Latest / Karl and Crew / Unwavering Faith Through Trauma and Adversity with Susie Larson

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Unwavering Faith Through Trauma and Adversity with Susie Larson · Karl and Crew

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  S1: Broadcasting from Chicago, across North America and beyond its cast
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  S1: and crew. Come as you are an experienced guide. Overcome
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  S1: what seems impossible and live. As you never imagined. Start
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  S1: your morning with a laugh.
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  S2: Practical from the Bible. Tips and tricks to kill. Not tricks,
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  S2: but tips and tricks.
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  S3: Tips and tricks to kill. Tips and tricks.
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  S1: Delivering the truth daily.
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  S4: All of my attempts to, you know, prop myself up
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  S4: with achievement in good works. Well, God wasn't impressed by that.
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  S4: Even if other people were.
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  S2: The gospel changes everything.
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  S5: Freedom in Christ. Man, it's like that backpack of cement
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  S5: just falling to the ground.
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  S1: Now, from the call of Hope Studios, this is Carl
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  S1: and crew. It is Ask the Experts week, and we're
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  S1: coming out hot this hour.
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  S4: This has been such a full week. I don't know
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  S4: that we've ever talked to this many guests.
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  S3: No.
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  S4: In one week?
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  S2: No, I don't think so.
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  S6: Producer. No. Ask our producer. Yeah.
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  S4: Like we've had so many conversations this week.
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  S2: A lot. A lot of good stuff.
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  S6: A lot of booking. Oh, yeah. Great.
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  S2: A lot of booking.
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  S6: A lot of booking that too. But good stuff.
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  S7: Yeah. Phenomenal. So speaking of phenomenal look up phenomenal in
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  S7: the dictionary. And Susie Larson's picture is right there somewhere.
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  S7: Right there.
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  S2: Right there right up next to the word phenomenal.
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  S4: Susie Larson. That feels appropriate.
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  S7: Yeah. You know, when we think about Susie and some
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  S7: of the expertise that she has, what would you say
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  S7: about her ministry?
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  S4: You know, she has always been open about, um, overcoming
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  S4: trauma in her life, but also living with chronic illness
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  S4: and the hardship that come with, you know, kind of living.
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  S4: You know, people want to think that it's like, sort
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  S4: of this happily ever after where you have the before.
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  S4: And then. Then everything gets easy and you live happily
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  S4: ever after. But she's very honest about the ongoing battle
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  S4: of feeling like you get a victory for her and
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  S4: her health. And then there's a setback and and fighting
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  S4: for faith through that.
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  S7: Yeah, it's it's so good, I think for Susie, for
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  S7: me as a woman that has such a good handle
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  S7: on the word as it relates to those things that
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  S7: you put that combo together and you got something lethal.
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  S7: Buckle up and do grab that swig of water. We're
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  S7: coming in hot here with a phenomenal woman of God,
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  S7: Susie Larson, coming up.
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  S1: Standing on the rock each and every day. You're listening
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  S1: to Carl and Cru.
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  S7: Consider it pure joy, my brothers. Whenever you face trials
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  S7: of many kinds, because you know that the testing of
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  S7: your faith develops perseverance and perseverance must finish its work
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  S7: so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing.
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  S7: And then, if you lack wisdom for that trial, by
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  S7: the way, let him ask of God. But don't be
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  S7: double sold or double minded. Why in the world do
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  S7: I have that passage of Scripture so locked into my heart?
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  S7: I don't even have a Bible open. Susie. Why is
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  S7: it that we can memorize passages like that? Why is it.
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  S8: Because our souls need it and we're wired for truth.
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  S8: We're wired to walk in intimacy with God and His
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  S8: laws written on our hearts. And I feel like when
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  S8: you walk through a storm, God increases your capacity to
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  S8: receive and believe His word.
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  S7: Wow.
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  S4: Susie Larson, our guest this morning, well known radio talk
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  S4: show host Susie Larson, live podcaster with over 16 million downloads,
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  S4: national speaker, and a bestselling author. You know when you
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  S4: hear that verse that count it all joy. Some people,
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  S4: if they've heard it before and they've gone through real hardship,
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  S4: it can feel not like a comfort. It can feel
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  S4: like a cliché a little bit. Have you ever felt that?
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  S8: Very much when? I don't really know what the joy
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  S8: actually means. But I've been in enough fires and enough
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  S8: battles now to know that joy of the Lord is
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  S8: our strength. It literally is a supernatural sense of God's presence,
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  S8: the infusion of his strength. And then when you realize
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  S8: God can accomplish and enter you what he wants to
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  S8: in no other way. In fact, Chip Ingram was on
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  S8: my show. I don't know about like 6 or 7
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  S8: months ago. And he said the best thing. He said, Susie,
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  S8: whatever you're walking through, you've got to know God is
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  S8: so kind and so good. If he could accomplish his
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  S8: purposes through you in any other way, he would. This
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  S8: is his kindest, gentlest path forward for you. And it
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  S8: doesn't always feel like that. It feels brutal. But when
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  S8: you start to get to know what God is like
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  S8: and who he is, you're not just taking your cues
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  S8: and your theology from your experience, then you can know
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  S8: without a doubt, I know him. If I'm walking through it,
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  S8: he's going to see me through it. If he allows it,
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  S8: he's going to redeem it. And so I can get
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  S8: to that place of joy going, you know what? Have
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  S8: your way. Because I do know for every time I
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  S8: trust you in these battles, the enemy loses real estate,
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  S8: I gain real estate, and many lives are impacted. It
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  S8: just helps you to get a bigger picture. And there
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  S8: is supernatural strength in that joy. When you say, Lord,
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  S8: you know what? I know you're going to see me
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  S8: through this. I know you're going to work it for
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  S8: the good. And when you start to kind of zoom
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  S8: out and get that bigger picture, you will be able
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  S8: to have peace and joy. That's not circumstantial.
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  S7: See, we get into this thing just a couple of minutes,
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  S7: and I know people are saying, how do I get
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  S7: more of that? Where's her content at? Text the word
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  S7: goodness right now. We're going to get it going early
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  S7: this morning. Text goodness to 800 555 7898. Text goodness
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  S7: to 800 555 7898. You know, we don't often talk
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  S7: about this, but I want to go to that passage
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  S7: in James and go to the later portion where he says,
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  S7: if you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who
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  S7: gives generously, by the way, without any kind of judgment
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  S7: or fault finding. But let him ask in faith. Not
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  S7: a double souled is what the original text says there.
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  S7: It means that you got one soul in this camp
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  S7: and one soul in that camp. That's a huge caveat.
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  S7: What does that mean to the average person listening today?
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  S7: It's not God's not baiting and switching us here. He's
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  S7: just saying wisdom for trials comes to a person that
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  S7: is singularly in him. What does that look like, Suzy?
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  S8: Well, the opposite of that is plan A, B, and C. God,
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  S8: you're one of the options. And if you don't come
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  S8: through for me, I've got my other idols in my tent.
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  S8: And it's very similar to when Elijah called God's people
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  S8: together at Mount Carmel and said, okay, is God the
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  S8: Lord or not? If he is, follow him and bow
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  S8: down to him, because they were creating and bowing down
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  S8: to idols. And you know, I had a one of
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  S8: my guests on my show every day. I ask, you know,
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  S8: what's the Lord been speaking to you about? And one
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  S8: of my guests during Covid, he said, Susie, I was
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  S8: thinking of that story when Paul was unjustly accused and
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  S8: went before Agrippa and he said, here he has this
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  S8: unjust experience, but he's one of the greatest evangelists of
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  S8: all time. So he uses the unjust opportunity to preach
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  S8: the good news to further the gospel. And in so
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  S8: many words Agrippa said, you almost persuaded me to become
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  S8: a Christian. And he said, you know what I've been
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  S8: thinking about is because during that time when he and
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  S8: I were talking, it was Covid. Everything was shaking. And
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  S8: he said, I'm wondering, are there things I once was
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  S8: sure about that I'm only almost persuaded about? Like because
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  S8: of the shaking we're going through? Am I wavering back
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  S8: and forth in unbelief? So circling back to James, when
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  S8: you're wavering back and forth, you don't see goodness when
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  S8: it comes because often his answer is the still small voice.
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  S8: It's the little sprout in the ground. It's that little
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  S8: crook that's coming through the desert that's so contrary to nature.
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  S8: And if we're living by sensation, making a theology on
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  S8: our battles without the Word of God, we will miss him.
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  S4: Susie Larson, our guest this morning. Coming up, we're going
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  S4: to get a little bit of Susie's own story. As
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  S4: you might imagine, this hard fought wisdom, hard earned wisdom
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  S4: does not come from a place of not having been
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  S4: through some difficulty. Let's ask her how God has sustained her.
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  S4: Coming up.
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  S1: Get your info from a source you can trust. It's
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  S1: Ask the Experts week with Carl and crew.
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  S4: Or Ask the Expert. Series continues today. Susie Larson so
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  S4: gracious to join us. Susie, give us a little bit
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  S4: of your own story. And I know we've asked it
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  S4: of you before, but I think it so helps for
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  S4: our listeners to hear that you come from a place
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  S4: of knowing, when you talk about considering it joy through
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  S4: trials of many kinds.
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  S8: Yeah, again, so honored to be with you. And I
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  S8: appreciate what you guys do so much, because you're real
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  S8: and you're raw and you're not pretending. You're not playing
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  S8: around and you're not presenting a facade of perfect Christianity
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  S8: because there's no such thing. So I love being in
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  S8: the trenches with you guys because that's how I have
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  S8: to walk it out, you know? And I don't want
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  S8: to give anybody whiplash, but I'm going to give you
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  S8: a little synopsis, so maybe you can buckle up and
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  S8: put a little pillow behind your neck.
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  S6: Just prepare.
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  S7: For landing.
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  S8: Come on. Yeah. Just soften the blow a little bit
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  S8: because I'm going to whip through it. But you need
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  S8: to know that I'm still standing, and God is faithful. Uh,
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  S8: just quickly. I grew up in a large family where
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  S8: I knew God was real. I felt his presence as
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  S8: a child, but it wasn't a mainstream evangelical denomination, so
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  S8: the gospel was not preached. But I'm telling you, as
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  S8: a child, I sensed God's presence. And then I suffered
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  S8: two traumas at the hands of teenage boys. One at
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  S8: age nine. It was a sexual trauma. I was pinned down.
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  S8: Number two trauma. I was age ten, and I literally
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  S8: was like four feet tall. It was this small little
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  S8: thing walking home from school, and a handful of large
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  S8: teenage boys jumped me and knocked me to the ground
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  S8: and pummeled me and beat me. And I still remember
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  S8: the crazed look in their eyes, so I'm quite sure
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  S8: they were high on something, but they were kicking me,
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  S8: pulling fistfuls of hair, punching my face. I was curled
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  S8: in a ball and and I've said this to you
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  S8: guys before, and I've done a lot of work around healing.
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  S8: But to this day, if I see a real of
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  S8: someone getting pummeled or even getting beat up, it sends
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  S8: a neurological surge through my body that I feel for
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  S8: about 2 or 3 days because it's so demonic. It's
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  S8: just so demonic to do that to a person, especially
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  S8: a little girl. And I get up and they are
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  S8: laughing as they're walking away going, can you believe we
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  S8: did that to her? And laughing. And I heard in
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  S8: my ear, I can get you any time, anywhere and
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  S8: God will never stop me. And that is the moment
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  S8: I knew the devil was real too. And a spirit
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  S8: of fear got in me so big that I had
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  S8: a core belief as a child, I'm going to have
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  S8: to endure everything I fear. I came to Christ as
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  S8: a young teenager and then in my young 20s, got married,
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  S8: and we had some high risk pregnancies. During one of
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  S8: those pregnancies, I was on bed rest for six months
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  S8: with a one and a three year old, and that
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  S8: had its own crisis because I, you know, when I
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  S8: came into Christianity and then as a young adult, I'm
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  S8: serving in five capacities in church, partly because I was
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  S8: passionate about Jesus, but partly I was still earning my way.
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  S8: You know, I knew I was saved, I did not
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  S8: know I was loved. And when you put to bed
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  S8: rest and you can't, you know, you've got people bringing in,
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  S8: you know, meals and watching your kids and you're watching
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  S8: them get exhausted on your behalf. It confronted all of
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  S8: the trauma, all the insecurity, all the core identity issues
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  S8: I had. And again, long story short, one day of
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  S8: the six months of bed rest, the docs let me
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  S8: get up to just see if I could handle being
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  S8: up without going into labor. I met my old college
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  S8: roommates for lunch and for a short walk on a
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  S8: fall day in the Midwest. And unknowingly was bit by
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  S8: the deer tick. Within two weeks of that outing, my
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  S8: face went numb. My arms went numb, the vision blurred.
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  S8: My memory started to go. And, um, late 20s at
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  S8: this point. Anyway, uh, a year later found out I
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  S8: had was contracted Lyme disease. The deer tick latched on,
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  S8: deposited its bacteria and dropped off. And I heard the
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  S8: lie again. I can get you any time, anywhere. God
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  S8: will never stop me. And that began about a seven
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  S8: year hellish battle with Lyme. And. And then for 20 years,
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  S8: it was cyclical. But I'm a fighter, I came back.
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  S8: I taught aerobics, I did everything I could. I was
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  S8: probably on a scale of 1 to 10, living at
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  S8: a five, sometimes a six. But four times a year
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  S8: for sure, I would have massive relapse. Go to bed,
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  S8: face numb, arms numb, couldn't get out of bed and
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  S8: would feel crummy for a few weeks. And so for
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  S8: 20 years I had a cyclical battle and never felt great.
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  S8: But at least I could do life. And then ten
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  S8: years ago, I had a massive, horrifying relapse. And apparently
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  S8: people with chronic Lyme can't process mold, and I've been
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  S8: unknowingly exposed to black mold and it caused brain damage.
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  S8: So I'd be on the air interviewing guests and I.
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  S8: You guys know what that's like. You have a lot
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  S8: of moving pieces. A lot. You're watching behind the scenes,
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  S8: watching my clock, listening to my producer looking at my notes,
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  S8: and my tongue went numb. My chin went numb. I
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  S8: suddenly couldn't remember what I was saying. I was writing
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  S8: a book. My umpteenth book couldn't remember how to spell
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  S8: basic words, and my brain and cognitive function spiralled and
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  S8: I had brain damage from mold toxicity. And so seven
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  S8: years and you guys were with me through that. I
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  S8: came on the show many times, bleeding under my armor,
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  S8: literally army crawling through that time. And I'm still battling,
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  S8: but nothing like I was. I'm functioning and I've come
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  S8: a long way, but there's not probably been a day
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  S8: in 36 years that I haven't battled symptoms, and I
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  S8: have to fight really hard to feel well. And so
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  S8: that's when you read my books or hear me talk.
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  S8: You may hear this language of contending for the promise.
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  S8: It's the only way I'm standing. You know, none of
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  S8: the abundant life came wrapped up in a nice bow
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  S8: on my doorstep. Because we have a thief. And his
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  S8: aim is to steal, kill and destroy. But when you
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  S8: get to know what God has promised and what Jesus won,
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  S8: you got to rise up and say, well, that's mine
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  S8: and you don't get to have that. And that's the
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  S8: only way I've known to navigate this faith journey is
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  S8: to stand in faith and to believe those promises have
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  S8: my name on them.
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  S7: Contending for the promise. Love that term. Some people could
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  S7: take that as I need to suck it up. You
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  S7: have a different angle on that. Why don't you share that?
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  S8: Well, definitely. There's no sucking it up because you have.
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  S8: You're no match for the enemy of your soul. But
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  S8: Jesus said in Luke 1019, I have given you authority
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  S8: over all the power of the enemy. You can walk
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  S8: among snakes and scorpions and crush them, and nothing will
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  S8: by any means injure you. And remember, as a young mom,
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  S8: the Lord is like, did you become a believer just
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  S8: to secure your eternity? Or because you actually believe this stuff? Like,
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  S8: when are you going to shift your weight onto the
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  S8: promises to see if they hold? Because every time you're
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  S8: beholding all this fear, because the symptoms are terrifying. Every
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  S8: time you're beholding all this fear, you're turning your back
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  S8: on faith. But when you behold faith, you can put
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  S8: that fear under your feet. And I got to just
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  S8: tell you one more verse. James four seven says, Submit
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  S8: to God, resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
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  S8: Submit to God is actually a military term. And what
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  S8: it means is get back in rank And you are
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  S8: out of rank in any way. You've got no authority.
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  S8: Watchman nee said you can't have authority unless you're under authority.
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  S8: How do you get out of rank? Well, let's see
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  S8: you harbor a grudge. Unforgiveness. You accuse God of things
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  S8: the devil's guilty of. You live a duplicitous life. You're
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  S8: dabbling in sin and pretending that you're not. The enemy's
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  S8: a legalist. So if you're out of rank, he has
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  S8: legal right to attack you. And what he loves is
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  S8: then we blame God for all of our hardship. So
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  S8: I'm not saying all your troubles are always your fault,
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  S8: but my first course of action when I'm under fire
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  S8: is search me, O God. You know, test me, know me,
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  S8: show me anything in me. And if I don't find anything,
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  S8: I just know I'm in a battle and I armor
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  S8: up and I fight back. But if the Lord shows
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  S8: me first, I go to repentance, I submit to God.
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  S8: So that's your first step in that, in that process
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  S8: of James four seven and then it says, resist the
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  S8: devil and he will flee. He has to flee. So
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  S8: I often say, if you were to peel back the
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  S8: sky and see the cosmic battle, you would see some
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  S8: Christians running for their lives, because the enemy prowls like
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  S8: a lion, like a lion, and they don't know their authority.
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  S8: So he's roaring, they're running. And then the other camps,
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  S8: you see Christians putting a flag in the ground, stomping
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  S8: their feet, going, get out and stay out in the
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  S8: name of Jesus. You can't have my family, so you're
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  S8: not standing in your strength. You're standing in the authority
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  S8: of Almighty God. There's a big difference. And on your
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  S8: weakest day, I've done that on my sick bed. I
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  S8: have sent missiles into enemy camp. And last thing I
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  S8: want to say about this is you don't have to
• 15:58
  S8: feel well to be powerful in prayer.
• 16:01
  S7: Amen. Susie Larson, our guest. And Susie, this leads to
• 16:06
  S7: something that is becoming just this grow. I've had it
• 16:09
  S7: growing here for 11 years, and it keeps building and
• 16:14
  S7: building and building. And the only analogy I can have
• 16:17
  S7: is the classic iceberg. We often focus on the spiritual disciplines,
• 16:23
  S7: not all bad, but the spiritual disciplines of getting to church, worship,
• 16:28
  S7: corporate worship, giving to each other as they have need.
• 16:31
  S7: I need. I mean, that's beautiful discipline, getting to small group,
• 16:34
  S7: getting into study. I have a growing conviction and I
• 16:38
  S7: know you live this, so I want you to respond
• 16:40
  S7: to this question. Is it time for the church in
• 16:44
  S7: the West to come back to the unseen disciplines? I
• 16:47
  S7: think Foster and Willard called them the private disciplines or
• 16:50
  S7: something like that. But it's confession, it's introspection. It's saying,
• 16:57
  S7: as David did, oh, God, I don't know myself. Search me,
• 17:01
  S7: know me, try me, lead me in the way everlasting.
• 17:05
  S8: I can't agree with you any more than I do.
• 17:08
  S8: I feel an urgency for the church to wake up
• 17:11
  S8: and to tuck themselves under the wing of the Most
• 17:13
  S8: High God, to find intimacy. You know, the Lord has
• 17:17
  S8: had me pray Psalm 27 so much. This isn't full memory,
• 17:19
  S8: because when I memorize, I try to do word for word.
• 17:22
  S8: But just let me say this because it's been my
• 17:24
  S8: prayer for the last year and you just gotta. There's
• 17:27
  S8: so much power in it. But the Lord is my
• 17:29
  S8: light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? The Lord
• 17:32
  S8: is the stronghold of my life. Of whom shall I
• 17:34
  S8: be afraid? When evil men attack me, they will stumble
• 17:37
  S8: and fall. If an army breaks out against me, my
• 17:40
  S8: heart will not fear. Even if war surrounds me, I
• 17:43
  S8: will remain confident. Why? One thing I ask, and that
• 17:46
  S8: I may seek. That I may dwell in the house
• 17:48
  S8: of the Lord all the days of my life, that
• 17:50
  S8: I would behold his beauty, that I would meditate on
• 17:53
  S8: his perfections, that he would conceal me in his sanctuary,
• 17:57
  S8: lifting me high above my enemy, placing me on a
• 18:00
  S8: rock where my head is above my enemy. And from
• 18:02
  S8: there I will offer shouts of joy and sacrifices of praise.
• 18:05
  S8: I want to just zoom out here, okay? We tend
• 18:08
  S8: to need all of our ducks in a row for
• 18:09
  S8: us to be joyful. To us to think God is good.
• 18:12
  S8: And he's like, you know what? If evil people attack me? Whatever.
• 18:16
  S8: You know, if a war surrounds me, whatever. What I
• 18:19
  S8: need is intimacy with God in the sanctuary to be
• 18:23
  S8: hidden with him and to behold. Because what you behold,
• 18:26
  S8: you become. So I'm beholding his perfections, because from that
• 18:30
  S8: place I see everything is going to work out. I
• 18:32
  S8: see that he works all things together for the good.
• 18:35
  S8: But if you neglect that place and you live in
• 18:38
  S8: the shallows. I'm telling you, friend, and I rarely talk
• 18:41
  S8: like this. But I do believe this is a word
• 18:43
  S8: of the Lord. We are coming into a day where
• 18:45
  S8: your old disciplines will not serve you. You can't just
• 18:48
  S8: phone it in, you can't dabble. You've got to immerse
• 18:51
  S8: yourself in the word, immerse yourself in his presence. Make
• 18:54
  S8: a case for the goodness of God. So when evil
• 18:57
  S8: men attack you, when it seems like you're surrounded by trouble,
• 19:00
  S8: you're like, whatever. That may be true, but truer still is.
• 19:03
  S8: The presence of God is my good. And it's where
• 19:06
  S8: I get perspective, even on my enemies that's thundering in
• 19:10
  S8: my spirit. It's always amazing how you and I track,
• 19:13
  S8: but I do believe this is an urgent word of
• 19:15
  S8: the Lord not to put us in fear, but to
• 19:17
  S8: put us in a place of faith that those. When
• 19:19
  S8: you think about when my enemy attacks me, he will
• 19:22
  S8: stumble and fall. What it reminds me of is when
• 19:23
  S8: our boys were little, they're grown now. My husband's six three.
• 19:26
  S8: He's an oak of righteousness. And those little guys would
• 19:29
  S8: run into him altogether at the same time to try
• 19:32
  S8: to take him out. And they would bounce off of
• 19:34
  S8: him and fall on their bum. And I feel like
• 19:36
  S8: when you're in the Lord and the enemy comes against you,
• 19:39
  S8: he will stumble and fall. So real quick, let me
• 19:42
  S8: take you back to that cosmic picture. When you're standing
• 19:44
  S8: in your authority. You don't have to physically feel strong,
• 19:47
  S8: but you got to know who God is. Know who
• 19:49
  S8: you are. Get in rank. So that means walk in
• 19:51
  S8: the fear of God and deal with your sin. Then
• 19:54
  S8: rise up and resist that devil. He's running for his life,
• 19:57
  S8: and if he's not running for his life in your life,
• 20:00
  S8: it's because he's camping on the hope that you don't
• 20:03
  S8: know who you are and what you have because of
• 20:05
  S8: what Jesus did.
• 20:06
  S7: Susie, I couldn't agree more. And we are on the
• 20:09
  S7: same page. I want to because one thing that has
• 20:12
  S7: been so lost in our knowledge brokering Western church is
• 20:17
  S7: that if I know more, I'm going to do better.
• 20:21
  S7: It's ironic that Jesus said it's not about knowledge, it's
• 20:23
  S7: about application of that knowledge, and even deeper still, it's
• 20:26
  S7: about intimacy with God. I want you in just a
• 20:30
  S7: moment to tackle this topic of approaching the Word of
• 20:34
  S7: God from a standpoint of communion with God, rather than
• 20:38
  S7: obeying God as a rule. More with Susie Larson coming up.
• 20:43
  S1: You've got questions. They've got answers. It's Ask the Experts
• 20:48
  S1: week with Carl and crew.
• 20:50
  S4: We've got Susie Larson with us and our Ask the
• 20:52
  S4: Expert series, well known radio talk show host. We've covered
• 20:55
  S4: a lot of ground already. Text goodness. If you want
• 20:58
  S4: more of her resources, she has daily devotionals, many books.
• 21:02
  S4: Just text goodness to 800 555 7898. Goodness 800 555
• 21:09
  S4: 7898 Susie.
• 21:11
  S7: Let's get let's get after this. Uh, the word of God.
• 21:14
  S7: We know that we've struggled in the West with knowledge brokering. Basically,
• 21:18
  S7: church became I know this. What do you know without
• 21:21
  S7: even saying that necessarily. And some people feel insecure because
• 21:25
  S7: they don't know a lot of the word. The challenge
• 21:28
  S7: there is that it's the application of the word that
• 21:30
  S7: makes us survive storms, not the not mere knowledge of it.
• 21:34
  S7: Jesus said that in the sermon on the Mount, but
• 21:36
  S7: even getting into the pages of Scripture were really. And
• 21:39
  S7: I know this sounds crazy for a big old Iditarod
• 21:41
  S7: runner Alaska dude here, but I'm going to do it.
• 21:43
  S7: I'm going to say it. We're getting into the into
• 21:46
  S7: the arms of God. And that's not nothing, is it, Susie?
• 21:50
  S8: Oh, that's everything Scripture says. Knowledge puffs up, but love
• 21:54
  S8: builds up. Scripture also says the kingdom of God is
• 21:57
  S8: not a matter of talk, but of power. And when
• 22:00
  S8: we get in our heads too much and it's just
• 22:02
  S8: theological banter and discussion and you think you're superior because
• 22:06
  S8: of your knowledge, well, you've already distanced yourself from God
• 22:10
  S8: because he distances himself from the proud. He draws near
• 22:12
  S8: and gives grace to the humble. It's interesting. I don't
• 22:14
  S8: know if you've read anything of Artie Kendall. Yes, I
• 22:17
  S8: love his work. I just he's got such depth and humility.
• 22:21
  S8: And I think he has more than one doctorate. I'm
• 22:23
  S8: not sure about that, but one. He was interviewed recently
• 22:25
  S8: and they asked him for advice and he said, you know,
• 22:28
  S8: he said, if I could go back, if I could
• 22:30
  S8: give advice to my younger self or anybody else who's
• 22:32
  S8: younger than me, he said, I wouldn't necessarily tell them
• 22:36
  S8: to go to seminary, he said. And I'm not dissing seminary.
• 22:38
  S8: He wasn't either. But he's saying the most important two
• 22:41
  S8: things that you can do is read your Bible and pray.
• 22:44
  S8: Like immerse yourself in the Word of God. And when
• 22:46
  S8: you were talking about knowledge, I started to think, what
• 22:48
  S8: are the places where the word no shows up in Scripture?
• 22:52
  S8: It's often yadah. It's that word of intimate knowing and
• 22:56
  S8: in the physical realm, it's like a knowing between a
• 22:59
  S8: husband and a wife. And in the spiritual realm, it's
• 23:02
  S8: experientially encountering God in the very places where you're restless
• 23:07
  S8: or you're tempted to struggle. Like Psalm 4610, be still
• 23:11
  S8: and know that I am God. I will be exalted
• 23:13
  S8: in the nations. I will be exalted in the earth.
• 23:16
  S8: Be still or cease. Striving means these things. Let go,
• 23:19
  S8: sink down, relax, and in some cases be quiet. Now,
• 23:22
  S8: if you're hyper responsible, that feels irresponsible in the very
• 23:26
  S8: areas of your restlessness. Maybe it's finances or your prodigal.
• 23:29
  S8: It's your marriage, your body image. What if in those
• 23:32
  S8: places God says, stop striving, stop trying to do this
• 23:35
  S8: on your own. Stop scrolling and trying to get all
• 23:38
  S8: the knowledge you can on Instagram. Stop it. Let go.
• 23:42
  S8: Sink down. Which means put your roots down into the
• 23:44
  S8: father's love, even relax. Which means just rest in his presence.
• 23:48
  S8: And then in some cases, be quiet. It means if
• 23:50
  S8: your words are bearing witness against God's promises, just stop talking.
• 23:55
  S8: And then it says, and know that he is God.
• 23:57
  S8: That word, again, is an intimate, experiential encounter. And so
• 24:01
  S8: this is the invitation from the Lord that in the
• 24:04
  S8: places of striving, in the places of pride, in the
• 24:08
  S8: places where you're doing the bootstrap theology thing, he's like, stop,
• 24:11
  S8: don't do it. You're not doing me any favors or
• 24:13
  S8: you're doing yourself any favors. No, me here encounter me here.
• 24:18
  S8: I set a table for you in the presence of
• 24:20
  S8: your enemy. Experience me here. And then finally, in Ephesians,
• 24:23
  S8: it says to know this love is to be filled
• 24:27
  S8: with the fullness of God.
• 24:28
  S4: Susie Larson, our guest this morning. You know, Susie, when
• 24:31
  S4: when you talk about, like, putting those roots down deep
• 24:35
  S4: and preparing, you know, you can start to live waiting
• 24:38
  S4: for the other shoe to drop, particularly if you've been
• 24:41
  S4: through difficulty before. And you can be both preparing. But
• 24:44
  S4: I know you've talked about sort of having locked elbows,
• 24:47
  S4: kind of where you're bracing yourself. How do you do both,
• 24:50
  S4: where you know that there could be difficult days ahead?
• 24:53
  S4: There will be difficult days ahead, but I don't want
• 24:55
  S4: to live with my elbows locked.
• 24:58
  S8: Boy, thank you for asking that, Allie, because that's huge
• 25:00
  S8: on my heart. Because I lived bracing for impact, because
• 25:03
  S8: of the unpredictable nature of the disease that I've battled. And.
• 25:07
  S8: And if it's okay if I say this, my book
• 25:09
  S8: waking Up to the Goodness of God literally is a
• 25:11
  S8: 40 day heart brain reset to move out of bracing
• 25:15
  S8: for impact to retrain your heart and mind to anticipate
• 25:18
  S8: the goodness of God. And the only reason I say
• 25:20
  S8: that is because you can't do both at the same time.
• 25:22
  S8: You can't brace for impact, live with elbows locked, and
• 25:25
  S8: then turn your hands up and humbly live with expectancy
• 25:28
  S8: that God is up to something good. You cannot do
• 25:30
  S8: those both at the same time, because self-preservation is the
• 25:34
  S8: antithesis of the kingdom of God. So what the Lord
• 25:37
  S8: showed me is that when you're in that posture, you're
• 25:40
  S8: in a spirit of fear. And there's no fear in love.
• 25:44
  S8: Perfect love casts out fear, and perfect love doesn't mean
• 25:47
  S8: you have to love him perfectly. It means perfected love.
• 25:49
  S8: It means matured love. Like, the more that you grow
• 25:52
  S8: in the knowledge of God's love for you, that it
• 25:54
  S8: undergirds everything that you are, the less real estate fear
• 25:58
  S8: will have in your life and how you move from
• 26:01
  S8: bracing for impact. Because yes, the culture is swirling all
• 26:04
  S8: around us, but there's so much in Scripture to say,
• 26:07
  S8: you know what? Culture was swirling around them too. But
• 26:10
  S8: be still. Like, look at Psalm 46. People put that
• 26:13
  S8: Psalm 46 be still and know that I am God
• 26:15
  S8: in soft songs and on pretty pictures. But if you
• 26:18
  S8: look in context, the nation's thunder and rumble, there's storms
• 26:21
  S8: going on and God's voice thunders over the chaos. My
• 26:25
  S8: voice is superior still to everything you're hearing in culture.
• 26:28
  S8: Be still. We've got to somehow learn to turn down
• 26:32
  S8: the noise and the way that I moved from bracing
• 26:35
  S8: for impact to really building a case for the goodness
• 26:38
  S8: of God and going, you know what? In this mess,
• 26:40
  S8: he's got something up his sovereign sleeve. The way I
• 26:42
  S8: did it was I started to realize that his goodness
• 26:46
  S8: was all around me. But you can't look at that
• 26:48
  S8: and look at your fears at the same time. You
• 26:50
  S8: can't even brain science says you can't at once be
• 26:53
  S8: grateful and anxious or be grateful and fearful. So to
• 26:57
  S8: move into that place where I looked at every good
• 27:01
  S8: thing in my life today that I would so miss
• 27:04
  S8: if it were gone tomorrow. And I saw it with
• 27:05
  S8: a gift tag to Susie, from God to Susie from God.
• 27:09
  S8: And everywhere I looked I saw the goodness of God.
• 27:12
  S8: And let me just say one last thing about this.
• 27:14
  S8: I submit to you that you can count your blessings
• 27:17
  S8: in a way that does not move the heart of
• 27:19
  S8: God and does not change you. But you have the
• 27:22
  S8: emotion of gratitude where you literally your senses feel it,
• 27:26
  S8: that creates neuropathways, that awakens faith. And that's the offering
• 27:31
  S8: that pleases God. Where you sit with your blessing for
• 27:33
  S8: a minute, like look at your spouse and go, man,
• 27:35
  S8: I love them. Listen to your children and go, wow,
• 27:38
  S8: God has given me something. Look at the food on
• 27:40
  S8: your table and go. Every good gift comes from his
• 27:43
  S8: hand and sit in it. Because we sit on social media,
• 27:46
  S8: we put our faces in front of that news and
• 27:48
  S8: we're beholding all that stuff. How about you start to
• 27:51
  S8: behold the goodness of God, and you're going to suddenly
• 27:54
  S8: realize I'm still standing? I have a history with God,
• 27:57
  S8: which means I have a future with him, too. Yeah,
• 28:00
  S8: but you're not going to default to those places. You
• 28:02
  S8: have to apply yourself to them.
• 28:04
  S7: Susie Larson, our guest right now, and some of you
• 28:06
  S7: are like, oh, excuse me, is there a key word
• 28:10
  S7: in this segment somewhere? Here we have it for you.
• 28:13
  S4: Text goodness to 800 555 7898. Goodness to 800 555 7898.
• 28:21
  S7: Coming up, I got in a car and drove about
• 28:23
  S7: 70 miles down the road to go to a farm
• 28:27
  S7: and grab from a guy that he had on marketplace,
• 28:30
  S7: a yoke, and it was because of a new discovery
• 28:34
  S7: I had found. And I want Susie to interact with
• 28:37
  S7: that straight ahead.
• 28:39
  S1: When you don't know who's better to ask than an expert,
• 28:43
  S1: you're listening to Carl and crew.
• 28:45
  S7: It's Ask the Experts week. Susie Larson with us. Susie,
• 28:50
  S7: I was on Facebook Marketplace. Kind of a scary thing,
• 28:54
  S7: I thought, but I needed to find something quick and
• 28:57
  S7: it flowed out of this great invitation. Come to me,
• 29:01
  S7: all who are weary and heavy laden. I'll give you rest.
• 29:04
  S7: Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for
• 29:06
  S7: I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will
• 29:08
  S7: find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy
• 29:10
  S7: and my burden is light. So I found a yoke
• 29:14
  S7: for oxen. That was an old one. It's over a
• 29:18
  S7: hundred years old, and I thought, I gotta go get it.
• 29:20
  S7: He wanted 200 bucks. I thought that was a steal.
• 29:22
  S7: It's probably worth two grand. In my mind's eye. So
• 29:25
  S7: I went and got it and did some more deep
• 29:27
  S7: diving before I took it as a illustration to our
• 29:30
  S7: church campuses here. Oh, Susie, we have misunderstood this. This
• 29:37
  S7: is when we talk about relationship with Jesus. It's not
• 29:40
  S7: like he's distant. He's right there with us. He says,
• 29:43
  S7: come get yoked with me. I'm going to teach you.
• 29:46
  S7: I'm going to guide you. That personal relationship with Jesus
• 29:51
  S7: is beautiful. How does that work in your life right now?
• 29:55
  S8: I love that you did that. I wonder if that's
• 29:58
  S8: your next book. I mean, that's not what you're asking
• 30:01
  S8: me about, but I just you got to let that
• 30:02
  S8: in because that is so powerful. I would say to
• 30:06
  S8: you that the recipe for flourishing to me is twofold,
• 30:11
  S8: and Jesus modeled it all over the place. It's deep
• 30:14
  S8: rest and purposeful faith. When you sign up for things
• 30:18
  S8: God never asked of you, you don't realize it. But
• 30:20
  S8: it not only wears you out, but it makes you
• 30:23
  S8: spiritually vulnerable. Because when you're committing to all good things,
• 30:26
  S8: that and they may be really good for the kingdom,
• 30:29
  S8: but they're not God things for you. We have a
• 30:32
  S8: propensity to do that. We get exhausted, and when you
• 30:35
  S8: get exhausted, you literally squander more time than you redeem.
• 30:38
  S8: And then you take shortcuts that you never intended. I
• 30:42
  S8: once did a show years ago when I was writing
• 30:44
  S8: another book on this topic, and I asked people to
• 30:46
  S8: call in anonymously. I said, if you are kind of
• 30:48
  S8: a high level leader at church, and you just kept
• 30:50
  S8: taking on more and more because there was nobody else,
• 30:53
  S8: there was a need, I can do it. You're one
• 30:55
  S8: of the 20% doing everything, and you got exhausted and
• 30:58
  S8: you kind of tried to, you know, grind it out.
• 31:00
  S8: And in one moment you made a decision that collapsed
• 31:04
  S8: your reputation or your life. Call in. You would not
• 31:08
  S8: believe the whole show. I got calls and people saying,
• 31:11
  S8: you know, I was an elder, I was a leader,
• 31:12
  S8: I was a pastor. But I got so tired I
• 31:15
  S8: wasn't in my right mind. And what happens is you
• 31:17
  S8: want to you want to feel relief. You know, you
• 31:20
  S8: do the dopamine hit which, you know, you could teach
• 31:22
  S8: on that all day long, Karl. And but it is
• 31:25
  S8: so unbelievable that when we get exhausted, it's not only unsustainable,
• 31:30
  S8: it makes us spiritually vulnerable. So the recipe for vitality
• 31:34
  S8: is to, I would say, put all your stuff on
• 31:36
  S8: the table going, Lord, are you still blessing this? Is
• 31:38
  S8: there anything that needs to come off my table? Because
• 31:41
  S8: your yoke is easy, your burden is light, so purposeful.
• 31:44
  S8: Rest is not scrolling, it's not binge watching. And I'm
• 31:47
  S8: not being a legalist. Do that if you want to
• 31:48
  S8: have fun. But if you're exhausted, that will not fill you.
• 31:51
  S8: I'm saying put on a worship playlist. You know, songs
• 31:55
  S8: that just sing over you or the scriptures. Just listen.
• 31:58
  S8: Have communion. Do something that is purposeful rest that brings replenishment.
• 32:03
  S8: And the way that, you know, it's working is creativity
• 32:06
  S8: will start to rise up, life will spring up, inspiration
• 32:09
  S8: will come back. And the thing is, when you're exhausted,
• 32:12
  S8: it leads to passive faith. You loosen the grip on
• 32:15
  S8: the promises of God and you lose your way. So
• 32:17
  S8: once you get that deep rest, look at the promises
• 32:20
  S8: God has made. Look at the battles you're facing and say, Lord,
• 32:23
  S8: I want to reset. I want to take a firm
• 32:25
  S8: grip with my tired hands. I'm going to strengthen my
• 32:28
  S8: weak knees. I'm going to mark out a straight path
• 32:30
  S8: for my feet. Why? So that the lame who are
• 32:32
  S8: watching me will not fall out of the race and
• 32:35
  S8: give up, because a lot of people are watching you.
• 32:37
  S8: Deep rest, purposeful faith is being yoked with Jesus. He
• 32:41
  S8: never wasted a minute. And so when he was resting,
• 32:44
  S8: there was purpose in it. When he was working, there
• 32:46
  S8: was purpose in it.
• 32:47
  S4: Susie Larson, if you want more of this guests and
• 32:50
  S4: I know you do, this is really nourishing the soul
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  S4: of many of you who have been through difficulty, who
• 32:56
  S4: are fighting for faith. Text goodness to 855 five 7898. Text.
• 33:03
  S4: Goodness to 800 555 7898.
• 33:07
  S1: Get in the know with life's biggest questions. It's Ask
• 33:10
  S1: the Experts week with Carl and crew.
• 33:12
  S6: Well, I hope.
• 33:13
  S4: You've been enjoying our Ask the Expert series. So many
• 33:17
  S4: great experts this week. If you missed anything. Text show
• 33:19
  S4: to (800) 555-7898. Just text the word show. Susie Larson has
• 33:25
  S4: been so gracious with her time this morning. You know
• 33:28
  S4: we are in share. We're moving into the bulk of it,
• 33:31
  S4: the meat of it next week. But, Susie, give us
• 33:34
  S4: your heart. I know you are our love. Radio. Because
• 33:37
  S4: you do radio as well. Why is investing in something
• 33:41
  S4: like Moody Radio a good investment?
• 33:44
  S8: Wow. Well, first of all, Moody Radio is my home
• 33:47
  S8: away from home. And just because someone calls himself a
• 33:51
  S8: Christian or an organization calls itself a Christian radio station
• 33:54
  S8: does not mean you're going to get the same thing
• 33:56
  S8: when you travel around and listen. There's different priorities. Moody
• 33:59
  S8: radio oozes biblical truth. Moody radio is like a plumb line.
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  S8: I mean, any way you slice it, anytime you listen,
• 34:07
  S8: you're getting biblical truth. So let me just make that
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  S8: case to begin with. We are called to disciple the nations.
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  S8: We are called to change the world. And most of
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  S8: us can't do that and reach hundreds of thousands, if
• 34:17
  S8: not millions on our own. But when you give through
• 34:21
  S8: Moody Radio, you're literally changing the world. And if I
• 34:24
  S8: could reduce it to a statement, give a gift, change
• 34:26
  S8: a life. And if you have an eternal perspective and
• 34:29
  S8: you give through Moody Radio going, Lord, I want to
• 34:31
  S8: change the world. And here's one way I can do it.
• 34:33
  S8: Because this this medium of communication of live radio and
• 34:38
  S8: audio and podcasts after the fact, is landing on hearts
• 34:41
  S8: that I can't even imagine. But in heaven, someday I
• 34:44
  S8: will see the fruit. I will have a line of
• 34:46
  S8: people saying, you know what? I was about to leave
• 34:48
  S8: my marriage. I heard the right word at the right time.
• 34:50
  S8: And I turned around and I repented and I reconnected
• 34:53
  S8: in my family. I was about to take my life,
• 34:55
  S8: but I heard the right song at the right time
• 34:57
  S8: and God showed me he had a plan for me.
• 34:59
  S8: Those are the testimonies. You may not see this side
• 35:02
  S8: of eternity, but friends, we are called to live with
• 35:05
  S8: eternity in mind, and we have to step out of
• 35:07
  S8: our small story into a story that's bigger than we are.
• 35:11
  S8: If we want to make the kind of kingdom difference
• 35:13
  S8: God has called us to again, you might not have
• 35:15
  S8: the the capacity to reach millions, but if you give
• 35:18
  S8: through Moody Radio, you totally are doing that and you're
• 35:21
  S8: being faithful to the great call on your life.
• 35:23
  S6: Beautiful.
• 35:24
  S7: It doesn't get any better than that.
• 35:26
  S4: Wow. Susie Larson has been our guest this morning. Text
• 35:29
  S4: goodness to 800 555 7898. Get connected to all of
• 35:35
  S4: her resources. Just text goodness to 800 555, 78, 98.
• 35:41
  S4: And again, if you've missed this conversation, part of it
• 35:44
  S4: or anything else from this week, just text show to (800) 555-7898.
• 35:50
  S4: We're breaking up the podcast this week for the guests.
• 35:53
  S4: Just text show to (800) 555-7898.