Hey folks, this is Jesse Cope, back with another episode of the American Soul Podcast. Hope y'all are doing well, wherever y'all are, whatever part of the day you're in. I do appreciate y'all joining me, giving me a little bit of your time and a little piece of your day. I will try and use it wisely. For those of y'all who continue to share the podcast with others and tell others about it, thank you for those of y'all who continue to pray for me and for the podcast, thank you so much, very, very grateful for your prayers. Father, thank you for today. Thank you for you, father, and your Son Jesus Christ and your Holy Spirit. Thank you for your love and your mercy, your grace and your forgiveness of sins through the merit of your son Jesus Christ. Thank you that you understand our pain and our suffering and our doubts, and that you are greater than all of them. Forgive us our unbelief. We do believe. Forgive us our sins for choosing to go our own way. Help us to overcome them. Be with those who are listening to the podcast, father, please, wherever they are across the nation and around the world. Comfort them, give them wisdom and courage and a strong faith. Help us to follow the commands of your son Jesus Christ. Give them wisdom and courage and a strong faith. Help us to follow the commands of your son, jesus Christ, to love you with our whole heart, mind, soul and strength, and to love our neighbors as ourselves. Be with those who go into harm's way for us our police, our firefighters, our law enforcement, our military. Keep them safe, bring them home safe. Give us courage, father, give us wisdom. Be with the children of our nation. Help us to lead them well, to lead them to you and your Son Jesus Christ. Be with our educators. Be with those around the world who are suffering because they choose to put their faith in your Son, jesus Christ. Help us to offer whatever aid and comfort we can to them and please bring us all home to you, father, and your Son Jesus Christ, in your timing and God. My words are Father, please, in your Son's name, we pray, amen. Have you made time for God today? Have you made time to read his word? Have you made time to pray, to talk to him, to listen to him, to be still In this world where we're constantly going folks? Have you made time just to be, still, to be bored?

I've heard this said often and it sounds cliche almost now, it's been said so often, but it's so true. We need to be bored some today. We need to have those moments of almost boredom built into our day where we're not staring at a screen scrolling, where we don't have 15 things waiting for us to do. That busyness, folks, is not the same as having a fulfilling life. Running from one thing to the next is not the same and it takes away our ability to actually enjoy those parts of life. The people right, because that's really what makes life fulfilling is people, god and Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. And when we're constantly going, those interactions become very superficial. We lose that. That's not a positive.

You know, so often today you hear people talk about being busy as a virtue. Or or they'll say, ah, just man, so busy. And they, they make it sound like they know it's a bad thing, but they really. You can tell by their voice inflection that they think it's a great thing. But it's not folks. Or I, just man, I have to be busy. I've heard that so often. I just can't not have things to do. That's a problem, folks. That's not a virtue, it's not a positive If you don't have the ability to sit and be still, not be lazy, not procrastinate, but choose to be still and choose to focus all of your energy and attention, and whatever else, on that person. That's not a positive. That's especially true when it comes to our spouse. If you're so busy each day that you don't have time, you hear so often oh, I don't have time to love my spouse each day. It's too much of a burden, it's too oppressive. It doesn't matter what you're talking about, whether it's the man's roles of love, nourish and cherish, or the woman's roles of respect, submission and physical satisfaction. Whatever it is, if you don't have time to fulfill your roles as a husband or wife, you've got major problems. It's not your spouse, it's not God, it's not your kids, it's not your job, it's you. And then you have to be honest enough with yourself to decide whether you really want to change and you're going to change, or whether you just like talking about changing or maybe you don't even do that. Marriage Verses for today come from 1. Peter 3, 1 through 6. Peter 3, 1-6.

Wives in the same way. Submit yourselves to your own husbands so that if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, when they see their purity and reverence of your lives. Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight. For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to adorn themselves. They submitted themselves to their Husbands. As you live with your wives and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the greatest gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers, I wonder, on the husband's side of that folks, how many of us have our prayers hindered because we don't treat our wives well? Prayer comments by Billy Graham.

One of the things that struck me is just doubts and fears, and I've struggled with that my entire adult life as a Christian, and so I'm assuming that some of y'all out there do too, and I thought I would just read through kind of a smattering of verses from the Bible that talk about doubts and fears, especially when we go through really dark times, and there's probably some dark times coming, and so it would be good, it would behoo of us to go ahead and search for those scriptures and know those scriptures and search for God now and that comfort that he offers, as opposed to waiting until we get in those dark moments and then really scramble for that right. It's like a pastor older pastor of mine said years ago. He said you know, we can either wait to draw close to God, and we can do it now. We can do it now when we have the time and ability, or we can wait until those moments of crisis and then really scramble to try and find that anchor in the storm. You know you can set your anchor before the storm comes, or you can wait until the storm's coming and then try and set it.

Psalm 23, 4. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me, your rod and your staff. They comfort me. You can read that whole chapter right Isaiah 41.10,. So do not fear, for I am with you. Do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Deuteronomy 31.8,. The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you. He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid, do not be discouraged. Matthew 28.20, and surely I am with you always to the very end of the age? Surely I am with you always to the very end of the age. Jeremiah 29, 11, for I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you hope and a future.

Proverbs 3, verses 5 through 6,. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways, submit to Him and he will make your paths straight. Psalm 37, 5. Commit your way to the Lord, trust in Him and he will do this. Philippians 4.19, and my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4, verses 6 through 7, do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God, and the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 1 Peter 5-7. Cast all your anxiety on Him because he cares for you. I wonder how often we do that, folks, how often we get in those situations where we're anxious and that's our first thought is to call out to God and cast those anxieties, those fears and doubts on Him and let Him carry that load instead of us. Matthew 7, 7 asks, and it will be given to you. Seek and you will find knock and the door will be given to you. Seek and you will find knock and the door will be opened to you. Romans 8, 38-39.

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Psalm 56.3. When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. John 16.33 I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace In this world. You will have trouble, but take heart, I have overcome the world. 2 Timothy 1.7,. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love and self-discipline. Exodus 14, 14. The Lord will fight for you. You need only to be still. Hebrews 13.6. Mark 9.24 One of my all-time favorites.

Immediately, the boy's father exclaimed I do believe, help me overcome my unbelief. Exclaimed I do believe. Help me overcome my unbelief. 2 Timothy 1.12. For the which cause I also sever these things. Nevertheless, I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.

One more thought on this. I think Thomas, through my life, has become one of my great heroes, and I have quite a few. It's a growing list the more I read the Bible. It's a growing list the more I read the Bible. But you know, thomas was with Jesus Christ, side by side, working with him, watching him for years, right Three years and he still doubted. After Jesus died he refused. Even when all of his brothers believed, he refused to believe and yet Jesus came, showed himself to Thomas. Thomas believed and Jesus took him in. I don't think Jesus had ever really rejected him, but even if you know, if there was a point at which Thomas had walked away, just like the story of the son that went and wasted all of his father's wealth Jesus immediately took him back.

If you have doubts and fears, folks, god understands. God is greater than those doubts and fears and, just like Thomas, he will take us in and he will get us home, he will do it. We can't, we can't, but he can and he will. A couple of quotes by John Adams from today. If it be the pleasure of heaven that my country shall require the poor offering of my life, the victim shall be ready At the appointed hour of sacrifice. Come when that hour may. But while I do live, let me have a country, and that a free country. It may be too late for America, folks, we may have walked away from God too far to save the nation, not us as individuals, right, just like the Israelites into exile in Babylon. If we will cling to him, he's still going to take care of us, but it might be too late for the nation. But as long as we have a chance, let us have a country, and not a free country, under God.

And then, actually I'm going to read one from Winston Churchill and the author again, manchester, out of his second volume of his trilogy alone. Out of his second volume of his trilogy alone, and this is end of the. I think this is still 39. It's either 39 or 40, 1939 or 1940. And this is the quote from the author, from Manchester, even after the fall of Poland, after Fleet Street had printed evidence of Nazi crimes in Poland the random murders, then mass executions, the tortures and the seizure of poles to work in German munitions factories. The Prime Minister Chamberlain at that time seriously considered a negotiated peace with a right purged of the more extreme Nazis, and this is Winston Churchill's quote in his memoirs.

This idea of not irritating the enemy did not commend itself to me, I think. Really, for decades, those of us on the Christian and conservative side have been far too worried about not irritating the left, leftist, muslims, communists, socialists, and that shouldn't be our concern, folks. That's a horrible way to wage a war and we are in a war for the soul of our nation. That's literally why this particular podcast is named the American Soul Podcast. We're in that spiritual war as physical attributes right, and the physical side of the spiritual war is that we're having to fight for the soul of our nation. War is that we're having to fight for the soul of our nation and you cannot be concerned about irritating your enemies and people that support leftism, socialism, communism, nazism, fascism, islam. Those are not allies of the United States. Allies of the United States, those are not allies of people that want to preserve and strengthen and save the soul of our nation. Your concern cannot be irritating those.

Look at how many people. There was a little vignette in here I didn't even know this that early on in the war England sent what I think they were called truth raiders. They sent these pilots over dropping leaflets out in the hopes that those leaflets were going to change the minds of the Nazis. And some of those pilots were shot down and they gave their life going to drop leaflets over Germany instead of bombs. And how many people suffered. How many innocents in so many countries suffered because France, britain, america whoever you want to lay the blame at didn't stand up to the Nazis earlier. How many people, how many children and innocents in America have suffered because we haven't wanted to irritate or offend the left socialists, communists, nazis, fascists, muslims.

A little bit lighter note at the end if you were looking for a family-friendly, wholesome, middle-grade fantasy series, I would humbly recommend Countryside. There's two books in the series Amazon, barnes, noble, e-book, paperback, hardback you can find all sorts of formats out there and, if you enjoy it, if you'd leave a review of one or both books, that would be awesome. God bless you all. God bless your families. God bless your marriages. God bless America, god bless your nation. Wherever you are around the world listening, we'll talk to you all again real soon. Folks Looking forward to it.