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Transcript

Do You Feel as Beaten Down as I Do? · Kate’s Devotional Podcast

• 0:06
  SPEAKER_00: Hi, I'm Kate Dresden, and welcome to Kate's devotional podcast.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_00: I drop my podcast every Wednesday.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_00: It's always a five-minute or less devotional to bring you encouragement as we try
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_00: to live our lives according to the Bible.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_00: So glad you're here.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_00: The day I was writing this devotional,
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_00: I'd been listening to a Christian news program in the car,
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_00: and I felt so depressed by all the stuff happening in our nation,
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_00: but also in the world.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_00: So I do what I do.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_00: I sat down to write.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: So this is what I wrote.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_00: Today,
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  SPEAKER_00: I'm discouraged,
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_00: disappointed,
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  SPEAKER_00: and dismayed as I watch our nation disintegrate and our world become unrecognizable.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_00: Because it's heavy.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_00: The stuff we are facing is tough.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_00: And the news is coming at us so fast, it's hard to keep up sometimes.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm someone who likes to follow what's happening,
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_00: not just in the United States,
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_00: but other countries too.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_00: Some days I just feel like it's too much.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: I shut off the newscast before it was done just to take a break.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_00: I do that sometimes.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_00: I can't remember a time in my life where I literally had to take a break from a newscast.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_00: But recently it's been happening.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_00: I figure I'll catch up.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_00: I do most of my, get most of my news by reading anyway.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_00: But maybe you can relate.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_00: I think it feels like we're on a spinning carnival ride stuck on the fastest setting.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_00: and how I wish I could just get off.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_00: Well,
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: second Timothy chapter three verses one through five,
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_00: they tell us exactly how it's going to be in these last days.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_00: And spoiler alert, it's not good.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_00: The evil in this world, it creates a heavy weight in the Christian's heart, I think.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_00: What do we do?
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I think we keep our focus on God.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_00: And I think we have to guard our hearts.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: make sure we're listening to god and not anything else of the world because we
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_00: can't throw in the towel and we can't stick our heads in the sand and pretend these
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_00: things aren't happening honestly i think that's how a lot of people are coping
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_00: right now i think we need to serve the lord until he comes we need to be busy about
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_00: our father's business and that looks different for each christian i believe we have
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_00: to be obedient to whatever he's called us to do
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_00: God has used Christians like you and me in each generation.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_00: Just everyday people who faithfully serve and stand up for what we believe.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_00: It wasn't just Queen Esther in her time or Moses in his time or Apostle Paul in his time.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_00: It's you and me.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_00: And we're here in 2024 for such a time as this.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_00: We aren't alive today for no reason.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_00: God has a plan for you and we're living it right now.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_00: So let's be faithful in doing whatever God has called us to do.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_00: I believe if we don't pass away before, we'll be taken in the rapture.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_00: And the Bible explains how it's all going to go down for believers.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm going to read the passage in 1 Thessalonians 4,
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_00: verses 16 and 17 out of the New King James Version.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_00: I love that.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_00: So when times of fear and uncertainty invade our thoughts or overtake our hearts,
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_00: we've got to focus on our eternal future with God.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_00: That's going to help us.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_00: John 14, 1 through 3 says, Let not your heart be troubled.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_00: You believe in God, believe also in me.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_00: In my Father's house are many mansions.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_00: If it were not so, I would have told you.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_00: I go to prepare a place for you.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_00: And if I go and prepare a place for you,
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  SPEAKER_00: I will come again and receive you to myself,
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  SPEAKER_00: that where I am,
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_00: there you may be also.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_00: So my friends, my fellow believers, be encouraged, be excited, but most of all, be ready.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_00: Make sure that you're right with the Lord, because no one knows when their last breath will be taken.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_00: Friends,
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_00: may the Lord encourage our hearts today and provide the strength we need to serve
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_00: him until he comes to get us.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_00: If you want more of my podcasts or written devotionals,
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_00: you can check out my free Substack account at kdreston.substack.com.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_00: Make it a great day, and thanks for listening.