Latest / Challenges of Faith Radio Program / Where are U living today? Ep 3394

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Where are U living today? Ep 3394 · Challenges of Faith Radio Program

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  Speaker 1: Dear Heavenly Gracious God, we thank you for who you
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  Speaker 1: are and who you continue to be in each of
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  Speaker 1: our individual lives. Forgive us for each and every known sin, words, thoughts,
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  Speaker 1: or deeds. And we thank you for what Jesus Christ
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  Speaker 1: did at the cross of Calvary for.
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  Speaker 2: Each one of us.
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  Speaker 1: As we enter today's message, we ask you to allow
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  Speaker 1: your Holy Spirit to take it and make it real.
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  Speaker 1: Make it real unto the listener and continue to make
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  Speaker 1: it real for my individual life.
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  Speaker 2: In Christ's name we ask you and thank you. Amen.
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  Speaker 1: You know, well, first and foremost, welcome back to Challenges
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  Speaker 1: of Faith radio program. And thank you for joining here
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  Speaker 1: on episode 3394.
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  Speaker 2: But the story is told of a theologian who was.
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  Speaker 1: Coming back from abroad and on a ship. And they
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  Speaker 1: were anxious to get back to their family and their work.
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  Speaker 1: And the ship that they were on had left, and
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  Speaker 1: a lot of people were there greeting them and sending
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  Speaker 1: them off. And the ship was about three days out
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  Speaker 1: in the ocean, and all of a sudden it.
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  Speaker 2: Came to a halt.
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  Speaker 1: And the reason why it did is because they had
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  Speaker 1: a broken shaft, and before long it began to take water.
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  Speaker 1: And needless to say, the crew and passengers were desperate,
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  Speaker 1: and if I was on there, I don't know about you,
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  Speaker 1: I would probably be as well. But the reason was
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  Speaker 1: because nobody was sure whether the ship would sink or not.
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  Speaker 1: And nobody knew of any rescue ships in the area.
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  Speaker 1: So after two days of anxiety, the theologian asked for
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  Speaker 1: permission to hold a meeting. And to his surprise, nearly
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  Speaker 1: every passenger attended. And he opened his Bible to the
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  Speaker 1: favorite chapter and verse that I sometimes use, Psalm chapter 91.
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  Speaker 1: And holding to a pillar to steady himself, he read,
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  Speaker 1: He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most
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  Speaker 1: High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. Later,
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  Speaker 1: that theologian wrote that it was the darkest hour of
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  Speaker 1: his life, and relief came in prayer, that God had
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  Speaker 1: heard his cry and enabled him to say from the
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  Speaker 1: depth of his soul, Thy will be done. And then
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  Speaker 1: he went to bed and fell asleep almost immediately. Well,
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  Speaker 1: God did answer this prayer. And not only him, but
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  Speaker 1: I'm sure others who may have prayed and hopefully did.
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  Speaker 1: But God saved the ship and sent another ship to
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  Speaker 1: tow it to the port.
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  Speaker 2: And Psalm 91 became a new scripture to that theologian.
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  Speaker 1: And he discovered, as you and I must also discover,
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  Speaker 1: that the safest place in the world.
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  Speaker 2: Is in the shadow of the Almighty under his wings.
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  Speaker 1: He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most
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  Speaker 1: High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. He
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  Speaker 1: shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings
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  Speaker 1: shalt thou trust. So promises the Lord in Psalm chapter 91,
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  Speaker 1: verse 4 and verse 4. As I take a sip.
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  Speaker 2: Of my water.
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  Speaker 1: What's interesting is that the question is, what does God
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  Speaker 1: mean by the statement under his wings? And you know,
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  Speaker 1: of course, this is just a symbolic language because God
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  Speaker 1: doesn't have any wings.
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  Speaker 2: And then there are some that think.
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  Speaker 1: That this has reference to the way that the mother
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  Speaker 1: hen shelters and protects her brood. And you've got to
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  Speaker 1: remember now that our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, used
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  Speaker 1: a similar comparison when he said, how often have I
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  Speaker 1: gathered you as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings,
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  Speaker 1: and you would not. Now, if you ask me my conviction,
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  Speaker 1: my conviction is that Psalm chapter 91 is talking about
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  Speaker 1: another kind of wing. You remember how the Psalms began?
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  Speaker 1: He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High. Well,
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  Speaker 1: the question is, where is that secret place?
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  Speaker 2: Well, you know, to.
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  Speaker 1: Every Old Testament individual who is Jewish, There's only one
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  Speaker 1: secret place, the Holy of Holies.
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  Speaker 2: And the tabernacle.
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  Speaker 1: And you remember that the tabernacle was divided into three parts.
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  Speaker 1: You had the outer court, and that's where the sacrifices
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  Speaker 1: were offered. And then you have the holy place where
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  Speaker 1: the priests, they burned the incense. And then the Holy
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  Speaker 1: of Holies, where the Ark of the Covenant was kept.
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  Speaker 1: And then you've got to remember that over the Ark
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  Speaker 1: of the Covenant on the mercy seat were two cherubim,
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  Speaker 1: and their wings overshadowed the Ark. This is what the
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  Speaker 1: psalmist was referring to, I believe. The secret place is
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  Speaker 1: the Holy of Holies. And the shadow of the Almighty
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  Speaker 1: is under the wings of the cherubim at the mercy seat.
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  Speaker 1: You know what's interesting? In Old Testament days, no one
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  Speaker 1: was permitted to enter the Holy of Holies except the
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  Speaker 1: high priest. And then he could do it only once
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  Speaker 1: a year. And if anybody tried to force their way in,
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  Speaker 1: they were killed. But today, all of God's children, saved
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  Speaker 1: by faith in Jesus.
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  Speaker 2: Christ, can enter the Holy of Holies. Why? Because Jesus
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  Speaker 2: Christ has opened a way for you and you and
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  Speaker 2: you and me too.
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  Speaker 1: And when Jesus died on the cross, the veil in
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  Speaker 1: the temple was torn in two and the way was
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  Speaker 1: opened into the very presence of God.
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  Speaker 2: Think about it.
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  Speaker 1: You and I are privileged to dwell in the Holy
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  Speaker 1: of Holies. You know, to live under the shadow of
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  Speaker 1: His wings. We don't simply make occasional visits into God's presence.
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  Speaker 2: I hope you don't.
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  Speaker 1: We live there because of Jesus Christ. And the question is,
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  Speaker 1: would you believe if I told you that the safest
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  Speaker 1: place in the world is under a shadow? But you've
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  Speaker 1: got to keep in mind now, provided that the shadow
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  Speaker 1: is the shadow of the Almighty.
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  Speaker 2: Me?
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  Speaker 1: I'd rather be overshadowed by Almighty God than protected by
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  Speaker 1: the mightiest army in the world under His wings.
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  Speaker 2: This is the place of safety. Listen, my brethren, household
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  Speaker 2: of faith.
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  Speaker 1: As you read Psalm chapter 91, and I hope that
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  Speaker 1: you will, you're going to learn and discover that God
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  Speaker 1: makes some powerful promises to those who will live.
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  Speaker 2: Under his wings. I know you will.
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  Speaker 1: In the Holy of Holies, for one thing, he promises
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  Speaker 1: divine protection. Now, that doesn't mean that you and I,
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  Speaker 1: as followers of Jesus Christ, never experience accidents or sickness
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  Speaker 1: or pains.
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  Speaker 2: Because you know we do.
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  Speaker 1: God doesn't promise to protect us from trials, but protect
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  Speaker 1: us in the trials. Remember now, you hear me say,
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  Speaker 1: you're either in a trial, coming out of one, or
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  Speaker 1: waiting for one. But the danger of life, as we
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  Speaker 1: sojourn through this life, it may hurt you and I,
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  Speaker 1: but it's never going to harm us.
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  Speaker 2: Think about that.
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  Speaker 1: We can claim His promise that these things are working
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  Speaker 1: for us and not against us. Now, Think about one
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  Speaker 1: of the promises that he talks about in his word.
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  Speaker 1: He shall give his angels charge over thee to keep
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  Speaker 1: thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up
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  Speaker 1: in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against the stone.
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  Speaker 1: Think about how today's scientific world, they laugh at the
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  Speaker 1: idea of angels, but not the child of God. I
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  Speaker 1: know you're not laughing. Think about it. Our Savior taught
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  Speaker 1: that the angels of God watch over God's children. Now
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  Speaker 1: the angels don't run ahead of you and me and
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  Speaker 1: me and you and pick up the stones because sometimes
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  Speaker 1: we need those stones in the path to teach us
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  Speaker 1: to depend more on the Lord. But what the angels
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  Speaker 1: do is help us use the stones for stepping stones,
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  Speaker 1: not stumbling blocks.
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  Speaker 2: And I believe that when we get to heaven, we're.
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  Speaker 1: Going to find out how many times God's angels have
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  Speaker 1: washed over us and saved our lives. And this is
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  Speaker 1: not an encouragement to be careless or tempt God, but
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  Speaker 1: it's an encouragement to have less care and less worry.
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  Speaker 2: Think about it.
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  Speaker 1: It's as true today as it was when it was
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  Speaker 1: first said that a man or woman, a woman or
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  Speaker 1: man is immortal in the will of God until his
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  Speaker 1: work is done. Out of the will of God, there's danger,
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  Speaker 1: but in the will of God, there's divine protection that
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  Speaker 1: gives a man and woman, a woman and man peace
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  Speaker 1: in their heart, no matter how trying life may be.
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  Speaker 1: Think about it. Under his wings, In the secret place,
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  Speaker 1: the Holy of Holies, abiding in Christ, you already know.
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  Speaker 2: What I'm going to say.
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  Speaker 1: This is where you and I are safest during the
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  Speaker 1: storms of life. So please understand. We don't run into
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  Speaker 1: the Holy of Holies and hide from life. There's too
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  Speaker 1: many people running around misinterpreting the scriptures and the hymns
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  Speaker 1: that talk about hiding in God and finding Him a
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  Speaker 1: refuge in the storm. But we go in for strength
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  Speaker 1: and helping. And then we go back to life to
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  Speaker 1: do His will. Think about that. God's divine protection is
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  Speaker 1: not simply a luxury that you and I enjoy. It's
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  Speaker 1: a necessity that we want to share with others. But
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  Speaker 1: the question is, are you sharing it?
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  Speaker 2: Are you? Are you living in the shadow of the
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  Speaker 2: Lord under His wings?
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  Speaker 1: Have you trusted Christ as your Savior?
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  Speaker 2: Do you spend daily time in worship and prayer?
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  Speaker 1: I hope you do because the safest life and most
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  Speaker 1: satisfying life is under His wings.
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  Speaker 2: The person I know is you.
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  Speaker 1: Or you, or you, or you, who lives under his wings,
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  Speaker 1: not only enjoy the safest life possible, but also the
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  Speaker 1: most satisfying life possible. You know, when you look at
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  Speaker 1: Psalm chapter 91, it closes with this promise. With long
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  Speaker 1: life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation.
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  Speaker 1: And that doesn't mean that all believers of the household
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  Speaker 1: of faith is going to live to be 100, because.
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  Speaker 2: The facts prove otherwise.
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  Speaker 1: Think about all you have to do is look at
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  Speaker 1: the obituaries around the globe. Some die before the age
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  Speaker 1: of 30. But a long life refers to quality, not
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  Speaker 1: just quantity. It means a full life, a satisfying life,
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  Speaker 1: because you can live for 80 years and only.
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  Speaker 2: Be ready for it. Exist.
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  Speaker 1: If you leave Christ out, but on the other hand,
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  Speaker 1: if you surrender to him You can pour into 40
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  Speaker 1: years three or four lifetimes of service and enjoyment. And
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  Speaker 1: that's where the heart satisfaction comes from, only to those
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  Speaker 1: who live under his wings in the place.
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  Speaker 2: Of surrender and fellowship. Again, where are you living at
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  Speaker 2: today in your life?