Ep. 5 - Giving Thanks

Giving Thanks

Episode Transcript

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The following is a presentation of FCBFaith. This is the hour Glass on
the FCB Radio networking. Hello.Hello, Hello, everyone, we are

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here at the hour Glass. Iam Bruce Lamnhigans the second. Hey everybody,
I'm Rashima Higgins. I'm so gladto be bad. Yes, yes,
thank the Lord, Thank the Lord. Guys. We know, um,
we have been gone for a littlebit. Um. To be very

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transparent with you, I had wentto work one day. Uh they put
the swab up my nose and theysaid, Bruce, you positive. So
I had tested positive for COVID.But I just want to thank God because
he is faithful and he brought usthrough. And to be honest with you,

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you know, I think, youknow, God, God does things
in such a way that, youknow, I didn't really feel like I
had COVID. I felt like,you know, because I went to the
actually the med center and they saidI had a respiratory infection. So you
know, that's what it felt morelike than I guess the symptoms of COVID,
but that's what they said I had. So we had been down,

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you know, just making sure thatwe were keeping ourselves and everybody safe.
You know that we didn't want tobe in contact with anybody. So we
took those two weeks and watched allthe Netflix movies and and Binge watched and
slap and ate and ate soup andslap and watch movies. And you know,

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I'm called up on everything, y'all, so if you you know,
I've seen everything. But we're soglad, we're so glad to be back,
and we're thankful. We're thankful.I'm thankful, you're thankful. Yes,
okay, all right, so let'syou know. I'm sorry. Why
don't you go ahead and speak toour people's out there. You know you

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ain't say that nothing. I'm sorry. Well, um hey, everybody.
Like I said, I'm just gladto be back. I am so thankful
that, um, the time wewere off dealing with um, this respiratory
infection. I'm not gonna claim thatit was covide. Whatever it was,

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I'm so glad that it was verymild. For me. It felt like
I just had a really bad headedand it's I'm just so grateful to be
I'm just so grateful to be healthy. It's little things you really take for

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you take for granted, little stufflike being able to smell. I mean,
although sometimes it is nice that youcan't smell, depending on what you
gotta smell, but you know,typically speaking, you know, we were
in the house and we couldn't smelleach other. So I don't know if
we were offensive. I just said, you know, I think we were

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okay. But thank you God.Every day, every day I cleaned my
body and my house all the time. But you know, when you sick,
you know stuff, you don't knowwhat's going on. So I'm just
glad that we were able to bein the house and recover like we did
as fast as we did. Wewere only down for a few days.

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Um, So you know, Godis good even in the midst of stuff,
when you don't know what's going onor stuff doesn't seem right. Um,
he takes care of you. AndI just want to thank God one
more time, and for everybody thatknew that we were under the weather and
down, thank you for your prayersand your calls and tell nobody told you

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hope people. Yeah I have friendsand yeah I talk to them. Oh
I don't have any friends. Butfor those that knew, thank you so
much for your prayers and reaching outand showing concern and just sending your love
and your well wishes. We reallyappreciate it. Hey man, hey man.
So you know, wow, we'rewe're we're in this season, We're

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in this month where you know,everybody gonna get together and break bread for
thanks Giving, right right? Idon't you know, I don't like that.
Well, what don't you like,honey? Because Thanksgiving? I mean,

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if you really really want to,you know, let's go in depth
with Thanksgiving. You know who reallyeven came up with that? You know
what, what was it? ChristopherColumbus? Is that I don't think so,
honey, And I don't really youknow that that was uh, you
know you know what, I'm justI'm just gonna give it to you just
like I know it, you know. And you know they said Christopher Columbus

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discovered. But you know I lookedthat up this boarding, you know,
I wanted to see what they reallywanted to say about, you know,
him discovering, and actually it sayshe didn't discover. They said he stumbled
upon, he stumbbled up, hestumbled and then he killed all the Native
Americans and then eight. But Ithought we were talking about things. I

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mean, I thought we were talkingabout giving things right, giving things you
that ain't given things. That's thatwas terrible. That was terrible. But
I wasn't trying to have a historylesson right now. Well, you know
what, you in school? Youknow what? The school A hard knock.
That's where we're at. I'm takinga break break. We're in the
school A hard knocks every time weSo we're talking about giving thanks truth,

(06:11):
something else. So I'm gonna gowhere we're supposed to go. Let me
just let me share this with you. Do let me share this with you.
They say it's a a mother,a mother for Thanksgiving. Her name
is uh what Sarah hell? Andthey said she was the first one who

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came up with the idea to haveThanksgiving as a holiday. Right, but
she also made the salt Verry hada little laugh. You know what I'm
saying. Okay, so again,are you thankful for that? No?
I don't really care about that.No, good? So what do you

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think? All right, let's goin, let's go in, let's go
in. All right, I wasgonna talk about a lifestyle of Thanksgiving.
Okay, can I can? I? Can I do? Are we gonna
do the same show today? Wethe same conversation. You know, I
just get I just get a littlepeeved off around this time because of the

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thanksgiving thing. You know, Iunderstand that, and I can actually appreciate
that. But I think I did, you get peeved off a lot of
things. But I'm just saying,I think if we could, like you
always tell me, keep the mainthing. To me, the main thing
is talking about a lifestyle of thanksgivingor talking about giving things. Okay,

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let's let me hear Let's let mehear you first. What let me see
where you want to go with this. Okay, So I was gonna because
you know, I'm thankful for you. Thank you, baby, I'm thankful
for you too. Though we'll seehear the crickets. I'm just saying,

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you know, don't do me likethat to be on my team that I
heard it. Whatever. So soI'm going in so Psalms one on six
and Psalms one on seven tells us, Oh give thanks to the Lord for
he is good for his steadfast love, endurance, whatever that's right, good

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for good. Oh give Sorry,it's not a concert today, that'd be
another show. I'm just so happyto be here. I'm on the mic
we'll have a concert for Bruce.So thanks so in in this present day

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where we're in now, November twentytwenty one, but everything that's going on,
with everything we've endured in the lasttwenty months, are you thankful?
Are you more thankful? Yeah?And I got to say I am more
thankful because for all that we've beenthrough. And I'm not just speaking for

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you and I and our family.I'm talking about everybody up under the sound
of our voice, for all thatwe've been through. You know, I'm
sure all of us went through something. I'm thankful that the Father has still
covered us in a way that weare still amongst the living to be able

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to to share with one another andto give with one another what it is.
And you know a lot of peoplewent through some real rough things,
you know, rougher than what Iwent through, and they're not so thankful,
you know. They you know,they don't see things to be thankful
for or due to the trauma thatthey may have went through. But that's

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why we're here, that we canspeak to the people and be like,
yeah, you know, you maynot even understand it, may not went
through it, but it's to tryto encourage that person. So yeah,
I'm thankful you know when when yourwhen your dad passed, I think it
was it was your dad, thenuh JB and then my dad. That

(10:24):
was rough. Yeah that was arough thing. But I'm thankful that he
kept us through that and then thepandemic head you know what I'm saying,
And he kept us through that.I mean, we miss nothing, you
know, And even in what wethink is bad, even in the bad

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things, I give thanks to Godbecause you know it has not always been
bad. Right. So we're ina we're in a society now where everybody
is out for themselves and you know, everybody's so self absorbed and consumed with
themselves and things, and um,I think one of I think thankfulness is

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one of those things that we forgetto talk about or we forget, you
know, we kind of remind hadto remind ourselves that we had to stay
thankful, and staying thankful keeps youhumble. So we had to stay humble.
And I just want to but whatif I don't want to think we
all want to thank for for somethingfor you know what if you know sometimes

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I'm not really that thank okay,but you've got something to be thankful for.
I mean, you don't have tobe thankful for everything if you don't
want to be, but at leastbe thankful for something that ain't true.
First thats alone is five and asad and everything give thanks? Okay,

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Well, this is the will ofGod in Christ Jesus concerning you. Amen.
So he's said everything and everything wesee, so you know, I
just got to be honest. Youknow, sometimes I ain't thankful for everything.
Sometimes, you know, I justbe like here, I don't think
that ain't thinking. I don't.That wasn't I wasn't thankful. You know

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something I am. I'm thankful foreverything because everything everything, everything, everything,
everything, everything, everything. Soif I cuts you out, you're
gonna be thankful for that. Well, I'm I'm gonna be thankful that guy.
I'm gonna asker you I ain't gotnothing to do with me, let
me, I'll I'll be thankful forthe response that comes from God. I

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said, this woman, you gaveme Lord, That's what I would say,
And that's gonna and you're gonna saythank you Lord, because look at
what has happened and how my lifehas been blessed since she came into my
life. Yeah, you just singing'scordy. Yeah all right. So so

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here's the thing about being thankful.So being thankful, I'm only when it
came focused today, just so y'allknow. So being thankful takes the attention
off of you and puts it onwhat you're thankful for and who you're thinking.

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Great, Yeah, so when yougive thanks, I just want to
encourage people to be thankful, evenin the midst of things when it doesn't
seem like you know, it's alot that goes on that. You know,
everything about life isn't perfect, it'snot how we want it to be.

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But I think for me, themain point I would make today is
I'm thankful for where I am nowbecause it's not where I used to be.
That's good. You know, Iused to be doing a whole lot
of other stuff. I used tobe a different type of woman. Even
so, I'm thankful that I canlook at myself now and see how much

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I've changed, how much I've grown. You know, if you knew me
twenty years ago, you don't knowme now, And I'm thankful for that.
I think everybody should be able tosay that. But I think that's
something to be thankful for. Well, I'm you know, it's funny because

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I just want to piggyback on thatbecause you say, twenty years ago,
how old were you then? Iwas thirty thirty? Oh that's right,
okay, Okay, So I wantto go back even maybe a little more,
because when when did you and Iconnect? You wasn't thirty, right,

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Okay, So let's even go backtwenty five years where I was probably
at my lowest point. And I'mtalking about I was out there whiling out,
drinking, drugging. I'm talking about, you know, everything under the
sun. You know, I'm gratefuland I'm thankful because I should not be

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here. You know. So whenyou make that point and you say twenty
years, I'm gonna twenty five,I'm gonna I'm gonna go back five more
where I was in the midst ofdepression, and I was in the midst
of anxiety, and I was inthe midst of loneliness, and I was
in the midst of you know,in a real bad place that I actually

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put myself into. You know,It's funny, and I'm grateful and thankful
because God will make you go throughsomething for you to get out of it,
even though you think you had nothingto do with it. You follow
what I'm saying. You know,when I was in my alcoholism, you

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know that was a place where Idon't think anybody Well if you, if
you've been in this place, you'llknow what I'm saying. And I was
in a place where I would saywinter nights so hot, warm enough to
feel your soul. And what Imean by that is in that state,

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you would actually I was actually walkingin hell, literally in hell. I
was never cold. I'm talking aboutfrom the poison that I was putting in
my body. I was. Iwas thinking in the in the in the

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insane thinking, in the insane mind, thinking that by me doing this drinking,
I would never even get sick becauseI was always staying self medicated through
the alcohol. And you would feelI would. I would feel as I
walk, it was like I wasjust walking melting snow, like Hell was

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literally on me. And I'm sothankful today because when you when I go
back, and I always I'll revisitthat time. I'll revisit that time when
I was in an alcoholic state andI was doing drugs and I was out
there whiling out and I was outthere taking stuff to get what I needed.
I'll revisit that time now and Icould sit back in the comfort of

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my home and say thank you Lord, because twenty years ago, twenty five
years ago, you see where theLord had his hand on you, covering
you. Back then, you couldn'tsee it, you know. And I

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just want to say to our peopleout there, you know, even if
you're going through something right now,know that he has his hand on you.
This is this seems the time,you know, you know, it's
it's good to celebrate, it is, it's good to celebrate, but we
really need as Christians to do ourdue diligence to give God his thanksgiving and

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his phrase for especially now. Butin the times that we are in,
it's wicked and diverse I'm talking aboutand it's and it's we're you know,
and it's like it's like this isthis is for me, and it's like,
you know, I'm you know,I just gotta be honest. I'm
not dude, you know, I'myou know, I'm fifty years old.

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I was just talking with the youknow, hey, you know, my
hands are still pretty good, youknow, I you know, I'm fifty
years old. You know, I'mall right. You know, the Lord
has blessed me to see fifty.A lot of my brothers and sisters didn't
even make it, that, youknow. And we are in a place
where temptation, wickedness or everything isaround us in the scene like as Christians,

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just like man, we like weyou know, we all got our
backs up against each other trying tofight this good fight for the Lord.
And then every twist and turner,I mean, you know, you see
the stuff on TV that's not acceptable. You know, you see stuff on
TV that's way way from what wecame up. We never saw. And

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we do the best we can forour families. And so I'm thankful that
He keeps us that we still mayhave our right state of mind to even
teach others, even the youth,even the young ones, as best as
we can, to move forward andthanksgiving, giving thanks for what we have,
you know, this day, thisday, so I have for you

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five reasons to give thanks? Youdo huh? Do you here? I
don't know that. I mean,is this bubblic is starting? Five reasons
to give thanks to God? Okay, I'm say if it's yours. We
gotta turn the mic off. Itwas mad Moti factor. All right,

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all right, break, all right, let's go. Okay, Yes,
I want to thank God just forbeing God, a man, Okay,
just for who he is. I'mso, I'm doing a study of the
nature of God, right and I'vebeen doing this study for like months now,
It's been like three months. Whoso to go to go in and

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try to understand the nature of Godis probably a study that I'm probably going
to be doing for the rest ofmy life. But it is so amazing
when you start just coming into anunderstanding of who He is by himself,

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and I think it's it gets daunting. But sometimes it can be a little
hard for us as human beings towrap our natural head around God that needs
nothing from you, that exists withor without you, that can do anything
he wants without your permission, withoutyour help, without your input. But

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at the same time, whose solepurpose is to take care of you.
That's good. That's crazy. Right, So so when I say thank God
for being God, that's what Imean, Just thank God for this being
that has all this power, reallydoesn't need anything, don't really need me,

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but loves me enough to take careof me and and let me,
and let and actually gave me apiece of his kingdom to carry out his
work. That's good, that's awesome. Like it just that alone is probably

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a month worth of study from me, because it's just amazing that he has
that for everybody, you know,not just me. He has that open
for everybody, that any any willingvessel can can come into that revelation.
And I just think that, Um, it's just so awesome that he is

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always there, that he never changes, that he will always love me,
that he'll always take care of me, he'll always answer me, he'll always
talk to me if I'm just willing, if I'm just open. You know,
it's just that's just amazing to me, and it's it's breathtaking to me.

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So that's my first point. Yeah, thank God for being God.
Right, you anything to say aboutthat right now? You know what God
is, God all by himself,the coldest that ever did it. You
know, it's funny too, becauseyou know, you know he'll tell you

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know, you know, your waysare not my ways, your thoughts are
not my thoughts. Don't get somewhere, chump, because I got time be
bested with you you know, that'show. But that's how, you know.
But we we should be thankful thatGod even talks to us in the

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way that we can understand him,because it's a personal relationship, you know.
So so I you know, Iused to hear uh, ministers and
pastors say, you know you gotto you got to talk to God and
you know you got to be yourfriend, you know, a friend.

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You know, you got to beafraid. Oh Lord, you know,
please, And it's nothing like that. You know. I'm thankful, you
know, because just like you said, God says, come boldly before the
throne of race. He ain't gottime for you to be weak up in
here. You know what, youdon't be no chump up in here.
He ain't got to He said,make your conversation the right then, you

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know what I'm saying. Then thenwe can do something, you know.
So number so the next point isgiven thanks to God in all circumstances.
You already touched on that right,all right, all right, So even
though our circumstances change, even thoughwe change all the time, God never

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changes. So we can thank himfor being a constant in our unconstant,
irregular, turbulent world. You cangive thanks to him for everything because everything
will work out in the end,not just for you, but because his

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words says so right. Yeah,you know, I you know people,
Um, we've heard people say theydon't you know, or people have lost
faith because things have happened, they'vehad bad situations, and you know,
I've heard you know, we've allheard people say, you know, if

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if God was God and he wasa just guy, why would so much
bad happen in the world. Justbecause bad things happen doesn't mean he's not
there. Well, you know,if if you're kind wouldn't ate that fruit,
I think we probably would have beenif you if you if your sister

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wouldn't ate that fruit, I thinkwe probably wasn't good. Well, if
if your guy would have stood upto my girl and told her one she
was wrong and not eating have eatenthe fruit with her, we probably would
be in a better position as well. Well. I'm thinking God that he

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had another alternative. Thank you Jesus. All right, okay, well point
taking thank you. Let's not gothere today. I can't. I got
I got a notebook about that,So let's not even go there. That's

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another story. Huh. Yeah,you a pre stat behind the pool pit?
All right? So what else yougot for me? There? Where
are we at ready? Okay?So real quick, we're gonna thank God
for my was this point number three? Yeah? Yeah, five points right?

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Yes, okay, Queen number threegiven thanks to the Lord for the
gift of faith. Okay, faithis a gift. Yeah, yeah,
you said we all got to measure. We all got a little bit.
We gotta measure of faith. Andin most circumstances, we just have to
believe our way through a thing toget past the thing. So I'm thanking

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God for his gift of faith thatallows me to get to become an overcomer
and be victorious. And the thingswe call life all right, all right,
excuse me? Whoa let me say? We call life? Life is

(28:07):
good, isn't it? Yes?But there are you know, trials and
tribulations that come our way. We'regoing through something right now. Yeah,
I'm not read about that stuff.But that's where faith comes in. That's
where thankfulness comes in, because eveneven though we're going through you know,

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for me, I guess I alwayssee the other side. You know,
even though we're going through something,there's always somebody that wishes they had our
story, you know, somebody thatwishes they had our problems because of what
they're going through. So I don't. I don't complain, right, I
don't. I'm not comparing either,but I don't want to complain and get
stuck in that woe was me?Why me kind of conversation because that's not

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helping anything. Yeah, yeah,well, what's that one little story?
I think they say? Uh,uh I complained when I didn't have any
shoes, but uh I got myselftogether when I saw a man that didn't
have any feet, you know,sort of like that kind of thing.
You know. You know there's alot of people worse off than you,

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absolutely, you know. So yeah, and ten years ago, you know,
we had different a completely different setof struggles. But because we're in
the position we're in now, nowwe have another set of struggles. But
you know, it's it's kind oflike if you hadn't made the progress you've
made, you wouldn't have the strugglesyou're having now. So right right,

(29:41):
Well, with that being said,there, I appreciate it, and we're
gonna come back and we're gonna finishup the reasons for you for us being
thankful um, and then we'll we'llwe'll concur and get back to what we're
gonna do. Okay, So,uh, guys, we're gonna take a
little break. Thank you for joiningus again. This is the hour Glass.

(30:11):
This is the hour GLASSCB Radio Network. Hey guys, welcome back.
This is Bruce Higgins and we arethe Hourglass with Rashima Haiggens. And we
are talking today about thanks giving andgiving God his thanks and his praise.
So, Roshima, would you liketo finish the points that you have for

(30:34):
us on giving God thanks here?Yes, so we did one, two,
and three, So point number fouris so point number four is giving

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God thanks for keeping you like wewere talking about earlier. You know,
these last twenty months, we've beenthrough pandemics and different type of natural disasters,
but we're still here. So ifwe can credit anything, it has,

(31:17):
we have to give God his dueand thank him for keeping us here,
especially considering how many people we've lost, how many people we know that
are you know, not in thebest of health, no, just different
things. You know, it's beena lot of adversity and challenges in the
last couple of years. So thefact that we're here, we have to

(31:42):
thank God for keeping us. AndI believe wholeheartedly that if he's kept you,
he's kept you to do something.Yeah. Right, So we're thanking
God for just keeping for keeping usand allowing us to steal, will be
around, to be productive, aroundto be helpful. That's a blessing within

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itself. Yes, you got anythingyou want to add, honey? Yeah.
We should also express our thanksgiving toto to the heavenly Father, you
know us one hundred and the fourthverse it says, uh into his gates

(32:29):
with thanksgiving and his courts with praise, give thanks to him and praise his
name, you know, and alland I mean, and it's it's very
self explanatory as as Christians that that'swhat you know, he kind of expects
us to do. You know,we enter, I mean, you know,

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when we come into the house.Uh. You know, even if
you're in your your own prayer time, in your own special room or wherever
you you know, want to connectwith God, you give him thanks right
there for even just allowing him tolet you be in his presence, you
know. So I just want toshare that because it's very important that he

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gets his thanks and he gets hispraise and his glory and we exalt him,
yes, And we want to makesure, you know, we don't
get so absorbed with thanking God forthings. Um, there's so many things
we can be thankful for, somany things we can we can thank God
for that aren't material, you know, Thanking God for the relationships we have,

(33:37):
for the people we have in ourlives. Um, I thank God
for some people that aren't in ourlives anymore, you know, because sometimes
those were the people that didn't needto be, you know, around for
whatever and for whatever reason that they'reno longer around. You know, in
your life, that's a reason tobe thankful because a lot of times,

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especially now that we're you know,in that that that number in our years
where we've kind of seen more thana lot of folks, those folks that
are no longer around or those peoplethat are around. You know, you
can see the blessing in both.And for me, it brings me to

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a place where I'm thankful that Ihave peace. Yeah, you know,
I can go home and relax andbe in a peaceful place, and I
thank God for just having peace ofmind. You know, that's when you're
in your twenties and thirties, youdon't think about that, you know,
because you don't even have those kindof conversations about peace of mind and stuff

(34:43):
like that. But as you getolder and as you mature, you come
to value things differently, and peaceof mind is on the top of my
list of things I need. Well, when I was in my twenty and
thirties, I was thinking about gettinga peace though. Okay, so one

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thing about some kind of people,Yeah, did you have to go there?
Well, let's say twenties and thirties. Okay, so it's people on
that list, and that's and that'strue, and that that is true.
But like I said, peace ofmind is a blessing, Um, it's
also kind of rare. So I'mthankful that we have just the peace to

(35:30):
be able to be around people thatlove us and support us and we can
love on them and you know,just have good positive relationships. Yeah.
But you know what, I justwant to say something. I mean,
you know, jokingly, we joke, but seriously, even I believe even
in these days, with the youththat are in their twenties and thirti thirties,

(35:53):
they may be wanting a peace ofmind doing into the activity and the
struggles that they're going through right now. As far as with all the killings
of the youth, you know,that's that takes a toll, you know,
on our young brothers and sisters,you know, so I think they
might be looking for a peace ofmind as well, you know, and

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that is where you know, theysay, you know, olg old heads.
You know, you know, youknow, this is where we are.
But you know, there's nothing likehaving a peace of mind. There's
nothing like having the peace of Godover you that that that comforts you,

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you know, especially and and andespecially in uncertain times. You know,
we are in uncertain times, youknow, you know, you know,
we walk around and we're looking atyou see, every day a youth is
either getting killed or killing someone.So you know, where's the peace of

(36:58):
mind that they have. You know, that's that has to be stressful on
the mind of our youth. Soyou know, I'm praying and I'm giving
thanks to God that he hears ourprayers, that when we pray for the
youth, that He intervenes for them. So I'm praying for you young brothers
and sisters out there, that theLord gives you the peace of mind that

(37:20):
you need that you may give himthe thanksgiving that he deserves. Man.
So in part James Wants seventeen reads, every good gift and every perfect gift
is from above. And I hada revelation about gifts and blessings one day
and I'm gonna share it with youguys. So I was studying again.

(37:44):
I was studying, you know,doing the doing one of my studies.
I'm like the nature of God andthe characteristics of God. And of course
we know God is perfect, whichmeans everything he does is perfect. And
um, I just had this saw, um two hands and they were creating
a gift. And in the giftthey were creating, it was a beautiful

(38:08):
box and it was wrapped in thisbeautiful paper with nice pretty bows. And
in that in that visual, youknow, God was explaining to me that
whenever he gives you a blessing,it's like He's creating this perfectly tailored gift
for you and He's presenting it toyou when it manifests in your life.

(38:34):
And it it blessed me so becauseI had to think about whenever I am
blessed, whenever I get a blessingfrom God, how am I receiving that
gift. You know, how amI telling God thank you for that gift?
How am I showing my appreciation forthose gifts? And in that study,
it just came on my heart that, Um, you know, a

(38:55):
lot of times we don't get thegifts we want, or we don't get
the gifts that we thought we shouldhave got, or you know, a
lot of times we want blessings andwe want to tell God how to give
us the blessing. We want totell him, you know, how it
should look, where it should comefrom, you know. But in that
moment, I saw how He individuallyand perfectly puts together these gifts for us

(39:22):
that we call blessings, and howwe respond and how we accept and receive
those gifts is how we tell Godthank you. So I just wanted to
share that with you if you thinkabout, you know, and it made
me think about different blessings where Iknow, thought I would get this position

(39:45):
but ended up getting another position.But that I tell God thank you,
even though it wasn't the position thatI wanted or thought I should get,
because I still got blessed. Itjust didn't come in the way I thought
it would. So it just mademe think about how I respond and how
I thank him for the blessings he'sgiven me in my life. Yeah,

(40:10):
that's good, thank you. Yeah, that's good man, Because you know,
it's funny because I've I've asked,you know, And it's funny because
you me. You know, Iprayed and you know, and I always
I'll pray his worry back to him. You said, God, you know
if if I delight myself and you, you will give me the desires of

(40:35):
my heart. Just dad, Andyou know, and you can't. You
can't. You can't swindle guide you. You know what I'm saying. You
you can't. You can't put himin a bag like you're putting his back
up against the wall. God,don't care how you feel, you know,
he like, dude, listen,you know what I'm saying. I
just I take your breath from youfrom flat out, you know. Don't

(40:57):
don't even come at me like that. But the thing is to be thankful
for what he did not do.That's then can we be thankful in situations
like that? Because I've been insituations where I didn't get what I wanted
and I was terribly upset that Ididn't get it. But along the line

(41:20):
I saw why it didn't happen.Did I thank him for that? You
know? And we should be youknow, as Christians. You know,
as we walked this walking, wesay that we with him, and we
say we carry our cross? Youknow. Are we thanking him for dangers
seen and unseen? You know,somethings behind the scene you don't need to

(41:43):
see right away? Are we thankinghim for that? Because when they do,
when you do show up and seewhy it didn't happen, do you
thank him? You know? AndI had to. I have to start,
you know, I have to startthanking him for Okay, I didn't
get it. I thank you Lord, because something must be behind it.
Because the word says he gives goodand perfect gifts, good and perfect,

(42:09):
both good and perfect, right,you know, not mediocre, good and
perfect. That's what he is.And we should thank him for his love
because God is love. He loves, He loves all of us, right
right right? I mean we shouldbe thankful for that, for the love

(42:30):
he has for us. It's beenmany of times. I know he should
have roasted me, many of times, especially when I when I was in
It says, even when you wasin this sin. When you was in
your sin, he was, youknow, Jesus was covering for you.
That's crazy, that's that kind.He gave his son to advocate for you

(42:54):
in your sin until you got untilyou were until you was able, right,
right, And that's what I wasI was saying. As far as
you know, we're talking about hisnature. You know, it doesn't it
doesn't matter what we do as humanbeings. He's always going to be God,
and he's always going to be whohe is, how he is.

(43:15):
You know, it doesn't matter whatwe do. I think it's um.
I think it's safe to say.You know, he's concerned about all aspects
of our lives, and he's concernedabout all aspects of who we are.
However, that doesn't move him tostep outside of his will, and it

(43:37):
doesn't move him to step outside ofhis will for your life because as God,
he can't. He can't contradict hiswill. He can't contradict his word.
So however you're feeling or whatever you'redoing, if it's not in line
with his word, he can't embraceit, he can't bless it. Yes,

(43:59):
So I just want to encourage youguys to um, you know,
to just just think of a differentattitude of thanksgiving, not just um because
of what's coming up next week orthis week. Rather you know, we
know a holiday is comming and holidaysare cool, but beyond that, you

(44:22):
know, after you wake up fromyour turkey coma and you know it's time
to you know, get back toreality and go back to work, what
do you think for for you knowwhat I'm saying, it's just it's it's
so much more too. And Ithink for me, there's always more to
the story. It doesn't matter whatstory we're telling. There's always so much

(44:43):
more to thankfulness and thanksgiving. Um. If you just tap into and just
you know, and commit to justlearning more about what makes God God yea,
and how it blesses you and howit makes you you, I think

(45:04):
you'll come up with pages of thingsyou can be thankful for, you know,
testimonies of things that you maybe eventook for granted. You know that
you should be that we all shouldbe thankful for, you know, um,
just like I was saying earlier,when we you know, we were
sick um week before last, tonot be able to smell and taste and

(45:28):
to be able to smell and tastewhen you know, when our taste came
back, it was like I wassavoring everything that we could. You know,
that we that I could taste becausewhat I took for granted. You
know the fact that I couldn't dothat. You know the fact that I
could do that, and to beable to do it, um is just

(45:49):
such a blessing. And to comeback and scathe like um, like we
weren't, like we were never sick. It's also a blessing to have no
side effects, no long term issues. You know, that's another reason to
be thankful, hey man, Yeah, yeah, I mean especially the little
things I'm talking about. The littlething looks like a toothache. Man,

(46:14):
you you will be so much painwith a toothache, But once it's gone,
he takes that pain away. Yeah, you're so thankful, as as
as as small as a stomach acheor a headache. Might You know,
we take things so for granted,and we should be so thankful for the

(46:40):
healing that He comes and brings uponus in that time of need. Are
the times of hurt when you knowno one else is there to comfort you,
being thankful that he is the comforther. I mean, you know,
man, dude, you know,I'm just I'm just thinking God right

(47:04):
now, because that's crazy, youknow, and we we take things.
You know. God is a justgod. You know, he's a jealous
God. He's a just God.He's a god of you know, of
right, you know. But youknow the scripture here, I just love
this one, he says and Isaiahtwelve. In the first verse, he

(47:27):
says, I will praise you Lord, although you were angry with me,
your anger has turned away and youhave comforted me, you know, slow
to anger. You know, ifit you know, if any one of
us was really angry and we wereGod when I zapping people, I mean,
it just been pantamonio. I thinkhalf of the half of the world.

(47:51):
But God, no, you justI ain't taking that bown. You
got to go. Then, whenyou think about where you like, you
know, like I said, whereyou were twenty years ago, where you
think think about where you were threeyears ago? You know, thank God
you're not that same person. Orhow much has he pulled you out of

(48:12):
in just the last few years,you know, how many COVID scares have
you had in just the last coupleof years, or how many times if
you've gotten that text or that callsaying you were around somebody that was exposed
and that person's in the hospital,but you're just you're sitting there not even
realizing that your body was under attack. You know, that's a blessing.

(48:35):
I mean, we don't none ofus know just in the last two years,
how many times we've actually been exposedto different not just COVID, you
know, just different things, variantsthat are out here, just you know,
just different things that have killed otherpeople. And we've walked around not
even aware that we've been exposed andmay have even been affected by it.

(49:00):
You know, when we got thediagnosis for COVID, we didn't even know.
If it wasn't for Bruce working ina hospital, he wouldn't have got
tested because we thought we had ahand coat. Yeah, and that was
the extent of our symptoms. Itwas like we had a really bad hand
coat. We were congested, wehad a headache, but we never got

(49:22):
a fever. You know, wenever got the symptoms of COVID. We
never really got besides the loss oftaste and smell. So, I mean,
the appetite was still there, werestill we was eating. We didn't
care. No still, yeah,because then it became about texture. Yeah,

(49:43):
and if there was texture, wewere eating it. So we didn't
miss a meal, you know,we ate regular food. We didn't have
any stomach issues, none of thatkind of stuff. Um. So if
it wasn't for him working in theenvironment that he worked in, they required
him to take the tests and thenthey came up positive. Um. But

(50:07):
in three days, we were fine. On the third day and three days
we were We were down for threedays exactly. Yeah, and don't you
know after that third day, itwas like you woke up like nothing ever
happened. Yeah, And that's ablessing, you know, thank God.

(50:28):
Um. And then you know,and I thank God that he allowed us
to to He allows us to bein a situation with our jobs and everything
that we have going on that we'reable to do a lot of things remotely,
so we didn't have to go outfor those days that we had to
isolate. Um. You know,on the third day, I was scrubbing

(50:50):
down the house, you know,because that's you know, that's how I
was raised, you know, Andsomebody gets sick, you bleached down the
house and you know, do allthat. So I did that. But
and thank God, you know,I had the energy to do that.
But I mean, for the mostpart, we didn't miss a beat outside
of just having to be home foryou know, that week or we can

(51:12):
have we were stuck in out,Yeah, but even still we were able
to get things accomplished that we neededto. Thank God for technology and being
able to do things remotely. Youknow, it's just a blessing to be
able to say, you know,we've dealt with this illness, and we've

(51:32):
been affected and impacted by this illness, but we've still been able to press
through and the next week we getto come back to the hour glass and
you know, do what we've beendoing like we never left. Yeah,
that's a blessing. Yea, Atruly yes. And you know, just

(51:53):
going back thinking, you know,on the time that we were in the
house, how we were covered.I mean, we you know, we
didn't have to worry about if thebills was going to be paid, or
if we had enough food, orif we had to go get food or

(52:14):
you know, everything for that appointeverything that we did up to that,
he guided us and directed us todo for that appointed time to be in
the house. Yeah, you know, don't go nowhere. And that was
that time, and I'm thankful forthat because that was the time that I

(52:37):
was even able to hear from himeven clearer. You know, I have
to speak, you know, youalways hear people say, you know,
I don't know about you, butbut I just have to speak for myself
on this, and I hope thoseout there are hearing me are even a
little bit close to what I'm aboutto say. And that's when you have

(53:00):
a relationship with God, that youcan hear from him, that you can
really sit down and he download intoyou, and not even about the situation
that you are in, but somethingsomething else that's really close to his heart.
We always say we want to becloser to him and know his heart,

(53:20):
and we you know, it's thatsmall, small voice. Are we
listening? You know, Let's bethankful for him even taking the time to
stop by to even say something toyou, you know, the time you
know, he said, I comeand knock at the dough, you know,
and that's what he does, That'swhat he does. He loves us

(53:44):
so much. And I just wantto share this with those who are out
there listening right now. You know, I joke and I like to kick
it. And you know, I'mnot dude, I'm fifty years old,
YadA YadA ya. But when itcomes to the things of the Lord,
I'm very serious about it. Youknow. God, you know, he

(54:05):
lets me have my sense of humor. But you know, it's a time
and a place for everything. Andwhen we share with you guys, we
come out of a place of thanksgivingfor letting us share with you. Well,
I'm thankful for this. I'm thankfulbecause He you know, I'm thankful

(54:28):
for letting me be able to reachout to you guys, to give what
He wants us to give to you. It's not nothing of us, you
know. And you would hear Jesussay at all the time it's not for
me, but it's of my father. And you know what, it's not
of us. It's not something thatwe take lightly. This is not something

(54:49):
that we you know, we're playingor joking. You know, this is
a serious thing when it comes tothe way in the will of God.
And we just want you guys toyou know, grab a hole, you
know, talk to God and lethim know how you feel and give him
thanks giving for what he's all donefor you and some things that he has

(55:15):
not done, you know, becauseif he didn't do it, it wasn't
for you, you know, AndI'm a strong believer of that. If
you if if you asked him forsomething and he didn't do it, because
it was not of his will,and it was gonna be no good for
you, you know, And sometimesyou know, I'm thankful, and I
say this wholeheartedly. I'm thankful forhim letting me go through some stuff that

(55:39):
out that that he didn't want meto, but he let me go through
it anyway to see that, Okay, you you didn't really need this,
and he'll bring you out once yousee that that was not for you,
He will bring you out and hewill help you move forward in that.

(56:00):
So it's a win win. It'sit's you know, because it says what
all things work together for the goodfor those for those who love him his
purpose. You know, he'd getthat to you. You know, I'm
thankful for that because even if itis some mess, he's so cold,
he'd turned around and it'd be allgood and he'd be like, man,

(56:21):
I couldn't have made I couldn't haveworked out out No sweeter I couldn't have
worked ou out no sweeter how youyou know, I don't know nobody and
I mean nobody that has been insome mess that was able to turn it
around themselves, and it'd be like, man, I did that, sweet,
That's that's just b Yes, thatain't happening. It's not. And
you know, I just want toshare this with you, guys. And

(56:45):
you know, as we as we'rewrapping up our segment, I want to
share this with you guys. Andthis is God talking to you. This
is Isaiah one. In the eighteenthverse, he says, come, now,
let us settle this matter. Saysthe Lord. Though your sins are

(57:07):
like scarlet, they shall be aswhite as snow. Though they are read
as crimson, they shall be likewar. I'm saying this to say to
you guys. This was even inthe Old Testament. This was before Jesus
had ascended to us and before hewent to Calvary, before his blood was

(57:32):
shed on the cross. Even backthen, God was like, we can
settle this matter. We got Igot you. And when we go to
John three in the sixteenth verse,we said God so loved the world that

(57:52):
he gave his only begotten son forso whoever believeth in him shall not perish,
but have everlasting life. That isfor you, that is for me,
that is for us we should beand so thanksgiving that he said,
I'm going to seal this with myson. It will be his blood that

(58:16):
will cover the remission of sins,transgressions, and iniquities. And it is
his blood that will be accessed thatyou can come before him boldly, before
the throne of grace and make itall right with him. Guys, we

(58:37):
are so glad to be back withyou. Guys. We're healthy, we're
doing well, and we are inthe attitude of thanksgiving. I want to
say to you, guys that welove you and we are thankful for you.
We are thankful for you. Wouldyou to say, how can you

(58:58):
love how can you love me?I can you love your brother that you
see and and love me that youthat you don't see? I can't you
know? You know you don't.You don't see them. You see them,
but you you don't love them,but you see me. You talk
about you know you love me.Well, I say this, we don't
see you, but we love you. We we don't know you per se,

(59:21):
but we're here for you. Weare thankful that we are able to
be used by God as faithful bondservants to move forward and to bring you
what He tells us to tell you. We thank you and we love you.
I'm Bruce Hagens and I'm Rasheema Hagansand we want to give you,

(59:43):
guys, all all the things thatyou deserve as far as the Thanksgiving season.
Is there anything you want to wrapup with them? Yes, don't
forget to reach out to us onFacebook at the Hourglass for nineteen. I
think we're on Instagram at the Ibroglassfor nineteen. And you can also email

(01:00:06):
us if you have questions, comments, or just want to tell us Hey
at the Ebroglass for a nineteen atgmail dot com. Man. We love
you guys. We hope you havea safe Thanksgiving. We hope that we've
said some things that the Lord hastold us to tell you that you can

(01:00:30):
use. This has been the Hourglast. We'll talk to you later. Bye
bye. By the FCB Radio Network, first class broadcasting worldwide