While we are all struggling with out physical posture - we are struggling with our spiritual posture even more. Let's test ourselves and ask ourselves these hard questions: Are we ready to unfriend the world? And, are we ready (as unworthy as we may feel), to surrender our problems to God? In this day and age, you cannot truly follow the Lord if you are giving in the lifestyles and culture of the world. That's why checking yourself constantly, as a follower of Christ, is a MUST.

Welcome to the I Can.

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He Can podcast the podcast

for literally anyone.

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However, if you are a woman, you're

probably the person listening on the

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other side of that speaker right now.

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I'm your host Sarai, And you'll

pretty much get to know everything

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about me, including the things that

make me say I can't, but also the

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things that remind me that he can.

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So without further ado, let's

jump into today's episode.

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I.

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All right, everyone, welcome

back to I Can, he Can.

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Happy Monday to you guys and if you

are on your way to work, I hope that

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you have had a great morning thus far.

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I hope that you make it there safe and

that you have the best day that nothing

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can come in your way to bringing it down.

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And if it does, just remember no weapons.

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Formed against you shall prosper

because you have your God.

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So I am all alone today.

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You guys, no co-host, no brandy,

no bestie, unfortunately.

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but we will definitely continue to do

more episodes together, likely once a

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month since we're both, pretty busy all

the time 'cause of the kids, our jobs.

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And, doing the last episode though.

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Was very, very fun.

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We had a great time and it wasn't even

work like it really was just me going

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to her house to hang out and I said,

Hey, I brought my laptop, I brought some

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mics, uh, I wanna do a podcast together.

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And it just felt so natural

and just flowed so well.

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So we can't wait to do that again, but.

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About the technical difficulties.

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Um, it really was a bit of a

struggle towards the end, and

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I'm so sorry that that happened.

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I know that.

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The volume and the audio was off at some

times, but I tried so hard in the editing

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aspect to get it as best as possible.

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Um, so it can be as leveled and as

clear as possible because it was

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nothing like what you guys heard.

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But you know, there's nothing that

I won't do for the podcast and

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for this to be out in the world.

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And I truly do believe that this will find

someone who needs it and I pray on it.

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Um, but there is also, of course,

that when there is a message.

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That Satan does not want you

to spread or to get across.

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'cause it will dispel his work

and get you closer to God.

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I know that he will do whatever it takes

for that To not get across and anyway.

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We'll keep that message in

particular, that we did not keep

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in that episode for another one.

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'cause there is a lot, a lot to

discuss there and I know that a

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lot of people deal with that issue.

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and it's a very fun topic

too, I'm not gonna lie.

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But anyway.

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before I transition over to today's topic,

and you guys probably read the title

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of the episode, how is Your posture?

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I do wanna say a quick prayer.

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I know that this is the first time

that I am praying on the podcast, but

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I really did feel it on my heart to

say a prayer for whoever is listening.

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So please join me in prayer.

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If you're driving, do not close your eyes.

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Do not please.

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Anyway.

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Heavenly Father, we thank

you so much for this stay.

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We thank you for this moment of joy,

of peace, we pray, Lord, that whoever

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listens to these words, whether it is

right now, as they make it to their

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jobs, wherever these words find them,

God, even if it's in the future We hope

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that these words find this person and

that you can do a work in their life and

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that you can draw them closer to you.

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God, I pray, Lord, that whoever is

listening to this, wherever they may

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be, whether it it's in a very dark

place, in a dark moment, difficult

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time in their life, or a joyous time

in their life, wherever they are,

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I just pray that you remind them.

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Today and always that you

will not abandon them.

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That no matter what they do, no matter

how much sin they have committed, no

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matter if they are still standing,

God, that you will always forgive them.

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There is nothing that they can do.

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There is no sin so big that will

cause you to turn from them.

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And I know God that many people.

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Fight this And even though we are not

worthy of your love, God, because we are

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not like you, we know that you gave your

life for us and that you use it as ransom

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to redeem us, to restore us as long as

we believe, and I pray that we will never

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let that go, that we will always remember

what you sacrificed for us on that cross.

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And that we grab our cross daily, whether

it be a slow picking up of the cross

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one day, yes, one day, no, but may that

day that we don't pick it up, that we

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feel the conviction in our heart to

get closer to you and pick it up again.

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So, God, I say thank

you and I love you God.

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And I glorify your name I pray that

you will always be the constant in our

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lives, Lord, and I pray this all in the

mighty name of our Lord and Savior Jesus.

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Amen.

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Well, well to transition to transition

to today's episode, you guys, um, it's.

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It's always a crazy week, right?

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I feel like every time I'm on

here I say it's a crazy week.

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But nonetheless, the topic for today came

up, on several different occasions, and I

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really was inspired by one of my friends.

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but to start off.

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I just turned 35.

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You know, I'm still young.

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I deal with a lot of back pain, sometimes

some nerve pain because of my ms.

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You know, so it's not a great combination.

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But today, we are not here to talk about

my bad posture and causing me pain.

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We are here to discuss our heart posture.

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Now, I bet some of you may have heard

that word But we do absolutely have

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a spiritual posture, if you will.

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And let's break that down.

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So heart posture metaphorically

refers to a person's attitude, their

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intention or desires, and their

motivation towards God And the word.

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Your heart posture can also reveal the

true spiritual state that you are in.

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So today we're going to

talk about two things.

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One, which is how your heart is doing

spiritually, and two, how you are

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speaking to yourself because of that

heart posture and where you are with it.

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I wanna start by saying that a

person's heart posture changes

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when you get right with God.

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A person's heart posture changes

when you get right with God.

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I had to say that again because I

know it's blunt and it may not seem

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right to some people, but to put it

in terms that most would understand,

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You cannot have both of these things.

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One, to be a fully devoted

follower of Christ, and two,

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to be a friend of the world.

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okay, how do these things make

up someone's heart posture?

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When James says in James

chapter four, verse four.

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Adulterers, do you not know

that the friendship with the

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world is hostility towards God.

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Therefore, whoever wants to be a friend of

the world makes himself an enemy of God.

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James asserts that when we are

friends of the world, We are giving

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into the culture, the lifestyle,

and a mindset that opposes God.

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And you know, things are so crazy

nowadays, like you can't even

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listen to music or watch a show

without nudity and sex and drugs

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and killing and just all these.

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Crazy, things I've even seen so many

things of like pedophilia lately.

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It's just, it's insane.

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It really, it truly is insane.

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So it all feels so far away

from what's good, it feels far

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from what God would approve of.

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So to summarize that, your heart

posture can and definitely translate

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to the actions of our lives, and I

am going to give you some examples.

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So let's imagine that you are a

person who has been single for a

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really long time, and you're hitting

an age where you finally decide

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like, oh, I wanna settle down.

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I wanna have a family.

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But can you truly settle down if you

keep hitting clubs every weekend,

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or if you date other people while

you are dating a person that you

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potentially are interested in long term?

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How about work?

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Whether you own a business

or you're an employee.

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If you are not responsible, if

you're late, if you slack off,

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if you steal all of these things,

do you think that those things in

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both scenarios will go a long way?

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Absolutely not.

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You are not following work

protocols and in the relationship

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aspect, you're essentially

cheating and being disrespectful.

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This is never going to foster

any sort of positive outcome

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for you in either scenario.

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So you can't be a friend of the

world and be a follower of Jesus.

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It just doesn't work, you guys.

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It just doesn't work.

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And that's why when you are a true

follower of Jesus, you need to

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constantly check yourself like me.

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Oh my God.

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I check myself all the

time when I'm driving.

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I wanna do so much better, but every time

I'm driving in this crazy Miami traffic,

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I call people idiots, left and right.

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Is that something that Jesus would do?

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Absolutely not.

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And I've honestly, as silly as

it seems, I've prayed about it.

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Because it really is a

problem in that moment.

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I just get so caught up and

so annoyed, and I'm so tired.

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I just wanna get home that I just

lash out and I call people idiots.

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I haven't given people the finger anymore.

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Thank goodness for that.

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But you know, slowly but surely,

I need to just work on that.

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And we need to catch ourselves so.

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How about we do a quick check right now?

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Let's ask yourselves these questions.

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So is God revealing things to you?

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Is he revealing himself in some way?

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When was the last time you prayed or

felt the presence of the Holy Spirit?

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Do you feel that your relationship

with God has remained the same?

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Is it stagnant or has your

relationship diminished at all?

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And all of these things could

quite literally translate to

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how you act on the day to day.

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Now, your acts could be your words

as well, kind of like me in the

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example I gave you about driving

your acts could be words as well,

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not just things that you do,

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Remember that line, we are going to

go back to that in a few minutes.

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So James chapter four,

verse seven through 10.

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And this is the MSG version.

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'cause I really felt that it translated

it so well, to how most people

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would truly grasp, what he's saying.

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So, let God work his will in you.

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Yell a loud no to the devil and

watch him make himself scarce.

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Say a quiet yes to God and

he'll be there in no time.

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Quit dabbling in sin.

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Purify your inner life.

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Quit playing the field.

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Hit bottom and cry.

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Your eyes out.

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The fun and games are over.

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Get serious, really serious.

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Get down on your knees before the master.

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It's the only way you'll get

on your feet, my friends.

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I am sure that you have hit rock bottom

at some point, and rock bottom may be

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different for everyone, but if you haven't

hit rock bottom, lucky you, but it doesn't

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mean that we won't ever hit rock bottom.

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And I assure you, we all do

at some point or another.

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So whether you are there or

not, what is your rock bottom?

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Think about it.

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Now.

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Ask yourself this.

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What were you doing that

led you to that place?

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Are you still in that pit?

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Are you still at that rock bottom?

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Do you have any idea at

all how to get out of it?

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Maybe you have a plan to improve things.

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Let's give you the benefit of the doubt.

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Maybe you have a plan to improve

things, but remember that the timing

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of these things is not in our hands.

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It's in God's hands.

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And speaking of God, have you

prayed about your rock bottom?

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James says it.

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We need to stop dabbling.

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Purify our life.

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We need to stop with our mess, you

guys, and we need to get serious.

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So pray, seek the Lord and talk to him.

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In a little side note, over the weekend

I went to a woman's conference and

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one of the things that they mentioned

several times is how God is omniscient.

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He knows it all.

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He is everywhere at all times.

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So he knows your struggles.

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but you cannot change your

circumstance and your heart posture.

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If you are a friend of the world, you need

to let God in your life and you need to

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surrender so he can do the work for you.

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Now, James chapter four, verse three says.

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You do not have, because you

do not ask God when you ask.

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You do not receive because you ask

with the wrong motives that you may

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spend what you get on your pleasures.

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So guys, get serious.

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Let go and let God, a very

famous and often repeated quote.

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Let him do the work and lead

you to where you have to go.

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But remember that if your heart

posture is not on the right side of

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things, what you ask for won't mean

a thing We can't expect to receive

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and not give anything in return.

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We can't continue sinning and expect

to pass on the day of judgment.

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We can't continue going to

church, expecting our lives to

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change, but not open our Bibles.

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There is just no way my

friends, there is no way.

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And a few minutes ago when I was

explaining how acts, um, can define

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your heart posture, I said something

along the lines of, our acts aren't just

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things we do, but they can be our words.

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So our words have power over us.

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What we see and how we consume

that information has power over us.

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This world is filled with things

that make us feel bad about

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ourselves and not just things, but

it could also be people around us.

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It's sad, but it's not uncommon.

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I challenge you once again to do a on

your heart posture, but this time let's

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look at it from an inward perspective,

not so much an outward ax perspective.

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Ask yourself this.

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When you woke up, did you open

your phone or did you, thank God.

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When you spoke to someone today,

did you find yourself feeling any

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sort of jealousy or coveting at all?

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Did you look in the mirror

and not like what you saw?

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Did you have any feelings of not

being good enough maybe because you

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made a mistake at school or at work?

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You know, I can come up with a list of

500 different things because there's so

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many moments where we can feel like that

Across the day, especially when you're

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a woman, today's world is set up in a

way that is meant to feed off shiny,

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beautiful things and constantly having

to fit in with what's newest and trendy.

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And we are not meant to

withstand all of that.

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That is not our purpose.

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Our purpose is what God decides for

us, not your social media, not your

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boyfriend or friends With all of

that, I'm not surprised that we get

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down about ourselves Some people may

even become depressed, some people

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may become resentful, jealous, angry.

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we cannot put ourselves in positions where

we are the friend of the world because

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it opens us up to these situations in

which we will speak to ourselves in a

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way that God would never speak to us.

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And the same goes to us for others.

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Sometimes when we feel

bad about our situations,

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We may bring others down with us,

and yes, it may be unintentionally

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because we don't have malice, but

we cannot allow ourselves to become

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what the enemy wants us to become.

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Ephesians 4 29 says, do not let any

unwholesome talk come out of your mouths,

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but only what is helpful for building

others up according to their needs

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that it may benefit those who listen.

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And I promise you, even me.

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Even me sometimes, like

reading that back right now.

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I had a conversation a little while

ago that now I'm a little ashamed of,

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and you know, while I was not seeing

anything horrible, it still wasn't

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something that would benefit anyone.

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So we have to check ourselves and

anyway, I know you've all heard.

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If you ain't got nothing nice

to say, don't say anything.

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And that goes for ourselves, for me.

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If this basic principle should be applied

to others, why do we not follow these

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same rules for how we speak to ourselves?

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You know, I have this friend, and I've

known them since I was eight years old.

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We were in third grade when we met.

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Our friendship has lasted throughout

the years, and even though we

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don't hang out anymore, we do

speak and text from time to time.

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And I'm not sure what struggles they're

going through exactly because I'm not

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really nosy and I don't ask for details,

but I know that they're struggling.

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I can feel it in the messages

we've sent to each other.

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And sometimes there are words

that they use that show that

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they don't feel adequate for

God or to even ask God for help.

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And they wanna do better.

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I know they do.

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They wanna improve their lifestyle.

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They wanna get rid of their

bad habits of their addictions.

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I know that they want that

just gone, but it's difficult.

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It's difficult for them.

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And this person was one that gave

me the inspiration for this episode

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if and only if they got serious

and lost the world as their friend.

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They would fix their heart posture.

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They would get rid of those addictions.

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They would get rid of those things that

are holding them from keeping a job

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constantly and persistently their entire

life can quite literally turn around

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in the matter of a few months even.

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But it's hard to feel like you are

enough for God when you hit rock bottom.

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It's hard to look up and pray to

Jesus and ask for his help from

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the pit that you're ashamed of.

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There is no shame in being human.

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And my friends, I'm gonna say something

very important, and I hope that you

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never forget this, because as I was

preparing for this episode, when this

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thought came to me even, I was like,

wow, there is no shame in being human.

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If there was shame in being human, I.

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God would have never sent his

son to earth in human form to

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redeem us for all of our wrongs.

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Never.

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So I tell you, if you speak to

yourself in any way that you know

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your God, your father would not

speak to you, you need to stop.

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Those words are not anything

Jesus would even say to you.

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It's what the enemy wants you to

believe, to keep you away from God

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and to dig you deeper in that pit.

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Romans 12, two says.

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Do not conform to the pattern of

this world, but be transformed

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by the renewing of your mind.

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Then you will be able to test and approve

what God's will is his good, pleasing, and

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perfect will everything you say tested.

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Would this be what God wants for me?

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Would God say this?

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Do this.

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If it's a no, steer clear.

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Second Corinthians 10, five says.

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We demolish arguments and every pretension

that sets itself up against the knowledge

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of God, and we take captive every

thought to make it obedient to Christ.

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That is good.

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So, so, so, so, so good.

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We need to demolish the arguments

and things that set us up

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against God and the word captive.

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That, that word bro, that word.

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We need to captivate our good thoughts.

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Not the bad.

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Why is it so easy?

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Why is it so easy to hold onto the

difficult things and the hard things

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and so hard to not captivate and

grab and hold onto the good things?

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Why submit your thoughts to God,

all of them, the good and the bad.

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If you're having a bad

thought, give them all to him.

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Let your mind be free of

all the things of the world.

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It's easier said than done, but please do

not let your sin, your doubt, or even the

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heaviness of any situation, make you feel

like you are not worthy of forgiveness.

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We may not be worthy of many things

like Jesus was, but we are worthy

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of forgiveness when we are also

bearing fruit and when we are

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making sure that we are not right

with the world, but right with him.

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the only one that matters.

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John 1633 says, I have told you these

things so that in me, you may have peace,

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you will have suffering in this world.

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Be courageous.

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I have conquered the world.

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God sent the most worthy of all

to die on a cross for our sins,

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to give us the opportunity to

live in their kingdom free of all.

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Worry, pain, shame, free of

all the nonsense of the world.

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So why not make our temporary home

a bit more like our heavenly home?

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Let's find peace in life by making

sure that the things of the world

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are not keeping us away from God.

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Lose a friend.

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Lose the world.

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You do not need to be their friend.

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You don't need all of the crazy things

that we are seeing on our phones.

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You don't need to be in all these places

that are going to guide you into wrong

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paths and into addictions, but who

does need you is God in his kingdom.

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He wants all creation to be redeemed.

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A part of Romans eight, six says, the

mind governed by the spirit is life and

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peace, so govern yourself accordingly,

not what the world wants for you.

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but according to what

God would want for you?

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I hope you have enjoyed this episode, and

most importantly, I hope that you've truly

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analyzed where your heart is spiritually.

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Maybe you think you have a great

relationship with the Lord, but

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this made you realize that you

can, you know, step it up a notch

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or two, whatever the case is.

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I hope this has blessed you.

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I hope your heart posture

improves from it, and I thank you.

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I thank you.

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I thank you a million times over and

over again for tuning in until the

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next episode, my friends take care.