Transcript

Guardrails · Fostering Faith

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Welcome back to Fostering Faith and I am your
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host today and I am so glad that you guys tuned
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in and so we are going to be talking about something
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that we've been talking a lot in our everyday
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lives and that's about guardrails and serving
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an invisible God, trusting the Holy Spirit to
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stay on course. and so hey if you're a new listener
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here welcome we are fostering faith in today's
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episode i believe it's going to be one that we
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all need whether we're a teenager trying to figure
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it all out or a mom juggling too many plates
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or someone that's just tired of trying to do
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life without direction and so today's message
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guard rails and the invisible god trusting the
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holy spirit to stay on course because let's be
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honest the road called life is wild. It's full
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of choices, temptations, cultures, shouting in
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one ear and confusing in the other, and we're
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trying to follow God and we can't even see. So
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how do we do that? How do we follow an invisible
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God? How do you know you're not drifting? That's
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where the Holy Spirit steps in. That's where
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guardrails come in. God didn't leave us to figure
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it out all on our own. He gave us His Word and
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His Spirit. to keep us steady whenever the road
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gets twisty. So whether you're driving to school,
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folding laundry, or taking a dog for a walk,
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settle in. I think this episode is going to tune
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up your faith a little bit. So let's dive in.
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And so let's start with the obvious question.
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How do you follow a God you can't see? And so
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as we have posted on social media so many times
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and there are so many Skeptic people out there
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and they always say oh pray to your invisible
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dad, you know, oh your heavenly father and How
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do we? Have that question even as adults It's
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not even a teenager question. It's a human question
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until Colossians 1 15 says The sun is an image
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of the invisible God, a firstborn over all creation.
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So if God is invisible, how are we supposed to
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follow him? Here's the key. You don't follow
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him based on sight. We follow by faith. Faith
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is choosing to trust what God says when we can't
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see how it's going to play out. That's not blind
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guessing that's believing he sees what we can't
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and second Corinthians 5 17 says for we shall
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walk by faith and not by sight and Romans 10
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17 reminds us that faith comes by hearing and
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Hearing by the word of God. So let's pause right
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there If you feel like you're lost stuck confused
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It's not because God isn't speaking It might
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be because we haven't slowed down long enough
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to listen. His voice is always present. His spirit
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is always working. He just needs us to be willing
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to let him lead. And so guardrails are good.
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And so what we do with an invisible God, how
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do we follow him in a world that's constantly
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pulling us off course? We have guardrails. Guardrails
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are the safety boundaries on the road, positioned
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not in the ditch, but before danger. It's the
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warning. It's protections. They're not there
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to restrict you, but redirect you before things
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get off rails. In your faith, God gives us two
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main guardrails, His Word and His Spirit. Let
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me give you an example. Let's say you're dating
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someone and the relation starts pulling away
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from your values, your peace, your walk with
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God. The Word Might bring up a verse like 2nd
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Corinthians 4 16 and says do not be unequally
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yoked with an unbeliever That's a guardrail,
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but even more than that the Holy Spirit will
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nudge you in your soul and you'll feel an unrest
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a lack of peace a stirring something's off and
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that's God's love Making you well up. That's
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God's love and loving you enough to tap you on
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the brakes before you crash. It's not a restriction.
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That's protection. And let's talk about the Holy
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Spirit. And so Jesus said in John 14 26, but
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the helper and the Holy Spirit whom the father
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will send my name will teach you all the things
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and bring your remembrance all that I have said
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to you. The Holy Spirit is not a concept or a
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feeling. He's a person. He's God's living inside
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of us. He's the best GPS. chat tpt you will ever
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have and when you're about to say something shady
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on social media or feel a little uh don't do
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that that's him whenever you feel an unease about
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a situation and you can't put your finger on
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it ask your heavenly father it's him it's saying
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hey back off hey I taught you better than that.
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Hey, you know that it's not right. Hey, you know
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that we have higher standards in here in heaven.
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Hey, that's not that's an earthly principle.
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That's not that's not kingdom standards. And
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so that's him saying, don't do that. And when
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we feel drawn to check on a friend or encourage
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someone we barely know, that's him. When you're
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tempted to compromise and sometimes it tightens
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up in your chest and it's not your gut, that's
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God. Galatians 525 says, since we live by the
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spirit, let us step in the spirit. In other words,
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let him drive. It's like follow the leader whenever
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you were like in kindergarten, you know, or in
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Peter Pan, we're following the leader. And so,
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but we have to let him lead. That's about that
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surrender, about knowing that his ways are greater
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than our ways, knowing that, you know, it sounds
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like a really good idea to us. But he's like,
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no, I see what I have planned for you one years,
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two years, three years down the road. And he
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is he going to make you do anything? No, it's
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freedom. He doesn't want to bully you into a
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relationship with him. You want he wants you
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to want him. He wants that relationship with
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you. And so it really is just him saying, hey,
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I I sent my son, but he had to die for your sin.
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And so I don't want to leave you alone because
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I love you so much. Let me give you the Holy
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Spirit. And so it guides you, it directs us and
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it will just make you feel all sorts of ways.
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But that's just Him loving you. And people that
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point out correction and sometimes that can hurt
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really bad and that can feel super like, oh my
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gosh, I can't believe that they said that to
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me. But. Were they saying it because they love
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you? And they and they have screwed up in that
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way in their life and they're like I didn't listen
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to the Holy Spirit and I put myself through a
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whole bunch of mess and I mean if you've not
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listened to Daddy's DNA By Brandon Lake, please
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go listen to it because it is really like Just
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we dance with the devil and we as older Christians
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get to walk in our mistakes and help the younger
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generation not do the stupid things that we did
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as we were trying to find our faith. And they
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have the opportunity to listen, or not to listen,
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to find a recipe for success on their own. And
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so we are meant to, those that have gray hair,
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are meant to lead and guide the youth. So now,
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how do we know that we're staying between the
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guardrails? We look at fruit. And so Galatians
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5 22 2 through 20 says, but the fruit of the
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Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
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goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self
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-control. So let's go there. You say that you're
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following Jesus, but is your life showing it?
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Are you walking in peace or always in drama?
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Are you showing love even to the people who hurt
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you? Are you growing in patience? are popping
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off when things don't go your way. Fruit doesn't
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lie. You can fake it for a while, but real spiritual
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fruit shows up on how you treat people, how you
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react, and what you say when no one's listening.
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So if you're wondering, am I following the Holy
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Spirit? Check your fruit. If you are full of
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love, peace, joy, you're probably walking close
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to Him. But if your life is full of chaos anger
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anxiety Maybe it's time to ask if you drifted
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from your guardrails And there's no shame in
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that God is not sitting up in heaven keeping
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a score He's on the road with you saying hey
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Let's just take the next right. I'm still here
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I'm putting people in front of you that love
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you that I've placed in your in your realm for
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a reason I'm allow them open your heart You know
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ask God to clean your vision ask God to uncallous
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your heart Ask for some conviction. Hey if I'm
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doing something wrong Like make me ill make make
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me You know feel some type of way. Let me know
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if I am doing anything that is not pleasing in
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your sight He knows that we're not gonna be perfect.
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He knows everything that we have gone through
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he he Does and knows everything before it's gonna
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happen And he's building us. He is correcting
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us. He is molding us. He is shaping us. And he
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can use the dumbest things that we do to bring
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him glory if we allow it. And so yes, we live
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in such a sinful nature. And there is no sin
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different than anyone else's sin. And so it doesn't
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matter what you've done or what anyone else did.
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It doesn't matter. We are not here to judge.
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We're here to help guide others that have strayed
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from their path. And we're here to love people.
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And it may seem really hard when someone's talking
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to you about that. But in that same instance,
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like it's really hard to point the finger at
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yourself and see that correction like, no, I'm
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not doing it. It's fine. It's fine. But we really
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need to check our earthly standards. Are we living
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by kingdom standards? And so practical ways to
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stay on course. And let me give you some super
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practical ways to follow the invisible God and
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stay between the guardrails. One, read the word
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daily. This is our map. This is our love letter
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that He has written to us every day. Even just
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one verse can set your mind for the day. Number
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two, talk to the Holy Spirit. Before you post,
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react, date, comment, ask Him. Holy Spirit, what
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do you think? And so many times I have typed,
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I have emailed, I have done all the things and
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I have deleted and deleted and deleted and deleted,
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not posted and Because we're not perfect. We
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still have fleshly desires to be angry and let
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me tell you and You and it's as you walk in your
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faith. It gets better You get quicker to be like
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nuts. Not that's not kind That's not loving your
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enemy. That's not loving people that want to
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harm you that's If you help the poor you're helping
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Jesus Those that give us give someone a drink
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that's giving Jesus a drink. And so as you walk
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in your faith, it gets easier But ask Him. Every
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day. Lead me. Three. Pay attention to your peace.
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Peace is a powerful guide. It sometimes steals.
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If something steals your peace, that's a red
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flag. We have that peace from the Holy Spirit.
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And if it leaves you, that's a prompt. That's
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telling you that something's wrong. That's not
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what I said to do. You're doing it in your own
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way. Please. Hey, stop. That's not what I want
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you to do. Four. Surround yourself with people
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who live it. You will become like the people
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you spend time with. Get around people who want
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to walk with God, too. And so many times that
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you've said on this episode about how it is so
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important for small groups, for community that
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is following Christ. And no, we're not all together
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and we are all perfectly messes and And that
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is fine. But if we are walking towards God and
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we're going in the same direction, we're there
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to help each other. We are meant for community
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and to guide and to love people during difficult
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situations. And whenever we get off our guardrails,
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whenever we are not on the road of faith, that's
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what that person is like. Hey, what are you doing?
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Like, what? Why are you doing that? That's not
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your character. That's not what you're doing.
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Like, what are you doing? And that should be
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a red flag. That should be like, oh, my gosh,
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like this person really loves me. versus the
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people that are encouraging you to do things
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that would not be God -approved. You have to
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check your surroundings. And five, keep short
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accounts. When you mess up, and you will, we
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will, I will, don't run from God. Run to Him.
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Confess it. Own it. And start again. And so as
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we wrap up this episode, let's bring it all kind
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of home. Yes? God is invisible, but He is not
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absent. He is guiding us through His Word. He's
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speaking through His Spirit. He's walking right
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beside you, putting up guardrails because He
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loves you so much. He doesn't want to see you
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crash. If you've been drifting, it's not too
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late. Get back on the road. If you've ignored
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the warning signs, God is not mad. He's calling
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you back. And just remember the prodigal son.
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And if you've not read it, go read it. It's about
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these two sons, and one leaves, squanders everything,
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and he's like, oh my gosh, I could never go back
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to my dad. And he was like, my dad's servants
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have it better than the life that I have, and
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how many times have we all kind of done probably
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the same thing? And we go back with our head
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down, and he sees his son from afar, and he runs
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to his son. runs and just grabs you and he's
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waiting for you to come back home. He's waiting
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for you to come back and like, oh my gosh, I've
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missed you. I love you. There's nothing that
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you could do to make me unlove you. And so let
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him lead. And so Romans 8 14 says, for those
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who are led by the Spirit of God are the children
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of God. So let him lead. Stay between the guardrails
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and watch how your faith comes alive. And so
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we would love to pray for you. God, thank you
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for being our guard, our guide, even when we
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cannot see you. Thank you for the spirit that
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lives in us, that leads us. Help us stay close
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to your word. Help us hear the whisper of the
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Holy Spirit whenever we're being tempted to drift.
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Make us people who bear real fruit, love, joy,
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peace, and everything that you have planted in
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us. Keep us on the road of faith. in your way
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and not our way. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.
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Thank you so much for hanging out with us today.
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If this episode encouraged you, share it with
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a friend, leave a review, tag us on social media.
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And remember, God might be invisible, but His
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presence is undeniable. The Spirit is leading
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between the guardrails and keep moving towards
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faith. Until next week, we love you guys and
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have a great week.