promise yet to be fulfilled. Sometimes the journey
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  Speaker 2: of faith feels like two steps forward, one step back.
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  Speaker 2: And today, we'll see how Abram and Sarah took a
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  Speaker 2: big step back, a step born out of impatience and
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  Speaker 2: a desire to do the work that only God could do.
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  Speaker 2: Once more, we'll see the devastating effects of wanting to
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  Speaker 2: be like God and of failing to take responsibility for sin.
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  Speaker 2: Listen to how God continues to patiently walk with Abram
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  Speaker 2: and his household, even in the midst of unfaithfulness. Abram's
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  Speaker 2: sin would not go without consequence. but God keeps his
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  Speaker 2: promise to never leave or forsake him. And then finally,
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  Speaker 2: pay attention to how God has compassion for those who,
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  Speaker 2: like Sarah's servant Hagar, are wounded by the sins of others. Now,
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  Speaker 2: here's today's story of Abram, Sarah, and Hagar, and Ishmael.
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  Speaker 3: Years had passed since God's promise to give Abram and
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  Speaker 3: Sarai descendants. So many years, in fact, that the possibility
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  Speaker 3: of child-rearing seemed far out of reach. After all God
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  Speaker 3: had promised, Abram and Sarai's hearts became discouraged. Out of discouragement, impatience,
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  Speaker 3: and uncertainty, the two decided to repeat the sins of
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  Speaker 3: their forefathers. They wanted to become like God. Sarai's impatience
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  Speaker 3: reeled within her. As Eve took the forbidden fruit, so
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  Speaker 3: she would become like God. So Sarai devised her own
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  Speaker 3: plan to replace God's plan. Go into my servant Hagar
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  Speaker 3: and have a child with her. I will claim the
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  Speaker 3: child as my own, she said. Abram, just as his
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  Speaker 3: ancestor Adam, did nothing to defend his wife's honor and integrity. Instead,
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  Speaker 3: he took the Egyptian maid servant to his bed, and
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  Speaker 3: the two embraced often, and had sex until a child
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  Speaker 3: was conceived. Given full permission by his wife, yet ignoring
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  Speaker 3: the call to be a better man, Abram went into
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  Speaker 3: her again and again, falling further from God's plan for him.
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  Speaker 3: When Hagar discovered she had conceived, she looked at Sarai
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  Speaker 3: with contempt. Her body had been used for the twisted
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  Speaker 3: desires of her insecure mistress, and there was anger and
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  Speaker 3: hurt because of it. Sarai, already feeling the shame welling
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  Speaker 3: up within her, lashed out at Abram. This wrong done
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  Speaker 3: to me is on your hands. I gave my servant
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  Speaker 3: for you to embrace. The second she conceived, she looked
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  Speaker 3: on me with contempt. God will judge you for this.
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  Speaker 3: The once noble and heroic Abram, now crestfallen and pitiful,
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  Speaker 3: pressed into his sin even more. She's your servant. Do
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  Speaker 3: to her as you please. As Adam once did in
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  Speaker 3: the garden, Abram refused any responsibility over his companion and
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  Speaker 3: allowed her heart to stray even further. Sarai abused her servant, Hagar.
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  Speaker 3: Her words and her fists oppressed her into a panic.
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  Speaker 3: Feeling like she had no other options, Hagar fled to
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  Speaker 3: the wilderness. Hagar ran until she found refuge by a
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  Speaker 3: spring There an angel of the Lord appeared to her, saying, Hagar,
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  Speaker 3: servant of Sarai, where did you come from, and where
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  Speaker 3: are you planning on going? Frantic, pregnant, and alone, she replied,
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  Speaker 3: I am fleeing from the oppression of my mistress Sarai,
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  Speaker 3: for she has become cruel. The Lord, with compassion and
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  Speaker 3: understanding in His voice, spoke clearly to her, Go back
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  Speaker 3: to your mistress Sarai. Submit to her. I, the creator
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  Speaker 3: of life itself, will multiply your descendants as well. He continued.
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  Speaker 3: You shall bear a son and call his name Ishmael,
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  Speaker 3: because I have seen your affliction and heard your cries.
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  Speaker 3: Your son will grow to be a wild and strong warrior.
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  Speaker 3: He will struggle, fight, and be beaten by many. The
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  Speaker 3: world will be against him, but I will bless him.
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  Speaker 3: and he will gain the respect of his people and
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  Speaker 3: rule over them. Hagar, having just been used by her
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  Speaker 3: master and mistress, finally felt some semblance of worth. She
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  Speaker 3: felt that God had truly seen her. So there at
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  Speaker 3: the spring, she gave a personal name for God, the
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  Speaker 3: God of seeing. She said, I have seen the God
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  Speaker 3: who looks after me. Hagar returned to Sarai and Abram,
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  Speaker 3: and bore a son just as God had said. She
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  Speaker 3: named him Ishmael, which means God hears. Abram was now
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  Speaker 3: 86 years old, and his unfaithfulness to God would not
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  Speaker 3: go without its consequences. Yet God's promise to bless Abram
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  Speaker 3: was not void, for he made a covenant to Abram
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  Speaker 3: and would not leave him or forsake him.
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  Speaker 2: Just yesterday, as we examined the story of Abram and Lot,
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  Speaker 2: it seemed God's chosen vessel for his great plan of
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  Speaker 2: redemption had learned his lesson. Abram was trusting God, seeking
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  Speaker 2: him continually and waiting patiently even when the promise seemed distant,
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  Speaker 2: even an impossibility. But time has passed as we reach
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  Speaker 2: today's story. Abram and his wife, Sarah, are growing impatient. Worse,
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  Speaker 2: they once again decide to take matters into their own hands.
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  Speaker 2: and made a plan of their own. Here's a powerful
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  Speaker 2: truth you need to hear. God invites us to be
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  Speaker 2: a part of his plan, but he doesn't need us
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  Speaker 2: to help him. When something isn't happening yet, it isn't
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  Speaker 2: because God can't do it or because he has forgotten
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  Speaker 2: his promise. God is simply working in his own perfect timing.
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  Speaker 2: Abraham and Sarah have forgotten that, forgotten the covenant that
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  Speaker 2: God had made, and they decided to act like God.
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  Speaker 2: Enter Hagar, Sarah's younger, fertile servant. If she can't have
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  Speaker 2: a baby, Sarah thinks her maidservant will do the job
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  Speaker 2: for her. But that wasn't God's plan. And when Hagar conceives,
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  Speaker 2: another character that we've seen before emerges, jealousy. Sarah now
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  Speaker 2: looks with jealousy on Hagar. Hagar, for her part, gets
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  Speaker 2: prideful and looks with contempt on Sarah, her mistress. But
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  Speaker 2: Abram is the wise hero of the story, right? Ha!
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  Speaker 2: He'll step in and acknowledge the error and seek reconciliation
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  Speaker 2: and forgiveness, right? Well, no, not this time. Abram, just
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  Speaker 2: as Adam did, shifts the responsibility off his own shoulders.
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  Speaker 2: He refuses the mantle of leadership in his family and
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  Speaker 2: tells Sarah to deal with her servant as she pleases. This,
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  Speaker 2: of course, doesn't go well. There's a relationship. stress and
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  Speaker 2: strife and separation all over the place. Hagar flees, feeling worthless.
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  Speaker 2: But the ever-caring and loving God seeks her out and
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  Speaker 2: comforts her. He promises that even though the son she
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  Speaker 2: is bearing is not the one chosen for God's ultimate
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  Speaker 2: plan of redemption and blessing, He will be a great man.
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  Speaker 2: Listen to these beautiful, comforting words God spoke to her
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  Speaker 2: through his angel. Genesis 16, 11. The angel of the
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  Speaker 2: Lord said to her further, Behold, you are pregnant, and
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  Speaker 2: you will give birth to a son, and you shall
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  Speaker 2: name him Ishmael, which means God hears, because the Lord
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  Speaker 2: has heard your affliction. When you are going through trials,
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  Speaker 2: through suffering, through disappointment, you can know too that God
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  Speaker 2: hears you. Your cries are not falling on deaf ears.
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  Speaker 2: God hears the cries of his children and cares deeply
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  Speaker 2: for you. Abram's lack of faith will leave long-lasting tragic consequences.
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  Speaker 2: Yet still, God renews his covenant and promises the blessing
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  Speaker 2: will come just as God had promised. He will not
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  Speaker 2: leave Abram. When your faith walk stumbles, God promises the
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  Speaker 2: same to you. He will not cast you out for
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  Speaker 2: your failures. In Jesus Christ, he will restore you and
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  Speaker 2: work his plan in your life for your good and
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  Speaker 2: for his glory. Heavenly Father, thank you for this story
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  Speaker 2: that shows your compassion for those who are hurting, for
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  Speaker 2: those who are confused, for those who are struggling. Thank
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  Speaker 2: you that we can know that you do in fact
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  Speaker 2: hear us and care for us as you did Hagar.
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  Speaker 2: And thank you that when we stumble and fail and fall,
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  Speaker 2: you remain with us. You have promised to never leave
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  Speaker 2: or forsake us. Your presence is always with us. Amen.
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  Speaker 2: Thank you for listening to today's Bible in a Year podcast.
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  Speaker 2: I'm Pastor Jack Graham from Dallas, Texas. Download the Pray.com
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  Speaker 2: sure to visit jackgraham.org. God bless.