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in the house of the Lord today.

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Thank you for worshiping him.

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For he truly is worthy.

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He is worthy.

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How many of you as myself,

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I've just been feasting on last week,

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all week, last Sunday morning, wow.

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The spirit of the Lord moved in a mighty, mighty way.

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I'm grateful for that move and thankful for that move.

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I'm gonna try my best to touch on some of that,

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that word that we just shared a little with you last week.

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We'll try to bring some of that to you today.

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Just a little change with our text though.

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We're gonna look at verse 35 through 39

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of the book of Romans, the eighth chapter.

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Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?

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Shall tribulation, distress, persecution,

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famine or nakedness or peril or sword?

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As it is written, for thy sake we are killed all the day long.

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We are counted as sheep for the slaughter.

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Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors

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through him that loved us.

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For I am persuaded that neither death nor life

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nor angels, principalities nor powers nor things present

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nor things to come nor height nor depth

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nor any other creature shall be able to separate us

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from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

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Challenging the status quo, Father we love you today.

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Thank you for your goodness and your mercy

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and I ask God that you'd have your way.

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Lord as your word is so rich and it is the bread of life,

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I ask God now that you'd have your way in our hearts

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as we have broken the bread, may our hearts and lives

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receive it for your glory and for the edification

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of the body.

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May we leave here different than we came.

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We love you and we thank you.

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In Christ's lovely name the church said amen and amen.

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You can be seated.

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As your neighbor, you ready to challenge the status quo?

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Amen.

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The eighth chapter of Romans is one of our favorites

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as believers, it's one of mine.

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Especially if you back up to that 28th verse,

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it gives me hope for all of the unexpected events of life

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where Paul would declare that all things work together

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for good, amen.

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That gives us a little hope, that gives me a little

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encouragement, that gives me a little something to stand on

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day by day when things are not so good, if you will.

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For us, every believer will face seasons of chaos

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from time to time in our life.

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Turmoil will find its way in our lives.

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There will even be times when we live life on the edge

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and we are desperately seeking rest and peace from the Lord.

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There are those days that we must have it.

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There are those days when we find ourselves in the company

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of old brother Job in the seventh chapter as he would write

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in that fourth verse, he said when I lie down I say

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when shall I arise and the night be gone and I am full

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of tossing to and fro unto the dawning of the day.

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We've all had those nights that before we were born

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you had those nights that before the sun went down

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you were already wishing that the night season

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would not come but the dawn would be the rising.

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You are dreading the midnight hour.

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I don't know why the devil loves to work the most

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at the midnight hour but that just seems to be when he

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thrives in the lives of people.

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It seems like when your children are young that the fever

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don't rise till about 1130.

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It's 99 and a half or 100 all day but about midnight

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she peaks out at about 103 and 104 and you're stressing

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through the night praying the grace of God, amen,

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finding the tine all, getting the moat from finding

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whatever you can get to get the fever down

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and it's in that midnight hour many times in the fever

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of life when it begins to rise.

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It's because this I believe it's because we are trying

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to put our minds at rest.

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We're trying to put our bodies at rest and the devil

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does not want your mind at rest and he doesn't want

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your body at rest so if he can torment you all night long

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and you get occupied during the day and you think

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everything's gonna be okay but when the darkness

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approaches and the midnight hour comes at the fourth watch

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if you will the enemy is doing his best to steal, kill

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and destroy and torment your mind but I'm here to tell

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you today that's not the plan of God or the will of God

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for your life, it's not torment.

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We know what Paul wrote to the young preacher Timothy,

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you've not been given the spirit of fear but you've been

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given power, you've been given love and you've been given

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the soundness of your mind so I'm here this morning

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to challenge the status quo when we understand the idea

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of status quo and what it's trying to bring into

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and through our lives it's a simple thing, status quo

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is the existing state of affairs.

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It may be good, it may be bad, it may be positive,

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it may be negative but it's the moment in which you're

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living and the state of affairs of your life

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and what you are dealing with, that is the status quo.

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It's what you're going to face in the immediacy

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of the moment, it's what the devil is throwing at you

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right now but I'm here to challenge the status quo,

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I'm here to challenge the state of affairs

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because I know in whom I believe, in whom I do trust.

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Is that not what we see written here in Romans

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when that challenge is there?

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I initiate that challenge if 28 is the mandate

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and the promise hanging over our life,

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if all things work together for good, I love it

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when Paul got on over just a little further

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and he declared then who shall separate us

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from the love of God and then he begins to go

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through the plethora of the list and he begins

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to lay things out of the existence, if you will,

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of the resistance in our life.

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Who shall separate us from the love of God?

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And he begins to make that wonderful loving list

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that gives me encouragement and lets me know

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that the chaos of the day, the status quo of the moment

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is not gonna be the final dictate of my life.

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Somebody needs to hear that today.

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Oh, and we can mind ourselves and take the words

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of scripture and say that we will press toward the mark

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for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

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And the only way you can press toward the mark

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for the prize of the high calling is if you take

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the front part of that verse and add it to your life,

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forgetting those things which are behind, I press.

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Forgetting what's behind me, I press.

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I am ignoring the status quo and the state of affairs.

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If the state of affairs and the status quo

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does not align to the dictates of the word of God

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for my life, then the status quo deserves to be challenged

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in the moment which I'm living because the challenge

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has already been mandated for all things work together

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for the good of those who love God and those who are called

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according to his purpose.

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If you've been called out of darkness

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into his marvelous light, you've been called to his purpose.

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And therefore, you have been gifted the ability

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to challenge the status quo because if God be for you,

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then who can be against you?

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I'm here today to challenge the state of affairs.

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I'm here today to challenge doctor reports.

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I'm here today to challenge all that the enemy

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comes against us with.

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Look, I may die from whatever they tell me I got,

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but it won't be because I don't challenge it.

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I know this body is subject to disease,

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but I also know this body is subject to the divine nature

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and the healing of Jesus Christ touch on it.

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So I challenge the status quo this morning.

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I know the devil's out seeking to kill, steal and destroy,

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but that's not the status quo at which I live by.

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Greater is he that is in me than he that is in this world.

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I challenge the status quo.

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Faith overcomes the status quo.

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don't just challenge the status quo it overcomes it Ronald Reagan defined status

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quo this way he said you know status quo is Latin for the mess we're in you know

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that right it's Latin for the mess we're in I thought that's pretty good you know

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we start scratching our head throwing words around like status quo what's

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that's what well it's just redneck use of the term it's the measure in but

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there's a promise for ever mess that we can find ourselves in and by virtue of

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there being a promise in the Word of God for ever miss that we can find

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ourselves in it brings the reality about in my life that I can challenge the mess

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that's before me I can challenge because when my mind is tormented and I feel

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like job you think about Joe and all that he had to deal with and all that

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he had to live through I'm not scraping bowls with pot shears I'm not sitting in

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an agony in my body I'm not sitting wondering about the the lives of my ten

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children that I had just lost I'm not worried because I'm broke busted and

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disgusted I'm not worried that my reputation has now been tainted job had

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all of these things come against him but in the midst of the status quo in the

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challenge of the moment that was before him he chose rather he chose rather to

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declare oh he and his wife so in despair she's saying job curse God and let's

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just give up and die but job had this wherewithal within him that he

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understood where the camels came from he understood where the donkeys came from

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he understood why he had so many sheep he understood why he had ten children he

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understood why he had it all he said honey we can't do that he said it's the

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Lord that kills and the Lord that takes away but I'm gonna find courage don't

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get quiet on me now my soul oh I can hear old Joe don't get quiet on me now my soul

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don't hush your voice now but I'm here to tell you the Lord gave it and the

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Lord takes it away but know this honey bless it be the name of the Lord how

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that's a challenge in the face of the status quo when your friends come to try

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to comfort you but yet they only bring you lower down it's there in the midst

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that God begins to speak he comes in the whirlwind and in the middle of the

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whirlwind he causes job to stand upon his feet he said stand up oh man of God

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it's time you challenge the status quo oh when it's misery he began to doubt

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some water and he began to challenge God with his condition and his position but

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in that challenge God showed up because job had been faithful oh it would be

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job who would declare with these eyes I shall see my Redeemer for I know that my

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Redeemer lives and my Redeemer will take care of me it's his confession there and

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God in the midst of the status quo of Job's life didn't want him to get too

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low so out of a whirlwind he comes to job and he said stand up job stand up

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like a man there'll be a whirlwind show up what you're at their lowest point of

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your life God will reveal himself and it's the job he begins to pose some

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questions he said where were you now sometimes we we wonder where God's at

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knowing I have I've wondered not so much about where he was at but when he was

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going to show up hello I know where he be he'd be on his throne high and lifted

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up but what I'm wondering about is when he coming to me oh come on to hell what

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I wondered about and worried about is when's he gonna show up for me in the

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midst of my status quo in the midst of the state of affairs in which I'm living

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or as President Reagan said in the middle of the mess that I'm in when are

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you coming down here oh I'm so grateful and so thankful for God he didn't let

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job get too far out and he's questioning but he stood up and questioned job where

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were you when I put all of this into existence where were you when I flung

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and cast the stars in the sky and I hung the earth on its axis and give her a

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spin and she still spin where were you when I did all these things but it's

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gonna be okay because I'm here now my my my my my hallelujah when you begin to

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put some things in perspective oh my lord we think that our problem is the

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biggest mountain in town God said I'm doing other things Joe I haven't

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forgotten you sometimes you got to walk by faith in the middle of your mess

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amen but you don't have to walk alone and know that you're not alone hallelujah

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you're not alone you've not been forsaken you've not been given up on so

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stand up and challenge the status quo don't challenge God stand up and

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challenge the status quo and the state of affairs and which are coming against

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you challenge him in the promises of God and look at your problem and say where

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were you when God was putting all of this together oh he's watching over

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he's keeping it and he is the caretaker of my life where where Paul begins to go

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through that litany of status quo he said tribulation

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tribulation trouble from this world trials in this world you know I think

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one of the most dangerous doctrines that can be preached among many dangerous

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doctrines is the idea that believers once you're a believer everything's

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going to be alright not in as much as it's going to be alright but it's just

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going to go smoothly right that everything's just going to be perfect in

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your life you're a Christian now you've been saved hello and you got smiling

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people that gives you four points on how to keep smiling while the status quo is

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about to choke the life out of you huh when the state of affairs and

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circumstances of life and this mess that we're in is about to overwhelm us I'm

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here to tell you I don't need a five-step help plan I need somebody to

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stand in front of me saying thus saith the Lord this is what the word of the

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Lord is for your situation oh God is on your side he's never forsaken you and

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he's never left you but when you understand tribulation is going to come

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into your life it makes me feel a little better when it does it lets me know that

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God's Word is true why because God says you're gonna have tribulation trouble

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John 17 14 and the world has hated them because they are not of the world and

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even as I am not of the world he said in this world you shall have trouble

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trouble is going to come your way in reference to job the declaration this

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man that is born a woman is a few days and full of trouble so if you're not

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getting any promise of God in your life but trouble praise him anyhow hello how

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faith is put to the test you've heard it said if there's no test there's no

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testimony hello but what wonderful testimony that we have that the status

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quo of life is challenged with the promises and the word and the presence

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and the spirit of God being made available to our life Jesus said you

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have tribulation you shall have it it will come your way but I am so grateful

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that is not the last declaration in that verse of Scripture he said but be of good

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cheer because I have overcome the world and later on he would declare I give

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you peace not as this world gives you peace but my peace give I unto you that

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your joy may be full I don't know what the world's telling you I don't know

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what the devil's telling you I don't know what some TV preachers telling you

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but you can still be in trouble and still be full of joy you can have all hell

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breaking against you and still be filled with joy because joy has nothing to do

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with the state of status quo but it has to do with the glory of God and the

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presence of his promise living out in your life we get it confused I got to be

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doing something wrong that's what Job's friends tried to tell him you have had

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to sin against God somehow no I didn't I promise I've self-examined I've I've went

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over every act in my mind look when you're in torment don't you do that

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oh mine goes in the hyperdrive we go searching we go looking we go asking God

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is there anything and that one friend of Job's that sat there and looked at him

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for seven days without saying a word I'd like to slap him I mean he didn't even

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accuse him it a set there across fire look down like he's getting spiritual

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with him or something there's some point I don't need you to be spiritual with me

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I need you to come on and encourage me in something like this well if you have

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sinned if a man does he has an advocate with a father have you been to him tell

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me that don't just stare at me hello just looked at him I guess if he's able

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he might have got up and slammed I don't know there's more to this life than just

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trouble it's the grace that accompanies you in the midst of your trouble it's a

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pastor I thought this gonna be an encouraging word it is because whether we

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like it or not trouble comes hello it's coming your way if you're not there you

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either just left or it's on its way but the thing about it with every trouble

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that arrives there's grace that accompanies it the devil think he has

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the upper hand in our life bringing things against us but he knows what he's

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doing and he knows he's defeated and what he just fails to remember is that

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your faith in the God in which he's counting on you giving up he's counting

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on us turning back he's counting on us not praying he's counting on us not to

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praise in the midst of the storms of our life he's counting on you to give in and

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succumb to the will of your flesh but my God once the spirit has been resurrected

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once you've been touched by the grace and the love of God and you've lived

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through a trial or two and you've overcome a tester too and you got a

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couple testimonies behind you there's a confidence that rises that by the blood

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of the Lamb and the word of my previous testimony and the promises of God that

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are yet amen this too shall pass distress he said distress extreme

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anxiety sorrow he said we're distressed he'd he'd write in that letter to the

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Corinthians in his second address to them he let them know that we're

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troubled on every side fourth chapter 8 verse he said Oh Corinthian people we are

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troubled on every side I think Paul understood knew a little bit about

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trouble I think he understood a little bit about tribulation persecution amen

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he said but we're not distressed we're troubled tribulation comes but you're not

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distressed don't let it overcome you we were troubled on every side yet not

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distressed trouble can come around you you don't have to be overcome by extreme

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anxiety sorrow fear and worry why because who shall separate us from the

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love of God high-death power principalities angels devils you name it

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nakedness perils sword none of this is going to separate you this can't keep you

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from the love of God it can't keep the love of God from you so next time that

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you're feeling like you're about to be squashed to death and you can't breathe

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because of the status quo of life know this you may have tribulation you may be

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troubled on every side but you are not distressed the people who become

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distressed are those who are losing their focus and their faith in Jesus

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Christ I need a little something to back that up okay I'll show you distress

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Jesus is walking across the water the disciples are in a boat there's a storm

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raging and they think they see a ghost but the voice of the Lord begins to

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speak to them and Peter said Lord if that's you it's about me to come upon

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the water and he hears the coming so while your faith is high and you've

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heard the voice of the Lord you bail out of the boat and go walking across the

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waves but somehow the tribulation that you're in begins to draw your focus

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another direction and you take your eyes off the one who is stable and you begin

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to see the distress that is around you but then you begin to see that's what

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happened he became extremely anxious about his situation because he just

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realized that he'd got on the water before he knew what he was doing

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isn't that the way it happens sometimes there's a term for that it's called

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zealousness we get zealous man we've got a word from the Lord and here we go we

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take literally is what David said I can run through a troop and leap over a wall

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hallelujah so before we know it we think we're David and we're running and

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starting to slow down those are troops and the closer we get we say that's a

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big wall distress begins to set in but don't be distressed you may be in

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tribulation but you are not distressed but we are not reading we are not

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distressed hallelujah we are look he said we are preplexed but not in despair

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sometimes when we see the status quo we become confused we become overwhelmed

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and we get perplexed by the matter but hold on oh because see then if you

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become perplexed understand that you will not fall in a state of despair

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despair is a whole lot worse than being perplexed despair means you have believed

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the perplexities that are coming against you and you have

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believed and accepted that which is perplexing you is greater than what is

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keeping you no no no no no Paul said you don't have to be yes you may be

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perplexed but not in despair what are you saying pastor I've said it may be

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rough but don't give up don't give in to the perplexing problem of the status

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quo don't give it don't yell don't fall into despair you're traveled on every

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side oh he'd go on in that verse he say you are cast down think about it you got

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knocked down you got knocked over you got hit as Jackie Gleason used to say

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right in the kisser and you're flat of your back you think it's over no no

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because every time you get knocked down you get saved by the bail there's a pause

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there's a timeout you get set drug back in the corner and set up on the stool

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and the smell and salt of the Holy Ghost gets put in front of you whoa

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seeing them boxers go whoa right when they break out ammonia take the ammonia

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of the Word of God and whoa pull a Ric Flair on that's what the preacher

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priest Friday night I love you I mean no but Scotty Hager big

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Schumer he come out there doing the Ric Flair strut you got to be a little bit

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older than some of these folks in here remember Ric Flair he'd come out there

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it's stiff-legged strut whoa when he glasses on that's who you are come on you

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may get cast down what am I can say don't rejoice over me though I'm knocked

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down I'm getting up somebody's tell the devil you about to get up if I ever

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heard mama say that I got real doing whatever mama told me to do I'm about to

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get up from here because it's it with mother if you got past the threat of the

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getting up if she got up I don't care what you do I don't care how sweet you

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try to be go hide but get tanned or striped whichever or both belts are made

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for tanning limbs are made for striping case y'all didn't know that have me know

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what I'm down now some of you need to I'm just saying I got to get back to this

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as long as God is on his throne as long as he answers prayer and he's gonna

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answer prayer as long as he leaves us here below hello as long as he answers

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prayers along with this world is turning and as long as his word is true how long

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is that gonna be heaven and earth shall pass away but my word shall stand

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forever I'm trying to encourage some of us in the status quo today when the

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affairs of life make you feel like you've been knocked down you're not out

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you're not destroyed you've been cast down but not destroyed and there is a

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difference if you're not destroyed that he can empower you by his grace for you

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to get back up and go another round hallelujah pull a Mohammed Ali on the

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devil if you got to cover your head cover your vitals lay your head on his

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chest and let the devil swing away and then about round 10 once you've got your

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breath and he's about tired of wailing on you then you come up and you come

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out and you stand firmly in the word of God and you take the authority and you

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challenge the status quo because you were down but he didn't take you out

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that's where he messed up with job he got him down and he didn't take him out

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but let me just share something with you he got him down and he didn't take him

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out because he didn't have the power to take him out because God had already

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drew the line

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he didn't take him out because he didn't have the power to take him out because

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the line had already been drawn do what you want to but I love it when God says

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but his life is mine you can't do nothing with his life and and the devil

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come against job so egregiously that he wished he was dead he just couldn't kill

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him oh sometimes don't we wish for the rapture hello sometimes we get so sick

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and been so sick and tired was then Lord I wish you just go ahead and take me on

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well don't wish your life away child of God you may be down but you're not out

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and don't let the devil stand over you and make mockery of you you look up at

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him say I'm down now but I'm about to get up and when I get up from here when

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I get up from here I feel somebody about to get up in here

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whoa go ahead worship in the minute in his house I'm about to get up Lord

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hey persecution trouble from people if you got people coming against you let

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them come on the Lord is on your side yeah and all that will live Godly in

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Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution just like we shall suffer tribulation

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but that's okay Matthew 5 and 12 that beautiful sermon on the mound blessed are

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those who are persecuted for righteousness sake for great is your

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reward in heaven famine or nakedness means the lack of material prosperity

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some of the most wealthy people in this world don't have a dollar to the name

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never allow the enemy to try to bring and equate God's blessing and favor on

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your life with zeros never never let him convince you that a dollar figure

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declares and shows how much God loves you some of the richest people in this

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world are so overlaid with joy but they couldn't go by hamburger huh have so

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much peace they laid down at night not even knowing where their meals coming

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from tomorrow but they sleep like a baby on a feather pillow because they know

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their God who fed them this day will feed them tomorrow either nakedness or

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peril you may feel like you're in trouble and trouble may be surrounding

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you but don't worry God's not gonna let it overcome you peril or sword when

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there is imminent danger to your body through disaster or sickness don't think

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that God has quit living on you because he hasn't because for the

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believer we understand that to be absent from this body is to be present with the

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Lord amen can I tell you there's worse things than dying there's dying without

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the Lord but there are no greater things than dying with him because why you get

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a walk on pavement that has no potholes

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I know I'm with you I enjoy life I love life and I'm not saying I want to die

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today I'd just rather him come get us all and we go together

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amen stand with me I'm closing challenging the status quo to live as

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Christ and to die as gay and to know that God is able

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God is able he's able to keep you Paul told that Roman Church that he was

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persuaded are you persuaded this morning are you fully persuaded are you fully

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convinced that by his grace you're able to challenge the status quo by his grace

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don't challenge it in your own self you will fail but if you challenge it within

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his promise and stand in firm accordance to his word you can challenge the state

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of affairs but here's the thing when we challenge the state of affairs in the

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status quo we have to understand that we may have to walk in the furnace right

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many times we think and I'm not I'm not here in any way trying to lead you in

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any other direction then you might have to go in the furnace well where's the

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encouragement in that he's in the furnace waiting for you you may have to

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go in the lion's den well where's the encouragement in that what softer pillow

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than a lion's mane challenging the status quo challenging the mess that

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you're in with the hope that he provides and the grace that he gives father I

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love you this morning I thank you for your help today Lord because I've surely

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felt it I have felt your help I thank you for your word I thank you for your

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strength I thank you for your anointing I thank you for speaking to the hearts of

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your people today

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Lord I thank you for allowing me to go ahead and preach this word as you

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displayed your glory in this house last week new seasons new things do you

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blessings

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touch today Lord

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I'm going to be just needed to you know it I mean you just need a little needle

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something some is status quos really start to look difficult really looking

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challenging

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hallelujah