Sermon
Postured & Positioned - Week 1 - Damon Moore - August 16, 2026
Publisher transcript
Transcript
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Thank you for joining us today.
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We hope God speaks to you.
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We hope dreams come alive and faith is ignited so you can impact the world and those around you.
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For God's kingdom.
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Enjoy the message.
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Yeah, yeah, yeah.
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If you're ready for the word, say let's go.
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Let's go.
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Man, it's good to, uh, be back at City Place Church.
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Uh, shout out to Shawn for kicking off 21 days of prayer with her message about my pursuit will be different.
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How many of y'all were here last week? I heard, I, I heard that this was the feedback I got.
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It was heavy.
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I was like, "Okay, Shawn, it was heavy.
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Then I'll do the light lifting this week.
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I'll do the, I'll do the light lifting."
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But, uh, we dropped our, our oldest son, David, off to college, and, uh, yeah, and, uh, I had to be there for Taisha as she was she was...
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It was a struggle for her.
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It was a...
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And, uh, I, I just said, "Hey, girl, this is, this is why God gave you me."
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You know what I'm saying? Y'all are laughing because you know that I was probably the one that cried.
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Y'all know that, right? Yeah, yeah.
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I, I tried.
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I tried, I tried, I tried not to cry, and here, here was the thing that broke me.
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It, it wasn't that he was leaving.
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It was, uh, we had a team luncheon and, and I don't know why I'm just going into this and not the message, right? But I just figured I'd just share it with you, uh, because maybe this will bring me healing, you know? And so this is why we have the Church of Jesus, right? And so, and so I was fine.
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We had this big family team meeting, uh, my son plays football, and there was probably, you know, 200 plus people there, and everything's going great.
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Like, man, this is awesome.
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Coach, thank you for the order and the structure.
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And the coach says this: "All right, guys.
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I'll see you guys at 7:15.
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You need to be in the meeting room at 7:10."
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It is 6:40, and this is what he says: "What that's gonna do, that's gonna give you one more time to get your last hugs in."
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Coach, I don't know if I trust you with my son.
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Like, like let me down easy, coach.
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After that, I was, I was shook, and I'm crying and Taisha's like, "Suck it up, man.
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Suck it up."
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She didn't say that, but her eyes told me that.
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"Suck it up.
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Suck it up.
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Why are you crying?" And I was like, "I don't know.
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I don't know.
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Maybe I'm crying because I thought that when he went to college we were gonna get a pay increase."
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"But we still paying, babe.
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It's not that I miss him.
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I miss the money we would've had."
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I don't know what it was.
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But thank you for, uh, the prayers and kicking off 21 days of prayer.
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On your seat, I can transition easy.
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On your seat, there's a prayer card.
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We'd love for you to, uh, fill that out, let us know the things that you're praying for.
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There's a, uh, collection box over, um, as you leave.
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It has our church logo.
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We would love to pray, uh, for you, along with you.
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And then we wanna invite you to Sunday morning prayer at 9:30, and then Wednesday mornings at 6:00 a.m.
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We pray all throughout the year, but we're really intensified during these 21 days, uh, praying together.
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So we would invite you to join us on Zoom.
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I will send out an email with a five-day devotional tomorrow, um, so that you can follow along and continue to study God's Word.
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The other thing that I'm excited to celebrate, uh, this morning is I wanna celebrate, uh, your, your generosity.
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Uh, I wanna celebrate your generosity real quick because, um, for those of you who've been faithfully tithing and faithfully giving, and you've taken your courageous step, I wanna say thank you because not only were we able to renovate, uh, our HQ, our new office space, and that complex, but we were also able to, uh, upgrade some of our dying sound equipment.
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And so, uh, because-- It's because of your generosity that some of the excellence that you see is part of the investment that you're making in God's house.
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I know you're trusting God with your tithe and with your offering, but we are able to care for you and create a place of excellence for ministry.
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And so I just wanted to say thank you for that.
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And so it's good when we can be a generous church, um, and, and be able to invest in God's house, but also care for God's people.
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We give outside of our house, but I also wanna acknowledge that you help keep the operations going, uh, through your generosity.
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Is that good if we just celebrate that? Yeah.
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Amen.
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Awesome.
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Uh, I wanna also ask you to continue to pray.
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Uh, we haven't stopped looking for property.
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Uh, if you've been here in March, we cast vision that we had two focuses as we were gonna be in this courageous year.
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We've been asking God to give us, uh, the opportunity to impact the 1%, uh, on this side of Orlando.
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That's 1,600-plus people within five zip codes around us, and then we've been strategically praying and asking God for our own permanent location.
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And so we've been, uh, looking and searching, and can I celebrate a moment? Uh, because we've been doing our due diligence, we're starting to get responses back from local lenders that are like, "You are qualified," that when the moment comes.
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And so, uh, I just want you to know that we haven't stopped looking.
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We haven't stopped preparing.
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And in fact, I'm excited because in March, we cast a vision.
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In May, as a church, we got together, and we began to commit to what we would give over and above our tithe.
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And then some of you said you would commit to being consistent in your giving and commit to beginning to tithe.
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And so I'm excited now because we talked about we would have a give Sunday in the fall.
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Because we wanted to be ready should the Lord show us something.
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And so I'm excited to let you all know that September the 13th is going to be our Courageous Sunday.
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Amen.
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So that means that as you've been praying and as you committed, this is now where we all get to start running together.
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And in May, some of you didn't even wait till the fall, some of you already started giving.
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And so over the next few weeks, we'll talk about the property that we're believing God for, why we feel like God wants us to be a pillar in our community.
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And so mark that on your calendar.
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That's gonna be our Give Sunday.
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We'll talk about it in a little bit more detail, but I wanted you to be aware of that.
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Is that good? Enough announcements? Yes.
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Y'all ready for the word now? Yes.
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Awesome.
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Go to Joshua chapter three.
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Joshua chapter three.
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And, uh, shout out to the team, uh, as you all are sitting and worshiping, they're still moving out benches and everything so that people can have seats.
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Come on, can we celebrate the dream team? That's what we call our volunteers.
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I'm, I'm, I'm very, very grateful.
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And, uh, I w- I want you to, um, I want you to write down...
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This is not in your notes, but I want you to write down the, the prophetic utterance that I shared, uh, during the first song, um, that the wonders of God begin today.
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Yeah.
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I want you to write that down.
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That's not just some sort of cliches thing that when God speaks, what we do is you grab the prophetic thing that God would speak, and then you just start reminding Him of what He said, and asking God for clarity on that.
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"God, where does that apply in my life? God, bring me additional, uh, understanding of that."
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The Bible says to confirm everything that you hear.
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And so even though Ty and I are the pastors of the church, you take that back to the Father so that, uh, the Father confirms what He spoke this morning.
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I'm okay with that.
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That's what we do as leaders.
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And so you take that, and you work that before the Father.
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"Father, you said on August the 16th that we would see the wonders from you today."
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Amen? Amen.
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Joshua chapter 3 says this.
Joshua 3 chapter mention
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We've, we've been just focusing in the Book of Joshua.
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For those of you who are here for the first time, or maybe you've just been jumping in, God spoke to our church that this would be the year that we'd move from being cautious to courageous.
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Joshua chapter 1 has really been the foundational, and we've been reading one verse.
Joshua 1 chapter mention
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It says this in verse nine, "Have I not commanded you to be strong and courageous? Do not be afraid or dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go."
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We've been making it personal.
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We've been making it a declaration.
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We've been putting our name in it, because if God's speaking to us, then it applies to us.
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So whatever your name is, you can say your name.
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"Susan, have I not commanded you? John, have I not commanded you? Jim, have I not commanded you?" Whatever your name is, that verse is so that you can get to know God's promise for you in this season.
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And so as we've been leaning into the Book of Joshua, we've slowly, over the last six months, been going chapter by chapter, and we're still in Joshua chapter 3.
Joshua 3 chapter mention
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Because what we don't wanna do is we don't need to be in a hurry when God's speaking.
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Amen.
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And so this morning, I'm gonna continue, like Sean preached fire last week, and I hope that we absorbed it, and if not, you can watch it on- online.
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But she preached about Zacchaeus positioning himself to see Jesus, not asking anything of Jesus, just wanting to see Him.
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And because he elevated himself higher, Jesus-- And she said it this last week.
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She said, "I don't know how much time it took for Jesus to see him.
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All we know is that he elevated himself so he could see Jesus first."
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Yeah.
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And then as a result, because of his boldness and his pursuit, Jesus saw him.
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And so I wanna keep that focus going of us not sitting still- Right but for us to be postured and positioned- Yeah.
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Good during these times of prayer.
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Because if you're like me, sometimes prayer can feel routine.
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Anybody? And I'm a pastor.
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And you can get in the mindset of, "Oh, I have to."
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No, we get to commune with the Father.
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And so this morning, we gonna stay in Joshua chapter 3, and then, uh, we're gonna settle for this week and next week in Exodus 33.
Joshua 3 chapter mention
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And I'm passionate personality, but I feel like I'm actually going to be a little bit calmer today 'cause we're literally gonna go verse by verse in what we read this morning, and I want you to grab hold of what prayer could look like, of what our encounters with God would look like if w- if we would just posture and position ourselves.
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Amen? Amen.
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Let's do this.
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Let's pray.
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Father, in Jesus' name, we thank You for Your Word.
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We are ready to hear what You have to say.
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I pray, Holy Spirit, that our hearts are sitting on the edge of our seat in expectation of real life change and grabbing hold of the enjoyment of communing with You.
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In the mighty name of Jesus, speak to us.
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We're ready.
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Amen.
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Amen.
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Hey, I also gotta tell you, at the end of our service, uh, we have a person being baptized.
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Um, so let me tell you how this happened, and the reason why we have two baptisms is because we decided that we'd do whatever it takes for people to take their next step in Christ.
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And we have people starting to request moments because their family may be in town, or they just feel like their work schedule has been off.
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And so people are starting to request moments to where they can take their next step, almost like it's the jukebox And so, and so during camp, uh, one of our students wanted to take a next step in their walk with the Lord, and their family could be here this week.
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And so do you know what we told them? Yes.
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And so at the end of service, we're gonna celebrate baptism with one of our young leaders, one of our young students in student ministry.
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Isn't that awesome? Yeah.
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When we get to be the Church of Jesus.
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All right, I just thought I'd tell you.
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Joshua chapter three, I'm doing everything but reading the scripture.
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All right, Joshua chapter three says this.
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This is what happens when I'm not here, I get real wordy.
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Says this: "Then Joshua rose early in the morning, and they set out from the Acacia Grove and came to the Jordan, he and all the children of Israel, and they lodged there before they crossed over."
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They're getting ready to go into God's promised land for them.
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"So it was, so it was after three days that the officers went throughout the camp, and they commanded the people saying, 'When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord,' which carried the presence of the Lord at that time, 'and the priests, the Levites bearing it, then you shall set out from your place and go after it.'
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So when you see it, go after him.
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'Yet there shall be a space between you, about 2,000 cubits by measure.
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Do not come near it, that you may know the way by which you must go, for you have not gone this way before.'"
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Pause there really quick.
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Y'all, in order for us to go into the new territory that God has promised you, you and I are gonna have to see Him move before we ever try to move on our own.
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Yes.
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Amen.
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Okay? That's what, that's what's happening here.
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It's like, "Hey, I promised you this.
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You're excited about it, but still let me go first.
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Keep your eyes on me, not on just the good stuff, but keep your eyes focused on me," all right? And then verse five, this is where we're landing.
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"And Joshua said to the people, 'Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow.'"
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Somebody say tomorrow.
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Tomorrow.
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"The Lord will do wonders amongst you."
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Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders amongst yourselves.
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Several weeks ago we said that the word sanctify scripturally means this: to make holy, to set apart as sacred, to consecrate, to render legitimate or binding.
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When we set aside something as sacred unto the Lord, we're not going in and coming out.
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We're saying, "God, this is where I link to you and I'm binding my heart, my focus, my will, my emotions to who you are."
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We're saying, "God, this is where in this sacred moment I want you to know that I believe that you really are who you said you are That this moment, that this time, that this interaction that I'm having with you is sacred space and not just something that I feel like I have to do.
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Right.
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And so Joshua says, "Sanctify yourselves."
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Set this moment before you go in and grab hold of the natural thing.
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Let this moment where it's just you and the Father be holy.
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And so we said this several weeks ago.
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We said that alignment to His presence is going to produce clarity, promise, closeness, sacred spaces, and sacred moments.
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We said that if we can just align ourselves with God's heart, with what God wants to do, that it unlocks who He is, it unlocks the closeness, it unlocks those sacred moments that are defined by His presence and our encounter with Him, and moments that no one will ever be able to say it never happened.
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I once heard this quote, it says, "A person with an experience with God is never at the ex- at the expense of someone who has an opinion."
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A person with an experience with God never argues with someone who has an opinion about it And so these moments that we have with God become sacred moments because it aligns us to who He is, so then when culture around us tell us that He's not who He is, you go, "No, I know Him for, for myself."
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And so Joshua's like, "Before we go in and grab the natural thing from His hand, let's align ourselves and bind ourselves so that when we see the natural or we see the enemy, it's not gonna distract us from the one that we first fell in love with."
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Come on.
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And so we're just talking about being postured.
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And so last week, I talked about it just a second ago, Sean talked about how Zacchaeus positioned himself, and she said this, that he watched and he waited to see.
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And so if you have your Bibles, go with me to Exodus chapter 33.
Exodus 33 chapter mention
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Exodus chapter 33.
Exodus 33 chapter mention
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We're in 21 days of prayer.
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We talked about last, several weeks ago, that before we enter into tomorrow, that we've gotta be able to spend intentional time with the Father today.
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Before we even think about tomorrow, we've gotta spend intentional time with the Father today.
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It reminds me of Matthew chapter six when the disciples are asking Jesus, "Jesus, you, you, you, you know how to pray.
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Will you teach us how to pray?" And before Jesus even goes through the, the, the, the list of miracles that they could do, He actually says, "Hey, you need to connect with God as Father first."
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Like, this is personal relationship.
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Yes, He's God, the creator of the world, but when you approach Him, approach Him to be close to Him, you have access to Him as Dad, and He begins to make it as if when you are intentional with the Father, it's gonna produce something for your tomorrow, but be focused on Him today.
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So he says, "Hey, make it personal."
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He says, "When you get close to Him, worship His name."
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Says, "Before you even get to anything that you want, find out what is on His heart today.
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What's His agenda?" That's how we've been praying during 21 days of prayer, during our morning prayers.
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Like, "God, what's on your heart?" Man, when we find out God's heart, then God's heart will become our heart.
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Yeah.
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Like, God's heart is for you to live life full.
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Mm-hmm.
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But then God's also, His heart is also so that the lost person can find Him.
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That's right.
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Like, if we grab that, then Jesus says, "Now ask Him for your daily bread."
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After you've spent time focused on Him, then you ask Him for what He has for you.
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I don't know if you're like me sometimes.
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Sometimes I go into God's presence going, "God, this is what I need from you."
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Yeah.
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And then I worship Him.
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Anybody else? Yeah.
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You've been there? You, you, you're like, "God, I need one, two, three, four, five, and I praise you because you're able to do what the..."
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Anybody else? Well, Jesus is like, "Hey, start it off personally because He's your dad, and we're being intentional."
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And He's just like, "Posture yourself and position yourself for something that's gonna last."
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And so that just reminded me.
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And so I wrote this down because I was thinking about the fact that we have to prioritize the personal with the sacred.
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It's my personal time with God, but it's sacred time with God, and this is gonna matter.
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I wrote this, I wrote this.
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This is just how the Lord was giving it to me.
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Every moment that you and I have with the Lord can toggle between two things.
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It can either be religious or it can be sacred.
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It can be religious or it can be sacred.
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And Joshua's telling the people in Joshua chapter 3, like this moment, even when you walk into the promised land, these are sacred moments because the presence of the Lord is going before you, and you've never been this way before.
Joshua 3 chapter mention
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So set aside the time now to spend with Him intentionally.
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So write this down 'cause I know my blank fillers wanna make sure that you leave with your blanks filled.
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Here, can I just say this? I heard that Shawn gave you guys some notes last week, but she gave you a lot of empty blanks.
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Shawn, you didn't do fill in the blank last week? No.
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Come on, Shawn, you gotta...
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Come on.
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Shawn was trying to cheat y'all last week.
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I didn't do that this week.
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Write this down, write this down, write this down.
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Write this down.
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We wanna posture and position our heart to see, hear, listen, and engage with God.
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It's our choice.
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We wanna posture ourself.
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It's up to us.
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Joshua says, "Hey, sanctify yourselves."
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Set yourself some time where it's just you and the Father so that you bind yourself to who He is, that these are sacred moments that you have before the busyness, before we start taking territory, before we see the miracle signs and wonders.
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Do it today for what God's gonna do tomorrow.
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So you and I are challenged to posture and position ourselves to be able to have these moments with God.
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Deuteronomy chapter 4 says this.
Deuteronomy 4 chapter mention
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This is Moses talking.
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"What other nation is so great as to have their gods near the way the Lord our God is near to us," watch now, "whenever we pray to Him?" Moses is like, "Everybody else is trying to get close to their, their idols, but you have the Lord your God, who that even when you begin to talk to Him, He's like, 'Did you call to come close to me?'" Like, who else that when you utter the name Jesus, things begin to shake and tremble just because you started to mention His name? Like, who else that when you call out, "Dad," He goes, "Yes, son or daughter?" Like, the God that you and I spend time with, that we're posturing ourselves with and creating these sacred moments, He's not just some other god.
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That's what Deuteronomy is like, "Hey, there is no other God that compares."
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Ain't no crystal in the world gonna respond to you after you cling it.
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Amen.
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Ain't no incense that you light gonna fill the room like the presence of God It's up on somebody's toes Ain't no horoscope Gonna be able to prophesy That's right.
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That's right about the creator of the world Some of y'all gonna chase me up the church, ain't you? Yeah.
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I can see you like, "Oh, wait a second.
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It's August."
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I don't even know the signs.
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I don't.
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I was about to say something, you're like, n- somebody probably would've yelled out, "No, that's Scorpio" Psalms chapter 145 verse 18 says, "The Lord is near to all who call on Him."
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Watch now.
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"To all who call on Him in truth."
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Ooh.
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So when I start to know Him because I've postured, I start speaking about Him because it's the truth.
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Amen.
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It's not just what I heard.
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That's right.
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I've actually been spending time with Him.
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That's right.
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Jesus said this, "And you will know the..."
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Truth.
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Let me do it again.
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"And you will know the..."
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Truth.
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"And the truth will set you free."
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Amen.
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Jesus actually was bold like this.
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He says, "I am the way, I am the truth, and I am the life."
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So when I get to know who Jesus is, when I start calling out to the Father to be close, I'm talking about the closest that I have to you because Jesus gave me access Posture and position That's the heart.
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If we can, in these next two weeks, begin to-- We're pursuing.
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We know that if we consecrate ourselves, we'll see His mighty hand tomorrow, which God spoke to us that actually it begins today.
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Man, so when I'm coming to Him, I'm coming to Him to know who He is.
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Yeah.
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Which leads me to Exodus chapter 33, and this is where over the next few weeks, we're going to settle here, and this is gonna be our rhythm.
Exodus 33 chapter mention
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I'm gonna read to you the text, and we're just gonna land verse by verse by verse.
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Because as I was reading it, I felt like the Lord was like, "Damon, let the Word speak for itself."
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Come on.
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Like, almost like, "Get yourself out of the way, get your passion out of the way, and watch the Word speak for itself."
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Exodus chapter 33.
Exodus 33 chapter mention
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Moses is having a conversation with God.
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Um, he-- The Bible says that, um, when they would camp, Moses would take a tent and set it outside of the camp, when you read Exodus 33, and it says that when he would go out to the camp, when he would begin to get to the door, a cloud from heaven would approach.
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Would have the presence of the Lord.
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Moses would shut the door behind him, and God would visit Moses face to face.
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And it says that the people who were down at the camp would see that God's presence had showed up, and they would begin to worship God where they were while Moses was actually in the presence of God.
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And so we're picking up there in verse 11, and it says this: "So the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend.
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And he would return to the camp, but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, did not depart from the tabernacle.
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Then Moses said to the Lord, 'You say to me, "Bring up this people," but you have not let me know whom you will send with me.
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Yet you have said, "I know you by name, and you also have found grace in my sight."
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Now therefore, I pray, if I have found grace in your sight, show me now your way, that I may know you and that I may find grace in your sight.
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And consider that this nation is your people.'"
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Verse 14: "And he answered and he said," this is the Lord speaking, 'My presence will go with you, and I will give for you rest.'
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Verse 15: "Then he said to him, 'If your presence doesn't go with us, don't even bring us up from here.
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For how then will it be known that your people and I have found grace in your sight, except you go with us? So we shall be separate, your people and I, from all of the people who, who are upon the face of the earth.'
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"So the Lord said," and this is where we're gonna finish.
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Actually, verse 18, we'll finish there.
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"So the Lord said to Moses, 'I will also do this thing that you have spoken, for you have found grace in my sight, and I know you by name.'
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And then Moses said this boldly, 'Now please show me your glory.'
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Y'all, we're talking about being postured, and we're talking about being positioned.
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Like Moses goes to God, and the Bible says that Moses spoke to God face to face like a friend.
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Moses is so bold to where he's having such honest dialogue with God to where he's asking God, "God, you said that you were gonna send someone, but you haven't shared who."
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And as I was looking, I wanna give us some things where we can posture and position ourselves, and the first one is found in verse 11.
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You and I, watch now, can be as close to God as we choose to be Like, we can be as close to God as we choose to be.
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The Bible says that Moses and God would meet face to face like friends.
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Back in the day, we used to sing this song, "I am a friend of God."
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Anybody grow up in the '90s and the late, early 2000s? "I am a friend of God."
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And they would say this, "I am a friend of God.
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He calls me friend."
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It's a great song.
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But the question is, is we sang about his friendship, but did we move ourselves close enough to where he would also call us friend? Right? And so you and I, if we're gonna posture ourselves, we can be as close to God as we choose to be.
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The Bible says that when Jesus was, was, was crucified on a cross, the, the veil that kept out the, the regular folk, where only the priests could go in, was torn.
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And it says this: that you and I can now come boldly to the throne of grace where God sits.
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That's right.
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There is nothing that would keep you back from being able to go into the presence of the Lord.
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You don't need a pastor.
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You don't need to come and tell me your faults.
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You can go right to the Father.
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We can pray and agree and encourage, but you can be as close to God the Father as you and I choose to be The question is, is how close do we wanna be? Yeah.
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And are we willing to invest the time that it takes to know His heart, the things that's beating, the thing that He's carrying? You and I get to be as close as we choose to be.
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In fact, James 4 says it like this: "Come near to God," and what? Okay.
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Wait, wait a second now.
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Let's read it again.
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Come near to God and what? He will come near to you.
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Oh.
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So let's just say, Rudy, can I steal you real quick? Real, real quick, and then worship team, you can come up, because I already told y'all we're not gonna finish So, so let's just say Rudy is the Lord I can get to know Rudy from this distance, and I can tell people, "I saw Rudy," and it would be true.
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I could be in a service and the, and the presence of the Lord moves, and I could say, "God showed up."
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But that does not mean that I moved closer.
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Yeah.
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I could sense Him.
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I knew He was in the building.
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But until I really want to know Rudy- Yeah I've got to take it step by step Rudy's giving me access.
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He left his seat, he came up here.
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But once I get close to Rudy, I've got to start inquiring about Rudy.
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Because now I'm close to Rudy, but I got to know what's on Rudy's heart.
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I've got to know what's beating that Rudy's thinking about.
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And the only way I'll do that is it may start here, but I won't know until we end here It's close, right? It makes you a little uncomfortable.
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Rudy's like, "Yeah, man."
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"Yeah, you had that banana, didn't you? You had, you had that banana."
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Think about that before you do the analogy, PD.
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Think about that before you do the analogy.
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No, look, look, look.
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Look, I can be as close to the Father as I choose to be.
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Mm.
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The Father's willing.
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Mm.
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The Father's willing.
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That's right.
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You and I get an opportunity as we begin to pray to get as close as we wanna be.
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Normally, if you've been like me at times, I'm going, "God, this is what I need.
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God, this is what I need.
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God, show up for me.
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God, show up for me.
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God, come to where I am."
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I will be as close to God as I choose to be.
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Yeah.
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Sean preached about Zacchaeus climbing higher so that he could see Jesus, and the next thing you know, where does Jesus end up? "Yo, since you came to find me, I'm coming to your house."
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Mm.
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Y'all gotta watch last week's message.
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I appreciate you Write this down, posture number two Posture number two It says that, um, in verse 11, it says that, in v- in verse 11, it says that Moses, uh, he would leave the tent, and he would go back down and be amongst the people, and it says that Joshua stayed at the tabernacle.
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Write this down.
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Write this down, because posture number two is gonna be this, that my spiritual growth, to you, doesn't end when my spiritual leader or community is away or situations change.
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Like, your growth doesn't end because church is about to end.
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Like, your growth spiritually doesn't end, watch now, because the last Christian environment you were in, there were crazy people.
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Your, your growth with the Lord doesn't end because a church leader failed because of sin.
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Your, your church, your, your growth in your relationship with the Lord doesn't stop because the CD, or...
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CD, Lord have mercy.
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I'm aging Taisha up in here.
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No look, your...
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Watch, your worship doesn't end because your playlist stopped.
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The Bible says that Joshua stayed even when Moses went down.
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Like, if we're postured, and we're positioned, and these moments are sacred, remember one of the pa- the part of the definition, that it's binding.
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I'm not going anywhere because things around me are changing.
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I'm not leaving my relationship with the Lord because culture is trying to redefine family.
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No.
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I'm not, I'm not going to leave my heart's desire to pray over my lunch at school because they said you can't pray at school.
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Like, I'm not gonna share, not, not, not gonna sit back and let you dictate my relationship with the Lord.
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I'm not coming out Y'all good? All of this is happening in the first few verses that I've...
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It's like, man, if we're just postured and positioned, we will be as close to the Father as we choose to be.
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If we posture our heart to go, there will not be anything that will separate us.
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Paul says, "I'm not gonna let height, depth, nothing separate me from the love of Christ."
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He says, "Nothing can do it."
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If you and I posture ourselves to be like, "I will be unbreakable in my relationship with the Lord.
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I recognize the enemy's gonna throw blows.
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I recognize there's gonna be highs and lows.
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I recognize I'm gonna be frustrated with God.
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God, you said that you were gonna send somebody with me.
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You haven't even told me."
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I recognize that there's gonna be that fatherly son and daughter tension, but my love ain't changing for you.
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I'm not gonna give up on you.
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I'm in it I'm with you Verse 12, and then we'll pray out Verse 12 says this Love it because it says, "And Moses said to the Lord Posture number three is that we have to see and settle the fact that he is Lord.
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Now, it's so simple.
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But it says that Moses said to the Lord.
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That means that he had moved past the fact that he was...
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The God that met him at the burning bush said, "I am."
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That he had discovered that he's provider, he is the one who gives him his purpose and his destiny, his calling.
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He's the one that is the deliverer.
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He's the one that's sustainer.
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He's a miracle worker.
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I mean, they're seeing all sorts of stuff happening with their eyes.
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Like, he moves from just being the I Am.
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Yes, he is Elohim, Creator.
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He is Lord of all lords.
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But you've become so personal to me that when I have a conversation with you, I recognize your lordship.
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And when I recognize your lordship, that means that I, going back to the point that I gave us at the start, I align to who you are because I need your closeness.
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I need to be open.
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I need to be vulnerable with you.
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So when I communicate with you, I'm not just communicating with my dad.
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I'm not gonna take that for granted.
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I recognize that you're Lord.
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As we're praying over these 21 days, let's posture our heart to the simple fact that he is Lord.
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It's not just a bumper sticker, Jesus is Lord.
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It's the fact of who he is, that you and I get to discover who he is.
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Y'all, I, I, I wrote, I wrote a question down, and I think it may be on your notes.
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It says this In the time that you've been in your relationship with God, or even to this point in your life, what have you discovered about Him? You.
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I know we read about Him, but in your walk with the Lord, or even in this time of your life where you're just like, "I just said yes to Him today."
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But can you look back and realize that when you needed provision, that it showed up? That when you needed healing, He became your healer.
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I want you to take 30 seconds, and I want you to take a moment, and I want you to recall who He has revealed Himself to you, and I want you to write it down on, on your notes.
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Like over time, who has He become to you? And just write it down in your notes.
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Just write it down in your notes or pull out your phone.
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Think about the times when you didn't know if you were gonna survive or make it.
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I've got story after story even from my childhood of God's faithfulness.
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Come on those 30 to 60 seconds This is who you are to me.
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This is what qualifies you as Lord in my life You've made yourself known, and there are times when I don't pause enough to say thank you for what you did.
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Because what you did revealed who you are.
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Joshua says, "Sanctify yourselves.
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Bind yourself to who he is, because tomorrow he's gonna blow your mind."
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But God spoke to us that today the wonders begin today Here you go.
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I can't keep these to myself.
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I'm just gonna tell you.
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Posture number four.
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I ca- I ca- I can't do it.
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I can't do it.
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I can't do it.
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Posture number four, and I'm just gonna give it to you and then we'll piggyback next week.
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Write this down.
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That you and I have position...
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I'm sorry, have permission to be open with the Lord because you know Him.
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You have permission to be open with Him.
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Joshua told Him like, "Lord, you said you were gonna send somebody, but you haven't told me who.
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Lord, I need to know that I've, I've got your favor.
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I just need to know.
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Lord, I need to know that you're pleased with me.
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I just need to know."
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You have permission to be open and honest.
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You have permission.
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You have, you, you have permission to be open and honest.
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He welcomes that.
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And then position number five, position number five Position number five is, Lord, teach me who you are and how you move.
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He said, "Lord, if I found favor with you, uh, teach me your ways so that I can know who you are.
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Show me."
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It reminds me of when Jesus goes to the disciples and he says, "Follow me and I will make you fishers of men."
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Paul uttered this.
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He, he said, "Follow me as I follow Christ."
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It's like, "No, teach me, Lord, your ways, and if you teach me your ways, I'll discover who you, who you are."
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Here's, here, here's a challenge for the week.
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I wanna challenge all of us, and I did this several weeks ago.
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As we're postured and positioned, I wanna challenge all of us to give God 30 minutes, at least 30 minutes every day.
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The power 30: 10 minutes of worship, 10 minutes of prayer, 10 minutes at least of studying God's Word.
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Like, let's begin to work the muscle to where, hey, I'll be as close to God as, as I choose to be.
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I shared this, I said sacrifice the, the, the series that you like.
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Give God that 30 minutes instead of us binge-watching our show.
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If we have to wake up 30 minutes earlier, let's do it.
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If we have to add that extra 10 minutes before bedtime and just ponder and think about His Word, let's do it.
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Let's see how close we can be over these next 21 days that could just become a habit to who He is Y'all, this is gonna be good over the next few weeks.
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I'm, I'm gonna stop and y'all just have to ask the Holy Spirit what the other blanks were It's good, it's good because we just gonna go through the verse verse by verse.
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Y'all want the last one, don't you? I wanna give it to you, I do, but overload.
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They say that you only grasp 15%.
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I didn't what? Shawn, say amen, not a whole conversation.
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Shawn's like my sister No, but how many of y'all this week, the challenge is this: Let's posture and position ourselves to be so close to Him that we engage and we're able to listen.
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Amen? All right.
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I know y'all got, like, two blanks left.
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Next week, we'll fill them in.
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Next week, we'll fill them in.
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Let's pray.
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Father, in Jesus' name, we thank You for Your goodness, for who You are.
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We thank You that You are good and You are God.
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And God, we trust that as we posture ourself and position ourselves close to You, God, that You are going to come close to us.
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Receive all the glory and the honor and all the power and the praise.
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In Jesus' name, amen.
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Thanks so much for joining us.
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