086: David Fraser - Exhortation: Be Strong and of Good Courage

Automatically transcribed. Accuracy is good but not perfect, and words are sometimes wrong. Trust the audio over the text.

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   Welcome to the Good Christadelphian Talks podcast. I'm Levi. And I'm Chris. Thank you so much for joining us this week. On this podcast, we select one talk a week to help each one of us get the Bible in our daily news feed. And we post at the start of each week for you to listen with a short intro beforehand to kind of set the stage for the talk you're about to hear.

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   And now let's hear more about this week's talk. For the exhortation this week, we're listening to one that was given by Brother David Frazier back in 2015 at the Pinetown Ecclesia in South Africa. The title of his exhortation is Be Strong and of Good Courage. This is a repeat appearance from Brother David Frazier.

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   We used one of his classes for episode number eight, which feels like a long time ago. But it's good to have him back on again. For his exhortation, Be Strong and of Good Courage. Brother David is taking a look at the life of Joshua. A brief disclaimer before I dive into this. The beginning of this exhortation was a little bit of an abrupt start.

4. 1:19

   I think the very beginning may have been edited. And the reason I say that is by the end of the exhortation, we find out that this is actually an exhortation that Brother David gave right after the baptism of a new sister. So I think the beginning of it either was the actual baptism or was some personal comments that he made to her.

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   And just for the context of the final recording, that was edited out. So if it seems like he kind of is already mid-exhortation when this starts, that's why it's still a really good exhortation. He's looking at the life of Joshua, which is always an interesting and a good study to look at. Joshua is a great Bible character to study.

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   But specifically, he's looking at the example that Joshua gave of the faith that he demonstrated, both from before he took over from Moses, taking over leadership of the nation of Israel, and then the conquest of the land. The faith that he demonstrated both individually and the demonstration of faith he gave to the nation of Israel.

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   He takes some really great application from Joshua, looking into some of the ways that Joshua demonstrated that faith. The book of Joshua is full of verses that are really popular to look at. To be strong and of good courage. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. He's using these applications from the example of Joshua as practical ways for us, both individually and ecclesially, to be able to build that faith, to develop that faith in ourselves.

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   One point in particular that he made that I really enjoyed was he makes the parallel to building our faith and to building up strength. So he makes the point that if you just use a burst of energy and you go and you exercise really hard for one day, and then you don't do anything for weeks, you're not really going to build up strength and build up endurance in yourself.

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   And it's the same way with building up our faith. It can't be something where we just do a burst of energy and excitement one day a week or a few times a month, and that will build up our faith. It has to be something constant, a repetition. And I really like that kind of reminder that it's not something that you can kind of put on the back burner, but it's something you have to work at all the time.

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    This exhortation is a really good balance of a style that I personally like, where you've got some really good Bible study, diving in, getting a couple little nuggets about the Bible character that we're studying, and then finding really good application that can be driven as kind of a final call to action at the end of the exhortation.

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    In addition, because like I mentioned at the top, this is an exhortation that was given after a baptism, and just having that mindset when I'm listening to the exhortation made it more exciting to me. Because personally, I always enjoy when you're at a baptism hearing the talk after somebody's baptized, putting myself into the mindset both of when I was recently baptized or when you've attended another baptism in person.

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    And there's an energy and excitement in both the speaker and in those that are listening to. So it was fun to be able to experience that from, at this point, five years ago. Excited to share this exhortation with you. It's a really good one, one I really enjoyed and wanted to share with everyone, and hope you find it encouraging as well.

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    As always, if you have exhortations, series, anything that you're aware of that might be helpful for other people, please send them in. And we've had people suggesting specific speakers, general topics that they're interested in, as well as specific talks as well. That's awesome. Please send it in. It's helpful. Getting that type of direct feedback from everyone who's listening, something we want to always encourage.

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    As well, if you know of any websites where there are talks posted, please send those in. We've had some people sharing their ecclesial websites and giving us the instructions on how to get into that and find the classes. That's all great. More resources is better. We can get different speakers and different topics and all sorts of different things that we can share and kind of diversify what we have on the podcast.

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    Thank you, as always, for listening, for all the encouragement. We're happy that it's been encouraging to everybody who's listening, especially right now. So with that, we'll turn it over to Brother David Frazier for his exhortation, Be Strong and of Good Courage. After he was saved. And we've got to ask ourselves the question, how could it be that Joshua could be such a faithful leader when all the others in Israel had failed?

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    And when you actually looked at the principle of what they were trying to do in going to the land, it was incredible that Joshua should have had that faith. How was it so? We'll consider that in a minute. Just think, if you would, for a moment, what the position of the Jews was like before they came to enter the land the second time.

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    The first time they had realized what the problems were, and they failed. Now all the people who had seen the power of God in releasing the Jews from captivity in Egypt were dead. They were wandering around in the wilderness. They were not constituted as a strong nation. They were a people who were constituted around truth, but not around anything else.

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    They were coming up against seven Canaanite nations who were powerful, who were well organized, were used to doing battle. They had their home territory advantage. That's what this ragtag bunch of people who came through the wilderness, with children and women in tow and a whole lot of animals, which were their only sustenance, this is the lot that is coming up as an army.

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    And Joshua could see right through that to the kingdom. That wasn't a problem for Joshua. His faith could project into the victory. It wasn't a closed door for Joshua. The work could have caused many people's hearts to fail, but not Joshua's. Joshua's heart was strong and full of courage. He took heart because he believed in his God.

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    He did this because he had evidence in his own life that God was truly faithful, and he became, as a result, a truly faithful servant to his God. He said, we've got a work to do, and God is there to fulfill it. What more do we need? That was the simplicity and the power of Joshua's faith.

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    Like us, brothers and sisters, we also have our battles to fight. Certainly, the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, and the primary enemy is not others, it's ourselves. But we have the word as the true and powerful spirit, and the enemy that we subdue is within. It's not a light duty, and if we treat it lightly, we are likely to fail.

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    It's something which calls for us individually and ecclesially for strong determination and courage. It's not something we can do without steadfastness and energy, as Joshua had done.

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    So let's get back to the question then. How did Joshua have this remarkable faith? Well, the first lesson we look at is in Joshua chapter 1, where Joshua was shown very patently that the work was not our own, but God's, who is working through us. We have to realize, like Joshua did, that we cannot solely rely upon self.

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    Have a look at Joshua 1, at verses 3 to 5. God says to Joshua, Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, it is done. I have given it. As I said to all Moses, from the wilderness in this Lebanon, even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, a powerful military nation.

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    He specifically mentions them because they were so powerful. unto the great sea, toward the going down of the sun shall be your coast. There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with thee. I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.

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    Who could stand before God? Who could stand before the one who is able to bring all victory to pass? See, Joshua had to realize very early, and he did, that it was not in his own strength that he could do these things. And that's the exhortation to us. We are not of the capability of victory in ourselves.

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    It is only through God who strengthens us, brethren sisters. He prepares us according to the work, and in accordance with the terms of the promises that he has given. So where is the parallel with our lives, brethren sisters? Well, just as the side of victory will always be on the side of truth and of righteousness, as it was in Joshua's day, so the side of victory will be on the side of truth and righteousness.

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    If that is our victory goal, brethren sisters, we will succeed. We have God on our side. God has not left us unaided. He has given us strength and wisdom. He has stored up these words of encouragement in his truth that we rely not on ourselves, but we rely on him who has the power to succeed.

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    I will not leave thee, nor forsake thee, until thou hast accomplished that for which I have sent thee, is a paraphrase. God would not leave Joshua alone. He would not give him his stand-alone victory. It was only through God because God's purpose would be accomplished, regardless of man. The second lesson we have to take from Joshua is to be strong and of good courage.

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    How is this work to be done? Well, the promise that the land of Israel was to be subdued was a great promise. But was it something that when Joshua heard, he said, well, God said it's going to happen. God is all-powerful. I'll wait for God to act. Is that the way Joshua reacted?

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    We might be inclined to do something like that. God said, well, you know, there's the kingdom ahead for you. Well, we'll wait and see. That's not the way Joshua worked at all. It was not the way that Joshua put it into practice because in Joshua 1 verse 6, the conditions for that victory were put in place.

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    For the promise of success to be assured, something had to happen from Joshua's side. Only be thou strong and very courageous. something was required from Joshua to match the dedication that God brought to the party. Here is a promise, Joshua, that your work will be crowned with success. The whole of the land of Palestine will be transferred from those people to you.

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    I will do it. I will be the force who will give you strength. I will never leave you. As long as you keep with me, I will never leave you in your journey. Only, Joshua, you must carry out your part. You must be strong and offer great courage for the work which you have to do.

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    And this is a characteristic, brothers and sisters, of all the exhortations that Scripture gives us. The work which God does requires the people with whom he works to assist in the labor. And in so doing, brothers and sisters, we manifest the characteristics of God himself, of strength, of perseverance and of courage. God could very easily have left us to our own devices, but he has desired to work with us, brothers and sisters, for his end goal.

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    So what does it mean, do you think, to be strong and for good courage? Well, like any exercise, to be strong requires a continuous effort. You can't be strong by being sporadic in your efforts. If you've got a weight and you lift it one day and you put it down and you leave it for seven, you will not be strong.

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    When you build strength as it is physically, so is it spiritually. It requires daily, persistent, method, and routine. It requires going about the work of God every single day. You know, we often tend to have bursts of energy ecclesially, bursts for a special effort, bursts for something, and then we tend to lull.

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    That doesn't build strength. It doesn't build it either ecclesially or personally. We have to keep doing the steady, quiet, and persistent work of the truth. Joshua's victory and his continued big picture of victory was in his daily consistency of following that principle. he became strong through a daily, rigorous following of the works of truth.

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    He was a man who took the work of God that was in hand and put it to the test. And we should apply this equally, brethren and sisters, to ourselves as individuals and the ecclesia and will most certainly find it to be true. The ones who produce the greatest effort and greatest work in the ecclesial world are not the stellar stars that sparkle for a moment.

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    They're the ones who plod through ecclesial life and build strength and courage in their God. The third lesson that we get from Joshua and from the way that he approached his God was the means whereby he should get this victory. God said, I will never leave you. God said, you must be strong and have a good courage.

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    But there was a third component that was required for victory. It came down to Joshua 1 verse 7. Be strong and very courageous, said God, that thou mayest observe to do according to all my law which Moses my servant commanded thee. Turn not from it to the right hand or to the left that thou mayest prosper in the way whithersoever thou goest.

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    See, this is a twofold condition. God was certainly willing to work with Joshua and had the strength to work with him. Joshua had to manifest strength and courage but the second thing Joshua had to do was to do it according to truth. The word of God had to be part of Joshua's life.

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    He couldn't deviate just to the left or to the right. It had to be the word of God or nothing. It had to be plainly the word of God not bent for the fads and fashions of the people that he was dealing with. He just dealt with the word of God turning not to the left or to the right.

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    That's the lesson for our age if ever there was a need for a lesson brethren and sisters. If we look at the conquest of self in this context we realize that great effort is required from our part. We have to be strong and for good courage to take this word of God and apply it as we're happy to apply it to others to apply it straight without bending to ourselves and that's what we're going to consider as we individually this morning partake of the bread and the wine.

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    The remarkable thing is if Joshua had failed to be of strong strength and good courage or if Joshua had failed to live according to the truth God's will would still have been completed. the reality is brethren and sisters that God has no need of us for his purpose to be completed. He has no need but he has a great desire and that's the difference.

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    He doesn't need us but he desires us with a passion that is requiring you and I to respond to that call. He could do all these things through his angelic ministers but he's asked us all here in this hall to be part of that purpose to be strong enough for good courage and to take the principles of truth and apply them to us individually and ecclesially.

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    That's what he wants and he wants to work with us. He wants us to be part of the Yahweh name and be part of Elohim in going up and taking the great victory the victory which to everybody out there seems absolute nonsense but the victory is certain and it is most definitely ours.

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    Have you ever thought how Joshua put his faith into practical consideration? How did he really do it? He was a person who when the pillar of cloud and fire was removed from Israel became in his life a pillar to the whole ecclesia. his faith was so contagious that he could lead people into a land populated by the best armies on the planet at the time.

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    He could lead people to leave their children and their wives and their cattle on the one side of Jordan all unprotected and go away for seven years to help their brethren and sisters on the other side of Jordan and he could compel them because of his faith. This is the faith that is required of us now in this age to be strong and of good courage.

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    Joshua's faith was one that took things which were unseen and made them seen. You don't believe me? At Jordan when Joshua was with the people he said as soon as the soles of your feet the feet of the priests that bear the ark of Yahweh will rest on the waters of Jordan the waters of Jordan shall be cut off from the waters that come down from above.

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    He's speaking of the future as if it was done. At Jericho he said shout for the Lord hath given you the city and the city was still standing. He went to Ai and he said Yahweh will deliver it into your hand and there's Ai still standing. He saw the future of God. He saw things which were unseen as if they were real in his eyes.

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    That's truth. That's faith. In his old age he didn't fail. He didn't think I'm getting old and my life is ebbing away. My faith is going to wane. He said in his old age ye shall possess the land as Yahweh your God has promised you. It was a certainty an absolute certainty for Joshua.

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    You know in our readings today in Joshua 13 it's an aside. It says that Joshua was old and stricken in years. Yahweh said to him thou art old and stricken in years and there remaineth yet very much land to be possessed. You know Brent sisters who have toiled many years in the ecclesial vineyards can sometimes feel that.

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    Getting to the end of your life you think there's still so much in me that needs to be changed. There's still so much work that I could do and yet there's so much land that has not been conquered. Despite that God gives Joshua the kingdom because his heart was right. It was in the right place.

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    He had the mind of the spirit that he was like Abraham in his faith. He was as God describes Abraham and as he describes himself in Romans 4 verse 17 God calls those things which be not as though they were. Joshua did just that. He called all these victories as though they were achieved.

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    There was no doubt in Joshua's mind. How did Joshua get this right? Look at Joshua 1 verse 8. This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth but thou shalt meditate therein day and night that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous and then thou shalt have good success.

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    Talk about the word. Meditate about the word. Do the word. In verse 8. Talk, think, do. Then what does God say? Then you will have success. It's a formula, brethren and sisters. It's a formula which we are loath to apply but it's truth. Talk, think, do and then God will grant you success.

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    And this is the wonderful combination of work that God has desired. As we have said, he requires not help from man but he is wanting us to work with him. The free will of Joshua was bent to match the will of God. If you think about it, the captain of Yahweh's hosts, the great angel, worked with him.

58. 22:59

    But he himself, as Joshua, still had to be strong and for good courage. When the angel stood with his sword drawn above his head, that great powerful angel, Joshua said to him, art thou for us or for our adversaries? Here's the one who could take all victory in a moment, that angel. The angel answers something which sunk into Joshua's head.

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    The angel said, I'm not for you or your enemies, I'm for God. It was quite simple. It's not you, Joshua, versus your enemies, it's God's battle. Joshua, are you on God's side? You will have success. If not, you will have failure. And Joshua rallied behind that, he rallied straight behind the angel. There was only one side, it was God's side, and Joshua was on God's side.

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    And because of that, he was guaranteed success, because he put God's principles into action. You know, Paul says in the Philippians that we have to work like this too. We have to work with God. Paul says in Philippians 2, verse 12, my beloved, as you have obeyed, not in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

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    There was Joshua's part. You do it yourself. There's work that's required of you. Did Paul just leave it at that? He said in verse 13, for it is God which worketh in you, both to will and to do his good pleasure. See, it's always a partnership. And because we have the God of all humanity, the God of the universe who works in us, he will bring us to our promised rest.

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    It is his good pleasure. Isn't that lovely? And Joshua did just these things. In fact, as we get to the end of the readings in Joshua, we find that at the very last chapter of the book, he's giving his parting address to the people and he reminds them of all the things that God has done.

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    He gives them a catalogue of the victories. And brothers and sisters, maybe that's a good thing for us to do every now and then. We tend to think of the negative sides of life, but look at the things that God has done in your life. Catalogue the things, the victories that God alone has given you that we know we couldn't have succeeded without him.

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    And then he goes on to say, he says, there's going to be a time of difficulty for you. I'm old and I'm leaving you. You're going to have problems. The work of the truth is not easy. It's not something which can be tackled without courage and strength. And then he says, you have two alternatives.

65. 25:51

    Let me just tell you what they are. Choose you this day whom you will serve. Whether the gods which your father served that were on the other side of the flood or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell, but as for me and my house, we will serve Yahweh. you see brothers and sisters, it's quite possible for us in today's world to go back and serve the gods of our fathers, the unholy trinity of money and pleasure and self.

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    They're the gods of the age and we can serve them in the blink of an eye. But Joshua said, are you going to follow the gods of the age? church, but me and my family, we will simply be the servants of Yahweh. As Moses was introduced here in Joshua 1 as the servant of God, Joshua learnt at the feet of Moses to be a servant.

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    And that's what we must do, brethren sisters, serve as we have been taught. And we will be assured of victory. Why would we want any other way? Why would we want the gods of the nations? Why would we want the darkness that we have been brought out from?

68. 27:06

    So in conclusion then, brethren sisters, we need to understand the magnitude of the task that is set before us. The journey that we have embarked on and you, our new sister, has embarked upon, commences in the problems and the difficulties of this present life, but it will bring us to a divine end.

69. 27:27

    You will be in the kingdom if you follow God's will. It commences in these kingdoms of men, of countries of Malawi and South Africa and all the countries of the earth, but it ends in the kingdom of God that will come on the earth. It commences with all the rush and the toil and the difficulties of daily life and ends in a rest which remains for the people of God.

70. 27:54

    And you know what? The rest that Joshua gave to his people was not complete because we read in Hebrews 4 and the word shouldn't be Jesus in Hebrews 4 verse 8. It's Joshua. For if Joshua had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day? Joshua didn't give them rest in the land.

71. 28:15

    They were still in trouble as we are still unresting as we wait for the kingdom. There remaineth yet a rest to the people of God. for he that has entered into his rest has also ceased from his own works as God did from his. Let us labor, therefore, to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief as the Jews in the wilderness did.

72. 28:45

    We need to labor in strength and courage, friends and sisters, to enter our rest. The rest is before us, friends and sisters, and the life of Joshua is recorded as our great encouragement. If we believe in the promises of God, we really believe, and we are strong and of a great courage, if we know that it is God's battle, that we are with him, and we make the word of God our daily meditation, we will be granted an access to the kingdom.

73. 29:19

    And we will hear the words, well done thou, good, and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord. For this we honestly pray. Dear Sister Emily, may God bless and keep you on this wonderful journey you have embarked on. Be strong and have good courage. Thank you for listening to the Good Christ Delveen Talks podcast.

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75. 30:11

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    Thank you for listening, God bless, and talk to you next week. God bless,