Latest / Time with God with John North / Growing Closer To God Through Intentional Relationships Pt. 5

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Growing Closer To God Through Intentional Relationships Pt. 5 · Time with God with John North

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Good morning. We're finishing up a great week together, and
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  Speaker 1: each weekday morning we've been talking about this topic of
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  Speaker 1: growing closer to God through intentional relationships. And let me
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  Speaker 1: just say, if you're listening and you don't yet have
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  Speaker 1: a meaningful relationship with God.
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  Speaker 1: You don't yet know what it is to be born again,
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  Speaker 1: to know Jesus personally in your life. Then you can
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  Speaker 1: grow closer to God through intentional relationships as well, and
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  Speaker 1: I encourage you to just make it obvious to a
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  Speaker 1: Christian that you know that you want to know more.
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  Speaker 1: Ask them, how do you start a relationship with God?
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  Speaker 1: What does it mean to be born again.
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  Speaker 1: Uh, how can I have a relationship with Jesus? What
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  Speaker 1: is that all about? Just ask some questions and you'll
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  Speaker 1: find God revealing Himself to you through that Christian or
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  Speaker 1: through something they may give you to read or look at.
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  Speaker 1: But as we speak to the Christians here listening today,
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  Speaker 1: we're talking about growing closer to God through intentional relationships,
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  Speaker 1: and I just want to finish this week with a
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  Speaker 1: challenge to you.
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  Speaker 1: That in your life, you need to learn to be
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  Speaker 1: proactive rather than reactive. Proactive rather than reactive. Well, it's
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  Speaker 1: a simple concept. We probably all have heard of these
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  Speaker 1: terms before, and we know what that means. To be
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  Speaker 1: proactive means you take the initiative. To be reactive means
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  Speaker 1: you just wait for things to happen and you react
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  Speaker 1: to them. There's a big difference, isn't there?
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  Speaker 1: And there's a big difference in the way that you
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  Speaker 1: live your life. When you encounter a proactive person, you know,
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  Speaker 1: this person is not just floating through life, right? They
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  Speaker 1: are making things happen.
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  Speaker 1: You encounter them at your work and like, man, this
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  Speaker 1: person is moving through the ranks. Why? Because they are proactive.
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  Speaker 1: They're actively engaged in thinking about how we can move forward,
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  Speaker 1: what we can do, they're not just crisis solving, problem solving. No,
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  Speaker 1: they're thinking actively, before there's a crisis. What can we
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  Speaker 1: do to make things better?
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  Speaker 1: And it's the same in relationships. You can be proactive
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  Speaker 1: or reactive, and many of us in relationships just kind
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  Speaker 1: of sit back and wait to see what develops and
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  Speaker 1: who likes me, well then I'll see if I like
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  Speaker 1: them too, and maybe we'll become friends and stuff like that.
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  Speaker 1: Whereas a proactive person is reaching out, looking for those relationships,
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  Speaker 1: and strategically reaching out to people who are going to
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  Speaker 1: impact their lives in the way that they're looking for.
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  Speaker 1: Well, this is what you need to do in life.
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  Speaker 1: Be proactive in relationships, in conversations. Don't just see where
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  Speaker 1: a conversation goes. Think about what kind of impact does
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  Speaker 1: God want me to have in this person's life and
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  Speaker 1: start a conversation in that direction.
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  Speaker 1: Think about how do I need to grow from my
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  Speaker 1: time with this person and come with a question to ask. Uh,
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  Speaker 1: think about, uh, how can I find out where this
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  Speaker 1: person is and ask a question that invites them to.
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  Speaker 1: Express what's going on in their heart and mind.
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  Speaker 1: When Jesus left this world, He left us very clearly
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  Speaker 1: with the great commission. It's, it's what frames our life
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  Speaker 1: in this world. As you go, he said.
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  Speaker 1: Make disciples of all the nations as you go through life,
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  Speaker 1: make disciples. Help people encounter me. Help them grow in
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  Speaker 1: their relationship with me. Help them find a purpose in
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  Speaker 1: me so that they are intentional as well. This guides
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  Speaker 1: our lives as Christians. We aren't just floating through life.
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  Speaker 1: We aren't just hoping things turn out well. We're not
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  Speaker 1: just concerned about our bottom line in the bank and
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  Speaker 1: our investments.
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  Speaker 1: Or whatever. No, those things matter, sure. But the core
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  Speaker 1: of our life is this, whatever else I'm doing, whether
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  Speaker 1: I'm making money or losing money, or uh relating to
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  Speaker 1: someone on the street or my neighbours or my kids,
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  Speaker 1: my parents, whatever I'm doing, make disciples. That is, help
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  Speaker 1: people grow closer to God and build their lives on
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  Speaker 1: his agenda.
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  Speaker 1: Well, that's exactly what you want to do as well.
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  Speaker 1: Live an intentional life, be proactive, not reactive. I'm John North.
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  Speaker 1: To
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  Speaker 2: go deeper in your faith, visit AFCI.com.au.