Latest / WDAC Podcasts / Bold Steps with Dr. Mark Jobe - What It Means to Restore Our God-Given ID -- Part 2

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Bold Steps with Dr. Mark Jobe - What It Means to Restore Our God-Given ID -- Part 2 · WDAC Podcasts

0:00
S1: If we want to live a more godly life, Mark
0:03
S1: Jobe says. It doesn't just take a renewal of our spirit,
0:06
S1: but also a renewal of our mind.
0:09
S2: The more your mind is renewed, the more you start
0:13
S2: to reflect the image of God. Imago dei. He's talking
0:18
S2: about something old that is being rehabbed and gutted and
0:22
S2: transformed into something new. How does that happen? By the
0:26
S2: renewing of your mind.
0:40
S1: Welcome to Bold Steps with Mark Jobe. Mark is founding
0:44
S1: pastor of New Life Community Church in Chicago. I'm Wayne Shepherd.
0:48
S1: You know, so often in Christian circles, we discuss the
0:50
S1: importance of what it means to be spiritually reborn and
0:53
S1: to reposition our hearts with God. But a big part
0:56
S1: of this transformation that sometimes gets overlooked is the need
0:59
S1: to renew our minds. That's the subject Mark is unpacking
1:03
S1: in today's message, titled What It Means to Restore Our
1:06
S1: God given ID. If you missed the first half of
1:09
S1: our lesson, feel free to catch up online by going
1:12
S1: to Bold steps.org. But now let's open our Bibles to
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S1: Colossians chapter three as we join Mark Jobe for today's
1:19
S1: bold steps.
1:22
S2: The Apostle Paul is saying, you have a new identity.
1:26
S2: You've been raised with Christ. Those are old you behaviors.
1:34
S2: When you engage in old you behaviors, you are reinforcing
1:40
S2: the fact that you have not changed. You are incongruent
1:45
S2: with your new identity. You are living a way that is.
1:49
S2: That has a dissonance with who you really are in God.
1:54
S2: And so what the Apostle Paul is saying is, if
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S2: you're going to embrace a new identity, you need to
1:59
S2: put to death the behaviors of the old self because
2:03
S2: that is not who you are anymore. Number three, by
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S2: the way, in Galatians chapter five, it says, those who
2:14
S2: belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with
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S2: its passions and desires. Since we live by the spirit,
2:21
S2: let us walk in the spirit as well. Now I
2:26
S2: want to say one other word because I think this
2:29
S2: is important. People say, well, pastor, I'm trying to be
2:33
S2: a better person. I'm trying to get rid of my
2:36
S2: old behavior. I'm trying to leave the old way behind.
2:41
S2: Christianity is not a self-improvement program. You cannot conquer the
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S2: flesh with the flesh. You cannot dominate your old nature
2:54
S2: with your old nature. Are you with me here? The
2:57
S2: way that you overcome the flesh. The way that you
3:01
S2: put the death to the old behaviors is by allowing
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S2: the new Spirit of God to empower you in such
3:09
S2: a way that it changes the desires that you have.
3:14
S2: You say, well, I'm not understanding. Let me explain it
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S2: this way. Say that you were dating your boyfriend for
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S2: three years and he abruptly broke up with you. And
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S2: you are mad obsessed with your old boyfriend. You don't
3:31
S2: want to be. But you wake up and you think,
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S2: I can't believe he left me. When you hear someone's
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S2: name that sounds like him. Immediately you start thinking about him.
3:40
S2: And there's a there's a hollowness in the pit of
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S2: your stomach and you say, I'm trying to get over him,
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S2: but I just can't. You create a false Instagram account
3:52
S2: just so you can track him and see what he's
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S2: doing and follow him and stalk him. But you don't
3:57
S2: want to know that you stalk him. You don't want
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S2: others to know that you're spending hours and hours seeing
4:01
S2: who he's with and what he's doing, and who he's
4:04
S2: hanging out with. But you are obsessed with them. You
4:06
S2: want to get over him, but you can't get over him.
4:08
S2: You want to get him out of your mind. And
4:10
S2: you tell yourself at night, get out of my mind.
4:12
S2: Get out of my mind. I'm not going to think
4:14
S2: about you. I'm not going to think about you. And
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S2: the more you say it, the more obsessed you become.
4:19
S2: And then one day, you meet that guy in church.
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S2: He's nice. You talk, he's friendly. You start to develop
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S2: a relationship. You start to date him. Your heart starts
4:34
S2: to change. You start to think about him. Now you
4:37
S2: start to call him up. You start to go on dates.
4:39
S2: You're three months into your dating relationship. You fall madly
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S2: in love with him, and then you wake up one
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S2: day and think, man, I have not thought of my
4:47
S2: old boyfriend in two months. What has happened? You didn't
4:54
S2: force yourself to get rid of him. You found something
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S2: that you love more than your old boyfriend and it sabotages.
5:04
S2: It takes away the desire for the old. Listen to me.
5:08
S2: That's the way it is with Jesus. You don't come
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S2: to church saying, I'm going to try to be better.
5:21
S2: I'm going to try to be better. I'm going to
5:22
S2: try not to swear. I'm going to try not to
5:25
S2: sleep with my girlfriend. I'm going to try not to
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S2: do this. I'm not going to try to do this.
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S2: That's not the way it is. You'll never win. You'll
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S2: fail every time. What happens is when you start living
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S2: by the spirit, the fullness of God. When you start
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S2: loving God, God changes your desires. He changes who you
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S2: are because now you have something bigger than your old desires.
5:42
S2: You have a new desire and it's the fullness of God,
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S2: the life of God. The Spirit of God starts to
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S2: put to death the flesh, but it's the spirit putting
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S2: death to flesh, not the flesh trying to put to
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S2: death the flesh. Number three. To embrace the new identity,
6:08
S2: you must rid yourself of the old attitudes. Verse eight
6:12
S2: but now you must rid yourself. He says, of all
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S2: such things, of these things. Paul tells us to rid
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S2: ourselves of our old identity. We have to rid ourselves
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S2: of our old behavior. Now, he says, we have to
6:25
S2: rid ourselves of our old attitudes, anger, which has to
6:30
S2: do with resentment. It could be translated that way rage,
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S2: which has to do with fury, malice, which has to
6:36
S2: do with spite and cruelty, slander, which has to do
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S2: with vilifying someone else behind their back and filthy language.
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S2: All these have to do with a negative attitude. Notice.
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S2: But now you must rid yourself of all these things anger, rage, malice, slander,
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S2: filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each
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S2: other since you've taken off the old self with its practices.
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S2: God is not just concerned about your behavior. He's concerned
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S2: about your attitudes. How many of you know? Some of
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S2: you have stopped doing all the outside obvious things, but
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S2: you still have a rotten attitude. Pastor, I'm not sleeping
7:20
S2: with my girlfriend and popping mollies on the weekends. But.
7:23
S2: But you still have a nasty attitude. Seriously, how many
7:31
S2: of you know people that are keeping all the rules
7:33
S2: but just have a angry, resentful, nasty attitude? Don't get too.
7:43
S2: Don't point. Come on. Don't. Some of you are like. Yeah. No.
7:48
S2: Settle down now. Settle down now. Do you know that
7:55
S2: you can try to keep all the rules of Christianity,
7:59
S2: but have a terrible attitude. You're full of resentment, full
8:03
S2: of anger. It's almost like you drink lemon juice in
8:09
S2: the morning. And you tell me that you're being persecuted
8:14
S2: at work. You say, pastor, I'm a Christian. People don't
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S2: like me. No, they don't like you because you're just nasty.
8:19
S2: It has nothing to do with being a Christian. Don't
8:21
S2: blame it on Jesus. You just have a rotten attitude.
8:24
S2: Don't blame it on Christianity. You just have a negative, resentful,
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S2: rotten attitude. It has nothing to do with being a Christian.
8:32
S2: You do disservice to Jesus by telling people you're. Please
8:36
S2: don't tell people you're a Christian if you're going to
8:38
S2: have a nasty attitude. And what the Apostle Paul is
8:42
S2: saying is you need to get rid of all the
8:44
S2: attitudes that were a part of the old self. It's
8:49
S2: not just the external behaviors, it's the internal behaviors that
8:53
S2: affect you as well. Number four, and lastly, I'm talking
8:59
S2: about I'm talking about identity. So not only do you
9:03
S2: need to change your perspective, eliminate the old identity behaviors,
9:09
S2: rid yourself of old attitudes. Finally, you need to put
9:13
S2: on the new self by renewing your thinking. Notice what
9:17
S2: it says in verse ten and have put on the
9:20
S2: new self. Put on the new self. It's not just
9:26
S2: about taking off the old self. It's about putting on
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S2: the new self. Listen. Which is being renewed in knowledge
9:35
S2: in the image of its creator. Imago dei. You are
9:42
S2: made in the image of God. A giraffe can't say that.
9:47
S2: An elephant can't say that. A dog can't say that
9:50
S2: a fish can't say that there's nothing in all creation
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S2: that is imago dei, the image of God. When God
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S2: created man and woman, he created them in his image
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S2: and likeness. And that's not just physically speaking. It's talking
10:06
S2: about the inherent qualities of our nature are made in
10:10
S2: the image of God. It is God's desire that you
10:14
S2: reflect his image, his love, his mercy, his compassion. And
10:20
S2: the more your mind is renewed, the more you start
10:24
S2: to reflect the image of God. Imago dei. He says,
10:29
S2: being renewed by the word. That word renewed is the
10:32
S2: word that we use for renovation. Uh, he's not talking
10:36
S2: about something that's built brand new from the ground up.
10:40
S2: He's talking about something old that is being rehabbed and
10:44
S2: gutted and transformed into something new. How does that happen?
10:48
S2: By the renewing of your mind, he says. So put
10:52
S2: on the new self, which is being renewed in the
10:53
S2: knowledge of its creator. Verse 11 here there is no
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S2: Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian or Scythian, slave
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S2: or free, because Christ is all in all. Now, that
11:14
S2: doesn't mean much to us because we don't live in
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S2: the Jewish culture. Let me bring it to Chicago, southwest side. 2022.
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S2: This is what he's saying. Because in Christ there is
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S2: no southsider northsider. There is no man or woman. There's
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S2: no black and white. There's no Mexican or Puerto Rican,
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S2: there's no Asian or Caucasian. We are, first of all,
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S2: followers of Jesus and family of God.
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S1: You're listening to Bold Steps with Mark Jobe, a message
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S1: titled what It Means to Restore our God given ID,
12:00
S1: and we'll get to the final part in just a moment.
12:02
S1: But right now, we want to make sure you've signed
12:04
S1: up to receive Mark's weekly email devotional, which goes out
12:07
S1: every Monday morning. Mark. We call it the Bold Stepper weekly.
12:10
S3: That's right, Wayne. And our goal is really to help
12:13
S3: you turn your attention to Jesus early on in the week.
12:17
S3: The program is called Bold Steps because our desire is
12:21
S3: that every week and every day, you're taking steps in
12:25
S3: your walk with God. Hard steps, which means bold steps.
12:29
S3: And the bold step are weekly is just a reminder
12:32
S3: to devotional. We give you updates about the ministry, but
12:36
S3: every week we try to draw your attention to something
12:39
S3: from the Word of God to encourage you.
12:42
S1: Yeah, it's really good. It's really kind of an insider.
12:44
S1: Look at bold steps here too. So if you haven't
12:47
S1: already signed up, go ahead and do so for the
12:49
S1: Bold Step Weekly. Join our family by visiting bold steps.org.
12:54
S1: And while you're there, you can also revisit some of
12:56
S1: Mark's previous devotionals by checking out the growing archive we
12:59
S1: have online. Again, you'll find it all at bold steps.org.
13:04
S1: Now with more about restoring our God given identities, here
13:07
S1: once again is Mark with today's bold steps.
13:15
S2: Now you can be a woman, but you are first
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S2: of all a Christian. You're not a woman that happens
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S2: to be a Christian. You're a Christian that happens to
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S2: be a woman. Listen, you're not a Mexican that happens
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S2: to be a Christian. You're a Christian first. That happens
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S2: to have Mexican ethnicity. Are we tracking with that? Listen
13:41
S2: to me very well. Oh, let me. You're not a Republican.
13:45
S2: That happens to be a Christian. You're not a Democrat.
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S2: That happens to be a Christian. You are a Christian
13:52
S2: that happens to have a political affiliation. But when your
13:56
S2: political affiliation becomes more than your Christianity, We have a
14:00
S2: problem when the color of your skin becomes more than Christianity.
14:04
S2: We have a problem when your ethnicity becomes more than
14:07
S2: your Christianity. Then you have allowed something to identify you
14:11
S2: above your Christianity. In Christ we are first of all, Christians. Listen,
14:16
S2: I am sick of the of a divided church because
14:19
S2: we identify ourselves sometimes by our politics more than by
14:23
S2: our Christianity. And I believe that God is calling a
14:26
S2: church that, first of all, is Christian above and beyond
14:30
S2: everything else, and that unites us in Jesus. And yeah,
14:33
S2: we happen to be male and female and Hispanic and
14:36
S2: Asian and black and white and Caucasian and Democrats and
14:39
S2: Republicans and Southsiders and Northsiders and Cubs fans and Sox fans.
14:44
S2: And everybody's a bears fan. But what unites us is
14:48
S2: not the bears. What reminds us is Jesus Christ, the
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S2: blood of the Lamb of the living God. That is
15:02
S2: our identity. Let me tell you what your homework is
15:08
S2: your identity. So every morning, here's what I want you
15:12
S2: to do. Every morning I want you to get up.
15:14
S2: And I want you as you look in the mirror
15:15
S2: and put your makeup on as you get your makeup on,
15:19
S2: as you comb your hair, as you as you get ready.
15:23
S2: I want you to look in that mirror. I want
15:25
S2: you to say, I'm a child of God. Now you're
15:30
S2: only a child of God. If you've given your life
15:32
S2: to Jesus and been born again, if not your creation
15:34
S2: of God. But I'm a child of God. I want
15:37
S2: you to look at yourself, and I want you to say,
15:39
S2: I'm an ambassador. An ambassador is someone that represents Christ.
15:43
S2: Go ahead, say it out loud. Listen, I want you
15:47
S2: to look at yourself in the mirror. I want you
15:49
S2: to take a real close look. And I want you
15:51
S2: to say to yourself in the mirror, I am loved.
15:58
S2: Listen to me. Listen to me. I know some of
16:01
S2: you think I am not love, pastor. There's no one
16:03
S2: that loves me. I feel alone in my. You are not.
16:05
S2: That's a lie. From the pit of hell you are
16:08
S2: love more than what you could ever imagine or fathom.
16:11
S2: You are valued. You are loved. You are loved beyond whatever.
16:15
S2: What any man could love you. Every woman could love you.
16:18
S2: You are loved by God Himself, who has deposited his love,
16:22
S2: paid the highest price to love you. You are loved
16:24
S2: more than what you could ever even begin to grasp
16:27
S2: in life. You are valued and loved by your heavenly father.
16:35
S2: I want you to look yourself in the mirror, and
16:37
S2: I want you to say I'm a part of God's family.
16:43
S2: You know, there's a lot of people that feel like
16:44
S2: I don't belong. I want you to tell you, tell
16:48
S2: you something. You may feel isolated, lonely, but you belong.
16:52
S2: You're part of a family. It's diverse. It's different, but
16:58
S2: it's powerful. You belong. You are a part of a family.
17:03
S2: I want you to look yourself in the mirror. And
17:05
S2: I want you to say I am made new. It's
17:10
S2: God who makes you new. The Bible says, if any man,
17:13
S2: if any person is in Christ, he's a new creation.
17:16
S2: The old has gone and the new has come. I
17:19
S2: want you to look yourself in the mirror and say,
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S2: I am redeemed. You know what redeemed means? Redeemed means
17:26
S2: you've been bought with a price. God has paid the
17:30
S2: highest price. Purchase you with the blood of his son,
17:32
S2: the perfect Lamb of God. Why? Because you are valuable
17:36
S2: to God and he's bought you with the highest price.
17:39
S2: He sealed you with his love. He said, you are mine,
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S2: I love you. You're part of my family. I've adopted
17:45
S2: you into my family. I love you beyond what you
17:47
S2: could ever imagine or fathom. I put my Holy Spirit
17:50
S2: inside of you. I want you to say this. I
17:53
S2: am made for a purpose. You know what that means?
17:58
S2: That you're not living life randomly. You have been designed
18:02
S2: and called by God for a unique purpose. You're not
18:07
S2: just wandering through life. You have giftings. You have a call.
18:13
S2: You have a purpose. You have a mission. You have
18:16
S2: a God given destiny. It's yours. It's not like anybody else.
18:21
S2: It's uniquely yours. But God is the one that calls
18:24
S2: you into. You have a purpose in life that is
18:29
S2: given by God. So live it out. Then say. I
18:37
S2: am one with hope. You have a hope. Hope is
18:42
S2: the expectation of a better future. It's building on the
18:45
S2: promises of God. Hope is knowing that my destiny belongs
18:48
S2: to God and I'm positive about the future, not because
18:51
S2: I have this naive positivity about the future. And don't worry,
18:57
S2: let's be happy song. This is about trusting the promises
19:01
S2: of God. Because God is good and sovereign, he holds
19:04
S2: the future. And so I'm a person full of hope.
19:07
S2: And lastly, I'm talking to someone here. You need to
19:14
S2: look yourself in the mirror and say, I am never
19:17
S2: given up on. Can I tell you something? God hasn't
19:22
S2: given up on you. Pastor, you don't know how many
19:25
S2: times I've failed. I don't. Pastor, you don't know where
19:28
S2: I've been. I don't pastor, you don't know what I've done.
19:33
S2: I don't. And I'm really not a priest. I don't
19:37
S2: come and confess all your things to me. I really
19:39
S2: don't want to hear it. I mean, if I if
19:42
S2: I need to pray for you, I will. But. I
19:46
S2: know this, though God has not given up on you.
19:51
S2: So that's your homework every day until it sinks in.
19:58
S2: There's some of you that need to get on your
20:00
S2: knees before God and say, God, I've been believing a
20:02
S2: lie about who I am. But today, Lord, I'm choosing
20:07
S2: to believe what you say about me, not what others
20:10
S2: say about me, not what my head says about me.
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S2: Not what my shameful heart says about me. Not what
20:18
S2: I've been raised to think about myself. But I'm going
20:21
S2: to start proclaiming what you say about me, God, because
20:25
S2: I want to embrace what you say. I want to
20:27
S2: start to live out my own identity. And some of
20:29
S2: you need to get on your knees and say, Lord,
20:31
S2: help me shed my old identity and help me embrace
20:35
S2: my new identity in you. If you are here today
20:39
S2: and you say, pastor, I've never given my life to Christ.
20:42
S2: I've never surrendered to God. But I know that God
20:45
S2: is calling me. And here's what it means to surrender
20:49
S2: your life to God. You come to God through Jesus
20:52
S2: and you simply say, God, I know that Jesus. I
20:55
S2: can't save myself. You're the only one that can save me.
20:58
S2: But I need to take a step today to surrender
21:01
S2: my life to you, God, and to give you the
21:03
S2: lordship of my life so that you can make me
21:06
S2: a new person. Change me from the inside out. I
21:09
S2: need that, I want that, I'm ready for that.
21:16
S1: Back in the studio now, Mark, I know there's a
21:18
S1: listener who has heard this message, and the Holy Spirit's
21:21
S1: knocking on their heart, and they want to respond right now.
21:24
S3: Yeah. So if you've heard this message and you say,
21:28
S3: pastor Mark, I have never made a clear commitment decision
21:34
S3: to follow Jesus. Maybe you've been raised in the church,
21:38
S3: but never have clearly understood the call of God to say, yes,
21:44
S3: I need to be what the Bible calls born again.
21:47
S3: Or maybe you've been listening and you have no church background,
21:51
S3: and you have no Bible in your house. But you say,
21:54
S3: I feel the call of God. I know that I
21:57
S3: need change and I want to say it's your heavenly
22:00
S3: father calling you to himself. And so I like to
22:04
S3: lead people in a prayer. Now, a prayer cannot save you,
22:09
S3: but a prayer is the expression of your heart. It's
22:13
S3: you surrendering yourself and expressing that surrender to God. So
22:19
S3: if you're here right now and you have never made
22:23
S3: that decision, you have never taken that step. You have
22:26
S3: never vocally, verbally expressed your desire to surrender your life
22:33
S3: to God and become born again. Then I would like
22:35
S3: to lead you in that prayer of repentance and that
22:39
S3: prayer of salvation. So would you say, wherever you're at,
22:43
S3: if you're driving your car, if you're in a kitchen
22:45
S3: right now, if you're listening in your room, wherever you're listening,
22:49
S3: if you're ready to do that, would you pause and say,
22:51
S3: Dear God, I know that I'm far from you. I
22:58
S3: know that I've sinned against you. I know that I
23:03
S3: cannot save myself. Today I turn to Jesus. I accept
23:10
S3: what he has done for me on the cross. I repent.
23:15
S3: I turn around from the way that I've been living
23:18
S3: from my sin, and I ask that you would come
23:22
S3: inside and transform me from the inside out. Come Holy Spirit.
23:27
S3: Today I choose to be a follower of Jesus. I
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S3: pray this in Jesus name. Amen.
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S1: Amen. That's Mark Jobe here on Bold Steps. If you
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S1: just invited Christ into your life and you want to
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S1: learn more or talk to someone about this life changing choice,
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S1: please visit our website, Bold steps.org and click on the
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S1: more tab. Then the link that says My Next Step
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S1: in Faith. Mark has prepared a special video for you,
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S1: and there's an invitation to connect with us and talk
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S1: to someone about your next steps. This month, we also
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S1: want to remind you about a resource that pairs perfectly
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S1: with today's message. It's our bold step gift, a book
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S1: called The Church in Babylon Heeding the Call to Be
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S1: a light in the Darkness, by Doctor Erwin Lutzer. As
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S1: we take hold of our God given identity and start
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S1: making changes in our day to day lives, the truth
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S1: is we're going to face some pushback. The culture won't
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S1: always celebrate the choices God calls us to make. In fact,
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S1: it may push back hard. Doctor Lutzer takes us back
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S1: to a time when God's people faced that same kind
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S1: of resistance, living as exiles in a pagan culture that
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S1: didn't share their values. And he shows us how they
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S1: remained faithful anyway. It's a book that will equip and
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S1: encourage you to stand firm in your God given identity
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S1: and shine like light, even when the culture around you
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S1: pulls the other way. To request your copy, the church
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S1: in Babylon, just make a donation of any amount and
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S1: ask for the book by going online to bold steps.org/give.
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S1: Or simply pick up the phone and call us at
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S1: 800 D.L. Moody. That's (800) 356-6639. Now, if you'd rather send
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S1: a check in the mail along with your request for
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S1: the church in Babylon, let me give you that mailing address.
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S1: It's bold steps. 820 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois, 606 ten.
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S1: And if you'd like to connect with our Bold Steps
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S1: community online and get engaged with other believers who embrace
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S1: their God given identity, be sure to join us on
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S1: social media by liking and following our pages on Facebook
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S1: or Instagram. Search for Bold Steps Radio. I'm Wayne Shepherd,
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S1: looking forward to having you join us tomorrow for the
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S1: start of a new message called Living Open Handed and
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S1: Generous in an Unpredictable World that begins Friday on Bold
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S1: Steps with Mark Joe, bold Steps is a production of
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S1: Moody Radio, a Ministry of Moody Bible Institute.