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Growing with weeds · Fostering Faith

• 0:00
  Welcome back to Fostering Faith. My name is Tracie
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  Foster and I am here in this episode that really
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  got started because me and Gia were having discussion
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  about weeds and flowers and I was like that really
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  is I'm like because I was didn't know if this
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  flower was a weed but it looked like it was so
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  pretty I didn't want to pull it and I was just
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  like you know some weeds are like really pretty
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  I feel bad for calling them a weed I said I wonder
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  if they get offended if you call them a flower,
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  but they're really a weed and like vice versa.
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  And so I was like, that really does go back into
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  scripture. And G was like, yes, because everything
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  that you talk about, you can tie back into scripture.
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  And so my name is Tracy Foster. Welcome back
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  to Fostering Faith. If you're just now joining
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  us, I'm so glad that you're here. While you're
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  listening in your car or while you're folding
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  laundry, walking your dog or just sitting down
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  for a cup of coffee in your Bible, this moment
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  is here for you. And it matters because we're
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  going to dive deep in today. And I mean real
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  deep. And so in today's episode, growing through
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  the weeds, we're going to be anchoring our hearts
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  into Matthew 13 in the parable where Jesus is
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  told about the wheat and the weeds. But listen,
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  it's not just about the plants, not. about just
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  dusty old farmer story. This is a parable. It's
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  about you. It's about me. It's about real tension
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  that we're living in the world today, full of
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  distractions, toxic influences, spiritual counterfeits,
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  and questions like, why is this still here in
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  my life, God? Why haven't you removed it yet?
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  So let's start where Jesus started. Let's read
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  In Matthew 13, 24 through 30, it says, Jesus
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  told another parable, the kingdom of heaven is
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  like a man who sowed good seed in the field.
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  But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came
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  out and sowed the weeds among the wheat and went
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  away. When the wheat sprouted and formed heads,
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  the weeds also appeared. The owner servants came
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  to him and said, sir, didn't you sow good seeds
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  in your field? Where did these weeds come from?
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  Now pause with me for a second because we always
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  want to know kind of what the picture looks like.
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  And so don't breeze just by that. And so Jesus
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  is telling us about his kingdom. Yes, the one
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  that we're already living in, but also waiting
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  for. There will be things planted in the same
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  space that look good, but aren't good. There
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  will be wheat, true, life -giving, fruitful believers,
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  and there will be weeds. And those weeds, they
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  don't look evil. They don't come with warning
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  signs. They come camouflaged. They come quietly.
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  They look and grow right beside the real thing.
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  And so let's dig a little bit deeper. And so
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  the wheat back in the day was a plant called
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  Darnell. Darnell was a type of rye grass that
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  almost is undistinguishable from wheat until
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  the very end of the growing season. And when
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  the wheat starts to produce heavy golden grain,
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  the Darnell produces nothing. It's empty. In
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  ancient Israel, this isn't just symbolic. It
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  was a real -life farming problem. Enemies would
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  actually sew Darnell into someone's wheat field
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  to sabotage their harvest. Darnell is toxic.
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  It can make you sick. It pretends to be something
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  it's not. So what is Jesus showing us? He's saying
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  that in the kingdom, nothing that looks like
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  it belongs does. Not every influencer preaching
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  the Bible open is actually preaching the truth.
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  Not every emotion that feels good is from God.
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  Not every opportunity is God ordained. Not every
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  friend is building your faith. And not every
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  thought that crosses your mind is worth entertaining.
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  But, and this is where it gets real. Jesus doesn't
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  tell the servants to go pull up the weeds. In
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  fact, he stops him and he says, no, because while
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  you're pulling up the weeds, you may uproot the
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  wheat with them. Now listen, this part hit me
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  so hard because there are things in my life and
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  I know that are not from God, things I've prayed
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  would be removed, circumstances I begged him
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  to fix, people I've prayed to forget, and yet
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  they're still here. But Jesus says, let both
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  grow together until harvest. That sounds a lot
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  like let it be. Wait. Trust me. You're not the
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  gardener. I am. And that is so hard to chew on
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  if you're in the middle of a season and you don't
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  know what is on that paper. You don't know what
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  the diagnosis is. You don't know what is going
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  on in your marriage. You don't know what the
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  circumstances at work are and you're just praying
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  like, God, change this, change this, change this.
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  Because we want instant deliverance. We want
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  the Amazon Prime. We want the delivery at our
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  door the next day. We want to pray and it be
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  right there. We want to rip things out at the
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  root. We want to clean, uncluttered fields. We
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  want perfect, peaceful lives. But Jesus says,
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  if you move too fast, you will play judge and
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  gardener and you might damage the wheat while
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  trying to eliminate the weeds. So what does that
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  mean for us? It means that God, in His sovereignty,
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  sometimes allows difficult people, messy relationships,
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  hard circumstances, temptations, doubts, pain,
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  and spiritual confusion to remain, not because
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  He approves of them, but because He's doing something
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  deeper in us that requires growth alongside them.
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  Sometimes you can only learn what's really inside
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  of you when you're up against something that
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  challenges you. Sometimes it's weeds growing
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  next to you that forces you to dig your roots
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  deeper. Sometimes it's the presence of fake that
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  makes the real more obvious. Let me give you
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  a real example. Wheat, when it matures, becomes
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  heavy with grain. It bends. It bows low. But
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  weeds? They say tall and stiff. They say I'm
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  proud There's humility in true spiritual maturity.
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  There's surrender There's weight But false faith
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  stands tall proud and unbending So here's a question
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  for you when pressure hits Do you bow? Do you
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  bend and worship and surrender and trust and
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  say I know that you have this I know I have nothing
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  I am weak and I know that you are my strength
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  I have nothing if I have if I don't have you
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  Are you stiffened in pride in? resistance and
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  in control because weeds don't know how to bow
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  and Let's go a step further When Jesus explains
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  the parable to his disciples in verses 36 through
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  43, he says that this is about the end of the
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  age. The harvest is coming. The weeds will be
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  pulled out and burned. The wheat will shine like
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  the sun in the kingdom of their father. And so,
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  yes, the parable is about judgment. It's about
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  God's perfect justice. It's about discernment,
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  trust, spiritual growth right here and right
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  now. And so you're great. This is great. We're
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  farming in this episode Tracy, but how do I apply
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  this to my life? So let's go through that. So
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  how can we apply this? One, stop trying to pull
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  up your own weeds. Not every battle is yours
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  to fight. Not every issue is meant to be fixed
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  immediately. And there are things that only the
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  harvest can handle. Only, and so we trust the
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  process. And while God is maturing us and waiting
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  on us and growing us and molding us, we're here
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  to trust him. And what else are we going to do
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  while we wait? Number two, discern what's growing
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  in your field. Ask God for clarity. What in your
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  life is wheat? Bringing nourishment, blessing,
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  and life. What's a weed that's draining you?
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  that's distracting you, that's deceiving you.
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  And listen, some weeds are pretty. Some weeds
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  smell real sweet. But if it's not feeding your
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  faith, it's not from the farmer. Keep growing.
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  Don't let the weeds around you stunt your growth.
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  Don't wait for the field to be perfect. You are
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  called to mature right where you are. If you're
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  in a job that feels toxic, keep growing. If you're
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  in a family dynamic that's hard, keep growing.
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  If you're in a spiritually dry season, keep growing.
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  Because your faith isn't dependent upon your
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  surroundings, it's dependent on your source.
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  Fourth, stay humble. Let the fruit of your life
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  speak for itself. Bow low, be teachable. Don't
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  get caught up in the exposure and exposing the
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  weeds around you and stop producing fruit yourself.
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  Don't get so caught up in exposing all the weeds
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  and putting fingers and doing all the things
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  that are around you that you stop producing your
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  joy, your fruit, your love, your peace, your
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  happiness, your fruits of your spirit. Five.
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  The final word is not yours. It's not your job
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  to judge who's wheat, who's weeds. God knows,
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  God sees. God will sort it out in the end. Friend,
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  I know you're in a season surrounded by weeds,
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  but don't give up. Don't curse the field. Don't
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  compare your growth. Just keep reaching for the
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  light. Keep soaking in the word. Keep producing
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  fruit. The harvest is coming. And so thank you
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  so much for joining me today on Fostering Faith.
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  I hope this method has challenged you, encouraged
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  you, made you look at your field a little bit
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  more different. I'd love for you to share this
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  with somebody and remember that you are made
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  to grow in messy places. I would love to pray
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  for us. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you so much
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  for today. Thank you so much for yesterday. Thank
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  you that you see our fruit. Thank you that you
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  know our heart. Thank you that you never stop
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  cultivating us for your purpose. Thank you that
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  you have allowed us to grow amongst the weeds.
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  Thank you that you are the harvester. Thank you
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  that we bow at your feet and that we lay our
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  worries and our burdens at your feet because
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  we know that you are a good father. We know that
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  you are taking care of us. Thank you for all
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  that you do. And Jesus, I pray. Amen. And so
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  until next time, keep growing, stay rooted, and
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  trust in the one who never misses a single seed.
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  Have a great week, guys. We love you.