Tag Archives: Christianity

A Call to Love

I’ve been thinking a lot about what it means to truly love people. As Christians, we are called to love others. Jesus said that the world would know we are His disciples by our love for others, but is that what we are known for? I’ve been reminded a few times this week through conversations and quotes I’ve read that we need to learn to love more than we are. We spend more time judging than we do loving and that’s a problem.

One of the quotes I read this week came from Mother Teresa. It said, “If you judge people, you have no time to love them.” We have to fight against our human nature with this one. It’s easy to sit and judge, but difficult to go and love. Loving others requires us to act and it’s not an easy thing to do at times. Judging simply involves talking and requires little effort. It’s up to each one of us to consciously keep our mouths closed and to show others love instead.

Another quote I was reminded again came from Peter Strople. He said, “When in doubt, love.” If you aren’t sure what to do in a certain situation, ask yourself how you can show God’s love to that person. If you were the on,y one who had the opportunity to show God’s love to them, what would God ask you to do? Don’t pass the buck. You may be the only person who can show them God’s love and He is waiting on you to act on His behalf. Mark Batterson said, “Inaction is action. Indecision is a decision.” By not doing anything, you are telling them everything.

I also read an article about Uncle Si Robertson from Duck Dynasty this week. He was asked what his favorite verse was. He said, “John 3:17. Everybody knows verse 16, but nobody looks at verse 17.” In the Message it says, “God didn’t go to all the trouble of sending His son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help.” Jesus didn’t spend His time judging sinners. He spent His time building relationships with them. Why aren’t we following His model?

I’m writing this today to myself as much as to anyone else that bears the name Christian. We are known more for judging than for loving. We are known for pointing fingers instead of helping hands. We’ve been so caught up in being in the world, not of the world that we’ve built walls between the ourselves and the ones we’re called to help. It’s no wonder that church growth is comprised mainly of switchers instead of new converts. We spend time and money trying to build a better service than the church down the road instead of spending time and money on things that help to build the relationships needed to truly grow the Church.

It all comes down to love. It’s not our minister’s job to do it, it’s ours. They can’t touch as many people as we, the body, can collectively. We can’t grow the Church because we’ve separated ourselves from those who need God’s love in an effort to stay clean. Jesus hung out with leppers, prostitutes and the worst of sinners because that’s who needs His love the most. It’s time we followed His example, built relationships with unbelievers and showed them His love in action. Don’t sit in judgement behind walls. Get your hands dirty and love others.

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Changing Routes

When I lived in the Middle East, the U.S. Embassy would often tell us to change our routines and the way we went to work. We were told to find a different path, go in at different times and to be unpredictable in our routes. It was easy to take my route to the church each day. I would ride my bike over the flyover, go up a few blocks, turn left for one block and then go right. I waved each morning to the men at the bakery. I said, “Good morning” in Arabic to the furniture makers. I nodded at the guards at the intersections. I was comfortable in that route.

I think we love routine because we feel there’s safety in it. We can do it without thinking and it’s easy. We see the same things each day and they become ordinary to us. Changing routes and routines throws everything off. There are new sites, new people, and new patterns that cause us to have to be alert and to pay attention. We as Christians should be doing this in our lives often. Not only will it give us a heightened awareness of what’s around us, it can increase our circle of influence.

I pray each day for God to open my eyes to see what He wants me to see, but I keep the same routine and wonder why I’m not seeing anything. Changing routines and routes in our lives changes our perspective. It forces us out of the mundane and into the extraordinary. It allows God to reveal things to us that we couldn’t see from our old perspective. It helps us to see other people who need our help that weren’t in our path before. It keeps our lives fresh.

I’ve heard it said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. How can we expect God to move in our lives, open our eyes and change our perspective if we just keep doing the same old things over and over? We have to get out of what is familiar to us. We have to quit asking Him to put people in our path and start asking Him to put us in their path! If we want to grow, we have to be willing to change.

I’m not a person who likes change, but the company I work for believes in it and I’ve learned to adapt. Being comfortable doesn’t help you to be the best. It helps you fall into a false sense of security. It makes you think that what you’re doing is enough. The rich, young ruler who went to Christ was comfortable. He had kept all the commandments since he was a kid. He did what was right. Jesus asked Him to make a radical change to his routine and route. He couldn’t do it and walked away sad. He wanted different results while doing the same thing.

What routines and routes do you need to change? What is God asking you to do differently than you’ve always done? Are you asking Him to put people in your path or to put you in their path? Changing isn’t easy and doesn’t produce immediate results always. It isn’t comfortable so we typically run from it. Don’t be afraid to ask God what paths, routines and routes in your life you need to change. Once you ask, have the faith to make those changes so you don’t end up like the rich, young ruler.

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Right Words at the Right Time

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I believe in the power of words and in paying it forward. I was excited to see a news story out of North Carolina that combined the two. A family went to dinner at a pizza restaurant and their child with special needs started to get rowdy. People started looking and I’m sure it was embarrassing for the parents. A waitress walked over with tears in her eyes and said, “Another customer has paid for your dinner and wanted me to give you this note.” It read, “God only gives special children to special people.”

At a moment when these parents were upset themselves over the situation they couldn’t control, someone else saw through the temporary and gave them hope through words. Proverbs 25:11 in the Message says, “The right word at the right time is like a custom-made piece of jewelry.” The customer who sent over the note had no idea that this family needed those words at that moment like they did. The mom said, “Little did he know what struggles we had been facing lately and this was surely needed at that moment.”

The mom also said that this one gesture outweighed all the other rude and negative comments they face every day. Proverbs 18:21 says that the power of life and death are in the tongue. Each one of us wields a powerful weapon. How we choose to use it matters. The easy thing in this situation is to roll your eyes and ask why they brought the child into a public restaurant in the first place. I’m sure most of the patrons in that restaurant fit into that category. Thank God for one person who had the boldness to not only say the right words at the right time, but purchased their meal too.

That’s where paying it forward comes into play. I believe paying it forward is scriptural. Most of us had to memorize the Golden Rule as a child: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. There probably isn’t anyone reading this who wouldn’t love to be at dinner and to have the server come over and say, “Someone has paid for your meal.” We would love that, but have we done it for someone else? The Golden Rule doesn’t say, “Do unto others as they have done unto you.”

You may not be in a position to buy someone’s meal, but you are in a position to speak life into someone. If you see someone having a difficult day, give them an encouraging word. If you see someone struggling where you’ve been, offer a helping hand and words of advice. A saying I heard a while back still rings true. It says, “When you share in someone’s sadness, sorrow is divided. When you share in their joy, it is multiplied.” We all have days where we would love to have our emotional load divided with someone. Why not pay that forward today and help someone else out?

If you’d like to read the article I’m referencing, click here.

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Get Up, Don’t Give Up

For the first time in a long time, I watched the movie “Rudy”. If you’ve never seen it, it’s the story of a young kid who wants to play football for Notre Dame. His family laughs when he tells them he’s going to. His high school won’t let him go visit the campus because his grades weren’t good enough. Notre Dame refused to let him in also. None of that stopped him. He finally got accepted and made the practice squad for the football team. Every time he got hit, he got back up for the next play.

The story is really about what someone who has a lot of heart can endure and accomplish. Rudy wasn’t athletic, but he was strong willed. He wasn’t smart, but he was a hard worker. He wasn’t easily dismayed because he had determination. His coaches all wished they could take his heart and put it in someone with athletic ability. He kept pushing for his dream no matter what others said.

Where most people would have given up, he kept getting up. That’s a lesson for each of us today. It’s easy to give up when life keeps hitting us. It’s natural to want to stay down when others think you should just give up. But God put something in each one of us that makes us want to get back up. I know that after a while, that thing that God put in us can get awful quiet compared the thoughts of quitting and giving up. It can seem non-existent when you’re on your back and you have stars going around your head because you’ve just been hit so hard.

Let’s be honest. It’s easy to stay down. The fear of getting hit again tries to talk you into staying down. The embarrassment of the situation and what others think starts to convince you to just give up. It makes me think of a demotivational poster I once saw that said, “At some point, hanging in there just makes you look like an even bigger loser.” Those are the thoughts that the enemy brings to keep you down and to convince you not to get back up. He does that because he knows that each time you get back up, you’re stronger for it.

At some point, he has to quit throwing stuff at you. He knows this is only temporary, but if he can convince you it’s permanent, you’ll stay down and quit. When that happens, he wins. For me, I can’t stand to lose, especially to the enemy. I learned what it took to motivate myself to get back up each day, take a hit and to keep moving forward. It all starts with the mind. You must learn to block the thoughts that tell you to give up. You must learn to motivate yourself with God’s Word. Understand that while you have it bad, someone else has it worse. If they could still stand, I knew I could.

You may have to take several more hits before this is over. Stand strong though. Know that this period of trials and struggles is only temporary. I know that when it keeps coming month after month it doesn’t feel that way. Get back up today, stand your ground and declare that you won’t lose any more ground. Seek God’s strength to help you when yours fails. Know that you are becoming stronger than you ever would have if these things wouldn’t have happened and God will always be able to use that in your future.

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Christianity Is A Verb

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Our Wednesday night small group wrapped up our series on “Unstuck” last night. The video portion that included commentary from several people was challenging. Each person that spoke on that video had a question or comment that got them to be the hands and feet of Jesus to others around them. They also inspired me to do more than I’ve ever done for others, so I want to share with you in hopes of it challenging you as well.

One of the first things Mark Batterson mentioned in this segment is that Christianity was never meant to be a noun. It has always been intended to be a verb. When we allow our Christianity to become a noun, it leaves a bad taste in other people’s mouth. It becomes who we are and not what we do. Jesus said, “Go into all the world. Preach the Gospel to every nation. Make disciples of all men.” Those are all verbs that command us to do something.

There was also a lady on the video who shared her story of how God has used her. She was asked the question, “Who are three people you know who don’t know Jesus and need you to be His hands and feet to?” She couldn’t answer that question. Instead of thinking it didn’t apply to her, she prayed that God would increase her circle of influence. God began opening doors for her to minister to others through washing laundry, helping with résumés and providing necessities for. All because she didn’t think her Christianity should be a noun.

The next part that really spoke to me had to do with stats. Did you know 25,000 people in the world will die today from starvation? Did you know that 5,760 children will become orphans today? Numbers are numbing. They don’t cause action usually. Names are what matters. If you want to see the names and faces of some orphans behind those numbers, click here. I dare you to click that link and move beyond a stat to the face and name of an orphan who needs your help. The real question here is, “Are you ok with this?” Can you live in the house you live in, drive the car you drive, eat at the restaurants you eat at and still be ok with the numbers above? If so, your Christianity is probably a noun.

Mark Batterson said, “When all of the rules and regulations, all of the traditions and institutions, all of the liturgies and methodologies are peeled back, what’s left is the Great Commandment: Love The Lord with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. That is Christianity in its purest form. It’s not enough to love God with 2 or 3 out of the 4 listed. We must find ways to love with all 4. He didn’t give us a choice. He said to do this was the greatest commandment.

Finally, Mark challenged me with this phrase, “On the final day, God isn’t going to say, ‘Well thought, good and faithful servant’ or ‘Well said’. He is going to say, ‘Well done.'” It’s not enough to think of others or to say, “Have a good day; stay warm and eat well” to the cold and hungry according to James 2:16. God is looking for us to stop using Christianity as a noun and to start doing something with it. If your circle of influence of others who need Jesus is too small, I challenge you today to pray what that lady prayed. Ask God today to increase your circle of influence and to give you courage to do something for others because you aren’t ok with where you are.

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The Masada Commitment

My pastor is currently in Israel having the trip of a lifetime for a minister. As I see the pictures he’s posted and hear the stories from his wife I’m reminded of my trips. He posted a picture from Masada the other day that reminded me of a powerful story. I hiked to the top of Masada and watched the sunrise over the Dead Sea without knowing anything about where I was. When I got to the top of this mountain, there was a deserted city there of stone. Most walls had been worn down over time, but you could easily see where everything was.

It turns out that when the Romans were conquering the world, they came to Israel. They had taken over just about every city and had brought it under Roman rule. There was one major city left to conquer. Masada. The Roman army assembled at the base of the mountain and cut off supplies to the city. They began to construct a ramp up the mountain so the army could easily get up there to battle.

As time went on the Romans had made it all the way to the city gates. The people of Masada knew that a battle would be imminent. They also knew that they were outnumbered and would lose. The night before the battle, the men of the city gathered together. They decided that they would rather die than to serve Rome.

Each man went home and killed his family then returned to the meeting place. There they drew straws and chose ten men to kill the rest. Out of those ten men, one would kill the other nine before taking his own life. Today, the Israeli Defense makes that hike after boot camp to take their oath to Israel. They vow that they would rather die than to live under another country’s rule.

This story makes me think back to the early church. The men and women of faith who gave their lives for the sake of the Message of Christ. I think of the men and women today who live in countries where being a Christian is illegal. People today still give their lives for the cause of Christ whether you know it or not. I’ve met them, worked with them and served with them. They know the risks of being a Christian in those places and choose to risk their lives daily so that one more might hear about the love of Christ.

I look at my life and my first world problems and realize they pale in comparison to the sacrifices these men and women have made and continue to make. I wonder about my own faith. Do I have what it takes to risk my life for the Kingdom? Do I believe in the cross enough to accept death rather than denial? You and I probably don’t have to face that choice today, but others do. If we were faced with it, what would we honestly do? Is salvation from God through the death of Jesus just something we hope for or do we believe it enough to risk our lives?

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Why I’m burned out on religion

This is a repost from one of my most popular posts.

I’ve seen first hand what the effects of religion are. I’ve seen people who are forced to follow strict guidelines or risk being shunned by their community. I’ve watched people mutilate their body in hopes of paying some kind of penance. People do a lot of unnecessary things to themselves and to others all in the name of religion. It’s very sad to see.

Religion often seeks to control others. It uses rules and regulations to force people into doing things in order to earn their way into the afterlife. By keeping people guessing about their assurance of their salvation, they can manipulate them into doing whatever they ask. People comply and the follow in the name of this or in the name of that, but really it’s in the name of whoever is trying to control them by fear.

Jesus did not come to bring fear or to control you. It’s just the opposite. II Timothy 1:7 says that God has given us a spirit of power, love and a sound mind. He gives us a spirit of power, love and a sound mind, we won’t be controlled or manipulated by religions that seek to do that. Even in Christianity there are those who seek to manipulate and control through fear.

In Galatians 5:1, it says that it was for freedom that Christ set us free. Jesus didn’t die on the cross so you could be bound by religion and the rules that come along with it. He came to bring freedom from religion. He knew that the only way to have a true follower is if it were by choice. He wants to have a relationship, not a dictatorship.

Another thing that religion does is to condemn people. Condemnation uses shame and judgement to make someone feel bad. By using condemnation, religion seeks to elevate itself by tearing down those who follow it. Those who are under condemnation can never be good enough or do enough. They can never be sure of their salvation, but they keep trying in hopes of making it when they die.

Jesus said in John 3:17 that He did not come to condemn the world, but that through Him, the world might be saved. Where religion brings condemnation, Christ brings salvation. His message was not Hell, fire and brimstone. It was love, compassion and forgiveness. He desires to spend eternity with His creation and made a way for that to happen by paying the high cost of giving His life for you.

Religion also seeks to make you conform. It wants to make you conform into its image, not God’s. It doesn’t want you to be who God made you to be, it wants you to be who they think you should be. When you lose who you are, you are more likely to blindly follow their rules. As mentioned before, Jesus wants you to be free.

He wants to take who you are, all of your successes, failures, scars and shortcomings to use them for His purpose. When you become His follower, he doesn’t make you conform. Instead He makes you transform! Romans 12:2 says that we should not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the entire renewal of your mind. This transformation starts with renewal. You get a fresh start spiritually. Jesus wants to give you a renewed hope and future.

I know what it’s like to be religious and to try to impose religion on others. Jesus didn’t do it that way and neither should we. Where religion seeks to control, condemn and conform you, Christ wants to set you free, forgive you and renew you. In fact, Christianity is the opposite of religion. It is not a set of rules and regulations as some would have you believe. It’s about having a relationship with a God that loves you more than you can comprehend. It’s about living for the One who died for you. While there are those who seek to make Christianity act like religion, that was not Jesus’ intent. He came to bring life and peace. There is freedom in Jesus.

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Storage Wars for Your Soul

One of my favorite shows to watch is Storage Wars. Can I get a “Yuuuuuup” from my fellow watchers? If you aren’t familiar with the show, when people don’t pay their bill on storage units, the company locks them out and then has an auction for the whole unit. When people come to bid on them, they get a few minutes to look in from the outside to determine if it’s worth bidding on. Some units go for cheap while others start a bidding war.

Once a person wins a unit, they then go back and dig through it looking for treasure or anything of value that they can sell to make money on the contents. Sometimes they bust and lose money because it’s nothing but junk and other times they hit the jackpot. It’s fun to watch just to see what people have in storage and to see what things are worth. I think competition has a little to do with why I like it too!

Whether you know it or not, there is a bidding war going on for your soul. One side sees the treasure in you and has bid the highest price possible. The other side will do anything to keep you from recognizing your worth and will fight to keep you from accepting the bid of the other. You are valuable beyond your imagination and you are worth more than you think you are. You are a treasure in God’s eyes.

I used to look at myself and think I wasn’t worth much. It’s hard to think you are worth much when circumstances or people tell you that you aren’t. When you are constantly barraged by words that people use, you begin to believe them. You begin to think they’re right. You question your value and self worth. You sell yourself short and lower the expectations for your life. When that happens, you lose your joy. Nehemiah 8:10 tells us that the joy of The Lord is our strength and stronghold.

In war, when you lose your stronghold and your strength, you lose. We are talking about the war for your life and you cannot afford to lose! You can’t afford to believe the things that people say or what circumstances come your way. In Luke 7, a woman came up to Jesus and began to weep at His feet. In verse 39, a Pharisee said, “If He were a prophet, He would surely know what sort of woman this is who is touching Him – for she is a notorious sinner, a social outcast and devoted sinner.” Her life reflected that because that’s the way people saw her.

That’s not how Jesus saw her and that’s not how He sees you. When He looked at her, He saw a treasure. He spoke of the wonderful act she was doing and then spoke life into her. he said, “Go and enter into peace, in freedom from all the distresses that are experienced as the result of sin.” I believe He says that to you today. He says, “have peace and joy. I am giving you freedom from what others have said about you. You are my treasure and I have sacrificed my life for you because I value you that much.”

You are indeed a treasure. Proverbs 31:10 says you are far more precious than jewels and you’re value is far above rubies or pearls. You need to tell yourself who you are in Christ. You need to say it until you believe it. Say it out loud if you have to. Write it on paper and tape it to your mirror. When you believe in you, like He believes in you, you will have your joy and you will win the war!

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Sowing Without Reaping

What kind of heritage are you leaving your family? Have you thought about that? It’s not something that you do when you are old. It’s something you accomplish with the bulk of your life. How you live now affects the future generations of your family. Each of us were handed a heritage from our parents. Some of us received a good heritage while others received a broken, empty heritage.

Whatever heritage you were given, it is your responsibility to create one for your kids. You have to be aware of the seeds you are planting in their lives. There is a Greek proverb that says, “A society grows when old men plant trees whose shade they know they’ll never sit in.” What are you planting now that you know you’ll never reap the rewards of?

That’s a tough question. For many of us, we have grown up in a world where we live for the moment and not the future. We think, “I wasn’t given anything and I made it. Why would I do anything for someone else?” At work, we always talk about setting the customer up for success. Does the customer have everything they need to be successful once they leave? I’d ask, does your family have everything they need in order to be successful once they leave the nest?

It’s not just monetary things I’m talking about here. Yes, leaving your kids the gift of financial freedom is great, but have you taught them how to manage what you’ll be giving them? If you haven’t, what you’re leaving will be gone soon. What about a spiritual inheritance? Are you leaving your kids and future generation a heritage that will last for generations? What are you teaching them with your lifestyle now that will reap rewards later? Are you just taking them to church so that someone else can teach them “what’s right” or are you teaching them a godly example at home?

It is not the church’s responsibility to teach your children about God or what it means to be a Christian. It’s your responsibility. The church’s role is to reinforce what you are showing them and to provide a group of people who are like minded to help you along the way. If you take them to church and live contrary to the teachings of the church, your child’s faith probably will not last. Actions speak louder than words.

King David left his son Solomon a heritage. David knew that God would not allow him to build the temple. David didn’t just tell Solomon he wanted him to build the temple instead. He drew up the plans and bought all the supplies to build the temple. He knew the value of planting the seeds for something he would never get to enjoy. After he gave Solomon all of the supplies and plans, he then blessed him, prayed for him and charged him to do well.

In I Chronicles 28:8-10, David gave Solomon the things he needed to be successful spiritually which is more important than setting him up monetarily. He said, “Learn to know God…, worship and serve Him…., if you seek Him you will find Him…, take this seriously because God has chosen you…., be strong and do the work.” That is an amazing charge and heritage to leave your family. If you haven’t already done so, begin to do the work of leaving a good, godly heritage for your family. You may not get to sit in the shade of the trees of heritage you plant, but your future generations will be blessed and successful because you did the work now.

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Quit Blaming God

September 11, 2001, was a day that no one who was alive will forget. Since it happened, people have placed blamed on the hijackers, the government, Muslims, George W. Bush and God for the attacks. No matter who you believe was behind it, there is evil in this world and it seeks to destroy. On that day it destroyed lives, buildings, families, people’s sense of security, health, hope and trust.

In John 10:10, Jesus said that it is the enemy who comes to steal, kill and destroy. It bothers me when people place the blame on God when bad things happen. That is not who God is. In the same sentence, Jesus said that His purpose is to give a rich and satisfying life. He does not cause bad things to happen to you. James 1:17 tells us that whatever is good and perfect comes down to us from God our Father.

Why is it that we blame the bad things on God, but not the good things? Somehow we think that we are responsible for anything good that happens in our lives without the help of God, yet we are not responsible for bad things that happen. The Bible is full of scriptures that show consequences for actions: honor your father and mother so that your days may be long (Exodus 20:12), a man who is diligent in his work will stand before kings (Proverbs 22:29), if you are faithful with the small things, God will make you faithful over many (Luke 16:10) and if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can move mountains (Luke 17:6).

Too often we associate God as someone in the sky who is waiting for us to mess up so He can crush us. Yes, just like there are consequences for good actions, there are consequences for going against what He says too. The difference in what the reality of who He is and who we think He is in those times is that He doesn’t want us to stay in those consequences. He always provides a way of forgiveness no matter how bad the sin. He doesn’t want to leave us there so He has provided a way out. II Chronicles 7:14 says that if we will humble ourselves, pray and turn from our wrong doing, He will hear from Heaven, forgive our sins and heal our land.

God has no desire to leave you in sin or to destroy your life. He wants you to live freely in Him, overcome evil and to walk in forgiveness. Your life matters to Him. When evil seeks to destroy you, your life, your home, your business or your relationships know that you can run to God for help. He is a strong refuge (Nahum 1:7). He is help in time of need (Psalm 46:1). He raises a standard when the enemy comes in like a flood (Isaiah 59:19). He fights for you (Exodus 14:14). No weapon that is formed against you will prosper (Isaiah 54:17). If He is for you, who can be against you (Romans 8:31)?

If you are under attack today, proclaim those promises that God has given you in scripture. I’m not telling you these things out of faith. I’m one who has lived those promises and has seen God do it in my life. I know His Word is true and He can be trusted. I have seen Him be my refuge and fight for me when I didn’t have the strength to. I’ve had the enemy come in like a flood and try to destroy everything. When that happened, I cried out to God who lifted up a standard and held back the waters before they consumed me too. If He did it for me, He’ll do it for you. Ask Him and trust Him with your life.

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