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DONT FEAR THE SCARECROWS · THIS IS THE LIFE PODCAST

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  Speaker 1: Good morning. Thank you for joining us on our Friday
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: edition of Morning Moments with Jesus, which we affectionately call
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  Speaker 1: our Front Porch Fridays. Just grab you a cup of
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  Speaker 1: coffee and get into your favorite place. Maybe you're driving
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  Speaker 1: down the road. Just take a deep breath right now
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  Speaker 1: and relax, knowing that you are getting this day going
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  Speaker 1: and going into the weekend. Around here where we live
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  Speaker 1: in Tennessee, it's supposed to be cooling down a little
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  Speaker 1: bit this weekend. That kind of brings on that fall
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  Speaker 1: feeling that we all have been longing for all summer long.
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  Speaker 1: And with fall, one of the things that I really
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  Speaker 1: enjoy other than changing of the leaves is the decorations
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  Speaker 1: that come out. My wife does an amazing job of
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  Speaker 1: decorating our home and outside and inside. And one of
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  Speaker 1: the parts of the decoration is these little scarecrows that
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  Speaker 1: she puts out. And some of them we've had for
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  Speaker 1: quite a while. And our grandchildren have kind of taken
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  Speaker 1: turns playing with them over the years. When Caroline was
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  Speaker 1: a little smaller, She used to dance with them a lot.
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  Speaker 1: And a bub came along, a marshal came along, and
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  Speaker 1: he's a little boy, so he decides he wrestles with
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  Speaker 1: them a little bit. But they've just kind of always
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  Speaker 1: been kind of part of the fabric. And I got
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  Speaker 1: to looking at those scarecrows the other day, and I
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  Speaker 1: thought about what a scarecrow really does in a garden.
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  Speaker 1: And what it stands, you know, it stands in the
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  Speaker 1: field and it dresses, and from a distance it can
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  Speaker 1: look like a real person. And what happens is, that's
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  Speaker 1: for a reason. The birds see it and they turn
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  Speaker 1: away from it because they're afraid to come near the
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  Speaker 1: food in the field. Now watch this. The scarecrow cannot move.
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  Speaker 1: It cannot speak. It cannot chase them. It can't do
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  Speaker 1: anything but hang there. But the power comes from what
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  Speaker 1: they believe it to be. Not what it really is.
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  Speaker 1: I hope you all grab a hold of that. I
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  Speaker 1: know it's Friday and you're going into the weekend. But
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  Speaker 1: I want you to grab a hold of that. Because
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  Speaker 1: that's what the enemy does. Listen to Psalm 53, verse
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  Speaker 1: number 5. The first part of the verse is what
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  Speaker 1: I'm going to read. It says, There were they in
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  Speaker 1: great fear where no fear was. And sometimes we let
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  Speaker 1: fear work in our lives the same way that a
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  Speaker 1: scarecrow does. We imagine what might happen if we try
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  Speaker 1: something new. What might happen if we have that difficult
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  Speaker 1: conversation with someone that we've been dreading. Or maybe follow
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  Speaker 1: where the Lord is leading you. And you have questions like,
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  Speaker 1: what if I fail? What if I'm not ready? What
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  Speaker 1: if someone misunderstands me? And what we do is we
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  Speaker 1: stop short if we're not careful. Though none of those
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  Speaker 1: things have happened yet, we perceive them to be real.
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  Speaker 1: And it limits us from being everything that we need
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  Speaker 1: to be. Now the birds may stay away day after day.
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  Speaker 1: But here's what happens. When they finally find the courage
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  Speaker 1: to fly beyond the scarecrow and feast on what is there,
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  Speaker 1: they begin to get nutrition, which gives them strength, which
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  Speaker 1: helps them to grow. And they find something else as well.
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  Speaker 1: They figure that figure that was there, that they feared
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  Speaker 1: so much, they figure out it wasn't real after all.
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  Speaker 1: What looked so threatening from a distance, was now just
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  Speaker 1: straw and some old clothes. And that's what the enemy
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  Speaker 1: tries to do with us, is create the illusion of
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  Speaker 1: something that is there. But if you can break through
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  Speaker 1: this morning, if you can break through that fear and
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  Speaker 1: have the courage to go beyond what you perceive to
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  Speaker 1: be real and begin to feast on what God wants
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  Speaker 1: you to have, you'll figure out the same thing. There
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  Speaker 1: may be growth and strength waiting for you on the
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  Speaker 1: other side of fear That same fear that you've carried
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  Speaker 1: for a long time is about to be set down
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  Speaker 1: this morning. Once you take a step forward, you may
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  Speaker 1: discover that what you dreaded had no power to stop
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  Speaker 1: you at all. The conversation goes better than you ever
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  Speaker 1: imagined it would. The opportunity that you feared so much,
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  Speaker 1: it actually gives you room to grow beyond your wildest imaginations.
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  Speaker 1: The Lord supplies strength, and that strength you could never
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  Speaker 1: have found. Unless you flew beyond your fear. Of course.
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  Speaker 1: Some concerns are real. And they deserve prayer. And they
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  Speaker 1: deserve wisdom. And they often deserve time to wait upon
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  Speaker 1: the Lord. But fear does not always tell us the truth.
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  Speaker 1: We need to bring it into the light. And ask
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  Speaker 1: God to help us. To see clearly. Listen to 2
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  Speaker 1: Timothy chapter 1 verse number 7. For God hath not
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  Speaker 1: given us the spirit of fear. but of power and
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  Speaker 1: of love and of a sound mind. The Lord can
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  Speaker 1: give us the courage to move forward and a sound
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  Speaker 1: mind to recognize what is truly in front of us.
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  Speaker 1: So today, what scarecrow has kept you from taking a
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  Speaker 1: step of faith? Bring that fear to Jesus today. Then
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  Speaker 1: with His help, Take one step beyond that fear. You
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  Speaker 1: may find nourishment for your soul there and realize that
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  Speaker 1: what frightened you was never really there at all. Today
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  Speaker 1: you be safe, you be strong, and you be blessed.
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  Speaker 1: You have a great weekend. And do not fear what
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  Speaker 1: is not real. Go beyond that and find what God
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  Speaker 1: has been waiting to give you All your life. Rose
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  Speaker 1: Will will see you back here again on Monday. And
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  Speaker 1: until then. I sure hope you have a great day.