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Welcome to Healing Scars with Pastor Burton.

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Here you'll find practical, relevant, biblical information.

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The Bible will be broken down verse by verse so that you get the full context of the scripture

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to better grow in your relationship with Jesus.

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Hey everybody, welcome back to the sanctuary.

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It is so great to have all of you with us as always.

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Now this week we're going to pick back up and dive right back into our series on joy

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as we explore the book of Philippians.

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Now the last few weeks we've been learning, I should say the last couple of weeks, we've

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been learning about different types of joy as we've been going through this wonderful

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book.

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In week one we looked at the joy that could be found in those rough times as we continue

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to serve the Lord.

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Last week we looked at that joy that can be had in serving others and really just getting

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out of our own minds and changing our focus or I should say shifting our focus from ourselves

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to others.

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And this week we're going to look at another type of joy that's basically found in our

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belief or our faith as we look to the Holy Spirit.

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Now for those of you who have your apps or your Bibles or those of you even just taking

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notes, go ahead and join me now.

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We're going to dive into Philippians chapter three and we're going to be looking at the

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first four verses.

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So Philippians three verses one through four.

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The Bible says, Further my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord.

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It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard

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for you.

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Watch out for those dogs, those evil doers, those mutilators of the flesh.

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For it is we who are the circumcision, we who serve God by his Spirit, who boast in

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Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh, though I myself have reasons for

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such confidence.

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So starting right out the gate, the first thing that we see here is furthermore.

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So I'll remind you that this book was not written as a book, it was written as a letter.

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So what we're looking at here when we see that word furthermore is a continuance and

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we're being reminded to keep in mind everything that we've already read, those first two chapters.

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So we got to keep that stuff in mind.

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Paul, basically what he is doing here is he went through and he's like, you know what,

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let's get back to basics, let's just do a quick review again.

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And he uses the word as a safeguard.

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So basically it's a reminder, right?

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Because we all need reminders every once in a while about different things.

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That's why even when you hit the workforce, you have that continuing education, right?

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You think, hey, I'm going to get out of school and I'm going to be done, yes.

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And then you're an adult and you find out, oh, it never stops.

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Dang it, right?

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So the same kind of thing, as I say, hey, let's keep it review, let's keep it fresh.

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That way we don't have to worry about straying, right?

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You see, there's a reason for this as we see it in the Bible.

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As a matter of fact, if you look it up, the Bible itself, it's not even just in this letter,

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right?

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It's not just this book.

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It's cross-references itself literally thousands of times, right?

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If you go online, you'll even be able to see all these graphs and stuff with different

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colors and lines going from New Testament to Old Testament and book to book and all

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this.

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It's absolutely incredible.

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There's no other book that has that kind of cross-reference within it.

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Like I said, this is done to ensure that everything in the Bible is supported.

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The repetition, it's also there to help us to remember things.

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It looks like just like in school, okay, repeat after me, right?

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We all have that teacher is just like, hey, okay, say this after I say this.

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It's there.

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Is there ever a reason?

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Because repetition helps.

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It helps to remind us.

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It helps us to recall.

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It helps with so many different things that we don't just hear it.

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We actually learn it.

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Not only that, this is why the Bible is able to speak to us even on a real basic level

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as it starts to guide us in our lives and just suddenly correct us when we're just starting

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to come to know of Jesus.

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We don't even know him yet, but we're getting to know him.

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Then of course, as you go into that deeper relationship, more and more so.

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Also by hearing it and repeating it and learning it and knowing it, this helps us to know when

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we're hearing false doctrine.

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Now we might not necessarily be able to recall, oh, it's this book and this verse, da-da-da-da.

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Some people are in an encyclopedia like that.

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They just had that instant recall.

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But there's enough there where when we're hearing something like, that's not quite right.

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I can't quite put my finger on what's wrong, but I know something here isn't right.

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Even at that basic level, the word speaks to us.

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When we have it within us, it helps us on so many different fronts.

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Even Jesus, when he is being tempted, Jesus is the word, but what did he do when Satan

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was there and was trying to tempt him?

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He took the scripture and he used the scripture against him, right?

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The sword.

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This right here, this is just again, another reminder of just how important it is that

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each of us reads the Bible for ourselves and gets to know it.

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Not just read it for reading sake, but actually get to know it.

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This truly is a living document.

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You're going to find something different every time you read through it.

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It's wonderful like that.

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Interestingly here though, Paul, he continues on and he makes a statement.

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He says, those dogs.

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It's kind of like in modern times, like, oh, you dirty dog, right?

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Or, oh, you dirty rat.

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It's the same kind of thing.

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It becomes very apparent when he mentions mutilating the flesh.

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Get a little tongue tied there.

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We know who he's talking about real quick because he's talking about Jewish Christians,

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Judaizers.

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We see the same type of people today.

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These are those people who hold onto the law of the Old Testament.

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It's like, oh, you got to do...

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They're very legalistic.

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You have to do this.

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You have to do that.

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When the moon is at this angle and the clock strikes this time and the crow caws so many

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times.

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They hold onto all these old things and they have this belief that because of that, that

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they're doing all these certain things, that those things basically elevate them and bring

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them closer to God.

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They start looking down on other people.

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I shouldn't say kind of.

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They do it.

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They believe that their works, the things that they do, earn them some sort of merit.

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They're a VIP.

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They don't even understand that faith is the important element.

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You can do all sorts of things, but if you don't have faith and you don't have that belief,

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well, guess what?

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Your works amount for nothing.

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They're very prideful.

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As a result, they believe it's the things that they do that are important, not their

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faith.

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It sounds an awful lot like the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector.

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It's like, oh, I do this and I do that, so I'm so much better than this guy.

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Jesus steers right at us and says, well, no, it's going to be that guy.

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That guy is who is favored, actually.

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It's real easy to put the spotlight on actions.

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It's just as easy to try to take the glory that's there away from God and put it on ourselves

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as a result.

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We basically try to push him out of the limelight and step in.

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Things become about that almighty me, me, me, and I, I, I, I've done this and I've done

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that and I make things so great and you have all this because of me.

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Instead, appointing to Jesus like we should.

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Saying things are so... What we should be doing, like I said, we should be pointing

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to Jesus saying, hey, everything that's good here is because of him.

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Anything that's good that's happened, anything good that you've heard, anything that's good

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that's spoken to you, anything that has blessed you, it is all because of Jesus.

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But instead, our pride steps in and it makes a really big mess of things.

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There's certain things.

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You can have a little pride in, but we cannot forget.

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It's all to Jesus' glory.

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He also brings up the Holy Spirit here, which in itself, what he's doing is he's emphasizing

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how important the Holy Spirit is in our lives.

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The Holy Spirit is... He's always with us.

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He doesn't leave us.

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He's with us, speaking to us, trying to guide us.

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Whether we listen or not, that's a different story.

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We don't always do what we're told.

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We don't always do what we're asked, but he's there and he say, hey, you need to do

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this.

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Sometimes, we get so caught up in the things that we want, we lose sight of whether we

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need those things or not.

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We start looking for signs in all the wrong places.

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We're trying to create signs in our own mind and we get wrapped up and all this stuff of

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the world, ooh, pizza, cars, clothing, jewelry, this show, that show, this actor, this musician,

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whatever, and all this noise, and it drowns out the voice of the Holy Spirit.

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We're not hearing it like we should.

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We're not doing the things that we should.

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We lose sight.

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We think it's a sign that he's showing us and say, hey, you need to have this, but in

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our mind, we're so caught up in our own nonsense that we think we're seeing something that's

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there.

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We're basically creating our own sign and not actually listening to what God's telling

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us.

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That impulse buy at the store.

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You're sitting there and you're going through the checkout and you see that candy bar, like,

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ooh, that's my favorite candy bar.

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I love this thing.

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I love the zero bar.

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It's a sign.

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God's talking to me.

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He wants me to have this candy bar.

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I know the doctors told me I need to stop eating them and it's messing with my blood

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sugars and all this other health stuff, but hey, guess what?

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It's because you want it.

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You're putting your wants before the needs of the Spirit, and you're being selfish is

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what's happening here.

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You think, oh, just because it's... Even though it's always there, you're thinking

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this one time, oh, it's a sign.

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I'm supposed to have it.

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Even though it's always there.

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You know what?

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Hey, wake up.

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Put it back.

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Stop looking.

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This isn't a devil made me do it type of moment.

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You're tripping yourself up.

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We are our own worst enemies.

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As much as we like to blame the devil and the forces of evil for everything, the truth

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is quite often we make the choices ourselves.

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We're not forced to do anything.

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We choose the sin that we want to go into.

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Carrying on.

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Philippians 3 verses 4 through 6, the Bible says, if someone else thinks they have reasons

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to put confidence in the flesh, I have more.

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Blessed on the eighth day of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew

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of Hebrews.

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In regard to the law of Pharisee, as for zeal, persecuting the church, as for righteousness

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based on the law, faultless.

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Face value?

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It really sounds like Paul's boasting here, doesn't it?

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He's putting out that resume.

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This is where I come from.

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I have all this.

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This is how I've been blessed.

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Really though, he's doing the opposite.

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He's putting it out there.

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He had a tremendous resume.

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For those days, if you're looking at it like this was the guy, he was the man.

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He was respected.

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He was well regarded.

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He had a solid background for that day for where he had come from.

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However, what he's doing though is he's actually pointing out that even though he has all these

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things, he holds all these honors and da da da, right on down the line, none of these

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things meant a thing.

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It's like that old song, it don't mean a thing if it ain't got that ring, do what, do what,

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do what, right?

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Nothing.

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In Acts 9, we could actually learn about his conversion to Christianity and it becomes

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clear that his actions in life up to that point, regardless of how impressive they were

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to the masses, they fell really short of the measuring stick that God uses.

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It was actually God's grace and his faith in God that made the difference.

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Nothing he did, regardless of what his intent was at the time or his understanding, none

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of it amounted to anything that would please God.

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The only reason he brought up his credentials was to show the Judaizers that he understood

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where they were coming from and as such, he was easily able to point out that they were

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wrong because he had stood in the same position in his own life.

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He walked that mile in those shoes, so he had the experience and made many of the same

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mistakes.

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Ultimately, though, it was God who corrected him.

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There's nothing of his own doing.

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It was God, God's grace, God's mercy, right?

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This right here, this is where it's starting to get a little...

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Well, I should say get a little.

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This is where it's starting to get fun.

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All right, so looking at Philippians 3 verses 7 through 11.

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Verses 7 through 11, the Bible says, but whatever were gains to me, I now consider loss for

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the sake of Christ.

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What is more, I consider everything a loss because of their surpassing worth of knowing

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Christ Jesus my Lord.

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For whose sake I have lost all things, I consider them garbage that I may gain Christ and be

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found in him.

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Not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through

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faith in Christ, the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith.

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I want to know Christ.

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Yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings.

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Becoming like him in his death and so somehow attaining the resurrection from the dead.

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All right, so Paul, he's using that word gains here again.

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Gains, again, he's talking about his credentials, his background, his accomplishments, all the

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things that he had done in his life, his many blessings and the regard with which other people

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held him.

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This is something we all carry some sense of pride about, right?

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Those good things in our lives, those awards and that stuff that just worked out so great.

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That's the stuff conversations are made.

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That's the stuff we like to share with others, right?

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He's saying regardless of how great so many of these things are, as far as he was concerned,

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it's all trash.

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Just get rid of it.

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It's nothing.

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It meant nothing.

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It was just absolute garbage.

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And it's all garbage compared to having a relationship with Jesus.

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Our faith in Jesus is so much more precious.

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Our relationship with Jesus is of far more value than anything we could possibly own.

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It's far greater than any accomplishment or merit that we may earn.

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Think about it.

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It is of so much value that the devil does not want you to have it.

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It is the only thing he actually cares about stealing from you.

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He does not care what you do for a living.

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Your job is meaningless to him.

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He does not care what kind of car you drive, the clothes you wear, the jewelry you wear,

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right?

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He doesn't care how well you can throw a ball or not throw a ball or play an instrument

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or smash things.

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He doesn't care about who you date.

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He doesn't care who you marry.

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Matter of fact, his sights aren't even on you until you have a relationship with Jesus.

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And the closer you get to Jesus and the more developed your relationship becomes with him,

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the more vicious the devil gets in attacking you.

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And he redoubles those efforts to try to pull you away from Jesus, to pull you away from

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that relationship, to trick you into thinking that he doesn't love you anymore, right?

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Of all the things, of all the blessings, all the relationships in our lives, we need to

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recognize Christ for who he is and just important he is to us because of that.

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This is why Jesus should be at the forefront of every aspect of our lives and why we should

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work daily to continue to build our relationship with him, right?

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It's something that should become stronger and deeper every day.

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You see, Paul gave up everything for Jesus.

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He gave up family, he gave up friendships, he gave up his very freedom.

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Remember, he was writing from jail.

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He was in jail, but not for the first time, mind you.

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So he gave up a lot.

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He knew the joy that could be found while still suffering.

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It was in Jesus.

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He knew the joy that was found in serving others.

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Jesus.

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And he knew the joy that comes not from the world, not of the flesh, but from our faith

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in him, our belief in him and everything that he's going to do for us and his promises for

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us and what he has in store for us.

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You see, there's a distinct difference in people of faith and when they pray compared

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to others.

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I'll bet many of you hadn't noticed this, but next time you go to a church service or

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something or you're around people, listen to how they pray.

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Other people, when I say people of faith and then others, all right, so others, those are

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kind of just go through the motions and everything.

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Others, they ask for things, right?

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Lord, please help me find my missing socks.

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I know it's a silly example, but follow me here.

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Lord, help me find those socks.

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They mean so much to me, right?

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The faithful on the other hand, they don't ask, they don't demand, they give thanks.

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Lord, I thank you for the blessing of the socks you lead me to.

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Again, I know this is a silly example, but you'll hear it.

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Matter of fact, when you start listening to your own prayers, you might even start recognizing,

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hey, I need to adjust the way I'm talking to the Lord, right?

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Because it's a reflection of your own faith.

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Remember, thanking God after receiving a blessing, that's an act of gratitude.

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Our thanking him before the blessing, that's faith.

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See, faith, it's saying you know Jesus is going to provide you with what's best in your

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life, all right?

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Faith isn't knowing God is going to provide something specific, right?

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It's just knowing that he's going to provide for you one way or the other.

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Going back to our silly example of socks, it very well could be that he helps you to

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find that worn out, holy sock that needs to be tossed out.

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Or he might lead you to the store to buy some new ones.

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That's probably a good idea, right?

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Or might even get it as a gift from somebody, right?

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I've had a couple Christmases, I've gotten a pair of socks from people, some with coffee

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on them, some with other little things.

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It's possible.

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See, the thing that we need to keep in mind is God has more ways to provide for us than

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we can fathom.

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Heck, he might even teach you how to knit and let you knit your own.

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Who knows, right?

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So moving on, Philippians 3 verses 12 through 14, the Bible says, not that I have already

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obtained this or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that

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for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.

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Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it.

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But one thing I do, forgetting what is behind and straining towards what is ahead, I press

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on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

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See, we all need to have goals and Paul's telling us his own.

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And really, the goal that he has here, that he set, this should be the goal for every

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Christian.

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See, there I go, tongue-tied again, every Christian.

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Simply put, what he's saying is we all need to strive to be more like Jesus and to do

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everything that Jesus has called us to do.

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You see, Paul wasn't at that finish line yet, neither are we.

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But the thing is, especially when it comes to the church, a lot of us are still just

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spectators.

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We go to service, we listen to what's being preached, we listen to podcasts, we listen

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to things on the radio, we'll read things, we'll say little niceties, God bless you,

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bless your heart.

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But when it comes to inviting people to listen to the word or sharing our testimony with

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them, reaching out to those living in darkness and not knowing Jesus, well, you know, most

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will tell, oh, I'll pray for you.

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I'll pray for you.

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No!

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Stop and pray for them right then, right there.

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Show them the love of Jesus and get to work.

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Our mind you love is an action, not just words, it is an action.

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You don't just tell someone you love them, you show them, right?

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People look, it's time to put up or shut up.

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If you don't mean it, then don't say it.

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Because if you say it and you're talking about something without meaning, guess what?

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You're lying.

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You're lying, that is the polar 180 degree opposite of Jesus.

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We've all been given a mission and it's on us to make sure that we're seeing to our training

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and making sure that it's getting done and then getting to it.

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We have so many things to train us and prepare us.

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We just don't take advantage of it.

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We need to invite people to go with us, go to church, go to praise and worship night.

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Invite them to listen to a podcast or to read a book.

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Just invite them.

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Invite them, invite them, invite them.

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There's so many people out there that just aren't going because they're waiting for someone

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to invite them.

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Studies have proven this.

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And to talk to them about how these things work in your life to grow your relationship

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with Jesus.

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That itself is your testimony, right?

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Getting into the final stretch here guys, Philippians 3 verses 15 through 21.

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So verses 15 through 21, the Bible says, all of us then who are mature should take such

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a view of things.

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And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you.

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Only let us live up to what we have already attained.

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Stand together in following my example brothers and sisters, just as you have as a model.

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Keep your eyes on those who live as we do.

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For as I have often told you before and now tell you again even with tears.

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Many live as enemies on the cross of Christ.

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Their destiny is destruction.

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To God is their stomach and their glory is their shame.

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Their mind is set on earthly things.

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But our citizenship is in heaven and we eagerly await a savior from there.

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The Lord Jesus Christ who by the power that enables him to bring everything under his

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control will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.

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Paul was trying to set the same example that was set for him.

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When we look at the military or even first response services, we're talking about being

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part of something bigger than yourself.

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That's one of those things that's used in recruiting.

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Even in the news, this person they chose to be part of something bigger than themselves

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and they stepped out.

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And why is that?

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Well it's because you set aside your wants.

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You make sacrifices in order to look after others, to do the better good, to bring hope

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and light in those times of darkness and despair.

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And you know going in when you volunteer to do these things that it is a thankless vocation,

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a thankless job.

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So it's no surprise.

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And walking a Christ led life?

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Oh it's a lot the same.

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It really is.

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You have to volunteer to do it.

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You have to see it through.

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It's hard.

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People are going to pick fights with you.

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They're going to slam it.

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You're going to make fun, right?

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Say things to meaning, try to put you in a bad light.

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You know you're going to be in positions where you don't want to be because you don't know

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when you'll get to eat again, when you'll get to sleep again or for how long, let alone

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you know the things that fill your head when you do try to lay down and put your head on

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that pillow.

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Knowing that you're going to lose friends and possibly family because of what you're

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doing and because of your beliefs.

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You're going to get put in tough positions that you prefer not to be in.

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What task you'd rather not do.

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But you have to carry out.

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You've been entrusted to carry these things out.

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Being a follower of Christ may well put you in some if not all of these positions at some

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point.

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To this day, there are still people dying for Christ all around the world.

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There are some places where it is downright deadly to be a Christian.

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And doing these things, stepping up to that plate, it comes down to maturity as a Christian,

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that Christian character.

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What are you willing to do to accomplish what Jesus has called you to?

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00:31:49,680 --> 00:31:53,940
What are you willing to do to ensure the good news is taken to the world?

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What sacrifices are you willing to make for the gospel?

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As Christians, we're citizens of heaven.

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That's what Paul said here.

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Our citizenship is in heaven.

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So to put that in perspective, we're citizens of heaven and we're on a missionary trip to

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this world.

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We're all missionaries to this world.

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And we're here to promote those things that are of God and to repeat those things that

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are not.

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You are called by Jesus.

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And I'll remind you, he does not call the equipped.

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He equips the called.

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It is by faith, not sight, that we move forward.

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Because we do so with the knowledge that God is going to provide everything that we need

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to accomplish what's been set before us.

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And with that in mind, we also need to be patient and remember that all these things,

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all things are in his time, not ours.

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Now one last note here, as we're almost there, just bear with me a few more moments.

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We noticed that there's some criticism here at the end.

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Paul has a little criticism and it's towards those same Judaizers.

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Those same people that we deal with today, those self-centered, prideful people who chase

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after their own desires, their own wants before all else.

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With him, it's all about I, all about me, forget the other guy.

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Those people who look at their freedom as being their own instead of being blood bought

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by Jesus.

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So what Paul was doing here was he was encouraging the Philippians to follow his example and

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work towards becoming more Christ-like while being wary of the traps and snares of the

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world.

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You know, none of this is perfect.

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We're all going to fail at some point.

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We're all going to fall.

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But it's about getting back up, repenting, and then getting back on the path of following

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Jesus.

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If we rely on ourselves, if we rely on the world and all those things in it and all the

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stuff that it tells us, we're going to fall into misery and we're always going to be chasing

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after joy without actually being joyful.

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However, when we do our best to listen and follow the Holy Spirit, we're going to find

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joy in things that we never could have imagined.

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We're going to do things that we never thought we would do.

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We're going to engage with people that we wouldn't have come in contact with before

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a relationship with the Lord.

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We will find that joy in our faith and our belief in the Holy Spirit and in Jesus.

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Remember, you are loved and you are blessed.

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Now go and be the church.

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Thank you all for joining us here today at Healing Scars with Pastor Burton.

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Please like, subscribe, and share our podcast on any platform it is that you tune into us

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on.

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If you do have any questions, any prayer requests, or would like to know more about our ministry,

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you can find us on our website at BeTheLightSanctuary.org or on Facebook at BeTheLightSanctuary.

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You can also find how to contact us there, whether it's direct message or email.

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We look forward to hearing from you all.

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God bless.