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Dr. Robert Jeffress

Robert Jeffress - Survival Tip #4: Develop A Victor, Not A Victim, Mindset

May 18, 2026 | 27:29

Robert Jeffress - Survival Tip #4: Develop A Victor, Not A Victim, Mindset
Pathway to Victory offers a practical application of God’s Word to everyday life through the clear, biblical teaching of Pastor Jeffress.
#Victory #Pastors #Mind #RenewingtheMind #Truth #WalkwithGod #Courage #TrustGod #Attitude #Overcoming #RobertJeffress

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Dr. Robert Jeffress | Robert Jeffress - Survival Tip #4: Develop A Victor, Not A Victim, Mindset | May 18, 2026
  • ...
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  • ♪♪♪
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  • Announcer: from the pulpit of the first baptist church of
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  • Dallas, texas, this is "pathway to victory" with
  • 00:00:09.199 --> 00:00:10.066
  • Dr. robert jeffress.
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  • Dr. robert jeffress: hi, i'm robert jeffress, and welcome
  • 00:00:14.704 --> 00:00:16.539
  • Again to "pathway to victory."
  • 00:00:16.539 --> 00:00:18.408
  • Life has a way of knocking us down through unfair
  • 00:00:18.408 --> 00:00:21.411
  • Circumstances, false accusations, and people who
  • 00:00:21.411 --> 00:00:24.981
  • Disappoint us.
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  • When that happens, it can be tempting to see yourself as
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  • A victim, but god's word says you don't have to live that way.
  • 00:00:29.486 --> 00:00:34.023
  • Today, i'm going to show you three qualities that will help
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  • You stop just surviving and start overcoming.
  • 00:00:37.093 --> 00:00:41.264
  • My message is titled "survival tip #4: develop a victor,
  • 00:00:41.264 --> 00:00:45.702
  • Not a victim, mindset" on today's edition of "pathway
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  • To victory."
  • 00:00:51.374 --> 00:00:53.943
  • Announcer: each day, millions of lost people are searching for
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  • Hope and truth.
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  • Through "pathway to victory," god's word is reaching into
  • 00:01:02.452 --> 00:01:05.388
  • Homes across america and around the world, but there are still
  • 00:01:05.388 --> 00:01:08.992
  • So many who haven't heard the saving message of jesus christ.
  • 00:01:08.992 --> 00:01:12.595
  • You can help change that by becoming a pathway partner.
  • 00:01:12.595 --> 00:01:15.865
  • You'll join a dedicated team of broadcast missionaries who are
  • 00:01:15.865 --> 00:01:19.068
  • Sharing the gospel through television and radio.
  • 00:01:19.068 --> 00:01:21.771
  • Your monthly support will help reach people worldwide with the
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  • Life-changing power of the cross.
  • 00:01:25.408 --> 00:01:32.148
  • Jeffress: the ship was doomed.
  • 00:01:35.818 --> 00:01:38.188
  • Everybody knew it, but there was nothing they could do about it.
  • 00:01:38.188 --> 00:01:43.493
  • For the past year, the endurance had been home to the captain and
  • 00:01:43.493 --> 00:01:48.865
  • The 27 crew members on a voyage from england to antarctica.
  • 00:01:48.865 --> 00:01:54.270
  • The vessel had sailed 12,000 miles and then pushed through
  • 00:01:54.270 --> 00:01:58.041
  • Pack ice for more than 1000 more miles, but now it was entombed
  • 00:01:58.041 --> 00:02:02.912
  • In antarctic ice, less than 100 miles from its
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  • Intended destination.
  • 00:02:06.983 --> 00:02:09.319
  • The currents under the frozen sea pushed and pulled against
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  • The wooden hull, slowly crushing it.
  • 00:02:13.523 --> 00:02:17.093
  • Everyone on board took what supplies they could and
  • 00:02:17.093 --> 00:02:20.230
  • Abandoned ship, casting their lot to the same ice that held
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  • The endurance in its frozen grip.
  • 00:02:25.001 --> 00:02:27.971
  • As they watched the sides of their ship cave in from the
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  • Pressure and heard the large timber snap, the men had become
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  • Resigned to what they believed was their inevitable
  • 00:02:35.912 --> 00:02:39.682
  • Fate, death.
  • 00:02:39.682 --> 00:02:42.218
  • Either by exposure, starvation, or drowning.
  • 00:02:42.218 --> 00:02:47.056
  • But their leader had a different mindset, "optimism," he would
  • 00:02:47.056 --> 00:02:51.060
  • Often say, "is true moral courage."
  • 00:02:51.060 --> 00:02:54.897
  • And if there was one thing that was true about ernest
  • 00:02:54.897 --> 00:02:57.500
  • Shackleton, it was that he was an optimist.
  • 00:02:57.500 --> 00:03:01.671
  • Shackleton had set out to be the first man to reach the south
  • 00:03:01.671 --> 00:03:04.841
  • Pole, but that honor went up going to a norwegian explorer
  • 00:03:04.841 --> 00:03:09.312
  • Named roald amundsen in 1911.
  • 00:03:09.312 --> 00:03:13.316
  • Undeterred, shackleton set his sights on being the first man to
  • 00:03:13.316 --> 00:03:17.120
  • Cross antarctica on foot.
  • 00:03:17.120 --> 00:03:19.656
  • But finding supporters to fund his journey proved difficult.
  • 00:03:19.656 --> 00:03:23.826
  • It took two years of asking, pleading, and lobbying before
  • 00:03:23.826 --> 00:03:28.097
  • Shackleton finally raised enough money to supply his expedition
  • 00:03:28.097 --> 00:03:32.635
  • And purchased the arctic vessel, polaris, which he rechristened,
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  • Endurance, after his family's motto "by endurance we conquer."
  • 00:03:37.440 --> 00:03:44.447
  • Finding crew members to accompany him was easy.
  • 00:03:44.447 --> 00:03:48.251
  • Legend has it that shackleton placed the following
  • 00:03:48.251 --> 00:03:51.120
  • Advertisement in "the london times": "men wanted for a
  • 00:03:51.120 --> 00:03:55.558
  • Hazardous journey to south pole.
  • 00:03:55.558 --> 00:03:58.361
  • Small wages, bitter cold, long months of complete darkness,
  • 00:03:58.361 --> 00:04:03.299
  • Constant danger, safe return, doubtful.
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  • Honor and recognition in case of success."
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  • Shackleton was inundated with more than 5000 applicants.
  • 00:04:12.375 --> 00:04:17.647
  • Fully equipped and with a crew of 27 adventurers, the endurance
  • 00:04:17.647 --> 00:04:21.951
  • Sailed from plymouth, england in august 1914.
  • 00:04:21.951 --> 00:04:26.189
  • By january of the following year, the ship was icebound.
  • 00:04:26.189 --> 00:04:30.893
  • The crew members built a galley and storehouse out of the ship's
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  • Timbers and braved six months on the ice, surviving on salvaged
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  • Rations until the ice thinned enough for them to reach
  • 00:04:40.403 --> 00:04:43.906
  • Elephant island and lifeboats that they had scavenged from
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  • The endurance.
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  • But when the frostbitten men finally reached elephant island,
  • 00:04:48.878 --> 00:04:53.149
  • It turned out to be a frozen wasteland without any
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  • Sustainable food sources.
  • 00:04:56.519 --> 00:04:59.021
  • To rescue his men from exposure and starvation and certain
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  • Death, shackleton with a small crew boarded a lifeboat and
  • 00:05:03.092 --> 00:05:07.663
  • Sailed 870 miles to south georgia island, where there was
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  • A whaling station with supplies.
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  • The journey took 17 days, and they landed under
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  • Hurricane conditions.
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  • However, the whaling station was on the other side of the island,
  • 00:05:21.711 --> 00:05:25.348
  • So shackleton and his crew had to traverse 32 miles over
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  • Glacier-covered peaks.
  • 00:05:30.520 --> 00:05:32.622
  • It took another four months before shackleton finally
  • 00:05:32.622 --> 00:05:37.360
  • Reached his stranded men on elephant island with the
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  • Supplies they needed to carry them back to england.
  • 00:05:40.463 --> 00:05:44.467
  • Although shackleton did not succeed in his mission to cross
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  • Antarctica on foot, he did save the lives of all 27
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  • Crew members.
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  • Years later, one of the men called him the greatest leader
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  • That has ever come on god's earth, bar none.
  • 00:05:58.848 --> 00:06:03.386
  • He wrote: "when you are in a hopeless situation, when there
  • 00:06:03.386 --> 00:06:07.857
  • Seems no way out, get on your knees and pray for
  • 00:06:07.857 --> 00:06:12.962
  • A shackleton."
  • 00:06:12.962 --> 00:06:16.232
  • Ernest shackleton realized an important truth.
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  • Our attitude is key to our survival when faced with
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  • A threatening situation.
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  • And that's what we're going to talk about this morning.
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  • You know, ernest shackleton had a vocabulary that didn't
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  • Have room for words like, "quit", "give up", "fail",
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  • Or "surrender".
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  • No, he had developed the attitude of a victor rather than
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  • A victim.
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  • Like the apostle paul, who said in romans 8:31: "if god is for
  • 00:06:50.066 --> 00:06:55.371
  • Us, who can be against us?"
  • 00:06:55.371 --> 00:06:59.442
  • That's the attitude of a victor.
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  • My old accordion teacher, al trigg, gave me a good piece of
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  • Advice i should have listened to all the time.
  • 00:07:04.814 --> 00:07:07.083
  • He said, "robert, if you ever hit a wrong note, just keep on
  • 00:07:07.083 --> 00:07:11.554
  • Smiling and the audience won't know the difference."
  • 00:07:11.554 --> 00:07:15.358
  • What he was saying was your attitude really counts on
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  • Your success.
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  • It determines your success.
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  • If you think as a failure, you're going to act like
  • 00:07:21.664 --> 00:07:24.967
  • A failure.
  • 00:07:24.967 --> 00:07:26.302
  • Attitude is essential, you know, we saw that in our series,
  • 00:07:26.302 --> 00:07:29.639
  • "choose your attitudes, change your life."
  • 00:07:29.639 --> 00:07:31.807
  • We said that an attitude is your emotional and mental response to
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  • The circumstances of life.
  • 00:07:36.812 --> 00:07:39.282
  • I want you to take your bibles and turn to 1 john chapter 5 for
  • 00:07:39.282 --> 00:07:43.185
  • Just a moment.
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  • The mark of an overcomer is obedience to our
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  • Heavenly father.
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  • Look at 1 john chapter 5.
  • 00:07:49.492 --> 00:07:50.826
  • This is the apostle john, but he writes
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  • These words as he senses that things are about to get
  • 00:07:52.795 --> 00:07:56.332
  • More difficult for christians.
  • 00:07:56.332 --> 00:07:58.267
  • Look at what he says in verse 3: "for this is the love of god,
  • 00:07:58.267 --> 00:08:02.638
  • That we keep his commandments; and his commandments are
  • 00:08:02.638 --> 00:08:05.975
  • Not burdensome.
  • 00:08:05.975 --> 00:08:08.144
  • For whatever is born of god overcomes the world; and this is
  • 00:08:08.144 --> 00:08:12.415
  • The victory that has overcome the world--our faith.
  • 00:08:12.415 --> 00:08:17.053
  • And who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes
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  • That jesus is the son of god?"
  • 00:08:20.990 --> 00:08:24.093
  • I want you to see several things about this passage.
  • 00:08:24.093 --> 00:08:26.529
  • First of all, this idea of being an overcomer.
  • 00:08:26.529 --> 00:08:29.665
  • An overcomer doesn't refer to a special class of super spiritual
  • 00:08:29.665 --> 00:08:34.737
  • Christians that only some attain to.
  • 00:08:34.737 --> 00:08:38.207
  • No, overcomers should be the norm for every christian,
  • 00:08:38.207 --> 00:08:43.045
  • Because he says in verse 5, "who is the one who has success in
  • 00:08:43.045 --> 00:08:46.215
  • Overcoming the world?
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  • It's the one who believes that jesus is the son of god."
  • 00:08:48.217 --> 00:08:52.755
  • If you believe that jesus is the son of god, then you have the
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  • Power you need to overcome the negative situations you find
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  • Yourself in.
  • 00:09:01.030 --> 00:09:02.398
  • I was reading this week the story of dominique, an
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  • Eight-year-old boy who went skiing with his dad, they were
  • 00:09:06.035 --> 00:09:09.038
  • Riding a new ski lift.
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  • Dominique got off that ski lift and started going down the
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  • Mountain, and he found himself on a ski slope that wasn't
  • 00:09:14.810 --> 00:09:19.615
  • Marked very well, and he ended up getting lost from his father.
  • 00:09:19.615 --> 00:09:24.286
  • His father was panicked as he searched for him.
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  • They enlisted a search team of more than 90 people who were
  • 00:09:26.622 --> 00:09:30.259
  • Looking for dominique.
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  • Night came and they couldn't search any longer, and they gave
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  • Up the search.
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  • The next morning at daybreak, a helicopter was employed, and as
  • 00:09:35.965 --> 00:09:39.669
  • It scoured the mountain, they looked down and they found
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  • Footprints in the snow.
  • 00:09:43.773 --> 00:09:45.908
  • They followed those footprints and found dominique huddled next
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  • To a large tree with branches covering him.
  • 00:09:50.112 --> 00:09:53.649
  • In an interview later on, the search and rescue coordinator
  • 00:09:53.649 --> 00:09:57.019
  • Explained why the boy had survived and not succumbed
  • 00:09:57.019 --> 00:10:00.022
  • To hypothermia.
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  • His father had had enough foresight to tell him, "if you
  • 00:10:02.058 --> 00:10:05.795
  • Get lost, find a large tree, stay close to it, and cover
  • 00:10:05.795 --> 00:10:10.633
  • Yourself with the branches of that tree."
  • 00:10:10.633 --> 00:10:13.035
  • And because dominique followed his father's instructions,
  • 00:10:13.035 --> 00:10:17.139
  • He was saved.
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  • You know, that's true with god's commands.
  • 00:10:18.641 --> 00:10:20.509
  • God's commands were not meant to restrict us from happiness or to
  • 00:10:20.509 --> 00:10:24.280
  • Hurt us, but to keep us safe and allow us to become overcomers.
  • 00:10:24.280 --> 00:10:29.752
  • God wants you and me to develop that overcomer, that
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  • Victor mindset.
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  • And one of the best models of how to do that is found in the
  • 00:10:36.692 --> 00:10:40.963
  • Old testament story of a man named joseph.
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  • I would say outside of jesus christ, there is no man
  • 00:10:45.301 --> 00:10:48.971
  • Who has overcome more adverse circumstances in his
  • 00:10:48.971 --> 00:10:53.342
  • Life than joseph.
  • 00:10:53.342 --> 00:10:54.777
  • Joseph could have maintained a victim mindset.
  • 00:10:54.777 --> 00:11:00.349
  • He could have said, "woe is me," but instead, he always kept the
  • 00:11:00.349 --> 00:11:04.053
  • Attitude of a victor.
  • 00:11:04.053 --> 00:11:06.589
  • We find his story beginning in genesis chapter 37, and in the
  • 00:11:06.589 --> 00:11:11.227
  • Few minutes we have today, i want you to notice three sources
  • 00:11:11.227 --> 00:11:14.964
  • Of adversity that came into joseph's life that have probably
  • 00:11:14.964 --> 00:11:19.034
  • Or will probably come into your life as well.
  • 00:11:19.034 --> 00:11:23.105
  • First of all, joseph was faced with overcoming the unloving
  • 00:11:23.105 --> 00:11:27.476
  • Actions from family members, the unloving actions from
  • 00:11:27.476 --> 00:11:32.047
  • Family members.
  • 00:11:32.047 --> 00:11:33.415
  • We find his story beginning in genesis 37.
  • 00:11:33.415 --> 00:11:35.951
  • Look at verses 3 and 4: "now israel," that is joseph's
  • 00:11:35.951 --> 00:11:40.556
  • Father, jacob, "loved joseph more than all his sons, because
  • 00:11:40.556 --> 00:11:46.162
  • He was the son of his old age; and so he made him a
  • 00:11:46.162 --> 00:11:49.398
  • Varicolored tunic.
  • 00:11:49.398 --> 00:11:51.534
  • And his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all
  • 00:11:51.534 --> 00:11:55.204
  • His brothers; and so they hated him and could not speak to him
  • 00:11:55.204 --> 00:11:59.842
  • On friendly terms."
  • 00:11:59.842 --> 00:12:01.477
  • There's something about unloving actions from family members that
  • 00:12:01.477 --> 00:12:05.714
  • Cut us and cut us deeply.
  • 00:12:05.714 --> 00:12:08.250
  • But it doesn't undo joseph.
  • 00:12:08.250 --> 00:12:10.286
  • Next, we see him overcoming undeserved accusations from
  • 00:12:10.286 --> 00:12:14.256
  • Others, overcoming undeserved accusations from others.
  • 00:12:14.256 --> 00:12:18.460
  • Joseph was sold as a slave.
  • 00:12:18.460 --> 00:12:20.496
  • He ended up in egypt, where he was sold to a man whose name
  • 00:12:20.496 --> 00:12:24.400
  • Was potiphar.
  • 00:12:24.400 --> 00:12:25.801
  • You remember potiphar was the captain of the bodyguard
  • 00:12:25.801 --> 00:12:29.305
  • For pharaoh.
  • 00:12:29.305 --> 00:12:30.639
  • He had a very high position.
  • 00:12:30.639 --> 00:12:32.408
  • And joseph distinguished himself by his diligent work in
  • 00:12:32.408 --> 00:12:36.912
  • Potiphar's house.
  • 00:12:36.912 --> 00:12:38.280
  • Potiphar noticed it and he promoted him to be in charge of
  • 00:12:38.280 --> 00:12:41.317
  • All of potiphar's household.
  • 00:12:41.317 --> 00:12:43.519
  • Everything was under joseph's control.
  • 00:12:43.519 --> 00:12:47.356
  • The only thing off limits to joseph was mrs. potiphar.
  • 00:12:47.356 --> 00:12:53.229
  • Unfortunately, mrs. potiphar never got the memo because she
  • 00:12:53.229 --> 00:12:56.732
  • Didn't realize joseph was off limits to her.
  • 00:12:56.732 --> 00:13:00.536
  • And so, she immediately became--started to
  • 00:13:00.536 --> 00:13:03.639
  • Seduce joseph.
  • 00:13:03.639 --> 00:13:05.441
  • Day after day, she would try to seduce him.
  • 00:13:05.441 --> 00:13:08.844
  • On one occasion, she said to him, "lie with me," which in
  • 00:13:08.844 --> 00:13:12.615
  • Hebrew means, "have sex with me.
  • 00:13:12.615 --> 00:13:15.117
  • And remember his reply in genesis 39:9?
  • 00:13:15.117 --> 00:13:18.220
  • "how could i do such an evil thing and sin against god?"
  • 00:13:18.220 --> 00:13:26.161
  • Joseph made it out of that one.
  • 00:13:26.161 --> 00:13:28.764
  • He never had to suffer that again, right?
  • 00:13:28.764 --> 00:13:31.667
  • Wrong.
  • 00:13:31.667 --> 00:13:33.035
  • Don't ever think just because you've successfully battled
  • 00:13:33.035 --> 00:13:35.771
  • Temptation one time that it's over.
  • 00:13:35.771 --> 00:13:39.041
  • The bible says that mrs. potiphar came to joseph day
  • 00:13:39.041 --> 00:13:43.379
  • After day after day.
  • 00:13:43.379 --> 00:13:46.081
  • That's how temptation comes.
  • 00:13:46.081 --> 00:13:48.183
  • And finally, on one day when all the other servants were out of
  • 00:13:48.183 --> 00:13:51.153
  • The house, she was alone with joseph, and she grabbed him by
  • 00:13:51.153 --> 00:13:55.190
  • The shoulder and she said, "lie with me."
  • 00:13:55.190 --> 00:13:58.761
  • How did joseph respond?
  • 00:13:58.761 --> 00:14:01.030
  • He said, "ms. potiphar,
  • 00:14:01.030 --> 00:14:02.398
  • I sense you have some great unmet need in your life,
  • 00:14:02.398 --> 00:14:04.433
  • And i'd like to pray for you right now.
  • 00:14:04.433 --> 00:14:06.035
  • Can we just pray together here?"
  • 00:14:06.035 --> 00:14:08.604
  • No.
  • 00:14:08.604 --> 00:14:10.039
  • No, he knew that situation was too hot for his hebrew hormones
  • 00:14:10.039 --> 00:14:14.009
  • To handle, and so he did the most spiritual thing he
  • 00:14:14.009 --> 00:14:17.246
  • Could do.
  • 00:14:17.246 --> 00:14:18.580
  • He ran as fast as he could in the opposite direction.
  • 00:14:18.580 --> 00:14:22.151
  • In fact, he left so quickly, she was left with just a piece of
  • 00:14:22.151 --> 00:14:26.855
  • His garment in her hand, and he had to overcome that unfair
  • 00:14:26.855 --> 00:14:31.126
  • Accusation that changed his life completely coming from potiphar.
  • 00:14:31.126 --> 00:14:36.265
  • And that led to a third source of difficulty in his life,
  • 00:14:36.265 --> 00:14:39.668
  • Overcoming unfair neglect by his own friends.
  • 00:14:39.668 --> 00:14:44.273
  • Joseph goes to prison.
  • 00:14:44.273 --> 00:14:46.642
  • He didn't know at the time he would spend two full
  • 00:14:46.642 --> 00:14:49.011
  • Years there.
  • 00:14:49.011 --> 00:14:50.612
  • But he thought probably, at least at first, "god's gonna get
  • 00:14:50.612 --> 00:14:53.782
  • Me out of here.
  • 00:14:53.782 --> 00:14:55.117
  • This is an unjust sentence.
  • 00:14:55.117 --> 00:14:56.485
  • God is a god of justice, surely he's not gonna allow me to
  • 00:14:56.485 --> 00:14:58.988
  • Languish in this prison."
  • 00:14:58.988 --> 00:15:00.823
  • And sure enough, not long after he was thrown into prison, two
  • 00:15:00.823 --> 00:15:04.293
  • New people came to prison as well, and they both came from
  • 00:15:04.293 --> 00:15:08.163
  • Pharaoh's household.
  • 00:15:08.163 --> 00:15:10.132
  • One was the cupbearer and one was the baker, and they make
  • 00:15:10.132 --> 00:15:13.936
  • Friends with joseph, and joseph said to the cupbearer, "i only
  • 00:15:13.936 --> 00:15:17.139
  • Ask that you do one thing.
  • 00:15:17.139 --> 00:15:18.841
  • When you get out and you're in front of pharaoh, don't
  • 00:15:18.841 --> 00:15:23.078
  • Forget me.
  • 00:15:23.078 --> 00:15:24.413
  • Remind pharaoh about me and how i've been unfairly accused."
  • 00:15:24.413 --> 00:15:27.783
  • The cupbearer says, "you don't have to worry about that.
  • 00:15:27.783 --> 00:15:30.586
  • After all you've done for me, how could i ever forget you?"
  • 00:15:30.586 --> 00:15:34.656
  • The next day comes and goes, no word.
  • 00:15:34.656 --> 00:15:37.893
  • A week passes, nothing.
  • 00:15:37.893 --> 00:15:40.496
  • A month, not a word, not even a postcard from the cupbearer.
  • 00:15:40.496 --> 00:15:45.768
  • A year passes, joseph realizes he's been forgotten,
  • 00:15:45.768 --> 00:15:51.874
  • Forsaken forever.
  • 00:15:51.874 --> 00:15:55.677
  • He was forgotten.
  • 00:15:55.677 --> 00:15:57.379
  • He was neglected unfairly by a friend.
  • 00:15:57.379 --> 00:16:01.450
  • But interestingly, two full years passed when on a day that
  • 00:16:01.450 --> 00:16:07.089
  • Began like any other day.
  • 00:16:07.089 --> 00:16:09.358
  • The soldiers came, they put their key in the lock, unlocked
  • 00:16:09.358 --> 00:16:13.862
  • The prison door, and said, "pharaoh wants to see
  • 00:16:13.862 --> 00:16:17.299
  • You today."
  • 00:16:17.299 --> 00:16:20.969
  • How did that happen?
  • 00:16:20.969 --> 00:16:22.905
  • Joseph thought he had been forgotten by god, forgotten by
  • 00:16:22.905 --> 00:16:26.408
  • The cupbearer.
  • 00:16:26.408 --> 00:16:27.876
  • But what joseph didn't realize was god was doing something over
  • 00:16:27.876 --> 00:16:31.380
  • Here that joseph couldn't even see,
  • 00:16:31.380 --> 00:16:33.515
  • He was doing something in pharaoh's heart, and he sent
  • 00:16:33.515 --> 00:16:36.585
  • Pharaoh a disturbing dream, and nobody could interpret
  • 00:16:36.585 --> 00:16:40.289
  • The dream.
  • 00:16:40.289 --> 00:16:41.623
  • And the cupbearer remembered, "there's a guy i knew in prison
  • 00:16:41.623 --> 00:16:45.360
  • One time who knows how to interpret dreams."
  • 00:16:45.360 --> 00:16:48.530
  • You remember the rest of the story.
  • 00:16:48.530 --> 00:16:50.365
  • Joseph is brought into pharaoh's presence.
  • 00:16:50.365 --> 00:16:53.302
  • Pharaoh tells him the dream and joseph says, "your dream means
  • 00:16:53.302 --> 00:16:57.406
  • That seven years of plentiful harvest are about to come
  • 00:16:57.406 --> 00:17:01.410
  • To egypt.
  • 00:17:01.410 --> 00:17:02.778
  • But those seven years of plenty will be followed by a famine of
  • 00:17:02.778 --> 00:17:05.948
  • Seven years.
  • 00:17:05.948 --> 00:17:07.549
  • And pharaoh, the best advice i can give you is take 20% of the
  • 00:17:07.549 --> 00:17:11.420
  • Excess grain, store it up and save it, so when the famine
  • 00:17:11.420 --> 00:17:15.324
  • Comes, there'll be plenty of food for everyone."
  • 00:17:15.324 --> 00:17:19.228
  • Pharaoh was so impressed with joseph that he promoted him to
  • 00:17:19.228 --> 00:17:23.632
  • Prime minister of all of egypt.
  • 00:17:23.632 --> 00:17:27.703
  • That's how god works.
  • 00:17:27.703 --> 00:17:30.572
  • Joseph was an overcomer who was able to overcome adverse
  • 00:17:30.572 --> 00:17:35.077
  • Circumstances instead of becoming a victim.
  • 00:17:35.077 --> 00:17:39.448
  • Now, some of you might be saying, "well, my story really
  • 00:17:39.448 --> 00:17:42.384
  • Doesn't parallel joseph's," but i bet you've been on the
  • 00:17:42.384 --> 00:17:45.287
  • Receiving end of some of the problems joseph experienced.
  • 00:17:45.287 --> 00:17:49.892
  • You've been on the receiving end of unloving actions by
  • 00:17:49.892 --> 00:17:54.363
  • A family member.
  • 00:17:54.363 --> 00:17:55.864
  • You know what it's like to be unfairly accused by people of
  • 00:17:55.864 --> 00:18:02.171
  • A wrongdoing of which you're not guilty.
  • 00:18:02.171 --> 00:18:04.673
  • You know what it's like to experience undeserved neglect by
  • 00:18:04.673 --> 00:18:09.211
  • People you've worked for and helped so much.
  • 00:18:09.211 --> 00:18:12.881
  • How do you overcome those situations?
  • 00:18:12.881 --> 00:18:16.518
  • In a word, it's through tenacity.
  • 00:18:16.518 --> 00:18:19.454
  • Overcomers are people who are tenacious.
  • 00:18:19.454 --> 00:18:23.325
  • You know that word "tenacious" means literally, to hold fast.
  • 00:18:23.325 --> 00:18:28.430
  • When i think of an overcomer, a victor, a tenacious person, i
  • 00:18:28.430 --> 00:18:32.801
  • Think about the late winston churchill, who was so
  • 00:18:32.801 --> 00:18:36.271
  • Persistent, he refused to surrender even when the nazis
  • 00:18:36.271 --> 00:18:40.008
  • Threatened to overtake the world.
  • 00:18:40.008 --> 00:18:42.311
  • You know, winston churchill was known as the british bulldog.
  • 00:18:42.311 --> 00:18:47.216
  • You remember that one time churchill was talking to a group
  • 00:18:47.216 --> 00:18:50.752
  • Of reporters and he asked them, "do you know why it is the
  • 00:18:50.752 --> 00:18:54.556
  • English bulldog has a jutting chin and a sloping face?"
  • 00:18:54.556 --> 00:19:00.295
  • They said, "no, why is that?"
  • 00:19:00.295 --> 00:19:02.497
  • Churchill said, "so that it can breathe while it's still
  • 00:19:02.497 --> 00:19:06.435
  • Holding on."
  • 00:19:06.435 --> 00:19:08.437
  • That's what tenacious people do.
  • 00:19:08.437 --> 00:19:10.906
  • They keep breathing, but they don't let go.
  • 00:19:10.906 --> 00:19:14.876
  • How do you develop that kind of attitude of persistence?
  • 00:19:14.876 --> 00:19:18.614
  • I want you to notice again from 1 john chapter 5, three ways
  • 00:19:18.614 --> 00:19:23.585
  • That we become victors instead of victims.
  • 00:19:23.585 --> 00:19:27.689
  • Number one, victors keep god's commandments.
  • 00:19:27.689 --> 00:19:32.694
  • They keep god's commandments.
  • 00:19:32.694 --> 00:19:35.130
  • Remember john said, "who is it that is an overcomer?
  • 00:19:35.130 --> 00:19:38.200
  • It is he who believes.
  • 00:19:38.200 --> 00:19:39.601
  • And who is it that believes?
  • 00:19:39.601 --> 00:19:41.136
  • The one who keeps god's commandments."
  • 00:19:41.136 --> 00:19:44.373
  • It didn't matter what situation joseph was in, he was dedicated
  • 00:19:44.373 --> 00:19:49.011
  • To keeping god's commandments.
  • 00:19:49.011 --> 00:19:50.846
  • Remember his words to mrs. potiphar in genesis 39:9: "how
  • 00:19:50.846 --> 00:19:54.549
  • Then could i do this great evil and sin against god?"
  • 00:19:54.549 --> 00:20:00.589
  • I thought of this last night as i was reading that story about
  • 00:20:00.589 --> 00:20:03.925
  • Dominique, who kept his father's commandments and ended up
  • 00:20:03.925 --> 00:20:07.796
  • Surviving over hypothermia.
  • 00:20:07.796 --> 00:20:11.033
  • I thought of a little phrase that i wrote down.
  • 00:20:11.033 --> 00:20:14.069
  • When you don't know what to do, obey what you know to be true.
  • 00:20:14.069 --> 00:20:20.242
  • When you find yourself in a storm of adversity, when you're
  • 00:20:20.242 --> 00:20:24.579
  • Not sure what the next step is, one move is always a safe move,
  • 00:20:24.579 --> 00:20:29.551
  • And that is to obey god's commandments.
  • 00:20:29.551 --> 00:20:33.555
  • When you don't know what to do, obey what you know to be true.
  • 00:20:33.555 --> 00:20:38.493
  • That's how you become a victor rather than a victim.
  • 00:20:38.493 --> 00:20:43.799
  • Secondly, victors glorify god in their lives.
  • 00:20:43.799 --> 00:20:48.570
  • They glorify god in their lives.
  • 00:20:48.570 --> 00:20:51.373
  • That word "glorify" means to shine the spotlight on god.
  • 00:20:51.373 --> 00:20:56.345
  • Victors are people who realize that we are here for one
  • 00:20:56.345 --> 00:20:59.348
  • Purpose: not to bring glory to ourselves, not to direct
  • 00:20:59.348 --> 00:21:02.584
  • People's attention toward us, but to direct people's attention
  • 00:21:02.584 --> 00:21:06.588
  • Toward god.
  • 00:21:06.588 --> 00:21:08.123
  • And it didn't matter where joseph was, whether he was in
  • 00:21:08.123 --> 00:21:10.926
  • The pit, whether he was working as a slave for potiphar, whether
  • 00:21:10.926 --> 00:21:16.198
  • He was in prison for two years, or whether he was prime minister
  • 00:21:16.198 --> 00:21:19.835
  • Of egypt, in every situation, joseph tried to bring glory
  • 00:21:19.835 --> 00:21:24.239
  • To god.
  • 00:21:24.239 --> 00:21:25.607
  • God recognized that in joseph, and that's why he honored
  • 00:21:25.607 --> 00:21:29.077
  • Joseph's life.
  • 00:21:29.077 --> 00:21:30.645
  • The apostle paul reminds us in 1 corinthians 10:31: "whether,
  • 00:21:30.645 --> 00:21:34.816
  • Then, you eat or you drink or whatever you do, do all to the
  • 00:21:34.816 --> 00:21:40.856
  • Glory of god."
  • 00:21:40.856 --> 00:21:43.959
  • Victors obey god's commandments.
  • 00:21:43.959 --> 00:21:46.695
  • They glorify god with their lives, and finally, victors
  • 00:21:46.695 --> 00:21:50.432
  • Trust in god's purposes.
  • 00:21:50.432 --> 00:21:53.969
  • Victors believe that god is always working on their behalf,
  • 00:21:53.969 --> 00:21:57.906
  • Even though in the darkness they can't always see what god is
  • 00:21:57.906 --> 00:22:01.777
  • Up to.
  • 00:22:01.777 --> 00:22:03.145
  • And that's true about your life right now.
  • 00:22:03.145 --> 00:22:05.313
  • You may feel like you've been forgotten by others, by god
  • 00:22:05.313 --> 00:22:09.084
  • Himself, forsaken, that god doesn't know where you are.
  • 00:22:09.084 --> 00:22:13.688
  • He knows exactly where you are.
  • 00:22:13.688 --> 00:22:15.891
  • He knows exactly what's going on in your life.
  • 00:22:15.891 --> 00:22:18.660
  • That was true of joseph.
  • 00:22:18.660 --> 00:22:19.995
  • He trusted in god's purpose.
  • 00:22:19.995 --> 00:22:21.763
  • Perhaps the greatest illustration of that was in the
  • 00:22:21.763 --> 00:22:24.499
  • Climactic verse of joseph's story.
  • 00:22:24.499 --> 00:22:27.702
  • Remember in genesis chapter 50?
  • 00:22:27.702 --> 00:22:29.938
  • Joseph is reunited with his brothers.
  • 00:22:29.938 --> 00:22:32.908
  • His brothers who years earlier had sold him into slavery and
  • 00:22:32.908 --> 00:22:36.978
  • Left him for dead, and when they realized joseph was alive, they
  • 00:22:36.978 --> 00:22:41.183
  • Trembled in fear, knowing that the prime minister of egypt,
  • 00:22:41.183 --> 00:22:44.686
  • Their brother, had the authority to put them to death.
  • 00:22:44.686 --> 00:22:49.291
  • But remember his words of kindness to them, genesis 50:20.
  • 00:22:49.291 --> 00:22:53.361
  • He said to his brothers: "and as for you, you meant it for evil,
  • 00:22:53.361 --> 00:23:00.368
  • But god used it for good to bring about this present
  • 00:23:00.368 --> 00:23:04.873
  • Circumstance, to preserve many people alive."
  • 00:23:04.873 --> 00:23:09.878
  • A victor doesn't feel like that he's the victim of adverse
  • 00:23:09.878 --> 00:23:12.714
  • Circumstances and adverse people.
  • 00:23:12.714 --> 00:23:14.950
  • He believes in a god who's working out his purpose in
  • 00:23:14.950 --> 00:23:18.854
  • Our life.
  • 00:23:18.854 --> 00:23:20.489
  • Victors obey god's commandments.
  • 00:23:20.489 --> 00:23:24.059
  • Victors glorify god in their lives.
  • 00:23:24.059 --> 00:23:27.362
  • Victors trust in the purpose of god.
  • 00:23:27.362 --> 00:23:32.334
  • Jeffress: aside from jesus christ, no man has
  • 00:23:36.238 --> 00:23:38.406
  • Overcome more challenges in his life than joseph.
  • 00:23:38.406 --> 00:23:42.577
  • Yet joseph emerged from his trials as a victor.
  • 00:23:42.577 --> 00:23:46.348
  • In closing today, i want to share an encouraging comment for
  • 00:23:46.348 --> 00:23:49.651
  • You from someone who recently wrote to us saying: "in this
  • 00:23:49.651 --> 00:23:53.255
  • Confusing time, you are helping me decipher truth from untruth,
  • 00:23:53.255 --> 00:23:57.659
  • And teach others to know the truth as well.
  • 00:23:57.659 --> 00:24:00.629
  • I'm sharing with my husband and teenage sons!
  • 00:24:00.629 --> 00:24:04.332
  • Thank you for standing firm in god's word!"
  • 00:24:04.332 --> 00:24:07.903
  • Comments like this one show us that lives are being changed
  • 00:24:07.903 --> 00:24:11.473
  • Through "pathway to victory."
  • 00:24:11.473 --> 00:24:13.241
  • Thank you for partnering with us to pierce the darkness with the
  • 00:24:13.241 --> 00:24:16.678
  • Light of god's word.
  • 00:24:16.678 --> 00:24:18.280
  • Now, please stay right there.
  • 00:24:18.280 --> 00:24:19.648
  • I'll be back with more in just a moment.
  • 00:24:19.648 --> 00:24:22.951
  • Jeffress: christians today are living in hostile territory.
  • 00:24:23.018 --> 00:24:26.521
  • The attacks are real,
  • 00:24:26.521 --> 00:24:27.923
  • The opposition is fierce, and the stakes couldn't be higher.
  • 00:24:27.923 --> 00:24:32.160
  • That's why i wrote "courageous," to give you the biblical tools
  • 00:24:32.160 --> 00:24:35.830
  • You need not just to survive, but to stand strong and thrive.
  • 00:24:35.830 --> 00:24:40.535
  • Announcer: in "courageous," you'll find ten biblical
  • 00:24:40.535 --> 00:24:43.004
  • Survival strategies drawn straight from scripture that
  • 00:24:43.004 --> 00:24:46.041
  • Will give you fresh fire and real hope, no matter what
  • 00:24:46.041 --> 00:24:49.210
  • You're facing.
  • 00:24:49.210 --> 00:24:50.545
  • Jeffress: survivors have two things in common:
  • 00:24:50.545 --> 00:24:52.547
  • A different response to trouble and a different perspective
  • 00:24:52.547 --> 00:24:56.351
  • On life.
  • 00:24:56.351 --> 00:24:57.686
  • In "courageous," i'll give you ten biblical strategies to
  • 00:24:57.686 --> 00:25:00.989
  • Develop both and come out stronger on the other side.
  • 00:25:00.989 --> 00:25:04.926
  • Announcer: request your copy of "courageous" when you give a
  • 00:25:04.926 --> 00:25:07.295
  • Generous ministry gift to "pathway to victory," or when
  • 00:25:07.295 --> 00:25:10.432
  • You become a pathway partner.
  • 00:25:10.432 --> 00:25:12.400
  • And when your ministry gift is $75 or more, we'll send you the
  • 00:25:12.400 --> 00:25:16.705
  • Courageous leadership kit, containing the "courageous"
  • 00:25:16.705 --> 00:25:19.608
  • Book, the personal and group study guide book, ten courageous
  • 00:25:19.608 --> 00:25:23.345
  • Encouragement cards, plus the complete teaching series on cd
  • 00:25:23.345 --> 00:25:27.148
  • And dvd.
  • 00:25:27.148 --> 00:25:28.550
  • Jeffress: as christians, we're living in
  • 00:25:28.617 --> 00:25:30.552
  • A threatening environment.
  • 00:25:30.552 --> 00:25:32.454
  • We have an adversary, the devil, who is intent on destroying
  • 00:25:32.454 --> 00:25:36.791
  • Everything important to us.
  • 00:25:36.791 --> 00:25:38.293
  • Announcer: thank you for partnering with "pathway
  • 00:25:38.293 --> 00:25:40.128
  • To victory."
  • 00:25:40.128 --> 00:25:41.496
  • Your generosity funds the proclamation of god's word
  • 00:25:41.496 --> 00:25:44.232
  • Across television, radio, and online, bringing bold, biblical
  • 00:25:44.232 --> 00:25:48.169
  • Hope right here at home and around the world.
  • 00:25:48.169 --> 00:25:51.706
  • Jeffress: joseph faced betrayal, false accusations, and years of
  • 00:25:54.743 --> 00:25:58.179
  • Neglect, and through all of it, he kept the attitude of
  • 00:25:58.179 --> 00:26:01.716
  • A victor.
  • 00:26:01.716 --> 00:26:03.551
  • That same overcomer mindset is available to every believer
  • 00:26:03.551 --> 00:26:07.656
  • Today, and next time we'll build on that foundation with survival
  • 00:26:07.656 --> 00:26:11.159
  • Tip number five, because when a crisis hits, your response will
  • 00:26:11.159 --> 00:26:15.563
  • Only be as strong as the training you've put
  • 00:26:15.563 --> 00:26:18.466
  • In beforehand.
  • 00:26:18.466 --> 00:26:20.035
  • Stay tuned for a preview of what's coming up next in our
  • 00:26:20.035 --> 00:26:22.570
  • Series, "courageous."
  • 00:26:22.570 --> 00:26:25.874
  • Jeffress: when you face a crisis, it's important that you
  • 00:26:25.874 --> 00:26:28.176
  • Already be trained in what to do so that your memory can
  • 00:26:28.176 --> 00:26:31.613
  • Take over.
  • 00:26:31.613 --> 00:26:32.947
  • If we allow a crisis to take us out and send us crashing, we not
  • 00:26:32.947 --> 00:26:38.820
  • Only destroy our lives, but we destroy those of everyone
  • 00:26:38.820 --> 00:26:42.824
  • Around us.
  • 00:26:42.824 --> 00:26:44.159
  • Announcer: set your dvr and join us next time for
  • 00:26:44.159 --> 00:26:46.828
  • "survival tip #5: trust your training",
  • 00:26:46.828 --> 00:26:50.198
  • Here on "pathway to victory."
  • 00:26:50.198 --> 00:26:52.233
  • Announcer: what if your next vacation changed the way you
  • 00:26:55.303 --> 00:26:57.539
  • Read your bible forever?
  • 00:26:57.539 --> 00:26:59.541
  • Jeffress: join me for nine nights sailing the mediterranean
  • 00:26:59.541 --> 00:27:02.477
  • With every detail taken care of.
  • 00:27:02.477 --> 00:27:05.146
  • When you stand where paul stood, your bible comes alive in ways
  • 00:27:05.146 --> 00:27:09.551
  • It never has before.
  • 00:27:09.551 --> 00:27:11.286
  • Announcer: sail with us on the "pathway to victory" journeys of
  • 00:27:11.286 --> 00:27:14.089
  • Paul cruise, may 2027, and ask about our optional
  • 00:27:14.089 --> 00:27:17.926
  • Athens pre-extension.
  • 00:27:17.926 --> 00:27:19.494
  • Call... or visit ptv.org.
  • 00:27:19.494 --> 00:27:27.235