Episode Transcript
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B.R.Maul (00:29):
Hello and good day.
I am BR Maul and you arelistening to Living God's Way in
an Ungodly World.
Currently I am teaching in thebook of Ephesians.
I'm in chapter 2.
Today we'll be covering 4, no,I'm sorry, only 3, verses 1
through 3.
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So good to have you here withme.
I hope all is going well withyour walk with the Lord.
Our walk with the Lord is arelationship.
It's not something we justcheck off of a checklist, right.
Oh, did this, did that?
Okay, I'm good to go.
But like any importantrelationships in our life, we
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take it seriously and we take itto heart.
So let's jump right on in Areminder that if you have any
questions or comments abouttoday's teaching or any of my
past teachings, you're welcometo get a hold of me.
My website is brmaulB-R-M-A-U-L dot com.
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Just go to the contact page.
There you can put your emailand what it is that you have for
a question or comment and I'dbe happy to get back to you.
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Ephesians 2.1, who now works inthe sons of disobedience, among
whom also, we all once conductedourselves in the lusts of our
flesh, fulfilling the desires ofthe flesh and of the mind, and
were by nature children of wrathjust as the others.
Heavenly Father, please guidemy teaching this day and every
day, so that it is only yourteaching, and none of my own,
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that is taught from these lips.
I also pray for those who arelistening.
Open their heart, father, breakdown any pride, any
insecurities, any fears,anything that may be holding the
one that you want to speak toright here and now holding back
from listening with his or herheart, and I pray this in Jesus'
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name, amen.
So let me go back as I do.
We'll go verse by verse.
One thing I do love aboutreading God's word is every word
is important, every punctuationmark.
It is divine, perfectly pure.
So when Paul writes in chapter 2, verse 1, and you he made alive
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Now, before we even go on tothe next part of that sentence,
who were dead in trespasses andsins, already look how powerful
this is.
And you Already look howpowerful this is.
And you, he that's Jesus madealive.
I mean everything about this ishuge.
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It is pointing right at you asa born-again believer in Christ,
you and God himself.
Jesus Christ, he made you alive.
It wasn't anything that you did.
It wasn't anything specialabout you.
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You are special to God in somany ways.
We all have our uniqueness, butnone of us are that special
where he would single us out,just for the sake of who we are,
to make us alive.
God, the Father, gives everybody, before we are born again, the
ability to accept his son, jesusChrist.
He gives us that grace, and inthis chapter we'll be talking
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more about grace.
Grace, and in this chapterwe'll be talking more about
grace.
It is only because of the graceof God that we are able to
verbalize what it is we feel inour hearts the pain of being
lost and then the ability tospeak such words, admitting to
the very fact that we aresinners and giving us, through
his grace, the ability tobelieve in our heart that Jesus
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Christ is the Son of God, tobelieve in the very gospel of
Jesus, his life, death, burialand resurrection, to be able to
realize and understand andaccept that we are sinners and
that we need Jesus Christ, ourSavior and Lord of our life.
So when Paul says and you, he'spointing right at you, beloved,
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and you he made alive Throughhis power, he has made you alive
.
And who were you?
Who were dead in trespasses andsins?
This is where that born againcomes into play For all
denominations out there thatcontinue to practice the false
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doctrine of remember yourbaptism and put such power in
the baptism itself.
Not emphasizing the blood ofChrist does not do justice at
all, is misleading, because weare all born dead in our
trespasses and sins.
Now, as little babies, we areunable to sin, but we are still
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dead spiritually as we are bornthrough sin into this sinful
world.
There's no getting around that.
We can see that because wedon't ever have to teach a baby
to be selfish, to think ofitself.
We don't teach our littlebabies to only think of when
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they're hungry and don't worryabout anybody else around them,
no matter how disruptive you maybe.
We don't have to teach them, asthey get older, to take a toy
or an object from somebodyelse's hand and say mine, even
if it isn't mine, but becausethey want it.
We don't have to teach suchthings, and if we don't change
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that by being born again, by theway, those things remain in us.
We may learn to be polite, butwe are dead in our trespasses
and sins.
It is only when we are bornagain that we become alive
spiritually.
So verse 2, in which you oncewalked according to the course
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of this world in which you oncewalked.
According to the course of thisworld, when we are born, we are
on a course.
We are set on a course, a pathof selfishness, of sins and
trespasses, and we are stuckthere.
We are slave to our sin, wewant nothing to do with God, we
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do not seek out God.
And as we're walking accordingto the course of this world, we
are participating, being a partof the things of this world, the
things that we desire to havein this world, the things that
we desire to keep to ourselves,that desire for
self-preservation, making surethat we live longer, that we
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live healthier, that we livehappier.
And we'll do that to anyextreme because that is our
nature.
The only thing we have to go byis our flesh, the things of
this world.
So, before a person is bornagain, they do not have the Holy
Spirit dwelling in them andthey are dead to things of the
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spiritual world and onlyphysically alive.
Continuing on, I'll back up tothe beginning of verse 2.
In which you once walkedaccording to the course of this
world, according to the princeof the power of the air, the
spirit singular, the spirit whonow works in the sons of
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disobedience.
So now we expand even more.
So now we expand even more.
We bring in this power now thatis beyond us, but of this world
, the prince of the power of theair, the spirit who now works
in the sons of disobedience,referring to Satan.
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Because Satan is the ruler ofthis world, he is the god, small
g of this world and before youare born again, you are slave to
him.
I know that can be difficult tofathom, because we tend to think
of somebody who is slave toSatan as somebody who worships
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Satan and of course it's onlybecause they want to worship
Satan that they are under hiscontrol.
So the people must only bethose extremely evil beings that
are out there the onescommitting the most heinous
crimes.
Now, there's a lot there that Isaid that isn't accurate, right
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down to the very fact that itisn't just those who commit the
hyenas' crimes, but every humanheart has the capability of
creating the most hyenas' crimesand even if we don't commit
them, we think of them.
Jesus tells us that, well, ifwe hate a brother, that is the
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same as murdering him.
So it isn't the mere act,carrying out the acts, that is
evil the very fact that it iswithin the human heart that we
are even thinking it and thenplaying with that idea.
So if you're not born again,beloved I don't know any other
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kind way of saying it becauseit's not nice at all but you are
under the influence, you areunder the power of Satan himself
.
And, as Paul wrote, who now andthat was then and today, this
very moment works in the sons ofdisobedient In?
Now, that's a little scary term.
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When we think about that, Idon't see that as meaning only
those who are possessed by ademon, but it's referring to the
nature that is in us.
So working in us is part of whowe are.
And so when we don't have theHoly Spirit as our guide,
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because we are not born again,and even for those who are born
again, when we backslide, whenwe look away from our Savior and
our Lord and we look to theworld, and we look to the world
and we start turning to theworld for our security, for our
entertainment, for our feelinggood about ourselves, whatever
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the reason is well, we begin tolose that connection.
We have not our salvation.
I've said it many times youcannot lose your salvation if
you are indeed born again, butwe can lose all of our blessings
.
So here he continues on,because the power I'm sorry, the
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prince of the power of the air,the spirit who now works in the
sons of disobedience, is thatevil nature, is that influence
by Satan and the demons himself.
Without a doubt, there arepeople who are demon possessed,
but that's not what this isreferring to, at least
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exclusively Verse 3, among whomalso we all once conducted
ourselves in the lusts of ourflesh, fulfilling the desires of
the flesh and of the mind, andwere by nature there's that word
nature children of wrath, justas the others.
Who are the others, those whoare not born again?
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It's a stark reminder that evenafter we are born again, we
don't forget that we don't dwellon who we were.
It certainly doesn't do anygood to try to hold yourself
accountable for things that youhave done in the past once
you're born again.
That in and of itself is sin,because Jesus died for that and
by being born again you havecome to the Lord and being your
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Lord, he has wiped away yoursins.
So we don't have the right tohold ourselves accountable
anymore.
There's nothing heroic, there'snothing Christian-like, there's
nothing that makes a personbetter because they're so aware
of the sins of our past, and sowe continuously hold ourselves
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accountable.
We need to completely understandthe forgiveness that we have
received in Jesus Christ, but weno longer dwell on that, but to
be able to remember not dwell,but remember who we were before.
We were in Christ and Christ inus, that Satan had a huge
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influence upon us, that we wereindeed slave to our sins.
We could not not sin.
We did not have the ability notto sin, we just went with the
flow.
Okay, here I go again.
I have this desire.
I must take care of it.
So for us to be aware of that,that we too were once conducting
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ourselves in the lust of ourflesh and fulfilling the desires
of the flesh and of the mind.
And that's important because,end of the mind, those three
words are quick to remind usthat it isn't just about, once
again, the acts that we havecommitted, but the acts that we
have thought of in our head.
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This is a good reason why it'simportant, as Christians, to be
very careful what you arewatching on television movies,
whatever it is, advertisements.
What you're listening to, whatkind of music, what kind of
podcasts, how you talk, how youspeak to other people, and I'm
not talking about an accent.
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I'm talking about whether ornot you are swearing and cussing
or whether you belittle people,whether you are wrathful.
All of this stuff we have to bevery careful about, because it
isn't just the very fact ofthings that we have committed by
the flesh, but what we thinkabout as well, and the things
that you see and listen to,really influence who you are.
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There was a time when I was muchyounger that I didn't want to
buy into it.
I wasn't convinced that themovies that I watched, music
that I listened to, had anyeffect on me.
No way I am who I am.
I listen to the music because Ilike the music.
I watch the movies and theshows that I watched just
because I liked it.
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But now I can look back andsome of the movies that I
watched being more violent, forexample, or sexual and content,
had a huge play in mypersonality, how I viewed other
people and the music I listen toas well Music that I listen to
today and at times there's songsthat I hear and I'm thinking,
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wow, I really either didn't careat all about what the lyrics
were saying, or I justcompletely misunderstood it, but
some of those lyrics I'mthinking, or I just completely
misunderstood it, but some ofthose lyrics I'm thinking that's
not good.
That certainly had an impact onhow I looked at my
relationships with other people,what I thought about society,
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what I thought about myself,what I felt was important.
I think over time people havegotten more savvy to that, more
aware of the fact that what welisten to and what we watch has
a very large influence on us.
And I think that's good becausefor those who step away from
that, they're using thatknowledge to better themselves
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and, of course, for born-againbelievers, we have the power of
God in us so we are able to shutthat stuff off.
But what I fear today is that,with that awareness, there seems
to be an acceptance of the veryfact that, yeah, I know what I
watch and what I listen toinfluence who I am.
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So a person can look at certainkinds of people and think I
want to be like them, I want toact like them.
So a person can look at certainkinds of people and think I
want to be like them, I want toact like them, so I'm going to
watch movies and shows andlisten to things that they
listen to.
So I'm influenced and I canbehave like them, I can act like
them, I can look like them.
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So there seems to be a growingacceptance of the fact that,
sure, this stuff influences me,but that's what I want to be.
I hope you see, beloved, if youare born again, that for us that
is wrong.
We should desire to only belike our Lord and Savior, jesus
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Christ.
There should be no superstar orathlete or musician, whatever
it might be that we want to belike Not at all.
It should only be more likeJesus Christ.
That is the whole idea of beingsanctified.
God could have decided allright, as soon as a person
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believes in my son Jesus, I amgoing to rapture them, I am
going to take them homeimmediately and they will
instantly be like my beloved sonJesus.
But he doesn't do that.
He keeps us here and we arejustified.
So as soon as we are born again, our sins are justified, they
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are paid for.
He no longer holds thoseagainst us.
But when it comes to our verynature, all of that doesn't
happen at once.
Some of it happens slower andover time.
Other things quite quickly andover time other things quite
quickly, no-transcript.
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But of course there were otherhabits, other things that I did,
that didn't just changeovernight and some of that was,
I believe, because of his mercy.
He didn't reveal to me likethis is everything that you need
to change.
So you got one week you betterchange.
He didn't do that and I amthankful for that because I
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think that would have beenoverwhelming for me.
So the last part of that, verse3, fulfilling the desires of
the flesh and of the mind, soour actions and our thoughts and
were by nature, children ofwrath just as the others.
So one wonderful word in thereis were past tense.
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Thank you, lord.
We were fulfilling the desiresof the flesh and of our mind.
If you are wrestling with that,if you are still steeped in sin
that you are unable to overcomewith the help of the Lord, well
then question Just ask thisquestion and don't be insulted
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by it, but ask yourself am Iborn again?
I say to do this out of love,because it's one of the best
things you can do for yourself.
Many of us were brought up andwe were told that, because we
were baptized as a baby, that weare a child of God.
It was that very act when thepastor or priest sprinkled water
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on our head as a little babyand our parent or guardian
witnessed and spoke for us that,yes, I'll be a child of God.
Anybody who's read their Bibleknow that that's not true at all
.
That's impossible, in fact,because we're told in the book
of Romans alone that one mustconfess with their mouth and
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believe in their heart,otherwise it doesn't happen.
Well, a baby cannot confess intheir mouth or believe in their
heart.
They don't have that ability.
Before I go down too far inthat rabbit hole, there's that
past tense were.
But if you are not sure, if youare born again, maybe you're
thinking well, I thought I wasborn again.
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Maybe you said a prayer sometime ago, or maybe somebody just
said yes, if you do this or dothat, or perhaps you were among
the millions who have beentaught indirectly that if you
were baptized as a baby and ifyou continue to go to church,
that if you were baptized as ababy and if you continue to go
to church, and well, even if youcan't make it to church, if you
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are on your best behavior andyou have good intentions and
you're, overall, a good person.
You're not the one in theheadlines and you're not
committing those acts that youare thinking in your head.
You just keep thinking them.
Whatever it might be that youwere taught but it was nothing
about a relationship with theliving God, with Jesus Christ,
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well then you may not be bornagain because you must confess
with your mouth the Lord Jesus.
Confessing the Lord Jesus meansthat you repent from the very
heart that you are sincere aboutit.
You regret the things that yourepent from the very heart that
you are sincere about it.
You regret the things that youhave done and you are fully
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aware that you need a Savior,that you are sinful by nature.
There is nothing that you cando to change that.
But you do know in your heartthat Jesus lived a perfect life,
he was sinless and that is whyhe is the perfect Lamb of God
who was sacrificed.
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That is truth and you recognizethat, because with the heart
one believes unto salvation.
Well then you're born again andif you want to make sure, well,
speak those words and just askthe Lord.
Lord, I want to be your child,heavenly Father, I believe unto
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your Son Jesus Christ, and I amfully sorry and I repent of my
sins and I turn to you andbelieve that your Son is my Lord
and King, my Savior, and he isLord of all my life.
Now and then you're born again.
That's not the prayer, it isthrough faith and we'll get to
that next week, but it is by thegrace of God.
He gives you that grace in thisvery moment that you are
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seeking him.
He gives you the grace to beable to say that.
He gives you the grace tounderstand that, to see that,
and what a blessing that is.
Because for all who are bornagain, we were by nature
children of wrath, just as theothers, the poor souls out there
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who do not know Jesus as theirSavior, who are not born again.
The other word in there, thepast tense, were.
That's very nice, but natureand we see this in God's Word
the very nature, because who weare, our nature, is also in us,
it is our DNA, it is ourmechanics, it is our blood, is
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our DNA, it is our mechanics, itis our blood.
However, it is that youunderstand it best.
But we are born into a sinfulworld and by our very nature we
are sinful.
We don't have to be taught tosin, that's for sure.
We know it.
Once we are born again, we dohave to be taught not to sin,
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and through the help of God,through the Holy Spirit, we can
do that.
Will you be sinless on thisside of the grave?
No, but you keep reading God'sword, you keep praying to him
and you will sin less.
And such a blessing becausethen you are no longer carrying
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that baggage with you of all thesins, sinning time and time
again.
Looking over your shoulder, didanybody see me?
Does anybody truly know mythoughts?
Can anybody see my inner self?
How much of my nature caneverybody else see?
That's not a great state ofbeing, but for those who are the
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others, sadly, that is theirbeing, that is their state.
We have much going on in thisworld today.
No doubt that the powers andprincipalities of this world,
the darkness that surrounds usin this world, is working
overtime.
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Can you feel it?
Can you feel it's like thewinds have changed direction.
There's a sudden shift and overthe last few years, darkness
seems to work overtime.
Few years.
Darkness seems to work overtime and the darkness becomes
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even darker.
Evil is abounding.
Evil is being rewarded for goodand good is being rewarded with
evil.
Governments are completelyupside down.
So it's quite amazing.
It really is that at the sametime, the power of God, it
really is that at the same timethe power of God, our very
nature is no longer our own, butwe are renewed, and it is
through the Holy Spirit as weput on Christ shining.
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The light of Christ is all themore brilliant in this darkness
and all the more needed.
There is nothing greater thatyou can do, beloved, than to
follow Jesus Christ, to be bornagain.
And once you are born again,the great thing doesn't stop.
That is only the beginning.
You have been given the gift ofeternal life when you are born
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again.
And what a great gift.
Take a hold of that gift,embrace that gift, and I
encourage you to spend the restof your life, here and in the
next age, in eternity, showingyour appreciation to God himself
for that gift.
Until we are done in this age,share that gift with as many
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people as you can Be the lightand the salt beloved of this
earth, many people as you can Bethe light and the salt beloved
of this earth.
Now, next week, when we get intoverses 4 and beyond, we'll talk
more about God's grace andwhere faith comes in, so very
powerful things there.
It is awesome how God haschosen to not just do everything
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for us and around us, butthrough us, as a believer, as a
member of the body of Christ.
He will work through you to dohis work.
We are his hands and feet.
We are his mouths and ears aswe listen to the world.
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He uses us.
What a privilege it is to be apart of that, and I look forward
to tomorrow and the day afterthat and the day after that.
Until he calls me home or untilhe raptures the church.
I just hope and pray hecontinues to work through me
that I don't get sidetrackedwith this world and take my eyes
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off of my Lord and Savior,because it's easy to do.
And so it's that time that Iremind my listeners, I remind my
brothers and sisters in thefaith, to stay in his word every
day.
Don't let a day go by thatyou're not reading his word
beloved, because think of allthe ways the world is getting
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into your mind, the things thatyou watch, the things that you
listen to, all of that it's alot of racket.
So I encourage you to open hisword every day.
You know what, even if it's 10minutes here in the morning,
maybe 5, 10, 15 minutes duringthe day, and maybe another 10,
15 minutes before you go to bed,but take every chance you get
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and drink in your Savior andpray to him.
Bring your prayers andsupplication with thanksgiving
before him.
He's listening to you, he lovesto listen to you.
Talk to him, and when I talkabout staying focused on him,
you can't do it alone.
We just can't, because we needto come together with our
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brothers and sisters.
This is how we exhort oneanother and we lift one another
up.
We can't do it alone.
So find brothers and sisters,truly born-again believers, who
love the Lord Jesus and who areactively seeking him, and come
together.
I would encourage you at leastonce a week if you can do more,
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great, but everything we do inour life that is weekly is a big
part of who we are and thenworship him.
So I thank you so much forjoining me.
I look forward to our nextlittle visit.
Until we meet again, may theLord bless you and keep you.
May the Lord make his faceshine upon you and be gracious
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unto you, and may the Lord liftup his countenance upon you,
beloved, and give you peace.
You beloved and give you peaceand until next time, god bless,
thank you.