Hello and welcome to Help
In Daily Living, today we are
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going to be talking about
developing a strong Christian
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character, It's very important
that we develop a strong
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Christian character because
our character is the only
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thing we are going to
take with us to heaven.
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We really want to take
with us our possessions,
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our status, and maybe
our houses, or our money.
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But we can't take that with us.
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Only our character,
and what is our character?
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It is our thoughts and our
feelings, it's what we really
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are inside, our beliefs.
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Jesus tells us to develop
a strong Christian character
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means that we have
to take a narrow road.
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That is the road of duty
and discipline, it is the road
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not of ease, but
the road of resistance.
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There won't be many
people following that road.
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It will be a road
that less people take.
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Before we look at spiritual
things we really have to turn
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to God in prayer and ask Him
to guide our thoughts, so I'm
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going to ask Anna to
lead us in a word of prayer.
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Let's pray, Dear Father in
heaven thank you so much for
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the opportunity You give
us to build characters and
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that You have promised to
be with us through all of them.
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I would just ask that You
would please send Your Holy
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Spirit and angels to be
with us and to give us wisdom
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and understanding. In
Your name I pray. Amen! - Amen!
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When I think of a Christian
in conflict I picture someone
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who turns the other cheek.
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But while I was a
Christian I am to be a peaceful
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loving and kind person,
and I'm not to be easily
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swayed by others.
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I am to be true to principal
and to stand true to Christ.
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However in my own strength
I can't find the balance
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between being strong and
assertive on the one hand and
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lowly, meek and
submissive on the other.
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When Christ is present in
my life, all of these character
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traits are blended harmoniously.
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One thing I must always
remain true, I must always
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stand for the right
and not be swayed by
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flattery bribes or intimidation.
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I sing the mighty power of God,
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just listen to those words.
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God is mighty and
powerful, God is not a wimp,
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He is not a pushover, and
we His people are called upon
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to reveal His mighty power.
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When I am faced with tough
situations, I can stand with
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confidence and with great
strength God can give me to
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stay true to
Him, no matter what.
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The one who created the
mountains, seas, and all that is
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in them is the same God
who strengthens you and me.
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I sing the mighty pow'r of God,
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that made the mountains rise,
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That spread the
flowing seas abroad,
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and built the lofty skies.
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I sing the wisdom that ordained
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the sun to rule the day;
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The moon shines
full at His command,
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and all the stars obey.
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I sing the goodness of the Lord,
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That filled the earth with food
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He formed the
creatures with His Word,
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and then pronounced them good.
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Lord, how Thy
wonders are displayed,
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where'er I turn my eye,
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If I survey the ground I tread,
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or gaze upon the sky.
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There's not a
plant or flow'r below,
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that makes Thy glories known,
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And clouds arise,
and tempests blow,
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by order from Thy throne;
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Creatures that
borrow life from Thee
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are subject to Thy care;
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There's not a
place where we can flee,
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But, God, is present there.
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God is there!
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God wants us to sing His
mighty power and He is powerful
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in our lives.
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We are weak but He is
strong. Have you experienced His
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strength in your life James?
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Yeah, when I was a kid I
wanted to serve God but at the
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same time not give
up my selfish habits.
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I will never forget this
one day I realized I was living
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on the fence.
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We were giving a Bible study
to this guy in a mobile home,
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a Bible worker and myself.
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And we were giving
this study, it was entitled
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How to Give
Your Heart to Christ.
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As we've were studying
this we were reading text and
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filling in the answers and
so on, but we got to this one
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question that was
called What is the cost of true
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discipleship? The text that
was in there was Luke 14:33.
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It said, "so likewise, whosoever
he be of you who forsaketh not
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"all that ye hath,
cannot be My disciple."
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Wow! - and those were some
pretty strong words because
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at that point my life I had
things in between God and myself
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- talk about self-denial, I
mean forsaking all that you have
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to go after Christ.
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And the second text said,
Matthew 16:24, "if any man will
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come "after me let him deny
himself and take up his cross
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"and follow Me." So I
realize that the truth
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I was sharing with
this man, was the very truth
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I had to apply
to my life. - Wow!
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So I learned that in order
to serve God, and fulfill my
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desire to serve God, I
had to forsake all that was in
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between God, my relationship
with God and start the day
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with Jesus and deny self daily.
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That is a daily struggle
and you have to constantly
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surrender to Him. Right?
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Well I know I struggle a
lot with making sure when I wake
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up in the morning I surrender
myself to God, but I have to
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make sure that throughout
my whole day that I maintain
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that and I really
like natural remedies.
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And charcoal has a really
cool property of absorbing and
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especially the
activated charcoal powder.
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There was one evening at
school were I sitting at a table
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with several of my friends
and we were all discussing
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about the
properties of charcoal.
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We were talking about
whether toast charcoal was the
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same as activated charcoal
powder and which was better for
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you, and we were really
getting into the conversation.
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I knew I had to be
somewhere, I knew worship was
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going to be starting
really soon, so I kept looking
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up at the clock.
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So we kept getting into it
and talking more, and more,
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and more and more and
worship was starting and we can
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hear the song team
announcing the opening hymn.
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We were still talking
and we thought the deans will
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excuse us because this is
an important conversation and
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we don't need to go anywhere.
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I was thinking about it, I
really didn't put God as my
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first priority, charcoal
is a good thing to talk about.
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But God has something better
for us, and putting God first
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and putting worship as
first priority is really what
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I should be doing in building my
character towards that instead.
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So you had to be somewhere
else? I mean it's not a bad
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conversation, but you needed
to be somewhere else and you
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were hanging out with the
crowd and no one else was going
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so you weren't going to go
either and you were kind of
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sticking there. You know
there is several of us here and
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It will be alright and
we won't get in trouble.
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Sometime we find there
is safety in numbers, right,
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We stay with the crowd, but
that is really the broad road.
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It sneaks up on us
so quickly and it is
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a constant
surrender of self and that
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is how we
develop our characters.
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When we do fall, we can
turn to Christ and ask for
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His forgiveness
and He's so merciful.
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- And we can do better
next time - do better next time.
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He always sets a higher
standard for us doesn't He?
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I'm sure you have all
heard the phrase, character
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building. I have never
really liked this phrase.
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When it is used, you generally
means something challenging
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is happening in my life.
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I used to think I would be
much better off without those
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character building moments.
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Better off if my life
just went along smoothly.
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But lately I have come
to realize these moments are
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what shape us and help
us to grow into the person
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God desires us to be.
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God doesn't leave us to
think for ourselves during these
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character building
times, He has given us numerous
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promises to help us through,
promises we can stand upon
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and that will not fail.
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It is reassuring to me to
know that when the hailing
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storms, of doubt and fear
assail by the living Word of God
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I shall prevail
standing on the promises of God.
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Standing! Standing! Standing!
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Standing on the promises.
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Standing on the
promises of Christ my King,
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Through eternal ages
let His praises ring,
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Glory in the highest,
I will shout and sing,
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Standing on the promises of God.
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Standing on the
promises that cannot fail,
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When the howling storms
of doubt and fear assail,
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By the living Word
of God I shall prevail,
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Standing on the promises of God.
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Standing, standing,
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Standing on the
promises of God my Savior;
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Standing, standing,
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I'm standing on
the promises of God.
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Standing on the
promises of Christ our Lord,
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Bound to Him
eternally by love's strong cord,
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Overcoming daily
with the Spirit's sword,
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Standing on the promises of God.
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Standing, standing,
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Standing on the
promises of God my Savior;
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Standing, standing,
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I'm standing on the
promises, the promises,
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the promises of God.
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We really can stand
on the promises of God.
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One of the promises of
God is in Philippians 4:13
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"I can do all things through
Christ who strengthens me."
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What that is telling
me is to not be afraid.
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Sometimes we don't attempt
great things because we are
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afraid and sort of stay
back, and stay in the simple
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place, or easy place.
00:13:10.83\00:13:12.42
We should overcome the incli-
nation to seek an easy task.
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An easy task is something
that comes easily to us.
00:13:15.58\00:13:18.78
I know Danielle when you
came to school I found you,
00:13:18.82\00:13:21.98
you had a hard
task to overcome. Yeah.
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Yeah when I first came to
Fountain View I had never read
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music notes before and it
was so hard for me because I
00:13:30.43\00:13:34.48
started double
bass lessons right away.
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My teacher I just don't
think my teacher understood that
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I did not know how to
read notes, so he was so
00:13:41.47\00:13:43.84
frustrated with me and
I was having a hard time.
00:13:43.88\00:13:46.18
I learned enough that year
to get by but then the next year
00:13:46.22\00:13:50.60
the lead bass player left
and left me in the principal
00:13:50.63\00:13:54.94
position, I was like realizing
I really had to figure out what
00:13:54.98\00:14:00.70
I was doing. I just was
really discouraged. I came to
00:14:00.74\00:14:04.72
the point I just prayed.
I talked to God and said,
00:14:04.75\00:14:08.70
You are the One Who created
music and if I am ever going
00:14:08.74\00:14:12.07
to learn Your going
to have to be my teacher.
00:14:12.10\00:14:13.53
So I would just pray every
day that God would help me to
00:14:13.56\00:14:18.27
learn how to play and like
before concerts I would ask God
00:14:18.30\00:14:22.94
to help me play in tune, that He
would guide my fingers and stuff
00:14:22.97\00:14:26.71
Like even though I pray all
the time before we record and
00:14:26.74\00:14:30.13
stuff, I still somehow
don't always trust God that
00:14:30.17\00:14:34.55
He's really helping me.
00:14:34.58\00:14:35.72
But like this last time we
were recording I was praying
00:14:35.76\00:14:39.80
as usual and Mr. Cleveland
had gotten into the studio and
00:14:39.84\00:14:43.85
was listening and came
back and was like Danielle
00:14:43.88\00:14:45.95
you are right
on, you're right on.
00:14:45.99\00:14:47.41
I was like what! I don't
know, I don't trust myself but
00:14:47.45\00:14:52.06
God is working and in the
Bible He says my strength is
00:14:52.09\00:14:56.67
made perfect in weakness.
00:14:56.70\00:14:57.98
I can trust Him that,
that He will help me because
00:14:58.02\00:15:02.60
He wants to and
He cares about me.
00:15:02.64\00:15:04.52
How fearful is that, I mean
you were in the school and you
00:15:04.55\00:15:06.89
have got a lot of people
that are really talented with
00:15:06.92\00:15:09.88
music and you can even
read notes, but God made you the
00:15:09.92\00:15:13.97
principal person in charge
of bass and He gave you the
00:15:14.01\00:15:18.03
ability and you
didn't have to fear.
00:15:18.06\00:15:20.25
Well I have similar situation
with music, but I started
00:15:20.29\00:15:25.66
taking piano lessons
when I was five years old.
00:15:25.70\00:15:28.72
Unlike Danielle I wanted to
practice for about the first
00:15:28.75\00:15:33.30
week and a half and then
after that, that was it, I just
00:15:33.34\00:15:37.85
did not really
care. - No motivation.
00:15:37.89\00:15:40.48
Yeah I was not motivated,
I didn't set goals for myself
00:15:40.52\00:15:42.83
or try to work
hard on the music.
00:15:42.87\00:15:46.16
So I would not really practice
and it just, I don't know,
00:15:46.19\00:15:51.56
this went on for like six years.
00:15:51.59\00:15:52.75
My parents kept pushing me, keep
going they said, because you
00:15:52.79\00:15:55.47
started this, you really
need to finish it kind of thing.
00:15:55.50\00:15:58.15
I just was not very
enthusiastic about it.
00:15:58.18\00:16:01.42
Finally after all this I
just decided one day, I am so
00:16:01.45\00:16:06.10
tired of just not being good
at this, I'm just going along
00:16:06.14\00:16:10.75
and not really
doing anything with it.
00:16:10.79\00:16:12.22
So I started to push myself,
and to set goals and stuff.
00:16:12.25\00:16:16.59
Once I did that I started to
realize I had really improved
00:16:16.62\00:16:20.56
quickly and was looking back
and thinking all these years
00:16:20.60\00:16:24.23
of lessons I had in this
opportunity that I wasted and it
00:16:24.27\00:16:27.09
made me think of a quote
in Help In Daily Living that
00:16:27.12\00:16:30.21
said, "many who are
qualified for great work achieve
00:16:30.24\00:16:33.29
"little because
they attempt little."
00:16:33.33\00:16:34.93
That has just really
motivated me to know whenever
00:16:34.96\00:16:40.05
I started the violin to try
and practice more with that.
00:16:40.09\00:16:44.67
I know that if I motivated
and set goals that God can
00:16:44.71\00:16:48.39
accomplish a lot through
me. - Yeah, and that is really
00:16:48.43\00:16:51.39
were the growth comes from,
when the spark is united from
00:16:51.42\00:16:54.35
within you, you're
motivated to do it.
00:16:54.39\00:16:56.91
You set higher goals
and you achieve more.
00:16:56.94\00:16:59.69
That is how character
development happens and
00:16:59.72\00:17:02.43
you become stronger. Amen!
00:17:02.47\00:17:04.32
When my sister and I were
smaller our families lived out
00:17:06.61\00:17:09.36
in the country, so whenever
we drove towards home our dad
00:17:09.40\00:17:12.11
would let us take turns driving.
00:17:12.15\00:17:13.52
Only it wasn't really driving
because he would operate the
00:17:13.56\00:17:16.57
gas pedal and the
brakes while we took the wheel.
00:17:16.61\00:17:19.00
My sister and I have very
different styles of driving
00:17:19.03\00:17:21.60
however, when it was my
turn I would carefully take the
00:17:21.64\00:17:24.18
wheel and do my best to
steer it along the road.
00:17:24.21\00:17:26.41
My dad would coach me,
helping me to stay on the
00:17:26.44\00:17:28.60
right side, but when
my sister took the wheel
00:17:28.64\00:17:31.27
it was a different story.
00:17:31.31\00:17:32.64
Being only four or five, she
wasn't really sure how to use
00:17:32.68\00:17:35.54
it, so she would twist it
back and forth barely missing
00:17:35.58\00:17:38.45
nearby trees and mailboxes
and frightening my family.
00:17:38.48\00:17:41.06
My dad would have to
take the wheel in his hands
00:17:41.09\00:17:43.63
to avoid hitting other cars.
00:17:43.67\00:17:45.22
Although my sister and I both
felt like we were driving the
00:17:45.25\00:17:48.89
car, we actually weren't.
00:17:48.93\00:17:50.52
Our dad decided how fast
the car went and took control of
00:17:50.56\00:17:53.17
it from time to time to
help keep us on the right track.
00:17:53.21\00:17:55.78
Our heavenly Father
guides us in the same way.
00:17:55.82\00:17:59.07
Although we have the power
to make choices and decisions
00:17:59.11\00:18:02.20
that affect our lives,
God is ultimately in control.
00:18:02.24\00:18:05.26
But He won't impose Himself
on us, He gives us the freedom
00:18:05.30\00:18:08.73
to invite Him into our
lives and when we do, He will
00:18:08.77\00:18:12.10
gently guide us
down the right road.
00:18:12.13\00:18:13.86
(Music introduction)
00:18:26.86\00:18:30.73
Come, thou Fount
of every blessing,
00:18:53.48\00:18:59.96
tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
00:19:00.00\00:19:06.20
streams of mercy, never ceasing,
00:19:06.24\00:19:12.18
call for songs of loudest praise
00:19:12.21\00:19:18.12
Teach me every to adore thee,
00:19:21.11\00:19:26.38
May I still Thy goodness prove.
00:19:26.42\00:19:31.91
While the hope of endless glory,
00:19:31.95\00:19:37.64
fills my hope with joy and love,
00:19:37.67\00:19:43.33
Here I raise my Ebenezer,
00:19:48.75\00:19:54.10
Hither by Thy help I've come;
00:19:54.14\00:19:59.43
And I hope, by Thy good pleasure
00:19:59.46\00:20:04.89
Safely to arrive at home.
00:20:04.93\00:20:10.78
Jesus sought me when a stranger,
00:20:13.13\00:20:18.06
Wandering from the fold of God;
00:20:18.10\00:20:23.29
Here to rescue me from danger,
00:20:23.33\00:20:28.75
Interposed His precious blood.
00:20:28.78\00:20:34.17
Oh, to grace how great a debtor
00:21:04.42\00:21:09.28
Daily I'm constrained to be;
00:21:09.32\00:21:14.43
Let Thy goodness like a fetter
00:21:14.47\00:21:20.08
Bind me closer still to Thee:
00:21:20.12\00:21:25.70
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it
00:21:28.34\00:21:33.22
Prone to leave the God I love.
00:21:33.25\00:21:38.10
Here's my heart,
oh, take and seal it,
00:21:41.26\00:21:47.16
Seal it for Thy courts above.
00:21:47.19\00:21:53.52
Here's my heart,
oh, take and seal it,
00:22:11.82\00:22:18.30
Seal it for Thy courts above.
00:22:19.81\00:22:28.80
The words of that last
verse are prone to wonder, oh,
00:22:45.22\00:22:49.40
Lord I feel it. Prone
to leave the God I love.
00:22:49.43\00:22:51.99
Then it says oh, here's my
heart, Lord, take and seal it.
00:22:52.02\00:22:56.39
Seal it for Thy courts above.
00:22:56.42\00:22:57.99
We really want God to
seal our hearts because our own
00:22:58.03\00:23:01.29
hearts, we are told in
Jeremiah, are desperately wicked
00:23:01.33\00:23:04.56
and we can't trust them.
00:23:04.59\00:23:05.76
When we are talking about
developing our characters for
00:23:05.80\00:23:09.72
eternity, we want our
hearts to be right with God.
00:23:09.75\00:23:12.64
To turn to Him so that
He can change our hearts.
00:23:12.68\00:23:15.54
So we can't trust our hearts.
00:23:15.57\00:23:16.86
Yeah I experienced
that in my life too.
00:23:16.89\00:23:19.14
About a year and half ago I
went to my parents and asked
00:23:19.18\00:23:22.72
them if I could get a job.
00:23:22.75\00:23:23.72
They agreed and said we would
look around for a good place
00:23:23.73\00:23:26.56
for you to work.
00:23:26.59\00:23:27.56
After about a couple
of months we decided that
00:23:27.58\00:23:29.68
I was going to work at this
warehouse that was owned by some
00:23:29.71\00:23:32.43
members of our church and
they are really nice people,
00:23:32.46\00:23:35.42
they have good high
standards, and so I started
00:23:35.45\00:23:37.86
working four hours a
day, Monday through Friday.
00:23:37.90\00:23:40.24
At first everything went
smoothly, I've really enjoyed
00:23:40.27\00:23:42.95
what I was doing, and the
people I was working with really
00:23:42.98\00:23:45.62
nice, I was just enjoying it.
00:23:45.66\00:23:48.88
As time went by, a couple
of weeks, I started noticing
00:23:48.91\00:23:51.61
they were quite who I
thought they were at first.
00:23:51.65\00:23:53.66
Things started to change,
they started to say in few words
00:23:53.69\00:23:56.34
here and there, that weren't
quite what I wanted to hear.
00:23:56.38\00:23:59.00
They started to not work
when our boss would leave.
00:23:59.03\00:24:02.79
They would slack off and
just do enough to get by or
00:24:02.83\00:24:06.56
sometimes stop
working altogether.
00:24:06.59\00:24:07.84
At first when they did this
I would just keep working and
00:24:07.88\00:24:11.59
doing what I knew was right.
00:24:11.63\00:24:12.60
As time went on, it started
to not seem so bad to me,
00:24:12.61\00:24:14.99
and I started to
become like them.
00:24:15.03\00:24:17.32
I would start not working
when our boss wasn't there and
00:24:17.36\00:24:21.53
I would start, those words
should be in my head, but they
00:24:21.57\00:24:24.88
would never come out, or
usually they wouldn't come out.
00:24:24.91\00:24:27.90
But they were in there and
probably in my mind when I was
00:24:27.93\00:24:30.67
talking to people, and I
also started to eat things that
00:24:30.71\00:24:33.37
I wasn't used to eating
that weren't good for my body.
00:24:33.41\00:24:37.26
This went on for a couple
months, several months and then
00:24:37.29\00:24:40.19
I don't remember exactly
what it was, but something woke
00:24:40.23\00:24:43.09
me up and I was
looking back and seeing
00:24:43.13\00:24:46.32
everything I had done.
00:24:46.35\00:24:47.32
I hadn't been having my
devotions, well I have been
00:24:47.33\00:24:49.87
having them but they
weren't the connection I needed.
00:24:49.90\00:24:52.49
They were just
something to check off my list.
00:24:52.52\00:24:56.16
I looked, it started out
with small things and there is
00:24:56.19\00:24:59.07
this quote in Help In
Daily Living I would like to
00:24:59.10\00:25:01.94
read to you that I found.
00:25:01.97\00:25:02.94
It says, "the same
spirit in principles that one
00:25:02.95\00:25:04.74
"brings into their
daily labor will be brought
00:25:04.78\00:25:06.74
"into their whole life."
00:25:06.78\00:25:07.75
When I started to not
do my best in my work,
00:25:07.76\00:25:10.59
then it affected
the rest of my life.
00:25:10.63\00:25:12.21
I just went downhill from there.
00:25:12.25\00:25:13.93
So it is just like a current
that you get caught in out at
00:25:13.97\00:25:19.35
sea and it just takes you
away and you feel powerless to
00:25:19.39\00:25:22.64
resist it, you kind
of follow the crowd.
00:25:22.68\00:25:25.30
Christie can you relate
to that? - yes, a while back
00:25:25.34\00:25:29.58
me and a few of my
friends including Anna there,
00:25:29.62\00:25:33.83
we had this experience, we all
wanted to bake a cake together.
00:25:33.86\00:25:37.10
So in our excitement we
forgot to follow some procedures
00:25:37.14\00:25:41.60
that we should have followed,
but we were just so excited
00:25:41.64\00:25:46.07
we just forgot about it.
00:25:46.11\00:25:47.65
In the end I was punished, and
my punishment was that I wasn't
00:25:47.69\00:25:53.62
able to cook for
certain amount of time.
00:25:53.65\00:25:55.99
That was hard on me, if you
know me I just love to cook.
00:25:56.03\00:26:01.15
It's like my passion.
00:26:01.18\00:26:02.69
So I started complaining,
I went to God and I was
00:26:02.72\00:26:05.77
complaining about how
unfair I was being treated
00:26:05.81\00:26:08.82
for such a simple thing.
00:26:08.86\00:26:12.62
I guess I got tired of that
and so I started going to my
00:26:12.66\00:26:16.29
friends and was
complaining to them as well.
00:26:16.33\00:26:19.80
I was saying how
terrible this was,
00:26:19.84\00:26:25.00
and I couldn't understand it.
00:26:25.03\00:26:26.69
Then later that
night I realized that I was
00:26:26.72\00:26:30.27
complaining about it,
it didn't really help,
00:26:30.31\00:26:33.82
I didn't really feel better.
00:26:33.86\00:26:35.18
It struck me then
that I had a choice.
00:26:35.22\00:26:40.70
I can't always control the
circumstance that I am put in,
00:26:40.74\00:26:44.60
but I can control my response.
00:26:44.64\00:26:46.95
If I had gone to
God and let Him control,
00:26:46.98\00:26:51.00
let Him handle my
situation then He could have
00:26:51.03\00:26:56.64
helped me with my response.
00:26:56.68\00:26:58.81
So to become true people of
character we will be baffled,
00:26:58.85\00:27:04.89
we will be thwarted by
all kinds of obstacles.
00:27:04.93\00:27:07.64
Sometimes those obstacles
will turn into great blessings
00:27:07.68\00:27:11.30
for us and teach us lessons
that we need to submit to Him
00:27:11.34\00:27:14.66
and trust Him in His leading
and giving us strength over
00:27:14.69\00:27:17.98
those defects in our character.
00:27:18.01\00:27:20.28
Megan, can you lead us, or
close with the word of prayer
00:27:20.32\00:27:23.69
for us now. - Sure!
00:27:23.73\00:27:25.01
Let's bow our heads.
Dear Lord and heavenly Father,
00:27:25.04\00:27:27.56
I pray that in our characters
and our daily lives we would
00:27:27.60\00:27:30.56
strive to be more Christ-like
and more like You because
00:27:30.60\00:27:33.83
Lord it's the only thing we
are going to take to heaven,
00:27:33.86\00:27:37.06
it is our characters.
00:27:37.09\00:27:38.41
I pray that the different
things that come into our life
00:27:38.45\00:27:42.08
we will use them as a blessing
towards us instead of a curse.
00:27:42.12\00:27:47.47
And help us to perfect
our characters more and
00:27:47.50\00:27:52.82
more each day. I thank you Lord.
00:27:52.85\00:27:54.82
In Your name. Amen! - Amen!
00:27:54.86\00:27:56.79
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00:28:00.96\00:28:04.54
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00:28:04.57\00:28:08.11
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00:28:08.15\00:28:10.41
It is a simple way to share
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00:28:10.44\00:28:13.81
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00:28:13.85\00:28:17.18
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00:28:17.21\00:28:23.54
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00:28:23.57\00:28:28.50
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00:28:28.53\00:28:33.42
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