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Today's Word 02-18-26 From Ashes to Awakening · The Early Morning Praise Party w/ Sherry Mackey

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  Speaker 1: Nobody, and I do mean nobody. Does it like your
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  Speaker 1: early warning? Praise party with me, your girl, Sherry Mackie.
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  Speaker 1: It's time right now for today's word. From ashes to Awakening,
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  Speaker 1: From Ashes to Awakening, Joel two twelve and thirteen says,
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  Speaker 1: return to me with all your heart, with fasting and
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  Speaker 1: weeping and mourning, for He is gracious and compassionate, slow
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  Speaker 1: to anger, and abounding in love. You know. Ash Wednesday
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  Speaker 1: marks the beginning of the Linton season, a sacred invitation
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  Speaker 1: to pause, reflect, and realign our hearts with God. The
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  Speaker 1: ashes placed on our foreheads are not meant to shame us,
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  Speaker 1: but to remind us. They remind us of our humanity,
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  Speaker 1: of our frailty, of our deep need for God. From
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  Speaker 1: dust you came, and to dust you will return. If
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  Speaker 1: it's not a message of despair, it is a call
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  Speaker 1: to humility. It's God gently saying, remember who you are
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  Speaker 1: and remember who I am. In a world that celebrates strength,
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  Speaker 1: success and self sufficiency, Ash Wednesday whispers a different message.
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  Speaker 1: You don't have to have it all together to be
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  Speaker 1: close to God. You don't have to be perfect, You
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  Speaker 1: just have to be honest. Len is not about pretending
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  Speaker 1: to be holy. It's about allowing God to make us whole.
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  Speaker 1: The ashes represent repentance, but repentance is not about punishment.
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  Speaker 1: It's about transformation. It's not just turning away from sin,
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  Speaker 1: but turning back toward God. It's an inward reset, if
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  Speaker 1: you will, a heart check, a spiritual detox. It's asking
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  Speaker 1: God what in me needs to change? What attitudes, what happens?
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  Speaker 1: What relationships are hidden? Sins are quietly pulling me away
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  Speaker 1: from you. See Ash Wednesday reminds us that real growth
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  Speaker 1: often begins with brokenness. God specializes in using ashes to
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  Speaker 1: create beauty. He takes what feels empty, dry, or lifeless
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  Speaker 1: and breathes new life into it. The same God who
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  Speaker 1: formed Adam from dust still forms purpose out of weakness,
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  Speaker 1: hope out of sorrow, and strength out of surrender. Lent
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  Speaker 1: is not about giving something up just to prove discipline.
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  Speaker 1: It's about making room for more of God. Less distraction,
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  Speaker 1: less pride, less noise, more prayer, more presence, more listening,
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  Speaker 1: more intimacy with God. Sometimes the greatest fast isn't food.
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  Speaker 1: It's fasting from bitterness. It's fasting from resentment. It's fasting
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  Speaker 1: from comparison, from unforgiveness from self reliance. Lsh Wednesday asks
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  Speaker 1: a powerful question, what are you carrying that God is
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  Speaker 1: asking you to release? Is it guilt? Is it controlled,
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  Speaker 1: a secret struggle, an old wound. God is not asking
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  Speaker 1: you to carry it through this season. He's inviting you
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  Speaker 1: to lay it down. As the cross of ashes fade
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  Speaker 1: from our dark skin or our skin, the work God
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  Speaker 1: does and our hearts is meant to remain. This season
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  Speaker 1: is about renewal, not routine, about awakening, not religion, about
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  Speaker 1: coming back to the simplicity of faith, a heart fully
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  Speaker 1: surrendered to God who is rich in mercy. You may
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  Speaker 1: feel like you're starting Lent tired, overwhelmed, or spiritually dry,
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  Speaker 1: but that's exactly where God does his best work, because
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  Speaker 1: when all you have left is God, you discover God
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  Speaker 1: is all you ever needed anyway, Oh Father God, in
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  Speaker 1: the name of Jesus, on this ash Wednesday, we come
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  Speaker 1: before you with humble hearts. We acknowledge our need for you,
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  Speaker 1: our weaknesses in our areas that need healings, search us,
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  Speaker 1: cleanse us and renew us. God create in us a
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  Speaker 1: clean heart and restore our passion for you. As we
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  Speaker 1: walk through this Linden season. God, help us to release
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  Speaker 1: what doesn't belong and embrace what draws us closer to you.
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  Speaker 1: Turn our ashes into beauty, our brokenness into purpose, and
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  Speaker 1: our surrender into strength. And Jesus' name. Now, that's your
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  Speaker 1: word for today. Take it applied to your everyday life,
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  Speaker 1: and you continue to be encouraged and inspired. It is
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  Speaker 1: your early Bdding praise party. I am Sherry Mackie.