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Today we’re going to be looking at James 1:1-4. It’s a passage that I have gone back to on several occasions. James was addressing believers of Jewish backgrounds that had been scattered because they were being persecuted. After Stephen was martyred, persecution increased and believers in Jerusalem were scattered throughout the Roman world. This isn’t the only persecution they faced, Peter also mentions a persecution that occurred because of emperor Nero. According to historical data , Nero set the city of Rome on fire and blamed it on the Christians. So a fierce persecution arose against them and they had to flee to different cities.
So when James was writing this letter, he was addressing folks that were probably distraught, fatigued and living with a certain level of fear.
To understand this passage , we’re going to look at the example and life of a woman named Hannah. See video
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hey um good evening this is taiva
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types.com
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this morning i shared a video on
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suffering
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and i looked at it again and i didn't
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like how it came out
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there were some obscure um points on the
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presentation
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and it's more like the quality wasn't
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what i needed it to be
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so i felt compelled to redo it again and
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you know i don't want to
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rush what i do you know so i want to i
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want to take my time and present
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good quality material i don't have all
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the necessary uh technical tools that i
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need
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but at least the presentation has to be
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understood by the audience and when
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people are listening to they're looking
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at it and listening to it
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they need to be able to understand what
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is being said so
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i felt compelled to redo it again and um
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i want to do it again so again like i
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said earlier this morning
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nobody likes to talk about suffering i
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certainly don't
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want to talk about suffering but it's
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part of our life
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you know one way or another you're gonna
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suffer
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and as a believer we are called to
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prepare ourselves
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and to to know that it's gonna come in
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our lives because jesus said in this
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world
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you will have trouble but he also said
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ah
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take heart for for i've overcome the
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world
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so as believers um how do we deal with
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suffering and and
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and timing and time and again i've gone
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back to the book of james
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especially james chapter one verse one
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to four
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which i'm gonna be talking about in the
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next um
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slide in my intro so basically
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um we are going to be looking at james
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verse 1
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and chapter 1 verse 1 to 4. and i've
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gone back to this passage like several
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on several occasions and james was
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addressing believers of jewish
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backgrounds that had been scattered
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because they were being persecuted
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so after stephen was martyred he was
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killed for being a christian
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persecution increased and believers in
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jerusalem
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were scattered throughout like the roman
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empire
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so this is the this is not the only
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persecution they face
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because peter also mentions a
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persecution that occurred because of
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emperor nero now nero according to
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history
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he set the city of rome on fire and he
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blamed
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the fire on the christians so they were
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the scapegoat so
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a fierce persecution arose against the
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christians and they had to flee to
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different cities so that's also another
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persecution that happened
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uh throughout those times so when james
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was uh
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writing this letter he was addressing
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folks that were
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actually under a lot of stress they was
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probably
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distraught fatigued and they were
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probably living in
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in a certain level of fear so to
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understand this passage what i'm going
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to do today is i'm going to go to
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um first samuel chapter one we're gonna
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go from one to twenty
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and we are going to look at the life of
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a woman named hannah
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hannah she is uh her stories are
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featured in
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her account is featured in first samuel
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1 and i want to look at it because
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her life story pretty much parallels
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what james is talking about
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so keep this this in your mind that the
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people that were reading this letter
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were actually going through persecution
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so if you're going through some kind of
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a hard time
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you're suffering and you're going
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through a difficult time i think
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this message is failing for you so let's
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jump into it
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so the first thing i want to do is i
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want to look at the the life
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i want to read the scripture and then
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we're going to go from there okay so
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let's read the scripture
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so we are going to read james chapter 1
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verse 1 to 4. scripture says
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james a servant of god and of the lord
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jesus christ by the way james was the
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brother of jesus
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an actual brother of jesus he was born
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it was mary's son
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so he's actually one of the one of jesus
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brothers
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so that so i'm going to start again
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james
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a servant of god and of the lord jesus
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christ
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to the 12 tribes scattered among the
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nations
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greetings consider consider the pure joy
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my brothers and sisters whenever you
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face trials of many kinds
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because you know that the testing of
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your faith
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produces perseverance let perseverance
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finish
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his work so that you may be mature and
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complete not lacking
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anything so james is basically telling
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us
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to consider pure joy whenever
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the trials come he didn't say
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if they come is whenever they come which
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means they are going to come
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you're going to have a hard time you're
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going to suffer
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this is just a given it's not if they
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will happen is when they will happen
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but james also says why should you
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consider
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joy because you know that the testing of
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your faith
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produces perseverance now perseverance
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if you're an athlete
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you're usually told persevere like go
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through the process
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and why is james saying that is because
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he's saying let
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the process finish his work so that you
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may be mature
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and complete not lacking anything
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so james has something in mind and to
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truly understand that i want us to look
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at the life of
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hannah so we're going to go to first
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samuel 1
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verse 1 to 20. so i'm going to read
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under a portion
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there was a certain man from ramatham a
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zufite
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from the hill country of ephraim whose
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name was alcana son of jerohams
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the son of eliahu the son of tohu the
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son of zeuth
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and ephraimite he had two wives one was
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called
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hana and the other peninnah of penina
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penina had children but hannah had none
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year after year this man went up from
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his town to worship and sacrifice
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to the lord almighty at shiloh where
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hofne and phineas
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the two sons of eli were priests of the
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lord
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whenever the day came for elkanah to
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sacrifice
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he would give portions of the meat to
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his wife benina
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and to all her sons and daughters but
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hannah he gave a double portion
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because he loved her even though the
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lord had closed her womb
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and because the lord had closed hannah's
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womb her arrival
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kept provoking her in order to irritate
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her
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this went on year after year whenever
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hannah went up to the house of the lord
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her rival provoked her until she wept
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and would not eat and her husband el
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cana would say to her hannah
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why are you weeping why don't you eat
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why are you darn harded do not mean more
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to you than ten sons
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once when they had finished eating and
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drinking
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in shiloh hannah stood up now eli the
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priest was sitting
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on his chair by the doorpost of the
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lord's house
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in her deep anguish hannah prayed to the
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lord
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weeping bitterly and she made a vow
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saying
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lord almighty if you will only look on
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your servant's misery and remember
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remember me and not forget your servant
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but give her a son
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then i will give him to the lord for all
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the days of his life
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and no razor would ever be used on his
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head
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as she kept on praying to the lord eli
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observed her mouth
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hannah was praying in her heart and her
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lips were moving but her voice was not
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heard
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eli thought she was drunk and said to
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her how long are you going to stay
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drunk put away your wine not so my lord
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and i replied
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i'm a woman who was deeply troubled i
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have not been drinking wine or beer
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i was pouring out my soul to the lord do
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not take your servant for a wicked woman
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i've been praying here
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out of my great anguish and grief eli
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answered
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go in peace amen the god of israel
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grant you what you have asked him she
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said
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may your servant find favor in your eyes
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then she went away and ate something and
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her face was no longer downcast
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early the next morning they arose and
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worshipped before the lord and then went
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back to their home at rhema
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alcana made love to his wife hannah and
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the lord
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remembered her so in the course of time
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hannah became pregnant
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and gave birth to a son and she named
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him samuel
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saying because i asked the lord for him
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this is incredible this is the word of
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the lord
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now why did i choose this story
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because i believe it captures the
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essence of what james is
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saying is saying in james 1 verse 1 to 4
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and then we are going to look at it
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little by little so let's go back to the
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slides
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so let's go back to the slide so
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as you all know hannah was barren and
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her rival was not
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so hella was the favorite wife but she
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could not have any children
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and in that society baroness was a
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disgrace
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especially to the woman who could not
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conceive so you can imagine
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that the object of her prayer was the
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same every year
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we can make some strong inferences based
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on what verse 7 tells us
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scripture says in verse 7 so it went on
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year by year
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as often as she went up to the house of
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the lord she used to provoke her
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she being the rival penina
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and because of it hannah wept and would
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not eat she lost her appetite
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so her rival used to provoke her to the
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point where she
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lost her appetite she probably told her
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to quit
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praying because after all these years
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hannah still couldn't produce a child so
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her rival probably ridiculed her prayers
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she probably said to her hannah you are
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wasting your time
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you've been praying the same prayer
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every year
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and god still hasn't given you
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what you have been asking him quit
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praying
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it is a waste of time he doesn't care
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about your prayers
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keep on moving you are worthless you
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can't have any child
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just accept it this is the status quo
10:06
why are you wasting your time
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i can see that happening i could see how
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a rival was so wicked
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and just so mean and rude
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you see that and we know from scripture
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that
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the lord closed hannah's womb he did it
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because the scripture says the lord had
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closed her womb so
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it was god that did it and god had a
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good reason
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see hannah wanted the child she wanted
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the child so bad that she
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became blind and forgot the real purpose
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of being a mother which is
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bad godly children that was god's
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purpose for her
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as a mother she she wanted a child
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because the society said
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in order for you to be validated in
10:54
order for you to be a woman
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you have to bear children but that was
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in god's mind
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but because god loved her god said i'm
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gonna close your womb
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and i'm going to stretch you and teach
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you a lesson you see
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we need to understand this james says
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in verse in chapter one verse two
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four count it all joy my brothers and
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sisters would you beat
11:19
trials of various kinds for you know
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that the testing of your faith
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produces steadfastness or perseverance
11:27
and let perseverance have its full
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effect that you may be perfect and
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complete
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lacking in nothing see god was
11:34
stretching
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hannah until she became mature and
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complete
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see perseverance had to run its course
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until hannah reached the level of
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maturity that would lead her
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to pray according to the mind and will
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of god which is
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asking for a child that will be
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dedicated to the work of the lord
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so you have to understand something in
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that time
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eli had two sons named huffny and
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phineas
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and they were a disgrace to the
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priesthood they ate the meat
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and in the meat there was blood and that
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was prohibited by the law but they kept
12:08
on eating it
12:09
and they were sleeping with the women
12:10
that were serving at the altar it became
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a party time
12:13
instead of being like leaders and role
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models
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they turned the temple into a place of
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party and they defiled the temple so god
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was going to prepare somebody that was
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going
12:24
to replace all of that and the bible
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says that
12:28
the lord discipline whom he loves and
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scripture also says that when you're
12:31
being disciplined is
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it is not pleasant at a time but painful
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but later on it leads to a harvest of
12:38
righteousness for those that have been
12:39
trained
12:40
by it see hannah was being trained by
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the discipline
12:43
she was going through a hard time she
12:45
couldn't have any children
12:46
and god was working in her both to will
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and act according to the purpose of god
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and what was the purpose of god
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that hannah would ask for a baby that
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would serve
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the purposes of god which was samuel
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you see she had to go through the
13:03
discipline
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she had to go through the hard time
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because guess what
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god was saying i'm not just gonna give
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you children just to give your children
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but i'm gonna give you a child and i'm
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gonna give you children that will serve
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my purpose because this is why you are
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here we leave
13:19
to please god we exist to bring him
13:22
glory
13:23
scripture also says jacob i loved but he
13:26
saw i hate it
13:27
you see hannah was loved but
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peninnah was probably hated when i say
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hit i'm not saying that
13:34
and god hated uh penang in the sense
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that he didn't like her now
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the thing is the scripture says god
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discipline whom he loves
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so god disciplines his own children and
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he does not discipline those he does not
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take
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us his children now scripture doesn't
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say anything about
13:51
benigno's faith but i truly
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don't believe that she was saved and she
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was a believer
13:58
because of the way she acted okay so i
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believe
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god favored hannah but the favor was in
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the sense that he was disciplining her
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so that she could be in line with god's
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purpose
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and if you don't believe me look at what
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she says in her prayer
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after she receives the news that she's
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going to become pregnant and she gives
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birth to
14:17
samuel she prays a prayer in first
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samuel 2 verse 1 to 11
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and i want us to read that and it's
14:23
incredible so let's go to that
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now this is hannah's prayer after samuel
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is born she says
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my heart rejoices in the lord in the
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lord my horn is lifted high
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my mouth boasts over my enemies for a
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delight
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in your deliverance another version say
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a delight in your salvation i like that
14:43
version better
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now you see here she's not even
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mentioning
14:47
samuel she's just giving praises to the
14:50
lord
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okay and she goes there is no one holy
14:53
like the lord
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there is no one beside you there is no
14:56
rock like our
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god do not keep talking so proudly or
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let your mouth speak such arrogance
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for the lord is a god who knows and by
15:05
him deeds are weighed
15:07
the bows of the warriors are broken but
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those who stumbled
15:11
are armed with strength those who were
15:13
full higher themselves
15:15
out for food but those who were hungry
15:18
are hungry no more
15:19
she who was barren has borne seven
15:22
children
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but she who had many sons finds a way
15:26
the lord brings death and makes a life
15:29
the lord brings death and makes a life i
15:31
mean she is preaching the gospel right
15:33
now
15:33
he brings down to the grave and raises
15:35
up okay she's preaching the resurrection
15:39
the lord sends poverty and wealth he
15:41
humbles and
15:42
he exults he raises the poor from the
15:44
dust and lifts the needy from the ash
15:46
heap
15:48
he sits them with princes and has them
15:50
inherit a throne of honor
15:53
i mean this is incredible for the
15:54
foundations of the earth are the lords
15:56
on them he has set the world he will
15:58
guard the feet of his faithful servant
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but the wicked will be silenced in the
16:02
place of darkness
16:04
it is not by strength that one prevails
16:07
those who oppose the lord will be broken
16:09
the most high will thunder from heaven
16:12
the lord
16:13
will judge the ends of the earth he will
16:15
give strength to his king and exalt the
16:17
horn of his anointed
16:19
basically she is even it's a prophetic
16:22
like prayer she's even talking about a
16:23
coming king
16:24
the lord will give strength to his king
16:26
and exalt the horn of his anointed
16:28
do you see that this is incredible
16:32
this is incredible so what can we learn
16:34
from hannah and what can we learn from
16:35
james chapter one verse one to four
16:38
let's go to that so what can we learn
16:43
when we are going through a hard time
16:44
which i'm going through and you're
16:46
probably growing through
16:48
you ought an hour to rejoice because it
16:50
is a sure sign that god
16:52
is loving us so difficult times
16:56
and suffering are a sign that god's love
17:00
rests upon us he discipline those he
17:02
loves
17:03
the process involves perseverance
17:06
and he must run its course so we can
17:08
become mature
17:10
in the sense that we are complete
17:11
completely lined up with the plan and
17:13
purpose of god
17:14
and the end purpose of god is that we
17:16
might be like jesus
17:18
and if you want to understand that go to
17:19
romans 8 28-29
17:22
scripture says and we know that for
17:24
those who love god
17:27
all things work together for good
17:30
for those who are called according to
17:32
his purpose
17:33
and i put purpose in red what is the
17:35
purpose
17:36
and verse 29 gives us the answer for
17:39
those whom before knew
17:41
he also predestined to be conformed to
17:44
the image of his son
17:46
in order that he might be the firstborn
17:49
among many brothers
17:51
now this verse this roman 8 verse 28 and
17:54
29 has been distorted by a lot of people
17:56
they don't quite understand it now god
18:00
allow all things to work together for
18:02
good
18:03
so that we can fulfill his purpose and
18:06
the purpose is pretty simple
18:07
conformity to the image of his son
18:11
so that he might be the firstborn among
18:14
many brothers so as we go through the
18:16
trials as we go through the suffering as
18:19
god
18:20
allows these things to happen and we
18:21
grow in the process
18:23
people begin to see christ form
18:27
in us they begin to see jesus christ
18:30
revealed
18:31
through the suffering they begin to see
18:33
that we are being conformed to the image
18:35
of christ so
18:36
in the suffering there is growth
18:39
and the growth is that we can become
18:42
like
18:42
jesus our eldest brother
18:46
that is the whole purpose of god in the
18:48
process conformity
18:50
to the image of jesus christ whom he
18:53
loves because this is his firstborn
18:56
so when we go into this thing god is
18:58
weeding us
18:59
out of the fleshly desires of ours so
19:02
he's taking away
19:03
all the bad desires he's he's pretty
19:06
much cleansing us he's sanctifying us so
19:09
the process of going through these
19:11
difficult times
19:12
is meant to do away with the things of
19:15
the flesh that
19:15
holds us captive okay and that's the
19:18
main thing is
19:19
he allows us to go through these things
19:21
so that we can learn
19:23
to depend on god and in the process we
19:25
become like our eldest brother jesus
19:27
christ
19:28
so that's the whole purpose of god in
19:30
the process and i'm going to be talking
19:32
talking about romans 8 verse 28 to 29
19:35
maybe in a couple of days come
19:37
okay because this is the main purpose of
19:40
god
19:40
conformity to the image of jesus christ
19:44
his beloved son this is it
19:47
so when we are going through this hard
19:49
time he is
19:50
teaching us he is disciplining us and
19:53
that means that he loves us
19:55
so sometimes the hard times actually the
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best time for us to grow
19:58
and as hard as it is for us now we need
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to keep hope and know that he
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is working so that we can look like
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jesus
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20:18
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