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  5. Robert Jeffress - Survival Tip #5: Trust Your Training
Dr. Robert Jeffress

Robert Jeffress - Survival Tip #5: Trust Your Training

May 19, 2026 | 27:29

Robert Jeffress - Survival Tip #5: Trust Your Training
Pathway to Victory offers a practical application of God’s Word to everyday life through the clear, biblical teaching of Pastor Jeffress.
#Courage #Faith #TrustGod #SpiritualFoundation #Trials-HardTimes #Challenges #WordofGod #SpiritualGrowth #Righteousness #Preparation #Dedication/Devotion #RobertJeffress

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Dr. Robert Jeffress | Robert Jeffress - Survival Tip #5: Trust Your Training | May 19, 2026
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  • Male announcer: ephesus, thessaloniki, the greek islands.
  • 00:00:01.780 --> 00:00:04.683
  • The apostle paul didn't just write about these places, he
  • 00:00:04.817 --> 00:00:07.453
  • Lived in them.
  • 00:00:07.586 --> 00:00:07.820
  • And this may, so can you on the pathway to victory journeys of
  • 00:00:09.021 --> 00:00:12.458
  • Paul cruise.
  • 00:00:12.458 --> 00:00:13.826
  • Dr. robert jeffress: i've read the book of acts my entire life,
  • 00:00:13.826 --> 00:00:16.261
  • But there's nothing like standing in ephesus, walking
  • 00:00:16.261 --> 00:00:19.565
  • Where paul walked, and feeling the weight
  • 00:00:19.565 --> 00:00:22.034
  • Of what happened there.
  • 00:00:22.034 --> 00:00:23.469
  • Announcer: nine unforgettable nights aboard celebrity infinity
  • 00:00:23.469 --> 00:00:26.438
  • Sailing round trip from athens with stops in mykonos, rhodes,
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  • Santorini, and more.
  • 00:00:30.275 --> 00:00:32.111
  • And there's an optional pre-cruise extension in athens.
  • 00:00:32.111 --> 00:00:35.547
  • Jeffress: every port carries the fingerprints
  • 00:00:35.547 --> 00:00:37.549
  • Of god's redemptive plan.
  • 00:00:37.549 --> 00:00:39.551
  • Every ancient stone tells a story.
  • 00:00:39.551 --> 00:00:42.154
  • This is truly the trip of a lifetime, and i promise you, you
  • 00:00:42.154 --> 00:00:45.791
  • Will never read the bible the same way again.
  • 00:00:45.791 --> 00:00:49.294
  • Announcer: reserve your cabin today for the 2027 pathway to
  • 00:00:49.294 --> 00:00:52.898
  • Victory journeys of paul cruise.
  • 00:00:52.898 --> 00:00:55.067
  • Call... or visit ptv.org.
  • 00:00:55.067 --> 00:01:00.739
  • ♪♪♪
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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 dr.
  • 00:01:10.749 --> 00:01:13.919
  • Robert jeffress.
  • 00:01:13.919 --> 00:01:16.421
  • Jeffress: hi, i'm robert jeffress, and welcome again to
  • 00:01:16.421 --> 00:01:18.624
  • "pathway to victory."
  • 00:01:18.624 --> 00:01:19.992
  • Talk to any soldier or first responder, and they'll tell you
  • 00:01:19.992 --> 00:01:23.061
  • The same thing.
  • 00:01:23.061 --> 00:01:24.429
  • When the moment of crisis arrives, there's no time
  • 00:01:24.429 --> 00:01:27.533
  • To think.
  • 00:01:27.533 --> 00:01:28.901
  • You simply act on what you already know, and that raises an
  • 00:01:28.901 --> 00:01:32.538
  • Important question for every christian.
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  • When life throws the unexpected your way, what will you fall
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  • Back on?
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  • My message is titled "survival tip #5: trust your training" on
  • 00:01:39.711 --> 00:01:45.184
  • Today's edition of "pathway to victory."
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  • ♪♪♪
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  • Male announcer: each day, millions of lost people are
  • 00:01:54.293 --> 00:01:56.595
  • Searching for hope and truth.
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  • Through "pathway to victory," god's word is reaching into
  • 00:01:58.630 --> 00:02:01.500
  • Homes across america and around the world, but there are still
  • 00:02:01.500 --> 00:02:05.103
  • So many who haven't heard the saving message of jesus christ.
  • 00:02:05.103 --> 00:02:08.707
  • You can help change that by becoming a pathway partner.
  • 00:02:08.707 --> 00:02:11.977
  • You'll join a dedicated team of broadcast missionaries who are
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  • Sharing the gospel through television and radio.
  • 00:02:15.147 --> 00:02:17.849
  • Your monthly support will help reach people worldwide with the
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  • Life-changing power of the cross.
  • 00:02:21.520 --> 00:02:24.256
  • ♪♪♪
  • 00:02:24.256 --> 00:02:31.797
  • Jeffress: he had no ambition to become famous, to be interviewed
  • 00:02:31.797 --> 00:02:35.200
  • By journalists around the world, receive honors and medals,
  • 00:02:35.200 --> 00:02:39.471
  • Appear on the cover of magazines, and have a movie made
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  • About him.
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  • After more than 40 years as a pilot, his only ambition was
  • 00:02:44.076 --> 00:02:48.347
  • Retirement, and he was about one year away from that when the
  • 00:02:48.347 --> 00:02:52.484
  • Unimaginable happened, a complete loss of power while
  • 00:02:52.484 --> 00:02:56.688
  • Piloting a jetliner over manhattan.
  • 00:02:56.688 --> 00:03:00.392
  • In about the same time it takes most men to comb their hair,
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  • Floss, and brush their teeth, the pilot of us airways flight
  • 00:03:03.729 --> 00:03:08.200
  • 1549 had to decide whether he could keep the plane in the air
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  • Long enough to turn back to the airport or risk the lives of all
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  • 155 people aboard with a hazardous water landing.
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  • Departing on the afternoon of january 15, 2009, from new
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  • York laguardia's airport bound for charlotte, north carolina,
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  • Flight 1549 flew into a flock of canadian geese just two minutes
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  • After takeoff.
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  • Some of the geese were sucked into the plane's engines.
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  • Almost immediately, the aircraft began to vibrate, and the
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  • Engines shut down.
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  • Twenty-one seconds later, captain chelsea "sully"
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  • Sullenberger sent out a distress signal.
  • 00:03:51.610 --> 00:03:55.080
  • "mayday, mayday, mayday."
  • 00:03:55.080 --> 00:03:58.784
  • He notified the tower at laguardia that they had
  • 00:03:58.784 --> 00:04:01.320
  • Sustained multiple bird strikes and that his plane had become a
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  • Dead stick, descending at a rapid speed like dropping two
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  • Floors per second in an elevator.
  • 00:04:10.562 --> 00:04:13.231
  • Captain sullenberger considered gliding the airplane back to
  • 00:04:13.231 --> 00:04:16.702
  • Laguardia, but he would have to fly a dead plane over densely
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  • Populated areas in manhattan, avoiding skyscrapers between his
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  • Location and the airport.
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  • Laguardia was out of the question.
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  • Nor could he make it to teterboro airport in new jersey.
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  • Sullenberger radioed the tower.
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  • He was going to ditch in the hudson river.
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  • It was straight enough, long enough, wide enough, and smooth
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  • Enough, and besides, it was right below him.
  • 00:04:44.429 --> 00:04:48.400
  • According to aviation experts, successful water landings are
  • 00:04:48.400 --> 00:04:53.004
  • Tricky maneuvers.
  • 00:04:53.004 --> 00:04:54.906
  • Wings have to be perfectly level.
  • 00:04:54.906 --> 00:04:57.376
  • If not, you could clip the water, shearing off the wing,
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  • Cartwheeling the aircraft, and sending the fuselage to
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  • The bottom.
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  • The angle of entry must be exactly right.
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  • If too steep, you can separate the tail section.
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  • If too flat, you could break the aircraft in half or plow the
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  • Nose into what would seem to be a concrete wall.
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  • You have to walk the plane into the water, heel to toe, with the
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  • Tail section touching first and then lowering the nose as the
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  • Aircraft slows down.
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  • The only control captain sullenberger had left in the
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  • Aircraft was pitch, the ability to raise or lower the nose of
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  • The plane.
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  • To slow their speed and maintain a proper guide path,
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  • Sullenberger pitched the nose up.
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  • About 90 seconds before hitting the water, he pulled the nose
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  • Fully aft and addressed the passenger.
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  • "this is the captain.
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  • Brace for impact."
  • 00:05:54.733 --> 00:05:57.302
  • Passengers described what felt like a gradual controlled
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  • Descent as if the river were a tarmac.
  • 00:06:00.705 --> 00:06:04.342
  • And though the plane made a tremendous splash, it remained
  • 00:06:04.342 --> 00:06:07.379
  • Intact and afloat.
  • 00:06:07.379 --> 00:06:09.781
  • Once the aircraft became stable, sullenberger and his crew began
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  • Emergency evacuation procedures, instructing passengers about how
  • 00:06:13.919 --> 00:06:18.690
  • To locate and wear life vests, deploy emergency rafts, and open
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  • Wing exits.
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  • Fortunately, the plane had landed between two
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  • Ferry terminals.
  • 00:06:27.966 --> 00:06:29.534
  • Within minutes, ferry boats were plucking passengers off the
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  • Wings and out of the rafts, saving all 155 people on board.
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  • Sullenberger, who had learned to fly at the age of 16, graduated
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  • From the air force academy and flew fighter jets before turning
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  • To commercial aviation, has been asked many times what he was
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  • Thinking during the three and a half minutes that elapsed
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  • Between his engines cutting out and landing in the hudson river.
  • 00:06:56.995 --> 00:07:01.900
  • His standard answer is that he wasn't so much thinking as he
  • 00:07:01.900 --> 00:07:07.072
  • Was acting, going through the proper procedures to solve the
  • 00:07:07.072 --> 00:07:11.977
  • Problems that immediately confronted him.
  • 00:07:11.977 --> 00:07:15.514
  • He said, "my training kicked in."
  • 00:07:15.514 --> 00:07:21.987
  • When thrown into survival situations, first responders,
  • 00:07:21.987 --> 00:07:26.491
  • Firemen, policemen, soldiers in the military, they often
  • 00:07:26.491 --> 00:07:31.630
  • Encourage one another with these three words: trust
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  • Your training.
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  • Trust your training.
  • 00:07:38.703 --> 00:07:40.405
  • Even athletes, coach, understand the importance of trusting
  • 00:07:40.405 --> 00:07:45.076
  • Their training.
  • 00:07:45.076 --> 00:07:46.444
  • They practice, practice, practice, and when they get in
  • 00:07:46.444 --> 00:07:49.648
  • The heat of the game, that's when their memory takes over,
  • 00:07:49.648 --> 00:07:53.518
  • And their memory tells their muscles exactly how to respond.
  • 00:07:53.518 --> 00:07:58.456
  • Trusting your training.
  • 00:07:58.456 --> 00:08:00.992
  • In our series "courageous," we're talking about ten survival
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  • Steps for thriving in a hostile world.
  • 00:08:05.730 --> 00:08:10.368
  • Whether you know it or not, if you're a christian, you're
  • 00:08:10.368 --> 00:08:12.871
  • Living in a hostile world, and you have all kinds of assaults
  • 00:08:12.871 --> 00:08:17.175
  • Coming at you.
  • 00:08:17.175 --> 00:08:18.843
  • You face a culture that is hostile to the things of god.
  • 00:08:18.843 --> 00:08:23.048
  • You face an adversary, the devil, who has a detailed
  • 00:08:23.048 --> 00:08:26.418
  • Blueprint to take you out.
  • 00:08:26.418 --> 00:08:28.887
  • And if those things were not enough, we all carry around with
  • 00:08:28.887 --> 00:08:31.723
  • Us at least the remnant of a sin nature that is opposed to the
  • 00:08:31.723 --> 00:08:35.527
  • Will of god.
  • 00:08:35.527 --> 00:08:37.162
  • How can we ever hope to survive that kind of threatening
  • 00:08:37.162 --> 00:08:40.799
  • Situation, much less thrive in it?
  • 00:08:40.799 --> 00:08:43.401
  • Well, we're talking about those ten survival tips from god's
  • 00:08:43.401 --> 00:08:46.972
  • Word for surviving and thriving in this hostile environment.
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  • Sullenberger illustrates the survival tip: trust
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  • Your training.
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  • Trust your training.
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  • When you face a crisis, it's important that you already be
  • 00:08:58.550 --> 00:09:01.820
  • Trained in what to do so that your memory can take over.
  • 00:09:01.820 --> 00:09:05.657
  • Had he not been trained over and over again about how to handle
  • 00:09:05.657 --> 00:09:09.561
  • Such a situation, it not only would have ended his life but
  • 00:09:09.561 --> 00:09:13.732
  • The 154 other passengers who were on board with him.
  • 00:09:13.732 --> 00:09:18.136
  • And the same is true for you and me.
  • 00:09:18.136 --> 00:09:20.338
  • We don't live our lives in isolation.
  • 00:09:20.338 --> 00:09:23.575
  • We have a whole bunch of people who are riding with us,
  • 00:09:23.575 --> 00:09:26.845
  • Depending upon us: our mate, our children, our grandchildren, the
  • 00:09:26.845 --> 00:09:32.117
  • People we've influenced for christ.
  • 00:09:32.117 --> 00:09:34.285
  • If we allow a crisis to take us out and send us crashing, we not
  • 00:09:34.285 --> 00:09:40.558
  • Only destroy our lives, but we destroy those of everyone
  • 00:09:40.558 --> 00:09:44.562
  • Around us.
  • 00:09:44.562 --> 00:09:45.930
  • It is important that we learn to trust our training.
  • 00:09:45.930 --> 00:09:49.768
  • If you don't hear anything else i say during this sermon,
  • 00:09:49.768 --> 00:09:52.804
  • Hear this.
  • 00:09:52.804 --> 00:09:54.172
  • The only way to survive spiritually is to be adequately
  • 00:09:54.172 --> 00:09:58.176
  • Trained before the crisis hits and then trust our training when
  • 00:09:58.176 --> 00:10:03.615
  • The crisis hits.
  • 00:10:03.615 --> 00:10:05.583
  • Where do we go to find that training that we need in times
  • 00:10:05.583 --> 00:10:09.487
  • Of crises in our life?
  • 00:10:09.487 --> 00:10:11.423
  • We find it in god's word.
  • 00:10:11.423 --> 00:10:13.925
  • Turn back to 2 timothy chapter 3, the passage we read aloud
  • 00:10:13.925 --> 00:10:17.762
  • Just a few moments ago.
  • 00:10:17.762 --> 00:10:19.330
  • 2 timothy chapter 3, verses 16 and 17, paul said, "for all
  • 00:10:19.330 --> 00:10:24.769
  • Scripture is inspired by god."
  • 00:10:24.769 --> 00:10:27.839
  • You don't get to pick and choose which parts you think
  • 00:10:27.839 --> 00:10:30.608
  • Are inspired.
  • 00:10:30.608 --> 00:10:31.976
  • We have a culture today that wants to do that.
  • 00:10:31.976 --> 00:10:34.412
  • They want to leave out the difficult parts or the parts
  • 00:10:34.412 --> 00:10:37.015
  • That don't coincide with the culture today.
  • 00:10:37.015 --> 00:10:39.818
  • No, the bible says all scripture is inspired.
  • 00:10:39.818 --> 00:10:43.555
  • You know, that word "inspired," theopneustos in greek, literally
  • 00:10:43.555 --> 00:10:47.959
  • God breathed.
  • 00:10:47.959 --> 00:10:49.694
  • "all scripture is god breathed, and it's profitable for
  • 00:10:49.694 --> 00:10:53.098
  • Teaching, for reproof, for correction, for," here it is,
  • 00:10:53.098 --> 00:10:57.168
  • "training in righteousness, that the man of god may be adequate,
  • 00:10:57.168 --> 00:11:03.274
  • Equipped for every good work."
  • 00:11:03.274 --> 00:11:05.443
  • The bible is what we use as our flight manual, if you would,
  • 00:11:05.443 --> 00:11:09.247
  • That tells us exactly what to do, how to train
  • 00:11:09.247 --> 00:11:12.183
  • For righteousness.
  • 00:11:12.183 --> 00:11:13.952
  • That word righteousness simply means right living before god.
  • 00:11:13.952 --> 00:11:19.791
  • Why is it so important that we be adequately trained before the
  • 00:11:19.791 --> 00:11:24.028
  • Crisis hits?
  • 00:11:24.028 --> 00:11:26.364
  • Consider another aircraft in another threatening situation
  • 00:11:26.364 --> 00:11:30.869
  • That had a completely different outcome.
  • 00:11:30.869 --> 00:11:33.838
  • In october of 2018, the pilots of lion air flight jt 610 took
  • 00:11:33.838 --> 00:11:39.978
  • Off from jakarta.
  • 00:11:39.978 --> 00:11:41.713
  • Two minutes after takeoff, they noticed a sensation they had
  • 00:11:41.713 --> 00:11:46.317
  • Never experienced before.
  • 00:11:46.317 --> 00:11:48.787
  • The automatic pilot started pointing the nose of the
  • 00:11:48.787 --> 00:11:52.557
  • Aircraft down.
  • 00:11:52.557 --> 00:11:54.659
  • The pilots struggled with it to bring it back up.
  • 00:11:54.659 --> 00:11:58.196
  • No matter how hard they try, the nose kept pointing down on this
  • 00:11:58.196 --> 00:12:02.233
  • 737 aircraft.
  • 00:12:02.233 --> 00:12:05.503
  • They've searched frantically through the flight manual to try
  • 00:12:05.503 --> 00:12:08.640
  • To find what they were supposed to do in that situation, but
  • 00:12:08.640 --> 00:12:13.444
  • While they were searching the flight manual, the plane
  • 00:12:13.444 --> 00:12:16.781
  • Crashed, killing all 189 people aboard.
  • 00:12:16.781 --> 00:12:21.986
  • If you wait until a crisis hits your life to decide to be
  • 00:12:21.986 --> 00:12:25.857
  • Trained for it, you've waited too long.
  • 00:12:25.857 --> 00:12:29.027
  • The bible is our training manual for how to act righteously.
  • 00:12:29.027 --> 00:12:34.766
  • Let me talk for just a moment about the benefits of the
  • 00:12:34.766 --> 00:12:37.769
  • Training that comes from god's word.
  • 00:12:37.769 --> 00:12:40.138
  • What is it that god's word does for us?
  • 00:12:40.138 --> 00:12:42.574
  • Psalm 119 is a beautiful chapter, the longest chapter in
  • 00:12:42.574 --> 00:12:46.711
  • The bible, and it details the benefits of god's word in
  • 00:12:46.711 --> 00:12:50.648
  • Our life.
  • 00:12:50.648 --> 00:12:51.983
  • I want you to notice three of them.
  • 00:12:51.983 --> 00:12:53.351
  • First of all, god's word provides wise counsel
  • 00:12:53.351 --> 00:12:56.754
  • Throughout life.
  • 00:12:56.754 --> 00:12:58.156
  • In psalm 119, verse 105, god says, "your word is a lamp to my
  • 00:12:58.156 --> 00:13:04.229
  • Feet and a light to my path."
  • 00:13:04.229 --> 00:13:08.233
  • Secondly, god's word is a faithful friend
  • 00:13:08.233 --> 00:13:11.870
  • During difficult days.
  • 00:13:11.870 --> 00:13:13.738
  • Look at psalm 119, verses 92 to 93.
  • 00:13:13.738 --> 00:13:16.875
  • "if thy law had not been my delight, then i would have
  • 00:13:16.875 --> 00:13:21.212
  • Perished in my affliction.
  • 00:13:21.212 --> 00:13:23.648
  • I will never forget thy precepts, for by them thou hast
  • 00:13:23.648 --> 00:13:27.752
  • Revived me."
  • 00:13:27.752 --> 00:13:30.121
  • When i think about those verses, i think about somebody who was
  • 00:13:30.121 --> 00:13:34.292
  • Literally revived by the power of god's word, somebody who was
  • 00:13:34.292 --> 00:13:39.530
  • Saved from perishing in their affliction.
  • 00:13:39.530 --> 00:13:42.901
  • Darlene deibler rose was a christian missionary who was
  • 00:13:42.901 --> 00:13:46.871
  • Captured by the japanese in world war ii.
  • 00:13:46.871 --> 00:13:50.675
  • She was thrown into a japanese prison.
  • 00:13:50.675 --> 00:13:54.379
  • Her bible was taken away from her.
  • 00:13:54.379 --> 00:13:56.981
  • She was beaten and tortured for four years, but even though
  • 00:13:56.981 --> 00:14:00.952
  • These japanese soldiers could take away her bible, they
  • 00:14:00.952 --> 00:14:04.422
  • Couldn't take away the word of god she had memorized and placed
  • 00:14:04.422 --> 00:14:07.926
  • In her heart.
  • 00:14:07.926 --> 00:14:09.294
  • Listen to her testimony.
  • 00:14:09.294 --> 00:14:10.628
  • She said, "as a child and young person, i had had a driving
  • 00:14:10.628 --> 00:14:14.899
  • Compulsion to memorize the written word.
  • 00:14:14.899 --> 00:14:18.670
  • In that cell, i was grateful now for those days in vacation bible
  • 00:14:18.670 --> 00:14:23.374
  • School when i had memorized many single verses, complete chapters
  • 00:14:23.374 --> 00:14:28.880
  • Of the bible and psalms, as well as whole books of the bible i
  • 00:14:28.880 --> 00:14:32.183
  • Had memorized.
  • 00:14:32.183 --> 00:14:33.551
  • In the years that followed, i reviewed the scriptures often.
  • 00:14:33.551 --> 00:14:37.488
  • The lord fed me with the living bread that had been stored
  • 00:14:37.488 --> 00:14:41.392
  • Against the day when fresh supply was cut off by the loss
  • 00:14:41.392 --> 00:14:45.063
  • Of my bible.
  • 00:14:45.063 --> 00:14:46.397
  • He brought daily comfort and encouragement, yes, and joy to
  • 00:14:46.397 --> 00:14:50.201
  • My heart through the knowledge of his word."
  • 00:14:50.201 --> 00:14:54.605
  • No matter where you are or what situation you're facing, god's
  • 00:14:54.605 --> 00:14:58.643
  • Word is a faithful friend during times of affliction.
  • 00:14:58.643 --> 00:15:02.246
  • Thirdly, god's word serves as a sure defense against temptation.
  • 00:15:02.246 --> 00:15:08.486
  • It's the best defense we have against temptation.
  • 00:15:08.486 --> 00:15:11.089
  • Remember david's words in psalm 119:11: "thy word have i
  • 00:15:11.089 --> 00:15:16.561
  • Treasured in my heart, that i might not sin against god."
  • 00:15:16.561 --> 00:15:22.433
  • You say, "well, how is it that the bible is a defense
  • 00:15:22.433 --> 00:15:25.803
  • Against temptation?
  • 00:15:25.803 --> 00:15:27.138
  • Exactly how does that work?"
  • 00:15:27.138 --> 00:15:30.308
  • You may not know this, but the great protestant reformer
  • 00:15:30.308 --> 00:15:33.378
  • Martin luther said that the greatest battle, spiritual
  • 00:15:33.378 --> 00:15:37.248
  • Battle he faced in his life was with lust.
  • 00:15:37.248 --> 00:15:41.285
  • How many of you can identify?
  • 00:15:41.285 --> 00:15:42.653
  • Would you ra--no, you don't have to raise your hand.
  • 00:15:42.653 --> 00:15:44.322
  • He had a hard time with lust, probably because of the kind of
  • 00:15:47.425 --> 00:15:51.162
  • Lifestyle he led before he became a christian, and he felt
  • 00:15:51.162 --> 00:15:55.299
  • Terribly guilty about these horrible thoughts that would
  • 00:15:55.299 --> 00:15:58.302
  • Come into his mind.
  • 00:15:58.302 --> 00:15:59.637
  • And he asked an older christian for advice about what to do.
  • 00:15:59.637 --> 00:16:04.175
  • The older christian said, "martin, you can't stop the
  • 00:16:04.175 --> 00:16:08.112
  • Birds from flying over your head, but you can stop them from
  • 00:16:08.112 --> 00:16:12.450
  • Building a nest in your hair."
  • 00:16:12.450 --> 00:16:16.187
  • Pretty good advice.
  • 00:16:16.187 --> 00:16:17.922
  • We can't control all the time what thoughts come into our
  • 00:16:17.922 --> 00:16:20.792
  • Mind, but we have a choice.
  • 00:16:20.792 --> 00:16:23.027
  • We can either hold onto those thoughts, embellish those
  • 00:16:23.027 --> 00:16:25.863
  • Thoughts until they metastasize into full-blown immorality, or
  • 00:16:25.863 --> 00:16:31.569
  • We can confront those wrong thoughts with the truth of god's
  • 00:16:31.569 --> 00:16:35.573
  • Word and dismiss them.
  • 00:16:35.573 --> 00:16:37.875
  • And that's exactly what paul had in mind, 2 corinthians 10, verse
  • 00:16:37.875 --> 00:16:41.345
  • 5, when he said, "we are taking every thought," every bird that
  • 00:16:41.345 --> 00:16:46.317
  • Flies over our head, "we're taking every thought captive to
  • 00:16:46.317 --> 00:16:49.454
  • The obedience of jesus christ."
  • 00:16:49.454 --> 00:16:53.191
  • Let me just close today by giving you four practical tips
  • 00:16:53.191 --> 00:16:57.061
  • For how to engage in your own training program in god's word.
  • 00:16:57.061 --> 00:17:01.666
  • How do you develop your own training program?
  • 00:17:01.666 --> 00:17:04.969
  • Number one, have a scheduled time and plan for memorizing
  • 00:17:04.969 --> 00:17:09.273
  • The bible.
  • 00:17:09.273 --> 00:17:10.608
  • Set a time and a place where you're gonna meet with god
  • 00:17:10.608 --> 00:17:12.743
  • Every day.
  • 00:17:12.743 --> 00:17:14.112
  • Maybe it's five minutes.
  • 00:17:14.112 --> 00:17:15.446
  • Maybe it's ten minutes.
  • 00:17:15.446 --> 00:17:17.181
  • It may be in the morning.
  • 00:17:17.181 --> 00:17:18.549
  • It may be at night.
  • 00:17:18.549 --> 00:17:19.951
  • There's no better time.
  • 00:17:19.951 --> 00:17:21.786
  • Some people are morning people.
  • 00:17:21.786 --> 00:17:23.154
  • Some people are night people.
  • 00:17:23.154 --> 00:17:24.489
  • The key is commit to a time and place where you're gonna spend a
  • 00:17:24.489 --> 00:17:27.792
  • Few moments reading god's word.
  • 00:17:27.792 --> 00:17:30.328
  • You say, "well, how do i know what to memorize?"
  • 00:17:30.328 --> 00:17:33.564
  • Here's a very practical suggestion.
  • 00:17:33.564 --> 00:17:35.766
  • When you get home this afternoon, google the
  • 00:17:35.766 --> 00:17:38.436
  • Navigators, great christian organization, the navigators.
  • 00:17:38.436 --> 00:17:41.839
  • They have a system called the topical memory system.
  • 00:17:41.839 --> 00:17:45.576
  • You get about 52 little cards with scripture verses on them
  • 00:17:45.576 --> 00:17:49.881
  • For anger, for temptation, for worry, an appropriate scripture
  • 00:17:49.881 --> 00:17:56.120
  • Verse for these different topics.
  • 00:17:56.120 --> 00:17:58.222
  • And if you'll take one of those and memorize a verse a week, in
  • 00:17:58.222 --> 00:18:01.459
  • A year's time, you'll have your arsenal complete of everything
  • 00:18:01.459 --> 00:18:05.163
  • You need to recall when you go through these times in your
  • 00:18:05.163 --> 00:18:08.666
  • Own life.
  • 00:18:08.666 --> 00:18:10.234
  • You know, jeff bridges, hollywood actors, one of my
  • 00:18:10.234 --> 00:18:14.138
  • Favorite actors, his father was lloyd bridges.
  • 00:18:14.138 --> 00:18:17.642
  • You may remember lloyd bridges, but he was interviewed by
  • 00:18:17.642 --> 00:18:21.379
  • "rolling stone" magazine, and this academy award-winning
  • 00:18:21.379 --> 00:18:24.882
  • Performer, jeff bridges, was asked what advice he wished he
  • 00:18:24.882 --> 00:18:29.020
  • Would have received at age 20.
  • 00:18:29.020 --> 00:18:31.389
  • And he said, "actually, i did get the advice.
  • 00:18:31.389 --> 00:18:35.359
  • I just didn't take it.
  • 00:18:35.359 --> 00:18:37.361
  • My dad would say, 'it's all about habit, jeff.
  • 00:18:37.361 --> 00:18:40.898
  • You gotta get into good habits.'
  • 00:18:40.898 --> 00:18:43.034
  • And i would say, 'no, dad, you gotta live each moment.
  • 00:18:43.034 --> 00:18:46.070
  • Live it as the first one and be fresh.'
  • 00:18:46.070 --> 00:18:48.673
  • And he says, 'that's a wonderful thought, but that's not who
  • 00:18:48.673 --> 00:18:52.009
  • We are.
  • 00:18:52.009 --> 00:18:53.344
  • We are habitual creatures.
  • 00:18:53.344 --> 00:18:55.613
  • It's about developing these grooves.'
  • 00:18:55.613 --> 00:18:59.550
  • As i age, i can see my dad's point.
  • 00:18:59.550 --> 00:19:02.853
  • What you practice is what you become."
  • 00:19:02.853 --> 00:19:07.491
  • What you practice is what you become.
  • 00:19:07.491 --> 00:19:10.494
  • We all have to work to develop these grooves of righteousness
  • 00:19:10.494 --> 00:19:14.232
  • In our life, so that when we are assaulted, not by wild geese
  • 00:19:14.232 --> 00:19:18.536
  • Like sully sullenberger, but we're assaulted unexpectedly by
  • 00:19:18.536 --> 00:19:22.940
  • Anger, by lust, by greed, by worry, we default, we go into
  • 00:19:22.940 --> 00:19:28.613
  • That groove of right acting.
  • 00:19:28.613 --> 00:19:31.082
  • Again, how do you do that?
  • 00:19:31.082 --> 00:19:32.817
  • Memorize god's word, recall god's word, obey god's word.
  • 00:19:32.817 --> 00:19:38.889
  • Secondly, to develop your own scripture training program,
  • 00:19:38.889 --> 00:19:42.126
  • Start small.
  • 00:19:42.126 --> 00:19:43.494
  • You know, if you had not eaten for a month and i stumbled upon
  • 00:19:43.494 --> 00:19:47.565
  • You, i probably wouldn't give you a 32-ounce t-bone steak to
  • 00:19:47.565 --> 00:19:51.335
  • Try to digest.
  • 00:19:51.335 --> 00:19:53.271
  • No, if you've not been eating for a while, you need to start
  • 00:19:53.271 --> 00:19:56.707
  • With small portions of god's word.
  • 00:19:56.707 --> 00:20:00.144
  • Now, there's some of you who are close to starving to
  • 00:20:00.144 --> 00:20:04.148
  • Death spiritually.
  • 00:20:04.148 --> 00:20:06.284
  • It's been so long since you've been reading god's word that you
  • 00:20:06.284 --> 00:20:10.121
  • Don't even have a hunger for it anymore.
  • 00:20:10.121 --> 00:20:12.323
  • If that's true, you've gotta sit down for some forced feeding of
  • 00:20:12.323 --> 00:20:16.260
  • God's word but in small parts.
  • 00:20:16.260 --> 00:20:19.363
  • For example, did you know most of the books of the new
  • 00:20:19.363 --> 00:20:22.366
  • Testament, two-thirds of them could be read in less than
  • 00:20:22.366 --> 00:20:24.402
  • 20 minutes?
  • 00:20:24.402 --> 00:20:26.237
  • Start with a small book like philippians or james that's
  • 00:20:26.237 --> 00:20:29.473
  • Very, very practical.
  • 00:20:29.473 --> 00:20:31.108
  • If you can't handle a whole book, just take a chapter.
  • 00:20:31.108 --> 00:20:33.577
  • Here's some chapters you might wanna consider.
  • 00:20:33.577 --> 00:20:35.279
  • If you're facing a crisis, read psalm 46.
  • 00:20:35.279 --> 00:20:39.317
  • If you're facing temptation in your life, read james 1.
  • 00:20:39.317 --> 00:20:43.287
  • If you're worried or concerned about finances, read matthew
  • 00:20:43.287 --> 00:20:46.257
  • Chapter 6.
  • 00:20:46.257 --> 00:20:47.591
  • Start small.
  • 00:20:47.591 --> 00:20:49.894
  • Third, read the verses out loud.
  • 00:20:49.894 --> 00:20:51.796
  • There's something about--especially these verses
  • 00:20:51.796 --> 00:20:53.931
  • You're trying to memorize, read them out loud.
  • 00:20:53.931 --> 00:20:57.101
  • Read them out loud.
  • 00:20:57.101 --> 00:20:58.836
  • As you do that, it will help hide god's word in your heart.
  • 00:20:58.836 --> 00:21:03.040
  • Finally, and so important, remember the value of
  • 00:21:03.040 --> 00:21:07.611
  • God's word.
  • 00:21:07.611 --> 00:21:09.280
  • Remember the value of god's word.
  • 00:21:09.280 --> 00:21:10.648
  • I was doing some cleaning in my office the other day.
  • 00:21:10.648 --> 00:21:13.317
  • In my desk drawer, i found an old bank book.
  • 00:21:13.317 --> 00:21:16.821
  • I mean a really old bank book.
  • 00:21:16.821 --> 00:21:19.457
  • Do you remember when you used to go to the bank and you'd go up
  • 00:21:19.457 --> 00:21:22.093
  • To the window and you'd give them a check or your money and
  • 00:21:22.093 --> 00:21:25.062
  • They would take your bank book and they would stamp it with the
  • 00:21:25.062 --> 00:21:27.998
  • Amount and the date and so forth of your deposit and so forth?
  • 00:21:27.998 --> 00:21:31.302
  • Well, i found one of these old bank books, and i looked through
  • 00:21:31.302 --> 00:21:34.505
  • It, all the deposits i had made through the years, and the last
  • 00:21:34.505 --> 00:21:38.309
  • Entry was may 29, 1975, when i withdrew everything i had in
  • 00:21:38.309 --> 00:21:44.582
  • That account.
  • 00:21:44.582 --> 00:21:47.017
  • I can't tell you today what i did with that money, but i can
  • 00:21:47.017 --> 00:21:50.221
  • Assure you it's no longer around.
  • 00:21:50.221 --> 00:21:52.923
  • It's gone.
  • 00:21:52.923 --> 00:21:54.258
  • I can't remember what i did with it, but that account was
  • 00:21:54.258 --> 00:21:57.094
  • Shut down.
  • 00:21:57.094 --> 00:21:59.096
  • But there's another kind of deposit i've made through the
  • 00:21:59.096 --> 00:22:01.465
  • Years, memorizing scripture, memorizing scripture, and i
  • 00:22:01.465 --> 00:22:07.171
  • Can't tell you the dividends it has paid in my life.
  • 00:22:07.171 --> 00:22:10.107
  • Now, some of you break out into a cold sweat when you hear the
  • 00:22:10.107 --> 00:22:13.144
  • Word "memorize."
  • 00:22:13.144 --> 00:22:14.545
  • "oh, pastor, you just don't know.
  • 00:22:14.545 --> 00:22:15.880
  • I can't memorize anything.
  • 00:22:15.880 --> 00:22:17.782
  • I just--i'm too old.
  • 00:22:17.782 --> 00:22:19.116
  • I can't memorize anything."
  • 00:22:19.116 --> 00:22:20.484
  • Let me ask you a question.
  • 00:22:20.484 --> 00:22:21.819
  • If i gave you an assignment today and i said, "i want you
  • 00:22:21.819 --> 00:22:24.288
  • This week to memorize philippians chapter 1, and if
  • 00:22:24.288 --> 00:22:28.626
  • You're able to do it by next sunday, i'll give you $100,000,"
  • 00:22:28.626 --> 00:22:33.397
  • How many of you think you can memorize philippians now?
  • 00:22:33.397 --> 00:22:36.634
  • Yeah.
  • 00:22:36.634 --> 00:22:38.836
  • It's not a question of ability.
  • 00:22:38.836 --> 00:22:40.438
  • It's a question of motivation, isn't it?
  • 00:22:40.438 --> 00:22:43.607
  • And i wanna tell you, as god as my witness, some of those verses
  • 00:22:43.607 --> 00:22:47.912
  • I've memorized 20 and 30 years ago have come back at just the
  • 00:22:47.912 --> 00:22:52.283
  • Right time and saved me from disaster that would have cost me
  • 00:22:52.283 --> 00:22:56.720
  • A lot more than $100,000.
  • 00:22:56.720 --> 00:22:59.557
  • And it wouldn't have only affected me.
  • 00:22:59.557 --> 00:23:01.091
  • It would have affected those closest to me as well.
  • 00:23:01.091 --> 00:23:05.162
  • That's the value of god's word.
  • 00:23:05.162 --> 00:23:07.298
  • Remember it.
  • 00:23:07.298 --> 00:23:08.632
  • Moses said it this way in deuteronomy 32:46.
  • 00:23:08.632 --> 00:23:11.402
  • "take to your heart all the words with which i'm warning you
  • 00:23:11.402 --> 00:23:15.339
  • Today, which you shall command your sons to observe carefully,
  • 00:23:15.339 --> 00:23:19.243
  • Even all the words of this law, for it is not an idle word for
  • 00:23:19.243 --> 00:23:24.114
  • You; indeed it is your life.
  • 00:23:24.114 --> 00:23:29.453
  • This word, it's not just words on a page.
  • 00:23:29.453 --> 00:23:32.957
  • This word is life to us, and the goal is not to memorize verses
  • 00:23:32.957 --> 00:23:41.565
  • So you can master a certain number of verses.
  • 00:23:41.565 --> 00:23:44.435
  • The goal is to memorize verses so you can be mastered by those
  • 00:23:44.435 --> 00:23:49.840
  • Verses, so that when you come to that time in your life, when you
  • 00:23:49.840 --> 00:23:54.144
  • Enter that unforeseen turbulence, you can trust your
  • 00:23:54.144 --> 00:23:59.350
  • Training until you land safely.
  • 00:23:59.350 --> 00:24:03.521
  • That is the value of the word of god.
  • 00:24:03.521 --> 00:24:08.092
  • ♪♪♪
  • 00:24:08.092 --> 00:24:13.330
  • Jeffress: in order to win the battle against our sinful
  • 00:24:13.330 --> 00:24:15.466
  • Nature, a hostile culture, and our very powerful adversary, we
  • 00:24:15.466 --> 00:24:20.037
  • Must employ the tools god has given to us, and the most
  • 00:24:20.037 --> 00:24:23.741
  • Important tool in our arsenal is the word of god itself.
  • 00:24:23.741 --> 00:24:28.212
  • Now, in closing today, let me say thank you for your personal
  • 00:24:28.212 --> 00:24:31.382
  • Investment in the ministry of "pathway to victory."
  • 00:24:31.382 --> 00:24:34.618
  • God is expanding our impact across the country and around
  • 00:24:34.618 --> 00:24:37.588
  • The world, and it's because of pathway partners and other
  • 00:24:37.588 --> 00:24:41.225
  • Faithful friends who give generously to this ministry.
  • 00:24:41.225 --> 00:24:45.195
  • Thank you for partnering with us as together we pierce the
  • 00:24:45.195 --> 00:24:48.699
  • Darkness with the light of god's word.
  • 00:24:48.699 --> 00:24:51.535
  • Now please stay right there.
  • 00:24:51.535 --> 00:24:52.903
  • I'll be back with more "pathway to victory" in just a moment.
  • 00:24:52.903 --> 00:24:57.308
  • Jeffress: christians today are living in hostile territory.
  • 00:24:57.374 --> 00:25:00.911
  • The attacks are real, the opposition is fierce, and the
  • 00:25:00.911 --> 00:25:04.381
  • Stakes couldn't be higher.
  • 00:25:04.381 --> 00:25:06.517
  • That's why i wrote "courageous," to give you the biblical tools
  • 00:25:06.517 --> 00:25:10.220
  • You need not just to survive, but to stand strong and thrive.
  • 00:25:10.220 --> 00:25:14.925
  • Announcer: in "courageous" you'll find ten biblical
  • 00:25:14.925 --> 00:25:17.394
  • Survival strategies drawn straight from scripture that
  • 00:25:17.394 --> 00:25:20.431
  • Will give you fresh fire and real hope, no matter what
  • 00:25:20.431 --> 00:25:23.601
  • You're facing.
  • 00:25:23.601 --> 00:25:24.935
  • Jeffress: survivors have two things in common, a different
  • 00:25:24.935 --> 00:25:27.805
  • Response to trouble and a different perspective on life.
  • 00:25:27.805 --> 00:25:31.775
  • In "courageous" i'll give you ten biblical strategies to
  • 00:25:31.775 --> 00:25:35.412
  • Develop both and come out stronger on the other side.
  • 00:25:35.412 --> 00:25:39.316
  • Announcer: request your copy of "courageous" when you give a
  • 00:25:39.316 --> 00:25:41.685
  • Generous ministry gift to "pathway to victory" or when you
  • 00:25:41.685 --> 00:25:45.122
  • Become a pathway partner, and when your ministry gift is $75
  • 00:25:45.122 --> 00:25:49.393
  • Or more, we'll send you the courageous leadership kit,
  • 00:25:49.393 --> 00:25:52.763
  • Containing the "courageous" book, the personal and group
  • 00:25:52.763 --> 00:25:55.799
  • Study guide book, ten courageous encouragement cards, plus the
  • 00:25:55.799 --> 00:25:59.837
  • Complete teaching series on cd and dvd.
  • 00:25:59.837 --> 00:26:02.706
  • Jeffress: as christians we're living in a
  • 00:26:02.706 --> 00:26:04.942
  • Threatening environment.
  • 00:26:04.942 --> 00:26:06.844
  • We have an adversary, the devil, who is intent on destroying
  • 00:26:06.844 --> 00:26:11.181
  • Everything important to us.
  • 00:26:11.181 --> 00:26:12.716
  • Announcer: thank you for partnering with "pathway
  • 00:26:12.716 --> 00:26:14.518
  • To victory."
  • 00:26:14.518 --> 00:26:15.886
  • Your generosity funds the proclamation of god's word
  • 00:26:15.886 --> 00:26:18.622
  • Across television, radio, and online, bringing bold biblical
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  • Hope right here at home and around the world.
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  • Jeffress: god's word is more than a collection of
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  • Ancient stories.
  • 00:26:31.468 --> 00:26:32.870
  • It's a training manual for life.
  • 00:26:32.870 --> 00:26:35.706
  • When crisis strikes, there's no time to start searching
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  • For answers.
  • 00:26:38.776 --> 00:26:40.144
  • The preparation has to happen before the pressure does, but
  • 00:26:40.144 --> 00:26:44.214
  • Even the best trained believer will face opposition, and next
  • 00:26:44.214 --> 00:26:47.918
  • Time we'll look at how to stand firm without snapping under the
  • 00:26:47.918 --> 00:26:51.655
  • Weight of a hostile world.
  • 00:26:51.655 --> 00:26:53.691
  • Stay tuned for a preview of what's coming up next in our
  • 00:26:53.691 --> 00:26:56.293
  • Series "courageous."
  • 00:26:56.293 --> 00:26:59.163
  • Jeffress: you know, there's an african proverb that says, "the
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  • Wind doesn't break the tree that bends."
  • 00:27:02.266 --> 00:27:06.870
  • The key is to have enough elasticity in it to bend
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  • Without breaking.
  • 00:27:12.109 --> 00:27:14.144
  • We have another word for that elasticity.
  • 00:27:14.144 --> 00:27:16.413
  • We call it resiliency.
  • 00:27:16.413 --> 00:27:19.450
  • Announcer: set your dvr and join us next time for "survival tip
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  • #6: bend, don't break" here on "pathway to victory."
  • 00:27:22.786 --> 00:27:22.786