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I think it's important for a believer to

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have an adequate understanding of the faith life

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to camp out in Hebrews chapter 11 for

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a while.

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Hebrews chapter 11 has been called the great

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hall of faith for in it are the

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many heroes of faith and varied instances of

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faith where faith was exercised for our understanding

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and for our model.

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Hebrews chapter 11 starts off with these words,

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Now faith is the substance of things hoped

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for, the evidence of things not seen.

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Thus begins the exploits of these men and

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women of faith, Abel and Enoch, Noah and

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Abraham, Jacob and Moses, and these other worthies

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of whom the world was not worthy.

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We see the sufferings of the faithful as

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well as the supernatural in the faithful as

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seen in verse 33 and following.

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Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained

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promises, stopped the mouse alliance, quenched the violence

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of fire, escaped the edge of the sword,

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out of weakness, were made strong, waxed valiant

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in flight, turned to flight, the armies of

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the aliens, women received their dead, raised to

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life again, and others were tortured, not accepting

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deliverance that they might obtain a better resurrection,

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and others had trial of cruel mockings and

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scourging, yea, moreover, of bonds and imprisonment, they

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were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted,

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were slain with the sword, they wandered about

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in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented,

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of whom the world was not worthy.

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I will stop there, friends.

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Our focus today would be on the truth

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in this text found in the words, obtained

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promises, and that's the title of my message

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today, friends, as we are in our faith

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series.

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I believe this message is one of the

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hardest to grasp because of its metaphysical nature,

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because, in its true sense, faith is metaphysical.

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The very definition of metaphysical is a reality

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beyond what is perceptible to the senses.

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I'm telling you, friend, that the life of

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faith will stretch you, bend you, strip you,

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and flip you upside down because faith is

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the substance of things hoped for, the evidence

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of things not seen, not seen with the

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physical eye, that is.

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If you're going to live a life of

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faith as God intends you to live it,

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you better be prepared to go out on

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a limb for God because God will kick

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out all your props of self-preservation and

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self-reliance to stretch your faith.

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Let me ask you something, friend.

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When you read the exploits of these men

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and women of faith in Hebrews chapter 11,

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can you honestly say that what you are

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reading describes a cake walk or a country

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fair?

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Is it a namby-pamby, self-satisfied religious

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life that takes no risk for God nor

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risks one's neck for God?

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It's quite the opposite.

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I don't believe Hebrews chapter 11 is talking

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about self-preservation or self-promotion or self

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-recognition.

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I believe the folks listed there are so

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skinned and pruned and purged of self that

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all that's left in their lives is the

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glory of God and the power of God.

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Their faith was tried.

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Their faith was tested.

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Every single one of them would not be

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in there if they didn't have faith.

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It says these all died in faith.

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It says by faith Abraham when he was

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tried.

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By faith Noah being warned to God that

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things not seen as yet moved with fear.

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Talking about Moses it says by faith he

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forsook Egypt not fearing the wrath of the

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king for he endured as seeing him who

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is invisible.

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Remember the term metaphysical is the reality beyond

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what is perceptible to the senses.

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Moses sensed God at the burning bush and

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had an experience of faith so that at

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some future point he could by faith pass

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through the Red Sea as by dry land.

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The key verse of Hebrews chapter 11 is

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verse 6 which states but without faith it

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is impossible to please him.

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Now why don't you go chew on that

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for a while friend and as we go

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forward to prepare our hearts to examine this

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magnificent chapter of faith in our Bibles our

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lesson today is aptly entitled Obtain Promises and

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we will search the scripture to see what

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this means.

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But first let me give you my definition

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of Obtain Promises.

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This means that God has given you a

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word a promise from the scripture that he

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intends to make a reality in your life

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and it may be so beyond your present

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circumstance and frame of reference that in order

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for you to accept it you must act

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on faith just to believe it.

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King David expresses the same thought in Psalm

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27 in verse 13 where he writes I

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had fainted unless I had believed to see

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the goodness of the Lord in the land

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of the living.

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David was in a jam things were so

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bad he didn't think he'd survive unless God

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stepped in and performed a miracle to deliver

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him so he exercised his faith by saying

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unless I had believed to see the goodness

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of the Lord in the land of the

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living I'd be a dead man a dead

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man.

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It was his faith friend that sustained him.

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His faith was what got him through.

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I was going through a time in my

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life that was very stressful I was working

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15 hours a day and God was stretching

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my faith.

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I would rise at 4 30 every morning

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to have my daily quiet time with the

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Lord and it was during one of these

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early mornings in the month of June of

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a certain year God gave me a promise

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out of his word from Isaiah.

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His word from Isaiah 43 verses 18 and

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19 left off the page and was burned

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into my soul by his spirit.

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I didn't understand at the time what the

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words meant for me but it was crystal

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clear that God was speaking to me and

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giving me Isaiah 43 as a promise I

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would obtain the words of that text read

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remember ye not the former things neither consider

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the things of old behold I will do

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a new thing now it shall spring forth

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shall you not know it I will make

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a way in the wilderness and rivers in

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the desert little did I know at the

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time that God was preparing me for an

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event in my life that would completely alter

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it four and four months time from receiving

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that scripture from God I will go through

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the terrible tragedy of my wife's suicide the

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promise of I will even make a way

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in the wilderness and rivers in the desert

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became a reality for me and my teenage

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daughter as we were suddenly thrust into a

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dark wilderness by that tragedy through the years

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God has indeed made a way in the

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wilderness time and time again for us and

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his presence through it all has been like

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rivers in a desert the life of faith

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is a journey initiated by God orchestrated by

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God and completed by a sovereign God we

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are mere participants in the spiritual adventure God

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delights in our participation he delights in our

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spiritual growth he wants to continually build faith

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in us so the world can see Christ

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in us as a living reality as a

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testimony to bring him glory obtain promises or

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a strategic part of that faith journey God

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will speak to us to initiate our participation

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in his work then he will grow us

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through trial and adversity to make us more

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dependable to him so he can give us

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more opportunities to serve him when God allows

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adversity into our lives we must stay on

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our knees and in our bibles until God

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gives us a word to get us through

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a promise we can stand on and exercise

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faith in it is in the time of

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receiving the promise from God in the time

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of obtaining the promise of God that faith

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is developed in our lives the more we

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exercise faith the more we'll grow and expand

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just like a bodybuilder lifts weights to gain

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muscle he first must tear down the muscle

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by stretching it before it can grow in

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size this same principle is involved in a

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life of faith where God is working through

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us during times of trial and adversity stretching

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our faith testing our faith proving our faith

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building our faith by pruning our faith when

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we get a word from God that is

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our anchor where we can place all our

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hopes and trust in God to do what

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he has declared he will do that's faith

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the war faith is waged here in the

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heat of adversity resting on the promises of

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God that you have received from him but

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have not yet obtained and by faith hanging

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on to those promises until they are seen

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in your life until they become reality in

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your life it is here friend where faith

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is exercised by believing what you yet cannot

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see but you know you will eventually see

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as it becomes reality as God has declared

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it onto you the faith life is the

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most exciting life in the world