January 15, 2024 • 30 mins
Join me, Angelic Gibson, on a spiritual journey exploring 'victory' in our lives. This episode reveals insights for the upcoming year through prayerful reflections, leading to a year of VICTORY!
In this context, victory is more than a word; it's a journey needing discernment, action, and unwavering faith. I'll share sacred steps aligned with God's guidance, drawing wisdom from Isaiah 55:11 and actions for success. Emphasizing deep spiritual roots, this episode highlights staying connected to God for triumphs.
Gain insights on enriching your walk through disciplines like prayer, mindful media consumption, and the power of words. I'll provide blessings and resources for your spiritual growth in 2024. Join our social media community, where biblical teachings continue to nourish souls, and let's walk in faith toward a year of fulfilled promises and spiritual enrichment.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Thank you for tuning in to this episode of Grow where
God reveals our way.
I'm Anjali Gibson, your host,and I can't wait to explore the
vast riches of God's Word withyou.
So don't forget to subscribeand stay tuned for upcoming
episodes packed with biblicalteachings, inspirational stories
and a fresh perspective on theworld around us.
Now let's get started on thisbeautiful journey.
(00:24):
May God bless you abundantly.
Welcome back to the Growpodcast, where God reveals our
way.
I am so excited to be with youtoday.
Here we are in January, kickingoff the new year for 2024.
And I think that this year hasso much promise in it.
(00:48):
I've been in prayer about thisnew year since October seems so
long ago, but, yes, I've beenpraying on what would the Lord
have all of us be focused on forthis coming year, both
corporately in the body and thenindividually with him, and he
(01:09):
has just spoken so much into myheart on the promise of this
year.
I don't know about you, but2023 certainly had its fair
share of circumstances tocelebrate and also circumstances
to grieve.
So it was a year of mixedemotions, mixed experiences, and
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it certainly produced a lot ofgrowth in my relationship with
the Lord, and it's one of thoseyears that I am glad December 31
has came and gone and I'm sohappy to be in January.
My word for 2023 was thrive,and I was so excited about it.
I mean, who doesn't want tothrive?
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And the key definition ofthrive is to be blessed and
prosperous, to flourish despiteyour circumstances.
And I had the Valley ofdespites last year, and so not
that I don't appreciate and takejoy in the valleys that God
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will take us and lead us through.
I certainly want to see myselfand my loved ones, all of us, be
climbing a mountain together,not kind of hanging out in the
valley for too long.
So here we are, 2024.
And what is my word?
Well, this has been again beenpraying on what God would do for
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this year since October, and Ireally feel like I have a lot of
clarity in and around it, andthe word that he gave me that I
cannot shake is victory, andthat is all about winning, and,
as I have been studying thatword, it's to find success, it's
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to beat the enemy, praise theLord.
It is to just win and to bevictorious, and what he really
highlighted to me is that he isthe victor.
We find victory because he isvictory and it gets to the next
piece of it which he has spokento me get back to the basics.
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And this is not just in mypersonal life, it's just all
avenues of life.
It is, you know, in my role inthe marketplace.
It's to inspect what we expectand make sure that we have a
really solid foundation in thebasics of what it is we're there
to do.
And making sure everything'sshored up so we can accelerate
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the things that needacceleration.
And in my personal life withthe Lord, back to the basics
means making sure that I amrooted in the vine.
Him, he is the vine and that'swhat it's all about for me.
So if we are truly on the solidfoundation back to the basics,
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standing firm on the firmfoundation of Christ, we will
have victory in all facets oflife.
So I am super, super stokedabout 2024.
I hope this episode of grow willinfuse some inspiration into
your heart for all the goodthings that the Lord is going to
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be unfolding this year.
This year is also connected tothe year of the door.
I'm not gonna get into all thedetails of it, but if you look
up this year, we are in Hebrewyear 5784, and specifically, you
index off of the four, whichwould be a Dalit D-A-L-E-T in
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Hebrew, and that means a door,and we know that Jesus is the
door, he is the pathway of life,and he says that any door he
opens, no man can shut, and thedoors he shuts, no man can open,
and so this is a year that wecan ask and the doors will be
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opened unto us.
Now that also means that ourhearts are aligned to the Lord,
we're standing righteous beforehim and his will is impressed
upon our hearts.
So, when we ask, the doors openbecause our hearts and his will
are perfectly aligned andthere's this acceleration
towards his victory, and so it'sjust a really, really cool
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place to be.
I know that I have been in aseason where I've received
promises from the Lord reallyover the last decade that I have
been watching, expectantly,waiting for these promises to be
fulfilled, and, specifically,there was a tremendous amount of
(06:00):
promise pressed upon my heartin the year 2018.
And I really feel well.
I know the Lord told me that hewould be fulfilling all those
promises this year.
So this is a year of God justreally showing up, fulfilling
his promises for his victory,all for his glory and I'm just
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so excited about it.
Who doesn't want to be a partof God's plans?
It's so exciting, so, to kickoff this year victory, I'm so
excited to share that we aregonna be welcoming our fourth
grandchild in March.
His name is going to be Noah,and what I love about that we're
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in this year of the Lord, offulfilling promises, and that is
one of the first places in theBible where we actually get to
see the promise of the Lord onthe people.
Where the floodwater starts torescind, he puts the rainbow.
The flood goes away after theearth is flooded.
Noah's there.
I hope we all know the storybecause I'm butchering it right
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now.
But Noah's ark flood comes,everyone's wiped out except for
those people who are on the ark.
But at the end of the flooding,when all the waters rescind,
there is a promise that the Lordsays he's never gonna flood the
earth again and it's sealedwith the rainbow, and so the
rainbow represents the sealing,the promise of God.
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That's where the rainbow firstcame from.
So with that here we are,starting off Q1, you know, first
three months of the year withwelcoming a brand new baby boy
and his name is sealed with thepromise of Noah.
So you know, I like to say youcan't make this stuff up.
God is so good, you can't makethis stuff up.
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And that's kind of how we'rekicking off our year.
So at the end of this month, inJanuary, I get to host the
little baby shower for littlebaby Noah and his mommy and
daddy, and it's just gonna be aphenomenal way just to celebrate
and just know that we'rewalking in victory this year.
One of the things that I standfirm on knowing, you know, when
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we hear from the Lord, how do weknow that we're actually
hearing from God and we're notjust making this stuff up in the
world is that he always sealshis promises with scripture.
So that is when I know, like,if something is really stirring
in my heart and then it's sealedwith scripture, I know it's
from the Lord.
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And he says in Isaiah 55, 11,my word that goes out of my
mouth, it will not return to meempty, but it will accomplish
the desire and achieve thepurpose for which I sent it.
So these promises of the Lord,when they're sealed with
scripture, it's going toaccomplish the desire and
achieve the purpose for whichthe Lord sent it.
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So we should be waitingexpectantly for the promises of
the Lord to be fulfilled.
So so, so good.
So how are we going to walk invictory this year?
How am I going to be walking invictory this year?
I always like to start with whatdo I need to start doing, what
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do I need to stop doing and whatdo I need to continue to do?
And I do this every year.
I really evaluate all aspectsof my life and I determine what
needs to start, stop andcontinue, and it pays dividends,
because, I've said this before,time is the only thing we all
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have the same amount of.
So the way that we lead ourtime and leverage our time is
going to set us apart, and it'simportant for us to take
inventory on how we're spendingour time.
We take inventory on how wespend our money through
budgeting processes, trackingexpenses, making sure we're
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within.
You know the means, that whichGod has provided.
The same thing is true with ourtime.
We're going to be heldaccountable for how we leverage
the time that God's given us,and so I could go through right
now how I have planned out everyaspect of my life, but I won't,
because I'm a pretty bigplanner and I might bore you,
(10:24):
but you know, thematically, whatI do is I say what are the big
rocks that I want to get doneprofessionally?
So for my career, what do I needto get done?
What do I want to do for myself?
What are the personal goals andobjectives that I have for
myself when it comes to myspiritual health, my mental
health, my physical health justme as an individual, spiritual
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health.
And then what about my family?
What are the goals that I havefor my family?
Same thing with my spouse, andthen in the community, my
friends and then community.
So I have big rocks in each ofthose aspects of life and I set
yearly objectives and I breakthem down into quarterly plans
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and then I track, week over weekam I going to hit those goals
or not?
And nine times out of 10, I'mgetting done everything that I
need to get done.
But I couldn't get done what Ineeded to get done and reach my
goals if I wasn't thatdisciplined.
So that's a whole nother topic.
If you want me to do an episodeon how I approach time
leadership, happy to do so.
(11:28):
Direct message me on Instagramand I can do an episode on that.
But for today, what I reallywant to focus in on is what am I
going to do to achieve victoryin 2024 with my relationship
with God?
And that's where it all beginsand it ends is with my
relationship with God.
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And so victory, first andforemost, is to see him
victorious.
It means that he is myfoundation and that I am staying
rooted and connecting to thevine.
It says in John 15, five I amthe vine, you are the branches.
If you remain in me and I andyou, you will bear much fruit.
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Apart from me, you can donothing.
It's a pretty profoundstatement.
Apart from Jesus, we can donothing.
And so if we are half connectedto the vine, that means we're
producing half the fruit.
And so, truly for me to bevictorious this year, my heart's
desire is that I, I am fullyconnected to him and that I stay
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, I remain.
It says if you remain in me.
And so my heart is to remain inhim, because apart from him I
can do nothing.
And what I absolutely loveabout that it's not up to me to
do the remaining.
He pursues us first, so then wecan pursue him back and to grow
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in him.
That is so profound.
So just a few verses.
You know.
Further, in John 15, starting atverse 16, it says this you did
not choose me, but I chose youand appointed you so that you
might go and bear fruit, fruitthat will last, so that whatever
you ask in my name, the Fatherwill give you.
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And so it goes back to thisnotion that here we are, we're
in the year of Dalit, the doorwhere the doors that the Lord
opens no man can shut.
And if we ask for the door tobe opened, it will be given to
us.
And it says it right here inJohn 15,.
John 15, verse 16, he chose usahead of time to be connected to
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his vine, him, and he appointedus that we can go bear the
fruit, that whatever we ask inhis name, the Father in heaven
will give it to us.
That is just an incrediblepromise right there.
And it's further cemented in inMatthew, seven verse seven ask
and it will be given to you.
Seek, you will find, knock andthe door will be open to you.
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For everyone who asks receives,the one who seeks, finds, and
the one who knocks, the doorwill be opened.
And I just want to put anexclamation point the door will
be opened.
So here we are again.
It's like the third or thefourth time I'm saying it.
This is the year of the door.
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The door will be opened.
So if our hearts are aligned toGod, we are connected to the
vine.
That means our will and ourdesire is directly aligned with
his, and this is the year ofdivine acceleration to victory.
It's a yes and an amen, it'swalk through the door, and so
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that's what we're gonna do we'regonna walk, we're gonna ask,
we're gonna seek, we're gonnafind and we're gonna knock and
those doors are gonna be opening.
So you know, when I think aboutthe personal inventory that I
needed to do on how I'm spendingmy time, what do I need to
start, stop and continue?
There's a few things thatreally are just rising to the
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top for me, and the first thingI'm gonna start with is, again I
said, back to the basics,because the basics actually
create the firm foundation.
But I've taken an inventory ofmy prayer life and you know,
just being very honest,sometimes you know I can be a
little robotic.
I have the list.
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I'm praying for my family,praying for my friends, I'm
praying for all the needs andburdens that I have in my heart,
and that's how I start andsometimes when we approach the
Lord, at least for me, I get itbackwards.
I start with everything that Ineed or want and I might just
end it with that.
That's my prayer life.
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But there's a bigger part ofprayer that I am just leaning in
with the Lord on to be moreintentional on, and it really
starts with worship.
When I approach God Almighty inprayer, do I have a heart
posture of worship?
Do I love Him?
Do I start with that frame ofmind of who he is and what I
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love about Him?
And you know, if we reallystudy the life of David, david
was one of the greatest nationalleaders of history.
He was also a mighty warrior,he was on the battlefield
constantly and he was the manknown after chasing God's heart.
And so he had this huge postureof heart of just loving and
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chasing the Lord.
And that's the kind of heart Iwant.
I wanna be a David chasingafter God's heart.
I wanna be Mary with theanointing oil, just washing
Jesus' feet with the oil, theexpensive oil, with my hair Like
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, just imagine just being at Hisfeet.
That is what I am committed todoing, refreshing that approach
in my own prayer life towardsthe Lord and just starting with
the position of worship.
And there is a simple frameworkout there that I was taught a
very long time ago and it's justso easy to look at today.
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But it's an acrostic thatreally just makes the approach
to prayer.
I would call it in the rightpriority order and it is acts
A-C-T-S.
So if you've heard of it andyou've practiced it, I'm sure
you love it.
But to me it's always good justto go back to the basics and
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dust things off and do what'sneeded to get your heart right
before the Lord.
So A-C-T-S, the A stands foradoration.
What do you adore about God?
And I love that word.
Adore it's just to hold Him inhigh esteem and just to look
delightfully over Him, just torevere Him and love.
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So what do you adore about Him?
And if we start truly with justwho he is, the Creator of all
being I mean it's just even hardto put into human words and we
really just set our hearts uponwho he is, wow, it's easy to
adore Him.
And then, once we expressadoration, we move into the sea,
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which is confession.
You know, I said I always putmy request before the Lord.
Typically I quickly follow itwith.
Well, in order for theserequests to be fulfilled, lord,
you probably need to forgive mefor these a hundred things, and
that's kind of how the brainworks.
It's what do I need.
And then, oh gosh, to get whatI need or want, what do I need
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to confess?
But really it's starting from aplace of worship, adoration,
moving into a heart ofconfession.
Because if we truly look atourselves and examine ourselves
against the beauty of the Lordand the love of the Lord, it's
really easy to see how we palein comparison to just the
majesty of the Father.
So we confess our sins.
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And it's not just enough toconfess, we have to really
repent.
What are those things thatmaybe we just need to truly lay
before the Lord and turn awayfrom?
To repent means to turn away.
We're not gonna do them anymore.
So it's not just an apology,it's an apology with action.
That means to turn away.
And then we move to the T in theacrostic, which is Thanksgiving
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.
What are we thankful for?
I mean, the blessings abound.
I'm thankful for mygrandchildren, my husband, my
career, the friends that I havejust there's so much to be
thankful for and just reallyhonoring God because he blesses
us to be a blessing to others.
So what are we thankful for?
And then supplications what arethe burdens on our heart?
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What is the burdens?
And just the requests and thedesires and just really laying
them before.
And then we walk by faith, notby sight.
So everything that we have laidbefore the Lord, we leave that
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conversation with God with faithand knowing that he's going to
move the mountains on our behalf, that before we even asked, he
said yes and amen because heloves us, not because he has to,
but because he loves us.
So this, this framework of acts,I have already started and will
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continue to do, justreintroducing it into my daily
devotional time with the Lord.
And so what does it look likefor worship?
What I've been doing is lookingup the lyrics to some of my
favorite songs.
You know, just go to Google,put in your favorite song,
worship song, and I've beenstudying the words of the lyrics
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and I'm choosing songs thatreally speak of adoring him and
calling out how valuable he is.
So, for example, one of myfavorite songs is more precious
than silver, and if you justlook at the lyrics of that song,
it's so beautiful and I justfix my heart on those lyrics and
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it really gets my heart in aposition of worship.
And then I can move through therest of the acrostic.
So that's just a good thing todo.
And we see the demonstration ofthe acrostic in the Lord's
Prayer.
It starts off our Father inHeaven.
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Hallowed be your name.
Right there, jesus is justworshiping the Father.
Your kingdom, come.
Your will be done on earth asit is in heaven.
It is just all about aligningour hearts to who he is.
Hallowed be your name.
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Your kingdom come.
Your will be done on earth asit is in heaven.
Give us this day our dailybread and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven ourdebtors.
Lead us, not into temptation,but deliver us from the evil one
.
We can see this spirit ofadoration, thanksgiving for the
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bread, the supplication for thebread.
We can see, you know, theproactiveness approach to sin.
You know, turn us away from theevil one.
It's all there, and this isJesus teaching us how to pray.
So I say all that to say.
I encourage you to take up thisspiritual discipline, if it's
not already incorporated in yourlife, to get yourself rooted in
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the vine to see victory in 2024.
What else will I be doing?
I'm going to stop social media.
I've been doing the you know,the wandering scroll, if you
will, and I took a break in Q4,really in Thanksgiving, I think
Thanksgiving, through Christmas,pulled back quite a bit from it
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and then went right back intoit at the start of the year.
So I've consciously made adecision nope, I am going to
continue to limit social mediaand TV.
I don't really watch a lot ofTV, but I don't want to turn to
TV as a replacement for socialmedia.
So just be very aware of how amI spending my idle time and is
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it adding value to my life ornot?
And if not, then what do I needto replace it with?
And I typically have replacedit with doing reading, because I
love to read.
I'm going to continue to studyhis word and walk by it because,
as I said, we walk by faith,not by sight, and so read the
word, walk by it.
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So I'm going to start theprayer Acrostic of Acts.
I'm going to stop the socialmedia, slash TV, and I'm going
to continue to study his word.
That is going to sharpen andstrengthen my mind and my heart
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for spiritual growth.
So how can you take action today, beyond what I've just
described through the Acrosticof Acts.
Do you have a word, an anchorword?
Mine is victory.
What is yours?
Have you prayed on it?
We see in Deuteronomy, chapter 6, verses 4 through 9.
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It says the Lord, our God, theLord is one.
Love the Lord, your God, withall your heart and with all your
soul and with all your strength.
These commandments that I giveyou today are to be on your
hearts and press them on yourchildren.
Talk about them when you sit athome and when you walk along
the road, when you lie down andwhen you get up.
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Tie them as symbols on yourhands and bind them on your
foreheads.
Write them on the door framesof your houses and on your gates
.
So it says take the words thatGod gives you and make them
surround you.
They need to be impressed uponyour heart.
I will write my word on a stone, like you can get them on
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Amazon white stones.
Use a marker, you just writethe word.
You can keep it in your pocket,you can put it on your desk,
but the point is have that word,because words have the power to
create life or death.
And then, when we are puttingwords of life around us.
It will manifest, it comes true.
It's the promise of the Lord.
I just read it to youDeuteronomy 6, verses 4 through
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9.
You can read it yourself.
Pick one spiritual discipline tobring you closer in your
relationship to God.
There's so many spiritualdisciplines out there.
When you really start to studyspiritual growth, I'll give you
a few.
But why do we care about ourspiritual growth?
Because complacency is deadlyto our spirit.
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So we have to continue tosharpen ourselves.
We have to continue to beintentional, to make choices
that help us grow with the Lord.
I said the Lord pursues us sowe can then in return pursue Him
, so he can pursue us all daylong.
But if we don't respond in anaction, then the pursuing is not
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going to bear the fruit that heintends it to bear.
So respond to His pursuit toyou by picking up a new
spiritual discipline.
Where might you find informationon spiritual disciplines?
I have a couple books that I'llrecommend, just to get started.
But one is spiritual practicesfor soul care.
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It's by a dear friend of mine,dr Barbara Peacock.
You can get it anywhere wherebooks are sold.
And then another one it's aclassic is the pursuit of God by
a AW Towser, and AW Towseractually says in this book when
religion has said its last work,there is little that we need
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other than God.
So that means, if we're goingthrough the motions of what it
means to check the Christianboxes of religion, we go to
church, we're in a life groupand, and and we're not actually
growing our relationship withGod.
When all those programs run out, the only thing that the human
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spirit needs is God Himself, andso this is the challenge for us
to grow spiritually.
So that would be myencouragement today.
I also declare victory in 2024over all of you who are
listening.
I declare God's blessings overyou.
It is truly going to be amarvelous year.
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I just am so expectant for thisyear as far as grow goes.
Don't forget to follow us onsocial media.
Our handle is God reveals ourway on Facebook and Instagram
and God reveals our WY onTwitter.
If you have a subject that youwould like to hear more about,
(28:31):
you want clarity or somethingyou have a question about God,
or maybe you're just goingthrough a life struggle and
you'd like to understand God'sperspective on it, dm me on
Instagram and I'll see if Ican't work it into the show and
you can DM me on Instagram againat the handle.
God reveals our way.
So thank you for tuning intoday.
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I want to close this with aprayer, and I'm just so excited
to be on this journey with growwith you throughout this year.
We have a lot of excitingguests that are going to be
coming on and sharing theirexperiences with you and just a
lot of inspiration coming fromthe Lord himself just to
encourage you, inspire you on inthe faith.
So be blessed, and I'm going toclose this in prayer.
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Heavenly Father, we just loveand adore you.
We thank you that you have justcome and showed up in our
hearts today.
That, lord, you've given useyes to see where you are
working and a heart to join youwhen you're at.
Lord, I thank you that this isgoing to be a true year of
victory.
I declare it over every listenerwho's tuning in as well and
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that we can just really rely onthe promises that you give that
there will be the season wherethey're fulfilled.
And, lord, we stand firm andbelieve that this is the season
that we're going to see greatfulfillment in our lives and
across our land.
Lord, we thank you that youhave a hedge of protection over
every listener who's tuning inas well, and we thank you for
the protection around each andevery one of us and that you
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love us.
You've called us by name andyou say that we are your sons
and your daughters.
We love you, lord.
We give you all glory, allhonor and all praise, amen.
Thank you for joining us onthis episode of Grow where God
reveals our way.
We hope you found inspiration,wisdom and encouragement as we
(30:27):
continue on this faith-filledjourney together.
We invite you to subscribe toGrow so you never miss an
episode.
Stay tuned for more biblicalteachings, heartfelt testimonies
and insights that will nourishyour spirit and deepen your
relationship with God.
We appreciate your support andparticipation in this podcast.
Until next time, may you growin faith, love and knowledge of
His divine plan.
(30:47):
May God bless you abundantly.
Thank you for tuning in to this episode of Grow where
God reveals our way.
I'm Anjali Gibson, your host,and I can't wait to explore the
vast riches of God's Word withyou.
So don't forget to subscribeand stay tuned for upcoming
episodes packed with biblicalteachings, inspirational stories
and a fresh perspective on theworld around us.
Now let's get started on thisbeautiful journey.
(00:24):
May God bless you abundantly.
Welcome back to the Growpodcast, where God reveals our
way.
I am so excited to be with youtoday.
Here we are in January, kickingoff the new year for 2024.
And I think that this year hasso much promise in it.
(00:48):
I've been in prayer about thisnew year since October seems so
long ago, but, yes, I've beenpraying on what would the Lord
have all of us be focused on forthis coming year, both
corporately in the body and thenindividually with him, and he
(01:09):
has just spoken so much into myheart on the promise of this
year.
I don't know about you, but2023 certainly had its fair
share of circumstances tocelebrate and also circumstances
to grieve.
So it was a year of mixedemotions, mixed experiences, and
(01:33):
it certainly produced a lot ofgrowth in my relationship with
the Lord, and it's one of thoseyears that I am glad December 31
has came and gone and I'm sohappy to be in January.
My word for 2023 was thrive,and I was so excited about it.
I mean, who doesn't want tothrive?
(01:54):
And the key definition ofthrive is to be blessed and
prosperous, to flourish despiteyour circumstances.
And I had the Valley ofdespites last year, and so not
that I don't appreciate and takejoy in the valleys that God
(02:16):
will take us and lead us through.
I certainly want to see myselfand my loved ones, all of us, be
climbing a mountain together,not kind of hanging out in the
valley for too long.
So here we are, 2024.
And what is my word?
Well, this has been again beenpraying on what God would do for
(02:39):
this year since October, and Ireally feel like I have a lot of
clarity in and around it, andthe word that he gave me that I
cannot shake is victory, andthat is all about winning, and,
as I have been studying thatword, it's to find success, it's
(02:59):
to beat the enemy, praise theLord.
It is to just win and to bevictorious, and what he really
highlighted to me is that he isthe victor.
We find victory because he isvictory and it gets to the next
piece of it which he has spokento me get back to the basics.
(03:22):
And this is not just in mypersonal life, it's just all
avenues of life.
It is, you know, in my role inthe marketplace.
It's to inspect what we expectand make sure that we have a
really solid foundation in thebasics of what it is we're there
to do.
And making sure everything'sshored up so we can accelerate
(03:43):
the things that needacceleration.
And in my personal life withthe Lord, back to the basics
means making sure that I amrooted in the vine.
Him, he is the vine and that'swhat it's all about for me.
So if we are truly on the solidfoundation back to the basics,
(04:05):
standing firm on the firmfoundation of Christ, we will
have victory in all facets oflife.
So I am super, super stokedabout 2024.
I hope this episode of grow willinfuse some inspiration into
your heart for all the goodthings that the Lord is going to
(04:29):
be unfolding this year.
This year is also connected tothe year of the door.
I'm not gonna get into all thedetails of it, but if you look
up this year, we are in Hebrewyear 5784, and specifically, you
index off of the four, whichwould be a Dalit D-A-L-E-T in
(04:54):
Hebrew, and that means a door,and we know that Jesus is the
door, he is the pathway of life,and he says that any door he
opens, no man can shut, and thedoors he shuts, no man can open,
and so this is a year that wecan ask and the doors will be
(05:15):
opened unto us.
Now that also means that ourhearts are aligned to the Lord,
we're standing righteous beforehim and his will is impressed
upon our hearts.
So, when we ask, the doors openbecause our hearts and his will
are perfectly aligned andthere's this acceleration
towards his victory, and so it'sjust a really, really cool
(05:39):
place to be.
I know that I have been in aseason where I've received
promises from the Lord reallyover the last decade that I have
been watching, expectantly,waiting for these promises to be
fulfilled, and, specifically,there was a tremendous amount of
(06:00):
promise pressed upon my heartin the year 2018.
And I really feel well.
I know the Lord told me that hewould be fulfilling all those
promises this year.
So this is a year of God justreally showing up, fulfilling
his promises for his victory,all for his glory and I'm just
(06:23):
so excited about it.
Who doesn't want to be a partof God's plans?
It's so exciting, so, to kickoff this year victory, I'm so
excited to share that we aregonna be welcoming our fourth
grandchild in March.
His name is going to be Noah,and what I love about that we're
(06:45):
in this year of the Lord, offulfilling promises, and that is
one of the first places in theBible where we actually get to
see the promise of the Lord onthe people.
Where the floodwater starts torescind, he puts the rainbow.
The flood goes away after theearth is flooded.
Noah's there.
I hope we all know the storybecause I'm butchering it right
(07:07):
now.
But Noah's ark flood comes,everyone's wiped out except for
those people who are on the ark.
But at the end of the flooding,when all the waters rescind,
there is a promise that the Lordsays he's never gonna flood the
earth again and it's sealedwith the rainbow, and so the
rainbow represents the sealing,the promise of God.
(07:29):
That's where the rainbow firstcame from.
So with that here we are,starting off Q1, you know, first
three months of the year withwelcoming a brand new baby boy
and his name is sealed with thepromise of Noah.
So you know, I like to say youcan't make this stuff up.
God is so good, you can't makethis stuff up.
(07:51):
And that's kind of how we'rekicking off our year.
So at the end of this month, inJanuary, I get to host the
little baby shower for littlebaby Noah and his mommy and
daddy, and it's just gonna be aphenomenal way just to celebrate
and just know that we'rewalking in victory this year.
One of the things that I standfirm on knowing, you know, when
(08:15):
we hear from the Lord, how do weknow that we're actually
hearing from God and we're notjust making this stuff up in the
world is that he always sealshis promises with scripture.
So that is when I know, like,if something is really stirring
in my heart and then it's sealedwith scripture, I know it's
from the Lord.
(08:35):
And he says in Isaiah 55, 11,my word that goes out of my
mouth, it will not return to meempty, but it will accomplish
the desire and achieve thepurpose for which I sent it.
So these promises of the Lord,when they're sealed with
scripture, it's going toaccomplish the desire and
achieve the purpose for whichthe Lord sent it.
(08:57):
So we should be waitingexpectantly for the promises of
the Lord to be fulfilled.
So so, so good.
So how are we going to walk invictory this year?
How am I going to be walking invictory this year?
I always like to start with whatdo I need to start doing, what
(09:20):
do I need to stop doing and whatdo I need to continue to do?
And I do this every year.
I really evaluate all aspectsof my life and I determine what
needs to start, stop andcontinue, and it pays dividends,
because, I've said this before,time is the only thing we all
(09:42):
have the same amount of.
So the way that we lead ourtime and leverage our time is
going to set us apart, and it'simportant for us to take
inventory on how we're spendingour time.
We take inventory on how wespend our money through
budgeting processes, trackingexpenses, making sure we're
(10:03):
within.
You know the means, that whichGod has provided.
The same thing is true with ourtime.
We're going to be heldaccountable for how we leverage
the time that God's given us,and so I could go through right
now how I have planned out everyaspect of my life, but I won't,
because I'm a pretty bigplanner and I might bore you,
(10:24):
but you know, thematically, whatI do is I say what are the big
rocks that I want to get doneprofessionally?
So for my career, what do I needto get done?
What do I want to do for myself?
What are the personal goals andobjectives that I have for
myself when it comes to myspiritual health, my mental
health, my physical health justme as an individual, spiritual
(10:47):
health.
And then what about my family?
What are the goals that I havefor my family?
Same thing with my spouse, andthen in the community, my
friends and then community.
So I have big rocks in each ofthose aspects of life and I set
yearly objectives and I breakthem down into quarterly plans
(11:07):
and then I track, week over weekam I going to hit those goals
or not?
And nine times out of 10, I'mgetting done everything that I
need to get done.
But I couldn't get done what Ineeded to get done and reach my
goals if I wasn't thatdisciplined.
So that's a whole nother topic.
If you want me to do an episodeon how I approach time
leadership, happy to do so.
(11:28):
Direct message me on Instagramand I can do an episode on that.
But for today, what I reallywant to focus in on is what am I
going to do to achieve victoryin 2024 with my relationship
with God?
And that's where it all beginsand it ends is with my
relationship with God.
(11:48):
And so victory, first andforemost, is to see him
victorious.
It means that he is myfoundation and that I am staying
rooted and connecting to thevine.
It says in John 15, five I amthe vine, you are the branches.
If you remain in me and I andyou, you will bear much fruit.
(12:11):
Apart from me, you can donothing.
It's a pretty profoundstatement.
Apart from Jesus, we can donothing.
And so if we are half connectedto the vine, that means we're
producing half the fruit.
And so, truly for me to bevictorious this year, my heart's
desire is that I, I am fullyconnected to him and that I stay
(12:33):
, I remain.
It says if you remain in me.
And so my heart is to remain inhim, because apart from him I
can do nothing.
And what I absolutely loveabout that it's not up to me to
do the remaining.
He pursues us first, so then wecan pursue him back and to grow
(12:54):
in him.
That is so profound.
So just a few verses.
You know.
Further, in John 15, starting atverse 16, it says this you did
not choose me, but I chose youand appointed you so that you
might go and bear fruit, fruitthat will last, so that whatever
you ask in my name, the Fatherwill give you.
(13:16):
And so it goes back to thisnotion that here we are, we're
in the year of Dalit, the doorwhere the doors that the Lord
opens no man can shut.
And if we ask for the door tobe opened, it will be given to
us.
And it says it right here inJohn 15,.
John 15, verse 16, he chose usahead of time to be connected to
(13:43):
his vine, him, and he appointedus that we can go bear the
fruit, that whatever we ask inhis name, the Father in heaven
will give it to us.
That is just an incrediblepromise right there.
And it's further cemented in inMatthew, seven verse seven ask
and it will be given to you.
Seek, you will find, knock andthe door will be open to you.
(14:07):
For everyone who asks receives,the one who seeks, finds, and
the one who knocks, the doorwill be opened.
And I just want to put anexclamation point the door will
be opened.
So here we are again.
It's like the third or thefourth time I'm saying it.
This is the year of the door.
(14:28):
The door will be opened.
So if our hearts are aligned toGod, we are connected to the
vine.
That means our will and ourdesire is directly aligned with
his, and this is the year ofdivine acceleration to victory.
It's a yes and an amen, it'swalk through the door, and so
(14:49):
that's what we're gonna do we'regonna walk, we're gonna ask,
we're gonna seek, we're gonnafind and we're gonna knock and
those doors are gonna be opening.
So you know, when I think aboutthe personal inventory that I
needed to do on how I'm spendingmy time, what do I need to
start, stop and continue?
There's a few things thatreally are just rising to the
(15:11):
top for me, and the first thingI'm gonna start with is, again I
said, back to the basics,because the basics actually
create the firm foundation.
But I've taken an inventory ofmy prayer life and you know,
just being very honest,sometimes you know I can be a
little robotic.
I have the list.
(15:31):
I'm praying for my family,praying for my friends, I'm
praying for all the needs andburdens that I have in my heart,
and that's how I start andsometimes when we approach the
Lord, at least for me, I get itbackwards.
I start with everything that Ineed or want and I might just
end it with that.
That's my prayer life.
(15:52):
But there's a bigger part ofprayer that I am just leaning in
with the Lord on to be moreintentional on, and it really
starts with worship.
When I approach God Almighty inprayer, do I have a heart
posture of worship?
Do I love Him?
Do I start with that frame ofmind of who he is and what I
(16:17):
love about Him?
And you know, if we reallystudy the life of David, david
was one of the greatest nationalleaders of history.
He was also a mighty warrior,he was on the battlefield
constantly and he was the manknown after chasing God's heart.
And so he had this huge postureof heart of just loving and
(16:41):
chasing the Lord.
And that's the kind of heart Iwant.
I wanna be a David chasingafter God's heart.
I wanna be Mary with theanointing oil, just washing
Jesus' feet with the oil, theexpensive oil, with my hair Like
(17:03):
, just imagine just being at Hisfeet.
That is what I am committed todoing, refreshing that approach
in my own prayer life towardsthe Lord and just starting with
the position of worship.
And there is a simple frameworkout there that I was taught a
very long time ago and it's justso easy to look at today.
(17:29):
But it's an acrostic thatreally just makes the approach
to prayer.
I would call it in the rightpriority order and it is acts
A-C-T-S.
So if you've heard of it andyou've practiced it, I'm sure
you love it.
But to me it's always good justto go back to the basics and
(17:52):
dust things off and do what'sneeded to get your heart right
before the Lord.
So A-C-T-S, the A stands foradoration.
What do you adore about God?
And I love that word.
Adore it's just to hold Him inhigh esteem and just to look
delightfully over Him, just torevere Him and love.
(18:14):
So what do you adore about Him?
And if we start truly with justwho he is, the Creator of all
being I mean it's just even hardto put into human words and we
really just set our hearts uponwho he is, wow, it's easy to
adore Him.
And then, once we expressadoration, we move into the sea,
(18:36):
which is confession.
You know, I said I always putmy request before the Lord.
Typically I quickly follow itwith.
Well, in order for theserequests to be fulfilled, lord,
you probably need to forgive mefor these a hundred things, and
that's kind of how the brainworks.
It's what do I need.
And then, oh gosh, to get whatI need or want, what do I need
(18:57):
to confess?
But really it's starting from aplace of worship, adoration,
moving into a heart ofconfession.
Because if we truly look atourselves and examine ourselves
against the beauty of the Lordand the love of the Lord, it's
really easy to see how we palein comparison to just the
majesty of the Father.
So we confess our sins.
(19:19):
And it's not just enough toconfess, we have to really
repent.
What are those things thatmaybe we just need to truly lay
before the Lord and turn awayfrom?
To repent means to turn away.
We're not gonna do them anymore.
So it's not just an apology,it's an apology with action.
That means to turn away.
And then we move to the T in theacrostic, which is Thanksgiving
(19:43):
.
What are we thankful for?
I mean, the blessings abound.
I'm thankful for mygrandchildren, my husband, my
career, the friends that I havejust there's so much to be
thankful for and just reallyhonoring God because he blesses
us to be a blessing to others.
So what are we thankful for?
And then supplications what arethe burdens on our heart?
(20:08):
What is the burdens?
And just the requests and thedesires and just really laying
them before.
And then we walk by faith, notby sight.
So everything that we have laidbefore the Lord, we leave that
(20:28):
conversation with God with faithand knowing that he's going to
move the mountains on our behalf, that before we even asked, he
said yes and amen because heloves us, not because he has to,
but because he loves us.
So this, this framework of acts,I have already started and will
(20:50):
continue to do, justreintroducing it into my daily
devotional time with the Lord.
And so what does it look likefor worship?
What I've been doing is lookingup the lyrics to some of my
favorite songs.
You know, just go to Google,put in your favorite song,
worship song, and I've beenstudying the words of the lyrics
(21:10):
and I'm choosing songs thatreally speak of adoring him and
calling out how valuable he is.
So, for example, one of myfavorite songs is more precious
than silver, and if you justlook at the lyrics of that song,
it's so beautiful and I justfix my heart on those lyrics and
(21:31):
it really gets my heart in aposition of worship.
And then I can move through therest of the acrostic.
So that's just a good thing todo.
And we see the demonstration ofthe acrostic in the Lord's
Prayer.
It starts off our Father inHeaven.
(21:52):
Hallowed be your name.
Right there, jesus is justworshiping the Father.
Your kingdom, come.
Your will be done on earth asit is in heaven.
It is just all about aligningour hearts to who he is.
Hallowed be your name.
(22:13):
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done on earth asit is in heaven.
Give us this day our dailybread and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven ourdebtors.
Lead us, not into temptation,but deliver us from the evil one
.
We can see this spirit ofadoration, thanksgiving for the
(22:37):
bread, the supplication for thebread.
We can see, you know, theproactiveness approach to sin.
You know, turn us away from theevil one.
It's all there, and this isJesus teaching us how to pray.
So I say all that to say.
I encourage you to take up thisspiritual discipline, if it's
not already incorporated in yourlife, to get yourself rooted in
(23:02):
the vine to see victory in 2024.
What else will I be doing?
I'm going to stop social media.
I've been doing the you know,the wandering scroll, if you
will, and I took a break in Q4,really in Thanksgiving, I think
Thanksgiving, through Christmas,pulled back quite a bit from it
(23:25):
and then went right back intoit at the start of the year.
So I've consciously made adecision nope, I am going to
continue to limit social mediaand TV.
I don't really watch a lot ofTV, but I don't want to turn to
TV as a replacement for socialmedia.
So just be very aware of how amI spending my idle time and is
(23:47):
it adding value to my life ornot?
And if not, then what do I needto replace it with?
And I typically have replacedit with doing reading, because I
love to read.
I'm going to continue to studyhis word and walk by it because,
as I said, we walk by faith,not by sight, and so read the
word, walk by it.
(24:07):
So I'm going to start theprayer Acrostic of Acts.
I'm going to stop the socialmedia, slash TV, and I'm going
to continue to study his word.
That is going to sharpen andstrengthen my mind and my heart
(24:29):
for spiritual growth.
So how can you take action today, beyond what I've just
described through the Acrosticof Acts.
Do you have a word, an anchorword?
Mine is victory.
What is yours?
Have you prayed on it?
We see in Deuteronomy, chapter 6, verses 4 through 9.
(24:50):
It says the Lord, our God, theLord is one.
Love the Lord, your God, withall your heart and with all your
soul and with all your strength.
These commandments that I giveyou today are to be on your
hearts and press them on yourchildren.
Talk about them when you sit athome and when you walk along
the road, when you lie down andwhen you get up.
(25:12):
Tie them as symbols on yourhands and bind them on your
foreheads.
Write them on the door framesof your houses and on your gates
.
So it says take the words thatGod gives you and make them
surround you.
They need to be impressed uponyour heart.
I will write my word on a stone, like you can get them on
(25:35):
Amazon white stones.
Use a marker, you just writethe word.
You can keep it in your pocket,you can put it on your desk,
but the point is have that word,because words have the power to
create life or death.
And then, when we are puttingwords of life around us.
It will manifest, it comes true.
It's the promise of the Lord.
I just read it to youDeuteronomy 6, verses 4 through
(25:58):
9.
You can read it yourself.
Pick one spiritual discipline tobring you closer in your
relationship to God.
There's so many spiritualdisciplines out there.
When you really start to studyspiritual growth, I'll give you
a few.
But why do we care about ourspiritual growth?
Because complacency is deadlyto our spirit.
(26:21):
So we have to continue tosharpen ourselves.
We have to continue to beintentional, to make choices
that help us grow with the Lord.
I said the Lord pursues us sowe can then in return pursue Him
, so he can pursue us all daylong.
But if we don't respond in anaction, then the pursuing is not
(26:46):
going to bear the fruit that heintends it to bear.
So respond to His pursuit toyou by picking up a new
spiritual discipline.
Where might you find informationon spiritual disciplines?
I have a couple books that I'llrecommend, just to get started.
But one is spiritual practicesfor soul care.
(27:07):
It's by a dear friend of mine,dr Barbara Peacock.
You can get it anywhere wherebooks are sold.
And then another one it's aclassic is the pursuit of God by
a AW Towser, and AW Towseractually says in this book when
religion has said its last work,there is little that we need
(27:29):
other than God.
So that means, if we're goingthrough the motions of what it
means to check the Christianboxes of religion, we go to
church, we're in a life groupand, and and we're not actually
growing our relationship withGod.
When all those programs run out, the only thing that the human
(27:50):
spirit needs is God Himself, andso this is the challenge for us
to grow spiritually.
So that would be myencouragement today.
I also declare victory in 2024over all of you who are
listening.
I declare God's blessings overyou.
It is truly going to be amarvelous year.
(28:10):
I just am so expectant for thisyear as far as grow goes.
Don't forget to follow us onsocial media.
Our handle is God reveals ourway on Facebook and Instagram
and God reveals our WY onTwitter.
If you have a subject that youwould like to hear more about,
(28:31):
you want clarity or somethingyou have a question about God,
or maybe you're just goingthrough a life struggle and
you'd like to understand God'sperspective on it, dm me on
Instagram and I'll see if Ican't work it into the show and
you can DM me on Instagram againat the handle.
God reveals our way.
So thank you for tuning intoday.
(28:56):
I want to close this with aprayer, and I'm just so excited
to be on this journey with growwith you throughout this year.
We have a lot of excitingguests that are going to be
coming on and sharing theirexperiences with you and just a
lot of inspiration coming fromthe Lord himself just to
encourage you, inspire you on inthe faith.
So be blessed, and I'm going toclose this in prayer.
(29:17):
Heavenly Father, we just loveand adore you.
We thank you that you have justcome and showed up in our
hearts today.
That, lord, you've given useyes to see where you are
working and a heart to join youwhen you're at.
Lord, I thank you that this isgoing to be a true year of
victory.
I declare it over every listenerwho's tuning in as well and
(29:44):
that we can just really rely onthe promises that you give that
there will be the season wherethey're fulfilled.
And, lord, we stand firm andbelieve that this is the season
that we're going to see greatfulfillment in our lives and
across our land.
Lord, we thank you that youhave a hedge of protection over
every listener who's tuning inas well, and we thank you for
the protection around each andevery one of us and that you
(30:06):
love us.
You've called us by name andyou say that we are your sons
and your daughters.
We love you, lord.
We give you all glory, allhonor and all praise, amen.
Thank you for joining us onthis episode of Grow where God
reveals our way.
We hope you found inspiration,wisdom and encouragement as we
(30:27):
continue on this faith-filledjourney together.
We invite you to subscribe toGrow so you never miss an
episode.
Stay tuned for more biblicalteachings, heartfelt testimonies
and insights that will nourishyour spirit and deepen your
relationship with God.
We appreciate your support andparticipation in this podcast.
Until next time, may you growin faith, love and knowledge of
His divine plan.
(30:47):
May God bless you abundantly.
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