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Morning Devotion from John: Love Your Life / Lose Your Life · The BLAZE (Bible Study)

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  Speaker 1: Good morning, fam. Good morning. God bless you. Welcome back
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  Speaker 1: to the Morning Devo. It's your bro, Sam Lopez, a.k.a.
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  Speaker 1: DJ Sam Rock. Here with another Morning Devo. I try
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  Speaker 1: to be here in the studio live, 5.30 a.m. Eastern
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  Speaker 1: Standard Time every weekday. Every weekday, Monday through Friday. Today,
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  Speaker 1: we're going to continue our series in the Book of John.
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  Speaker 1: The idea is to take one chapter of the Book
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  Speaker 1: of John, a couple of verses from each chapter of
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  Speaker 1: the Book of John, and just devote some time in
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  Speaker 1: the morning. Amen. Amen. with the Lord in his word,
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  Speaker 1: in his word. John chapter 12 is where we're going
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  Speaker 1: to be at today. Verses 25 and 26. I'm calling
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  Speaker 1: this one, love your life, lose your life. Love your life,
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  Speaker 1: lose your life. Jesus gives us a powerful choice, a
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  Speaker 1: powerful decision to make. Live for this world and this
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  Speaker 1: life or live for him. Live your life. Hold on
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  Speaker 1: to it. Cherish your own life and live this life
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  Speaker 1: for yourself or live for him. Right? It's a big decision. So, man,
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  Speaker 1: let's go for it. We're going to have to pray.
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  Speaker 1: After we pray, I said, yeah, we have to pray. Literally.
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  Speaker 1: Because when we talk about the decision about our lives, right?
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  Speaker 1: I'm watching a channel of a debate with some woman. Um,
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  Speaker 1: or Christian, and women who are into Islam, and Muslim,
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  Speaker 1: and they're going back and forth pretty much decently. There's
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  Speaker 1: no really, nothing really popping off, but the decisions and
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  Speaker 1: the ideas behind their lives, right, on both ends, they
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  Speaker 1: have to be careful. Who are they living for? Are
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  Speaker 1: they living for themselves, or are they living for their God? Now,
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  Speaker 1: Islam believes that in Muhammad, and as the leader. And
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  Speaker 1: we believe in Jesus as the leader, as a Christ follower.
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  Speaker 1: So I'm watching that debate closely, but what about you? Right?
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  Speaker 1: That's why we have to pray. What about us? We
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  Speaker 1: have to pray and make sure we're doing what God
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  Speaker 1: wants us to do according to his word and his
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  Speaker 1: purpose for our lives. So father, I thank you for
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  Speaker 1: the opportunity to make a choice. And for all those
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  Speaker 1: who are listening and watching for them to make a
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  Speaker 1: choice about our own lives, what you, What would you
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  Speaker 1: have us do, Lord Jesus, with this life that you've
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  Speaker 1: given us for such a short time here on earth?
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  Speaker 1: We don't know about tomorrow, but we do know about
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  Speaker 1: right now that we can literally make a decision to
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  Speaker 1: live for you and no longer trust the selfish, evil
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  Speaker 1: desires of our own flesh. And you said in your word,
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  Speaker 1: Lord God, and we're going to see this soon, today,
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  Speaker 1: that if we love our life, we will actually lose
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  Speaker 1: our life. But then there's a great promise on the
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  Speaker 1: other end, on the other side of that. So thank you,
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  Speaker 1: Lord God, for your love, your grace, and your mercy
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  Speaker 1: upon us. Thank you, Lord God, for the hedge of
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  Speaker 1: protection that you put around me, my family, those who
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  Speaker 1: are listening and watching. I pray a hedge of protection
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  Speaker 1: over them as well in the powerful name of Jesus.
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  Speaker 1: We set forth our angels to annihilate the tactics and
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  Speaker 1: schemes of the enemy. We come against any evil, defiled,
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  Speaker 1: slanderous spirit in Jesus' name. And we come against anything
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  Speaker 1: that tries to distract us, and that tries to destroy
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  Speaker 1: our testimony. And Lord God, we give it all to you.
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  Speaker 1: We know that you are El Kabar, the warrior God.
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  Speaker 1: So I pray by faith, Lord God, that you would
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  Speaker 1: fill us with your word, fill us with your spirit,
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  Speaker 1: as we acknowledge who you are today. In Jesus' holy name,
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  Speaker 1: we pray this by faith. And those who agree, we
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  Speaker 1: say amen to the amen. Let's get into the word today.
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  Speaker 1: Book of John, chapter number 12. verses 25 and 26.
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  Speaker 1: Let me slide over here and make it happen. And
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  Speaker 1: here we are. You can share this out with as
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  Speaker 1: many people as you can for the time, but let's
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  Speaker 1: get into the word. Whoever loves his life, this is
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  Speaker 1: Jesus speaking, whoever loves his life will lose it, but
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  Speaker 1: whoever hates his life in this world will keep it
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  Speaker 1: for eternal life. If anyone serves me, he must follow me.
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  Speaker 1: And where I am, my servant will be as well.
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  Speaker 1: If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him. So
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  Speaker 1: see the beautiful promise on the other end of this
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  Speaker 1: decision that we make? You love your life, you will
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  Speaker 1: lose it. Right? In other words, if you want to
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  Speaker 1: hold on to what you want to do in your
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  Speaker 1: life because it's your body, your mind, right? Your decision.
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  Speaker 1: Everything's about us, right? Very selfish. Sometimes it's okay because
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  Speaker 1: we know that we only have one life to live, right?
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  Speaker 1: And it sounds noble. We have one life to live.
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  Speaker 1: So I'm going to live it to the fullest. I
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  Speaker 1: even heard people say, hey, I'm not as old as you, Sam.
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  Speaker 1: So when I get a little older, I'll take the
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  Speaker 1: Lord more serious. But right now, I'm living my own life.
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  Speaker 1: I heard that so many times by younger people. And
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  Speaker 1: I'm like, ooh. And sometimes I even say, sometimes, it
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  Speaker 1: all depends on the person and how well I know
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  Speaker 1: the person. If it's a complete stranger, I probably won't
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  Speaker 1: say this too much. But if I know you and
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  Speaker 1: you're young, I always question that. I say, who gives
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  Speaker 1: you the guarantee? Or how did you get the guarantee
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  Speaker 1: that you're going to live to be my age? So
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  Speaker 1: if you're in your 20s, right, I'm in my 50s,
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  Speaker 1: what makes you think that automatically you're going to get
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  Speaker 1: to your 50s, right, to make this decision to get
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  Speaker 1: close to God finally? So it's a very high stake
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  Speaker 1: gamble with eternity by saying, I'll take care of my
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  Speaker 1: relationship with the Lord in my timing, my way, later on, right?
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  Speaker 1: I don't even know if I'm going to have a
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  Speaker 1: later on today. What about you? I don't know when
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  Speaker 1: the Lord is going to take me off this earth.
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  Speaker 1: What about you? I don't know when it's going to
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  Speaker 1: be my last breath. What about you, right? If we're honest,
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  Speaker 1: that's eternal Russian roulette by saying that you'll take care
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  Speaker 1: of your relationship with the Lord later after you live
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  Speaker 1: your life, right? Now, the challenge is that some people
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  Speaker 1: have material possession and they have wealth cars, houses, boats,
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  Speaker 1: and they don't seem to need any relationship with God
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  Speaker 1: because it seems like they have everything they need of
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  Speaker 1: this world. So they're higher in their mindset. They're living
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  Speaker 1: a higher life than what believers are living. Some people
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  Speaker 1: really think that. You know, sometimes I've met a lot
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  Speaker 1: of rich people, a lot of wealthy millionaires, right, in
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  Speaker 1: my time so far. And when they ask me what
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  Speaker 1: do I do, when I say I do ministry, I
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  Speaker 1: do things like this, they kind of look at you like, oh,
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  Speaker 1: you know, we're sorry that you had to do that.
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  Speaker 1: Almost like they have pity on the believer, right? Almost
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  Speaker 1: as if they have pity on the minister and the ministry,
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  Speaker 1: the church, right? They have pity on our belief system,
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  Speaker 1: how we believe in the Lord, but they don't understand.
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  Speaker 1: So you have to give them, you know, some grace.
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  Speaker 1: But because they have everything. I literally, I said the
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  Speaker 1: story already. Some of you know the story. I literally
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  Speaker 1: drove three millionaires from the casino, my local casino, to
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  Speaker 1: their homes. And every single one of them, except the
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  Speaker 1: last one, amen, the first two were younger. And the
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  Speaker 1: last one I dropped off, he was the older gentleman,
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  Speaker 1: the more mature gentleman. And everything I guess they were
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  Speaker 1: in competition. Look, I have this and I have that.
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  Speaker 1: I have $ 500, 000 in the basement, one of them said,
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  Speaker 1: because they were in competition, the two younger ones. So
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  Speaker 1: every time I would drop one off and say, hey,
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  Speaker 1: you want to see my pool? They used to tell me, hey,
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  Speaker 1: get out the car, I'll show you. You know, they
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  Speaker 1: would use remote controls, light up their pool. You know,
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  Speaker 1: this is the middle of the night when I used
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  Speaker 1: to do nights. And then the other one would say, man,
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  Speaker 1: if you've seen his thing, wait till you see my thing,
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  Speaker 1: my house, and this, that, and the third, fire car garage.
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  Speaker 1: In one of the garages, there was a horse. Crazy, right?
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  Speaker 1: And I was like, okay. I mean, I don't know
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  Speaker 1: why they're showing me all of this, but I realized why. Well,
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  Speaker 1: I was told why later on. When I dropped off
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  Speaker 1: the last gentleman, yes, he was a millionaire. He said, yeah,
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  Speaker 1: I'm a millionaire. Married X amount of years, very impressive
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  Speaker 1: amount of years. He was married, retired banker. And he
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  Speaker 1: was saying, I don't have a, I'm a millionaire, he said.
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  Speaker 1: And I was seeing their properties, their homes and everything.
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  Speaker 1: And I was like, yeah, these people got money. But
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  Speaker 1: the last gentleman was like, the reason why they hang
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  Speaker 1: out with me, the older guys, because I'm the more
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  Speaker 1: mature and I could kind of like navigate and help
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  Speaker 1: them in their competition. He said, actually, one of them
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  Speaker 1: doesn't even have to work anymore. That's how wealthy it
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  Speaker 1: is because he hit the lottery years ago for millions
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  Speaker 1: and millions of dollars, right? He literally won the lotto
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  Speaker 1: and PA was in Florida. Hired a plane, rented a
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  Speaker 1: plane to get back to PA before he wanted that money.
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  Speaker 1: So he got that money. He literally doesn't have to
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  Speaker 1: work no more. But he really believes the reason why
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  Speaker 1: it's still working amen is because he wants to compete
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  Speaker 1: with his his friend to see who could outshine who
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  Speaker 1: he said the other guy he has his own business
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  Speaker 1: I can't mention his name I'm not going to do
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  Speaker 1: that has his own business very well known in Lehigh
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  Speaker 1: Valley where I'm broadcasting from technically he doesn't have to
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  Speaker 1: work anymore either but he's going to He's giving his
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  Speaker 1: business over to his workers. It's just kind of noble.
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  Speaker 1: He said, as of me though, the reason why, and
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  Speaker 1: he mentioned the Lord and he trusts God. And he said,
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  Speaker 1: the reason why they hang out with me because I'm
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  Speaker 1: their sense. I'm their common sense. And when they ask
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  Speaker 1: me a question, I give them back something of value.
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  Speaker 1: He says, look at my home. He had a nice home.
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  Speaker 1: He says, I don't have as many millions as they do.
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  Speaker 1: But what I do have is my peace, my family,
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  Speaker 1: my wife. in my home. So I think that breaks
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  Speaker 1: it down to what he was choosing. He was choosing
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  Speaker 1: a life of peace. He was choosing a life to
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  Speaker 1: trust God. He was choosing, he didn't let the possessions
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  Speaker 1: that he had overcome him like his younger friends of
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  Speaker 1: that night. So Jesus himself gives us a powerful choice,
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  Speaker 1: live for this life and this world or live for
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  Speaker 1: him for the kingdom, right? Sometimes we hold so tightly.
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  Speaker 1: We hold on so tightly to what we want that
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  Speaker 1: we miss what God wants. When's the last time you
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  Speaker 1: asked God, instead of asking him, God, I need this.
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  Speaker 1: I need you to do this for me. When's the
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  Speaker 1: last time you asked or told God that I want
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  Speaker 1: to do something for you, right? It's not really natural, right,
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  Speaker 1: for us to do that because we want what we want.
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  Speaker 1: Get all you can, can all you get. That's the
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  Speaker 1: thinking of the flesh. And we all struggle with that, right?
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  Speaker 1: If you're given an opportunity to make millions of dollars
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  Speaker 1: or reach millions of souls with the gospel, you have
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  Speaker 1: to make that choice. Sometimes it goes hand in hand.
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  Speaker 1: But how about if someone gives you an ultimatum? Say, hey, Sam,
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  Speaker 1: I know what you're doing in your ministry. I know
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  Speaker 1: you're not making a lot of money. How about if
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  Speaker 1: I give you a million dollars, you stop doing the ministry,
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  Speaker 1: stop the radio network, stop the podcast, stop preaching as Jesus,
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  Speaker 1: and come over here and work for my business. Now
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  Speaker 1: I have to make a choice, right? How about if
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  Speaker 1: you were given that ultimatum? Serving the Lord, you don't
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  Speaker 1: have the riches in the world, but you have everything.
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  Speaker 1: You don't realize that the riches of this world doesn't
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  Speaker 1: compare to anything that God gives us because what God
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  Speaker 1: gives us is all we need to live out a
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  Speaker 1: life of abundance. Think about it. But how about if
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  Speaker 1: you were given that ultimatum? We'll give you a million
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  Speaker 1: dollars if you stop XYZ ministry, going to church, loving God, whatever,
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  Speaker 1: to do this and you'll be set for the rest
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  Speaker 1: of your life. Millions of dollars or whatever the case
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  Speaker 1: may be. We have a choice to make. That's what
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  Speaker 1: I'm saying. And of course, when Jesus makes this statement,
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  Speaker 1: he knows people had to make a choice then and
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  Speaker 1: there too. Must have been some rich people in the crowd.
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  Speaker 1: Must have been some people of influence in the crowd,
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  Speaker 1: religious people for sure. But whoever loves his life will
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  Speaker 1: lose it, Jesus said. Now, To lose your life means
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  Speaker 1: surrendering the old way of living so that Christ Jesus
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  Speaker 1: can become the center of your new life. So to
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  Speaker 1: lose your life, you're not losing it like your last breath,
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  Speaker 1: your last heartbeat, nothing like that. It's you're taking the
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  Speaker 1: new life of Christ. You're taking that and embracing that
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  Speaker 1: new life and you're doing away with the old selfish
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  Speaker 1: evil ways that we were in. Right? The flesh is
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  Speaker 1: still trying to reinvigorate or resurrect. Right? So, to lose
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  Speaker 1: your life means surrendering the old way of living, your
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  Speaker 1: old life, so that the new life in Christ can
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  Speaker 1: become the center of your life, of your new life.
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  Speaker 1: It's a new life. Right? When you surrender your life
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  Speaker 1: to Christ, you start sprouting up. a new life. You
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  Speaker 1: start realizing it, start posting about it on your socials
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  Speaker 1: because you're like, wow, God is doing an amazing thing
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  Speaker 1: and I want others to know that God could do
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  Speaker 1: the same amazing thing in your life. He could give
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  Speaker 1: you a new start, a new life if you surrender
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  Speaker 1: to him. Catch word, the key word is surrender. I
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  Speaker 1: think about my old way of living and I'm like, wow,
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  Speaker 1: I was in some kind of control of my life
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  Speaker 1: back then, but I'm like, what was it leading me
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  Speaker 1: to Yeah, there's a lot of pleasure, money, cars, a
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  Speaker 1: lot of sin, party life, sex, drugs, alcohol, all of
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  Speaker 1: that seemingly seemed to be a lot of value. Like
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  Speaker 1: it seemed to me when I was lost and blind
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  Speaker 1: that that was what I was holding on to. I
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  Speaker 1: didn't want to let it go. What about you? So
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  Speaker 1: when we were in those situations, thought process, when we
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  Speaker 1: was in the old life, living it out, living a
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  Speaker 1: life of sin, we were actually losing our life. We
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  Speaker 1: were actually losing our opportunity to be blessed with a
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  Speaker 1: new life by Christ. Why? Because we want to control.
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  Speaker 1: I want to control, but Jesus asks for surrender. No,
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  Speaker 1: I want to control my own life. This is my life.
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  Speaker 1: The whole debate about abortion with the woman A lot
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  Speaker 1: of times they say, this is my body and it's
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  Speaker 1: my decision, it's my right. There's actually another body living
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  Speaker 1: within your body. So there's a debate there. We're talking
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  Speaker 1: about a life inside of a you, the one that's
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  Speaker 1: thinking that it's their choice, their body, and they're deciding
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  Speaker 1: who lives and who dies. In other words, they're God
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  Speaker 1: of yourself. We become God of ourselves making our own decisions, right?
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  Speaker 1: Of life and death, even. So we want control, but
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  Speaker 1: Jesus asks for surrender. How about this? A lot of
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  Speaker 1: people go through this, especially on social media platforms. That's
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  Speaker 1: why I want to get off these media platforms. Come
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  Speaker 1: on to my live.soulwinnerswithaz.org. Live.soulwinnerswithaz.org if you want to get
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  Speaker 1: off the matrix. And there we could have these platforms
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  Speaker 1: and these morning devos and everything else. Distraction free. But
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  Speaker 1: I know a lot of people stay here. Because everybody
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  Speaker 1: else is here. It's all right. Amen. I want to
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  Speaker 1: get out, but I have to be where everybody is
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  Speaker 1: sometimes because I want to reach as many people as
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  Speaker 1: I can before my life is over with the gospel
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  Speaker 1: of the Lord Jesus Christ. So we want recognition. Some
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  Speaker 1: people want recognition, but Jesus is just asking us to
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  Speaker 1: serve him, right? Well, I want to be a great XYZ, evangelist, prophet, pastor, teacher, right? Apostle,
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  Speaker 1: I want to do all those things. It's okay to
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  Speaker 1: want to do all those things, but make sure you're
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  Speaker 1: serving the one who gives you the gift to do
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  Speaker 1: some of those things, right? We want comfort. Who wouldn't
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  Speaker 1: want comfort? Like, this is not rocket science. I want
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  Speaker 1: to be comfortable too in life. You want to be
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  Speaker 1: comfortable too. But come on, comfort or Christ? Which one
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  Speaker 1: is it? I think when one of the first things
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  Speaker 1: Jesus promised us, I believe, is rest, right? He said,
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  Speaker 1: come to me, those who are weary and burdened, and
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  Speaker 1: I will give you what? Rest. He will give us rest.
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  Speaker 1: So he wants us to be comfortable, but on his terms, right?
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  Speaker 1: We want comfort, but Jesus calls us to follow him.
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  Speaker 1: A lot of people say, I believe in Jesus. I'm
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  Speaker 1: just like you, Sam. I believe in Jesus. But do
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  Speaker 1: you follow Jesus? It's a difference. Believe and follow. Those
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  Speaker 1: go together for a real believer's life. I want it
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  Speaker 1: my way, right? And if you're honest, you know that's true.
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  Speaker 1: We wake up, say, man, I want to do things
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  Speaker 1: the way I want to do it. Like even if, say,
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  Speaker 1: you have a nine to five regular job, amen, I'm independent.
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  Speaker 1: But if you have a boss, so you'll get up
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  Speaker 1: and say, man, if that boss tells me to do X, Y, Z,
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  Speaker 1: I'm not going to do it. What do you think
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  Speaker 1: is going to happen to you that day at work?
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  Speaker 1: You think the boss is going to be like, oh,
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  Speaker 1: you want your way? Oh, no problem. I'll just walk away.
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  Speaker 1: I'm not the boss right now. You're the boss. No,
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  Speaker 1: it might go the other way and you might even
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  Speaker 1: come back home without a job. So you want your
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  Speaker 1: way and I want my way, right? If I'm honest.
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  Speaker 1: But Jesus is the only way, the best way. So
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  Speaker 1: he wants us to follow him. So this is like
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  Speaker 1: a daily conversation that we have with the Lord, right?
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  Speaker 1: The Lord helped me. Believe more. Help me trust more.
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  Speaker 1: Help me have faith, more faith in you. Help me
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  Speaker 1: live a life that you intended me to live. Help
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  Speaker 1: me live in a new life. And when the old
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  Speaker 1: thought patterns and the old life and the flesh starts
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  Speaker 1: coming in, help me get rid of that, those thoughts, right?
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  Speaker 1: The Bible says to capture these thoughts and put them
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  Speaker 1: to the obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm paraphrasing.
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  Speaker 1: So today, don't just ask God, What can God do
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  Speaker 1: for me? Let's try to ask, how can I serve him?
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  Speaker 1: How can I serve the Lord? It could be listening
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  Speaker 1: to somebody's story. It could be praying for somebody. You
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  Speaker 1: realize that when people ask you for prayer, amen, that
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  Speaker 1: you have an opportunity right then and there to pray
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  Speaker 1: for them. I know I'm busy. You're busy. It might
• 20:04
  Speaker 1: be like, I'll keep you in prayer, sister, brother, whatever.
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  Speaker 1: But when I see a prayer request, Or when I'm
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  Speaker 1: asked to pray for somebody, if I can't be there
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  Speaker 1: in person, I'll pray on the spot and let them
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  Speaker 1: know that I've just prayed. Like I literally pray on
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  Speaker 1: the spot, not knowing the whole situation. Because I know
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  Speaker 1: I don't need to know the whole situation when someone
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  Speaker 1: asks for a prayer request. Because I know that God
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  Speaker 1: knows the whole situation. So I just put my faith
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  Speaker 1: forward and I pray. You can do the same thing.
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  Speaker 1: And I know you probably do the same thing. When
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  Speaker 1: somebody says, pray for me, brother. Pray for me, sister.
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: You're probably like, I'll keep you in prayer. And other
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  Speaker 1: people are like, we're going to pray right now. Let's
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  Speaker 1: get into it right now. Amen? Because I don't know
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  Speaker 1: about tomorrow. Right? You don't know about tomorrow. I don't
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  Speaker 1: know how long that person's going to be alive. I've
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: experienced some people that I've met that I've known, met them,
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  Speaker 1: and then the next thing I hear about them, they're gone.
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  Speaker 1: And I always ask myself, did I share with them
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: the gospel? Did I pray? Was I kind to that person?
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  Speaker 1: I'm not. It's people right now, right, around my life just...
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: hating for whatever reason, not understanding that I might not
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  Speaker 1: be here tomorrow. So, you know, have your fun now.
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  Speaker 1: But after the hate and the slander and the gossip
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  Speaker 1: and all that stuff is over, what did we really gain?
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  Speaker 1: What did you gain, right? What was it? What are
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: you trying to win? An argument? Trying to be, like
• 21:33
  Speaker 1: this says, recognized? You're trying to be validated? but what
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  Speaker 1: you're doing and what you're saying? Or are you focused
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  Speaker 1: on Christ, following him, believing in him, trusting in him,
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  Speaker 1: and letting him use you for his glory? So a
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  Speaker 1: lot of people that I know, right, are choosing their
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: own lives over the life that Christ has for you
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  Speaker 1: and has for me. Whoever loves his life will lose it,
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: Jesus said. But whoever hates his life, it's not like, oh,
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  Speaker 1: I hate myself. It's not like that type of hate.
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  Speaker 1: It's hate the world system and what the world system
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  Speaker 1: is trying to do in your life and my life.
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  Speaker 1: Don't be a part of it. When you're not a
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  Speaker 1: part of the world, right, then you will have eternal
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  Speaker 1: life in Christ. Because we're not following the world system
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  Speaker 1: as believers. We're being obedient to the laws of the land,
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: but we're more obedient in service to the kingdom of
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  Speaker 1: God through Christ Jesus. So your greatest life isn't found
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  Speaker 1: in getting everything you want, right? You could have all
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  Speaker 1: the money, all the possessions, all the accolades, all the recognition,
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  Speaker 1: all the fans, all the clickbait, all the, you know, whatever,
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  Speaker 1: all the influence you want. But if you don't have Christ,
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  Speaker 1: you don't have anything, to be honest. So your greatest
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: life isn't found in getting everything you want. It's found
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  Speaker 1: in discovering, right? Realizing who you were created to be
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  Speaker 1: in Christ. Your identity and my identity is found in
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: the Lord Jesus Christ. Whatever he says, whatever he calls me,
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  Speaker 1: that's who I am. Whatever he says that I am,
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  Speaker 1: that's who I am. Whatever he says you are, that's
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  Speaker 1: who you are. Oh, but everybody sins. I'm a sinner. Okay,
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  Speaker 1: if you're born again, you're a saved saint that deals
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  Speaker 1: and struggles with sin. Don't identify you as something else
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  Speaker 1: after you're born again than what God identifies you as.
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  Speaker 1: I hear this all the time. You know it's my
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: pet peeve if you've been following me. Oh, I'm a sinner.
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  Speaker 1: And I always ask, I thought you were born again, saved. Yeah,
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  Speaker 1: I'm saved, but you know, we sin every day. Okay,
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: so who are you? A sinner or a saint? a
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: child of God or not. So let's start with who
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  Speaker 1: we are in Christ and repeat what God says we are.
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  Speaker 1: Repeat the promises of eternal life that Jesus offered first
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  Speaker 1: before we stop calling ourselves X, Y, Z. That's all
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  Speaker 1: I'm saying. And once you start repeating who we are
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  Speaker 1: according to the scriptures, then you realize that what you're saying,
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  Speaker 1: what you're calling yourself doesn't line up after you're born again,
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  Speaker 1: doesn't line up with what Jesus said, what the word
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  Speaker 1: is saying. If anyone serves me, he must follow me.
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  Speaker 1: And where I am, my servant will be as well.
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  Speaker 1: So Jesus will meet you where you are. He met
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  Speaker 1: me where I was. And now he's taken us to
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  Speaker 1: where he is. Right? And where I am, my servant
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: will be as well. If anyone, this is anyone. If
• 24:49
  Speaker 1: anyone serves Jesus, the Father will honor him. I can't
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: understand that. That's amazing to me. Amen. Amen. The Father
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: will honor me and you for serving Jesus? Yes. That's
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: what the Lord says, right? Although I don't understand the
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: whole idea behind that, but I believe it because Jesus
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: said it. Amen. And he's the way, the truth, and
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  Speaker 1: the life, right? No one gets to the Father except
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: through him. So when you serve him, Jesus said, my
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: Father will honor you. It's amazing, right? Great promise. Pastor
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: Michael Jakes, good morning. God bless you. It's good to
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: see you on the Morning Devo. So give God one
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  Speaker 1: area of your life today. It could be one area.
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  Speaker 1: Start there. That area that you're trying to control, give
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  Speaker 1: it to the Lord today. That one area. You know
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  Speaker 1: what it is. I know what it is. Let's give
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  Speaker 1: it to Him and see the outcome of that. Because
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: now I'm learning the outcome belongs to the Lord. Amen?
• 25:47
  Speaker 1: I could strive to make things happen. Amen? And I
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: don't think there's anything wrong with that as long as
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: it's for the good for someone else. I'm always thinking
• 25:55
  Speaker 1: about the unsaved. I'm always thinking about how can I
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: get as many people into heaven, right? We're trying to
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: bankrupt hell right now as believers, right? We're trying to
• 26:08
  Speaker 1: get people to realize where heaven is and who is
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  Speaker 1: the creator of heaven, amen? We want people to live
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  Speaker 1: a life in abundance, right? I don't want nobody to
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  Speaker 1: die and go to hell. I don't wish that on
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  Speaker 1: my worst enemy. I don't wish that on my haters.
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  Speaker 1: I don't wish that on anyone, Because that's eternal separation
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  Speaker 1: from God. But we all make our own choices. I
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: want to live my life the way I want to
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: live it. I believe in Jesus. But when you hear
• 26:37
  Speaker 1: the but part, get ready. They're going to show you
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: who they really are serving. Themselves or they're serving God.
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: Like I'm watching that debate. Like I was telling you
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: about this called Dr. I'll get the name later. But
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: it's a woman. women of God that are Christian, they're
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: sitting down in a room talking to women of other
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: faiths or women in the LGBTQ alphabet community. They're just talking,
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: having a discussion. And from what the Christian is saying
• 27:16
  Speaker 1: and what the people who say they're Christian, they always
• 27:20
  Speaker 1: revert back to what is my life. I have a
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: personal relationship with God my way. Once you hear those phrases,
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: you're like, uh-oh, they're holding on to their life. And
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: Jesus said, whoever loves his life or her life will
• 27:33
  Speaker 1: lose it. So I was going to say it's hard,
• 27:40
  Speaker 1: but it's not really hard once you understand the life
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: that Jesus wants you to have. You'll start being like, wait,
• 27:47
  Speaker 1: I'm not going to be cut short of my blessing.
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: I'm not going to be cut off from eternal life.
• 27:51
  Speaker 1: I'm going to embrace Jesus today. So remember, you don't
• 27:55
  Speaker 1: lose your life when you surrender it to Jesus. You
• 27:59
  Speaker 1: actually discover the life He created you to live. I'm
• 28:02
  Speaker 1: out of time. Listen, John chapter 12, read the whole
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: chapter for yourself. We camp down to verses 25 and 26.
• 28:08
  Speaker 1: Thank you so much for hanging out with me. God
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: bless you all. Amen. Thank you so much for coming
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: through to these morning devos. I hope it matters as
• 28:17
  Speaker 1: much as it matters to me that we devote some
• 28:19
  Speaker 1: time to God first thing of our day. God bless
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: you all. God keep you all. And remember always that
• 28:27
  Speaker 1: God is good. Peace.