Spiritual Prepping - AD on FLF Network

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Hello there, this is A .D. Robles and you're listening to A .D. on the Fight Laugh Feast Network.

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All right, let's jump into it today. But before I do, let me just say this is going to be an encouraging episode. At least

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I think it will be. I hope it you find it encouraging. But before we get into that, let me just say a couple of things.

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First off, if you have not considered doing so, please consider becoming a Fight Laugh Feast Network club member.

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Use the show code ROBLES, R -O -B -L -E -S. That is R -O -B -L -E -S, to support this content in particular, but also just the

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Fight Laugh Feast Network content in general. We could definitely use the support to continue making it.

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We love doing this and we know that so many of you find it helpful. So please consider supporting us as a

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Fight Laugh Feast Network club member. Also, this came in the mail this week. Yeah, I just got this the other day.

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This is the Fight Laugh Feast Magazine. This is the second episode ever in this app.

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This magazine is about joy and strength and laughing and all of that kind of stuff.

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Yours truly has an article in here. Here's my article, Do Not Surrender Laughter. It is a weapon and it is a very, very important weapon.

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In the article, I actually talk about a time where I got thoroughly rebuked by an evangelical celebrity because of my tone.

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He said it wasn't the content that he had a problem with, it was the tone. But the lie detector determined that was a lie because this person in particular was a humongous hypocrite, since he often used mockery, sarcasm, laughter, and all of those kinds of things.

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This is the point, guys. Laughter is a weapon and joy is a weapon.

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So they try to take that away from you. They want you to solemnly and only seriously and only with tears get your point across.

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Now, there's a time for tears, of course, and there's a time for seriousness. But there is also a time for joy and laughter, and it is an effective tool.

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When you have joy in the Lord, nothing can stop you. They can do anything to you. But if you have joy in the

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Lord, that is a weapon, that is a tool, that is a blessing that God gives you.

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And so we should utilize that. So yeah, if you haven't considered subscribing, Fight, Laugh, Feast magazine. There's some good stuff in here.

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Not just my article that's good. There's a lot of good stuff in here. And it's really well tastefully done. A lot of style in this magazine as well.

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So consider doing that as well. Speaking of laughter, did you watch my video yesterday about Jamar Tisby's new position?

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Very impressive. I was very impressed with his new position. And I think that you will be as well.

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It's probably one of the funniest videos I've ever done. So go ahead and check that out. It was yesterday's upload on YouTube, and all of that kind of thing.

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One more announcement before we begin. My book is coming out. And we got the title page or I'm sorry, the cover all done and they're working on formatting the interior and I am super excited.

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Stay tuned for more info on how to get your hands on social justice Pharisees, the woke church tactics, and how to engage them.

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It's going to be a very helpful book, I think. Stay tuned for more information on that. And with that, let's dive right in.

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Now if you know me, you know that I am not a doom and gloom kind of a guy, not a doom and gloomer.

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I'm not one of these that you know, woe is me, we're totally screwed because the pagans are in charge and all that kind of stuff.

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That's just not how I see the world. That does not mean that I don't have anxiety over my life being more difficult in the future than it is right now.

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But overall, my viewpoint is that I trust God, I believe God's going to take care of his people.

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And though we might suffer, God is good to us. He's better to us than we deserve. And he will take care of us.

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Now, just because though I'm not a doom and gloomer does not mean that I cannot take heed of potential danger ahead.

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And I've got to be honest with you, I personally believe that there is pain and tribulation and difficulties ahead for all of us in the

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United States in the years. I think that there is very serious economic turmoil headed our way.

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I believe that the system is in the process of resetting itself. There's going to be lots of very big changes in the way things are done going forward.

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I believe that the United States is an empire on the decline. I believe that the the

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Chinese empire is on the upswing. And there will be conflict when there's an empire that's reducing in power and an empire that's increasing in power.

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There will be some kind of a conflict there. There's no question about that. I believe our financial system is pretty much totally screwed.

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It's a system based on fantasy and debt and all kinds of shenanigans and stuff like that.

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I believe that we're going to end up in a completely digital currency that can be totally manipulated, that can be totally tracked, and all kinds of things.

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I believe that we're getting a foretaste of some of this stuff even right now. And so I think that it is wise, and frankly it is biblical.

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If you are like me and you see turmoil ahead, that you prepare yourself for that turmoil.

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This is a proverb from Proverbs chapter 22, and it is the third proverb in chapter 22.

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I'm going to read the King James Version because that's my practice lately. Here's what it says, the word of God.

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A prudent man foreseeth the evil and hideth himself, but the simple pass on and are punished.

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Let me read a version that maybe you're more familiar with. This is the English Standard Version. The prudent sees danger and hides himself, but the simple go on and suffer for it.

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So you see, when you see danger, then if you're prudent, if you're wise, if you're a good man, you will see the danger and plan for it.

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Now, this might mean that you hide yourself. This might mean that you prepare yourself in some other way, but you shouldn't just look at a dangerous situation up ahead and then just continue on as if nothing's wrong, because you will suffer for that.

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You will pay the price for that. I liken to it as, I used to live in New York City, and at the time

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I was not a believer. For most of the time I lived in New York City, I became a believer towards the end. But I used to go out at night and party late into the morning or early into the morning, and I would be drunk and stuff like that.

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And oftentimes I'd be walking home in Brooklyn, two, three o 'clock in the morning, and two, three o 'clock in the morning, there's a lot of shady activities that go on.

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And it would be like if I was walking home, right? And I turned the corner and I see a group of thugs in front of me, right?

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A group of thugs midway down the road and stuff like that. And I'm alone, right?

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I'm alone. I don't have any protection or anything like that. It would be like me seeing that and being like, oh yeah, sure,

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I'm just going to keep walking past these thugs, right? You're basically asking for it at that point.

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No, you see danger up ahead. You see people that look like they're up to no good. You don't know for sure if they're up to no good or not, but you might want to mitigate how you travel home based on what you see.

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And so what I would do is if I saw a group of thugs halfway down the street and I was alone, I might take the long way around.

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You know what I mean? I might take the long way around. Or sometimes I would just, you know, you know, put on a brave kind of thuggish face myself and I'd continue.

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I mean, there are various things that you can do, but it would be stupid just to pretend like oblivious, like nothing's happening.

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And that's the kind of that the Bible is talking about here. And so I think right now, if you're like me and you see economic turmoil and hardship and, you know, maybe disruptions to the supply chains that have happened last year and really haven't been fixed all that well, even this year and all of that, um, understanding that, you know, a country can't survive with the kinds of trade deficits that we have with the kind of debt that we have with the kind of money printing that we're doing.

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My goodness, the fake inflation is going to be about two, 3 % this year, but real inflation is like 10%.

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I mean, your money, if you have $100 ,000 in the bank, um, by this time next year, that'll be worth like $90 ,000.

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Like, you know, and then it just keeps eroding from there. Um, and probably even worse than that, considering the rate that we're printing money and all of that kind of stuff.

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It's just insane. The amount of issues that we have ahead. And so the prudent man, according to scripture, we'll plan for that.

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And so there are lots of resources that you can use for how to prepare, to be a little bit independent.

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And I'm hearing a lot of people talk this way, and I'm so glad to hear that. Um, I've, I've always kind of thought about prepping and stuff like that and what to do in, in shtf situations and stuff like that.

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It's always kind of been a bit of a hobby of mine, but I never really got into it too much. You know, when the Corona virus thing hit last year,

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I was probably better prepared than most people. I had a decent amount of food on hand. I had the way

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I buy is, is typically like a prepper anyway. Like if I need toilet paper, I buy a ton of toilet paper at once, partially because that's how

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I buy, but partially because it's just, it's less than I find it annoying to have to constantly go to the store. So I'd rather not have to buy toilet paper for a few months.

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And so I was in a better position than a lot of people. So, but the point is though, that even myself,

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I knew that, okay, so now that I see a situation where supply chains are disrupted, I can see the desperation.

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I can see the annoyance. I can see the difficulty. So I'm going to prepare better for the future.

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And so I've been talking about this on the channel and on gab. Um, I've got food stockpiled at my house, probably about a month supply for my family.

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Um, I could go a month without going to the grocery store. Um, I also have the chickens. So that's kind of like a, you know, kind of regenerating supply of food.

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I'm going to probably add to the flock, uh, this year, most likely. Um, I've got a small garden plan and, and things like that.

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I'm also taking a look at potentially for energy, what to do. I'm looking at some solar panels. I mean, not, not that thrilled about solar, but the benefit is that, you know, unlike a generator, you don't actually need the fuel because the sun's always there.

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God's always shining down. Um, his, uh, his, his, he, he set this, excuse me.

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He set the sun there for us, right? God is always causing the sun to shine down on his people and all that kind of stuff.

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So anyway, uh, the point is I'm making plans, right? I'm preparing because I'm thinking, okay.

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So even if we don't end up in a very desperate situation, I don't think there's any question that life is going to be different.

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Um, in an, in a negative way in the future than it is right now, this is not the end of the world, by the way, you know what

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I mean? Even if the United States ended up in third world conditions, we need to understand that many people live in these conditions and survive all the time.

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You figure it out, right? But you know, I want to improve my chances personally. I want to improve my chances and I don't want my money just sitting in a bank account, eroding in value.

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I want to mitigate that as best I can. And people are taking different approaches to this. It's very awesome to see people are embracing homesteading a little bit.

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I like that kind of stuff and getting local connections with people that, you know, you know, that, you know, that, that can help you out in situations where you can't necessarily go to the grocery store right away.

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This is just all, this is all what a prudent man does. Assuming that you agree with me that there's danger ahead, economic danger, turmoil, things like that.

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The Bible says when you see danger ahead, a prudent man will take cover, right?

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A prudent man will hide himself. A prudent man will prepare, right? Preparedness is a good thing.

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Now this is important for, for our lives materialistically, but I was talking to my brother the other day about these things and he thinks that yes, that is important, but spiritually the time to prepare yourself is now.

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And I, I could not have said it better myself. Do not neglect preparing your soul for things to be different.

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Preparing your soul for possible persecution, preparing your soul for making choices with your life that might affect your, you know, the ability to make an income or to, or to thrive at work or to get promoted or things like that.

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You know, I walk, I, I go on LinkedIn and I see just all of the, the mindless virtue signaling that happens, just mindless.

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And these are people I used to work with and, you know, they'll be posting a thing about, oh, hey, anti -Asian hate is on the rise.

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I condemn it. I condemn it. And it's like, okay, you know, like we know, like, how is anyone going to know that you condemn murdering unless you tell everybody all the time and you think, okay, yeah,

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I'm against anti -Asian hate too. But you see, the thing is, it's not going to stop there. Obviously it's going to go to other things like sexual perversion.

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So go to other things like, like, like, you know, I, I, I agree that Islam is the best religion ever of all time.

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It's just as good as Christianity. Like, you know, there's going to be all kinds of stuff that, that, that if you don't participate in, maybe you won't get fired, but you're going to look like one of those people.

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That's just not a team player. Right. Cause I see it. Like I see the LinkedIn posts, you know, it is, you know, everyone is in their mother is liking it because everyone,

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I agree. I agree. Of course I'm against anti -Asian racism is like, yeah, me too. But I don't need to like show it on LinkedIn all the time.

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You see, this is the thing, right? Like there's going to be a turmoil ahead for everybody. Right.

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And even when it's not that kind of stuff where you're like having to compromise your beliefs even if it's not that stuff,

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I think that there's other ways to prepare yourself spiritually as well. Because the thing is when when times are difficult, right.

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We want to make sure that we understand that we're still God's people. Right. Like when we're,

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I don't, I don't know about you, but like when I'm in a more desperate situation, like the past four weeks,

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I've been talking about this. I've been struggling man at work and, and, and it's not like I'm not in like financial dire straits or anything like that.

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It's just very frustrating to fail. You know what I mean? For, for so long in a row. And I don't know about you, but when

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I'm in those situations, like I, I, first of all, I pray a lot more and I realize how much

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I'm at God's mercy for whether I succeed or fail and things like that. I pray a lot more and that's a good thing because it's good to pray.

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Right. But, but also, and I'm just being honest with you. Sometimes I wonder like, you know, is, is

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God, is God actually for me? You know what I mean? Cause I'm, I'm failing and I just keep failing over and over and over again.

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And I start to wonder and, and, and I think that we need to recognize sometimes our tendency to feel like we've been abandoned by God when things aren't going swimmingly.

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And so we need to prepare our souls because I think that there's going to be a lot of pain in the future.

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There's going to be a lot of stress, a lot of anxiety, a lot of that kind of stuff. And so we need to focus our minds on God's good gifts because listen, just because life isn't easy does not mean that God is not good.

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And so, you know, we need to, you know, kind of to, to use a, to use a big, a big Eva term, we need to lean into God's promises and to embrace them and to hold on to them.

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Hold fast to God's promises for his people, his covenant promises for his people, which he cannot break those covenant promises.

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We need to lean into those and really just kind of marinate in them right now. Because when things get hard, we want to be in a position to, to, to, to just be so confident, so confident in God's promises.

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It's like, yeah, man, like, man, maybe I've been out of a job for a few months, but I know God's going to take care of me.

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And you keep pressing forward, you know, like my whole situation at work. God, God, God has blessed me with sort of a resolve, you know, a resolve that, that God's going to take care of me.

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God's going to do this for me. And I'm just going to keep working. I'm going to keep putting in what I can put in my inputs are going to stay consistent.

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I'm going to work as hard as I possibly can. And, and I'm just going to trust that God's going to get me out of this, this hole.

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And, you know, I don't have any, I don't have any deals yet from all that work, but there are some definite signs that things are turning around for me and my business this, this week, even.

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So praise God for that. I know a lot of you guys have been praying for me for that. And again, I don't want you to get worried that, you know, from a financial perspective,

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I've the way my business is, it can be very cyclical. So I plan for times like this. So don't worry about me in that regard.

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But I just wanted to just say that, that as we prep for, you know, our physical needs in the future, an uncertain future where the

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United States is not the biggest dog on the block, the meanest, you know, guy in the gang kind of thing.

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We prepare for that future. We don't really know what's going to happen. I, I do think that we're almost guaranteed to have economic trouble coming our way.

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And why wouldn't we? I mean, the country has rejected Christ. And what

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God does with countries that reject them is he sends famine, he sends plague, he sends war.

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We, of course, we should expect this stuff, right? So it's going to be hard. There's going to be turmoil ahead for the

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United States of America. So as you prep and plan from a, from a day -to -day life perspective, food, energy, shelter, things like that, do not neglect preparing yourself spiritually as well.

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Because we want to be in a situation where when we suffer more, we remember the Lord's prayer, and we ask

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God, please give us this day, our daily bread. We can trust him and, and, and love him even as life changes for us, even as life is more difficult for us.

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The harder it gets, we want to be in a position where we trust him more. We pray more and all of that kind of thing.

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We believe him more. We don't want to be driven away. You know what I mean? Because that's the other option. Like when things are going, you know, to hell in a handbasket, the other option is to say like, oh

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God, what good are you? You know what I mean? Because I know people like that who've struggled and in their struggle, instead of crying out to God saying,

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God, like have mercy on me. And I believe your promises. I want to hold onto them.

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Instead of doing that, they instead pray to God and say, well, what good are you if you're not even going to help me here? And that's what we want to avoid.

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Right? So I would prepare spiritually, find yourself a good church, get in a good church, get in a community that can pick you up when things are not going well, can lift you up in prayer when things are not going well.

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You need to be prepared for what's to come physically. Yes. But you definitely need to be prepared for what's coming spiritually as well.

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I hope you found this helpful. I hope you didn't find this as a doom and gloom thing. I'm just trying to be realistic here.

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And I'm just trying to remember Proverbs 22, three. And I want to be like the prudent man who foresees evil and hides himself.

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I don't want to be like the simple man who sees it and just keeps going and is punished for it. Anyway, I hope you found this podcast helpful.

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God bless. Don't forget to tune in next week on Thursday for AD on the