Valley Gospel
A Pentecostal church experience.
Valley Gospel
A Script for Victory
Have you ever felt like your struggles are more than just life's circumstances, like they're a deeper, spiritual wrestling match? Join us in this uplifting episode as we reflect on the blessings and grace of God, and how it forms the foundation for our media ministry. We recount the inspiring story of Corrie Ten Boom, a Dutch believer who risked her life to save Jews during the Holocaust, and explore her powerful message about God's boundless forgiveness. I also share my personal journey as a pastor, stressing our unwavering commitment to preaching the full counsel of God, centered on the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross.
Together, we dive into the biblical narrative of Jacob's struggle with God as described in Hosea and Genesis, a story that symbolizes our own internal spiritual conflicts. These battles, often mistaken for external pressures like doubt or fear, are, in truth, divine opportunities for growth and victory in faith. We emphasize the necessity of engaging with scripture and maintaining consistent church attendance to overcome these challenges. The episode culminates in a heartfelt prayer for divine guidance, providing a unique prescription for achieving a victorious Christian life.
Finally, we walk through Jacob's transformative journey in Genesis 32, where his fear and strategic planning mirror our modern tendency to rely on our own understanding instead of seeking divine guidance. We reflect on how wrestling with God led to Jacob's profound transformation and what it teaches us about living a spirit-led life. This episode is a potent reminder to embrace faith and trust in God's greater plans, even when faced with trials. We close with a chorus of gratitude, celebrating the countless blessings and the goodness of God that enrich our lives every day.
God will open. He'll open up the windows of heaven and he'll pour you out of blessing. My God will open. He'll open up the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing, and you will not have the room to know not because of you, but because he is good and you will not have the room To receive Him.
Speaker 2:Hello, welcome to Valley Gospel Church Podcast. We are an independent full gospel church worshiping in spirit and in truth, located in Springdale, pennsylvania. Our single mission is to present a message of truth and hope centered on Jesus Christ and him crucified. So let's go into a service recorded live at Valley Gospel Church.
Speaker 3:Considering what we do as far as media ministry this week and you know the CDs and the a way to reach more people. Principally that was my thought we're hoping to open some kind of dialogue, one-on-one, a little more intimate ministry. That's through the podcast, and I thought it was all about others expanding for more people to hear the word, and that's part of it. Absolutely true, but what God showed me was that the deep things of the word, the revelation, the oh my, those things aren't always realized the first time. We hear them. We don't get them. We hear them, we don't get them the first time. Sometimes we have to hear it over and over and over. You know, if you ask somebody at 1 o'clock this afternoon what the message was about, you'd be pretty sure people are going to go well, I don't know something about the Holy Ghost and you'd be pretty safe, right, but you may have missed some life-changing truth until you hear it more than once, until something kind of jumps out, leaps out and grabs. So check it out this week. If you have opportunity to listen, to re-listen and hear what God's pouring out of his spirit, tell me if you know this name Corrie Ten Boom.
Speaker 3:Corrie Ten Boom, she was a Dutch believer and her, along with her family, helped save some 800 Jews from the Holocaust. She was a watchmaker, really. She wrote a book called the Hiding Place. Anybody ever read the Hiding Place? I think it's a movie or is going to be a movie recently, probably one we could go to Deb. A movie recently, probably one we could go to Deb.
Speaker 3:But she once said that God has cast our sin into the depths of the sea and he posted a sign no fishing allowed. And you know, thinking about her words, I am so reminded that I am but a sinner saved by grace. Your pastor is but a sinner saved by grace. He has called me to preach this gospel with a contrite heart and a humble spirit, and you know, more than ever I am filled with gratitude and an unyielding conviction that seems to intensify almost daily that we will press forward as an assembly, I as a pastor and we as a cohesive unit of believers, confident in our calling, realizing the anointing God has placed on this assembly, not looking back and trying not to look too far ahead. Sometimes that can be hard. Just taking care today. Just take care today, preaching the full counsel of today. Just take care of today, preaching the full counsel of God, knowing he bled the blood, knowing that our God has endured the lash that he suffered, the pain, the humiliation, the unbearable emotional time that he must have gone through. It was on that cross. But here's the thing you and I have been to that cross. We have been to that cross and have experienced its power.
Speaker 3:So if you have your Bibles, would you turn with me, please, two readings, one in Hosea. I know a place we don't visit too often, and how many of you know that the Bible isn't necessarily written chronologically? In other words, when you want to find out about a certain character in the Bible that it's not always in one place, you've got to follow it out a little bit. And that's why we have two readings, one in Hosea, one in Genesis bit. And that's why we have two readings, one in Hosea, one in Genesis.
Speaker 3:In the Hosea and Genesis accounts that we'll read in a minute, this man that we're going to talk about this morning, jacob. He struggles with an angel. That angel is, in fact, in Bible school terms, a theophany. It is God himself. It is Adonai that he fights with, the Christ of the New Testament that he fights with. Jacob's struggles are not with his brother or his father, and we'll touch on those as well today. His struggle is with God Almighty, as Christians, because your struggle, my struggle, isn't with doubt or fear or oppression or depression or anxiety or social status or financing or physical condition. Your struggle is not with a lifestyle that calls to you, that has you bound. Our struggle isn't with society or a world of unbelief. Your struggle is with God. Your struggle is with God.
Speaker 3:Hosea, 12. Let's begin there. 12 and 3 and 4. Whenever you get there and again, we're following out a non-chronological account, so that's why we have to bounce around just a little. So that's why we have to bounce around just a little 12 and 4. 12 and 3.
Speaker 3:And he took his brother by the heel in the womb and by his strength he had power with God. Yea, he had power over the angel and prevailed. He wept and made supplication unto him. He found him at Bethel and there he spake with us. All right, let's get back to Genesis 32. See, I gave you time to find Hosea because I knew you'd have to flip some pages. Finding Genesis is no problem, right? Genesis 32. 32. 32, beginning with the 24th verse. 32 and 24.
Speaker 3:And Jacob was left alone and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day. And when he saw that he prevailed not against him he touched the hollow of his thigh and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint as he wrestled with him and he said Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said I will not let thee go except thou bless me. And he said unto him what is thy name? And he said Jacob. And he said Thy name shall be called no more Jacob but Israel, for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men and hast prevailed. And Jacob asked him and said Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he said Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed One more Wow, wow. And as he passed over Peniel, the sun rose up upon him and he halted upon his thigh Wow, wow.
Speaker 3:Whatever you might be dealing with today, whatever the conflict in your life, maybe something that you believe is keeping you from a closer walk, a victorious walk, Something that's just keeping you, keeping it just out of reach, god has given every one of us a prescription, a prescribed order of victory for our own personal walk. He's given that to everybody. That assures us of our outcome, where we'll end up, where we're going to be in the end. We may not recognize the cure. You may not like the script, you may not like where he wants you to go, what he wants you to do, where he wants you to go, what he wants you to do.
Speaker 3:Look, anything that happens, anything that begins in the flesh, will end in the flesh. Everything that God has to start in the supernatural. And let me tell you this, it is never the way you think it should be, never. You may not want to apply the principles, you may not want to apply the principles, you may not want to even look at the owner's manual, but the way to victory, to overcome the struggle, has been given to you, and that's what I use for a message this morning a prescription for victory. Let's pray, heavenly Father. Thank you Lord, thank you Lord. We praise you, lord. We exalt your name because it's by your name that we overcome, it's by your blood that we have been redeemed. Lord, we thank you for those things. We ask you to give us and show us that prescription we have, not for eternal life, but for a victorious life here. Lord, let your word this morning be a lamp and a light it is required for victory is where a little knowledge is dangerous. A little knowledge is dangerous. A little knowledge is dangerous.
Speaker 3:You know, I have, in my 30, 40 years of ministry, talked to and counseled a few people, many who desire or desperately want to be a Christ follower but aren't sure about the way. And in their life they wrestle with a bondage, a religion, a deception, a lifestyle. And then they tell me me well, I have no faith. I really want to serve this Christ of yours, but I have no faith. And, by the way, pastor, I'm wrestling with this, I'm struggling with this issue in my life. But the word of God is clear. How do we increase our faith? How do we gain faith? Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Yet when you ask how often, how often they might attend church, the answer is invariably how often they might attend church? The answer is invariably oh well, christmas, easter, we go a couple of times a year. And the follow-up question, vicki, is always well, how often do you read the word? Every time I go to church, go to church.
Speaker 3:The second most popular statement I get is you know what? God doesn't answer my prayers anyway. You know I was sick, I had this, my wife had that, my uncle had that. He didn't answer any of the prayers that I threw up at them upstairs. Yet nearly all admit that the only time they even approached God is in times of crisis. Whoa, lump, Whoa. Got to pray now. Felt this pain, somebody's sick, ran out of money, lost my job, got to pray now.
Speaker 3:We think God should just know what you're struggling with, what your issue is, and just fix it. Fix it. You know, in that episode we saw the other night when Thomas said went to Jesus about Ramah and said fix this, fix this. And Jesus said yeah, not her time. Jacob asked of God and God gave him clear instruction. Jacob said thanks for answering, appreciate the answer, but I've got to have a plan in case your plan doesn't work out, in case this faith thing isn't all that it's cracked up to be. Faith thing isn't all that it's cracked up to be. Whenever you and I, whenever we ignore, go around or work at our own problem, absent God's intervention, absent the Holy Spirit, whenever we do that, we circumvent God's involvement in our life and essentially we tie his hands. Well, he's the august God of the universe, fix it. If we continue in that direction, trying to serve God and get a hold of our weakness, get a hold of our issue, our problem, we're headed for a showdown or worse. That's what happened to Jacob. Let's see what happened and how Jacob arrived here.
Speaker 3:Still in Genesis 32, let's back up to 32 and 1. I kind of got ahead of the story here, 32 and 1. And Jacob went on his way and the angel of God met him and when Jacob saw them he said this is God's host and he called the name of that place Mahanaim. And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau, his brother, unto the land of Seir and the country of Edom. All right, let's just skip up to verse 6. And the messengers returned to Jacob saying we came to thy brother, esau, and also he cometh to meet thee and four hundred men with him. Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed and he divided the people that was with him and the flocks and the herds and the camels into two bands. All right, we'll stop there.
Speaker 3:Jacob is walking with God, has for some time. You always hear the name, the God of Abraham, isaac and Jacob, right. 20 years previous Jacob had nothing but his staff. But now he has a host. The Bible says he has a host. The Bible says he has a host. His camp is named Manahami and it means two camps. Two camps, think about this now One with Rachel, his wife, his cattle, his kids, and the other with the heavenly host that were sent to accompany Jacob in his travels.
Speaker 3:Now he hears his brother, esau, is coming. They have history. Esau and Jacob have a little bit of history. Esau's coming not alone, he's coming with 400 men. Can't be good to be some problems here. And Jacob has reason to be concerned.
Speaker 3:You all know Jacob and Esau are brothers. Their father is Isaac. Isaac's favorite son is Esau, his eldest. And Jacob and Esau have a past. He, esau, have a past. He conned his brother's birthright being the eldest from his dad, isaac. Esau possessed the birthright being the eldest. Birthright in those days had a lot, had a very serious meaning, a very valuable meaning, in that there was a covenant blessing, there was the inheritance of Canaan, there was the inheritance of family wealth. A whole lot of things played out here. But Esau sells his birthright to Jacob as young man, and it's a sucker's deal. Jacob the deceiver lures his brother into a deal, taking advantage of his need for food After a long trip, jacob sells him, in essence, a bowl of soup for his birthright and instead of giving his brother the bowl of soup, simply because it's the inheritance from his father, I don't know how well the inheritance of Canaan would have gone, but I don't know that Jacob was really concerned about that.
Speaker 3:He's concerned about the money. He's concerned about the cash, but he still has to convince his dad. His dad isn't dead yet. All right, isaac is in bad shape, he's on his deathbed and his eyesight is failing. He visits his dad in a disguise. He glues hair on his arms, so when his dad touched him he would think it was Esau. He wasn't entitled to the birthright, but he tricked his nearly blind dad into giving him the inheritance with his mother's help yeah, I know, with his mother's help Helps him put on the disguise, teaches him how to talk a little more like Esau.
Speaker 3:Jacob deceived Esau, isaac and God. In fact, how many of you know? I remember we used to have a parishioner at Harmerville. His name was Jacob and I remember I said and, by the way, jacob means con man and I thought you shouldn't have said that His name means deceiver and probably a better interpretation would be con man. So nine and Jacob said O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, the Lord which saidest unto me return unto thy country and to thy kindred, and I will deal well with thee. I am not worthy of the least of all of the mercies and all of the truth which thou hast showed unto thy servant, for with my staff I passed over this Jordan and now I am become two bands. Deliver me. I pray thee from the hand of my brother. Here's the prayer From the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau, for I fear him lest he will come and smite me and the mother with the children.
Speaker 3:Jacob makes a plan to divide his camps so that when Esau come he wouldn't wipe everybody out. He divide this up. He won't wipe everybody out. He divided this up. He won't kill everybody. And whoever's left and Jacob hopes that it's him that he makes it they'll placate him with gifts. If there's someone left, they'll give Esau gifts and he'll leave them alone to save themselves. Then he prays. He has this intricate plan all laid out Divide the camps, placate them with gifts, save myself. And then he prays. Then he prays.
Speaker 3:Isn't Jacob a little like so many Christians today, christians that want to tell you what they think about God, how they feel he should deal in a certain situation? I don't want to hear what you believe God thinks. God doesn't anoint my thoughts. He doesn't anoint what I think. They make a plan. How can we overcome this problem, this issue, this conflict? Then they pray and ask God to bless my plan. Bless my plan Again.
Speaker 3:I think I said it earlier in the service that anything that starts in the flesh will finish in the flesh. If it's not God's plan, it's worthless, it's without merit, even though we know it's backwards and the knowledge that we have it backwards. And maybe we start to think as Christians that we're not quite as spirit-led as we thought. I know, see, george, I'm offending everybody now. I know, see, george, I'm offending everybody now. And that fills Christians with fear. It robs them of our confidence in God and they doubt that God will even do what he said he would do. And this is where it gets hard, because we tumble into doubt and fear, even though we want to follow God, we want to be a Christian, we want to be spirit filled, spirit led, we want to be strong, but we won't relinquish control, we won't give it up. We hang on to it, won't give him the reins.
Speaker 3:Louis Giglio said our prayers advise God, they counsel him, they set parameters and limits, tell him how to accomplish things, but we really don't trust him. We really don't trust him. We really don't expect him to move in our lives, in our situation. We pray but really don't expect him to come through. We'll throw it out there, we'll throw it upstairs. I hear I get so upset when I hear someone say take it to the man upstairs. Yeah, he's not upstairs, he's not in tenant, Hallelujah. If that's so, if we don't really trust him, and if it's true for some Christians, why is it so? Why do Christians not fully trust him?
Speaker 3:Because, call it selling out to Jesus Christ requires surrender, surrender, and we're not willing to surrender, surrender, and we're not willing to surrender. Surrender brings new responsibilities, it brings new focus, it brings new priorities, it brings fresh encounters. It's a different road that we walk, a different mode of travel, walk a different mode of travel and too many Christians like coming to the Lord, the assurance of salvation. But we don't want our lifestyle changed too much. Little bits, okay, but not too much. We have a plan on how our life will progress, how we'll work and travel. We'll do this, we'll do that, we'll go here, we'll go there, and a commitment to Christ, a surrender to Christ, will change all of that and, like I said before, we don't want too much change.
Speaker 3:I'll be honest, a spirit-led life doesn't smooth everything out, doesn't make everything nice in whatever we're doing. It doesn't create that perfect balance of job. It doesn't create that perfect balance of job. It turns your plans upside down. Everything you thought was important, everything you thought you needed to do, every place you wanted to go is slammed on its head. You have a plan, but God has the plan. Jacob had a plan, but God had another plan. Now I do want to give you some encouragement.
Speaker 3:Even though Jacob was flawed, even though he was a deceiver, a con man, he walked in the flesh more concerned about stuff and work and life and business than his relationship with Adonai. He hadn't hardened his heart, he loved God and he was a man of some faith. Now, this is where the WWF comes in 24, 32 and 24. And Jacob was left alone and there wrestled the man with him until the breaking of the day and when he saw that he prevailed, not against him. He touched the hollow of his thigh and the Jacob wrestles with God Remember a theophany, a substitution of God for an angel or a man, but in fact is the God of the Bible, the Christ of the New Testament. He wrestles with God all night and he won't submit, he won't tap out, he won't surrender. So the Lord turns up the heat just a little bit, touches his thigh, takes it out of joint and Jacob falls Hallelujah. He dislocates his hip and he's unable listen. Now it's getting good here. This is the oh my.
Speaker 3:Unable to stand on his own, unable to motivate, unable to walk on his own. Are you starting to see his plan, god's plan? Jacob, unable to stand, grasps on to the Lord and holds on with everything that he has. Holds on with everything. Oh my, I pray you're receiving this. Hang on, church. Hang on. Help is on the way.
Speaker 3:You may be facing an unknown. Just hang on. That's your only requirement. You may be experiencing some sadness, some adversity right now. Hang on, barbie, just hang on. Maybe you doubt, maybe you even doubt yourself. Hang on. Maybe you doubt your qualifications, your ability to get through this or persevere in the struggle. Don't struggle, just hang on, just hang on, he's coming, he's coming.
Speaker 3:Glory, the Lord tests Jacob. Now tells him to let go. Go back to your old ways, Go back to where work was king, go back to where the flesh ruled. Follow your plan. That was working out really well for you, wasn't it? Jacob says I will not let go, I won't, I will not let go, I won't, I will not let go. Maybe the first time he fully exercises his faith, jacob he knows God's plan for him is far better than anything he could plan Finally comes to that realization. God's thoughts are higher than his. I will not let go until you bless me, bless me. In spite of his fear, his doubt, his wavering faith, jacob believes that there is peace in this storm, in this fight. There's peace in this fight, this struggle that I'm in, Hallelujah. There's strength in his weakness. Now it gets good.
Speaker 3:27. And he said unto him what is thy name? And he said Jacob. You know, you've probably read that a hundred times and it's like yeah, okay, what's your name? Jacob? God asked Jacob his name.
Speaker 3:Now, certainly the Lord knew who he wrestled with all night. He knew him intimately, as Louis Giglio would say. He wrote his DNA. He knew him Hallelujah. Yet he asked him his name. He knew him before he was even born, while he was still in his mother's womb, just like us. But he asked his name. This is the real test. This is the real test. He taught Jacob, he tried Jacob. Now he tests him by asking his name. What see if he was going to? He asked his name. That's the test. The last time Jacob was asked his name, he said my name is Esau. To his dying father, isaac, he lies. So the test is giving his right name, sort of sort of not completely.
Speaker 3:The test is to do the right thing. To do the right thing, to walk by faith, regardless of the consequences, regardless of what we may face. You've heard me say a lot that if we're really walking with Jesus, if we're really walking in the Spirit, the devil's coming after you, and I know y'all don't like to hear that too much. Devil's coming after you, and I know y'all don't like to hear that too much and he probably will. But faith says I don't care what hell throws at me. Faith says I'm walking with Jesus. I don't care what the devil does, I'm walking with him. I don't care if I'm all alone in my walk, if I'm the last one, if I come here on a Sunday morning all alone, I'm trusting Jesus.
Speaker 3:Maybe maybe I'm wrapping this up. Maybe this is your test. Just maybe this is a Sunday like no other. Maybe this Sunday is a little different than usual. Maybe this is a place where you leave doubt behind. Maybe this is a time that you leave doubt behind. Maybe this is a time that you leave fear behind. Against all odds, facing every obstacle in your life and I don't even pretend to know what you face but with devils all around and demons applauding your demise, you've fallen, and that's not a surprise. You've fallen before. You've failed many times, but maybe not today. Maybe not today. Today, maybe God is preparing you a table in the presence of your enemies. Maybe today, your God anoints your head with oil. Maybe today, goodness and mercy are your companions from this point on through Glory, point on through Glory.
Speaker 3:Jacob's reply is my name is Jacob. Yeah, I'm the con man, I'm the deceiver. That's me. If we want to be anointed of God, if we want to be blessed by God, to be in his favor, it requires that we admit to ourselves and to God who we are, who we are and what we are. We can fully know who he is when we admit who we are. We can fully know who he is when we admit who we are. Glory, the Lord tells Jacob not anymore, not anymore.
Speaker 3:28. And he said the name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel, for as a prince, hast thou power with God and with men and has prevailed. No longer Jacob the conman, you are Israel, a prince of God. How quickly, how quickly God changes who we are, how quickly he accepts and recognizes when we've had a change of heart. Isn't that what God told you? You're an heir and a joint heir. Yeah, I don't go in for that heir stuff. You're a prince and as a prince, you have power with men and with God. Now, jacob, with some confidence after and I can understand now I'm changing your name to a prince of God. Now Jacob has a little confidence and he asks his name verse 29,. And Jacob asked him and said tell me verse 29. And Jacob asked him and said tell me I pray thee thy name. And he said wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him.
Speaker 3:There, in that all night wrestling match, we get a revelation. That's so for us today, so important to us today that God will not, cannot. Important to us today that God will not, cannot, does not bless the flesh. He does not. Our flesh cannot receive the victory. That's spirit to spirit. It's our spirit that experiences the anointing, not the flesh. Our spirit, our flesh can't receive the victory. All right, let's go and we'll finish.
Speaker 3:30. And Jacob called the name of the place, peniel. And I have seen God face to face. See, if you're wondering where this I got the theophany from, this is one of the verses that tell you that it was in fact God that Jacob wrestled with. And as he passed over Peniel, the sun rose upon him and he halted upon his thigh. Therefore, the children of Israel eaten under the sinew which shrank, which is upon the hollow of the thigh. Jacob, halted and maimed, limps back to Israel and in the mind of God, it was better for the sun to rise on a limping prince of God than for the sun to set on a con man named Jacob. Hallelujah, think about that. Jacob still had to go back to Israel like that, with no sinew in his hip, nothing but his staff. He returns as a prince, wealthy, appointed, but lame, but lame. There's some consequences that we don't get away from that. We don't get around.
Speaker 3:In our study, in some of the Bible studies in the past couple of weeks, we learned that at the end of the tribulation, half the population of the world will be spirit-filled believers, baptized in the Holy Ghost. We also learned that every living Jew at that time will come to Jesus Christ a saving knowledge. Isn't that a picture of Jacob returning, when we see every Jew that comes to Christ in the tribulation returns to him, yeah, he's the one, he's the Messiah. We're so sorry we missed it. We accept him now as our Lord and Savior. A picture of Jacob returning to Yahweh with abundance but broken. With abundance but broken. Jacob was shackled by doubt and fear his entire life. For you and I to walk in that prescribed order of victory, we must be broken, broken, hallelujah.
Speaker 3:It took a fight with God. Sometimes it takes a fight with God to make him righteous in the sight of God. You may be, maybe you're unaware of of that. Your fight isn't with your family or your brothers or your sisters, or your church or your pastor. That's not who your fight's with. You know, it seems in recent days, ever since we aired the podcast, I guess that a lot of people are really mad about what I'm preaching. I guess that a lot of people are really mad about what I'm preaching. Your struggle is not with me, your struggle is with God. And during that struggle, during that struggle, we get close to the lights of holiness. But if you don't recognize who that fight is with that, it's with God.
Speaker 3:During that match, we find that there's no place to hide. If you're going to fight with God, there's no place to hide. There's no safe place. You can't run to your corner, you can't. There's no place to hide. There's no place to hide Our old excuses, our blame of everyone around us, our old defenses seeing the glaring lights of holiness.
Speaker 3:Remember when Jesus, when Peter, when he helped Peter with fishing, and Peter finally realizes that Jesus is more than a man, and instead of a euphoric high like I was in the presence of greatness or wow, I got to see him, it was amazing. Or this supernatural buzz, peter's knees buckle. He said Lord, please don't look at me. I am a sinful and unclean man. The nearer that he draws to you, the more clearly we see our sinfulness. And that's good. Don't get down on yourself. That's a good thing. Our hope is only in him. Our future is only in him. Our peace is only in him. Our peace is only in him. And I'll leave you with this God doesn't see you for what you are. God doesn't see you for who you think you are. He sees you for what he knows you can become. When you realize you're a simple sinner, saved and anointed and appointed by the sovereign grace of Almighty God. When we realize that we're in good shape.
Speaker 2:We're on the right path. We pray. This message is a blessing and encouragement to you. Most of all, that it fortifies your faith as the return of our Lord draws near. We encourage you to share the love of Jesus this week and invite you to listen to next week's podcast.
Speaker 4:When he moves among us, all that he does, all of His mercy and all of His love. If the pen of a writer Could write every day, even this world Could never contain how I have been blessed. There's warmth in the winter, flowers in spring, the laughter of summer, the changing of leaves, food on our table and a good place to sleep. Clothes on your back and shoes on your feet. I have been blessed. I have been blessed. God so good to me. Precious are his thoughts Of you and me. No way I can count them, there's not enough time, so I'll just thank him For being so kind. God has been good, so very good. I have been blessed. Yes, yes, and eyes that can see. I've got to praise him for as long as I breathe. How I have been blessed. I like this part. A mother and father, nurtured and raised Sisters and brothers and memories made our pastor to lead us this altar to pray stripes that can heal the blood that still saves.
Speaker 4:I have been blessed. Let's sing that chorus. I have been blessed. God's so good to me. Precious are his thoughts of you and me. No way I can count them, there's not enough time, so I'll just thank Him For being so kind. God has been good, so very good. I have been blessed. Let's sing it again. I have been blessed. God's so good to me. Precious are his thoughts Of you and me. No way I can count them, there's not enough time, so I'll just thank him For being so kind. God has been good, so very good. I have been blessed. Let's sing it again. I have been blessed. God's so good to me. Precious are his thoughts Of you and me. No way I can count them, there's not enough time, so I'll just thank him For being so kind. God has been good, so very good. I have been blessed.