WEBVTT

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and beloved no matter how dark the night no matter

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what happens to you always remember to whom you

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belong in our last little heart -to -heart talk

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you will remember that i was answering a letter

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having been written by a man in new york And

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he was talking about the reality of God in an

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individual's life. And how to receive that reality.

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The life of power. Oh, there's so much counterfeit.

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Honestly, beloved, when you come to this thing

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of counterfeit, I think you'll find more counterfeits

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in religion than in... Anything else I know anything

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about today? Oh, the counterfeit. And when it

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comes to the counterfeit in this thing of being

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a Christian, there is also the counterfeit when

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it comes in to this thing of real victory and

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false. Real victory and its counterfeit. And

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sometimes I think, That much of this that we

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think as being victory in the life of a professing

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Christian isn't real victory after all. When

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you take the thing apart and analyze it, you'll

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find it's counterfeit. Now for everything for

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which there is a genuine, there's always a counterfeit.

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And when it comes to the spiritual, you'll find

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the genuine, whenever Jesus has given a genuine,

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when it comes to spiritual things for an individual,

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the devil has come right along with a counterfeit.

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And I'm not going to read you one thing that

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I gave you in our little heart -to -heart talk

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when I left your home the last time, but we're

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going to go right on with this thing of... Crosses.

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It is not crosses that Jesus was talking about.

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He spoke of only one cross for you. One cross

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for me. If any man will come after me, let him

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deny himself and take up his cross and follow

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me. Again. Whosoever does not bear his cross

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and come after me cannot be my disciple. As we

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see from this, it's our duty to take up the cross,

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not to carry crosses. So many professing Christians

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are going around daily talking about their crosses.

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No. There is one cross. And whenever one sees

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a cross, one always thinks of death. The cross

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is a symbol of death. That cross on which Jesus

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died was a symbol of death. That was his cross.

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When he spoke regarding your cross, It means

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the death to you. Your own death upon that cross.

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Death to self. And there can be no great spirituality,

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there can be no great spiritual experience until

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there is a death of self upon that cross. And

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it's just like that. If you'd seen a man in the

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Lord's day carrying a cross, you'd know that

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it meant death to someone, probably for the man

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himself. And it's just like that. And before

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anyone can really follow Christ, really be a

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disciple, he must be dead with Christ. and risen

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with him. That's what Paul meant when he said,

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I have been crucified with Christ. Yet I live.

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Yet no longer I, but Christ liveth in me. Search

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the scripture. You'll never find Paul speaking

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of his crosses in spite of his persecution. In

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spite of his experiences, Paul never referred

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to any one of those experiences as being crosses.

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Never. You and I err when we speak of experiences

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that we have as being our cross that we must

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carry, the crosses that we must bear. Paul never

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did. When he spoke of his cross, he said, I have

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been crucified with Christ. He was talking to

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that experience of death to self. Yet I live.

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Yet no longer I, but Christ liveth in me. It's

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one thing, you know, to be saved from the...

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Penalty of sin. That's wonderful. But it's another

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thing to follow Christ. And you will never follow

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Him in a daily, consistent life of victory until,

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first of all, there has been a death of self

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on that cross. You know, some Christians are

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monstrosities. Really, I mean that. They are

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no more like Christ 20 years after their conversion

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than they were when they began the Christian

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life. That's true. They have not taken up the

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cross, have not been crucified with Christ. The

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taking up of the cross, your cross, is the end.

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of crosses and the beginning of discipleship.

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And there can be no discipleship until there

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has, first of all, been the cross. The cross

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on which you died and Christ began to live in

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you, through you. A living reality. A very vital

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part of you. Yeah? Now. Now we're going to come

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to something that I hope will mean an awful lot

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to you. We're going to come to this thing of

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real victory and what it means. Let us be quite

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clear regarding this thing. of a victorious life.

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For the devil does all that he can to entice

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us to accept a counterfeit victory. And by that

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I mean a victory which we think we're getting

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ourselves by our own efforts. I want you to stop

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whatever you're doing right now because You can't

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be washing your dishes and be doing something

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else and fully concentrate on what I'm going

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to say in the next five minutes. And this is

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something that's vitally important. Because there's

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many a precious professing Christian who feels

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that they are living a victorious Christian life.

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And yet that victory that you are so proud of

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counterfeit victory. How do I know? It's because

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you're so miserable. You are so unhappy. And

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you make everybody else miserable around you.

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That's the truth. There are honestly some Christians

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that are professing Christians. Who am I to say

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whether... They are Christians or not. We dare

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not judge each other. But one thing I know, when

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I see you coming, I think, oh, dear Lord, they

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make me so miserable just being in their presence.

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I feel so happy. I feel so wonderful. Oh, I just

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can't tell you. How wonderful I feel on the inside

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of me. And then when you come into the presence

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of that one, it's like you're being overshadowed

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by the blackest cloud that you ever saw in anybody's

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sky. And yet, they'll swear that they live a

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life of complete victory. Yeah. But when you

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analyze their victory, It's something that they

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are accomplishing or trying to accomplish through

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their own efforts. And that is not real victory.

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That, my friend, is counterfeit victory. That's

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why when young people write to me and say, now,

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is it a sin to do this? Is it a sin to do the

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other thing? Beloved, This is always my answer.

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If the desire is there, if you have to strain

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and struggle and just use all the willpower that

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you have, and if you practically have to be tied

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to a chair to teach from doing it, then for pity's

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sakes, go ahead and do it. Go right ahead and

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do it. I do exactly what I want to do. And I

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could go right on down the line. It's amazing.

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I don't want to do those things. And it's like

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that. That's the reason I'm the funniest kind

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of a preacher that you ever heard preach in all

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of your life. a negative gospel. I never preach

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against sin. I never preach against a certain

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thing. Never. You have never heard me preach

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a sermon against liquor. And yet I dare say that

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we have had more men and women delivered from

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liquor in this ministry than in any ministry

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in the United States today. We have proof. We

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have evidence. I can show you every Sunday a

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huge stage filled with men. Practically every

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man in our men's chorus has been delivered from

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liquor. Those men today drink all the liquor

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that they want to drink. but they don't want

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to. They had no desire for it. They don't have

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to say to the one next to them as they pass a

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liquor joint, hold me, don't let me go in, ooh,

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don't let me go, keep me from going in. I have

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to walk on the opposite side of the street to

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keep from going in. If that's the way you feel

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about it, go on in, bud. Oh, you say, Miss Kuma,

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do you know what you're saying? Sure. Let's be

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practical about the thing. Now you take the question

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of a bad temper. Oh, many Christians pride themselves

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on the fact that they exercise such self -control

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that their temper never gets the better of them.

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No, never. They're so sweet. They're so wonderful.

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And they pride themselves on it. And the greatest

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sin? is not the temper, but their spiritual pride.

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The spiritual pride that they are enjoying because

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of the fact that they can exercise self -control

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over their temper. And they never let their temper

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get the better of them. By this, they mean that

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they never show it. Oh, it's there, all right.

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Oh, I'll... Look at their face. All you have

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to do is just look at their face. It's as red

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as a beet. They're so mad on the inside, they're

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ready to explode. They can hardly contain themselves.

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Now watch something. The victorious life is not

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one which merely makes our outward actions right.

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It's the life which gives us victory in the...

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inner realm of the heart so that our very desires

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are right. We're right at the core of the thing,

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not just outward. To want to do wrongful things

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and to restrain from doing them is not real victory.

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The wonderful thing is, That God takes the want

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to out of our very hearts. The want to goes.

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And in the place of that desire, he has put a

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love. And we long only to do his will. No, beloved.

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Surrender alone is not enough. Willpower alone

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is not enough. Decision is not enough. Willingness

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is not enough. We are neither saved or filled

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with the Spirit. by what we give up, but by what

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we receive. True victory, really true victory,

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takes the want to out of our hearts. And instead,

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the person that Jesus fills that part of us with

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his love. And that's exactly what Paul meant

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when he said, I have been crucified with Christ,

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yet I live, yet no longer I, but Christ liveth

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in me. That's not counterfeit. That's The Genuine.