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The Will of God Isn't A Mystery! · In the Stillness Podcast

• 0:00
  Hey you guys, welcome back to In THE Stillness.
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  This is friendly. Happy Monday, Happy new week.
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  I hope you had a wonderful weekend.
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  I've actually been doing quite a bit of traveling, so I am now at
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  the beach. And being at the beach is
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  probably my favorite place to do my quiet times.
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  And I feel like the Lord was really encouraging me and just
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  teaching me a lot of new things through verses that I have heard
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  a lot throughout the years. But I just found some new
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  insight and instruction, So I'm looking forward to sharing that
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  with y'all today. I'm especially excited too,
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  because we are closing out First Thessalonians.
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  This letter has been so rich with instruction and practical
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  reminders of how we're meant to live as believers.
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  So I'm super expectant for what the Lord wants to highlight to
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  all of us as we close it out. This morning I'm going to be
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  reading from chapter 5, verses 16 through 28.
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  So let's go ahead and go through those verses.
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  Rejoice, always pray, continually give thanks in all
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  circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
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  Do not quench the Spirit. Do not treat prophecies with
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  content, but test them all. Hold on to what is good.
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  Reject every kind of evil. May God Himself, the God of
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  peace, sanctify you through and through.
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  May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the
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  coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is
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  faithful, and He will do it. Brothers and sisters, pray for
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  us. Greet all God's people with a
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  holy kiss. I charge you before the Lord to
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  have this letter read to all the brothers and sisters, the grace
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  of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
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  OK, so going right into it, one of the most common questions I
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  think we can hear is people ask what is God's will for my life?
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  And what's so cool about this passage is it actually answers
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  that very directly. Paul says rejoice always, pray
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  continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's
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  will for you. So let's break these down
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  because they're all pointing to something deeper.
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  Living a holy life by walking in obedience and union with God.
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  That's really the anchor of his will for us.
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  That's why he sent Jesus so that we could be restored into
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  relationship with him. So first of all, rejoice always.
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  Now Paul, he obviously has a lot of credibility when he says
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  this. Remember that he is writing so
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  many of his letters while being persecuted.
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  He's in prison, starving, he's sleep deprived, and he's
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  isolated. Yet he's still instructing
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  believers to rejoice. So this is not just about being
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  joyful during the mountaintop moments in the Blessings.
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  It's about choosing joy in the hills and the valleys and
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  everything in between. Practically, this often looks
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  like asking God for His perspective on each situation.
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  For example, something that I like to say a lot is rejection
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  is God's redirection. I was actually having a
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  conversation with one of my friends the other day about
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  this. But how closed doors?
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  They might actually be God protecting or guiding you to
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  somewhere better. Even small inconveniences can
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  shift when you view them through the Lord's lens, like being late
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  to something or missing something.
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  Things that don't go according to the plan that you had
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  initially. A few months ago, actually, I
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  missed a flight and I remember being so frustrated with myself.
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  But it ended up turning into what I really believe was a
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  divine appointment because I got to meet an airport worker who
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  the Lord highlighted to me as I was walking out.
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  I had already landed in Dallas and I felt like the Holy Spirit
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  said, turn back around and go talk to that woman.
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  And of course, I was scared. I didn't necessarily want to do
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  it at first, but I turned around and I asked her, how are you?
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  Can I pray for you? And she actually just started
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  crying. And she had been going through
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  something really hard physically and needed a prayer for healing.
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  We ended up talking for a while and we actually still stay in
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  touch to this day. We will send each other voice
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  memos to pray over one another, encourage each other in the
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  Lord. And it's just so cool to look
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  back and think. What I initially viewed as a
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  frustrating mistake God turned into something good.
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  And He brought me a new sister in Christ who needed
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  encouragement. Joy is not always the easiest
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  response by any means, but it reflects a heart that truly
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  understands and appreciates God's mercy, love, and kindness.
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  So going into the second point, pray continually.
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  A life of prayer comes from cultivating A consistent
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  attitude of prayer. And think about it, if we're
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  doing something continually, it usually means that we believe it
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  actually works. So prayer should come with
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  eagerness, expectancy, persistence, and with faith.
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  It's not meant to just start and end your day.
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  It's meant to flow all throughout, talking to God
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  during normal everyday things like in your work, in classes,
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  in school, in your workouts. Maybe you're just driving,
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  running errands, constantly bringing Him into your
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  awareness. You can ask the Lord to keep you
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  mindful of His presence. A daily prayer for me is keep me
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  at the keep you at the forefront of my thoughts.
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  Lord, Ask him for his ideas. Ask him for his wisdom.
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  Ask God to shape the way that you see things, because when you
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  do that, I think something really beautiful can happen.
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  A greater awareness of the Spirit leads to acknowledge
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  dependence, which then leads to applied obedience.
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  Thirdly, give thanks in all circumstances.
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  Notice how Paul does not say for all circumstances, but in all
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  circumstances. Obviously, evil does not come
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  from God, but in all circumstances we can thank God
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  because no matter what is going on around us, God is with us in
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  it. There is always a reason to
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  thank the Lord. We were literally created to
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  praise Him. And when you look at these three
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  things together, rejoicing, prayer, and gratitude, they all
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  work hand in hand because the gratitude is what grounds us.
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  Joy flows from that gratitude, and prayer strengthens both of
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  those things. That's why I think that Paul
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  says this is God's will for us because it's in these three
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  things that deepen our faith and they strengthen our union with
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  the Father. Then Paul moves into saying, do
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  not quench the Spirit, AKA do not dismiss the ways that the
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  Holy Spirit desires to move or the spiritual gifts that he
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  gives you, because they're meant to build up the church, to
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  strengthen both individual faith and collective faith.
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  But we're also told to test everything because humans can
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  absolutely be vessels that God uses.
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  We are ambassadors of Christ as believers, but we are still
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  human. We're still prone to making
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  mistakes, and there's going to be times that we do not
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  communicate things perfectly. Not every prophetic word someone
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  shares with you might be for you specifically.
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  So that's why Scripture says to test prophecies and to hold on
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  to what is good. Evaluate everything through the
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  truth of God's Word first and foremost.
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  Wise counsel. Yes, it is biblical, it is so
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  important, but it should never replace God's Word or your
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  dependence on His Spirit to reveal the truth.
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  We should go to the Holy Spirit and to the Bible 1st.
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  And we should also not just pick and choose which parts of truth
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  that we desire to follow, what's comfortable, or what we want to
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  hear. Instead, we hold on to what is
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  good, reject what is evil, reject sin, and we walk in the
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  truth that is active. Paul then prays that God would
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  sanctify us through and through. This is showing that
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  sanctification. It's an ongoing process of God
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  shaping us to become more like Jesus.
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  It's not just going to happen overnight, but it will not be
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  complete until the day of the Lord when we are fully glorified
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  with Jesus in His return. When Paul mentions our spirit,
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  soul, and body, it is reminding that God wants to be involved in
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  every inch of our lives. It's not just the parts that we
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  choose to give him. It's not just a portion.
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  It is everything following Jesus.
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  It will involve growth, stretching, and often times
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  discomfort, but it's in those moments that are often where the
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  deepest transformation happens. The Bible reminds us that God's
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  power is made perfect in weakness.
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  Second Corinthians 12/9 And there's comfort in knowing that
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  the Spirit of the living Jesus who is seated on the throne in
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  heaven right now, that his Spirit is with us in every
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  challenge that we face. This letter, it ends with two
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  amazing reminders about the character of God, that he is a
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  God of peace and he is a God of faithfulness.
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  And when we truly believe those things about him, it strengthens
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  our ability to keep trusting him, to keep obeying, to keep
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  walking in his perfect pleasing will.
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  This letter to the Thessalonian Church, it's been so full of
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  encouragement, and it's not just for us as individuals, but also
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  for how we love and strengthen those around us.
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  It equips us to live faithfully and to help others do the same.
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  So I've loved going through it with y'all, and I'm going to go
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  ahead and close out in prayer for today's episode.
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  Dear Lord, thank you for the clarity in Your Word.
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  Thank You that Your will for our lives is not something that is
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  mysterious, but something that we can actually walk out daily
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  to rejoice in You, to stay connected to You via prayer, and
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  to cultivate grateful hearts in every season, in every
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  circumstance. Would you help us grow an
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  awareness of Your Spirit to walk in obedience to what You ask of
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  us? Make us more like Jesus through
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  and through. In the sanctification process.
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  Shape us and every part of our lives to reflect you.
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  Would you remind us daily that you are a God of peace.
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  You are a God of faithfulness to every promise that you make.
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  Your word is true. We trust you, God, with our
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  lives, with our growth, and with what you are doing right now in
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  our hearts. We pray this in Jesus name,
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  Amen. OK guys, well that is what I
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  have for you all today. I'm praying that this continues
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  to encourage you as you start a new week and that the Lord meets
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  you right where you are. Have a great rest of your Monday
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  and I'll see y'all on the next pod.