Latest / HAVE FAITH LET IT BEGIN® / S7Ep: 2008 Nurturing a relationship with Jesus Christ

Transcript

S7Ep: 2008 Nurturing a relationship with Jesus Christ · HAVE FAITH LET IT BEGIN®

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  Dear God, I know that you told me once that no matter what I do,
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  no matter what I say, you are always with me.
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  In my 20s, I did some things that I wasn't too proud of. I heard people.
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  I said things that weren't true.
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  I even told stories. One thing I remembered, though,
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  was that when I took the time to get to know my Lord and Savior,
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  Jesus Christ, I realized there was no reason to lie. There was no reason to tell stories.
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  There was no reason to be someone that I wasn't because God created me in His image.
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  So, where are you at with Jesus Christ?
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  Have Faith, Let It Begin starts right now.
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  Have Faith, Let It Begin. When it starts right now.
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  Welcome to Have Faith, Let It Begin. Here's your host, Angel Santana.
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  This little light of mine, I'm going to let it shine.
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  This little light of mine, I'm going to let it shine.
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  This little light of shine. I'm going to let it shine. Let it shine.
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  Let it shine. Let it shine. Yes!
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  Daddy, I'm so excited! But I have one question. What's your question?
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  I'm going to be a pastor or a minister?
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  Good question. I don't know, but it is all in God's hands. Good morning.
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  You're listening to Have Faith Let Begin, and it starts right now.
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  Good morning, everyone, and welcome to Have Faith Let It Begin. It is a Wednesday.
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  I can't believe it. May is just quickly, quickly coming upon us.
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  It's crazy days ahead of us here at
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  have faith let it begin i'm walking cody this morning it
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  is my day off big shout outs to justin and
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  nick for helping me out so as
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  i'm walking cody this morning and as i was sleeping last night i started thinking
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  about my past i started thinking about just everything that has built me up
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  to what i am doing today and all the people that have helped me along the way
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  but the one person that has always been there with me,
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  the one person that I could count on, the one person that I know that no matter
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  what will always be with me, and that is Jesus Christ.
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  So I started thinking even deeper.
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  How did my relationship really begin? And where am I at with him now?
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  So as I tell you a little bit about my story, I want you to think about yours
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  and see how it relates to the topic at hand.
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  Where are we at with Jesus Christ?
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  In my 20s, I had to make a really big decision, found out that my ex was cheating on me.
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  And at the same time, the job that was beginning my career was closing in the
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  location of the Hudson Valley.
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  So a transfer opportunity became available.
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  And lo and behold, I took a leap and I took a position in Providence,
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  Rhode Island. So off I went.
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  What I didn't realize was for the next two years, I would be in a huge depression.
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  What didn't help was the branch manager that accepted me and a fellow colleague didn't want us there.
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  We didn't know that because they played the politics and they took us in,
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  but they really didn't want us there.
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  They were trying to expose us because our mentor was an individual that he did not like.
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  So for two years, on my side, I cannot speak for my colleague, I was treated unfairly.
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  I was picked on. I was humiliated.
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  I was told that I was not worth anything, that I was a waste,
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  that the company that had invested money and time with me didn't like me.
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  All these things filtered in my head, all this while dealing with a depression,
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  knowing that the girl that I thought was the girl of my dreams and the girl
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  that I really loved, my first and only love at the time.
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  You know, when you're in your 20s, you think that that's the only one that you'll
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  ever meet. She also kind of ghosted me.
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  Ghosted me, by the way, for those of you that don't know the term,
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  just stopped talking to me.
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  So for two years, I went into a depression. Lost a lot of weight. Was unhealthy.
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  Thank God I didn't result to drinking. I didn't do any drugs.
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  But at my lowest point, I started to almost see things.
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  I started to have visions that people were around me and they weren't.
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  So I called my mom and my dad and they came up immediately and they got me back on my feet.
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  And the first thing my mom said on the last day of the weekend that she was
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  up, we're going to church.
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  You're living next to a church. We're walking to a church next store. Let's go to church.
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  And on the first day we go to church, which is right next to where I was living,
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  they unveiled a brand new piano.
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  And the first song they played was Amazing Grace.
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  And when I heard those lyrics for the first time without, you know,
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  maybe dazing off, I mean, I
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  knew the lyrics, but when I first heard those lyrics at the lowest point,
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  It broke me, but it allowed me to get out all that.
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  Hard feelings. It allowed me to get all that depression, all that sadness out.
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  Little did I know that my mom had made a couple friends during our fellowship
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  hour and expressed how I was new to the area.
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  What I didn't realize was they were going to surround me with love and compassion.
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  They were going to knock on my door and tell me everything was okay.
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  They're going to tell me and share with me the love of Christ.
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  So as I gotten wiser and older, and I started to work on Christ in my relationship.
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  Things just started to change for the better. Now, you know the rest of the story.
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  I'm happily married. I have two children. I have a dog, Cody,
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  which I'm walking now, and I'm blessed. I'm in ministry school.
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  I'm following the world, the word of God.
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  So here's my question. Where are you with Christ?
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  When's the last time you had a conversation with him? Not even so much as a
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  prayer, but just a conversation.
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  Hey, God, it's Angel. How you doing?
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  It's been a while. I miss you.
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  I'm sorry. Can we make things work?
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  Sometimes people will call God and say, you know, Heavenly Father,
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  my father, I need you. I need my dad. I need you to be with me, Dad.
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  I've heard people talk about Christ that way. It's awesome.
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  And, you know, as we get to that point of relationship with Christ and we start
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  to realize, hey, you know what? God is with me.
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  God truly is trying his best to be a part of me.
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  See, what I started to realize was it wasn't about praising God only on the
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  good days. It's praising him on the bad days.
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  Think about that for a second. When times are rough, sometimes people turn their back on you.
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  When times are not going in your direction and maybe you look bad or maybe you
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  said something that people don't like, people just start talking, stop talking to you.
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  People move away, right? But you know who doesn't do that?
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  Do you know who's with you in the midst of the storm?
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  Do you know who's there as hail comes down and he protects you,
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  he shields you, and he takes the blows?
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  Do you know why he died on the cross? Do you know why he sacrificed?
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  His only son for us. Do you know why every time those nails were pierced into
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  his flesh and he was in pain, he took that for us.
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  So let's stop taking it for granted.
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  He took all that for us. How many times have you said that the phrase,
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  I'd take a bullet for that person. I'd do anything for that person.
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  But we say that, right? We say that and we don't even know when or if that's gonna even happen.
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  Christ knew it was going to happen. Christ knew the plan.
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  Imagine, he knew what was gonna happen. Could we do that? Would we do that?
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  Have we done that? Where are you with Jesus Christ today? Where do you wanna be with him?
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  I'm gonna tell you right now where he wants to be with you. He loves you.
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  He believes in you. He trusts in you, and he's never going to walk away from
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  you because he loves you so much.
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  I want you to think about that this morning. Where are you with Jesus? Amen.
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  Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come.
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  Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
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  Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
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  Lead us not into temptation.
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  Deliver us from evil, for yours is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever and ever.
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  In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. I will see you all this Sunday,
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  live on Facebook, a simulcast on TikTok.
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  May God be with you. May he shine his light upon you and grant each and every
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  single one of you peace on earth.
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  And never forget, have faith, let it begin.
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  Thank you for listening to have faith, let it begin. We'll be back tomorrow.
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  Thank you for listening to another episode of have faith, let it begin.
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  That's right, Ariel. We're done with another show. And it's always great to
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  have this show with you, my love.
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  You know, we're going to encourage each and every person to listen to our show.
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  Music.
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  Every single weekday. That's right. You and I are going to help change the world.
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  Do you think that you can do that for me? Huh? Yeah. You know you can.
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  She does. We want to let you know. Yes, we encourage you to listen to our show
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  each and every weekday. And it's going to be live at 730.
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  Make sure you're subscribed to our show. Make sure you get ready,
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  fasten those seatbelts, because Ariel and I and my family are going to bring
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  you a new topic, a new story, each and every day.
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  Right? Isn't that right, Ariel? Yeah.
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  And we... She's smiling at me. Guys, enjoy your day.
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  Thank you for listening to Have Faithful Begin. I'll be back tomorrow.
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  This Sunday at May 25th, live from First Reform Church, I will be back to deliver a message.
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  Entitled, God is Always With You. See you then.