WEBVTT

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just to know you have a heavenly father who cares

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you're not alone you're not fighting those battles

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alone you're not walking alone in that midnight

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hour when you feel so alone and it's so dark

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in that room And the darkness almost smothers

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you. And you become like a frightened child.

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Homesick. Lonely. So afraid. You feel the hot

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perspiration in the palm of your hand. The quivering

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of the flesh. Afraid. Worried. Discouraged. You're

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not alone. There's a Heavenly Father who's interested

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in you. Concerned about you. He knows the problems.

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He knows the burdens you're bearing. He sees

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the falling tear. Believe me, he's there. Only

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a heartbeat away, only a breath away. He's there,

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loving, caring, with open arms. I promise you.

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We've been talking about discouragements. One

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of the greatest problems of the human spirit.

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It's a practical problem. It's a problem that's

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real to all of us. What to do about discouragement?

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It's a hard fact of human existence. And it's

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something that comes to each of us at one time

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or another. And it's something you just can't

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wish away. wouldn't it be wonderful if there

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was no such thing as discouragement but sooner

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or later there are moments of discouragement

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in each of our lives and in our last little heart

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-to -heart talk we were talking about elijah

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his experience is such a comfort to me the greatest

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saint as elijah was Oh, and the marvelous way

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that God used Elijah. Some of the greatest experience

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that any human being ever had. Elijah saw miracles.

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The Holy Spirit used the vessel of Elijah as

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he used very few people. He was strong in the

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Lord. He was brave. He was challenging. And yet

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there came a time in his life when he became

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so human, so frightened, so insecure, that he

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looked up after one of the greatest triumphs

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of his life and said, oh, let me die. Really,

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he ran for the wilderness. And looked up and

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cried, let me die. But today, for just a few

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minutes, we're not going to put the emphasis

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on Elijah's discouragement. On the weakness of

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Elijah. When he looked up and prayed to die.

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But on the way his heavenly father took care

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of it. That's what I like. Oh, to me, that's

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the most precious thing. The way our Heavenly

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Father took care of Elijah's discouragement.

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That's what gets me. That's the part of it that

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I love. Into the Heavenly Father saying, Child,

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After all that I've done for you, I have manifested

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my power in my person. Through your life, I've

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answered prayer for you. I've accepted your challenge.

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I manifested my power to the prophets of Baal.

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And then to think that after everything that

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I've done in answering your prayer and answering

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your cry, for you to take for tall timber and

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be discouraged i'm ashamed of you i'm just as

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shamed of you as my child oh i wish i had not

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done it for you did he do it he certainly did

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not if you want to know what our Heavenly Father

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is really like. You know, so many people, when

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they think of God, they think of Him only in

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the sense of wrath or fear, in the sense of judgment.

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Whenever they think of God, they think of hell,

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of brimstone. That's right. When you know him

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as a Heavenly Father, so tender, so understanding,

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there was not one word of condemnation in that

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moment of discouragement in the life of Elijah.

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The Heavenly Father knows my weakness. I'm glad

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he does. I'm glad he understands it. People condemn

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not the Heavenly Father. He knows us better than

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we know ourselves. He knows how long Elijah had

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gone without sleep. He knew how long Elijah had

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gone without food. He knew that. He knew how

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tired Elijah was in his physical body. He knows

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our physical makeup. He knows. He's not a stranger

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to you and to me. He knows us far better than

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we know ourselves. And so, me thinks he said

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my child is weary in body. He's tired. Check

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upon yourself. I... looked at myself more than

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once when I became irritable, discouraged, and

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almost invariably, discouragement has come to

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me when I was overworked, too tired. My body

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Turning back the pages of my life, I cannot remember

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an instant when I was well rested, had gotten

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a good night's sleep, felt good physically, that

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I had one moment of discouragement. You see,

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the enemy of our soul knows exactly where to

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attack and when to attack us. He knows. Look

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at yourself. When you're tired physically, the

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enemy will attack you. It's just like him. When

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you're run down physically, he'll attack you.

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He has no principle. None whatsoever. Did the

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Heavenly Father condemn Elijah? For praying to

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die? For crawling under the juniper tree? Defeated?

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Running off into the wilderness? Like a child

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running away, trying to get away from it all?

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No, he didn't. He not only put him to sleep,

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and I dare say that was the Best sleep Elijah

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ever experienced. I've had sleep like that, and

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I can't explain it. It's a different kind of

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a sleep. Some nights you go to sleep and you

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awaken and say, I had a good night's sleep. There

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have been times in my life when the sleep was

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different. It was almost a supernatural sleep.

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There was a rest in my body when I awakened.

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There was a rest that had come to my body that

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I could not explain. Awakened from that sleep,

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his sleep, the rest that he had given to me,

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awakened. I felt I could lick... the whole world

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and all the prophets of Baal thrown in for good

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measure. And when you are awakened from a rest

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like that, you're hungry. There's something about

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it. You're hungry. You're hungry. Do you know

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what I'm talking about? The discouragement is

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gone. It's completely gone. You've forgotten

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you were ever discouraged. That's the kind of

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rest God gives to his child. He knows us. No

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reproof. The Heavenly Father, knowing the weakness

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and the frailty of the human body, Says now when

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my child is awakened he'll be hungry Thirsty

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and so he sent the angel to bake a cake The cake

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wasn't baked in heaven it was baked right there

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on the coals We expect you know A miracle from

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heaven. The cake was baked right there by Elijah's

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sight. Methinks the coals were still warm when

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Elijah awakened. And the angel didn't forget

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the water. I dare say that was the best water.

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The freshest water. The cool... water that Elijah

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ever drank. And he did eat and drink. And then

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the Heavenly Father looked down and said, well,

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he needs a little more sleep. I've got another

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big job for him. He needs a little more rest.

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And the scripture said, and he did eat and drink,

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and laid him down again. And then after he was

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fully rested and Heavenly Father knew it, he

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said to him, What doest thou here, Elijah? Come

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on now. It's time to go back to work. Come on.

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You're rested. You're fed now. Come on. Come

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on. Back. to work. If a human parent will treat

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his earthly child like that, how much more does

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our Heavenly Father understand His children,

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understand you, and understand me? And He treats

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us the same way. What to do in an hour of discouragement?

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Well, I found something that's very beautiful.

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The scripture says, in quietness and confidence

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shall be my strength. Note two things, quietness

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and confidence. Get quiet in the presence of

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God. In quietness there's strength. Go away.

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Just a few minutes, an hour or two, and get quiet.

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There's so much confusion out there. Sometimes

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we get so involved. And in getting so involved

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in the confusion, in the turmoil of it all, our

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minds become confused. We're not thinking straight.

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We lose our perspective. And in losing our perspective,

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we lose our right to thinking. We're not conscious

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of his presence. He's there, but we're not conscious

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of his presence. The best thing in the world

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is to just get quiet. Don't say anything. And

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in that quiet, Remember to whom you belong. Just

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remember. Have the confidence that a little child

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has. A little child for just a moment. And I

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think that even little children sometimes become

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discouraged maybe in their homework. Get a little

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discouraged and Fixing the wheel of the bicycle.

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You see, we're all just grown -up children. And

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some of us don't grow up very quickly. But the

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daddy comes along and says, Oh, that's all right.

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That's all right. And when the daddy says it's

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all right, I'll fix it. The child's entire...

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attitude changes changes it immediately when

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daddy comes on the scene when papa would come

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on the scene why i didn't have anything to be

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discouraged about i didn't have anything to fear

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papa was there he'd do the fixing he'd help me

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with my problems oh sure it was just like that

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where i'd been crying over arithmetic problems

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when papa would come my tears would all dry up

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because papa would fix it he'd always come through

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with the answers to my arithmetic problems be

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still Be quiet, and in the stillness of the moment,

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remember to whom you belong. You're not alone.

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You have no cause for your discouragement. Know

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that. He's there loving you, caring for you.

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Know that. And in that moment, you'll be the

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master of your discouragement. your discouragement

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will not master you if in the moment of discouragement

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you'll remember to whom you belong do that and

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then after you get your second breath you'll

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hear the heavenly father say to you child of

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mine what doest thou here get busy go to work

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there's a job to be done and i will go with thee