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

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