Latest / Faith Church Podcast / Are You Chasing Your Tail? | Pastor Darren Palmer | Faith Church

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Are You Chasing Your Tail? | Pastor Darren Palmer | Faith Church · Faith Church Podcast

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If you could turn in your scriptures with me
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this morning to Deuteronomy chapter 28. I want
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to try to communicate something to you that I
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believe is going to break some things off of
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some people today, that is going to help some
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people. You might see some things that you've
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never seen before about relationships and about
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how they operate, but you and I know That God
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wants us to walk in blessing Amen God wants us
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to walk in his blessing and Deuteronomy 28 I'm
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only gonna pull one verse out of this but Deuteronomy
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28 is the chapter of blessing the first 14 verses
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and then the larger part of the chapter the curses
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for disobedience it's it's not really rocket
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science blessing for obedience cursing for disobedience
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you know it's just like when you when you were
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a kid if if you I guess I can't always say that
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a blanket statement if you had a home that was
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functioning well then what did you get You got
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blessing for obedience and you got and you got
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corrected for disobedience. Right. And that's
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what God is saying. You're my sons and my daughters.
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There is blessing in the place of obedience and
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there is trouble in the place of disobedience.
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So I just encourage you read that whole entire
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chapter on your own. I want to read from verse
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13 and it says this and the Lord will make you
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the head and not the tail you shall be above
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only and not beneath if You heed the command
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of the Lord your God Which I commanded you today
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and are careful to observe them. Hallelujah.
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Father, I just thank you for your word this morning.
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And I ask that it would just go down into the
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deep places of our hearts in Jesus' mighty name.
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Amen. Amen. Praise God. Wasn't the Hayride Saturday
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night awesome? If you had an awesome time, just
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clap your hands right now. Praise God we want
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to thank Dennis and Linda for opening up their
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home And it was an awesome awesome time we Had
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in August and what made me think of this is Linda
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led in this as well, but we had a dog show and
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so a guy Sat down in a movie theater and noticed
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that the man in front of him brought his dog
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and was sitting in the seat next to him. He thought
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it was unusual but he liked dogs so he didn't
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say anything. And the movie started and pretty
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soon there was a funny part and the dog made
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some low woofing noises. the man was astonished
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because it sounded like laughter and then there
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was a sad part and the dog started whimpering
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and it continued throughout the film the dog
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at all the right places gave all the right emotions
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and When the lights came up He tapped the owner
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on the shoulder and he said I gotta say this
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sounds weird but it seemed like your dog really
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enjoyed the movie and The owner looked back at
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him and nodded and he said yeah, it is really
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weird because he absolutely hated the book Oh,
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Dale even liked it. One time I watched my dog,
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I had a dog chase her tail for 10 minutes. How
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many of you had a dog that chased their tail?
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And I thought, what a dumb dog. And then I thought,
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well, I just watched that dog for 10 minutes.
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I want to answer a question today. I want to
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ask you, are you chasing your tail? God has said
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that he has called us to be the head and not
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the tail. And I want to ask you, are you living
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as the head and not the tail? My commentary,
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Jameson Fawcett Brown said that this phrase,
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the head and not the tail, came from, it was
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an oriental form of expression that Moses incorporated,
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and it indicated the possession of independent
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power and great dignity and acknowledged excellence.
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God wants his people to possess independent power
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and great dignity and walk with Excellent. Isn't
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that good? I like the message in this trans.
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It's a transliteration. It says God will make
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you the head, not the tail. You'll always be
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the top dog. Never the underdog. As you obediently
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listen to and diligently keep the command of
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God. Amen. You know, the counterpart is found
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in verse 44. it's talking in fact if you if you
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read verse verse 12 it would it would talk about
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lending you will be the one that lends and they
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will borrow from you but the counterpart says
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that you will always be borrowing that you will
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never lend because you're the tail and you're
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not the head when you disobey and so in the analogy
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Being the head is the blessing for obedience
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Being the tail is the curse for disobedience
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and I just want to start by saying this if you
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have sin in your life that you have not regarded
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before God that you know about and You have tolerated
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it in your life there is There is grace for a
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season for you to repent, but if you refuse,
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if you refuse, then the blessing of God will
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begin to come off of your life. That's the way
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that it works. The Word of God speaks to us.
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If you're the head, you're the leader. You are
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deciding where to go in life The tail gets dragged
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along always unprepared at the mercy of every
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situation never in control I Want to give you
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some signs that you are chasing your tail? Number
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one You fear the opinions of man You fear men
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rather than God We live in a culture right now
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that calls good evil and evil good and Some of
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the things that you stand up for as a believer
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you will take ridicule for You post truth on
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your Facebook page, and I'm not I'm not telling
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anybody here, I don't think anybody here should
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be obnoxious and be tearing others down. We can
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we can say right. We can say things that are
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true and still not be speaking the way Jesus
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wants us to be speaking. Do you hear what I'm
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saying? But there are truths that if you stand
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up for in this culture, you will be shot down.
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You will be crucified. on social media Because
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it isn't politically correct But you have a decision
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to make Am I gonna fear God or am I going to
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fear man? Jesus said do not fear the one that
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can only hurt your body He said I'll tell you
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whom you should fear and that means have great
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respect for even tremble for You should fear
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the one that when it's all said and done can
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cast you into hell That's the one you should
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fear and tremble before But when you fear man,
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you are chasing your tail You are not leading
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the way You are responding to what everybody
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else thinks. Some of you, when you're in a room
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before you decide what to say, you stick your
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finger up in the air and see which direction
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the wind is blowing. How do the people in this
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room talk? Well, then you become a chameleon
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and you begin to talk like everybody else in
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the room. You come to church and you stick your
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finger up in the air. How do the people at church
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talk? and you can fit in wherever you go. But
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the truth is, you are living the life of a hypocrite.
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Because in one crowd, you are saying all the
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right things, and in the other crowd, you're
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saying all the things they want you to hear to
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be accepted. God wants us to stand up for Him.
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Amen? He wants us to not cave to the fear of
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man, he wants us to live in the fear of God.
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Hallelujah. To not fear the opinions of man.
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This is where peer pressure comes in. Some of
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you young people, you're tempted to engage in
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life in ways that you never would have thought
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you would, but you're hanging with people that
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do those things. And the funny thing is, those
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people probably never would have done those things,
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but peer pressure works together to move the
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entire crowd where you never thought you would
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once go. I wanna call you back to standing up
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for Jesus. Hallelujah. Young people, take a stand.
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It is good to say, no, I'm not gonna go there.
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I'm not going to speak like that. I'm not going
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to talk like that. I'm not going to engage with
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the world like that. Fear God. Number two, you
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are comfortable in chaos. In fact, chaos is swirling
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around you. Why? because you never draw a line
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in the sand. You'd rather have the moment and
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the situation make the decision for you because
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you're not comfortable making decisions. And
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so you are led by every whim and fancy that comes
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along and life is always swirling around you
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in a chaotic mess. Because you never draw a line
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in the sand But first Corinthians 14 33 says
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this God is not the author of confusion He is
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the author of peace Isn't that good now Paul
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was specifically addressing how Gathering should
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flow when he said that But it is true nonetheless
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for your own life that God is not the author
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of confusion when everything in your life is
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chaos when everything in your life feels feels
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like it is just controlling you and pulling you
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here and there it is time to stop and It is time
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to to lift up your eyes above the situation and
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say Jesus This situation, these situations in
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my life, they are not from you. They are confusion
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and they are a wind that is blowing. But just
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as Jesus spoke to the wind, you can speak to
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the confusion and you can say, peace, be still.
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And why can you do that? Because you are the
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head and you are not the tail. You are in control
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as the Holy Spirit is in control of you. Praise
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God. Is this speaking to where anybody is at?
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When your finances get pulled every direction,
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you just need to stop a moment. And you need
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to say, God, I just thank you that you are in
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control of my finances. I have given you my tithe.
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I have paid. I have worshipped you with my financial
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life. I have put you first. And so God, I speak
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peace to my finances in the name of Jesus. And
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I thank you that you are in control in the name
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of the Lord. Oh, hallelujah. God is not the author
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of confusion. He is the author of peace. Glory
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to God. Do you know that word for confusion could
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be translated instability? God is not the author
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of instability. He is the author of peace. I'm
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not preaching on finances this morning. but there
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is a prescription in the Word of God to bring
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peace to your finances and when we Obey the Lord
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in that prescription for our lives Then peace
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comes in his peace comes in to our finances.
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Hallelujah. I want to say praise God for that
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glory to God number three You are prone to deception
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You are prone to deception you are chasing your
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tail if you are prone to deception in Luke chapter
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21 in verse 8 Jesus said take heed that you are
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not deceived deceived In fact, there are seven
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or eight times in the New Testament alone where
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the Bible says, do not be deceived. And one of
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the primary tools of darkness of the enemy is
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to deceive God's people. When we're prone to
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deception, it veers us away from the Word of
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God. Now, the enemy doesn't come in, you know,
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dressed up Dressed up with horns and a tail and
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say here. I am I'm trying to deceive you It doesn't
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work that way the enemy masquerades the Bible
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says as an angel of light and he will speak something
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to you that is partially true and partial truths
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can lead you in the wrong direction and it's
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why You and I need to know the word of God. Amen.
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Somebody shared with me last week that said,
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you're not supposed to seek gifts from God. You're
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only supposed to seek the giver. How many of
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you have heard that? Did you know it's not true?
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It sounds good, but it is not true. I am seeking
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the giver. I'm in love with Jesus. But he came
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to give us gifts. And he wants his sons and daughters
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to ask him for gifts. Every good and perfect
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gift comes from the Father of heavenly lights,
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who does not change like shifting shadows. Your
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children don't come to you and say, I don't want
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anything from you, I just want you. No, they
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don't do that. I'm hungry, Mom. I'm hungry, Dad.
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I need some money. I need the car. When they
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get older, I need the car. You're like, get your
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own car. What do they do they ask you for things
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and did you know that that is not wrong? In Ephesians
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4 the Bible says that Jesus descended Specifically
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to give gifts to the church Gifts in first Corinthians
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in first Corinthians 12 it ends and it says it
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says covet that you should prophesy. That means
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you should want the gift of prophecy. Praise
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God. Now, he goes on and he says, now I will
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show you a more excellent way. How many of you
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appreciated the message Pastor Ben preached a
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couple of weeks ago? Wasn't that awesome on love?
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If you are not here, you need to go and you need
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to listen to it on our YouTube channel on the
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love of God. But how many of you would say, I
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don't need your love, Lord. I just need you.
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That is ridiculous. We need the love of the Father.
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It is a gift from Him. We need everything that
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He has. We need the giver. We need the gift.
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When we don't know the Word of God, we're prone
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to deception. And we get on the wrong track.
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Oh, I'm not supposed to ask for healing. I'm
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just supposed to seek God. Well, you are supposed
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to seek God, but it is okay to ask Him for healing.
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It is okay to ask Him. In fact, He said that
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one of the gifts is the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
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And Jesus said that we should ask Him for the
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Holy Spirit. And He will give it to us. Praise
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God. Don't be deceived. Deception can happen
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when some things are wrong in our life. Deception
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can happen when we're in love with the spirit
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of the world. Deception can happen when we put
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our feelings above the Word of God. Our generation
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right now in America is proclaiming certain things
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to be good or evil based upon how they feel about
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them. When feelings are your basis, you are prone
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to deception. We need to learn the Word of God
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because morality is never dictated by the feelings
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of a culture. Morality is dictated by what the
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Word of God says. And His morality through the
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Old and New Testament is consistent. He never
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changes. And so, friend, while I thank God for
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feelings, I love feelings. I love to feel His
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presence. I love to, you know what I love? I
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love... See, I leave here sometimes, and I like
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to watch movies where they shoot people. I'm
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sorry, it's just true. I like to watch movies
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where things blow up. Where people punch each
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other. Is that terrible for a pastor to admit?
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I'm just being honest with you. Why? Because
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I like how it makes me feel. I like it how it
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makes me feel when the Cubs win. I don't like
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how I feel when the Cubs lose. But I thank God
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for feelings. God has feelings. We have feelings
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because God has feelings and we're made in His
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image. But we are not led by our feelings. We
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are led by the eternal Word of God. And if you
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want to be blown about by every wind of doctrine
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and every internet teacher that comes along,
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you will be prone to deception. In the end times,
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Jesus said that many teachers will come and they
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will preach things that are not of God. They
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will get you majoring on things that God does
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not major on. They will get your life in the
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wrong direction and it will steal from your calling.
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The enemy really doesn't care if you're deceived
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or not. Do you know what the enemy cares about?
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whether you are effective or not and He wants
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to deceive you so that you're no longer effective
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in your calling Get you focused on the wrong
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things If you're deceived you're chasing your
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tail You find yourself trying to convince people
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of things that don't even matter Ephesians 4
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Right after he talks about the fivefold ministry
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apostle prophet pastor teacher evangelist He
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says that the church should be trained up no
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longer children tossed to and fro and carried
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about with every wind of doctrine by the trickery
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of men in the cunning craftiness of deceitful
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plotting. But speaking the truth in love may
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grow up in all things into him who is the head,
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Christ. from whom the whole body joined and knit
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together by what every joint supplies according
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to the effective working by which every part
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does its share causes growth of the body for
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the edifying of itself in love. Hallelujah. Isn't
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that a good word? And so he wants you to grow
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up in Christ. Amen. How many of you have got
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growing up to do in Christ? My hand is up. I'm
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going to grow up in Christ. I'm going to learn.
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I'm going to give myself to the Word of God.
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I'm going to become what God wants me to be.
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You need to know the truth, not because the pastor
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said it, not because somebody on Facebook said
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it. You need to know the truth because God said
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it and His Word said it. Amen? Number four, this
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is the one. This is my last point on chasing
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your tail, and then I've got a few remarks to
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conclude with. You're chasing your tail when
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you subject yourself to the control of others.
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The spirit of manipulation. Manipulation is a
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demonic tool to get others to do your will. It
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is power hungry. It's rooted in deception, often
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fear -based. Manipulation manifests relationships
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of all kinds. God has not called us to be manipulated.
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I always cringe when I... See certain people
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receive the offering because I believe in generosity
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and I believe in tithing and I believe in giving
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But sometimes the people taking the offering
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are operating in a spirit of manipulation Trying
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to manipulate people into giving Does anybody
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here appreciate being manipulated? No If you
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give, you wanna give because you're a cheerful
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giver. And it is out of the abundance of your
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own heart and generosity, amen? Because nobody
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likes being manipulated. If you are the tail
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and not the head, you will open yourself up to
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being manipulated. Romans chapter 12. Verse 9
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says let love be without hypocrisy Let love be
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without hypocrisy some translations say let it
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be genuine Marriage is often a breeding ground
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for manipulation Am I telling the truth? But
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God wants love that we have for one another to
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be genuine, to be sincere, to be open. My wife
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and I joke about each other a lot from the pulpit.
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I hope that you don't take that as if we despise
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each other. It's our it is actually a form of
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wonderful affection Love is genuine and honest
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and that's what marriage should be free communication
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Perhaps you are in a situation where you feel
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like you are always walking on eggshells and
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I cannot communicate in my own marriage. It might
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be because of a spirit of manipulation. You are
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afraid that you are going to offend your partner.
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God wants us to have open and honest sharing.
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I am not afraid to say anything to my wife. She
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is not afraid to say anything to me The peanut
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gallery speaks again Love is to be without hypocrisy
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First John 418 says there is no fear in love
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I Want to say that again there is no fear love.
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I want to call the husbands in the room to foster
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an atmosphere where your wife never is afraid
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to speak. Somebody say amen. Foster an atmosphere
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in your home where there is a freedom of expression.
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Hallelujah. In fact it goes on and says perfect
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love casts out fear. Because fear involves torment
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He who fears has not been made perfect in love
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if you operate in a spirit of manipulation You
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are operating in the spirit of fear and the enemy
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is actually using you He who fears has not been
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made perfect in love I Read a children's track
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Actually, my wife read it to me. She said, this
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is a children's track. It said this, if you haven't
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prayed the prayer to receive Jesus Christ, you're
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going to burn in hell forever. It said that on
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the children's track. Remember when I said you
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can say true things? But not be sharing the heart
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of God Jesus doesn't want us to serve him because
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we're afraid He has went to the cross inviting
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us to come to deliver us We cannot manipulate
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people into the kingdom of God Well, how does
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manipulation what does it look like what does
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manipulation look like guilt -tripping Now I
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know none of you have ever been guilty of this
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Guilt -tripping putting a guilt trip on people
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for not doing what you want them to do Silent
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treatment That is the spirit of manipulation.
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Silent treatment. Some of you are laughing. Some
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of you are squirming. Belittling. Constantly
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tearing down. The withholding of affection. It's
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the spirit of manipulation The withholding of
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affection Talking about your spouse with your
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friends So that you can have more ammunition
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Am I telling the truth this is the spirit of
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manipulation. Blame shifting and never taking
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personal responsibility. It is all manipulation.
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Now, if you have ever been used in manipulation,
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then I call you to come under the conviction
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of the Holy Spirit and repent in Jesus' name.
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Honey, I am sorry for the way. I treated you
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isn't that an awesome thing to say Okay, everybody
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repeat after me honey. I am sorry for the way.
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I treated you That is an awesome thing to say
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You know what we need we need marriages that
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have freedom and open communication Do you know
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that my wife does not believe everything that
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I believe? I know it's hard for you to believe
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that, but it is true. There are things that we
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can have very nice discussions about that we
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don't see eye to eye on. And do you know what?
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She is free to believe differently than me about
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some things. We're not talking about major things
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our people is you know our people saved through
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the name of Jesus Of course she believes that
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do people need to be filled with the Holy Spirit
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of course she believes that but there there are
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some things That that I consider to be important
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that she does not consider to be important imagine
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that Do you know what we are still in love with
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each other? and it's good. I've only had one
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person ever come to me and say, pastor, thank
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you for preaching on manipulation. Do you know
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the master manipulator in the Old Testament was
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Jezebel? She controlled her husband Ahab. He
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had no spine. He was he was in stable insecure
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and She is the queen manipulator of the Old Testament
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and Only one time in my whole ministry of 30
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years has anybody ever come up to me and say
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Thank you pastor for preaching on that because
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I have been a manipulator Would you pray for
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me? That I would be free manipulation. Normally,
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when we hear this kind of a message, we're thinking
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of somebody else. But who in here will say, God
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search my heart. God deliver me. God have your
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way in me. Want to go to one verse It's not in
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my notes That I believe the Lord has dropped
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in my heart in first Corinthians chapter 7 Would
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you go there with me and I'm gonna close with
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this this is an awesome passage for married couples
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Not just married couples, this is Paul talking
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about marriage Commandments that he gives to
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single people, to married people. But let's look
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at verse 10. Now to the married I command, yet
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not I but the Lord, a wife is not to depart from
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her husband. But even if she does depart let
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her remain unmarried or be reconciled to her
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husband The husband is not to divorce his wife
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But to the rest I not the Lord say now listen
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to this It's in the Word of God. I believe it's
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very important even though Paul Paul is saying
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this is more my feeling but listen to this If
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any brother has a wife who does not believe and
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She is willing to live with him let him not divorce
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her and so Men if your wife is not a believer
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and she's willing that the the Gist of what Paul
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is saying is she is willing to allow you to live
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the lifestyle of a believer without contingencies.
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It means she's not going to put pressure on you
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when you go to church, when you put God first.
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If she's willing to live with you, as you follow
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Christ, even though she doesn't, then the two
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of you are to walk together through life. And
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then vice versa. If a woman has a husband who
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does not follow Christ, if he is willing to live
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with her Let her not divorce him Now I ask you
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who in this situation is the head The believer
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is the head The believer is the one that sets
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the tone Honey, I gave my life to Christ last
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night. I know you're not ready to follow Jesus
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yet But I want you to know that Jesus is now
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first in my life I'm gonna be gathering with
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God's people. You're gonna have to be okay with
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that I'm gonna lay my life down for Jesus. He's
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first When he speaks to me, I'm gonna follow
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him You have to be okay with that. Are you okay
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with that? And if your spouse says no, are you
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supposed to just do what the spouse says? No,
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you are supposed to follow Jesus with your whole
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heart. Your spouse is free to go. It's difficult.
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It's tough. But you are a follower of Jesus Christ.
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You are the head and you are not the tail. Married
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couple. If your spouse backslides, it is not
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permission for you to backslide with her, with
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him. You keep pressing into God. Why? Because
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you are the tail. Do you know how many husbands
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and wives I've seen backslide together? They
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move away from God together. They influence each
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other. But I guarantee you this, if I backslide,
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my wife will not. If I backslide, she will keep
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serving God. I guarantee you this, if she backslides,
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I will keep serving God. I will keep going after
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God with my whole heart because Jesus is first
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in my life. I'm not going to become the tail
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and chase everything around. God has made me
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the head because I'm following Him. You are the
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head and not the tail. I'm sorry that serving
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Jesus upsets you, honey. But you're gonna have
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to find a way to deal with it because I'm gonna
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keep serving Jesus. Come on, somebody give God
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praise. I'm going to keep putting Him first.
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Now does this mean there's never any reasonable
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compromise? I'm not saying that. But in general,
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you go after God. Is this okay this morning?
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How many of you want to be the head and not the
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tail? We've got to embrace it. We've got to start
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rising up in who's God called us to be. We've
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got to become the men and women of God. He's
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giving us that opportunity. To follow Jesus I
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have decided To follow Jesus I have decided To
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follow Jesus No turning back Though none go with
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me Still I will follow Though none go with me
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Still I will follow Though none go with me Still
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I will follow turning back the cross before me
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the world beyond me the cross before me the world
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behind me the cross before me the world Now if
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you want to be the head and not the tail, it
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starts with obedience. It doesn't mean you're
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perfect. It doesn't mean that you will never
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fail. It just means that with everything in me,
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I'm gonna be a follower of Christ. I want you
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to just stand up, join these that are standing
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all over this place. And just say, God, that's
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my desire. Lord, all over this place, as people
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are standing before you, they're wanting to step
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into the call. call of God in their lives to
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please Jesus. Lord, deliver us from the fear
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of man. If you've been under the fear of man,
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just repent of that right now in the name of
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Jesus. If you've been under the fear of your
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friend, you've been under the fear of your spouse,
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you've been under the fear of anybody, just repent
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of that in the name of Jesus. God, you're the
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one that I should fear. I'm gonna live for you.
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Hallelujah. Hallelujah. God, just put your hand
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over your heart right now. Lord, I am asking
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that you would keep us from deception. You said
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for us to pray, deliver us from the evil one.
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And he speaks the language of deception. We don't
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have to be afraid that somehow we're gonna be
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deceived. We just have to keep our eyes on Jesus,
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keep our heart in the word of God, and keep our
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lives. Moving your direction God and so I pray
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that you would deliver us from deception and
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keep our hearts clean and pure God in this world
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where everybody is so hardened by the deceitfulness
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of sin Keep our hearts pliable and moldable in
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the name of Jesus and soft before you God keep
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us tender hearted toward you in Jesus name God,
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I ask right now that you would set this church
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free from manipulation Hallelujah. Oh my god.
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I pray that you would set homes free in Jesus
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name I pray that you would set marriages free
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in the name of Jesus. Hallelujah God, I thank
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you that we are that we are free as sons and
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daughters We don't use our freedom as an opportunity
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to indulge in the flesh, but we use it to to
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choose to serve one another God I thank you for
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freedom in conversation and how we feel God I
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thank you for atmospheres of freedom in our homes
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God I pray in Jesus name That the spirit of manipulation
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will come off of your church Hallelujah God you've
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called your people to be the head and not the
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tail engaging in triumphal procession Going about
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from victory to victory In Jesus name we give
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ourselves to you And everybody said, Amen. Friends,
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the work of God is happening in hearts around
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this room right now. Embrace His Word. Let His
51:20
Word get inside of you and set you free. In Jesus'
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name.