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The Next Faithful Yes: Obedience in Ordinary Life · Fostering Faith

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  Welcome back to Fostering Faith. I am you're
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  gonna be your host Tracy and we are gonna be
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  in episode four for this month and there might
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  be a little bonus episode coming next Wednesday.
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  And so as we look through what we've been talking
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  about and so this episode is gonna be about the
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  next Faithful yes obedience and ordinary life
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  and so many believers wait for a dramatic call
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  while overlooking the clear act of obedience
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  that is in front of them and so this episode
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  we're going to be exploring relationships between
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  grace and obedience and why delayed obedience
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  Forms the heart and how God uses small faithful
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  choices to build a life of integrity This invitation
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  is to stop chasing impressive moments and say
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  yes to Jesus today. And so in this episode I'm
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  you're gonna be your host Tracy Foster. Welcome
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  back to fostering faith and we're gonna be walking
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  and talking about obedience I know that word
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  can feel really heavy Some of us hear obedience
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  and immediately think of rules and failures and
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  punishment or someone with authority in a harmful
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  way And so let us begin clearly Christian obedience
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  is not a payment for God's love It is a response
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  to his love and we have Ephesians 2 that says
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  we are saved by grace through faith and not by
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  works. And when it says that we are created in
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  Jesus Christ for good works that God prepared
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  us to do so, grace is the root. Obedience is
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  the fruit. We do not obey so Jesus will rescue
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  us. We obey because in Jesus we have been rescued.
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  And the most important obedience is not dramatic.
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  It looks like telling the truth when a lie would
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  be so much easier. Keeping your word when nobody
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  would know that you didn't. apologizing without
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  explaining why, in a way, the harm. It's refusing
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  to gossip. It's giving generously. It's closing
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  the screen. Making a call. Rusking when pride
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  says your worth depends on producing. And so
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  let's pray. Dear Jesus, thank you so much that
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  we are saved by your grace and held in your love.
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  Show us the next faithful yes. Expose the places
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  where we have been delayed, excused, and renamed
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  disobedient give us the courage to respond not
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  from fear but from trust let me pray this in
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  your name amen and so we often want to map instead
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  of step we ask god for a five -year plan and
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  often gives light to the next step in some 119
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  calls his word a lamp to our feet and light to
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  our path. A lamp does not always illuminate the
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  entire road. It gives us enough light to move
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  faithfully now. And we say, God show us our purpose
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  while ignoring the person he has asked us to
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  forgive. We ask for a platform while neglecting
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  integrity and private. We pray for greater influence
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  while resisting responsibility. That's already
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  in our hands. Calling is not a big assignment
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  attached to your name. Calling is faithfulness
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  to Jesus in a place where your feet are already
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  at today. And so the next faithful yes may feel
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  so small to matter, but small choices from spiritual
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  that it's it forms spiritual muscle. And so every
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  yes teaches your heart that Jesus is trustworthy.
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  Every repeated compromise teaches your heart
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  that his commands are optional. And so Delayed
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  obedience shapes us. And so sometimes we say,
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  I'll obey whenever I understand. But trust often
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  acts before every question is resolved. Abraham
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  went without knowing the full destination. The
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  disciples left their nets without receiving a
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  delayed plan. Peter stepped out of the boat before
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  he knew the whole moment would unfold. This does
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  not mean acting recklessly or calling every impulse
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  faith. That is not what this means Biblical obedience
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  is response to what God is actually revealing
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  and when scripture is clear endless delay is
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  not discernment if God says forgive We do not
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  need another sign if God says speak the truth.
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  We do not feel something special if God says
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  care for the vulnerable, pursue integrity, reject
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  partiality, and love your enemies? The question
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  is not whether the command fits our preferences.
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  The question is whether we trust the one who
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  gave it. Delayed obedience also has a cost. The
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  longer we rehearse an excuse, the more reasonable
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  it sounds. Have you ever said, they do not deserve
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  forgiveness? Everyone talks that way. Is that
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  really gonna hurt someone? I will deal with that
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  when life calms down. But obedience postponed
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  becomes a habit of resistance. And so obedience
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  and wisdom. Not every decision is a direct moral
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  command. Scripture does not tell you which job
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  offer to accept or which town to live in or what
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  exact day to begin a project. Those decisions
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  need wisdom. Wisdom asks, Which choice is consistent
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  with scripture? Which motives is driving me?
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  Which responsibility has God already entrusted
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  me to? What do mature believers see? That I am
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  a missing What option makes rooms for faithfulness?
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  not only excitement and Sometimes two choices
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  are both permissible We become paralyzed because
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  we are searching for a secret answer that God
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  has not promised to reveal. In those moments,
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  we pray, we seek counsel, examine our motives,
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  choose with humility, and trust God is able to
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  direct and surrender our life. God's will is
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  not a tightrope where one imperfect step ruins
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  everything. He is the Father forming children,
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  not a trapped waiting for you to fail. And so
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  obedience is Relational. Is it possible to talk
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  about obedience in the way that sounds mechanical?
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  God gives an order. We complete the task and
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  we move on. Biblical obedience is relational.
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  Jesus says in John 14, if you have loved me,
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  then you will keep my commands. Love does not
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  make obedience unnecessary. Love gives obedience
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  the proper center. So think about the difference
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  between compliance and trust. Compliance ask,
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  what is the minimum that I can do? Trust says
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  what response honors the one who loves me Compliance
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  is mainly concerned with avoiding consequences
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  Trust is concerned with staying close What does
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  that that does not mean that obedience will always
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  feel warm and easy Jesus obeyed through anguish
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  in Gethsemane love can tremble and still say
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  yes trust can ask and have questions and still
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  take the next step. That's why secrecy matters.
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  Sincerity matters. The person we are when nobody
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  is watching reveals what is forming our heart.
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  Private obedience is never may never receive
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  applause, but it builds integrity. The wholeness
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  is being the same person before God, before people
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  and alone. And I tell the kids this all the time,
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  that you should be the same here in church, that
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  you are at school, that you are on the court,
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  that you are on the field. And so I really tried
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  to just be this kind of an integrist person where
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  I am the same in my office, that I am at church,
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  that I am with my friends, and so you're not
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  getting different versions because again, you're
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  putting on different masks. You're putting a
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  mask on at school, you're putting a mask on at
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  your work, you're putting a mask on at your church,
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  and then you forget who you are. And you're like,
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  oh, I was this way and then I'm this way. And
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  then so you're being fake. And that's also super
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  exhaustive. And so if you could just be the same
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  person, no matter where you're at, it's so much
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  more freeing. And that way you can really just
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  what you are shaping and toning up in private
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  will show publicly. And so ask yourself, is there
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  an area where I'm technically complying while
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  my heart is resisting? Is there a place where
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  I'm asking, where I keep asking how close I can
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  get to sin without crossing the line? Jesus is
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  inviting us into more than a rule management.
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  He's inviting us into a wholehearted life with
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  Him and the cost of saying yes. And so obedience
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  can cost comfort, approval, convenience, money,
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  status, or access to a relationship that you
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  wanted to keep. And so Jesus never hid the cost
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  of discipleship. He called people to deny themselves,
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  take up their cross, and follow. The cost of
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  obedience is never the whole story. We also have
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  to count the cost of disobedience. A divided
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  heart, damaged trust, growing numbness, hidden
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  shame, in the distance of life and freedom that
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  God gives. And so... and when I was doing my
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  video, it was just like, if you don't understand
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  Deuteronomy 28, and so disobedience equals judgment,
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  obedience equals blessings, and so go back and
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  read Deuteronomy 28, and then you can really
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  see how it shapes the whole New Testament. And
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  so really, if you are walking in disobedience,
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  you're gonna have consequences. If you're walking
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  in obedience, you're gonna have blessings, and
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  so that really is the whole, the thing. So the
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  rich young ruler walked away sad because his
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  possessions possessed him Jesus loves him enough
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  to name the one thing that he would never surrender
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  the command exposes the location of his trust
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  and what command of Jesus feels threatened you
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  right now and so what place may reveal what you
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  are afraid to lose and so be zians is there in
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  a way Jesus saying Jesus you are better than
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  what I am holding and so Whenever you have failed,
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  maybe the spirit is bringing something to mind
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  and shame is already arising remember July what
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  we said about that and so Conviction and condemnation
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  are not the same thing conviction is specifically
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  and leads us toward the confection and restoration
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  Condemnation is vague crushing and tells us to
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  hide and so first John 1 9 says that if we confess
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  our sins God is faithful and righteous to forgive
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  and cleanse us. Confession agrees with God about
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  sin. Repentance turns around. Grace does not
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  pretend failure was harmful. Grace meets us in
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  the truth and leads us home. Jesus denied Jesus
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  three times after the resurrection. Jesus restores
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  him and gives him a responsibility. Failure was
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  part of Peter's story, but was not the end of
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  his calling. And our next faithful yes may be
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  the beginning with a confession. We do not wait
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  until we feel worthy because Jesus is merciful.
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  And so let me say that again. And so our faithful
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  yes may begin with a confession. What's on your
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  heart? Do not wait till we feel worthy. Because
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  how can a holy God just be in the presence of
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  us sinners? And so we don't feel worthy most
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  of the time. And then come because Jesus is merciful.
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  And so restoration may also include repair. If
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  your disobedience harms someone, confession to
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  God does not remove the need for you to take
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  responsibility with that person when it is safe
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  and appropriate. A real apology does not say,
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  I'm sorry you felt that way. It names what happened,
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  acknowledges the harm, avoids excuses, and asks
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  what repair may be possible. And so repentance
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  is not proven by dramatic emotion. It is not
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  demonstrated by a change direction. Zacchaeus
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  did not only feel bad about the exploitation,
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  he made a resolution. The fruit did not purchase
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  forgiveness. It showed that the grace had reached
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  his choices. And so this may be a consequence.
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  that you cannot erase grace is not a promise
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  that every earthly consequence disappears grace
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  is the promise that failure does not have to
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  become your identity that is in christ a new
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  direction if possible and so the 24 hour yes
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  and so this week's practice ask god what is one
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  clear act of obedience you are placing in front
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  of me and write it down make it specific enough
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  to complete it within 24 hours Not be more loving
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  and said what I call an apologize without defending
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  myself Not read more of the Bible and said tomorrow
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  at seven. I will read mark one slowly and write
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  one response Not be generous Instead I will give
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  this amount to meet this need not set boundaries
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  Instead, I will communicate a limit clearly and
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  kindly today. And then act. Emotion can follow
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  obedience rather than precede it. Courage is
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  not always a feeling that arrives before a step.
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  Sometimes courage is a step. And so ask, what
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  clear command have I delayed? What excuse have
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  I repeated? What am I afraid of obedience that
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  will cost? And what is my 24 -hour yes? And so
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  let's pray. Jesus, you obeyed your father fully,
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  even at the cross. Through your obedience, we
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  receive grace we could never earn. Forgive us
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  for our delayed obedience and hidden compromise.
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  Make us faithful in private and in public, in
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  small choices and costly ones. Give us wisdom
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  when scripture leaves room for a choice and courage
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  where your command is clear. When we have failed,
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  lead us quickly into confession and restoration.
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  Let our yes, come from love and not from obligation.
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  And we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. And so
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  in this episode, if it challenged you, save it
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  and respond to it. Write down your next faithful
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  yes and take that step. And so if this feels
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  like it's encouraging, please write us a comment,
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  send it to a friend, share it. Go to our Fostering
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  Faith Media website. Make sure that you're downloading
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  the guides that we have there. Read our blogs,
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  sign up for an email. And next week we close
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  our Rooted series in a little bonus episode that
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  we are talking about community trials and faith
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  that is built to last. And so follow Fostering
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  Faith Media, share this episode, visit our website
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  and have a faithful week. We love you guys. Have
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  a great week. Bye.