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We've all been hurt. We all carry scars. We can all overcome these things and be

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healed through a relationship with Jesus Christ. Let's build that relationship

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together right here. Welcome to Healing Scars with Pastor Burton. Hey everybody

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and welcome back to the sanctuary. So good to have you here and for those of

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you joining us for the first time of course, welcome! Now you know in life

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we're all gonna get knocked down. In the end it is the Christian who is going to

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be able to get back up as well as be with the Father. The non-believer on the

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other hand, well they're gonna find themselves cast down to hell where not

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only will they not only be able to get back up but they're gonna be separated

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from the Father for all time. It is the Christian, the followers of Christ, the

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true believers who will not only be able to raise their hands but raise the hands

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in the Lord's glory because it is His glory and our hands are raised in praise

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of Him. At that time believers will be down. However it won't be involuntarily.

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It will be quite the opposite because it will be in gratitude and

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love as we kneel in praise of the Lord and all His glory. Now for those of the

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those of you out there who have your Bible with you and those of you who are

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reading a Bible in an app, go ahead open that up. Those of you taking notes, go

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ahead join me now. We're going into the book of Proverbs. Specifically we're

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looking at Proverbs 24 verse 16. Alright so Proverbs 24 verse 16. The Bible says

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for though the righteous fall seven times they rise again but the wicked

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stumble when calamity strikes. Now as Christians we need to work to

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persevere against evil and not to give in to the temptation of it because

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it is the evil who are ultimately going to go down and they're not just gonna

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go down but they're gonna go down hard. Alright they're not getting back up. For

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believers though getting back up is just part of the battle.

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The Bible has told us we're going to have struggles. We're going to have

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temptation. Life isn't always going to be easy. In fact the Bible tells that it's

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going to hurt. There's going to be pain. There's going to be fatigue and there is

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going to be suffering. There are going to be times when we fail to do what we

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want to do. There are going to be times when we fail so bad or things go so

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sideways that much like the prophet Elijah in 1 Kings chapter 19 verse 4

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we're just gonna want to lay down and die. However as the Bible tells us life

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knocked down. It's about getting back up. It is about rising up, turning to the

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Lord and allowing Him to be the overcomer in our lives. After all the

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victory is His. Now looking throughout history we see this as a rally cry. Even

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the Japanese know of this rally cry as a proverb. This old proverb is

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Nanakorobi yo-koi which translates to fall down seven times stand up eight and

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they're not the only ones. If you look throughout history you're gonna find

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something very similar if not the same words all throughout. Why? Well it's about

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not giving up hope. See people without hope those are the ones who stay down.

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But those who do have hope even in the face of overwhelming confrontation get

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back up. Not only that but they continue to strive for more. They continue to push

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forward. It means that your focus isn't just on that one thing that is in front

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of you right now. That one thing that's trying to hold you back that's just

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trying to beat you in the submission. Instead your focus is on something

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greater that may just be starting to become a reality or maybe it's not quite

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a reality yet. It is about resilience getting back in the fight. You don't give

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up and you keep moving forward one step one hit at a time. All right that's what

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it is to be a warrior and we're all warriors in God's army. We can't afford

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to give in to a victim's mentality. That is the hit that will keep us down.

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Turning to Isaiah chapter 6 verse 5. Isaiah 6 verse 5 the Bible says,

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Woe to me I cried, I am ruined, for I am a man of unclean lips and I live among a

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people of unclean lips and my eyes have seen the King the Lord Almighty. The

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enemy fights dirty and he's tried to rig the fight. He has. You know some of you

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may have even heard the term you know there's no such thing as a clean fight

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and that's why. It's you know it's enough to bring each of us to our knees.

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To our knees. Isaiah upon seeing the Lord and hearing the angels he realized

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that he was a sinful person. He was a sinful man and an unclean creature that

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didn't deserve to be loved. However God's love for us outweighs that. God loves us

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and he has told us that he's already won the war. We just have to

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we just have to persevere through the battles. The war is already won. For Isaiah

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when we continue on into chapter 6 verses 6 & 7 God sent a seraphim to

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comfort him and let him know that his sins had been forgiven. Going back to

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Elijah the father sent an angel to not only comfort him but to care for him

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while he dealt with his frustration and his depression. To coach him you know

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hey get back up get back in the fight. Bring him that comforts like hey you got

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this you're doing you're doing better than you think come on you got this get

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back to your feet you're good you're good. God's gonna do the same for us. So

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while we may mentally you know mentally have that thought process that

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temporarily says woe is me we can't live there. We have to get back into the fight.

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Alright that angel it was there you know I you know I said you know it's

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saying hey get back in the fight it wasn't literally saying hey get back in

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the fight instead it was comforting him. Alright why because that's what he

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needed that's what a lot of us need from time to time because we get knocked down

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to our knees but I'll remind you it is when we are on our knees that we are the

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most powerful because that is when we should be praying speaking to the father

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our ultimate coach in the fight right. Unfortunately the world is going to tell

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you differently. We started to talk about this before last week you know that

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victim those victims of a you know those people have that victims mentality I

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should say you know victims mentality it's a real thing and the world's

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getting caught up in it you know let's look at Jonah. Jonah had this mentality

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Jonah you start off you know in chapter 1 verses 1 through 3 the Bible tells us

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that matter of fact the Bible says the word of the Lord came to Jonah son of

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Amitai go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it because its

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wickedness has come up before me.

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But Jonah he ran he ran away he ran from the Lord and he headed for Tarshish he

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went down to Joppa where he found his ship bound for that port after paying

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the fare he went aboard sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord see Jonah

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didn't like what the what the Lord told him to do what the father told him to do

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so he ran he screwed up and split instead of facing the music and doing

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the right thing he endangered others in the process

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once he realized that this is what he did he said you know what look look what

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he did here he decided it was time to die sound familiar look at Jonah 1 verse

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12 the Bible tells us that he says pick me up and throw me into the sea he

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replied and it will become calm I know that this is my fault and this great

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storm has come upon you he'd rather sacrifice himself than face God he just

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the same as the problem he just wants to die at this point yes he wants to make

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sure that these sailors don't die because of his actions but does that

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make this a noble death well no he's far from it because in spite of what the

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Lord or because of what he's doing in spite of what the Lord has told him to

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do so Jonah ultimately goes overboard he goes in the drink spend some time in the

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belly of a fish we see that in chapter 2 here Jonah chapter 2 and you know we've

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talked about this before but remember it says the belly of the fish was this a

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whale we don't know so don't get caught up in that you know the Bible tells us

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don't add don't take away you know could it have been sure maybe not we don't

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know maybe this was a one-off maybe this was you know a creature that God created

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for this one-off thing that would disappear as soon as the task was done

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who knows we don't know and it doesn't matter at this point it doesn't take

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anything away or add anything to it because that part is not the important

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part by the time that the ordeal is done God has shown Jonah mercy and grace and

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he's vomited out of the fish back onto the shore all right now going back in of

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course I'm running through here kind of paraphrasing quickly for time's sake

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today but Jonah chapter 3 we go under verses 1 & 2 and the Bible says the word

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of the Lord came to Jonah a second time go to the great city of Nineveh and

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proclaim to it the message I give you this time it's a little different he

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listened and he went reluctant but he still went and he did what he was told

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to do this time he wasn't happy about it but he did it

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sorry about that guys still have a little bit of a cough here I'm trying to

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hit my mute button every time I cough so I don't blow out those ears hopefully

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this passes by the end of the week I know this kind of hitting hard last week

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too all right back into it here so again he was still very reluctant and he went

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off to do it so the Lord of the King sorry Jonah chapter 3 verses 1 through 2

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the Bible says then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time go to the

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great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you this time he

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listened like I said and the Ninevites were saved they were saved moving along

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in the Jonah chapter 4 verses 1 through 3 the Bible says but to Jonah this seemed

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very wrong and he became angry he prayed to the Lord isn't this what I said Lord

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when I was still at home that is what I tried to forestall by flinging the

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tarshish I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God slow to anger and

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abounding in love a God who relents from sin and calamity now Lord take my life

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away for is better for me to die than to live Jonah is still showing that he has

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that woe was me mentality that victims mentality he's telling God see I told you

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I told you this is gonna happen and he's back in that depressed state where he

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just wants to die again he's not seeing because he's blinded with his own sin

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and his own hate he's not seeing you know he's failing to reach out love as

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we've been commanded he's not loving his neighbor instead he has a very hateful

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hardened heart and because of that he's not able to see what God used him to

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accomplish he chose to remain an angry victim and we see that a lot in today's

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world people will get wound up over absolutely nothing they treat each other

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like garbage and then what happens they play the role of the victim they have no

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problem talking down to you or talking trash trying to make you feel bad but

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Lord help you if you even try to speak up for yourself that's just adding fuel

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to the fire and the whole time they're gonna play the role like oh no no I'm the

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victim here that's why I did what I did not the right thing not the right

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mentality which brings us to our next example in this case we see someone who

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has every reason in the world to develop that victim victims mentality to buy

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into it but instead he looks to God and keeps an attitude of guileness in it and

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that's Joseph we talked about him not that long ago if you recall Joseph's

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life played out much like that song tub thumping back in the 90s if you're not

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familiar with the lyrics the chorus said this I get knocked down but I get up

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again you're never gonna keep me down all right that sound familiar to anybody

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maybe maybe not very much this is a song about resilience and getting back in the

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fight that no matter how hard you're gonna get hit you're gonna get right back

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up and we see exactly that when we look at Joseph and he does it time and time

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again we look at you know we looked at his life not that long ago I'm sure you

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recall going all the way back to Genesis chapter 37 going through I believe it's

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47 took up a good section there we talked about him quite a bit but to

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refresh your memory Joseph you know he was a young kid he was ridiculed he was

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mocked by his brothers he's made fun of you know he wasn't treated very well and

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then he he had this dream that that you know God gave him this vision in a dream

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and so he went he shared it with his family and because of it his brothers

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plotted to kill him ultimately they decided against it you know they didn't

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want to have that kind of blood on their hands so instead they sold him into

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slavery and then at that point you know he's taken and those slavers they

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slip they sell him again and ultimately he becomes potter first slave potter for

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of course being a higher ranking you know military official and everything

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and so he's been at the bottom and he has to work his way up and he does

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exactly that you know what you know God he has favor in his life God God's

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blessed him and he works his way up to a point where he's entrusted with

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absolutely everything Potter for arms basically his right-hand man and not

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only that so he's successful but he's also you know good-looking which leads

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to potter first wife take an eye to him she liked him so check that man out so

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she she approaches him she puts the moves on him right she goes and she's

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psyche I'm gonna I'm gonna make you mine and he turns her away not only does that

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but he does it in the most honorable way he can he defends her husband who's not

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even there at the time and stayed loyal to God well you know this didn't happen

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just once it happened again and it really ticked her off she was pretty

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upset about it got very angry so she she made up a story and she lied she lied

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her keister off and what happened well he's knocked down again finds himself

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locked up in jail down hard this time right so he's locked up and yet what

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happens he gets back up and he works his way up again and he's entrusted with

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taking care of the jail he's back up and he's in the fight and the Lord smiled on

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him knocked down but back up again he stayed the course he kept moving forward

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he didn't develop a victim's mentality instead he trusted in God he trusted in

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the Lord and because of it the father smiled on him again and he began to rise

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up again ultimately he got out of jail because he's able to interpret the dream

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of the Pharaoh and everything and he rises up and he becomes the Pharaoh's

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number one guy number one guy rise all the way to the top even higher than

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Potiphar and in the process he didn't just save his own family but his entire

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you know people his nation from starvation and destruction even in

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reuniting with his brothers you know he could have lashed out he could have been

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you know a real real son of a gun about it but instead he stayed humble and

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loved on them as the father has told us all to do he stayed the course he did

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what he was told to do he kept taking that step making that jab you know those

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jabs when he's told to jab those uppercuts we still don't cut those

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ducks it's Bobbin and weaving he stayed in the fight he stayed faithful to the

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father he showed what having a faithful mentality is capable of which is so

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much more than what the world would tell you there's a musician out there Angie

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Rose she does a Christian hip-hop she puts it this way if today you are

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searching now that this very God named Jesus that took on the weight of sin and

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death so that we may be saved is still here for you the undefeated champion

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that beat death in three rounds three rounds being three days this same God is

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waiting for you with arms wide open the same way that they were on the cross but

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family he's not waiting in shame or in pain he is waiting and victory a victory

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he longs to share with you that's right three days three rounds is knocked down

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pretty hard and he showed us what it is to get back up he's provided us with the

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Holy Spirit to ensure that we're able to do the same 1st Corinthians chapter 10

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verse 13 1st Corinthians 10 13 the Bible says no temptation has overcome you

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excuse me no temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind and

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God is faithful he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear but

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when you are tempted he will also provide a way out so that you can't

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endure it

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tempted here comes from the Greek and the Greek meaning is testing and tested

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and we are tested throughout our lives the way out that's the key piece of this

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that's that's how we that's how we pass the test it's not that we overcome it

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ourselves we don't that's what we Jesus did that for us but rather it's when we

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struggle when we're knocked down remember we're not knocked out some

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people act like babies are pretended they have been but we're not knocked out

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instead we have to refocus on Jesus let him overcome our battles remember he's

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the one in control not us him and trust in him to bring us through trust in him

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to overcome and bring us through

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remember we got to keep our eyes on him in the storm when he says come to me we

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focus on him and we go to him so when we take our eyes off of him and we start

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focusing on the whirlwind around us on the world that we start to fall back

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into the water you know just talking about this it reminds me of so many

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things in my life and for time's sake I won't dive into it I could I could write

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a novel you know but things you know there's things to me that that seems so

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simple but for others huge undertakings you see him in you see the struggle you

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know I've had my own but you know I want to listen people up some of the some of

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the things I've seen in my own life you know in boot camp we had a guy in my

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platoon he struggled with heights he was scared to death of heights I have never

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in my life up until that point or since then seen somebody so scared of heights

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and the rope climbs that was his kryptonite he'd get halfway up nowhere he

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was at panic and freeze one day he was almost to the top we thought for sure

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this is gonna be the day he's gonna kill this thing he's gonna do it he's going

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all the way instead he knows where he's at he has a firm grip and he looks down

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paralyzed in fear as soon as he did that he forgot what he was doing what he

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needed to do instead he started gripping this thing for dear life keep in mind we

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don't wear gloves when we do these things and eventually he was up there

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for so long he started losing his strength he lost enough of his grip that

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even though he was still trying to hold on he wouldn't gripping it with his feet

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the way he should and he ended up sliding back down that rope he lost a

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lot of skin from his hands in the process it was very painful it hurt for

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us to see it hurt for us to hear and it hurt him physically mentally spiritually

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knocked down but not out a couple weeks later his hands were healing up they're

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nice and taped up this time we'd seen him try to go up enough times that even I

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you know myself included all of us we really wanted to see him do it but did

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what did we think he was actually gonna do it we weren't holding our breath no

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so instead he said a little prayer kind of under his breath and then he went up

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that rope like we had never seen him do before like he had never done before and

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this time he conquered it he got to the very top and he slapped that post for

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everything he was worth worked his way back down and every time after that he

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conquered it Jesus conquered it he said the little prayer he spoke to the father

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the father brought him through even later on going down going up and down

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the rappel tower afterwards was cake for this man now going forward a little bit

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going through the OC course that's oleoresin capsicum that's a the active

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ingredient in pepper spray so I'm talking about pepper spray here not mace

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totally different thing pepper spray big difference this is another place where I

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saw people struggle now I'm not saying it was a walk in the park far from it

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far from it was not it's not a not a great day for any of us okay but seeing

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how some people reacted to being sprayed and still having to go through this

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obstacle course in some cases some cases we'd have to pick them up and carry them

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from station to station because they were just so incapacitated we had to

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work together to make sure everybody made their way through one way or another

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but it puts things into perspective a lot of times in life we get knocked down

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but we're not knocked out down but not out the Lord lifts us up as we as we

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carry each other through faith you know there's there's so many places in the

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Bible you know a big one when it comes to this kind of thing people like to

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talk about job Joe wasn't the only one there's so many out there even Gideon

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Gideon we've been knocked down he didn't believe it he starts to get back up

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what's happens his people you know he has an army to command and it gets knocked

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down that 300 you know job who lost everything say you know you sitting

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there he's on top of the world he's he's a wealthy man he's married he has kids

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and then what happens here comes somebody hey sorry your kids over here

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died oh sorry your kids all of his kids were taken from him this property was

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taken from him you know the devil did his absolute worst to try to take him

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out right ultimately God blessed him you got his back right the point the point

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here is sometimes life really sucks you know it beats us down but it's all the

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better reason to stay in the fight we should all be starting the day in a way

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that when our feet hit the deck the devil goes aww crud not this guy again

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so you're gonna get hit I'm gonna get we're all gonna get hit those hits are

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going to just keep on coming some of them are really gonna hurt some are gonna

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knock you down but Jesus loves you he has a plan for you trust in him and

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you're not just going to get through the struggles you're dealing with but you're

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going to triumph in the face of the enemy Marine Corps yeah we have a saying

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pain is weakness leaving the body and it's that reminder question isn't how

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much you can take but how much more you can give just when you're ready to quit

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when your mind says I'm done you have to tell it to push harder you have to start

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ignoring what your body is telling you and look for that inner strength look

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for the Holy Spirit in you reach down and find that intestinal fortitude to

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get that strength that just wasn't there before and start pushing forward and

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hitting back and that that's when you discover you no longer feel the pain

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you no longer feel those things that were holding you back you get that

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second wind a second win we when you're telling you're telling your body you're

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telling yourself like hey you're not done yet get back in there and that comes

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when we get broken down why because that's when we start praying hey Lord

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help me Lord help me Lord help me and eventually we get pushed to that point

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where that inner strength comes in because we're no longer operating on our

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own strength we're no longer operating on the way we see things the way we feel

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about things the way we think about things instead we're focused and we're

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pushing through we're persevering because the Lord is carrying us through

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you can do this you've got this there's going to be struggles in life anyone who

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says otherwise doesn't know what they're talking about sometimes you need to

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reach out and talk to someone that's okay too that's not weakness that's

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strength but underneath it all make sure you're praying as well talk to the

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father because he's the one who provides that strength to get you back in all

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right that's what I got for you guys this week remember you are blessed go

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and be a blessing go and be the church I want to thank you for joining us today

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if you have any questions prayer requests or would like to know more about

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our ministry you can find us on our website at be the light sanctuary org or

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on Facebook at be the light sanctuary we'll catch you next time God bless