A Perfect Match: Our Heavenly Love Story

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Hey friends, welcome to the Her God Story podcast where you will always hear a good

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story to encourage and inspire you in your walk with the Lord.

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I'm your host, Jodie Chiricosta, ministry leader at Somebody Cares America International, author

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and traveler on this journey of faith.

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If you haven't done so yet, make sure to like or follow this podcast on your favorite streaming

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platform so you don't miss any of our encouraging episodes.

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I'm sending out a special thanks to all of you who have joined our growing company of

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those supporting our Widow and Orphan Fund.

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Together, we are building an indoor bathroom and shower facility for a girls' home in

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Kenya.

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These precious girls have only had access to outdoor showers and outhouses, which at

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night in rural Kenya can be very dangerous.

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The girls are so excited about having an indoor bathroom.

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I'll share more about it once it's completed, but please, please be praying that all goes

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well and there are no delays.

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If you have not joined us yet, we'd welcome the help.

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There are many special needs that we as a company of women and men can meet together.

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Will you consider joining us with a special gift to help?

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Just go to hergodstory.org and click on the Widow and Orphan tab at the top of the page.

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There's a song from the 70s by John Paul Young called Love is in the Air.

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Some of the lyrics go, Love is in the air in the whisper of the trees, Love is in the

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air in the thunder of the sea.

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Love is in the air in the rising of the sun.

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Love is in the air when the day is nearly done.

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Love is in the air everywhere I look around.

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Love is in the air every sight and every sound.

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The apostle Paul probably felt the same way.

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In Romans 8, 38, and 39 in the New Living Translation, he says, I am convinced that

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nothing can ever separate us from God's love.

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Neither death nor life nor angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries

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about tomorrow, not even the powers of hell can separate us from God's love.

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No power in the sky above or in the earth below.

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And nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is

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revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

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I know God loves me.

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I hope you do too.

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But our flawed experience with love, even with those who love amazingly well, cannot

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compare to the perfect love that God has for us and showers on us.

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You see, we are loved by love incarnate.

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In fact, if you have confessed with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe that God raised

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him from the dead, you have become a child of God and are part of the bride of Christ.

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Revelations 19 tells us that Jesus will marry his bride when he returns to the earth at

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the end of the age.

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And in John 14, two and three, Jesus said he is going to prepare a place for us and

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that he will come back to take us to be with him.

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And that will be for eternity.

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In the meantime, we're here on earth preparing ourselves to be his bride.

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Revelation 19, seven and eight says, Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory for

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the wedding of the lamb has come and his bride has made herself ready.

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Fine linen, bright and clean, was given to her.

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Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of God's holy people.

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While we his bride are here waiting for his return, we must also be on guard against the

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enemy of our souls.

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Revelation will try to convince us that we are abandoned, unworthy, even unloved.

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But this is, of course, a lie.

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The devil will try to isolate us from one another because we are created to be united

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with other believers as the bride of Christ.

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You see, God created us to live in relationship with himself and other believers.

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He's the one who formed us.

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He knows us better than we know ourselves.

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He knows that we are a perfect fit for him as part of his bride.

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And when we are in unity with other believers, we experience the fullness of his love.

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It's hard to comprehend a love like God's.

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It's so much better than any love we will ever encounter from anyone else.

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The apostle Paul knew this too.

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In fact, he prayed for other believers to understand this love more fully.

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Ephesians 3, 16 through 18, he writes, I pray that from God's glorious, unlimited resources,

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he will empower you with inner strength through his spirit, then Christ will make his home

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in your hearts as you trust in him.

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Your roots will grow down deep into God's love and keep you strong.

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And may you have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how

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long, how high, and how deep his love is.

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When we're rooted in God's love, we're strong.

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Even once in a while, a new aspect of the depth and breadth of God's love dawns on

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me.

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And I'm always overwhelmed by it.

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That happened to me recently when I was having my devotions.

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I was confessing a wrong attitude to him yet again, feeling like a failure for not getting

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it right for the umpteenth time.

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And his gentle voice in my spirit said, love keeps no record of wrongs.

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You may recognize that from 1 Corinthians 13.

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I was astonished that I had never recognized that God's love works like that for me.

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When I come to him in contrition and repentance, he remembers it no more.

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He does not keep count of how many times I fail in the same area, for love keeps no record

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of wrongs.

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And he is love.

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He not only loves, but he is love.

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Isaiah 59.2 explains, of course, that our sin separates us from God.

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But 1 John 1.9 assures us that when we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive

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us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

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Now I've heard and read 1 Corinthians 13 many times, but always in the context of how

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I should be loving, how I should be behaving, which of course I should.

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But that day I realized that is how God loves me.

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Because God is love, which we know from 1 John 4.8, the description of love that we

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find in 1 Corinthians 13, 4 through 8, is how God loves me, how God loves you.

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When I read through that passage as a description of how God loves me, it's startling.

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It shatters all the lies Satan tells us about God.

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So let's do that.

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I'm using the New Living Translation, but any translation will do.

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Love is patient.

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Love is kind.

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It does not envy.

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It does not boast.

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It is not proud.

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It does not dishonor others.

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It is not self-seeking.

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It is not easily angered.

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It keeps no record of wrongs.

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Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth.

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It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

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Love never fails.

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Now let's personalize it.

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God is patient with me.

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God is patient with you.

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I often use the Bible Hub app to see the fuller meaning of words in the Bible.

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And the Greek word used for patience is macrofemaeo, if I didn't pronounce it right, forgive me.

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But the fuller meaning of that Greek word includes refusing to retaliate with anger,

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deferring anger for a long time.

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And since 2 Peter 3, 8 says with the Lord, a day is like a thousand years and a thousand

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years are like a day, we can be sure His patience is never going to run out on us.

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God is kind, even benevolent to me and you.

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This reminds me of Jeremiah 29, 11, one of my favorite verses, which says, for I know

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the plans I have for you, says the Lord, they are plans for good and not for disaster, to

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give you a future and a hope.

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Even when we think we deserve harshness, God is so kind.

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His plans for us are always good.

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Yes, sometimes He does discipline us, but it's out of His kindness, not out of anger.

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He always has good in mind for us, always.

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God does not envy us or anything we have.

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In fact, James 1, 17 tells us every good and perfect gift is from God.

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Because He is the one who gives us good things, He would never begrudge or resent us having

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them.

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Boasting in pride is not God's way.

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He does not hold His lofty position over us to make us feel subservient or small.

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Philippians 2, 7-9 reminds us that Jesus gave up His divine privilege and took the humble

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position of a servant when He was born a human.

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Even more, He humbled Himself to die a criminal's death on the cross, to redeem us from the

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slavery of sin and death, and to make a way for us to join Him as a child of God, as the

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Bride of Christ, with a divine inheritance.

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God never dishonors us.

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The Greek word used here can also be translated to act unbecomingly, indecent, or improper.

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God is the author of free will and He never forces us to do anything, good or bad.

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Galatians 5, 13 reminds us that we are called to freedom, so we should not use our freedom

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to serve our flesh, but to do good.

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We may dishonor ourselves, others may try to dishonor us, but God offers the way of

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life and lets us choose how to respond.

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God always seeks the best for us.

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If He was self-seeking, He certainly would not have sent Jesus to die an excruciating

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death on the cross for us.

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He would have left us to suffer our just punishment.

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Remember Jeremiah 29, 11?

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God has good plans to prosper us and give us a future and a hope.

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I am so thankful that God, who is love, does not get angry with us easily.

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Three times in the Old Testament we are assured of this, God is slow to get angry, but His

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power is great and He never lets the guilty go unpunished.

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You may think that is a contradiction of His love, but no, because He is slow to anger,

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He gives plenty of time for people to repent of their sins and have their guilt wiped away.

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Only those who never accept His gracious gift of forgiveness out of their own free will,

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by making Him Lord of their lives, suffer punishment.

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Exodus 34, 6, 7 reveals that God's character and nature as He is passing in front of Moses.

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God says, Yahweh, the Lord, the God of compassion and mercy, I am slow to anger and filled

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with unfailing love and faithfulness.

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I lavish unfailing love to a thousand generations.

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I forgive iniquity, rebellion, and sin, but I do not excuse the guilty.

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Again, He is slow to anger, wanting everyone to come to Him for cleansing, for everyone

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to be declared righteous in His eyes.

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But it's our choice whether we step into His love or remain in our condemned state.

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Numbers 14, 18 reiterates this again, saying the Lord is slow to anger and filled with

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unfailing love, forgiving every kind of sin and rebellion, every kind of sin and rebellion,

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but He does not excuse the guilty.

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If we made Jesus Lord of our lives and truly repented of our sin, our rebellion, then we

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are not guilty anymore.

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Colossians 2, 13 and 14 in the New Living Translation says, You were dead because of

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your sins and because of your sinful nature, was not yet cut away.

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Then God made you alive with Christ, for He forgave all your sins.

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He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross.

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In this way, He disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities.

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He shamed them publicly by His victory over them on the cross.

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So when Satan reminds you of past sin and failure, you can remind him that the record

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of those sins were nailed to the cross and remembered no more.

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God does not keep a record of your wrongs.

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When we are forgiven, our slate is wiped clean.

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That does not mean God forgives our sin without true repentance, which includes a revelation

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that our thoughts and attitudes or inaction is sinful, followed by sincere remorse and

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a dedication to change, but He understands our frailties and when we truly repent, He

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remembers them no more.

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Psalm 10312 assures us that God has removed our sins from us as far as the east is from

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the west.

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God never rejoices when we experience evil, injustice, or hurt.

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He is not the cause of our distress or oppression.

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Isaiah 61, 1-3 tells us, Jesus came to bring good news to the poor, comfort the broken-hearted,

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proclaim that captives are released, set prisoners free, tell those who mourn that God's favor

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has come and give them beauty for ashes.

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King David recounts in Psalm 40 how God heard his cry and lifted him out of the pit of despair,

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out of mud and mire.

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Many of God's servants in the Bible encountered evil and experienced injustice, and God was

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a very present help in their time of trouble.

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If you find yourself in that place, declare God's love over yourself, thank Him for His

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love is everlasting and never fails, and ask Him to intervene on your behalf.

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God rejoices in truth.

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He rejoices in what is just and right.

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He rejoices when we know who we are in Christ and live as children of God, taking our place

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in the bride of Christ and preparing ourselves as part of the bride of Christ for the coming

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of our true and eternal love, Jesus.

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But Jesus tells us in John 8, 44 that Satan is the father of lies, and in 1 Peter 5, 8

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we discover he's always roaming around looking for someone to devour.

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Be a lover of truth, biblical truth.

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If you question what truth is, if you think that you have your truth and I have my truth

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and someone else has their truth, I encourage you to listen to an episode entitled, Rejoice

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in Truth.

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I think it was recorded last October.

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There's a link to it in our show notes.

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I think it would be very helpful for you because God rejoices in truth.

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God always protects.

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The expanded meaning of the Greek word for protect includes to cover, conceal, ward off,

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and place a roof over and shield.

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John 18, 28 assures us that He has given us eternal life.

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We will never perish and no one can snatch us out of His hand.

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Our eternal future is protected.

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Jesus tells us in John 16, 33 in the NIV, in this world we will have trouble, but take

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heart I have overcome the world.

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Psalm 46, 1 assures us God is our refuge and strength and ever present help in trouble.

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So we will face difficulties, that's part of living in a fallen world, but God will

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be our refuge, our strength and help in the midst of it all and our future is protected

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in Him.

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Here's a thought, God always trusts you.

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Wow, that gets my attention.

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What about you?

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Just think about all the things He's entrusted to us.

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From the very beginning God entrusted humankind, Adam and Eve, with dominion over and stewardship

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over the earth.

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Adam and Eve of course gave that dominion to Satan through their disobedience, but Jesus

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took it back through His death and resurrection.

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Matthew 28, 18 and 19 reveals all authority in heaven and on earth were given to Jesus

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and He has given back the earthly authority to us.

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Matthew 10, 1 sends we have authority to cast out evil spirits and heal every kind of disease

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and illness.

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Luke 10, 19 says we have authority over all the power of the enemy.

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Matthew 28, 19 shows we have authority to disciple nations and baptize people.

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God has also entrusted us with spiritual gifts to use in building up the body of Christ and

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sharing the gospel with others and He entrusts some with great wealth and resources.

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He entrusts others with great knowledge and insight.

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When we steward well the gifts and resources He gives us, we often find ourselves entrusted

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with more.

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And that's just a glimpse of what God trusts us with.

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We frequently let Him down by misuse or not using at all the authority and gifts He trusts

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us with, but God is patient with us and continues to trust us with so, so much.

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God always hopes and expects great things for us and from us.

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Ephesians 2, 10 explains that God prepared in advance good works for each of us to do.

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That means He has great expectation and hope that we'll do them.

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He's given us Holy Spirit to lead us, empower us, give us wisdom and everything else we

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need to live a godly life and accomplish His will.

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His hope and expectation for us is good.

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He doesn't dread it when we wake up in the morning thinking, what a kind of a message

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will she make today or will He make today?

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No, His mercies are new every morning and He is delighted to see what and how you and

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I will get right each day.

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If you're a parent, you can relate to that at some level.

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Your hopeful expectation of your children is success and unlike us, He never throws

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in the towel on hope.

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He always has hopeful expectation of us because the same Spirit that raised Christ from the

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dead dwells in you and me.

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If you've given your life to Him, as you yield your life more fully to Him day by day,

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you cannot help but succeed.

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God always perseveres in His love and support for you.

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He doesn't grow weary.

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He never slumbers.

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He never sleeps.

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The New Living Translation says, love endures through every circumstance.

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God will be with you in every situation.

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You've probably heard the poem entitled Footprints in the Sand.

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There's some dispute about who wrote it, so I don't know who to credit.

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I know I did not write it, but I've been touched by it many times.

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It reads,

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One night I dreamed a dream, as I was walking along the beach with the Lord.

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Across the dark sky flashed scenes from my life.

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From each scene I noticed two sets of footprints in the sand, one belonging to me and one to

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the Lord.

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After the last scene of my life flashed before me, I looked back at the footprints in the

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sand.

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I noticed that at many times along the path of my life, especially at the very lowest

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and saddest times, there was only one set of footprints.

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This really troubled me, so I asked the Lord about it.

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Lord, you said once I decided to follow you, you'd walk with me all the way.

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But I noticed that during the saddest and most troublesome times of my life, there was

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only one set of footprints.

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I don't understand why.

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When I needed you the most, you would leave me.

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He answered,

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My precious child, I love you and will never leave you ever.

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During your trials and testings, when you saw only one set of footprints in the sand,

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it was then that I carried you.

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God will always be with you in every circumstance.

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God's love for you will never, ever fail.

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A love so complete, so understanding, so enduring is really hard to comprehend.

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His love is a perfect match for every need, every fear, every doubt, every disappointment

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you have.

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His love is the perfect match for every joy, every success, every triumph you have as well.

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His love is a perfect match for you, dear one.

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He made you.

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He knows you completely.

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He loves you.

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You are part of His bride.

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Let's pray together.

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Heavenly Father, we are in awe of you.

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Words cannot express how grateful we truly are for your unconditional, all-encompassing

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love.

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Thank you for your patience with us, your kindness toward us, for all the good things

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you shower down on us.

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Thank you for not keeping a record of our wrongs.

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Thank you for being quick to forgive.

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For mercies that are new every morning, thank you for your trust in us, your hope, your

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expectation of our success, and for giving us everything we need to be successful in

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your kingdom.

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Thank you, God, for enduring with us through every situation and protecting us in our future.

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Nothing can separate us from your love, God, because your love never fails.

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It's hard to comprehend that kind of love.

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So like Paul, Lord, we ask that you would fill us with inner strength through your Spirit.

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Then Christ will make us home in our hearts as we trust in Him.

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Cause our roots to grow down deep into God's love and keep us strong.

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Give us, Lord, the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide and long

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and high and deep your love really is.

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Father, I ask you to reveal a new aspect of your love to each of these dear friends.

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Protection, hope, trust, forgiveness, patience, kindness, whatever they need today in their

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journey with you.

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Father, reveal it to them.

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And it's in Jesus' name, our coming bridegroom, that I pray.

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Amen.

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Thank you for tuning in.

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As I mentioned earlier, we welcome you to join us in being a tangible expression of

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God's love to widows and orphans who have desperate needs.

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Will you consider joining us with a special gift to help?

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Just go to hergodstory.org and click on the Widow and Orphan tab at the top of the page.

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In our show notes at hergodstory.org, you will find scriptures and the other information

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we talked about.

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You can also get a free six-week devotional on Women of the Bible to download or purchase

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a 12-week devotional that we will send you for just $12, knowing that all the proceeds

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go to the Widow and Orphan Fund.

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We'd love to pray with you on our 24/7 prayer and text line, so give us a call or text anytime

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at 855-459-CARE or email us at prayer@somebodycares.org.

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And now I bless you from 2 Corinthians 13:14.

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May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy

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Spirit be with you all.

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Her God Story is a ministry of Somebody Cares America and international.

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To find out more about or support the ministry, go to somebodycares.org.