Increase III // Pastor Chuck Colegrove // Nov. 23

Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (00:02):
The year was 2005.
Anybody?
Close?
The year was 2005.
Living in Houston at the time,and I was given an assignment to
go to the airport,Intercontinental Airport.
Our pastor was the chaplain forthe entire airport system in

(00:24):
Houston.
And so there was a task that hehad assigned to me to go to the
airport.
And he specifically told me,when you get there, you're going
to go into the United Desk, thecheck-in desk, and you're going
to ask for this person.
And I said, okay.
He said, and you're going totell them that you're here on my
behalf and that you're tocomplete the assignment they

(00:46):
have for me today.
I can't be there, but you'regoing to complete it for me.
And I said, Oh, okay, sure, I'lldo it.
So I drove to the airport.
Coolest thing ever.
Drove to the airport.
I got to park.
You know, you can't park closeto an airport ever.
Anybody ever like you ever haveto pick somebody up at the
airport and you're there like 10minutes early?
You just loop around.

(01:06):
You do the loop.
And if you dare stop for onesecond, the kindest person in
Chicago has a whistle.
Move it.
I'm like, they're right there.
I can see them.
I can see them with their bagsright there.
I don't care.
Keep moving.
Oh, just some of the things thatget me during picking people up

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at the airport.
Sorry, that's not the story I'mtelling.
So I go to the airport, I get topark right next to the terminal.
I walk in and I get to the desk.
And I said, um, I'm here onbehalf of uh Pastor Brett Jones,
and uh he has an assignment thatyou're requiring of him.
He's unable to make it, but I'mhere in his stead.

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And they said, Excellent.
Tell me your name.
So I told them my name that I'mlike, all right, Mr.
Colgrove.
And they gave me this badge.
It was a big ID lanyard, and Iput it over my neck and they
said, Follow me.
And they said, whenever we getto a spot where there's
security, just raise that badgeup.
I said, okay.
I was like, this is gonna befun.

(02:10):
Now I love airports, I love tofly.
I'm the type that when we dotravel, I like to get there
early.
Anyone get there early with me?
Come on.
Come on, get there early.
Don't miss a flight.
I'm not gonna miss a flightbecause I'm gonna be there on
time to check my bag.
The one I travel with sometimesisn't like that.

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No, that's not mean.
That's not mean.
I wouldn't I would travel withno one else, but I would also
like to get there one hour earlyif possible.
So we start walking.
I follow, I follow the guy for aminute, and he says, Follow me.
I'm like, all right, so I'mfollowing him.
And uh he gets to the firstdoor, first check area, and he

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just holds a badge up.
So I hold my badge up.
We walk straight through.
We get back around, there's adoor.
He says, All right, get ready.
I said, Okay, he holds his badgeup.
An officer taps the door, dooropens.
I go into the back of anairport, like the terminal, the
gate area.
Like I'm like, this is where noone ever gets to go.
It's like we find our way, weget to the gate, we meet the

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gentleman that's arriving, Imeet with him, I pray with him,
I walk with him to his next gateto move him to the next spot.
All that to say, I realized onthat trip that all I was doing
was what I was told to do.
I was told to report, introducemyself, get a badge, raise a

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badge, show a badge, do what I'msupposed to do, and then be on
my way for the day.
And I realized that when I, aslong as I was doing my part,
every other part fell in place.
The door opened when it wassupposed to open.
I got through security the way Iwas supposed to get through
security.
I was get to the gate like I hadnever got to the gate before,
all the way through the backkind of uh back edge and under

(04:00):
the behind the scenes area ofthe airport.
And I got there and I was ableto meet with that gentleman,
pray with him, and then went onmy way.
And I thought, you know, it's sointeresting to me.
Like for certain tasks, whensomebody tells us what to do and
how to do it and where to do it,it's so simple.
But sometimes God's words tellsus what to do, how to do it, and
where to do it, and we strugglewith it.
And I realize if I would justlearn to do my part, God will

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always do his part.
Why don't you turn your neighborand say, we about to do our
part?
And then tap the neighbor you'vebeen ignoring and just say, You
look great today.
Just kindness.
Just a little kindness, so alittle kindness.

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Well, church, here we are.
We're in week three of ourseries entitled Increase.
As we make our way to GivingTuesday on December 2nd.
And it's our vision to advancethe kingdom, to advance the
vision of the church forwardexponentially in just one day of
generous above and beyond givingon December 2nd.

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And as I stand here to preachthis series of increase to you,
and man, what a week we had lastweek with Pastor Robbie.
Just such a powerful messageabout removing the rocks out of
the field because the rocks arewhat is gonna choke up the
harvest in our life if we're notcareful.
And just I hope you've had aweek of just investing in your

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life and getting rid of rocks.
And what I'm gonna tell you iswhen you get rid of some, more
are gonna come forward becausethat's what happens when we
churn the ground of our heartsup, more rocks come forward.
It's not punishing us, it's justour opportunity to get rid of
what doesn't matter in our life.
And so as we stand on this deal,I really felt like as I was
preparing yesterday on Thursday,finalizing my notes.

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I've I've spent a great deal oftime in this message this week.
And as I was finalizing mynotes, I just felt the Holy
Spirit as I was writing the wordincrease just hit me with some
words for increase.
And I just felt like the HolyGhost was telling us get ready
for supernatural harvest, getready for greater harvest, and
get ready for greater abundancein our lives.

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And I just want to encourage youlike there's something powerful
that happens at the intersectionof obedience and at the
intersection of expectancy.
That when obedience andexpectancy come together, that
is the grounds for themiraculous increase in our
lives.
And I've said it here often,I've said it for years, that the

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atmosphere of expectancy is thebreeding ground of the
miraculous.
And so if we can just like youhave to know this, when you walk
in obedience, when you do whatGod's word says, when you do
live by his commands, you have adivine right to expect that God

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will do exactly as he'spromised.
You have the passcode, you havethe ID lanyard to walk into
situations with victory becauseGod's promised victory.

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Our key verse is Psalm 65 and10.
It says, You drench the plowedground with rain, melting the
clods and leveling the ridges.
You soften the earth withshowers and bless its abundant
crops.
David is talking to us and he'she's laying out this idea of
divine partnership.

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And he tells us that it is God'sresponsibility to send the rain,
to bless the crops, and to bringthe increase in our life.
And that is God's part, but wealso have a part in this divine
partnership.
And David is implying for usthat we have to plow the ground,

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we have to remove the rocks, andthen we have to plant the seed.
And so we do what we can do soGod can do what we cannot do.
And there's something thathappens.
The gap between my ability andGod's abundance is where the
miraculous increase takes placein our life.

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Like the miracle doesn't happenuntil I do what I'm supposed to
do to get to the miracle.
And furthermore, well, I'm noteven gonna say that.
I'm gonna keep preaching.
Let me stay in the notes.
So God assigns to us in thisdivine partnership, uh, he gives
us a formula.

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And Genesis 8.22 says, duringall the days of the earth, seed,
time, and harvest, cold andheat, summer and winter, day and
night, do not cease.
God is letting us know that inorder for us to operate in his
kingdom, we have to understandseasons and times.

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In fact, he says that there is aseed, time and harvest.
Now, I have this revelation thisweek because I've always heard
it preached, and you can read itmaybe in your version of
scripture.
It might be in the NIV or in theNew King James Version, it will
say seed time as one word.
And I've always heard itpreached as seed time and

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harvest.
Like there's two things thathappen that's the seed planting
season and the harvestingseason.
But as I was studying andreading, I it just was revealed
to me that it's seed time andharvest.
Meaning that we plant the seedand then there's this time that
takes place before the harvest.

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Listen, students, you're in thisarena right now.
I know you are.
You can cram for an exam andpass the test, but you cannot
cram for a harvest.
You don't plant a seed today andexpect a harvest today.
You plant a seed in the plantingseason and expect a harvest
after a certain amount of time.

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And that time is where God'sworking on you while the seed is
working in the ground.
So in everything created, thereis a seed.
In everything created, there isa seed.
And men, you know, the fallseason's amazing around here

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because we have this uh, wehave, man, the Midwest, we're
blessed with delicious apples.
And uh we go to the we go to thefarm and pick a bushel of apples
or pick up a bushel of apples,and man, there's something, you
go to the farmer's market, andthese apples, I mean, I don't

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know who named them delicious,but they were right.
It's one of those things likewhen Adam and Eve were given the
responsibility to name all theanimals, like the they got the
apple right, I will tell youthat.
They're like delicious,delicious.
But what's interesting to me isit is delicious.

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I mean, you enjoy the fruit, andwe are we are created, and
actually the harvest is createdfor us to enjoy the fruit.
And so eat the fruit.
But if you if you can just slowdown for a second, because in
everything created there is aseed.

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So in this apple, there is aseed, and oh yeah.
In the apple, there is a seed,and there ain't there may only
be about six seeds in everyapple.

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But can I tell you something?
There is an entire orchard inevery seed, and so I would
compel you don't eat the seed.
Enjoy the fruit, do not eat theseed.
The seed is not a snack, it'syour future.

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You're praying for increase, butthe increase is locked up in the
seed you're unwilling or afraidto plant.
2 Corinthians 8 tells us alittle bit of the story about
seed time and harvest.
It says this now, brothers andsisters, we want you to know

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about the grace, everybody saygrace, that God has given the
Macedonian churches in the midstof a very severe trial, their
overflowing joy, and theirextreme poverty welled up in
rich generosity.
Now, let me set the stage.
What's happening in Jerusalem isthere's a famine.

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And because of the famine, theJews, they're they're
struggling.
But the churches all around theregion begin to help out the
Jews and send offerings to themto help them.
And Paul is writing to thechurch in Corinth, but he's
talking about the Macedonianchurch because that church, even

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though they, look what it says,it says in severe trial, that in
extreme poverty, in difficulty,something stirred within them to
be generous and to give to theneed.
And it is amazing to me thatthey gave as much as they were

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able, beyond their ability,urgently and willingly, because
they first had given themselvesto the Lord.
And Paul tells them in the nextverse, all the way down to verse
7, he says that just like youexcel in every other gift, I

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want you to excel in the graceof giving.
It's interesting to me thatphrase grace of giving.
Because we're used to applyingGod's grace when we sin.
When we sin, we're like, oh, butby the grace of God, my sins are
forgiven.
I've heard people say, well,what good is grace if you can't

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use it?
But the idea is this that we wewe have an expression of grace
when it comes to salvation.
But Paul's saying the same gracethat saves is the same grace
that's on you to give.
Whether there be a bountifulharvest, whether you sit in

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riches, or whether, like theMacedonians, you struggle and
are in poverty, you can stillgive.
Because giving is not somethingGod demands, it's something that
God graces.
And you don't have to give, butyou are graced to give.
So that pushes me to keep going.

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By the way, I normally have oneor two or three points that I'm
gonna give you, and I'm gonnagive them, but not right now.
So just stick with I'm preachingand then I'll give you the point
because I didn't want you tolose track.
See, you don't give to earnsalvation.
That was already purchased.
And at free church, you don'tgive to earn your membership.

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It's called free church.
But we give because weunderstand what's been done for
us is worthy of us giving back.
And when we give, we unlock theresources of heaven in our life,
pressed down, running over, andshaken together for our lives.

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See, if you knew the Bible, youknow that's a verse.
2 Corinthians 9.
Paul says this.
Now he who supplies seed to thesower, so who does God give seed
to?
People that sow.
And bread for food.
This is why I'm telling you,don't eat the seed.
Because God's going to give youthe seed to sow, but he's also

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gonna give you the bread forfood.
And he will also supply andincrease your store of seed and
will enlarge increase theharvest of your righteousness.
So Paul's saying that that,listen, you if you give, you you

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got to see in everything thereis a seed.
So if you need forgiveness, yousow forgiveness.
If you need mercy in your life,you show mercy to others.
Hey, if you need a friend, be afriend.
Like sow the seed.
Because in everything there is aseed.

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Because you cannot reap whereyou do not sow.
And you cannot sow what you'vealready eaten.
So the seed in your hand maylook very insignificant, but the

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harvest is great in God's hands.
And I started to think aboutthis idea.
I mean, I've told this beforearound here, dollar bill, it's
not much.
Even today's standard, it's lessthan what it used to be.
I remember when I could buy awhole tank of gas for less than
five dollars, go inside, get aCoke and a Kit Kat, and still

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have a couple of dimes left.
That's the world I lived in,sorry guys.
But you also make about fivetimes more an hour than I did
when I got my first job.
So there's that.
But the dollar, I've told thisbefore, there's a gather
gathering of denominations.
It was a dollar bill, a$10 bill,a$20 bill, and a$100 bill.

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And the$100 bill is like, man,you can't believe the week I've
had.
I've been to Disney, I've beento Vegas, I've been all over the
man, what a what a week.
$100 bills.
Like, I had the best week of mylife.
Disney, Vegas, man.
The$20 bill is, that soundspretty cool.
You man, I've been to Target.

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The$10 bill is like, that'scool.
I've been to Starbucks a fewtimes this week, and the dollar
bill is like, I've been tochurch.
That was supposed to be funny.
I didn't tell it good enough.
I'll work on it for nextservice.
This is supposed to be a joke.
The guilty flea when no manpursues.

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But the dollar, you know, it'snot incredibly, it doesn't do a
lot by itself, but when youbreak it down, then you get a
dime.
Ten of them.
And a dime in the hand of abanker is just a column filler

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on the wrong side of the decimalpoint.
But a dime in God's handsunlocks a doorway and becomes a
seed for a greater harvest.
And this is why, this is whyparents, this is why you need to
teach your kids to tithe ontheir first dollar.
And on every dollar forcommission for whatever they

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get, whether you call itcommission or allowances, but
teach them to tithe on thoseearly dollars so that the Lord,
when the Lord starts blessingthem with tens of thousands of
dollars, they already understandthe principle of increase and
the principle of the sower.
By the way, students, when wegive on Giving Tuesday, this is
not something for all the adultsto give to.
This is something for you toinvest in.

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Because it's not about equalgifts, it's about equal
sacrifice, it's about 100%participation, everybody from
their own way, given above andbeyond our own ability.
But I thought about this thatwhen you are faithful in little,
you become a ruler in much.
And so if you can work your way,whatever your giving standard is

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for your life.
If you give 10%, keep giving10%, and then for giving
Tuesday, give above and beyond.
If you're not giving 10%, find afaithful point to begin giving
consistently, weekly, whateveryou get paid, like whatever the
increase is in your life.
Find that space so you canparticipate.
And then on giving Tuesday, dosomething you've never done.
Give above and beyond you'veever got.

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Because I promise you, here'sthe principle of the source is
this you have to plant the seed.
You have to plant the seed.
The second principle of thesource is this you have to plant
it with the right attitude.
Don't just give it because I'masking and we're compelling and
we're casting vision to give.
Give it with the right attitude.
All right, I got five minutes towrap this up.

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You ready?
Here we go.
Psalm 50.
David's writing, listen, mypeople.
Oh, this is God speaking.
Listen, I will speak.
I will testify.
This is God speaking to David.
Listen, my people, and I willspeak.
I will testify against you,Israel.
I am God, your God.
I bring no charges against youconcerning your sacrifices or

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concerning your burnt offerings,which are ever before me.
He says, You're giving and yoursacrifice, and they're ever
before me.
I'm not bringing you a chargeagainst that, but this is what
you need to know.
I have no need of a bull fromyou, your stall, or of goats
from your pens, for every animalof the forest is mine, and the
cattle on a thousand hills.

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I know every bird on themountains and the insects in the
fields are mine.
If I were hungry, if I werehungry, I would not tell you,
for the world is mine and allthat is within it.
This is what's happening.
David is telling us, God istelling us and reminding us that
he doesn't really need our helpto accomplish what he's going to

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accomplish.
He's telling us, listen, if Iwere hungry, I wouldn't ask you
for food because I own all thecattle on the hill.
In fact, I own the hill.
Oh, better yet, I own the entireworld.
So the reality is giving doesn'tchange God, giving changes me.
I give because the attitude Igive with re is I'm giving

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because I'm reminded the priceJesus paid for my life.
I'm more like God when I givebecause He so loved the world
that He gave.
And it is the antidote tomaterialism in my life when I
give.

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Money answers all things.
It is the love of money that isthe root of all evil.
1 Corinthians 13, 3 says this,and though I bestow all my goods
to feed the poor, and though Igive my body to be burned, and I
have not charity, it profit menothing.
Listen, I think there are thoseof us in this room that when we

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give, we're not giving with theright attitude.
And we don't see the blessingand the favor of God on our
finances and in our life becausewe we're giving with we're we're
giving out somebody's compelledus to give.
Or we're giving because we'relike we're afraid if we don't
give, what's gonna happen in ourlife?
And I'm telling you, there's agrace to giving.

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And like God's not gonna loveyou less if you don't give, but
I will tell you, when you give,it changes you for how God looks
in your life.
That's that's why we we have towe have to get into the space.
If you pursue increase forpersonal gain, you'll always be
a consumer.
But when you learn to pursueincrease so that you can be a

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blessing to others, we'reblessed to be a blessing, you
become a sower.
And and and that's why Proverbs11:24, it says, one person gives
freely yet gains even more, andanother withholds unduly yet
comes to pro poverty.
It is true, the world of thegenerous grows larger and
larger.

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This is God's word.
This is not my word.
Because let me just tell youthis the enemy is not afraid of
your soil, the enemy is notafraid of your field, and the
enemy is not afraid of the plowthat you work the ground with.
The enemy is afraid of yourseed.
You want to know why?

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Because 1 Peter 2.23 tells us,no, that's not it.
1 Peter 2.23 tells us that wewere saved by an incorruptible
seed.
When God speaks to Adam and Evein the serpent in the garden, he
tells Eve, he says, Listen, yourseed will crush his head.

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He may bruise your heel, butyour seed will crush his head.
The enemy knows the power of theseed.
It's not the power of theground, it's not the power of
the plow, it's the power of theseed.
It is the power of the seed.
And every time God's people sowgood seed into good ground, hell

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loses again.
And in this moment that we'releaning into on December 2nd, I

will tell you this (25:40):
there is a seed in you, there is a seed to
work through you, and it isabout to provide an increase
that will shake this region.
This is what the seed looks likeas it's being produced.
It looks like world-class spacein our lower level for our kids
and our students to experienceGod's promises declared for
generations to come.

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It looks like revival on OakPark and River Forest campus
through young life as we investinto our students in this not
next generation, but this nowgeneration.
It looks like literal seed goingto Columbia so that we can train
and equip farmers andagriculture and then empower

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women for sustainable trades.
That's what your seed looks likeif you if you plant it.
But I'll tell you this the seedwill always be seed in your
hand.
But when you plant it, itbecomes your future.

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Can you receive that word today?