WEBVTT

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For a few minutes today, you and I are going

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to have a good heart -to -heart talk about something

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that's vitally important to all of us. I want

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to read just one verse of Scripture. It's found

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in the 23rd chapter of Proverbs, the 7th verse.

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For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he. There

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it is. As a man thinketh in his heart, as you

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think in your heart, you are that person. If

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you really want to know what Catherine Coon is

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like, if you really want to know what I am like,

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the real me, then know my thoughts. Know what

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I have in my heart. All the great teachers of

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every age have declared this simple truth to

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be factual. That a man's life, a man's character,

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are the result of his own thoughts, his own ideals.

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It was a philosophy as old as civilization. but

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as fresh and as new and as up -to -date as the

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Word of God. Sometimes I think we forget how

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practical the Word of God really is. If you really

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want to know how to live, then start living according

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to the Word of God. Start reading God's Word.

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Sometimes we think, you know, that folk are so

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old -fashioned who... still believe in the Word

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of God, bless you. If you want real wisdom, if

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you really want to be an intelligent person,

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if you really want facts and you want real truth,

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get back again to the Word of God. As he sinketh

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in his heart. So is he. Oh, sure. I can remember

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the son of the family who lived next door to

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us when I was a child in Concordia, Missouri.

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They were not a wealthy family. In fact, they

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were very poor. But even as kids, we used to

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spend... Hours and hours just dreaming and talking

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about what we'd like to do and what we'd like

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to be. And the youngster of whom I am speaking

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was very poor in his youth, had known none of

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the advantages that so many young people count

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essential. He'd started out with nothing to build

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on except what he was within himself. But he

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had known what he wanted to be. He knew what

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he wanted to do. And he kept his dream. He kept

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his ideals. He kept these ideals and these dreams

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everlastingly before him. He had tried to live

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the life that he imagined. And in the end, his

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dream became reality. And today, he's a very,

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very successful businessman in Concordia, Missouri.

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And yet, in reality, he did not have the advantages

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that many of the other young people in Concordia,

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Missouri had. And few, if any, had the success

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in later life that he has now and that he is

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enjoying. You know, sometimes I am of the opinion

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that young people count too much on luck and

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chance these days. Oh, I hear them talking. Perhaps

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if you had young people in your family, they're

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constantly talking about this thing of luck.

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And then, you know, if somebody really makes

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it to the top, if somebody's really successful,

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they'll say, oh, it was just luck. or he was

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just lucky and he was just there at the right

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time and it was a matter of chance. I guess that's

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one reason why I'm taking the time to have this

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little heart -to -heart talk because it's one

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of the most practical things I can bring you

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today. It is my firm conviction that there isn't

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such a thing as luck. You'll never make me believe

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that there is such a thing as just chance that

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things just happen. No. A man is literally what

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he thinks, his character being the complete sum

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of all of his thoughts. I cannot think evil thoughts

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and be a good person. If my mind is full of evil,

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if my mind is full of hatred, If my mind is full

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of jealousy, prejudice, then one thing is dead

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sure. I cannot be, I will not be a person with

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a wonderful character. I will not be a good person.

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My deeds will not be good. Because I... am what

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I think. You are this very hour what you think.

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Your character, my character, being the complete

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sum of my thoughts. As the plant springs from

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and could not be without the seed, so every act

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of a man springs from the hidden seeds of thought

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and could not have appeared without them. That

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is the blossom of thought, and joy and suffering

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are its fruits. Thus does a man garner in the

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sweet and the bitter fruitage of his own husbandry.

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A man's mind may be likened to a garden, which

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may be intelligently cultivated, or it may be

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allowed to run wild. But whether cultivated or

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neglected, it must and will bring forth fruit.

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And it's just like that. There's some things

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you and I can argue from now to doomsday, but

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we'll not change the laws of God. Oh, there are

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those who try to disregard the fact that whatsoever

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a man soweth, that must he also reap. They say

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it's old -fashioned. Take this present generation.

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They have all the disregard in the world for

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that portion of the Word of God. But as surely

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as a person sows, they're going to reap. Oh,

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maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow. Maybe not

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five years from now, but as surely as there's

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a god on his throne, as surely as there is a

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sowing, so surely must there be a reaping. It's

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going to come. It has to come. How often I told

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you about Dr. Trumbull, And the atheist, very

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boldly, had challenged Dr. Trumbull. He said,

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I am an atheist. I disregard the Lord's Day.

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I do not go to church. I make no pretense whatsoever

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of serving God. of living for God. And yet, he

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said, I have a next -door neighbor. His farm

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joins mine. A devout Christian. They have daily

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Bible reading. When Sundays come, it's the day

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of worship. He is what the world would call a

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devout Christian. And now he says, it's fall.

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My... Crops have been great. I've had bumper

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crops this year. My silos are filled. My orchards

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had wonderful fruit. My next -door neighbor has

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not fared so well. It's now October, and I really

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am ahead. I have the better crops, the better

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harvest. Dr. Trumbull, how would you answer that?

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And Dr. Trumbull just turned the sheet of paper

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over, and this is all that he wrote on it. God

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does not make full settlement in October. Mm

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-hmm. person gets by with one thing with Almighty

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God. Know that. And so it is true when it comes

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to man's thoughts. Get it? A man's mind may be

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likened to a garden, which may be intelligently

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cultivated. are allowed to run wild, you can

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do whatever you want with your own mind. But

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never forget, whether cultivated or neglected,

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it must and it will bring forth fruit. And if

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no useful seeds are put into it, then an abundance

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of useless weed seeds will fall therein. and

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will continue to produce their kind. Be careful

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what you take into your mind. Be careful what

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you allow your mind to feed on. I'm so dead sure

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about what I'm saying to you just now that I

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will tell you the truth. I would no more permit

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myself to look upon dirty things. I would no

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more think of reading trashy literature than

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anything in the world. There are books that you

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could not pay me enough to read. I'm repeating.

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I think so much. Of my mind, I am so sold on

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this truth from God's word that you could not

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pay me to read certain literature, books that

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I know that people are reading today. Be careful

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what you take into your mind. Be careful what

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your young son, that teenager of yours, is reading,

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is seeing. It will leave its imprint upon that

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life. Whatsoever a man thinketh in his heart,

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so is he. Just as the gardener cultivates his

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plot, keeping it free from weeds, And growing

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the flowers and the fruits which he requires.

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So many a man tend the garden of his mind. Weeding

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out all the wrong, the useless, the impure thoughts.

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Cultivating toward perfection the flowers and

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the fruits of right. The things that are useful.

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Pure thoughts. And by pursuing this process.

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A man sooner or later discovers that he's the

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master gardener of his thoughts, the director

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of his life. It's amazing what happens. He also

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reveals within himself the laws of thoughts,

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and he understands with every increasing accuracy

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how the thought forces operate in the shaping

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of his character. And his destiny. A thought

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makes a deed. A deed makes a life. And a life

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brings the destiny. And yet it all goes back

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to the thought. This must be vitally important

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or it wouldn't be in the word of God. I read

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it again. For as he thinketh in his heart, So

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is he. A man is buffeted by circumstances so

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long as he believes himself to be the creature

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of outside conditions. But when he realizes that

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he is a creative power, that he may command the

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hidden soil and the seeds of his being out of

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which circumstances grow, He then becomes the

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rightful master of himself. Good thoughts bear

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good fruit and bad thoughts, bad fruit. It's

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just that simple. When you focus on God, when

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you focus your mind on the things of God, It

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is amazing what happens to your entire life.

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You are never defeated. You will never be defeated

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as long as you know that underneath all the uncertainties

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of life is your Heavenly Father. You wake up

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in the morning. You say, God is with me. He's

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my Heavenly Father. Oh, I've got a big day. I've

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got a busy day. I know that there'll be things

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that've got to be licked. Oh, dear me. I've got

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problems that in the natural. There's no way

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out. There's no way backward. There's no way

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forward. But if God is with me and I know that

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he's my heavenly father, with him we can lick

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this thing and you go out of your front door

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knowing that you have all the powers of heaven

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on your side. You know that God is with you.

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You know that you're his child. Why, bless you,

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who? Can lick a man like that? I just ask you

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confidentially. Because a man like that won't

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be defeated. He'll not take no for an answer.

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He'll not take defeat for an answer. He's not

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going to drown. He's not going to hit the bottom

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of despair. Because he knows to whom he belongs.

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Mentally he knows. Not only mentally. He's had

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that wonderful experience and he knows that he's

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passed from death unto life. Life everlasting.

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And that wonderful experience makes him an heir

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of God. Makes him a joint heir with Christ Jesus.

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He has that assurance and his mind keeps assuring

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him of these facts and these glorious truths.

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And so, therefore, he doesn't focus his thoughts

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upon the object. He doesn't focus his thoughts

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on defeat. He doesn't focus his mind on the bigness

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of the problem. He focuses his mind on God, his

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partner. He focuses his mind on the victory.

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And this is the victory that overcometh the world,

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even our faith. Oh, this is so practical. This

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is so wonderful. Into your hands will be placed

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the exact results of your own thoughts. You will

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receive that which you earn, no more, no less.

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Whatever your present environment may be, you'll

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fall, you'll remain, or you'll rise with your

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thoughts, your vision, your ideal. You will become

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as small as your controlling desire and as great

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as your dominant... Aspiration. As a man thinketh,

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so is he. No, the thoughtless, the ignorant,

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those who only see the apparent effects of things

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and not the things themselves, talk of luck.

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of fortune and of chance. Seeing a man grow rich,

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they say, how lucky is that man. Observing another

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becoming very intellectual, they'll exclaim,

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oh, how highly favored he is. And during the

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saintly character and the wide influence of another,

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they say, my, how chance aids him at every turn.

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They do not see the trials, the failures, the

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struggles which these men have encountered in

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order to gain their experience. They have no

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knowledge of the sacrifice that that one has

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made, of the undaunted efforts that have been

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put forth, of the faith that they have exercised,

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that they might overcome As a man thinketh in

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his heart, so is he.