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In 2025, I found myself
wrestling with frustration that

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God was not giving me joy.
And then God very patiently told

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me what was actually happening.
It wasn’t that he was

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withholding joy, it was that I
was rejecting it.

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What followed was an invitation
to spend 30 days looking at 30

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passages on Joy and turning it
into a devotional called

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Rejecting Joy No longer.
You’d think I would have learned

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that coming into 2026, I was
wrestling with hope.

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God, why are you making me so
hopeless?

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And God very patiently let me
know the reality.

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He wasn’t withholding hope.
I was rejecting it.

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And so now here I am, spending
30 days looking at 30 passages

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on hope.
And my hope is that this

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encourages you.
One thing that’s different this

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year is I felt like God was
inviting me to be publicly

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transparent with my.
Processing to.

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Actually go live on social
media, pull out a random verse

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and then read and process
through it on camera.

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This isn’t me coming to you as
an expert on hope, but me coming

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to you honestly as someone
wrestling with hope.

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And by witnessing that some of
you might feel less alone, may

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feel seen and understood, may
end up being encouraged in a way

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that is far deeper than the best
platitude.

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So join me as I spend 30 days
navigating 30 passages on Hope.

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This is day seven.
You’re listening to episode 214

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of the Where Did You See God
podcast.

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Finally, guys, just thinking
that you were God, you were good

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and for the gift of your word
that is living inactive, which

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means it’s more than just ink on
a page.

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So I pray that I would be
receptive that I would have ears

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to hear.
Holy Spirit, I invite you to

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move and speak not just for me,
but for those listening.

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So it’s not my words but yours.
Most parents following precious

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name Amen.
We are reading Hebrews 618 and

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19 so that by two unchangeable.
Things.

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In which it is impossible for
God to lie.

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We who have fled for refuge
might have strong encouragement

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to hold fast to the hope set
before us.

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We have this as a sure and
steadfast anchor of the soul, a

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hope that enters into the inner
place behind the curtain.

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Maybe you’re thinking this too.
There’s a lot of context I feel

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like we need to know about this.
So let’s go to Hebrews 6.

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There’s a sectioned off part
that is 13 through 20.

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When God made his promise to
Abraham, since there was no one

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greater for him to swear by, he
swore by himself, saying, I will

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surely bless you and give you
many descendants.

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And so, after waiting patiently,
Abraham received what was

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promised.
People swear by someone greater

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than themselves, and the oath
confirms what is said and puts

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an end to all argument.
Because God wanted to make the

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unchanging nature of His purpose
very clear to His heirs of what

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is promised, He confirmed it
with an oath.

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God did this so that by two
unchangeable things in which it

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is impossible for God to lie, we
who have fled to take hold of

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the hope set before us may be
greatly encouraged.

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We have this hope as an anchor
for the soul, firm and secure.

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It enters the inner sanctuary
behind the curtain where our

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forerunner Jesus has entered on
our behalf.

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He has become a high priest
forever in the order of

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Melchizedek.
And this is a lot going on in

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here.
Hope references.

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There’s a little subnote Hebrews
35 Moses was faithful as a

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servant and all God’s house
bearing witness to what would be

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spoken by God in the future.
OK, All right, so there’s,

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there’s two elements to this.
One is a really deep dive that’s

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required because man, the whole
Melchizedek stuff, Chapter 7,

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There’s a there’s a lot to sit
with.

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There.
Getting into this idea of God’s

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covenants and promises and oaths
and how those played out,

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there’s a lot to go into there
and I’m trying to keep.

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These concise.
So two things really stand out

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to me.
One is verse 15, which was a

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bonus for today.
And so after waiting patiently,

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Abraham received what was
promised.

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And that word patiently does a
lot of work because God swore an

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oath to him and in like a decade
past, and in that space, he got

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to a place of really
questioning, maybe not what God

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was going to do, but how it was
going to happen.

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And they end up he and his wife
work up a plan for them to

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create their own air through
Hagar.

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And then that does not go well.
And then more time passes.

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And then God eventually does
keep his promise.

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So after waiting patiently, it
was not always patient how

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Abraham was waiting, and yet at
the same time it was because he

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never gave up on God totally.
And this idea that that promise

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says God swore by himself.
God made an oath, and since he

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was the greatest thing, he swore
by the greatest thing.

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In other words, God was trying
to communicate, this is what I’m

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saying, and this is what’s going
to happen.

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And Abraham got to a place where
it’s like, is this going to

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happen?
When’s it going to happen?

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How’s it going to happen to get
caught up so much into the

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details in the weeds that he
forgot that God said it was

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going to happen.
We who have fled to take hold of

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the hopes set before us may be
greatly encouraged.

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We who have fled, what Abraham
was invited to do is flee from

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his understanding and his logic.
This is how old you need to be

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to have children.
This is when you’re too old.

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This is the nature in which
children happen.

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This is the timing in which it
would make sense.

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I feel like there’s a lot we
need to flee if we really want

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to take hold of the hope set
before us.

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And if we want to be encouraged.
Because we can flee and try to

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take hold of the hope, but be
discouraged, be bitter, be

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frustrated around what God’s
making us have to do.

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And then we have this hope as an
anchor for the soul when the

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waves are bashing against us,
that could send us further out

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to sea.
This hope is the thing that goes

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below the surface, weighs us
down, tethers us to keep us firm

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and secure.
It enters the NF sanctuary, the

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most private, most holy space
behind the curtain.

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I think there’s two big things
here.

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My computer is going to die
soon.

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That was by design.
I didn’t plug it in because I

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knew it would keep it short.
What we were invited to here in

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this specific passage, because
it is impossible for God to lie,

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one is to choose to believe that
God does not lie, that God keeps

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His word.
Now understanding what that word

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is, that can be a tricky part,
but choosing to believe the

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character of God is huge because
if we haven’t locked into that,

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then no matter what we start to
think about the word, we’re

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still going to be iffy on if He
will follow through.

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So can we hold to the character
of God that it is impossible for

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Him to lie, that He keeps his
promises that is unchanging.

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And then second, I didn’t even
talk about this, but hold fast

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to the hoax set for us.
So this isn’t even a hope that

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we orchestrate.
It is set before us and we just

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have to hold on to it.
It’s like grab my hand.

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00:08:02,280 –> 00:08:05,040
Like the hand is the thing
that’s going to lead us where to

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go.
We just have to grab onto it.

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So are we choosing to flee from
what we know and what we want?

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Flee from the false refuges and
hold fast to the hoops up for us

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that can actually be an anchor
for our soul in the worst of

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storms?
I think I really want to sit

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00:08:24,720 –> 00:08:28,760
more today with that idea of we
have this as a sure and

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steadfast anchor of the soul.
Sure and steadfast.

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It does not feel like that to me
often, but Hebrews says that

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this hope is a sure and
steadfast anchor of the soul.

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00:08:39,320 –> 00:08:43,320
I feel totally adrift sometimes,
bashed by the waves.

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And this doesn’t promise not
being bashed by the waves, but

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it does promise that you won’t
go adrift.

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You are anchored.
If your hope is a hope from God,

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that is your refuge.
And I can see that.

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I can look back and recognize
the times where I should have

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ended up in a lot of other
places and I didn’t.

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And the only explanation is God
somehow tethered me to him.

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00:09:06,400 –> 00:09:10,200
If you’re feeling discouraged,
maybe Hebrews 618 and 19 is for

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00:09:10,200 –> 00:09:12,280
you.
So that by two unchanging things

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00:09:12,560 –> 00:09:16,120
in which it is impossible for
God to lie, we who have fled for

150
00:09:16,120 –> 00:09:21,040
refuge might have strong
encouragement to hold fast to

151
00:09:21,040 –> 00:09:24,760
the hopes set before us.
We have this as a sure and

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00:09:24,760 –> 00:09:28,720
steadfast anchor of the soul, a
hope that enters into the inner

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00:09:28,720 –> 00:09:32,120
place behind the curtain.
If you’re like some of that

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stuff I don’t understand, read
back in Hebrews earlier in six,

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00:09:36,360 –> 00:09:38,640
read Hebrews 7.
Spend some time with it.

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Invite the Spirit to move would
be great.

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00:09:41,560 –> 00:09:43,400
I got to just thank you that
you’re a God, you’re good.

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Thank you that you move.
And I thank you for this passage

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that carries a lot, a lot more
depth than you can get into in

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00:09:49,560 –> 00:09:51,880
10 minutes.
But you can actually reveal

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00:09:51,880 –> 00:09:55,560
truths in 10 seconds, 10
milliseconds of Holy Spirit.

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I invite you to move.
Help us to understand what it

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means to hold fast to that hope,
to trust it as a safe and secure

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00:10:03,200 –> 00:10:05,200
anchor.
This parents only name.

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00:10:05,520 –> 00:10:05,760
Amen.