Living As a New Creation - Who do You say that I am (Wk. 3) (2)
February 24, 2015
Scripture referenced 13 passages
The passage this message was preached from, in full, with every other passage it reached for.
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Isaiah 43:1 God calling Jacob by his old name and then speaking his new identity as Israel, used to illustrate how God both created and forms us into our true identity
1 But now Yahweh who created you, Jacob, and he who formed you, Israel says: “Don’t be afraid, for I have redeemed you. I have called you by your name. You are mine.
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Keep this verse
Romans 8:1-6
read aloud to show that there is no condemnation in Christ and that letting the spirit control the mind leads to life and peace rather than death
1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who don’t walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus made me free from the law of sin and of death.
3 For what the law couldn’t do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God did, sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh;
4 that the ordinance of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.
6 For the mind of the flesh is death, but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace;
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2 Corinthians 3:17-18
read to show that where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom and that beholding the Lord transforms us from glory to glory into his image
17 Now the Lord is the Spirit and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
18 But we all, with unveiled face seeing the glory of the Lord as in a mirror, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord, the Spirit.
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2 Corinthians 3:16
read as the lead-in verse before 17-18, noting that when someone turns to the Lord the veil is taken away
16 But whenever one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.
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Ephesians 4:21-24
read to show the two-part call to throw off the old sinful nature and put on the new nature created to be like God
21 if indeed you heard him, and were taught in him, even as truth is in Jesus:
22 that you put away, as concerning your former way of life, the old man, that grows corrupt after the lusts of deceit;
23 and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind,
24 and put on the new man, who in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of truth.
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Hebrews 4:12
cited to show that the Word of God cuts between soul and spirit and exposes innermost thoughts and desires
12 For the word of God is living and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and is able to discern the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
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James 3:2
cited to support the importance of the tongue, noting that controlling the tongue means controlling the whole body
2 For in many things we all stumble. If anyone doesn’t stumble in word, the same is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body also.
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Matthew 12:34
cited to show that out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks, used to help identify what is in the heart by what comes out of the mouth
34 You offspring of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.
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John 15
referenced to illustrate that a branch connected to the vine will bear much fruit as a promise of fruitfulness when we stay connected to Christ
1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the farmer.
2 Every branch in me that doesn’t bear fruit, he takes away. Every branch that bears fruit, he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.
3 You are already pruned clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.
4 Remain in me, and I in you. As the branch can’t bear fruit by itself, unless it remains in the vine, so neither can you, unless you remain in me.
5 I am the vine. You are the branches. He who remains in me, and I in him, the same bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
6 If a man doesn’t remain in me, he is thrown out as a branch, and is withered; and they gather them, throw them into the fire, and they are burned.
7 If you remain in me, and my words remain in you, you will ask whatever you desire, and it will be done for you.
8 “In this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit; and so you will be my disciples.
9 Even as the Father has loved me, I also have loved you. Remain in my love.
10 If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and remain in his love.
11 I have spoken these things to you, that my joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be made full.
12 “This is my commandment, that you love one another, even as I have loved you.
13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.
14 You are my friends, if you do whatever I command you.
15 No longer do I call you servants, for the servant doesn’t know what his lord does. But I have called you friends, for everything that I heard from my Father, I have made known to you.
16 You didn’t choose me, but I chose you, and appointed you, that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain; that whatever you will ask of the Father in my name, he may give it to you.
17 “I command these things to you, that you may love one another.
18 If the world hates you, you know that it has hated me before it hated you.
19 If you were of the world, the world would love its own. But because you are not of the world, since I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.
20 Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his lord.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.
21 But all these things will they do to you for my name’s sake, because they don’t know him who sent me.
22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have had sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin.
23 He who hates me, hates my Father also.
24 If I hadn’t done among them the works which no one else did, they wouldn’t have had sin. But now have they seen and also hated both me and my Father.
25 But this happened so that the word may be fulfilled which was written in their law, ‘They hated me without a cause.’
26 “When the Counselor has come, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will testify about me.
27 You will also testify, because you have been with me from the beginning.
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1 Corinthians 13
the love chapter rewritten in first person as declarations of identity, used as a practical tool for speaking who God says we are
1 If I speak with the languages of men and of angels, but don’t have love, I have become sounding brass, or a clanging cymbal.
2 If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but don’t have love, I am nothing.
3 If I give away all my goods to feed the poor, and if I give my body to be burned, but don’t have love, it profits me nothing.
4 Love is patient and is kind; love doesn’t envy. Love doesn’t brag, is not proud,
5 doesn’t behave itself inappropriately, doesn’t seek its own way, is not provoked, takes no account of evil;
6 doesn’t rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth;
7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will be done away with. Where there are various languages, they will cease. Where there is knowledge, it will be done away with.
9 For we know in part, and we prophesy in part;
10 but when that which is complete has come, then that which is partial will be done away with.
11 When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I felt as a child, I thought as a child. Now that I have become a man, I have put away childish things.
12 For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, even as I was also fully known.
13 But now faith, hope, and love remain—these three. The greatest of these is love.
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Ephesians 3:20
cited to encourage dreaming with God, noting that His power at work in us accomplishes infinitely more than we might ask or think
20 Now to him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,
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Ephesians 1:18
cited as Paul praying that the eyes of the Ephesians hearts would be flooded with light to understand the hope and inheritance God has given them
18 having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of his calling, and what are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
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John 16:33
cited as Jesus saying in this world you will have trouble but rejoice for He has overcome the world, used to counter the pull of fear
33 I have told you these things, that in me you may have peace. In the world you have oppression; but cheer up! I have overcome the world.”
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Recap
The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.
This message was the continuation of a series on identity in Christ, focused on what it looks like in practice to stop just hearing about our new nature and actually begin to own it. Amy walked through the difference between body, soul, and spirit, and then gave twelve concrete steps for aligning daily life with who God says we are. The session was as much a working exercise as a teaching.
What was said
Amy opened by having everyone write down attributes under three columns: body, soul, and spirit. The point was not an abstract theological exercise but a way to see clearly, on paper, the difference between what we observe about ourselves and what God says we are. The spirit column, she explained, is not a list of things we have already mastered but a list of who God declares us to be, things He is walking us into.
She then picked up a thread from the previous week about personality traits, both positive and negative, and how seeing them written down gives a person a starting point rather than a vague sense of needing to improve. While she was working through this, she shared something that had come to her in a quiet moment: the question of whether anything is too hard for God, and God's answer, that nothing is too hard for Him, not even working His very image into a person.
From there she read Isaiah 43:1, where God addresses Jacob by his old name and then immediately calls him Israel. She connected that to the experience of still thinking of yourself by the old name, the old identity, while God is saying, no, I have ransomed you, I have called you by name, you are mine. That passage became a picture of what the whole series is about: God holding both realities at once and patiently forming a person into the new one.
Amy addressed a question that a friend had raised about why human beings seem so different from one another, from decent neighbors to people committing atrocities. Her answer was that we are born as God's beautiful creation, made in His image, but also born with a sin nature passed down from Adam. The environment we grow up in shapes how that sin nature develops, but the decision point always comes: will a person remain in that nature or accept the rebirth that cuts off that Adamic line and grafts them into Christ's?
She read Romans 8:1-6 to anchor this, noting that letting the sinful nature control the mind leads to death in actions, attitudes, and decisions, while letting the spirit control the mind leads to life and peace. Then she read 2 Corinthians 3:17-18 on beholding the glory of the Lord and being transformed from glory to glory. The phrase "we become what we behold" ran through everything that followed, and she was direct about the danger of fixing eyes on fear, negativity, or other people's sin and drifting back into the old nature as a result.
She laid out three levels of learning: knowledge, which is a soul-level taking in of information; revelation, which is the Holy Spirit speaking truth to a person's spirit at a depth knowledge alone cannot reach; and experience, which is walking the first two out in actual life. She said dead theology is what happens when you have knowledge or even revelation but never walk it out, and she used the image from Song of Solomon of someone coming out of the wilderness leaning on their beloved as a picture of what the walking-it-out produces.
The session closed with twelve practical steps, including keeping a journal of who God says you are, watching the words spoken over yourself and others, asking the Holy Spirit to identify thoughts that do not line up with your new nature, and beginning to plan a future in alignment with that identity. She also shared a version of 1 Corinthians 13 rewritten in the first person as a declaration rather than a standard, so that the love chapter becomes something to agree with rather than a measure of how far short a person falls. Amy pointed ahead to the following week's topic: learning to recognize and hear God's voice.
Doing a Bible study?
Here is a guide we have prepared for you: the passages in order, questions for the group, and room to write.
- Amy walked through the exercise of listing your body, soul, and spirit attributes separately. What did you notice when you tried to tell the difference between what your soul says about you and what God says about you in your spirit?
- Amy read from Isaiah 43:1 and pointed out that God addressed Jacob by his old name before speaking to him as Israel, the identity God had given him. Is there an 'old name' or old identity you find yourself slipping back into, and how does it feel when God calls you by your new one?
and 3 more questions in the guide
Read the full transcript 14,386 words
0:01
Let's open in prayer. Father, thank you so much for the sunshine today. Mhmm. Thank you. Thank you for just your steadfastness and your faithfulness to us, father.
0:16
Thank you for who you are. Thank you, Lord. We we love you. We have so much to be thankful for even in the midst of colds and flus and all the things that are going around us in the circumstances and in the situations of our life, Lord. I just I just am amazed how much there is to be thankful for.
0:41
Yes. Father,
0:44
we love you. We love you, Lord. Father, I pray that today you would give us ears to hear, Lord, your spirit. And for me, Lord, as I'm as I'm sharing, Lord, I pray that I could just so clearly hear you lead me through this and what you want me to say and what you want me to leave out. And for each of those that are listening to this, father, I pray that each would not hear just me speaking, but your spirit, Lord, unveiling it to deeper levels than I can even express it, Lord.
1:21
More than I can say, Lord, your spirit can unfold it. So, Lord, I pray that we would each be open to that, Lord. Thank you. Thank you so much. We love you, Lord.
1:36
We love you. Father, we pray all these things in your son's name, Jesus. Amen. Okay. So we are going to continue on the second point from last week that it's time to to embrace our new nature.
2:01
It's time to own it, not just hear about it. And we talked about the body, soul, and spirit last week and gave the definitions of them, but I'm gonna do a little exercise right now. I want you to write down the words body, soul, and spirit, but give a chunk of space in between each one. If you've got a piece of paper, give give a fairly good chunk of space between each one. Body, soul, spirit.
2:35
Okay. And first, under the... First one under your body, I want you just to write down a few attributes that would describe you you, personally, you. Some of your body attributes. Your hair color, your eye color, your weight, your warts, your...
2:53
These are things about these are things about our outer shell. Even if you have physical ailments, if you have things that are happening in your body, it's part of your physical outer shell. Just take a few minutes and write some of these down. And this is something that you can really expand upon later. But for now, I just kinda wanna get it started.
3:34
Okay. Okay, next one. Write down some of your soul identity. Some of your thoughts or your opinions, some of your emotions, feelings, desires. And if that's kind of hard to go, I don't know what my emotions are.
3:50
Just think about the last twenty four hours. Okay? Some of the some of the things you've maybe expressed an opinion about in the last twenty four hours. Some of the things that you've had a strong emotion about. Some of the some of the desires that you've thought about.
4:07
Say that again. What?
4:10
So it's your soul identity. Mhmm. And it's it's... Personality. Well, it's not so much personality because your personality entails more.
4:17
We'll get to that in a minute. But it's it's thoughts, opinions, emotions, feelings, desires. So so like think of the last twenty four hours even or the last forty eight hours, what are some of the emotions you've been feeling? Or some of the opinions you've expressed? Desires you've had?
4:54
So the soul is more what you
4:56
think. Yep. Yeah. And just since I paused the recording, just to get this on there about the the pet peeve. I...
5:09
Because I think that really is something that really... If we have pet peeves, it really does come up. That's our... That's definitely a part of our soul. Mhmm.
5:18
You know, if we've got some strong opinions about certain things.
5:22
You can list soul destroyed by peace.
5:24
Okay. Okay. Next is your spirit identity. Now, list some of the things God says about you. Who you are as a new creation.
5:37
What is... And it can be some of the things that we've already talked about from the first couple weeks or some of the things that were on that list. Some of the things that you've just... The Lord's been telling you over the years as you've walked with him, but just what does God say about you as a new creation? Again, remember, this is what God says about you.
6:18
Okay? Mhmm. God speaks over us before it happens a lot of times. Mhmm. Okay?
6:24
This is who we truly are, our true identity. It's not what we see about ourselves, it's who he says we are, that he is now walking us into our true identity. This is the identity that we received when when we became born again and we received our sinful nature was cut off and we received the nature of Christ. What is part of that nature of Christ that God says over you now? Okay?
6:50
It doesn't necessarily mean it's it's something that you are... Have conquered and are walking out a 100% in your life, but who... What does he say you are? Okay. You can...
7:28
These are gonna be kind of an ongoing list. I just really wanted to get it started, so I didn't tell you, usually I should do this, and then not ever get to it, because that's what I did when I heard this teaching a long time ago. I never got to it, making my list. But it's also gonna come up later. We'll we'll talk some more and use it later on today.
7:48
But the next thing I want you to do is we talked about some of our... Last week we talked about personality and how we have personality traits. Some are positive, some are negative. Some of the examples that I gave last week of personality traits... Let's see, some positive ones would be like if you're honest, if you're brave, if you're optimistic, you're a risk taker, you have strong values, you're open and trusting, you can be challenged without getting offended, you're teachable.
8:24
Those are... I mean, there's some... You know, you're merciful, you're gentle. There's a lot of great positive attributes in a personality.
8:34
What do you want me to ask you to do?
8:35
So I
8:36
want you to list some of your positive attributes in your personality. And then I also want you just to list a few a few negative attributes that might come to mind. Some of them that I listed for examples some examples that I listed last week are like fear, insecurity, negativity, anger, jealousy, suspicion.
9:36
So we're going back to?
9:39
No. These aren't... These are just some of your personality... Personal personality traits that Okay. Are...
9:46
And they do kind of overlap with your, you know, with your soul identity, some of them for sure. But One of the reasons that it's really good to to do this and just to write it out and see it in front of you instead of it just kind of being this thing that's in our head somewhere out here is, first of all, it just gives you a place to start, to to move forward. Okay. This is... These are some areas, Lord, that...
10:40
Okay. I see myself as impatient, but you say that I am patient. Mhmm. Mhmm. You know, I see that there is this in my life that I have an issue.
10:49
I'm dealing with some anger in my life, but you say that, you know, that I am loving and gentle and kind and forgiving and all those things. So it's just kinda to see a point of where you wanna go forward. See some of your... To see some of your personality traits just kind of... And sometimes it's really hard to do ourselves.
11:10
Mhmm. You can sit down with a really good friend, you know, that you... Where you guys trust each other, and you can kind of talk and share this out together. Sometimes that's very helpful because you can really see... You know what?
11:22
In the last year, Lord has really started aligning this part of my life and my personality with who he says I am. I am so much more gentle. I am much more positive. I am... And then and then you can say, but there's these I really need help with.
11:39
You know? And and so it's just one of those things of of being able to kind of have a little bit more of a a visual road map of of some of the things, some of the specific. And just really seeing more specifically, this is my body, this is my soul, this is my spirit man, and recognizing the difference. The other morning, and this can be a little bit daunting sometimes, if we see these things in our life and we're like, okay, I've got some work to do. But this, the other morning when I was just sitting there, the thought just went through my head.
12:18
I was sitting there just kind of writing and waiting on the Lord, and and the thought just came to my mind, is there anything too hard for God? And so I wrote it down. I'm like, no, nothing. And and, you know, when we think about is there anything too hard God, we're thinking of somebody getting healed from cancer or somebody, you know, I can't find a place to live and He can find me a place to live. Or, you know, all of these different things.
12:45
But He just so quickly brought it down to the the bottom line. He says, nothing is too hard for me, not even working my very image into you. And I think sometimes we don't realize what a powerful thing that is that he's doing. That... What a powerful work it is that he is taking us and walking us through this journey, and he's molding us into the image of his son.
13:15
And what a powerful miraculous work that is. Now remember, we're starting from already being seated with Christ, already being a new creation. Okay? The sinful nature has been cut off. That's a miracle all in itself that we can even get to that place.
13:35
But through the sacrifice of Christ, we have now gotten to the place where we are now the... We're a new creation. We've been reborn. Okay? But there's still, like I mentioned before, there's still thought processes and habits and yeah.
13:50
Ways We're just ways of thinking and whatever that still re... Are are reverting back and thinking like our... There's even bodily things. You know, like if you're if you're a drug addict and alcoholic, you've got pornography issues. You've got these things that have affected your physical body.
14:09
You know, your physical body is gonna be pulling back to that sinful nature. Now, is that person a new creation? Absolutely. The word says they are a new creation when they come to Christ. But they have to retrain and renew their body, soul to line up with their spirit.
14:28
Okay? And that's a that's a process. And once you start realizing and walking through it yourself and seeing how much grace and long suffering and patience God has with us in the process, it's much easier to have grace and patience and long suffering with each other. And know that, you know what? This is who you really are.
14:50
Come on. I believe this is who you are. And you just keep walking each other and walking with each to who you truly are and not thinking about what's over our shoulder. This summer, I was... I had...
15:06
Or maybe it was this fall, I had gone to church by myself. Matt was out of town and so after church, I ran over and and got a tea, hot tea and went and sat on a bench because it was a beautiful sunny morning. And and the Lord just said, Isaiah forty three one. And I was like, okay. And I love I love that chapter.
15:29
And so, I went to Isaiah 43 and I just started reading through the whole chapter. And the Lord backed me up and said, no. He said, Isaiah forty three one. And I'm like, okay. So, I went back to the first verse and this is what it says.
15:48
It says, but now, O Jacob, listen to the Lord who created you. O Israel, the one who formed you says, do not be afraid for I have ransomed you. I have called you by name, you are mine. Okay? I had...
16:05
I have read this dozens and dozens of times and never seen this part of it. He says, but now, oh Jacob, listen to the Lord who created you. Jacob and Israel are the same person. Okay? Israel is after God gave Jacob his new name and said, this is who I say you are.
16:24
Okay? But he's saying, Jacob, listen to the God who created you. He goes back to Jacob's original name and says, I created you. I created you. I made you a man.
16:34
Formed you. But he says, Oh Israel, the one who formed you says, do not be afraid for I've ransomed you. I have called you and you are mine. He he he... There's...
16:47
I'm sure there's part of Jacob that still was thinking, I'm Jacob. That's still not in his mind believing he's Israel. So God goes, okay, Jacob. Okay. I created you.
16:57
Yes. But now listen, Israel. I'm also the one who formed you. I'm the one who shaped you into who you truly are. And he goes on.
17:08
He says, do not be afraid for I ransomed you. I have called you by name. You are mine. How perfect of a picture is that of Jesus? Mhmm.
17:17
How he says to you, do not be afraid. I have ransomed you. I have called you by name. You are mine. Okay?
17:26
You, yes, I created you, but now I've ransomed you. I've given you a new name, a new nature, your new creation, and I'm forming you. Do not be afraid. I'm forming you. There's a huge difference between those two.
17:41
But I just think it's interesting how he... I don't know, but it's almost like he had to get Jacob's attention Mhmm. By his old name. Go, Jacob. And then he says, no Israel, I formed you.
17:53
Remember? K? And and sometimes I can look at myself and I think about the Amy that I used to be. And then I think about the Amy, the beloved Mhmm. That I am now.
18:08
Mhmm. And it's just a whole different picture, and it's just... I can just see how he's been molding and forming and changing me. He's ransomed me, and I'm his. And each one of you are the same way.
18:19
He's ransomed you, and he's forming you. I had a conversation recently with a really good friend of mine who lives out of state, and she has a really deep walk with the Lord. And she just had a fourth grandbaby born. And and she is a pretty young grandma and she loves all the babies. And and she just said, you know, she goes, I just don't understand how looking at this beautiful precious baby to think that it has you know, some people say that we're so evil.
18:51
Humans are so evil and whatever. And she goes, I just don't see it in this precious baby. I don't... I can't wrap my mind around it. So I...
19:01
It got me to thinking and just praying and asking the Lord about that. And and even when you are looking in the world and there's a huge spectrum of of human activity and human thought process, even in the unsaved world. I mean, there's everybody from people that are really nice neighbors, you know, and they're my kids' coach and they're great and they're really... They're wonderful people to people over here who are, you know, over in the other side of the world burning children alive and thinking they're doing it for God. I mean, there's a huge spectrum and it's like, how do we...
19:40
And that is a, you know, it's a big question for a lot of people. It's like, okay, how is that? But, this is this is a very small, narrow, little kind of answer. There's so much that you could study on this, and some things we just don't know. But, basically, as I've been praying about that just from talking to her, is that we are we are born a beautiful creation.
20:10
I mean, God says that the human body is his prized creation. Okay? We're born in the image of God. We're... We are a beautiful creation.
20:19
But because of Adam and because of his sin, we are born with a sin nature. It's just a... It's like a... Kinda like one of those genetic things that just goes down through the line. So you're born with it.
20:33
And when you're a infant, it may not show up right away. Okay? I mean, it's gonna kinda raise its head at times, but you don't really see it that... But it's there. You are born with a simple nature....
20:48
What I've been going through is wanting to know. Mhmm. And it goes back to the Garden of Eden, and they want me to eat from the fruit tree of good knowledge. Mhmm.
21:00
You know? Mhmm. It's like, I just wanna know. I wanna, like,
21:05
be in charge. And and he just keeps saying no.
21:09
Just do
21:10
what I say. It's gonna be okay.
21:12
You know?
21:14
Do these things that I've told you. Uh-huh. And... Yeah. And...
21:18
But that that desire to know... Just just to know
21:22
Yeah. What's going on. Well, there's... I mean, I don't want to go off too much on the bunny trail, but there is there is something in us that wants to... That it's okay to know and to understand.
21:37
God tells us, ask for wisdom. Ask for understanding. Ask for knowledge. But it's it's not... But then there's a place where we can get off into our soul.
21:45
Not... Yeah. And we're not trusting.
21:47
Yeah. That we wanna be... Play God.
21:50
Yeah. And that we can get way off.
21:53
That's that's the original sin.
21:55
Yeah. But just to just to kinda... Before I lose this too much is, okay, so we're born and we're beautiful creation. We're made in the image of God and yet we have this sinful nature in us. This passed down from Adam and passed down through our families.
22:09
And even though we may not immediately start manifesting that sin, it's gonna start raising its head. And depending on the environment that we're in Mhmm. It's gonna get formed and it's gonna get shaped. And either it's gonna get fed and we're going to... Our sinful nature is really gonna rise up and and whatever.
22:27
And there's also there's also the whole realm of the spiritual realm that is going to be, you know, that is tempting you and and bringing temptations into your life, but there's worldly environment that we live in. And there's there's people that... Kids that grow up in Christian homes and are surrounded by people encouraging them in a Godly nature and are training them basically how to to reject their sinful nature and walk in a Godly nature even before they give their life to Christ. Okay? So they're teaching them and training them how to live in a godly way and then there's and then there's people that are in environments where literally, I mean, I list...
23:10
Don't know if you know Graham Cook is. I listened to his testimony again the other day and I mean, he grew up in one of the biggest mafia families in in UK, you know. And I mean, from the time he was this big, he was stealing cars. And you know, and and I mean major. It was like he never went anywhere in his life without a band of people around him to protect him, you know.
23:31
Because they were... He was always in danger of being killed by the other groups, you know. So there's all this. But basically, but then it eventually comes to that place where we have to make a decision. Okay.
23:45
Are we going to live in our sinful nature and that's our identity? Or are we gonna accept Christ and the renew... Rebirth and and and that sinful nature be completely... That... I mean, that line of of the sin from Adam is cut off of us and stopped in our lives.
24:04
Okay? But we make that decision. When we become born again in Christ, we inherit Christ's nature. It's just like a baby, you know, inheriting... When you're a baby, you inherit, you know, your parents' natures.
24:19
But in Christ, you inherit Christ's nature. And you get that from the line of your heavenly father. K? It's no longer Adam's line that you come from. You're now the father, the spirit hovered over Mary before...
24:36
And can... She conceived Jesus. Okay? So the heavenly father was Jesus' father. Okay?
24:42
So when we're born into Christ, he's our father and he's our nature. Okay? So then, we are a new creation. We have a new line. But the thing is, there's gonna be some things that immediately will change, but then there's some things that, again, we are going to have to be changed and our and our environment will change and it will shape who we are.
25:05
Mhmm. We become what we behold.
25:10
What is
25:11
that behold?
25:12
What you look at. Okay. Like, when I look at those mountains, I'm beholding the mountains. We become whatever we focus on, whatever we look at. We manifest or live out whatever we focus on.
25:25
Mhmm. Okay? That's a huge, huge part of our our being formed and shaped and renewed into the image of Christ, into our true identity is what we focus on, what we look at, what we listen to. Mhmm. Okay?
25:43
Those things are gonna be what form us and shape us. There's so much good scripture on this. You know, for just your own study, I'm telling you Romans isn't amazing. There's so much in Romans. I could just read the whole book practically to you, but, just, I'm gonna read just in Romans eight, like one through six, just to kind of tie some of this together.
26:13
There... So now there is no condemnation for those who belong in Christ Jesus. Okay. We talked about that. He...
26:20
There is no... When I looked up the word condemnation there in the Strong's Concordance in the Greek, it's a a damning judgment. You've had a judgment put on you and there's no changing it. Okay? But when you're in Christ, that has been taken away.
26:38
Okay? There is hope. The judgment has been lifted off, has been fulfilled. There's no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. And because you belong to Him, the power of the life giving spirit has freed you freed you from the power of sin that leads to death.
26:55
The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent His own son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body, God declared an end to sin's control over us by giving his son as a sacrifice for our sins. He did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully satisfied for us who no longer follow our sinful nature, but instead follow the spirit.
27:27
Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things. But those who are controlled by the heavenly spirit think on things that please the spirit. So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. Okay? Letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death.
27:47
But letting the spirit control your mind leads to life and peace. Okay? Now, even... What exactly was that one? Romans what?
27:57
Eight? Romans eight one through six, and verse six is really big there because when we're in our sinful nature and before Christ, that sinful nature is leading us to death. It just is. There's no... That's just...
28:11
That's the only road it goes to. But when our mind is controlled by the spirit, it leads to life and peace. Now when we let our mind start wandering back to our sinful nature, it's gonna again lead to death. We may be a new creation, but it's gonna lead to death in our actions, death in our attitudes, death in our thoughts, our decisions. It's it's...
28:36
When our mind is controlled by the spirit, it leads to life and to peace. It's just so important to remember what we look at, what we focus on. I mentioned what we listen to because that's part of our receiving in, is gonna determine... It's gonna be term... It's gonna determine who...
29:01
What we manifest in our lives. I wanna look at second Corinthians three seventeen and eighteen. I love this verse, these verses. What's the chapter? Second Corinthians three verses seventeen and eighteen.
29:24
Again, this is a... This whole chapter is so good. I really encourage you go back and read the whole chapter. It's talking about the old covenant and how incredible the glory was on Moses when he went up, ascended the mountain, and and and got before God. And the glory was so great on him, he had to put a veil over it so that people wouldn't see it fading away.
29:45
But if that was great, how much greater is the new covenant and the glory that we carry inside of us now that never fades away. Okay? And we don't have to wear this veil anymore. The veil between God and I has been... Between the God and us has been re...
30:03
Been removed. And verse 16, I'll start there, but whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. For the Lord is the spirit, and wherever the spirit of the Lord is, there's freedom. So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And, the Lord who is the spirit makes us more and more like Him as we are changed into His glorious image.
30:34
Some of the versions talk about it being like a mirror. Mhmm. Okay? As you behold it in the mirror, the glory of the Lord, you're being transformed into his same image from glory to glory. The more we look at the Lord through his word, through just walking it out day by day, being in communion with him, the more we are focused on him, the more it's going to change us into his image.
31:00
Okay? I I think of, like, you know, sometimes we can get pulled over into our soul by... If there's somebody in our life who's very negative. Okay? Mhmm.
31:21
And if we're not careful and staying with our focus on the Lord while we're in relationship with that person, if the Lord's called us to walk out some stuff with that person and still be in relationship with him, if we're not careful and keep our mind and our focus on the Lord, where he's what we're seeing and he's the one that is filling us, we will all of a sudden find ourselves starting Amen. To get negative. We will be... We will become what we behold. Mhmm.
31:51
All of this stuff is going on in the world right now. Mhmm. You know, we have to be careful. If we behold that more than we behold God and what God says in the word about who he is and what he's doing and the rock that we're standing on, the foundation we have, we can become very fearful, we can become very angry, we can very frustrated. Okay?
32:12
So we really have to be aware of what we are looking at. But the most beautiful thing is the more we look at Christ, the more we are changed into his glory. Over and over it says from glory to glory, we are being transformed into his glory. Okay? So it's not even something that is out there anymore.
32:33
It's us. It's in us. His glory is living in us. Mhmm. Okay?
32:39
It's it's it's in us anyway because Christ is in us. But it's like, it's taken residence of the home. Mhmm. Do you know what I mean? It's no longer just kinda...
32:49
That's in that stuff out there that's so frustrating or whatever, it doesn't even bother us.
32:55
Not if you not if you keep your focus on the Lord. Now it's not... I'm not saying that we need to become hermits. Okay? And and and become people that......
33:06
Deal with it. Well, you don't want to become somebody who ignores what's going on. Okay? We can't just say, okay, I'm living in my little world here and Jesus will come back and get me. And I don't know what's going on out there, but, you know, and stay in this.
33:24
That's not what I'm saying because the whole purpose of being changed into his image is to ex... Display his image in the world. Mhmm. Okay? And be the light in the darkness.
33:35
So how do you do
33:36
that? And it... Well... What's going on right now? Well, right now.
33:41
But... I... How do you do that?
33:45
Well,
33:47
think I can help answer her question. Okay. Because I was gonna say, were just listening... John and I were just listening to a teaching from one of our teacher in Kansas City the other day, and and he was talking about the times we're in. And he's talking a lot about what Amy's saying is it's important as we get changed in our inner man.
34:10
It's important to keep our focus on the Lord and to put ourselves in his presence through the word and through worship and through listening. Because the more we know him, the more we'll be able to hear his voice. The the Lord.
34:26
Be
34:38
gonna And
34:40
for each of us, it'll be different. But there will be
34:43
a there will be a calling. There will be a there will be a go here now. Go there now. I mean, the scripture says, the day will come where one is in the field, one is taken and one is left or or that... Don't don't go back and get your stuff.
34:56
Go to the mountains, you know, now. I mean, that's just a person hearing the Lord. Mhmm. Hearing the spirit of God saying, what's happening right now, you need to act this way right now. And then this is what I'm gonna do, and this is how I'm saving you in this moment, or saving you, you know, the...
35:12
And that is so so key, and that's actually... We're going through... There's three hows that I wanted to teach tell you about. The first one was the word. This one is about embracing it.
35:23
Next week, we're gonna talk about learning to recognize and hear God's voice.
35:28
And so by immersing yourself...
35:30
And that's huge is hearing his voice.
35:32
And it says, we will suddenly know how to handle situations which used to baffle us. Like, you keep immersing yourself and it will come to you instead of, you know, us go, okay. We'll deal with this situation like this. The more you read, the more you know and the more you understand. You just have to keep making time to read 05:00 and and seek out what he's trying to say to you.
35:59
And the more you do it, the easier it comes and the better and clearer his...
36:05
You know, and the and the thing is is that God is not only... He's not only going to be showing us... He's gonna be showing us who he is more and more and more and what His thoughts are about what's going on. Okay? He's gonna be changing our heart to not...
36:25
We're gonna be seeing things differently. Things that used to make us angry are now... We're gonna be filled with compassion for them. Things that used to, you know, where he's going to... Because there are times that, you know, you can look at how Jesus reacted to certain things and you're like, oh my gosh, I could never, Lord, how...
36:47
I would never have reacted that way to that situation, you know. And yet, Jesus did nothing that he didn't see, didn't hear from the Father, didn't receive from the Father, saw the Father. He was so in tune and one with the Father's heart. Okay? And that is what this do...
37:04
This is doing to us. It's gonna... It's not... It's gonna be renewing our mind. It's gonna be renewing our hearts so that we will begin to see things the way that God sees them.
37:13
We'll be able to react to things the way that He would react to them. Does, mean, part of the journey is learning to hear His voice and recognize His voice when He's telling us. But it's also that all of a sudden you just find yourself somebody that I used to be so angry with or so. All of a sudden it's like, oh God, I see that they're just an angry person themselves. They need you.
37:40
They need you. They need to be loved, you know.
37:43
Just think of the... I mean, just, you know, the climate and and the days that we're part of and and just such the the calling to... I mean, of his kingdom. I saw a a... An interview of a brother of...
37:58
So one of the Christian's that were beheaded. Mhmm. And the brother of two of these that were that were Martin. Yeah. And he...
38:09
It was just a... You know, such a... Not of the temporal dimension, but completely of the eternal. Where he could be praying for those who who literally cut off. And he was thanking that the tape, that when they ran the tape, that they were basically saying we're not denying Messiah.
38:33
And they're standing up for their faith. And the brother of the two that got murdered, who's thanking them that they actually ran that tape for the testimony that our brothers are absolutely doing good. Straight to heaven. Yeah. And then they came.
38:46
And and it's just I think what we're talking about is just we are no longer of this temporal Mhmm. Place. Mhmm. We are absolutely citizens of an eternal kingdom of light. Mhmm.
39:01
And and it's radical. Our soul, I think, is just so weak to comprehend that. Mhmm. And to really, really comprehend who we are in Messiah. Mhmm.
39:17
But oh, that we would get to that
39:19
place where that brother can say, my two brothers whose heads have been brutally murdered and that we're no longer tied to this flesh. It's like, you know, the fear... What is that scripture? Where it's like, you know, oh, who... You shouldn't fear.
39:37
Those, what can they do to
39:39
this temple flesh? I mean, really, what can they do? If your soul is grounded in Messiah Mhmm. That's the place that we live and breathe from. Mhmm.
39:48
So...
39:49
And and then again, in that in that interview, and the and he
39:51
said the the interviewer was
39:52
asking him, well, what would
39:53
you what would your mom say if if he saw some of these ISIS people? He's like,
39:58
you know, my mom would them in and
40:00
share with them about the kingdom of God. It's like, oh, for such unshakable faith. Not contingent upon what happens here. It's so far. Mhmm.
40:11
And you know, it's our human nature for fear, especially living in the world, and and that's where, you know, we've got to draw from what Jesus told us in John sixteen thirty three. Yeah. He says, written in red, might I add, that in this world, you will have trouble, but rejoice. I've overcome the world. Yeah.
40:28
You know? So he's got it under control, but it's our nature to let the fear consume us so that we don't project who Jesus is, that he is in control.
40:38
Right. And...
40:39
But that's our old nature.
40:40
Exactly. Yes. Exactly.
40:41
And see, that's the... That's where the line has to... That's where God is trying so hard with me, with all of us to get us to go, no, that's my old nature. My...... Fear behind.
40:53
My new nature is that I am an overcomer Right. Yeah. And that I do not have fear.... Right now is to recognize the new nature. Pardon me?
41:01
To to recognize the new nature.
41:03
Mhmm. It's Recognize and agree with. To... Yeah. It's to to find out even...
41:07
You know, to study and find out even what is part of my new nature. Nature creeps up and goes, oh, that's what that Exactly. And just say, no. This is... That's empowering.
41:16
That's really really powerful.... Become more able to see your new nature Mhmm. You basically are walking along with the armor of God. Mhmm. And and and I'll throw in a little example that happened to me a couple days ago.
41:29
Someone in my circle was heavily criticizing me. And at first, I thought, you know, should I... Is this true?
41:39
And then I thought,
41:40
no. It isn't. And and the person just wanted to be... Well, the person just wanted to be correct. You know, sometimes people just wanna be whatever.
41:48
And and and I I realized that all this person wanted to do is to make themselves feel better by trying to make me feel bad. Mhmm. And so I just... You know, I did... And they were criticizing how I was parenting my children.
41:58
And I just thought... And I just said, you know what? That's cool. I hear you loud and clear. And I will continue to parent my children excellently,
42:08
and I
42:09
have to go now. And... But I never... I mean, those of you who know, you know, me and some of my history, I never would have been able to have that boundary. And it wasn't really blessing.
42:20
It wasn't a boundary. It was... I had the armor of God in a sense. I had this new nature that said, you know, do I have to accept all this stuff that the world is throwing at me? Is it really me?
42:30
And I was like, I I really... I did think I was like, well, I hear you loud and clear. Mhmm. Mhmm. You know, I'm not saying that I agree with what you're saying, but I hear you loud and clear.
42:40
And I'm just gonna continue to parent my children excellently. You know? Because because sometimes Satan wants to take your power away by giving you this false identity Mhmm. And saying, this is your identity. And and and and people love to participate in that.
42:57
And I really had a concrete example of what it was like to walk in a situation with a new nature. And after the fact, I was like, wow. That felt really good. I didn't I didn't buy into their perception of my nature. I stuck with what God says about me and and and what I
43:14
know about me. Mhmm. Mhmm. I think that's a really good example of... I listened to a testimony, a really powerful testimony recently and...
43:24
Of a man. And basically, the bottom line of what he was saying is, are we gonna let somebody else's sin against us? K. Somebody else is offended at us, is mad at us. Is...
43:36
Are we gonna let somebody else's sin against us bring out sin in us? As... Cause us to sin, bring us to sin. Okay? Or are we going to just say no?
43:48
Okay. Lord, this is this is who you say I am. Mhmm. I'm gonna walk in your grace. I'm gonna walk in your love.
43:55
I'm not gonna take that on because he gave this amazing testimony. If he would have allowed that to cause him to sin, if he would have chosen to sin against that person Mhmm. That young man would have never come to the Lord. He would have never led tons of people to the Lord. He was killed shortly after that in a horrible accident, but all that happened in between was unbelievable what God did in his life.
44:20
And yet he says, if I would have risen up in my soul And plus it... It would have been a whole... Peace. Yeah. It it totally faked
44:27
because you're
44:28
going towards death. You're not going towards life and peace anymore. You if I had
44:31
responded and basically taken the bait and start arguing the case, I already had a miserable day, but instead I was very much at peace like, wow. Okay. Yeah. You know, I know I'm okay, and I'm doing a great job. Empty.
44:57
In my garden. In his desire to win that argument, but I didn't sin back. Yeah. So, you know, there was there was no sinning on my part. I just...
45:05
No. Okay.
45:07
So I want to I want to look at a verse... Some scripture here in Ephesians four. Ephesians four. 21 through 24. And there's...
45:20
This is almost repeated several other places in the word. I mean, in in is the scripture again? It's Ephesians four twenty one through 24. And it says almost the same thing in Colossians. I'm sure it says it in numerous other places.
45:37
But this is where Paul is writing to the Ephesians. He said, let's see, make sure I have the right verses. Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, Throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God, truly righteous and holy.
46:09
Mhmm. Okay? There's two parts of that. Okay? There is us letting the spirit renew.
46:19
Okay? There's the working of the Holy Spirit. The spirit's renewing, but there's also our choice and our action of throwing off the old mindsets and taking on, putting on. What it... Let me see here.
46:33
What is this? Instead, let's put on your new nature. Mhmm. In verse 24. Okay?
46:41
So, it's very much... It's a partnership. Right. Okay? It's like we can only go so far on our own without God.
46:50
Okay? And then we're working out of our soul. We... We're... And that's like...
46:55
That's where you get into religion is when you're trying to be good out of your soul. Mhmm. Okay? You're trying to do it all right. Do do do it right.
47:02
So you can't... You cannot renew your mind by yourself. At the same time, God will only do so much without us participating. Okay? He will keep on and he will gently keep coming back to us and reminding us of who we truly are.
47:18
But we will not change until we choose to throw off some stuff and walk it out and put on our new nature. There are three three ways really of learning information. There's three different levels of learning. Okay? We can learn through knowledge.
47:42
Okay? Gaining knowledge. And this can be about anything in the world. Okay? You can read a book on satellites and how they were built.
47:53
Okay? And you can gain knowledge about it. You can you can gain knowledge about all kinds of things. Okay? And this is pretty much a a soul level of learning.
48:02
Mhmm. It's not bad. It can be if you're learning stuff you shouldn't be learning, but it's not necessarily evil in and of itself. It's just that our soul, our mind, our intellect is learning information. Okay?
48:12
That's knowledge. The second type of learning is revelation, and that's through the spirit. Whole different level. Okay? When the spirit suddenly...
48:24
The spirit of God speaks to your spirit man and gives you understanding that is beyond knowledge of this world. Okay? That's where it talks about... Where it says that the wiz... I think it's in Corinthians where it talks about the wisdom God confounds the wisdom of men.
48:42
Mhmm. It's so much higher than the wisdom of men. Okay? It... When the disciples, they were like, who are these common fishermen?
48:51
Have they been with God? Yes. They have. They've been receiving revelation by the spirit from the spirit of God. Totally different totally different kind Is is consolation that God speak
49:04
to us through our spirit. Because sometimes, you know, there
49:09
are people who discern that from the spirit or for people, it's hard to sometimes understand if it's from your soul. But is the revelation sometimes always related to more the the Bible, the words? It
49:29
always it always lines up with this. Or it also Okay.
49:32
Relate through whatever daily lives are involved.
49:36
You know what? It can... He can speak it in any way. You know? I mean, he can...
49:41
It it can be through the words. You're reading it, and all of a sudden, you've read that verse a 100 times and it just pierces you. Mhmm. And it's a word to you right now. Gemma, this is who I say you are.
49:51
This is what I'm telling you to do. This is, you know, the direction for your life. That's a revelation or it's just an understanding of a truth. All of a sudden it's like, oh, that's grace. You know, that's what...
50:02
It can also just come through nature. You can be out walking and all of a sudden see a, leaf fall off a tree and the Holy Spirit says, you know, gives you just the understanding of a truth in His Word through that picture you just saw. But it's just, it's the understanding from a spiritual realm of how God sees it. It's the truth of God's that is so beyond just the knowledge of the world. Does that make sense?
50:30
So it's a special touch. It... I mean, it's just...
50:34
Well, even I think what you were sharing earlier about
50:36
the day you went out after church and had become coffee, the Lord just spoke in the day of forty three one to you.
50:43
Yeah. There was just all this... And it just opened
50:45
of a sudden, he just opened your eyes to a new revelation of what
50:48
You know what?
50:49
It's that... Our own identity.
50:51
In Ephesians one eighteen, Paul is praying for the Ephesians. He says, I pray that your hearts would be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope He has given you... Given to those He has called, His holy people who are rich and glorious in His inheritance. So He's saying, I pray that your light... Your heart...
51:12
The eyes of your heart will be flooded with light, His light, to help us understand. It's just a deeper understanding in our spirit.
51:20
Yeah. Even one that... It has nothing to do with the actual coincidence, but it's just like this validation of the veil lifted and this... Yes. You are seeing the other side.
51:34
Yeah. You're just seeing it. We are connected. Yeah. It it can be a it can be a truth that you've heard.
51:40
I mean, it can be down to the... Such a basic thing. Like, you've heard the song Jesus loves me since you were two years old in Sunday school. Mhmm. And then suddenly, one day, the spirit of God says
51:52
to you, Jesus loves you,
51:54
and it wrecks you. Mhmm. And for the first time in your life, you're like, Jesus loves me. He loves me. I mean, there's just...
52:05
It... There's a... There's just a... Where it just pierces to a deeper level. So those are the...
52:12
Knowledge and revelation. The third type of learning is through experience. And when you take either your knowledge or your revelation and you walk it out. And it's... That is the deepest level of learning.
52:32
Okay? That's where the deepest change will come is when you actually take the information and walk it out and live it. You know, in our... Just in our soul knowledge, we all... Just stuff that we learn, you know.
52:48
There's... We all know that you really learn by doing. Mhmm. Okay? You can tell a little girl how to bake a cake, but she's not gonna know how to bake that cake until she's got flour all over the kitchen floor and she's stirring it.
53:01
And it's a totally different experience when you get your hands in. Okay? In the same way, it's so so different when we take that revelation that just even the information that we're getting in this class and we go out of here and we start walking it out. It's gonna just take that and just how he he he talks about Ephesians how the... Our roots would go deep in his love.
53:24
Mhmm. Okay? How do our roots grow deep in the love of God? By walking it out and seeing, God, you love me. You love me.
53:33
You love me. Today, in this situation, you're pouring out your love. I see your love. I see your kindness. It's going deeper and deeper and deeper the more we walk with him and experience it.
53:47
I just put, why don't we live on spiritual mountaintops? You know, sometimes we think the spiritual mountaintop is the greatest when we go to a conference and we get all this revelation from the Lord and and it's just such an amazing thing. It's like, why don't we live up there? Because we're supposed to go down into the valleys and start walking it out and that's when it really becomes ours. Mhmm.
54:08
It's when we really take ownership of it. Mhmm. K? Jesus was constantly speaking revelation, truth to the disciples, But you see a drastic change in the disciples after Jesus' ascension. They're filled with the Holy Spirit because that's the empowerment which we all have as Christians that...
54:35
And it says that we need to keep be... Being filled. It's that something that we need to ask the Lord, fill us, fill me today with your spirit. But when we're filled that spirit and then when the the disciples, the apostles ended up walking that out for the next however many fifty years or whatever their lives were till they were... I mean, what a difference we see in them after they are walking out those truths.
54:57
And they would look back and go, that's what Jesus meant by that. They would recall his words. Go, that's what he meant when he said those things. Because now they're walking it out and they're seeing the reality of it. Let's see.
55:19
I put here, we get dead theology. Okay? We get just a theology that's dead when we have either soulish knowledge or even spirit revelation, but we don't walk it out. Okay? When we're not walking it out and it's not a part of who we are and it's a living flowing river flowing through us, it just becomes a stagnant pond.
55:42
And we become somebody that speaks all this stuff out of our head knowledge and out of our soul, you know. And we're preaching at people, but it's not life to people. Okay? The walking it out of our of our own life, when we walk it out ourselves and get in the trenches and are are shaped and molded and and go through the hard places with the Lord and come out the other side, like in Song of Solomon, who's that one leaning on her beloved coming out of the wilderness? Mhmm.
56:12
We come out of that wilderness leaning on our beloved, it's gonna be beautiful to us and to the people around us. And then it's it's life when we are ministering when it's flowing out of it. It's it's not just a dead theology. It's not just something that's just lifeless. I want to...
56:37
There's just one other thing here is your destiny or your future is directly connected to your identity.
56:52
What is it again? Again?
56:53
Your future is directly connected to your identity. Okay? Who you see yourself to be will be exactly where you go. Okay? If you don't accept your new identity in Christ, you'll never fully walk out God's plan for your life.
57:14
Mhmm. You'll never fully walk in the inheritance that he's given you. K? Your your future is very much connected to your identity. K?
57:25
I'm not gonna play it for you, but there was a video I I found again last night on YouTube. Probably most of you have seen it. It's this this man, I don't know. He looks kind of Asian, but he's a fifteen year veteran. He was a paratrooper in the Gulf War.
57:45
And after jumping so many times all those years, he... I mean his knees and his back were just crushed and ruined. And he was in knee braces, he gained a lot of weight, he pretty much was in a wheelchair, couldn't walk, the doctors told him you will never walk again. And so that was what he had basically committed his life to. He's just in this wheelchair.
58:07
I'll never walk again. And he had been that way for like fifteen years. And and I I get the feeling that his son was part of what got used to kind of start... Because I could... You could see the son was starting to take pictures of him.
58:21
Come on, dad. Come on, dad. Let's get up and go. You know, whatever. But eventually, he found someone that would...
58:30
It was a yoga instructor Oh, I see. That would help him start exercising and doing things and getting back into motion. Okay? In six months, he lost a 100 pounds.
58:44
Wow. Wow.
58:45
In ten months, he lost a hundred and forty forty pounds and was running. Wow. There's pictures at the end of this man running, jogging. Doing handstands in his house. But it showed a lot of pictures in this...
58:58
I meant video of him standing there and falling over. I mean, he he fell over and over again over and over again. What is this? It's on YouTube. I can...
59:08
Yeah. I can send you the video of it. But the but the the point is, he did he he did that out of his soul strength. Okay? Mhmm.
59:17
And see how how much he was accomplished, he could accomplish even out of his strength of his soul to make a decision. I'm gonna start exercising and walking. But he... What what the thing was though, he saw himself as a different person. There was somebody that says you can do this and so his identity started to change in his mind and therefore his future changed.
59:42
Was able to get to Manifested. He was he was able to get to a different future because his identity and his mind changed. Okay? But... So so think how much greater in the spirit.
1:00:03
Okay? When we're not just doing it out of our own strength, we're doing it with life and the spirit of God in us, telling us, I see you walking in the image of Christ on this
1:00:14
earth. Mhmm.
1:00:15
And that's that's the identity that we take on, how we begin to move and walk. Okay? It doesn't just happen by sitting on the couch. It didn't happen for that man to sitting on the couch going, okay, in my mind, I'm thin and can walk. He had to get up and move, you know?
1:00:32
And with us, it's not gonna happen if we just sit and do nothing and just know it. Mhmm. We have to get up and walk practice it and move towards it. Okay? Mhmm.
1:00:43
But how much greater when the spirit of God is working in us, getting us to our true identity? Mhmm. But our future is very much connected to our identity. So if you don't like where you are now Mhmm. Maybe your identity in your mind is what got you to where you are now and you need to change who you see yourself to be.
1:01:05
Who Christ is that you are. So you can walk, become who he says you really are. And why would we do that?
1:01:12
You know,
1:01:13
why wouldn't we wanna
1:01:13
do I that? Just... Like,
1:01:17
I... I'm so anxious to be that person. Yeah. I wanna leave here today. I just I wanna start being that person.
1:01:25
Yeah. You know?
1:01:26
It's just...
1:01:27
It really
1:01:28
sounds amazing Well, to
1:01:31
it's... There is a battle. There's gonna be a battle between our soul and our spirit. But I'm telling you, you've got all of heaven cheering you on. You've got the resurrection life of Christ in you, empowering you if we just choose to move in that direction.
1:01:46
But listen to that side of the cheerleading team instead of the other because you're be out here waiting to trip some court.
1:01:52
Yeah. That's the thing. Is is is you have to recognize that there is a spiritual battle for your soul. And and, you know, to to deny it, then setting yourself up for tripping, be aware of it and recognize when it is trying to trip in you and choose the other direction.
1:02:10
Just reprogram your mind. I've got doesn't tell you so. I'm so excited. We finally got to the practical tips. I've been mentioning them for three weeks.
1:02:22
So here we go. There's just... There's 12 of them here that I'll just give you. And some of these have are... 12 step.
1:02:30
And we can... I didn't even think about that 12 step. But some of these we've already been discussing. Okay. But I'm just gonna just as nice to have it in in a line.
1:02:40
That is not that's last week. So next week I'll bring you copies of this week's notes. But you can jot down some of these notes if you want and then next week I'll bring you copy. But... So some of these we've already talked about but it's nice to have them just in a list sometimes to go, okay, these are things.
1:02:56
The first one is just be aware that you're on a journey.
1:02:59
Be
1:03:00
aware that you're even on this journey. Okay? Be alert to God unfolding it to you. That He's leading you, that He's setting you free of old mindsets, that He's calling you to walk in new arenas and depths of your identity. Just just being aware of it, know.
1:03:16
Just ask the Lord, give me eyes to see that you're unfolding my my identity to me, that you're unfolding my future to me. So being aware of it is one. Second is, as you're reading the word, highlight and date specific scriptures that very specifically speak to your identity, to your inheritance, to your position in Christ. I... You know, when I was studying for this, going back through my journals, it was so amazing to actually see the dates, not just that I had read those things, but the dates and go.
1:03:55
It was so encouraging in one piece, discouraging in some ways that it took for so long. Lord, I'm a slow learner. But it was encouraging to see how persistent he is. And he's just, I'm leading you through this Amy. I'm leading you.
1:04:08
I'm not giving up on you. I'm leading you through. And so just highlight those and and and so so when you look in your word, they'll stand out to you. This is who I... This is who you say I am.
1:04:17
Third, ask the Holy Spirit to identify thoughts and words that don't line up with what God says about you. And this this may come when you're just sitting down in your quiet time. It may come spontaneously when you're in the grocery store Mhmm. And you start to have a thought about something, about yourself, a reaction to something, and the Holy Spirit will just identify that and say, you know what? That's not your new nature.
1:04:45
That's the way you used to react to those things. But I wanna change that and mold that so that you don't react that way anymore. It's good to sometimes just write these things down, the words and thoughts that don't line up. Mhmm. Write them down.
1:05:02
And then on the other side of the column or whatever, write down, ask God to show you the truth, your true identity. I did that recently with some of my fears and it was amazing. It's like, it truly... Fear to me has become almost like the Wizard of Oz and the little guy. He's the little scared guy behind the big screen.
1:05:23
You know? I mean, when you lay out these things that you know, are your old nature against what God says, this become... It just takes the power out of this. It really does when you see what God says about you. It's so...
1:05:38
Even that process of just seeing them up against each other. This is this is how... This is what I'm afraid of, but Lord, this is what you say about that. And it's just... It's foolish to be afraid of that.
1:05:50
It's not the... Reading the word, Hebrews four twelve, it says the word of God is alive and powerful, sharper than it, sharpest two edged sword, cutting between the soul and the spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. When we are reading the Word of God, it will... If you are open, okay?
1:06:13
If you are shutting down and just reading it because it's your to do list, you know, it's what they... And you may not have eyes to see it. But if you're open and saying, Holy Spirit, show me, that word will be... It'll cut between the soul and the spirit. It will.
1:06:28
It'll just it'll just cut between it and say, this is this is your soul. This is your spirit. Mhmm. This is the way I want you to live from and bring your soul along. Okay.
1:06:40
Number four, keep a special journal. I know not everybody's a journaler, but even my husband who is not a writer and not a journaler has learned the value of journaling and loves it. He's just amazed so many times when he goes back and rereads his journal, he's like, did I write that? It's like God was speaking to me through my own words and I didn't see it until I wrote... Reread it.
1:07:04
But just keep a specific journal of who am I? Mhmm. I gave a friend a a journal recently and in the front of it, just wrote the words, who am I? And just when the Lord speaks to you whether through the Word, through something somebody else, a sister in the Lord or a brother in the Lord says something over you, you are such an encourager. Go back to your journal and write that out.
1:07:26
I am an encourager because that's that's the Lord speaking over you who you are. You know, you really have a a gift for teaching. I really think you have an anointing for teaching. Write that down in there and go, Lord, is this you? Bring this out.
1:07:40
You know, if this is you
1:07:41
Mhmm.
1:07:42
Start revealing it further to me. But I think it's really good to start keeping a journal. Because then when we start falling into... We're going through a rough point and we start falling back into our old mindsets, go back to that and go, no, this is who you say I am. These are the scriptures you say I am.
1:08:00
Number five, be aware of the words you speak. They're so important. Life and death are in our tongue. Okay? James three two says, if we can control our tongue, we can control our whole body.
1:08:15
Mhmm. Our tongue is so important. There's three areas that you need to watch for your tongue. What you say to yourself over yourself. You know, one time I caught myself when I did something, dropped something.
1:08:30
I'm, Amy, you're so stupid or you're so clumsy or you're so... And it's just like the Lord just stops me and he's like, don't speak that over yourself. You know? Meditating on the word actually means to mumble it over. It's like a a cow chewing her cud when you meditate on the word.
1:08:50
So just meditate on the word as you're going about your day through when you're cleaning your house. I am so courageous. I am fearless. I have nothing to fear. I have nothing to fear.
1:09:00
I am so patient. I am so kind.
1:09:04
Mantra. It's like what a mantra.
1:09:06
Sort of, but it's it's even more powerful than just positive reinforcement, because it's the spirit of God infusing it. It's the truth. Yeah.
1:09:14
It's just speaking in agreement.
1:09:15
As you're speaking in agreement and you're you're retraining your soul really to think in a certain way, know, to think. Because it's like an athlete. Athletes that just keep... Tennis player keeps doing it over and over and over and over. They say that you have to do something 10,000 times before you really get good at it.
1:09:36
But then, it's like you don't even think about it. You just do it. You're not thinking. Mhmm. Okay?
1:09:41
And there comes a point where you just continually agree with what God says about you. You no longer have to say that constantly over yourself. It's just... It's who you are and you know it. You're retraining yourself.
1:09:55
So the words you speak over yourself are important. The words you speak to others are important. Mhmm. About yourself and about them. You know, just be aware of of the words that are coming out of your mouth in daily conversation.
1:10:08
And the third one is in prayer. We really need to watch what we're saying in prayer. I think we can really fall into the begging widow syndrome more than... Begging widow is where you're just like, you think God is not paying attention to you and God would you please just listen to me, you know? And just, you know, like he doesn't see that somebody's sick or he doesn't see that we have a need.
1:10:38
He says that... The Lord says he knows what we need before we even ask. But he wants us to come and ask because then it's a partnership. And it's showing our submitted heart to him and we're asking. But there's a different kind of asking, it's not begging like he doesn't know, it's like, thank you.
1:10:55
Thank you that your heart is for me. Thank you that this is what you say you're doing and you are working more than I can imagine and you are bringing me into this place. You are answering. You are doing more than I could ever think or imagine. Mhmm.
1:11:09
Just declaring in your prayer... Just declare it in your prayers what God says, who He says He is, who He says we are. Just agree with Him in our prayers. So just our prayers is a big place. Matthew twelve thirty four.
1:11:29
I thought that was interesting. It's one, two, three, four. Matthew twelve thirty four. Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. Out of the abundance.
1:11:40
If you find your mouth is saying things that really it shouldn't That's be
1:11:45
the flip side.
1:11:46
Out of
1:11:46
the deprivation of the heart
1:11:47
and minds,
1:11:48
the mouth. Is it twelve thirty four?
1:11:50
Twelve thirty four. Matthew twelve thirty four. Out of the abundance. So it depends. If if you find your mouth saying things that you really don't think should be saying, it's like that will point out some of those things in your heart, God.
1:12:02
Okay. This part of my soul needs to be renewed. Okay? And so I'm gonna start speaking those things out of my spirit instead and change my soul. But if you find yourself saying those things that really should be said, then you can see God is changing my...
1:12:19
God is changing my heart. He's renewing me. I love I love in John 15 where it talks about the branch. You know, if we're connected to the the vines connected to the branch the branch to the vine, we will bear much fruit. It is a promise.
1:12:38
If you're connected, okay, the sap's gonna go through and you will produce fruit. Okay? And so I think that's something just to encourage ourselves. Okay? We will bear fruit as we are connected to the vine.
1:12:56
Number six, share with others. You know, if you've got some close girlfriends, people that you're in a small group with or whoever, your husbands, whoever, share with others that you trust what God is telling you about yourself. You know, and share it with each other. You know, what what God is saying about each other. So you can remind each other of who you are when you're walking through some hard stuff or just encourage each other through the day.
1:13:23
I think this is so important. This is really picture of the essence of true accountability. True accountability isn't looking at somebody and smashing, you know, smushing them and telling them what they're doing wrong. True accountability is saying this is who God says you are and pulling them up to it. Mhmm.
1:13:41
That's accountability. Okay? So I think it's so good just to have people in our life that we're getting together with regularly and just sharing our... You know, this is... I'm going through this.
1:13:51
This is hard. I'm I'm afraid of this. Mhmm. And this person goes, yes. Okay.
1:13:56
But this is what God says about you and I'm gonna walk you through it and he says that you're fearless. Okay? Now, is a tip that Janice, this friend of mine who teaches on this, she uses this tip and she says, don't use the word I except for when you're speaking about your spirit man. You say my body's tired, my soul's discouraged, but I am full of the spirit and full of joy. Okay?
1:14:25
And that may seem like it's cutting hairs and I don't know if you need to do that the rest of your life, but it is a way that's going to show you what's coming out of your mouth.
1:14:33
Is that still
1:14:34
part of number seven? Say it again.
1:14:35
That is part of... That's number seven. Okay. Don't use the word I except for when you're talking about your spirit man, who you truly are, who God says you are. Can you say more...
1:14:46
So there's so there's your body, your soul, your You can say, my body is tired. My body's sick. I... My body doesn't feel good today. Mhmm.
1:14:55
My soul is discouraged. Okay? My my soul is Yeah. Angry.
1:15:01
Rather than saying I'm tired.
1:15:02
Yeah. But then you say, but I... Okay? I am... Me find it here.
1:15:08
Heard that... Today. Am I am thankful. I am full of the Holy Spirit. I am...
1:15:14
You know, I am who who God says I am.
1:15:17
The more passive...
1:15:18
Yeah. My soul may be discouraged, but I have hope. Uh-huh. I have hope. I am pressing on to who He says I am.
1:15:25
And it just really, it just helps you recognize and be aware of your attitudes and your words. Number eight. Ray McDaniel, our pastor said this in his, and it was so funny because he was preaching out of Corinthians and the rest of the sermon was really good, but this just went shooing to me. It was the one thing that stood out and I talked to him afterwards. We had a great talk about it.
1:15:51
But he just says, be who you already are. Be who you already are. Declare it. Practice it. Be it.
1:15:58
Don't keep thinking, I have to get there. I know we're in process and we're walking it, but practice it today. You know, heard somebody say, you know, how do you become loving? You practice it. Be it today.
1:16:12
Don't just think, okay, I'm gonna keep being rude and someday I'm just gonna flip the switch. I'll be loving. No, practice today. Be who you already are. Be who he says you are.
1:16:22
Practice it. The same friend that I was talking about earlier, she was teaching and kinda talking about some... A little bit of this, but not totally all this. But this is one of the things that she gave us and I wanna make copies and give it to you. But what she does is she takes scripture.
1:16:40
This is out of first Corinthians 13, the love chapter. And we always look at the love chapter and it's just like, I'm so not patient. I'm so not long suffering and kind. I am so irritable. And it makes us feel how unloving we are.
1:16:54
And instead, she wrote it out and she goes, I am patient and kind. I am not jealous. I do not sing my own praises. I am not arrogant or rude. I do not consider myself.
1:17:05
I am not irritable. I do not keep track of wrongs. I am not happy when just... Injustice is done, but I am happy with truth. I never stop being patient.
1:17:16
I never stop believing. I never stop hoping. I never give up for I am in God and God is in me and God is love.
1:17:24
That is nice. That's right.
1:17:26
So she would... In the in the normal practice of everyday life, she would... She has four sons that she's raised. They're adults now, but you can imagine a house of four sons. And she said there would be moments where she would just stop and she goes, I am patient.
1:17:41
Lord, I am patient. And just just agreeing with that word before she stepped into dealing with her sons and what was going on, it put her Mhmm. In a place where she was like, okay, Lord. My focus is back on the spirit and who you say I am. It just...
1:17:57
I'm gonna walk this out by your spirit. I'm gonna go slow to speak, slow to anger, quick to listen Mhmm. And just walk this out in patience because that's who you say I am. So just taking... You can take any kind...
1:18:11
You know, all the scripture and just say, this is who I am in Christ.
1:18:15
A good tip for irritated teenagers to make them repeat, I am patient.
1:18:21
I am ignorant. I speak kindly. I'm gonna use that. The difference is... The difference between just being a a mantra though and this is when you do have the spirit of God living in you.
1:18:35
And agreeing with it and having that infused. And it's not that you can't Mhmm. It's not that you can't train your children and it's so important to train them to agree.
1:18:44
It would just be good to remind them.
1:18:45
Absolutely. Mhmm. Absolutely. But but then there's that whole... It takes it to a whole different depth when when the spirit of God's also your partner working it out, and you're not just trying to work
1:18:57
it out of your soul Mhmm.
1:18:58
Strength, you know. Three more. And these three are kind of... These these three are some things that you can do as you go or sometimes when you just take time just to be along with the Lord. But the first one is meditate on how it would affect your future if you walk in your God identity.
1:19:21
Just take some time and think about it. How is this gonna affect my future if I really walk in who God says I am? If I am walking without insecurities, if I'm walking without anger, if I'm walking without some of these things, how how is that gonna affect my future? If I if I no longer see myself as shy, but I'm seeing myself God, like we talked about last week, we may... In our personality, we may feel shy, but God says, no.
1:19:55
I want to I want to refine that. You are gentle and gracious, but courageous. Mhmm. Okay? There's a difference.
1:20:01
Shy, we'll keep you back in the corner. Gentle and gracious is beautiful, but courageous is where God can use that part of your personality to bless others and bless yourself. So how is it gonna how is it gonna change your future if you're walking out who God says you are? The second one is... Or the...
1:20:20
Of these three is number 11, is similar to this, but it says, dream about what God will do through you as you walk in your new identity. Ephesians three twenty, again, is one of my go to verses because it talks about how... Now, let's see. Now, all glory to God who is able through His mighty power at work within us to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Mhmm.
1:20:51
By His power at work in us, He's gonna accomplish more than we can think or dream or imagine. So we need to start dreaming. Mhmm. We need to start imagining and going, okay, God. What are some of the things that you wanna do through me with your power that's at work within me?
1:21:07
Not just me relying on my own strength and my own, you know, falling behind my own insecurities and whatever that I... What are you gonna do with with... Through me that I can never think or imagine?
1:21:20
You know, there's like a John Lennon quote or something where he says that it's only a... With someone up, it like takes two or two or more. I don't know. It's like with with... It's only a dream.
1:21:36
It becomes a reality when you're when you're doing it with... I can't remember that one yet.
1:21:42
I don't know.
1:21:42
How long was that at Ephesians one?
1:21:44
It's a three... Ephesians three twenty... Verse 20. Thank you. Uh-huh.
1:21:49
And and take take some of these things that you're dreaming about and put them in your who am I journal. Right. Right. You know, write some of them down. It really is amazing.
1:21:58
Like doing it with Mhmm. I mean, it's really amazing to look back, you know, over time and go, oh my gosh. I really am living out some of those things that were my desires and my dreams back there, but I never thought I would ever be able to do that. Right. You know, for me to be sitting here teaching or to get up and lead worship in front of a huge room of people Mhmm.
1:22:22
And do it and love it is a miracle. A miracle. I'm very much a hide behind. You know. When I first started Mhmm.
1:22:32
Fifteen, twenty years ago, I had been playing instruments all of my life and played in a country band when I was a young girl with my dad, but I was in the background. But when I started playing after years of not playing, I took time off during college and early marriage, and I came back and started playing in a church... Was meeting in a library. I put the keyboard behind a bookshelf and was behind the bookshelf playing while they're out there singing. I mean, you know.
1:22:57
But so... But it's just one of those things, you know, that God brings you along and you start to see, oh, this was a dream and a desire that I thought I would never do, and yet, here I am. So it's really awesome to dream with the Lord. Number 12, the last one. And this is sort of like the dreaming, but it's taking it one step further, is start planning a future in alignment with your new identity.
1:23:23
Think about some changes in some relationships, some activities that you might do, some different things. Just just start kind of, you know, making some... Make some small plans. Next month, I'm gonna do this because you say you say this about me, so I'm gonna... You know, just this this small, little, tiny, this is like nothing, and yet it has been such a blessing for me this last week while I was in bed sick.
1:23:50
One of the things that I did is I pulled out... I've always wanted to paint, and I have I have an aunt that was a... She died when she was, like, 102 or something, was an amazing painter. And I've always wanted to paint, but I've always... I've never done it.
1:24:05
I took one little drawing class in college, and they were like, your bottles stink. And I was like, okay. Okay. I I believe you. I believe you.
1:24:13
You know? And I agreed with what they said and I never did it again. And yet there was this thing in me that wanted to do it. So now as the Lord has dealt with me about not being afraid of being embarrassed, I'm starting to to pull out and start, okay, well I'm gonna try some new stuff. So this week when I was in bed, I had bought a little pack of watercolors right before Christmas because I felt like I was supposed to start kinda moving in that direction.
1:24:36
Pulled them out and started playing with it, and oh my gosh, it was so much fun. Mhmm. It was just so much fun just doing these little things, but it's starting just this week or next month or next year. Start kind of planning some things, just little things. And that that doesn't seem like...
1:24:53
That's not gonna change the world to me painting a little two inch picture of a little flower. And yet it's... But it's changing the
1:25:01
Mhmm.
1:25:02
That reverberates, and who knows where that will go someday. You know? So it's just taking those steps of of making some changes. So, anyway, those those are some basic... Just some basic steps.
1:25:20
Peter... Jesus warned Peter... Remember when they were in the garden and Jesus warned Peter, keep watch and pray so that you do not give in to temptation Mhmm. For the spirit is willing, but the flesh, the body is weak. Okay?
1:25:34
And Jesus didn't freeze you. And what happened? Peter fell into temptation because he didn't watch and pray. He fell asleep. He fell into temptation.
1:25:43
Now he was restored. He learned an incredible lesson. His roots went deep. The roots, I mean, just... And and then you look later at Peter later on in the Bible after he's full of the Holy Spirit and restored and his focus is on the Lord.
1:25:59
He's... I mean, God used him to build the church. It's unbelievable. Mhmm. But we do need to be aware as we're walking this out.
1:26:06
Mhmm. Our flesh this week, our spirit is willing. Right. Watch and pray. Mhmm.
1:26:12
Watch and pray. Next Next week will be... I think our our last week will... We were gonna talk about that and and see if... But next week is my last point of the three hows is I really wanna talk about learning to hear and recognize God's voice.
1:26:34
That is so huge. And, I mean, what was one of the very defining things about Jesus Christ when he was walking on earth? Is he did nothing without hearing the father. Okay? Everything he did, he saw the...
1:26:48
What the father was doing. He listened to the father. He didn't speak except for what his father's told him to speak. And if we're going to be shaped into the image of Christ Mhmm. And walking as he has told us to walk in Christ, we really have to learn to recognize and hear his voice.
1:27:06
I know all of us probably are at different levels and some of us hear it a lot. Some of us aren't sure what... If... Sometimes we know we're hearing and sometimes we're not sure. And it's just some things, just some ways to start learning to recognize his voice.
1:27:20
Not only for when he's speaking direction to us, but when he's speaking over us. You know, just what... Because he does like to speak to us personally, personally, who he says that we are and things that he loves about us. Mhmm. Correction sometimes.
1:27:34
And also so that we can... You speak to other people. Speak over... Speak life over each other. We can hear what the father is saying so we can speak it over other people.
1:27:44
Mhmm. So that's gonna be what next week is. But So let's talk about that. Are you done? Okay.
1:27:52
Yeah. No. That's fine. Let me turn this off.
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