Chapter 7: The
Test Of Discipleship.
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Hello and welcome to
Steps to Christ in Song.
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Today we're
going to be looking at
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the test of discipleship.
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I was once asked by a young man,
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do you think I'm
ready to be baptized.
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And so I asked
him the question well,
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why do you want to be baptized?
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He said well, you know
my family go to church,
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my grandparents go to
church and so I said well
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why do you want to be baptized.
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He said well, I'm a Christian,
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and so I said but how do
you know you're a Christian?
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And he said
because I go to church
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and my family goes to church.
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And that was the only
answer he could give me.
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And so I came to
realize that this young man
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really didn't
have a relationship
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with Jesus Christ.
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And so we started
having Bible studies
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and after a few months,
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he came to realize
that he needed to surrender
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his heart to Jesus Christ.
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and after a year and
half of Bible studies
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this young man
fell in love with Christ
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and he surrendered
his life to Jesus Christ
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and he was
Baptized and he became
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a very solid
disciple of Jesus Christ.
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In fact I believe
that his faith in Christ
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was even
stronger then his parents.
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But, before I go
a little bit too far
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into this subject of
the test of discipleship,
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I'm gonna ask that Kevin lead us
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in the word of prayer.
Kevin, can you do that.
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Yes. Okay, let's pray.
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Lord, please bless us,
help us to surrender all,
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please guide us as we discuss
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the test of discipleship.
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Help us to raise your Kingdom.
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In your name Amen. Amen.
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Many have asked the question,
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how can I know if
I'm right with God.
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Bible says in
Second Corinthians 5:17
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that if any man be in Christ,
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he is a new creature;
old things are passed away;
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behold all
things have become new.
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If we're right with
God, there will be a change
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in our lives and God
will take center stage.
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Although we may not be perfect
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our affections will be on guard
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and the trend of our
lives will reveal more
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and more the
character of Christ.
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All to Jesus I surrender
All to Him I freely give
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I will ever love and trust him
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In his presence daily live
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I surrender all I surrender all
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All to Thee, my blessed Savior
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I surrender all, All
to Jesus I surrender,
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Make me, Savior, wholly Thine;
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Let me feel Thy Holy Spirit,
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Truly know that Thou art mine.
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I surrender all I surrender all
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All to Thee, my blessed Savior
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I surrender all
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All to Jesus I surrender,
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Now I feel the sacred flame.
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Oh, the joy of full salvation!
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Glory, glory to His name!
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I surrender all I surrender all
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All to Thee, my blessed Savior
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I surrender all
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All to Thee, my blessed Savior
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I surrender all
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Johnny, you grew you
up in a Christian home,
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so your life was
fully surrendered to Jesus
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right from day
one. Well, not really
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because I didn't
know Christ. Okay.
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And so I couldn't be
fully surrendered to him.
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It kind of reminds me
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I do a lot of
training with horses,
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I love horses and
it really reminds me
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of working with the horse.
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You know when you
first get a horse,
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the horse is
green, they don't know,
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they don't know what
a halter is or bridle,
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they don't like the
saddle on their back
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and so it takes a while
to get them used to that.
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Umm! Umm! And so
you put a blanket
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on their back and you let
that sit for a little bit,
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before you put the saddle on
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and that was kind of with me,
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you know God would
bring stuff into my life,
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and it took me a little bit to
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get used to it sometimes
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and then just like a horse there
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came a stubborn
streak in my life.
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And I chose not to do
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what I've been trained to do.
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But, thankfully
the Lord worked with me
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and carefully and
tenderly and patiently
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and he brought me out of that.
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Just like a good
trainer does with his horse.
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He continues to love the horse,
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no matter what he does. Yeah.
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And he brought me out
of that and put me in a
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good
surroundings where I was able
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to have good friends
and pointed me to Christ
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and now I do have
that abiding with Christ,
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that loving
relationship with him.
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And all it takes is a
little bit of pressure
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and I do what he asked me to do.
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Yeah, A lot of
people when they think
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of the rules and regulations
that they have to follow
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Well, it's kind of like a horse.
You know when a horse is green
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and you can't ride him,
what's the point of having
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a horse. It's only
when the horse is trained
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and he does what the
master asks him to do.
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That's when the horse is useful,
that's when it's a good horse.
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And it's the same thing with us,
there are rules and regulations
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they are for our good,
they are for our benefit,
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so that we can have that
relationship with Christ.
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Really been test of discipleship
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is really finding
that place where we
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completely surrender
to God and we are obedient
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to his will. So,
Ellen in your life
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you probably identify a
lot with what Johnny said?
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Yeah. From the
beginning was it a surrender
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to Jesus Christ in your life?
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No, not from the beginning,
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I had a hard time
surrendering to Christ
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and having that
desire because it was it,
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seemed like a big sacrifice
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and it wasn't one
that I was ready to take
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but I know that the
Holy Spirit was working
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on my heart
every step of the way.
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And I can't really
pinpoint an exact time,
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but it was near the
end of my 11th grade year
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that I could
really see the Holy Spirit
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changing my heart. Umm! Umm!
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And there is a youth
conference called Acts
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for Christ that
the school went to and
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there was one
meeting that I want to
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by Pastor Ivor
Myers and he was talking
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about the media and
he made a altar call
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to surrender
movies and video games
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and I really
felt the Holy Spirit
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you know telling me
Ellen you need to stand up
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for this one, its for you.
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And I was like, I
don't want to I have stood up
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for so many altar
calls and each one
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I haven't
followed through with it
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and I haven't actually
done them and it made me
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feel like a
failure like you know,
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and I just didn't want
to stand up for anymore.
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But I was like you know Ellen,
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you really need to do
this and I made it a purpose
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in my heart that I was going to
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follow through on this one.
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And you know after
I made that decision,
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the Holy Spirit totally
and completely took away
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that desire to watch movies.
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That's amazing. And
it truly was amazing
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because I did it
so much before and
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I was and he did that
with every area of my life.
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You know I had a
problem with being lazy
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and he took away
that desire of being lazy.
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He changed me
and like after that
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I want to be more
helpful and I wanted to
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actually do
something, I didn't enjoy
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just sitting around
you know doing nothing.
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And I wanted to be
kind to people and you know
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I'd watch more what I
said and he just totally
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transformed my life and
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it's you know the Holy
Spirit really truly does do
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a work deep inside you.
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Yeah and it's a
change, now you are exchanging
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one thing; now you had time
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what did you do with that time.
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Well, I spend more
time talking to God,
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definitely through when
I was working and it was
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a big encouragement you know
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when temptations came,
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I was able to
withstand them because
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he was there to help
me and I could call on him
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and but you know I
didn't spend that time
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with him and my, if I
didn't have the devotional
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life or a prayer life he
wouldn't be able to help me
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and that devotions
and prayer are definitely
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a very important
part of a spiritual life,
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yeah, if you want to be strong.
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Right, like your anchor
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told you. Umm! Umm! Definitely.
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Oh! praise the Lord, thank you
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for sharing that, yeah, awesome.
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You know when we
truly accept Christ
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as our personal savior.
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There is this
mysterious change that
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takes place in our hearts.
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For example, we become
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attracted to the goodness that,
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that was once so undesirable
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and the evil that once led us
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now become so distasteful
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and we hate it with a passion.
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This change is often gradual
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and it is the
fulfillment of the promise that
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we see in Ezekiel
chapter 36 verse 26
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and I love this promise.
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Our Lord is so precious it says
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and I will give you
a new heart with new
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and right desires and a
new spirit will I put on you;
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I will take away
your stony heart of sin
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and give you a new obedient
heart today and forever.
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My prayer for you and I,
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is that we would
just come to our savior
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and say Lord, I am a sinner
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and I am so sinful and
I have a heart of stone.
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Please Father, give me
a new and obedient heart.
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Since I started for the Kingdom,
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Since my life He controls,
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Since I gave my heart to Jesus,
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The longer I serve
Him, The sweeter He grows.
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The longer I serve
Him, the sweeter He grows,
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The more that I love
Him, more love He bestows;
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Each day is like
heaven, my heart overflows,
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The longer I serve
Him, the sweeter He grows.
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Ev'ry need He is supplying,
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Plenteous grace He bestows;
00:16:05.45\00:16:13.20
Ev'ry day my way gets brighter,
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The longer I serve
Him, The sweeter He grows.
00:16:20.93\00:16:30.00
The longer I serve
Him, the sweeter He grows,
00:16:30.49\00:16:38.15
The more that I love
Him, more love He bestows;
00:16:38.80\00:16:46.35
Each day is like
heaven, my heart overflows,
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The longer I serve
Him, the sweeter He grows.
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The sweeter He grows.
00:17:08.64\00:17:18.25
I just love that
song, it is so true,
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the longer we serve Him, the
sweeter He does become to us.
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How does that work
Craig, how does our service
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of him become
sweeter as the days go by.
00:17:45.58\00:17:48.59
You know I think it's
really an issue of the heart,
00:17:48.63\00:17:51.36
an issue of the
heart, when we love God
00:17:51.40\00:17:55.31
from our heart. Yeah,
00:17:55.34\00:17:56.69
it's a sweet experience.
00:17:56.73\00:17:58.08
I remember when I was a
kid my dad is a minister,
00:17:58.12\00:18:00.02
I remember telling him once,
00:18:00.06\00:18:01.19
I wish I weren't
born a Christian,
00:18:01.23\00:18:03.19
I wish I weren't born
into a home where knowing
00:18:03.23\00:18:05.70
the Bible and the Ten
Commandments was there,
00:18:05.73\00:18:07.74
because it's so restricting
00:18:07.77\00:18:09.08
and that's so
sad but that was my,
00:18:09.12\00:18:12.36
yeah, my perception,
I've heard others say this.
00:18:12.40\00:18:15.76
Yeah. There is one
experience in my life
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though where I really saw
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a heart change too that
brings this point clear.
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My mother was a nurse
and my father a pastor
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like I said and
we went as a family
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to mission service when I was 13
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and got way off
half way around the world
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and somehow as a young teenager
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and a proud
American, I just didn't connect
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with the people there, yeah,
00:18:42.86\00:18:44.58
and my parents saw
that and were concerned
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because they're
serving with all their hearts
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and they were just
certain little things
00:18:48.93\00:18:51.61
that indicated that you know
00:18:51.64\00:18:52.91
I just didn't really connect.
00:18:52.95\00:18:55.12
And I remember them coming and
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pleading with me to
you have a change of heart
00:18:57.12\00:18:59.65
and asking me to, you
know consider doing more
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and so on and it just
didn't happen you know,
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and then was an
experience though
00:19:06.45\00:19:09.41
where after sometime
my mother invited me,
00:19:09.94\00:19:13.78
just a typical thing
that you know Craig Lee come
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and drive the car
for me and we got to go
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way out in the bush
and help this family.
00:19:19.23\00:19:20.97
There was a man
who is dying of TB
00:19:21.43\00:19:22.63
and I wanna go check up on him
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and she is a
nurse you know and so
00:19:23.97\00:19:25.88
I love to drive and we
went way out in the bush
00:19:26.72\00:19:29.36
and found this
little family out there
00:19:29.39\00:19:31.85
and I noted everything
and she went in to check
00:19:32.32\00:19:34.28
on the patient and she
came back out of the hut
00:19:34.31\00:19:36.97
and she was crying
and she said well before
00:19:37.00\00:19:40.49
we go lets gather the
family around well lets pray.
00:19:40.52\00:19:42.70
And I'm thinking
you know this is serious
00:19:42.73\00:19:44.63
you know, he is gonna die soon
00:19:45.29\00:19:46.32
and mom asked me to
pray and so I prayed
00:19:47.13\00:19:50.63
and when I was done praying,
00:19:50.66\00:19:52.41
I'll never
forget I opened my eyes
00:19:54.53\00:19:56.07
and we're
kneeling there in a circle,
00:19:56.10\00:19:57.54
my mom sees the
lady of the house there,
00:19:58.03\00:20:00.52
just in a T-shirt and it
was a pretty chilly morning
00:20:00.55\00:20:02.28
and without even
giving a second thought
00:20:02.80\00:20:05.54
she just took her sweater off
00:20:05.57\00:20:06.61
and put it on her
and said here you know
00:20:06.64\00:20:09.24
you need a sweater you're cold.
00:20:09.27\00:20:11.14
These are very
poor people. Yeah,
00:20:11.17\00:20:13.35
but you know to me you know
00:20:13.82\00:20:15.92
we had bundles of clothing,
we could give to people
00:20:16.34\00:20:19.77
you know we could have
brought lots of clothing
00:20:19.80\00:20:21.69
but my mom didn't think
of that, this is a sweater
00:20:22.10\00:20:23.91
I had seen her wear
all my life at the church
00:20:23.94\00:20:25.93
and at special occasions yeah.
00:20:25.96\00:20:27.24
And she didn't
even think about it,
00:20:27.69\00:20:28.89
she just gave it to
her and that simple act
00:20:28.92\00:20:31.06
of love to someone who obviously
00:20:31.09\00:20:34.62
she considered a total equal,
00:20:34.65\00:20:36.07
yeah, really broke my heart.
00:20:36.10\00:20:37.81
I remember tears
coming in my eyes
00:20:37.84\00:20:39.19
as a young man and my heart
00:20:39.22\00:20:41.82
was changed that was it,
00:20:41.85\00:20:43.21
I just realized, I
saw through you know
00:20:43.24\00:20:45.99
this simple loving act
for my mother just broke
00:20:46.02\00:20:49.16
my heart and from
then on I was a missionary,
00:20:49.19\00:20:51.59
not a mission kid. Wow! Wow!
00:20:51.62\00:20:53.79
Praise the Lord, thanks
for sharing that, it's awesome.
00:20:54.17\00:20:56.98
This miraculous
change that God desires
00:20:58.68\00:21:01.23
to bring into my life
isn't always an easy one.
00:21:01.26\00:21:03.88
I have a stubborn fallen nature
00:21:04.85\00:21:06.50
that doesn't easily give up.
00:21:06.53\00:21:07.79
But, true faith will
lead me to consistently
00:21:08.39\00:21:10.84
submit my will to God's
00:21:10.87\00:21:12.47
Will until the two become one.
00:21:12.50\00:21:14.27
As this process takes place
00:21:14.69\00:21:16.51
I'll come closer to Christ.
00:21:16.94\00:21:18.36
And the closer I
come the more sinful
00:21:18.39\00:21:20.88
I'll appear in my own eyes.
00:21:20.91\00:21:22.34
This is because my
vision will become clear
00:21:22.84\00:21:25.26
and my sinfulness
will be seen in contrast
00:21:25.70\00:21:28.15
to Christ's perfection.
00:21:28.18\00:21:29.50
Take courage, this is a sign
00:21:30.05\00:21:32.30
that Satan's deceptions
are loosing their power
00:21:32.33\00:21:34.63
and if you're tempted to
get discouraged just claim
00:21:35.11\00:21:38.18
the promise found
in Romans 5:6 through 8
00:21:38.21\00:21:41.41
that says when we
were utterly helpless
00:21:41.82\00:21:44.16
Christ came at
just the right time
00:21:44.63\00:21:46.81
and died for
sinners. Now most people would
00:21:46.84\00:21:49.59
not be willing to
die for an upright person
00:21:49.62\00:21:51.84
though someone might
perhaps be willing to die
00:21:52.34\00:21:54.69
for a person
who's especially good,
00:21:54.72\00:21:56.79
but God showed
his great love for us
00:21:57.38\00:22:00.28
by sending Christ to die for us,
00:22:00.31\00:22:02.29
while we were still sinners.
00:22:02.65\00:22:04.10
Isn't it good to know
that God is on your side.
00:22:04.73\00:22:07.70
O Lord, we pray
"Thy will be done" or
00:22:25.33\00:22:31.79
"Master, here am I."
00:22:31.82\00:22:36.55
We pray You'd do a mighty work
00:22:37.25\00:22:43.17
That to the flesh we'd die.
00:22:43.20\00:22:49.43
And when the answer comes to us
00:22:49.90\00:22:56.11
In form of trial and test,
00:22:56.14\00:23:02.34
We fail to see Your loving hand,
00:23:02.37\00:23:08.68
Refining fire is best.
00:23:08.71\00:23:17.25
God's refining
fire, God's refining fire,
00:23:17.97\00:23:31.68
May it purge me now and
make of me what You require.
00:23:32.23\00:23:44.00
O Lord, feed the
fire, Your refining fire.
00:23:44.68\00:23:58.10
Now as gold and
silver must be tried,
00:23:58.50\00:24:04.83
Lord, may my heart be purified.
00:24:05.23\00:24:11.55
Lord, send Your
great refining fire.
00:24:11.90\00:24:25.42
That I may
stand when You appear,
00:24:29.04\00:24:34.83
Abide till Your return.
00:24:35.27\00:24:40.44
O place the fire perfectly That
00:24:41.37\00:24:47.22
all the dross be burned.
00:24:47.60\00:24:53.54
Whether furnace
of affliction, Lord,
00:24:54.15\00:25:00.42
Or unfulfilled desire,
00:25:00.84\00:25:06.34
Bring forth a vessel pure and
00:25:06.37\00:25:12.08
tried By Your refining fire.
00:25:12.11\00:25:21.70
God's refining
fire, God's refining fire,
00:25:21.73\00:25:35.48
May it purge me now and make
00:25:36.22\00:25:41.58
of me what You require.
00:25:41.61\00:25:48.50
O Lord, feed the
fire, Your refining fire.
00:25:49.07\00:26:02.88
Now as gold and
silver must be tried,
00:26:03.24\00:26:09.53
Lord, may my heart be purified.
00:26:09.56\00:26:16.27
Lord, send Your
great refining fire.
00:26:16.62\00:26:29.78
God's refining
fire, God's refining fire.
00:26:30.34\00:26:53.35
In that song I
really like the line we pray
00:27:01.91\00:27:05.04
that you'd do a
mighty work that to the flesh
00:27:05.07\00:27:08.02
we'd die. That's my
prayer, I want die to self
00:27:08.05\00:27:11.91
and stand the
test of discipleship.
00:27:12.24\00:27:14.32
Amen. You know that test,
00:27:14.35\00:27:16.50
you know we
think of that word test
00:27:17.60\00:27:18.85
it kind of makes
us feel a bit anxious.
00:27:18.88\00:27:20.49
But, that final test
will come when Jesus returns,
00:27:21.54\00:27:25.43
he talks about it
in Matthew chapter 7
00:27:25.46\00:27:27.12
when he says that
there will be many
00:27:27.53\00:27:29.92
who will come to me in
that day and say Lord, Lord,
00:27:29.95\00:27:32.87
we did this in your
name, we did that in your name
00:27:32.90\00:27:35.35
and he says get away
from me, I never knew you.
00:27:35.68\00:27:37.90
That is a frightening thought,
00:27:38.81\00:27:41.39
that people can think
that they are Christians
00:27:41.81\00:27:44.83
but they
actually don't know Christ
00:27:45.22\00:27:47.04
and that they
can be turned away,
00:27:47.57\00:27:49.88
thinking they've
been doing things for him
00:27:49.91\00:27:51.67
but they're
actually not his disciples.
00:27:51.70\00:27:53.90
Let's pray to him
right now and ask him to come
00:27:54.34\00:27:57.67
into our hearts so
that we can know for sure
00:27:57.70\00:27:59.82
that we are
following him as our savior,
00:27:59.85\00:28:02.80
lets pray. Heavenly Father,
00:28:03.15\00:28:05.95
we pray Lord that you
will abide in our hearts
00:28:06.56\00:28:08.70
and that we will
surrender our lives to you
00:28:09.05\00:28:11.03
and that we will love
you, love to think of you
00:28:11.78\00:28:14.37
and that are our
fondest thoughts will be of you,
00:28:15.04\00:28:17.85
in Jesus name we
pray. Amen, Amen.
00:28:18.16\00:28:20.74
Steps to Christ in
Song is a 13 part series
00:28:23.57\00:28:26.40
from Fountain View Productions
designed to be an easy
00:28:26.89\00:28:29.51
non-threatening way to
show the good news about
00:28:29.54\00:28:31.50
Jesus Christ with friends,
relatives and co-workers.
00:28:31.53\00:28:34.94
Order your copies now
by calling 1-877-490-4141
00:28:35.02\00:28:41.55
or visit us online at
www.fountainviewproductions.com.
00:28:41.59\00:28:47.58
Steps to Christ in
Song is also available
00:28:47.61\00:28:50.67
at your local ABC
Christian Book Store.
00:28:50.71\00:28:53.74