Can You See the Lion Stalking?, episode 169

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If you love a prodigal, you can discover help

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and hope for your wilderness journey right here

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at the When You Love a Prodigal podcast, and

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also help and hope for your own life journey.

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And don't forget to jot down anything that strikes

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you as helpful for you and your journey, so you'll

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remember to do it. If I don't write things down,

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I won't remember. Today, we will look at the

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enemy who takes captives and the rescuer who

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sets free. This is a really, really important

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episode that we're doing. It has great impact

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on our lives and our relationships with our prodigals.

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When you love a prodigal, you get used to the

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lion stalking. There's always something going

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on. Sometimes it seems that no matter what you

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do to rescue your prodigal, to win her heart,

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to capture her mind, nothing works. Even when

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your prodigal is seeking to change patterns,

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to make better choices, to turn things around,

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it's like they can't catch a break. That's because

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there's someone opposing them, and his name is

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Satan. The enemy Our enemy and the enemy of our

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loved ones is a roaring lion. Satan is a very

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real player in our journeys with our wanderers.

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Peter warns us, be alert and of sober mind. Your

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enemy, the devil, prowls around like a roaring

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lion looking for someone to devour. And I guess

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our loved ones, our prodigals, look tasty to

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him. Jesus reminds us that the thief, that's

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Satan, comes only to steal and kill and destroy.

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But he is so subtle and clever and crafty and

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evil. His plans are to capture the hearts and

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minds, even to enslave those we love. Probably

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some of us can say they have prodigals who are

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like they're enslaved. And that lion entices

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and tempts and blinds and deceives. He also frightens

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and inflicts harm. He is determined that your

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loved one and mine not belong to the kingdom

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of God. He is relentless. He has an army of demons

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doing his bidding. He can't do it all himself

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because he's not like Jesus everywhere. but he

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has an army to help him. But we know that there

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is a true lion, the Lion of Judah. Our Jesus

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is even more determined to rescue our loved ones.

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He is the good shepherd. He pursues, he woos,

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he protects, he intervenes. He rescues those

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who have wandered away or run away or turned

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away. His love, mercy, and grace are powerful

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weapons in this battle. They draw our prodigals

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back from those destructive choices and the wanton

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lifestyles into the light of our Savior. And

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it happens. Some of you can attest that it does

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happen. They turn and actually return, but not

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always for good. So there's kind of a yes and

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no on they return and return. They do, but it's

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not too hard for them to take off again sometimes.

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And the lion, not our Judah lion, but the lion

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of evil, keeps on stalking. He doesn't give up

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just because they've made a turn back to us and

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maybe even to our Lord. The evil one is not going

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to quit. He's committed to doing what he can

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to make sure that they don't stay back with us

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and with the Lord. The evil one is always looking

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for an opportune time to resume the attacks.

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I wrote something along these lines once and

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talked about the fact that Satan's an opportunist.

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He's always ready to step into anything that

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gives him an opportunity to grab hold or to turn

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ahead or blind or frighten those that we love.

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Sometimes he comes right at them. Other times

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he comes in disguise. And still others, he sneaks

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in as light. He's very capable of being sneaky.

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My former prodigal has sought to make good choices,

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to not listen to the devil's whispers. The lion

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has several times attacked him directly, physically

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even. Most recently, as he walked at his well

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drilling job, a large metal cylinder broke off

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and shot out and it hit him in the hip. He thought

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surely his hip was broken. but gratefully it

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was just a deep bruise. I pictured there was

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an angel reaching out and redirecting that lethal

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projectile, but it did create some fear and despair

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in our son as he realized how close he did come

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to possible death even, but certainly major injury.

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Our rescuer, the Lord Jesus, offers freedom.

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Yep. Our God says there's freedom when you come

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to me. He came to proclaim freedom for the prisoners

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and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the

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oppressed free. He came to rescue our prodigals

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and even us, if that's what we need. I often

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love to read the book of Isaiah, especially when

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things are difficult. And every single time when

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I read Isaiah 49, God speaks to me. He says very

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powerful things that are saying, I have a better

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plan than what you're experiencing. And so I

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want to read to you some of these verses in Isaiah

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49 and let God speak to your mind and your heart.

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As I read these, they're concerning when they're

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written in the Bible, the children of Israel

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and the promise of their return to their land.

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But every time I read them, God whispers to me

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that he will set free many more than the children

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of Israel. So he says these verses are for you

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and those you love. So here are some verses from

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Isaiah 49. verses 3 and 4. He, God, said to me,

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Isaiah, you are my servant, Israel. Israel is,

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Isaiah is part of the children of Israel, and

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often God talked about them as one or as many.

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He says, in whom I will display my splendor.

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Every time I read that little phrase, I will

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display my splendor. I just marvel that God's

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splendor could possibly be displayed in an individual,

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a person, a mere human being as opposed to our

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creator. But that's what he was saying to them.

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And in another place, he says it again. And so

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he's even saying it to you and me. and to our

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prodigals. But we tend to say, I've spent all

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that I have for nothing. It's not happening.

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There's no change coming. And that's what it

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feels like sometimes, doesn't it? We love, we

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serve, encourage, discipline, spend way too much

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money, and even we pray. We are weary. Where

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is the result? And Isaiah was saying that to

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the Lord about the children of Israel. And this

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is what the Lord says. In the time of my favor,

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I will answer you. And in the day of salvation,

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I will help you. To say to the captives, come

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out to those who are in darkness. Be free. He

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says, I will not forget you. See, I have engraved

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you on the palms of my hands. How often I rest

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in the assurance that he will not forget me or

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my loved one. He has actually given us evidence.

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He's engraved us on the palms of his hands through

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the nail prints from his crucifixion. In verse

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23 of Isaiah 49, It says, then you will know

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that I am the Lord. Those who hope in me will

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not be disappointed. And I question that sometimes.

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I say, I've been disappointed and I know others

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who have. And yet God says, I'm still in control.

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I still love you. I love your prodigal. And I

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will make sure that you're not disappointed.

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It's beyond my comprehension, but it's a wonderful

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promise that we have. God's peace just washes

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over me when I think of, I will not be disappointed.

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My prayers and hope are not in vain. He is God,

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and He is good, and He will not disappoint. We

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may not always see the results of what God is

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going to do, but we can trust Him. And then in

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verse 29, oh, I love this one too. The Lord says,

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yes, captives will be taken from warriors, that

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is the warriors of the evil one, and plunder

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retrieved from the fierce. Our kids, our loved

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ones who have walked away, made these bad choices,

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are plunder in the hands of the evil one. And

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he says, those who are captives, will be taken

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away, and the plunder will be retrieved. God's

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bigger, stronger, more able. His timing's just

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not always the same as ours. But he says, I will

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contend with those who contend with you, and

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your children I will save. Every time I read

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this verse, I see a picture of my prodigal and

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yours, because I have a lot of prodigals in my

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heart. In the grasp of the warriors of Satan,

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his demons fiercely holding them as plunder for

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Satan, and our God, who loves them even more

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than we do, will rescue, snatch, retrieve them

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from the evil one. He will save them. Does that

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give you hope? Can you trust him? What is he

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saying to you? As I read those verses, what,

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what? did you hear from him? I would hope that

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your heart and mind were open to hear that those

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words were for you and your loved one or loved

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ones. I know there are more than one in many

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cases. And so the question is, does that give

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you hope? Do you think you can trust him? What

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is he saying to you? And what do you want to

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say to him? Because he's always eager to hear

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what's on our minds, what's on our hearts. And

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I would just encourage you to think about what

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I've read. Go to the Bible and read Isaiah 49

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and see if there are verses in there originally

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spoken about the children of Israel, but God

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has clearly made it. evident that it's for a

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much bigger audience than that. See what God

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is saying to you that will give you hope that

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your loved one, your prodigal, your child, your

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other relative, your great friend, whoever it

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is who's the prodigal who's brought you to this

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podcast, Have them. I can't say much about timing

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because his timing and mine are rarely the same.

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But he is trustworthy, our God is. And he loves

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you. And he loves your loved one. God bless you.