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Morning Devotion from Ephesians: Saved By Grace · The BLAZE (Bible Study)

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  Speaker 1: Good morning, family. Good morning. God bless you. Welcome back
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  Speaker 1: to the Morning Devo. It's your brother, Sam Lopez, a.k.a.
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  Speaker 1: DJ Sam Rock. So winners with a Z.org. Live.so winners
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  Speaker 1: with a Z.org. Streaming on social media platforms. But my go-to,
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  Speaker 1: my high recommendation is to go to live.so winners with
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  Speaker 1: a Z.org to experience these Morning Devos. Amen. So I
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  Speaker 1: hope and pray that your day is going good so far. Amen.
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  Speaker 1: You're with us. You're alive. And today we're going to
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  Speaker 1: talk about the grace of God, saved by grace. I'm
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  Speaker 1: calling this one. We're in the book of Ephesians now. Amen.
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  Speaker 1: We finished off the book of John last time. So
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  Speaker 1: if you missed those episodes, you could go back. If
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  Speaker 1: you're subscribed to the podcast, you could go back, I think, three,
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  Speaker 1: four years now. Amen. Worth the podcasting. Maybe even longer
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  Speaker 1: than that. There's an archive that's a huge archive when
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  Speaker 1: you subscribe to the podcast. So Glory to God, right?
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  Speaker 1: God is faithful to his word. Amen. And when he
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  Speaker 1: says he would do in our hearts and our lives, amen,
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  Speaker 1: he would do it. We just have to allow him
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  Speaker 1: to do it regardless of what we're going through. So
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  Speaker 1: we're going to pray first. And then, you know, during
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  Speaker 1: this morning Devo, or anytime that you're watching or listening,
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  Speaker 1: you could just help us share this out to as
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  Speaker 1: many people as possible. So we could get this gospel
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  Speaker 1: message out to as many people as possible. As long
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  Speaker 1: as we have today, Lord God, right? As long as
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  Speaker 1: we have today, The Lord God will help us share
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  Speaker 1: his word to others. Amen. So let's pray. Father, I
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  Speaker 1: thank you, Lord Jesus, that you have saved us by grace.
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  Speaker 1: Thank you, Lord, for saving us, for keeping us, for
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  Speaker 1: applying your word to us and through us. Amen. That
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  Speaker 1: we could be useful for your kingdom. Help us stop
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  Speaker 1: relying on our own efforts, Lord Jesus, and our own
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  Speaker 1: works and place your faith that you give us as
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  Speaker 1: a gift, Lord God. Place that faith so we could
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  Speaker 1: place our faith back to you, in you. Let our
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  Speaker 1: life reflect our gratitude, our thankfulness for the gift that
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  Speaker 1: you give all of us and the opportunity that you
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  Speaker 1: give your gift for all of us. I pray, Lord God,
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  Speaker 1: a hedge of protection over myself, my wife, our children,
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  Speaker 1: our family, our grandchildren, my son, his family, my mom,
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  Speaker 1: helping our health right now in the powerful name of Jesus.
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  Speaker 1: I pray for every single in-law, my in-law, and every
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  Speaker 1: single in-laws out there that are with the families. I pray,
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  Speaker 1: Lord God, a hedge of protection over every single person
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  Speaker 1: individually right now. In the powerful name of Jesus that's
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  Speaker 1: watching or listening, I pray by faith, Lord God, that
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  Speaker 1: you would do a great work today in our hearts
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  Speaker 1: and our minds. Change us, transform us, renew us, restore us,
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  Speaker 1: and remind us that we can't boast about our salvation,
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  Speaker 1: but we will boast about who saved us, which is you,
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  Speaker 1: Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you. Give you glory, honor, worship,
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  Speaker 1: and praise. And all those who agree with this prayer,
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  Speaker 1: we say amen to the amen. So let's go for it.
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  Speaker 1: Let's get into the word. Amen. That's what we're here for.
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  Speaker 1: Good morning, Devo. I try to be in the studio weekdays, 5.30 a.m.
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  Speaker 1: Eastern Standard Time. It's not easy. Amen. But it's worth
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  Speaker 1: the effort. It's worth the effort. Amen. So let's get
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  Speaker 1: into it. Let's see what the Lord has for us today.
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  Speaker 1: We're going to be in Ephesians 2, verses 8 and 9.
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  Speaker 1: Apostle said, for it is by grace you have been saved,
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  Speaker 1: through faith, and this not from yourselves. So right off
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  Speaker 1: the bat, it's very humbling to know that we're saved
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  Speaker 1: by grace. It's not by anything we have done. It
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  Speaker 1: is the gift of God, not by works, so that, listen,
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  Speaker 1: no one, absolutely no one can boast. Now, this is
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  Speaker 1: good because... This is how you can tell who's who
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  Speaker 1: and what's what. When you hear people boasting about what
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  Speaker 1: they do in Christ, what Christ is doing in their life,
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  Speaker 1: boasting about it, right? As if they had something to
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  Speaker 1: do with it, then you know they're not really honoring
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  Speaker 1: this portion of Scripture. Amen? And that includes me. I've
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  Speaker 1: got to be careful. No one can boast, the Apostle says.
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  Speaker 1: So it's by what? Is it by works that you're doing,
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  Speaker 1: works that I'm doing? No, it is by grace that
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  Speaker 1: we're saved. And we're saved through faith, Not in faith
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  Speaker 1: or not in a religion. We have faith in the
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  Speaker 1: Lord Jesus Christ. And this is not from yourselves. It
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  Speaker 1: is the gift of God. So if God gave us
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  Speaker 1: a gift, amen, who's the gift giver? God is the
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  Speaker 1: gift giver. We can't work to get saved. We can't
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  Speaker 1: do things to please God other than have faith in him.
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  Speaker 1: That's the only thing that pleases God. So he keeps
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  Speaker 1: it straight. No one Not one of us can boast. Amen? Sobering, right?
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  Speaker 1: I always knew this. Literally, I always kind of knew
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  Speaker 1: that people were like exaggerating about their so-called tremendous special
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  Speaker 1: anointing that God has given them, right? And I'm like, okay,
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  Speaker 1: that's a little bit of a stretch. God portions out
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  Speaker 1: his grace and his mercy, right, to all of us.
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  Speaker 1: And he pours his faith and pours his love to
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  Speaker 1: all of us. Amen. So if you feel like you're
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  Speaker 1: more anointed than me, or if I feel I'm more
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  Speaker 1: anointed than you, then it's kind of like a boast
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  Speaker 1: and something that I don't know what we're trying to say. Amen.
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  Speaker 1: Because I know that the word says we can't boast
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  Speaker 1: about a salvation. I will boast about the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
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  Speaker 1: About what he can do in the lives of every
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  Speaker 1: single person who says yes to him. But I shouldn't
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  Speaker 1: be boasting about what I'm doing. Amen. Because it's not
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  Speaker 1: about works. It's only by faith, right? Grace and faith.
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  Speaker 1: The gift of God is grace, faith in Jesus. Amen.
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  Speaker 1: As a matter of fact, a lot of people like
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  Speaker 1: to say, we're all children of God. False. Jesus is
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  Speaker 1: the only one who gives us the right to be
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  Speaker 1: called children of God. That's what the scripture says. And
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  Speaker 1: I know it sounds kind. After all, we're all children
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  Speaker 1: of God. It sounds like a kind thing to say,
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  Speaker 1: but it's not a biblical thing to say. Amen. And
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  Speaker 1: I know I've said it before and sometimes I still
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  Speaker 1: say it. We're all children of God, but I have
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  Speaker 1: to remind myself that's not the scripture. Amen. That's why
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  Speaker 1: it's always important to read your word daily. So that way,
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  Speaker 1: you know, you just learn more. God inspires you. You
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  Speaker 1: apply what you learn. Amen. In the word of God.
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  Speaker 1: And even if we find ourselves in places of error
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  Speaker 1: because we kind of misinterpreted what Jesus was trying to say,
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  Speaker 1: what the word is saying, it's okay. We could be
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  Speaker 1: corrected and we can move forward. So if you've been
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  Speaker 1: saying things for years and years and years and you're
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  Speaker 1: a pastor or you're a leader in your church, a bishop,
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  Speaker 1: an apostle or a prophet or an evangelist or a teacher,
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  Speaker 1: and you've been saying things over and over again for
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  Speaker 1: years that you finally realize that's not accurate biblically, go ahead,
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  Speaker 1: humble yourself and apologize. Correct yourself in front of the congregation,
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  Speaker 1: in front of your group. Amen. And move forward. It's okay.
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  Speaker 1: God knows that, you know, we don't always get it right.
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  Speaker 1: God knows for sure I don't always get it right.
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  Speaker 1: So Ephesians 2, 8 and 9 says it's by grace.
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  Speaker 1: Humbling experience to know that humbling knowledge of the scripture
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  Speaker 1: that is by grace that we're saved through faith. So
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  Speaker 1: you and I, we can't say we earned our salvation, right?
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  Speaker 1: By being good enough. Like how much good do you
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  Speaker 1: have to do or how good do you have to
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  Speaker 1: be to get saved? that's not an approach that will
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  Speaker 1: work because if you're saying, or if I'm saying that
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  Speaker 1: I was good enough for God to save me, then
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  Speaker 1: we're basically saying that we were good enough for God
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  Speaker 1: not to save me. In other words, we didn't need
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  Speaker 1: God's salvation. We didn't need Jesus to die on a cross.
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  Speaker 1: If we're saying we were already good, that's why the
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  Speaker 1: Lord's word says, none of us are good to remind
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  Speaker 1: us that, listen, there's only one who was good. And
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  Speaker 1: that is God. And Jesus said, was approached by someone
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  Speaker 1: that says, good teacher, right? Good rabbi. And Jesus said
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  Speaker 1: to the person, why are you calling me good? Only
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  Speaker 1: God is good. So either you're calling me good because
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  Speaker 1: you know I'm God, or you compare me to God,
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  Speaker 1: or you're saying that I am God, right? So either way,
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  Speaker 1: Jesus knew that this person that was calling him good
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  Speaker 1: was actually correct because God is good. And Jesus is good, right?
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  Speaker 1: So that makes Jesus God. You can't buy it, right?
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  Speaker 1: You can't buy your salvation. You can't work for salvation
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  Speaker 1: because we're not in a works-based relationship with God. God
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  Speaker 1: is not saying you have to do X, Y, Z
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  Speaker 1: in order for you to get into the kingdom when
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  Speaker 1: it comes to good works, good deeds. We're going to
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  Speaker 1: be doing good things because the Lord in us, by
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  Speaker 1: way of his Holy Spirit, is doing the good things
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  Speaker 1: through us. Amen? So that way I can boast about it.
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  Speaker 1: So yeah, I did this and I did that. Amen.
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  Speaker 1: The other day I was thinking about it and I
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  Speaker 1: was like, can I say what I'm doing in the
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  Speaker 1: background for people? And should I say what I'm doing
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  Speaker 1: in the background for people? Because at the same time,
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  Speaker 1: I'm not doing good all the time. So that helps
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  Speaker 1: me not to boast or to brag about, I did
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  Speaker 1: this and I did that. No, it's not going to
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  Speaker 1: work out. Amen. Because then people are going to search
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  Speaker 1: and look deeper and into things and then say, but yeah,
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  Speaker 1: but you also did X, Y, Z, right? So I
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  Speaker 1: don't want to play that game of good, like the
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  Speaker 1: scales of how much good I did, how much good
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  Speaker 1: you did, and then weighed in scales to see who
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  Speaker 1: has more favor with god or who could get saved
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  Speaker 1: quicker i'm not going to play that game and i
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  Speaker 1: hope i hope you're not going to play that game
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  Speaker 1: either so we didn't earn our salvation by being good
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  Speaker 1: enough we can't buy it we can't work for it
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  Speaker 1: right we can't achieve things through our own strength and
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  Speaker 1: say now we're saved no salvation is It's God's gift.
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  Speaker 1: It's God's idea. It's God's promise. It's God's revelation. It's
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  Speaker 1: God's truth. It's God's love. It's God's grace. It's God's mercy. Amen?
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  Speaker 1: It's God's word received through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
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  Speaker 1: I think that's the proper way that we should see
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  Speaker 1: it because if we're saying that we have to do
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  Speaker 1: something to gain access to the kingdom of God, then
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  Speaker 1: we're actually saying that we're part of a religion, that
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  Speaker 1: if you don't follow the religion, and the traditions of
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  Speaker 1: the religion, then we can't get to heaven. That's very religious. No,
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  Speaker 1: we should have a relationship with the living, holy, loving,
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  Speaker 1: righteous God. Through the Lord Jesus Christ gives us full
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  Speaker 1: access to the kingdom of God. Amen. And Jesus makes
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  Speaker 1: us right with the Father. That's why he said, quote,
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  Speaker 1: I am the way, the truth, and the life. No
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  Speaker 1: one could come to the Father except through me. The
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  Speaker 1: Lord Jesus said that. That means our past, because we
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  Speaker 1: all have a past, that means our past doesn't have
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  Speaker 1: the final word. Our past does not have the final word.
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  Speaker 1: You know who has the final word? God. His love
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  Speaker 1: for us has the final word. So we could say
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  Speaker 1: that our mistakes are going to disqualify us. We could
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  Speaker 1: say that and we could put self-guilts and self-shame on ourselves.
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  Speaker 1: But it's not about our performance, right? I was reading
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  Speaker 1: some comments of some people that were at a conference,
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  Speaker 1: and they were saying, this person tore down a house,
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  Speaker 1: and this person did this, and, you know, praise God.
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  Speaker 1: But it wasn't really these people that were doing these
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  Speaker 1: things if they came with a good heart and a
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  Speaker 1: right heart towards the Lord. It was actually the Lord
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  Speaker 1: Jesus working through these ministers to get his message out
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  Speaker 1: then the Spirit of God, right, applies that message to
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  Speaker 1: the hearts of the people who are willing to receive.
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  Speaker 1: So it would be better if we would say, God
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  Speaker 1: used XYZ. God used that person, this person, to bring
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  Speaker 1: glory to Him. Because once we get into performance mode, amen,
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  Speaker 1: we're going to be thinking, or we're going to be
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  Speaker 1: trying to qualify people by their performance. Oh, this person
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  Speaker 1: preached so good last week, and this preacher is a
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  Speaker 1: better preacher. This person It's this, that, and the third,
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  Speaker 1: and it becomes competitive. And that shouldn't be in the
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  Speaker 1: kingdom of God. It shouldn't be in the church of God. Amen.
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  Speaker 1: We should always be giving glory to God. Now, of course,
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  Speaker 1: we could recognize, amen, the anointing on people. Praise the Lord.
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  Speaker 1: But we have to remember, I have to remember, that
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  Speaker 1: it was by grace and faith in the Lord Jesus
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  Speaker 1: Christ that we could do anything for the kingdom of God,
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  Speaker 1: that we could do anything good. So I think that's
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  Speaker 1: a better way. That way, the younger believer or the
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  Speaker 1: seeker of God It doesn't start looking at people before
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  Speaker 1: they start searching for the Lord Jesus. Look for the
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  Speaker 1: Lord Jesus in me. If you're part of This Morning Devo,
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  Speaker 1: if you're part of Soul Winners Inc., if you listen
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  Speaker 1: to the radio, look for Jesus in the ministry. Look
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  Speaker 1: for Jesus in me. Don't look for me in me.
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  Speaker 1: Don't look for me in the ministry. Don't look for
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  Speaker 1: me in the church. Look for what the Lord is
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  Speaker 1: doing through me or through you and for people. Amen?
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  Speaker 1: For others. It's Jesus first, others, then me. For Jesus first,
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  Speaker 1: others than you, right? We have the joy of the Lord,
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  Speaker 1: which is our strength. Apart from that, we're not really
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  Speaker 1: doing nothing. Apart from that, we're not really saying anything, right?
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  Speaker 1: Give God the glory. So today, we have right now, right? Stop.
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  Speaker 1: Stop trying to prove that you are worthy of what
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  Speaker 1: God has already offered you. I need to stop what
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  Speaker 1: I'm doing and realize that God offered me a tremendous gift.
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  Speaker 1: I have to do that daily. Remind myself, wait, it's
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  Speaker 1: not what I'm doing. It's about what the Lord has done.
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  Speaker 1: So I need to fight. At least personally, this is
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  Speaker 1: what I have to fight for the Lord to use me. Amen?
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  Speaker 1: And get out of His way and let the Lord
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  Speaker 1: do what the Lord wants to do through me. Let
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  Speaker 1: the Lord do what the Lord wants to do through
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  Speaker 1: you as well. Stop. Don't get in the way. Amen?
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  Speaker 1: Realize that if it's not by the grace of God,
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  Speaker 1: if it wasn't for the grace of God, we would
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  Speaker 1: be stuck in things doing things that we should not
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  Speaker 1: be doing, amen? So stop trying to prove that you
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  Speaker 1: are worthy of what God has already offered you through
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  Speaker 1: the Lord Jesus, right? Just receive, like cling on to him,
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  Speaker 1: hold his hand, apply what needs to be applied in
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  Speaker 1: your life, amen? Receive his grace, walk in faith, and
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  Speaker 1: let your life, let your life, let your life become
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  Speaker 1: a response of gratitude that you're so thankful for But
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  Speaker 1: what Jesus has done, when somebody sees you walking around thankful,
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  Speaker 1: they're going to know that there's been a change in
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  Speaker 1: your life. Thalia, God bless you. Good morning. Welcome to
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  Speaker 1: the morning, my sister, my friend. So, yeah, walk humbly. Amen.
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  Speaker 1: Humility is powerful. I know the world system says, oh, look,
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  Speaker 1: that person looks so in need of God. You know,
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  Speaker 1: that's the world says that's weakness. And the scripture says, no,
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  Speaker 1: that's power unto salvation. Right? Don't be ashamed of the gospel.
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  Speaker 1: That's power unto salvation. And it could lead others, amen,
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  Speaker 1: to the Lord. It could lead others to the Lord.
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  Speaker 1: So be useful for the kingdom of God. So stop
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  Speaker 1: trying to prove yourself. You don't work for salvation. Amen?
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  Speaker 1: I wish I had an echo chamber so we could say, we, we, we, don't, don't,
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  Speaker 1: don't work for salvation, right? We don't work for salvation.
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  Speaker 1: You live from salvation. So it's not a work-based salvation. religion,
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  Speaker 1: a work-based situation. You don't work for salvation. You live
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  Speaker 1: from salvation. Because you and I are saved, because you
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  Speaker 1: and I are born again, amen, we could do things
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  Speaker 1: that are valuable for the kingdom of God. And if
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  Speaker 1: we're doing the Lord's work and we have a kingdom mindset,
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  Speaker 1: people will want to know who we serve. They want
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  Speaker 1: to know who our God is. So many gods in
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  Speaker 1: the world, right? Scripture confirms that. People are following other
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  Speaker 1: gods of the land, idols, and they're worshiping the creation
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  Speaker 1: more than they worship the creator. We see it still.
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  Speaker 1: The scripture said it in the old covenant, amen, says
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  Speaker 1: it in the new covenant, and we're actually seeing it
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  Speaker 1: with our own eyes, how people are doing idol worship
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  Speaker 1: because of their religion, because of their tradition, because how
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  Speaker 1: they were raised. Jesus don't honor that. God does not
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  Speaker 1: honor that, amen? Holy Spirit is not leading us to
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  Speaker 1: an idol. Holy Spirit is not leading us to a religion.
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  Speaker 1: Holy Spirit is leading us to the truth. And the
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  Speaker 1: truth is only found through the Lord Jesus Christ. He
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  Speaker 1: says he is the truth. Amen? So listen, people don't
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  Speaker 1: really have issues with Christians. They really have issues with
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  Speaker 1: the Christ of the Christians. Amen? With the God of
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  Speaker 1: the Christians. So although I take it personal when people
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  Speaker 1: talk about this and they talk about that, Talk about
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  Speaker 1: the scriptures. I take it personal because I know that's
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  Speaker 1: not true. And as many people go around with the
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  Speaker 1: lack of knowledge or understanding of the scriptures, they gravitate
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  Speaker 1: to the people who are just mocking God. And it
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: seems like the cool thing to do. Let's celebrate Halloween.
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  Speaker 1: Let's celebrate darkness. Let's mock God. Amen? You start seeing
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  Speaker 1: all these posts about people putting up the devil sign
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  Speaker 1: and devilish things and saying that they're this and they're that.
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: But I'd rather... You know, and hopefully you'd rather say, well,
• 18:09
  Speaker 1: I don't do that. I'm not part of that darkness.
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: I'm part of the family of God. I'm part of
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: the faith of the kingdom. I'm part of what God
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: is doing. Amen. And I'm walking in light, not in darkness. Now,
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: we used to. That's why we can't boast about our
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: salvation because we used to be walking in darkness. But
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: God took us out of that darkness and brought us
• 18:32
  Speaker 1: into his marvelous light. So we can boast about what
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: God has done. And I don't think we should be
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: boasting about what we're doing. Amen. At least that's what
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: I'm looking at, at the scripture. That's how I'm taking
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: and receiving it. It's by grace that I've been saved
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: and that you've been saved. Not through works. We're saved
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: through faith. And it is not from ourselves. It is
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: the gift of God. So it's by grace and faith
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: in the Lord Jesus Christ. I mean, you could try
• 19:03
  Speaker 1: a different way. I think you'll be wasting your time.
• 19:06
  Speaker 1: If we try the way of the Lord, amen, and
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: we go by his way, I think we'll be satisfied completely.
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: Our soul will be satisfied, transformed, renewed. Brother John, God
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: bless you. Good morning. Have a good day. Hopefully your
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: day is starting off good. In Jesus' name, amen. Thank
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: you for coming through. So listen. So again, you don't
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: work for your salvation, not workspace. It's from salvation itself.
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: that we see things. It's from salvation how we move
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: and how we live. It's from salvation of what we're
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: doing today, realizing that we need to stay humble, be humble,
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: stay ready, get ready, and stay ready, get ready, stay ready, amen,
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Because one day,
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: he's going to crack open the sky and come back
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: for the church, right? He's with us now by way
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: of his Holy Spirit. I also realize that one day,
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: I'm not going to be in the studio clicking live
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: stream and recording this or going live because I won't
• 20:03
  Speaker 1: be here, amen? So it's very humbling. All of this
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: humbles me, amen, knowing that I can't boast about What
• 20:10
  Speaker 1: I'm doing in this time of third, it's only a
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: gift of God that I'm here by the gift of God.
• 20:15
  Speaker 1: You're here. Amen. And it's by his grace and faith
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: in him. Christ alone. Right. So. And it's good for
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: us to be humbled that way, because this world promotes,
• 20:28
  Speaker 1: you know, autonomy, like do it all by yourself. You
• 20:31
  Speaker 1: don't need nothing. You don't need no God. You don't
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: need no religion. You don't need no faith. Just do
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: what you do. If that's your truth, the world has
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: this relativism going on. This world has all these ideas
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: that are anti-Scripture. And people gravitate to that because they
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: feel like, hey, that's the right thing to do. Millions
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: of people are doing it that way, so therefore that
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: must be right. People are into numbers, especially because of
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: social media. All of a sudden, we're looking for likes
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: and validation through a platform that just puts up numbers.
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: on the screen, and the greater the number, the more
• 21:11
  Speaker 1: valid people are. That's what social media teaches, but the
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: scriptures say the least of these, the least of those.
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: God will use the least of those, right? The first
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: will be last, and the last will be first. God's
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: word actually teaches opposite of what the world system is teaching. Therefore,
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: to me, it makes me more curious of why people
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: are doing Why people really do what they do that
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: are anti-biblical? Is it because of popularity? Is it because
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: they don't know how to be on their own, like
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: truly be on their own with the Lord and just
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: be on your journey of salvation? Amen. Or are they
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: trying to work their way to be validated by God?
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: Or they're working their way to be validated by their peers?
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: You know, it's called peer pressure. People think that peer
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: pressure is only for kids in school. No, peer pressure
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: goes from the time you have, you know, start having
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: friends to maybe near your grave. You'll be pressured all
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: through your life to do other things that oppose what
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: God wants us to do. But thank God for his grace, right?
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: I always say it. If it wasn't because of God's grace,
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: I think this would be curtains for me. Amen? It's
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: the grace of God, his amazing grace. Because when I
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: tell you, You know too, right? If you experience this grace,
• 22:33
  Speaker 1: if you're saved, you know it's by grace that we're saved.
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: His grace is next level. Me as a human being,
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: as a man, I'm like, I don't know how God
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: could do this. Because he's God. His ways are not
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: like our ways. His thoughts are not like our thoughts.
• 22:53
  Speaker 1: He's God. He's God all by himself. Yet he revealed
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: himself to his creation. Amen. Amen. That's an act of
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: love and kindness and grace and mercy. An almighty, all-powerful
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: God revealing himself to his creation. That was by his
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: choice because he wanted a relationship with his creation. He
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: didn't want a religion or a tradition. He didn't want
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: to be so like outside of our reality. No, he
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: came into the world. He dwelt among us. Amen. So
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: now we have the gift of God. We have the savior.
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: We have the leader. We have the father. Amen. We
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: have three persons, one God. Amen. And the perfect example
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: by way of the Lord Jesus Christ. So we of
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: all people should be honored and be thankful that the
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: Lord Jesus showed up and opened our heart and opened
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: our eyes and opened up our ears to hear his word.
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: So our faith, our filth is gone because we're cleaned
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: by the blood of Jesus from all unrighteousness. But our
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: faith increases, right? Because like I said the other time,
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: we are clean because people say, I got to clean
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: my act up before I go to church or before
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: I serve the Lord. I have to clean myself up. No,
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: that's not what the scripture says. Come as you are.
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: He will do the cleaning himself. Amen. The closeness of
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: God is by way of his Holy Spirit, his word. Amen.
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: Spending time with him, devoting, setting apart Jesus Christ in
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: your heart, the Bible says. Setting time to be in
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: the word, meditate on the word day and night, the
• 24:39
  Speaker 1: scripture says. You're chosen, right? We spoke about that last time.
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: God chose us and we're called. Many are called, few
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: are chosen, the scripture says. So we're called to do
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: what we're doing. So some people want to follow their
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: call more than they follow the Christ that called them.
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: So we have to keep this all in order. We
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: have to do what the Lord says first. Put his
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: priority first. Make him priority. You know, Jesus' last commandment
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: should be our first priority, and his last commandment was
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: to go and preach the gospel and disciple people, right?
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: Go to the ends of the earth and don't have
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: any fear because he's going to be with us even
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: to the end of the age. He'll be with us everywhere. Amen?
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: So Jesus' last commandment should be our first priority. But
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: in the meantime, listen, not everybody wants to go and
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: share because they're intimidated by what others say, their opinions.
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: But we get through that. That's why we need each other.
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: If somebody feels like, I don't know what to say,
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: and I'm afraid, they might reject me, it's all good.
• 25:49
  Speaker 1: They're not really rejecting what we're saying or us. Personally,
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: they're rejecting the Lord Jesus Christ, which is a sad
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: thing to see right in front of us, right? To
• 25:59
  Speaker 1: see someone actually rejecting the gift of God, actually rejecting
• 26:05
  Speaker 1: the forgiveness of God, rejecting the grace of God, rejecting
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: the faith in God. People do that. But listen, I
• 26:12
  Speaker 1: used to be one of those people. So I have
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: compassion towards these people, amen, that are out there in
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: the streets and they're homeless and they're addicted to drugs
• 26:23
  Speaker 1: or whatever the situation is, I have compassion. Why? Because
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: that could have been me. That could have been you.
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: So we humble ourselves and we know it's not by
• 26:31
  Speaker 1: our works that we could say that we're something, but no,
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: it's the gift of God. It's grace. Amen. It's not
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: by our works. So none of us could boast. So
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: it's a humbling scripture. I'm seeing this over and over
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: again as something that will keep me humble and keep
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: you humble. Amen. Amen. So thank God every day for
• 26:52
  Speaker 1: a new day. Amen. His days that he created for us. Amen.
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: He has something in there that we need to learn
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: in today. Good or bad. And people say, what do
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: you mean bad? God doesn't do bad things. No, he doesn't.
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: He's all good all the time. But we know we
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: live in a broken system. We live in a broken world.
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: So therefore, bad has an opportunity to show up in
• 27:16
  Speaker 1: our lives. Bad has an opportunity to show up on
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: my life. What about you, right? But when those bad
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: things happen, we go to the good things of God.
• 27:25
  Speaker 1: We are reminded of how good God is. So therefore,
• 27:28
  Speaker 1: when people see a born-again believer going through struggles, pain, loss,
• 27:33
  Speaker 1: they could also see the joy of the Lord still
• 27:35
  Speaker 1: in us. The joy of the Lord still remains. So
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: we lose a loved one. We don't mourn like the
• 27:42
  Speaker 1: world mourns because the world doesn't have any hope. We
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: mourn like people who have hope. Because there is hope
• 27:48
  Speaker 1: in the Lord Jesus Christ. Especially when your loved one
• 27:51
  Speaker 1: is a born-again believer. Amen. We know, amen, that we
• 27:55
  Speaker 1: will see them again. But a person who dies without
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: Christ gets mourned. And we cry and we ask God, wow,
• 28:04
  Speaker 1: could you have had this person saved at his last breath?
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: We don't know. Amen. So there's uncertainty there. Dahlia says,
• 28:13
  Speaker 1: if you are on later, I'll get on. Have a
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: great morning. I'm going to sleep. Amen. Go to sleep.
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: You can watch this later on as a repeat. Amen.
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: Rewind the tape. Sister Nicole, God bless you. Good morning.
• 28:28
  Speaker 1: The Bible says we will go through trials, but God
• 28:31
  Speaker 1: will always be by our side during those times. Yes,
• 28:34
  Speaker 1: he's always there. Amen. Thank you so much, Sister Nicole,
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: for reminding us. He's always there. And that's true. And
• 28:41
  Speaker 1: that's the truth for God's word. So I'm out of time.
• 28:43
  Speaker 1: Thank you so much for hanging out with me for
• 28:45
  Speaker 1: this morning, Devo. If you missed portions of this, you
• 28:48
  Speaker 1: can rewind the tape or you can subscribe to the
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: podcast and get the app. So that way you could
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: take us everywhere. Amen. With you. So God bless you all.
• 28:57
  Speaker 1: Thank you so much for hanging out with me. It's
• 28:59
  Speaker 1: an honor and privilege. Amen. You know, this is like
• 29:03
  Speaker 1: a lifeline for me. Amen. Hopefully it's a lifeline for you.
• 29:07
  Speaker 1: Not what I'm doing. Amen. It's what the word could
• 29:09
  Speaker 1: do in our lives and our hearts. God bless you all.
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: God keep you whole. And remember always that God is good. Peace.