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June 15 - Growing in Faith · The Daily Ripples Podcast

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  Welcome back to the Daily Ripples podcast. Today is Monday, June the 15th.
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  I'm Pastor Mike, and I have with us Corey again today, and we're going to dive
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  right in with our entry titled Growing in Faith, The Stone.
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  Faith begins as small as a mustard seed. It does not often arrive have fully
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  formed, but grows through experience, trust, and openness.
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  Ripple 1. Practical.
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  Today, I will not reject what I do not fully understand. I will stay open,
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  ask questions, and remain willing to grow.
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  Progress often begins with simple trust before deeper conviction develops. Ripple 2. Spiritual.
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  As I seek the Father, even with
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  limited understanding, the Holy Spirit patiently builds faith within me.
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  Following Christ, I move from uncertainty to trust.
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  Over time, what once felt distant becomes personal, and faith becomes a steady foundation for life.
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  And as always, we will save our prayer for the end of the episode.
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  The main thing that, you know, or the thought or the concept,
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  you know, that this one is built around is that.
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  My faith is never stagnant. You know, I mean, the faith that I have today is
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  not the same as the faith that I had yesterday.
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  It certainly was not the same as the faith that I had when I first got sober,
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  you know, those 13 plus years ago, because,
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  the more that I experience, the more that I practice trusting or relying upon
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  my higher power, the more that faith grows and forms in me. So my faith gets stronger over time.
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  And it's not just with the passage of time either, because what I get out of
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  this faith is a product of what I'm willing to put into it and how much I'm
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  willing to practice it as well.
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  And not saying that I have to earn it, I'm not saying that at all,
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  but the more that I listen to what God is wanting me to do and the more that
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  I follow what God is wanting me to do,
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  the more that I just have a working understanding day by day of the presence
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  and the activity of God in my life.
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  And if I can see and feel the presence and the activity of God in my life,
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  then I can see and feel the presence and activity of God in your life as well, Corey.
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  And if I can see it in your life, man, I can see it in anybody's. I'm kidding.
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  But I mean that though. And that's what makes me more empathetic and compassionate
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  with other people is that I practice these things.
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  I show up every day. I say my prayers to start the day. You know,
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  as you've talked about a lot, you know, with your routine, I spend time in meditation,
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  which is, to me, just the other side of prayer, listening for what,
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  you know, God would have to say to me.
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  I read and I study on things about this life of faith.
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  And all of it is not just so that I can be some, you know, guru or high holy
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  roller, but it is so that I can be of more help to somebody else,
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  you know, that God places in my path. But anyway, that's where I start with this one. You know, I...
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  I was thinking, you know, I like how you put as I seek the Father.
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  But I think a lot of these you put as I seek the Father.
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  Yeah. But, you know, I think that is, I was sitting in a group not too long
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  ago and they were talking about work and their life, work, work.
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  And like, you know, doing this and this and talking about character defense on that.
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  And, man, I think, you know, I like the word watch a little bit better.
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  But, you know, because I need to be vigilant in my life.
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  You know, not just, you know, through my life. Like, you know,
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  if I go, I got to be vigilant in my life, but I got to be vigilant every second.
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  And I'm not, you know, I'm not perfect. I'm not a guru. Right.
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  I'm just, I'm just. Me either, by the way. So, yeah.
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  But, you know, I, and it is like, you know, but I find, you know,
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  when I was thinking of listening to what you were talking about and going in
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  a completely different direction than I was,
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  you know, when I, when I do learn, like when I do seek and whatever seek means
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  to somebody you know seek is it can have a very you know array of different
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  thoughts but like you know am
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  i am i getting on my knees in the morning am i starting my day that way am i
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  doing my readings this this am i getting quiet,
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  but you know there's literature in these you know because it says this is our
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  basic text and the bible different things of seeking out information,
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  i had like a come like i remember i was sitting in a uh.
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  I was sitting at 201 in the suicide cell, and I remember sitting there,
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  and, you know, man, I don't know if I've ever told you this,
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  but, you know, in that cell, you had to, you had, you know, you had to be naked in there.
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  Then you got, you just got like a little, like, it was like a life jacket.
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  It looked like a life jacket.
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  And you could either use that as like, kind of put your back on a little bit
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  or kind of cover up your stomach, and that's all you had.
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  And but you know so i was in there for two or three i think three weeks in that
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  part and then they moved me to other people but i'll you know i was sitting
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  in that room and thinking to myself.
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  I don't have there's no way of coming up with new information any information
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  i have is all the information i have this is it,
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  this is what i have it's not like you can come up with new thoughts because
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  it's quiet in there too there's nothing and it's not fun,
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  and but you know but you know So today, man, I like to seek out information.
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  I like to seek out more.
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  And that more thing is, it's a constant thing, and I hope it stays a constant
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  thing because I don't know what that looks like when it's not because I continuously
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  want to learn more. I continuously want to grow.
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  But, you know, it says right here, it says, today I will not reject what I do not fully understand.
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  And man, you know, to think if I understood anything and like,
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  you know, because I understand a little bit, but, you know, I really don't.
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  Because if we're talking about things I'm going to reject, I might reject,
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  you know, we had to go pick up my son today and, you know, he's not been on
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  the best terms. And a significant other called me and she goes,
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  what happens if he's not there?
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  And I said you come back home and,
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  we give him to the streets he's only 12 but I was messing around but I was like
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  come back home because she's like working herself up the whole way there I can
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  tell she's got some anger now because now she's played in her head he's not going to be there,
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  this this and this she's already planned it ahead and I was like just leave
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  and come back don't worry about it she's like but you know he's 12 I was like,
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  but, you know, what are you going to do?
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  And, you know, so that's the whole deal with fears and resentments,
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  you know, playing them over constantly until they build up into a big thing.
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  And, you know, I was going to say the B word, but that's not,
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  let's not use that on, let's not use that on the air.
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  But, you know, and one more thing, you know, I think, I don't know if you pulled
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  up Psalms 34, 18, but it says, the Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves
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  those who are crushed in spirit.
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  And, you know, I think about a lot of that, you know, especially with where
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  we hang out in, you know, there's the meetings and all that stuff,
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  you know, and seeing the light come into these brokenhearted,
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  you know, people that, you know, had no hope.
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  And now they got more hope than anybody in the world. And it's the coolest thing
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  in the world. What were you thinking?
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  Well, I was thinking about, you know, that in my life, the growing in the faith has been a matter of.
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  You know, constantly, you kind of touched on this a little bit,
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  constantly having questions, wanting to learn, wanting to go deeper,
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  wanting to, you know, not letting that initial kind of mustard seed of faith,
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  if you will, not letting that remain untended.
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  So like, yeah, you got that mustard seed of faith. And sure,
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  it is, you know, the growth and
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  the harvest of the faith within us is the work of the Holy Spirit in us.
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  But we have an innate sense of curiosity. And that's why so many people try
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  to understand, you know, the exact nature of God. And a lot of people form very
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  strong opinions on the exact nature of God and what God is and what God isn't.
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  And all I can tell you for sure is that God is not me. But, you know,
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  I am, and I can also tell you for sure that God is love.
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  And so anybody who comes out, you know, with a message to me that they say is
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  from God, if it doesn't sound like love, then the Holy Spirit tells me,
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  hey, you need to question that.
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  You need to question that. If it's not coming from a place of love,
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  then it's probably not coming from God. It's probably coming from something else.
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  But I was thinking about the power in just trusting that God's got me and God's
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  going to take care of me, no matter what this life may throw at me.
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  We talked about it, I think just yesterday, about having that calm in the middle
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  of a storm, you know, that I get from staying close to Jesus, you know, for me.
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  And I was talking a couple of days ago about, you know, one of the passages
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  in the Bible that kind of struck me as funny, you know,
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  where God was kind of saying, you know, if you're coming to me to ask for something,
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  don't be bringing no baggage of being mad at somebody else, you know,
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  go clear that up before you come, you know, to the place of worship.
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  And Jesus often was kind of funny. And I was thinking of another one. This is in Mark.
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  Chapter 9, and it's one of the most, you may not think of it as a prayer when
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  you first read it, but it's just one of the most honest prayers that are there.
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  And in Mark 9, we read about the story of a man who wanted some help for his son.
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  His son was mute. He was speechless, you know, from demon possessing him that
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  would seize him and throw him to the ground. He would bone with the mouth, grind his teeth.
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  And then, and the father, you know, said that, and this is in verse 22,
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  I believe, and I'm reading from the message, but the father says,
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  well, if you can do anything, do it, you know, have a heart and help us, you know.
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  And Jesus said, if, there are no ifs among believers, anything can happen.
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  And no sooner were the words out of his mouth than the father cried,
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  well, then I believe, help me with my doubts.
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  Or in a lot of versions, it says, I do so believe, help my unbelief.
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  And that help my unbelief or help with my doubts, that's one of the most honest
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  prayers of Scripture from that man, because he's basically praying that Jesus
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  will help me with my doubts and with my lack of faith.
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  And for me, whenever I have that time of doubt, that time of lack of faith,
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  that's where my growth in faith comes or starts, if you will.
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  The first thing I have to do is admit to God that I have doubts,
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  that I have questions. You know, so many times growing up in the church tradition
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  that I did, I was taught not to question God or not to question the faith,
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  that it is what it is, and you just believe it and you carry on.
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  Well, God gave us minds to think for a reason. You know, I mean,
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  God created me this way to have that questioning and questing mind, you might say.
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  And so one of the most honest things that I can do is go to God and say,
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  God, I don't really understand where you're taking me on this.
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  I don't understand the purpose or the point of what I'm going through?
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  Can you help me out a little bit?
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  Nine times out of 10, I will be provided answers in some way,
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  shape, form, or fashion.
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  Yeah, that's always a fun place to be, though, right?
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  You know, like, because, you know, I'll come to that crossroads a lot of times,
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  right? You know, and I say similar prayer, you know, and, you know,
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  it's so crazy, you know, because, like, you know, your mind will be going everywhere.
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  And then, like, you know, you just stop. And I think, you know,
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  you could relate it to, oh, I do relate it to page 84, right?
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  It's like we ask God at once.
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  So I'm bringing God into the situation at once. And I talked about this before,
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  but, you know, and I think it's a practice with that because,
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  like, I'm not, I don't do it.
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  Like, you know, but the first thing I want to do is, like, think of a cuss word.
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  I think of this, right? You know, but, you know, it says bring God into it at once.
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  And then I talk to somebody, you know, and that's a man, that's something that I got to work on better.
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  I mean, you know, I just don't, you know, I'm not, I'm not going to people with
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  my problems. Most of the time, I'm going to call them and check on their problems.
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  And because I think I just, for some reason, I skipped that part sometimes and
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  I resolutely turn my thoughts to someone I can help.
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  And I got to do better about bringing other people into some situations a little
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  bit more so I can get another perspective as well.
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  But, you know, I did like the progress often begins when the simple trust with
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  simple trust before deeper convictions develop. And I think that's,
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  you know, a testament of like, you know, what we've seen in our lives. Right.
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  And that hope that, you know, if God's, you know, if God's got me and which
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  God's got me, you know, and he's got me this far, anything else,
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  everything and anything is possible at that point.
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  But, Alan, you got anything else?
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  Well, I was thinking about just one last thought or word.
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  You know, you mentioned or you pointed out, you know, when I first read this,
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  that the line in the spiritual ripple, as I seek the Father,
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  you know, even with limited understanding, the Holy Spirit patiently builds faith within me.
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  And, of course, that reminds us, as always, of the passage out of the big book.
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  And I can't remember the exact page number, but the big book says,
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  we found that God does not make too hard terms with those who seek him.
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  And it's just been true, you know, in my life. Now, I say all that,
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  and then somebody listening may say, well, what do you mean God doesn't make
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  too hard a terms? You went seeking him, and now you're a pastor.
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  I don't want to go that route. And what I'll say is God calls and equips each of us differently.
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  And so God has a plan and a purpose for your life, if you're listening,
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  that looks nothing like his plan and purpose for mine and probably looks nothing
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  like the plan and purpose God has for Corey.
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  But what it will look like is God's plan and purpose for your life.
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  And you'll find this as you grow in faith, is that to be in love with God and
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  to act and serve in love toward others. Right.
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  So anyway, let me close this out with our prayer today. Corey,
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  you've been doing good with those so far. Father, grow my faith day by day.
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  Through your Spirit, guide me from uncertainty to trust and help me walk in
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  the truth and relationship offered through your Son. Amen.
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  What do you mean doing good with the prayer so far, Michael?
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  I think in this run of three days, you've read every prayer in some kind of
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  way, and it's fine. Yeah, no, it's not a critique.
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  That's all I meant. I was just messing with...