WEBVTT

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I have a reason for reading this poem. After

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I have read the poem, I shall read a letter.

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In the letter that I will read, this is the poem

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that is mentioned. They said, the master is coming

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to honor the town today. And none can tell of

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what house or home the master would choose to

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stay. And I thought as my heart beat wildly.

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What if he should come to mine? How would I strive

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to entertain and honor the gift divine? And straightway

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I turned to toiling to make my house more neat.

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And I swept and I polished and I garnished and

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I decked. it with blossom sweet. I was troubled

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for fear the master would come ere my task was

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done, and so I hastened and worked the faster

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and watched the hurrying sun. But right in the

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midst of my duties a woman came to my door. She'd

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come to tell me her sorrows and my comfort and

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aid to implore. but i said i can't stop the listener

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i hope you today i have greater things to attend

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to and the pleader turned away but soon there

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came another a cripple thin pale and gray and

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said let me stop and rest a while in your goodly

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house i pray For I traveled far since morning,

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and I'm hungry, and I'm faint, and I'm weak,

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and my heart is so full of misery and comfort

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and help I seek. But I said, I'm grieved and

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sorry, my dear, but I cannot help you today.

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You see, I look for a great and noble guest.

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and so the cripple went away but the day wore

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onward swiftly and my task was nearly done yet

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the prayer was ever in my heart that in time

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the master would come and i thought i would spring

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to him and serve him with utmost care when a

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little Child stood by me with a face so sweet

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and fair. Sweet, but the marks of teardrops.

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And his clothes were tattered and old. And a

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little finger was bruised and bleeding. And his

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little bare feet were cold. And I said, I'm grieved

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that... And I'm so sorry, my dear. You're surely

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in need of care, but I cannot stop and give it.

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You must hasten go elsewhere. And at the words,

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a shadow swept over his blue -veined brow. Someone

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will feed and clothe you, my dear, but I'm just

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too busy now. At last, the day was ended. My

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task was over and done. My house was swept and

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garnished. And I watched in the dusk alone. Watched.

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But no footsteps sounded. No one came to my gate.

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No one entered my cottage door. I could only

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pray and wait. I waited till night had... But

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the master had not come. He's entered some other

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door, I cried, and gladdened some other home.

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My labor has been for nothing, just nothing.

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And I bowed my head and wept. My heart was sore

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with longing, but in spite of it all, I slept.

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Then the master stood before me, and his face

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was grave and fair, and he said, Three times

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today I came to your door and craved your pity

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and care. Three times you sent me onward unhelped.

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and uncomforted and the blessing you might have

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had was lost and your chance to serve has fled

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o lord dear lord please forgive me how could

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i know it was thou my very soul was ashamed and

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sank in the depths of regret and woe And he said,

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The sin is pardoned, but the blessing is lost

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to thee. For comforting not the least of mine,

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thou hast failed to comfort me. I hold in my

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hand a letter. The writer refers to this that

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I've just given you in her letter. Dear Miss

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Glewman, I don't know how to spell your name,

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but I feel as though I had to write you. I just

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happened to turn my radio dial to you as I was

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returning home from Eastern State Hospital here

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in Virginia, where my husband is committed. As

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an alcoholic, I had to have him committed to

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virtually save his life. He retired from the

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United States Army the 29th of December, 1967,

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and had been seriously, heavily drinking since

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November. When I left him that night, I felt

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my whole world had come to an end. I felt utterly

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beaten and licked. I have never been so all alone,

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so completely despondent. Suddenly, as I listened

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to you on the radio, there on that dark, lonely

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highway, Telling of hope. The poem about the

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housewife waiting for a visit from our Lord.

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I felt a feeling that I've never had before.

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It was as though Jesus Christ was there with

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me. And I didn't feel alone. And my heart actually

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felt as though it had wings. Suddenly, I knew

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there was hope for my husband. I knew there was

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hope for me. And all that I had to do was simply

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trust in the Lord's precious promises. Oh, how

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my burden has been lifted. I just had to write

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and tell you how great you really are and let

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you know that you surely are a living instrument

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of God. You awakened one lost... bewildered soul

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tonight into a realm of peace and courage to

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live with hope in my heart. You'll never know

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what you did for me tonight on that lonely highway.

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I'm so interested in your program. What channel?

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What time? How do you finance your program? I'd

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just like the help. Although... It will be in

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such a small way. I want to do for others what

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you've done for me. Do you have any brochures

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or literature that you might send? Also, I'd

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love to have a copy of the poem that you gave.

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It would be such an inspiration. Please let me

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hear from you. Gratefully yours. And the woman

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signs her full name, gives her... full address

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i shall never be able to tell you what that letter

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has done for me it makes me feel so well repaid

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oh so well repaid for all the hard work for everything

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that one puts into making a broadcast possible.

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And when I folded that letter and laid it on

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my desk, somehow I felt like the old Vienna painter

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who, after standing in absolute silence, viewing

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what he thought was a masterpiece while he was

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painting it, he stood there after the last stroke

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had been put on canvas, and with tears streaming

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down his face, he cried as he looked up. Dear

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God, please forgive me that I do not do it better.

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I feel like looking up into the face of my master.

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and crying out, Dear Jesus, please forgive me

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that I do not do a better job in bringing hope

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to the hopeless. Please give me a vocabulary

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where I can explain your wonderful reality. Please,

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somehow, take the vessel, take the life, and

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just help. Help me. Through the scripture, through

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the word, through the song, through the ether

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waves. Help me that I can bring hope to people

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like the little lady on that lonely highway coming

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home just after having committed her husband

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to the hospital. Saving his life, he an alcoholic.

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What I know so well, so well that no case is

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hopeless. No person is hopeless. Sunday after

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Sunday I stand on the stage of the Stambaugh

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Auditorium and I say, will the men's chorus please

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come forward? And walking down those two long

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aisles of the Stambaugh Auditorium, I see those

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men with their shoulders squared and the glory

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of God on their faces and they're marching down

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the aisle and in a few minutes... Their voices

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mingled as one as they're singing the praises

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of the Lord. I'll live for him who died for me.

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And the folk just sitting in the audience, not

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knowing who these men were before and just seeing

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them now. They couldn't believe the miracle,

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the greatest of all miracles. that has taken

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place in the lives of these men. No. Many a man

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walking down the aisle of the Stambordatorium,

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members of the great men's chorus, was thought

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as being a hopeless case one day. Sure, there

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was Carpenter. Carpenter, who for years drank

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the stuff, and even the very first time that

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he came in to a religious service, he parked

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his bottle of whiskey behind a pillar of the

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auditorium, had to take an extra Strong swig

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of the stuff to give him enough courage to even

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come inside of a religious service. And yet today,

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he'd been completely delivered, completely set

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free, an heir of God and a joint heir with Christ

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Jesus. Sure. During one of the services, as an

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altar call was given, and men and women were

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kneeling all over the great auditorium, And as

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I walked down the aisle, asking that heads be

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bowed, eyes closed, suddenly I was aware of the

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fact that a man was placing his whiskey bottle

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in my hand and saying, Take it, Miss Coleman.

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I want to be delivered. And there I stood with

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his old whiskey bottle in my hand, not knowing

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what to do with it. I threw it under the seat.

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In that theater in Butler one Sunday afternoon

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today, that man completely delivered, completely

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set free, a new creature in Christ Jesus. There

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were literally thousands who said, Red Dolan,

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the Irishman, head of the sportsman's club. who

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could drink more whiskey than any man in the

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township. And yet, even while they were saying

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he was a hopeless case, one day old Red Dolan

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knelt at the end of a bar and looked up and said,

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Oh, God, if ever you've helped a man help, Me.

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And Jesus was there to give that help and give

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that deliverance. Remember, beloved, every foe,

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every fear, every trouble, every sin, anything

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that you may face has been and is defeated and

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overcome by Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living

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God. And one day, this woman's husband, will

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be among those who'll say i too have been set

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free by the power of the son of the living god