Latest / Jessi Morgan Devotions for the Christian Heart Podcast / The Power of Your Words: Wounds That Last and Words That Heal | James 3:1-10

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The Power of Your Words: Wounds That Last and Words That Heal | James 3:1-10 · Jessi Morgan Devotions for the Christian Heart Podcast

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  SPEAKER_00: Hello, hello.
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  SPEAKER_00: You're listening to the Jesse Morgan Devotions for the Christian Heart Podcast episode 118.
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  SPEAKER_00: This week's devotional is titled The Power of Your Words, Wounds That Last and Words That Heal.
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  SPEAKER_00: Study of James 3, 1 through 10.
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  SPEAKER_00: Let's go.
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  SPEAKER_00: Hi, I'm Jesse Morgan.
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  SPEAKER_00: I used to just share home decor and renovation tips on social media, but now I'm sharing something even closer to my heart.
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  SPEAKER_00: My journey in love for Jesus Christ, my Savior.
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  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the Jesse Morgan Devotions for the Christian Hawk Podcast.
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  SPEAKER_00: This is a weekly devotional I started back in May 2024, but the inspiration for it came much earlier.
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  SPEAKER_00: It was rooted in a faith journey that began when my daughter was born four months early in 2023.
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  SPEAKER_00: Through that challenging time, God worked in ways that truly amazed me.
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  SPEAKER_00: On this podcast, I share personal stories of faith woven together with Scripture to show just how incredible God's word can be in our everyday lives.
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  SPEAKER_00: My hope is that through these stories, you'll be encouraged, uplifted, and reminded of God's love and presence, no matter what you're going through.
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  SPEAKER_00: So I invite you to spend less than 15 minutes with me each week as we reflect on these devotionals together.
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  SPEAKER_00: Let's all pray within.
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  SPEAKER_00: Welcome back.
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  SPEAKER_00: This is Jesse Morgan.
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  SPEAKER_00: And this week we're still focusing on uh the study of James.
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  SPEAKER_00: And the key passages is James 3, 1 through 10.
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  SPEAKER_00: And I'm just so enjoying this study with you guys.
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  SPEAKER_00: And thank you for allowing me to share and reflect with you.
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  SPEAKER_00: My hope is that it inspires you and encourages you in your own walk with God too.
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  SPEAKER_00: So this week's passage really focuses on the power of our tongues, how the words we speak can um leave a lasting impression.
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  SPEAKER_00: And as I reflect on it, I remembered an experience from years ago that has stayed with me to this day.
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  SPEAKER_00: So get ready.
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  SPEAKER_00: Around, I would say about 2013, I was living in New York City and working at Macy's Herald Square, the big flagship on 34th, and I had moved from Miami the year before and hadn't really found a workout routine yet.
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  SPEAKER_00: So I decided to join a gym.
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  SPEAKER_00: I found an uh an LA Fitness on 33rd Street, just a block over from work, that offered cycling classes because I love cycling, spinning, indoor spinning, that's my thing.
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  SPEAKER_00: I went in one afternoon to ask about a membership, and before I knew it, we were talking about personal training.
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  SPEAKER_00: They offered three sessions a week, and I thought, you know what, I can afford it.
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  SPEAKER_00: Maybe some help will get me going again.
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  SPEAKER_00: When they asked about my workout background, I told them I'd ran track and field for 10 to 12 years, including, you know, also including that, including in college.
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  SPEAKER_00: And well, that got them excited.
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  SPEAKER_00: Oh, we have an athlete in the house.
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  SPEAKER_00: This is going to be fun training a real athlete.
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  SPEAKER_00: And once they heard I went to the University of Alabama, of course, because we had won tons of national championship at that point.
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  SPEAKER_00: Um, there were a few roll tide comments thrown in there as well.
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  SPEAKER_00: It was all fun.
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  SPEAKER_00: But I kept saying, remember, guys, I've been a I've it's been about, you know, six years or so.
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  SPEAKER_00: I'm not in that kind of shape anymore.
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  SPEAKER_00: And that's why I'm here.
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  SPEAKER_00: So I wanted them to understand that I needed help getting started again.
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  SPEAKER_00: So the next day I went back after work for my first session, and it was hard.
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  SPEAKER_00: I got winded easily, I just didn't feel great.
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  SPEAKER_00: Uh, about halfway through, I couldn't lift whatever my trainer was asking me to lift.
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  SPEAKER_00: I said, Yeah, I'm not in the greatest shape at the moment.
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  SPEAKER_00: And he responded, Yes, I can tell.
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  SPEAKER_00: You definitely aren't.
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  SPEAKER_00: Maybe it was his tone, maybe it was his delivery or the way he interacted with me afterward.
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  SPEAKER_00: I can't tell you exactly what made those words land the way they did.
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  SPEAKER_00: But they crushed me.
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  SPEAKER_00: For most of my childhood and early adulthood, you know, I I had been an athlete.
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  SPEAKER_00: Track required so much of me physically and mentally.
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  SPEAKER_00: I was used, I was used to, you know, hard workouts, coaching, and being pushed.
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  SPEAKER_00: Usually a comment like that would have rolled off my back, but that day it hit like a tender spot for real.
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  SPEAKER_00: I already knew I wasn't in I wasn't in like good shape.
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  SPEAKER_00: I had said it several times.
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  SPEAKER_00: I was there because I wanted to do something about it.
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  SPEAKER_00: And in that moment, I just felt humiliated.
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  SPEAKER_00: I finished the workout and walked from 33rd Street to 42nd with my headphones on, crying a bit.
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  SPEAKER_00: I was disappointed in myself, and somewhere along that walk, I decided I wasn't going back.
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  SPEAKER_00: I missed my next two sessions when the guy called, I made excuses.
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  SPEAKER_00: After a couple of weeks, I stopped answering.
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  SPEAKER_00: And it it took me about a month, month and a half to finally call and cancel.
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  SPEAKER_00: I didn't even have the heart to do it sooner, even though it was costing me a bit.
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  SPEAKER_00: And that experience stayed with me.
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  SPEAKER_00: Afterward, I became uncomfortable with the idea of having a male personal trainer.
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  SPEAKER_00: I know that sounds harsh.
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  SPEAKER_00: Other trainers hadn't done anything to me, but I carried that experience into situations with people who weren't even there.
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  SPEAKER_00: When I finally hired another trainer in 2019, I specifically said, I want a female.
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  SPEAKER_00: And she was wonderful.
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  SPEAKER_00: That experience helped me enjoy training again.
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  SPEAKER_00: But even later, when my husband offered to work out with me and help me train me, I laughed it off and said, No.
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  SPEAKER_00: Underneath that response was the thought of, I don't want to humiliate him, I don't want to embarrass him, I don't want to disappoint him.
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  SPEAKER_00: And then I had to catch myself.
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  SPEAKER_00: And yet I was letting an old comment shape how I responded to someone who loved me.
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  SPEAKER_00: A sentence can take seconds to say and stay with someone for years.
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  SPEAKER_00: I don't know whether that trainer intended to hurt me.
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  SPEAKER_00: He may have thought he was simply agreeing with what I had said.
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  SPEAKER_00: He may not remember that conversation at all, but I remembered it.
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  SPEAKER_00: And it makes me wonder have I ever said something casually that someone else carried home with them?
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  SPEAKER_00: Have I called something a joke when it embarrassed another person?
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  SPEAKER_00: Have I been so focused on being honest that I forgot to be kind?
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  SPEAKER_00: James describes how something as small as the tongue can have an enormous influence.
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  SPEAKER_00: A bit guides a horse, a rudder steers a ship, and a smaller spark can set a forest on fire.
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  SPEAKER_00: As it says within those pass that passage.
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  SPEAKER_00: Our words have that kind of reach, I feel.
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  SPEAKER_00: As children of God, we need to consider how we speak to the people God created, which are even strangers, which are sinners just like us.
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  SPEAKER_00: I want to read James 3, 9 through 10 from the NIV version.
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  SPEAKER_00: It says, With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings who have been made in God's likeness.
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  SPEAKER_00: Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing.
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  SPEAKER_00: My brothers and sisters, this should not be.
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  SPEAKER_00: Wow.
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  SPEAKER_00: Just like that verse just made me hold myself accountable.
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  SPEAKER_00: So we can't praise God on Sunday in church, and then on Monday at work we speak harshly about someone who just made a huge mistake at work.
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  SPEAKER_00: Like, what is that?
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  SPEAKER_00: What are we representing if your mouth does two separate things?
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  SPEAKER_00: Chew on that for a minute.
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  SPEAKER_00: I had to.
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  SPEAKER_00: Honestly, this is called accountability for your mouth, for your tongue, the tongue that God created for you to glorify and represent him.
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  SPEAKER_00: So when I think about using our words to honor God and care for people made in his image, I think about my dad.
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  SPEAKER_00: During his years as a pastor, many people know that, he would go to hospitals to visit church members and their families.
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  SPEAKER_00: He loved doing that.
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  SPEAKER_00: His introduction was simple.
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  SPEAKER_00: Hey, I'm Pastor Don McNeil.
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  SPEAKER_00: I'm here today to pray over you.
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  SPEAKER_00: Can I do that?
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  SPEAKER_00: He showed up, he spoke kindly, he asked permission to pray, and in a moment when someone might have been frightened, exhausted, or just hurting, my dad offered comfort.
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  SPEAKER_00: Years after my father retired from ministry, I would meet people who still remembered those visits.
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  SPEAKER_00: They would tell me, Your dad came to see me in the hospital, or he prayed with our family.
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  SPEAKER_00: They remembered how he made them feel.
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  SPEAKER_00: They remembered that he cared enough to come.
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  SPEAKER_00: And they still spoke about him with so much love to this day.
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  SPEAKER_00: What a testimony.
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  SPEAKER_00: As a child of God, he really represented baby.
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  SPEAKER_00: He represented.
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  SPEAKER_00: Love you, Dad.
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  SPEAKER_00: And I'm so proud of the way, you know, you showed people the love of God and how those moments are still touching people today, Dad.
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  SPEAKER_00: Love you.
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  SPEAKER_00: That's the kind of lasting impression I want to leave.
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  SPEAKER_00: Someone um who doesn't share our faith may remember how we spoke to them long after they forget what we said, or they forget what we actually believed.
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  SPEAKER_00: And what will those words tell them about God, about the God we serve?
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  SPEAKER_00: When I think about these two experiences, I'm reminded that we don't always get to see how far our words travel or how long they stay with someone.
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  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes a simple thank you matters more than we realize.
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  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes I'm proud of you, or how can I help you?
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  SPEAKER_00: Or how are you doing?
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  SPEAKER_00: Give someone the encouragement they need to keep going.
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  SPEAKER_00: And sometimes we need to stop and say, What I said was hurtful.
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  SPEAKER_00: I'm sorry.
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  SPEAKER_00: So today let's ask God to help us pay attention to our words, our tongue.
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  SPEAKER_00: When we're frustrated, tired, you know, or um attempted to join in with everyone with what everyone else is saying.
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  SPEAKER_00: Will we pause long enough to let the Holy Spirit guide us?
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  SPEAKER_00: James reminds us that we cannot tame the tongue on our own.
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  SPEAKER_00: We need God's help.
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  SPEAKER_00: We need our conversations, our reactions, um, and even those little comments we barely think about before saying them.
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  SPEAKER_00: Um God has given us the ability to speak, and we need to use that gift to encourage, to comfort, tell the truth with love, and represent our God, our Abba.
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  SPEAKER_00: Love you all.
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  SPEAKER_00: Let's pray.
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  SPEAKER_00: Heavenly Father, thank you so much for the study of James.
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  SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much for the teachings of the tongue and how powerful it is, good or bad.
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  SPEAKER_00: And hold us as children of God, children of you, Lord, accountable for what we say.
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  SPEAKER_00: And what we say represents you.
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  SPEAKER_00: And we are in your likeness, so we represent you every day.
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  SPEAKER_00: And Father, I pray that everybody who listens to this podcast is inspired, they're gonna hold themselves accountable to do what's best for you, Lord, and just keep glorifying you and representing you to others that may be non-believers.
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  SPEAKER_00: And we are their first contact with someone who believes in the Lord, and our mouth is important, what we say is important.
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  SPEAKER_00: Father, I love you and I praise you in Jesus' name.
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  SPEAKER_00: Amen.
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  SPEAKER_00: Love you all.
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  SPEAKER_00: Till next time.
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  SPEAKER_00: Well, that wraps up this week's episode.
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  SPEAKER_00: I hope these devotions help you draw closer to God each day.
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  SPEAKER_00: If this episode encouraged you, please share it with someone who might need the same message.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_00: And don't forget to subscribe so you never miss a weekly episode.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_00: Also, if you feek if you feel compelled, leaving a nice review would be so appreciated as well.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_00: For more information or to reach out, check the show notes or visit jessymorganhome.com or find me on Instagram at JessieMorganlife.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_00: Remember, God's timing is always perfect.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_00: Keep trusting him.
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  SPEAKER_00: Until next time, this is Jessie Morgan praying off.