Welcome!
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I'm Eric Garloff, your
host for Walking With Jesus.
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Today we're going to be talking
about the consecrated life.
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Just what do we mean
when we use that phrase,
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a consecrated life?
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What does it mean
to be consecrated?
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When I opened up my dictionary
I found a couple of definitions
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which could help us understand
this term more completely.
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One of them said "to
make or declare sacred,"
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but is this really possible?
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Can we really
make our lives sacred?
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Here's the
problem each of us faces.
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The Bible says
we are all sinners.
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Not one of us is righteous.
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This being true, how can
we who are defiled by sin
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make ourselves sacred?
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In order for our lives to
be made sacred we need the one
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who is sacred to make us
sacred, and that one is Jesus.
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The book of James 1:17
says every good gift and every
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perfect gift is from above.
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God is the source
of every good gift.
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It's God who justifies us.
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It's God who makes us righteous.
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It's God who gives
us victory over sin.
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It's God who forgives us.
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It's God who cleanses us.
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And, likewise, it's God who
gives us the power to live a
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sacred, or
sanctified, or consecrated life.
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But don't let anyone trick
you into believing that there's
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nothing for you to do
in the work of consecrating
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your life to God.
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Now here's the other definition
I found in the dictionary.
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It said, "to devote
solemnly to a purpose. "
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With that thought in mind,
when we consecrate ourselves
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to God we would say our
life is purposely, and solemnly
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dedicated to God.
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These words describe
the decision of a person
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which is not to
be taken lightly.
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To paraphrase the Bible, it's
the decision of putting your
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hand to the plow
and not turning back.
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We all have our part to play
in the great war that's going on
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between good and evil.
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That war is being waged
over who you're going to
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give your heart to.
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And what you do in life reflects
the character of the one
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who has your heart.
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In the book of Jeremiah
29:13 we read these words
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of encouragement,
which is God's promise to us.
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It says:
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Let me repeat
that last phrase again.
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It says, "when you shall search
for me with all your heart. "
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Yes, the whole heart must
be yielded and given to God
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where the change we seek can
never be worked out within us.
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That change is the process
of restoration, or of having our
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characters restored in the
likeness of God's character.
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This work of restoration
requires a transformation
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of our entire being.
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Therefore we must
yield our entire being to God
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who alone can
perform this transformation.
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I'd like to share
these statements with you
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quoting from the book
Steps to Christ page 27.
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He cannot accept an
homage that is not willingly
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and intelligently given.
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A mere forced submission would
prevent all real development
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of mind and character.
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It would make
man a mere automaton.
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Such is not the
purpose of the creator.
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So you see my friends, when
we consecrate ourselves to God
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and ask Him to renew us, there's
going to be a struggle involved;
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a struggle with self.
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Somebody asked, "How can I
know for sure that God really
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exists and the Bible is
true before I commit to Him?"
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Now that's a good question
because you don't want to
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blindly follow Him if
there's no real evidence of His
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existence or power, now do you?
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Of course not!
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Now some have said that
when you become a Christian
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you check your brains at the
door; implying that God doesn't
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exist, or that you're dumb.
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But this is so far from
the truth because Christianity
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is for thinking
people with an honest heart.
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God has given us so
many proofs and evidences
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of His existence,
and His love for us.
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In fact, let's talk
about a few of these right now
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and see the
evidence for God's existence.
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There are three evidences
that I'd like to share with you
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very quickly.
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And if you want to look into
these areas with an honest heart
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you'll find out that
there's an abundance of evidence
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to support God's existence
and His love for mankind.
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First we'll briefly talk
about the biological chance
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of a single living cell forming
all by itself, on its own,
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without God.
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Secondly we'll talk about
how archeology has proven the
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historical
accuracy of the Bible.
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And thirdly through Bible
prophecy we'll see how God
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accurately predicted the
future of world empires hundreds
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of years in advance.
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These three areas: biology,
archeology, and prophecy
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cover the present,
the past, and the future.
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Evidence Number One:
We'll start with the present.
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The very fact that life exists
today is one of the strongest
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arguments in favor
of the God of creation.
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So let's ask ourselves with
an honest heart, "Can a living
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cell evolve all by itself?"
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This can best be demonstrated
by looking at the mathematical
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possibility of
life forming by itself.
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Mathematicians consider the
probability of anything greater
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than ten to the fiftieth
power as being an impossibility.
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Now I've read
numerous calculations that the
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probability for even the most
basic protein to form on its
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own would be around ten to
the power of one hundred and
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thirteen or so.
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And the probability of a
single living cell forming all
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by itself is in the area of ten
to the power of forty thousand.
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And that's just to make one
living cell, which is the basic
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building block of life.
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Once you comprehend that
number then multiply it by the
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fact that humans have
two hundred and ten different
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cell types in their body.
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Evidence Number Two: Looking
into the past and seeing that
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archeology has proven
the accuracy of the Bible.
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Many critics have attacked
the Bible as a document that
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can't be trusted.
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In years gone by they
have cited cities and people
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which were found in
the Bible and had no proof
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of their existence.
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They pointed to these
as errors in the scriptures
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saying the Bible
can't be trusted.
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Then as time passed
archeological discoveries were
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made which validated
and vindicated the accuracy
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of the Bible by finding
evidence of these people groups
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and their cities
silencing the critics.
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One such example of this
was the skeptics claim against
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the existence of the
Syrian king named Sargon
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as found in the
book of Isaiah 20:1.
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Then many years later
Sargon's palace was discovered
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in course about Iraq.
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Its city was built by
King Sargon II, who reigned
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from 722 to 705 B.C.
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The capture of Ashdod
mentioned in Isaiah was recorded
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on the palace walls.
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One of the inscriptions
found there read as follows:
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Sargon king of
Assyria who conquered Samaria
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and the entire region of Israel.
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He who made captives of Ashdod.
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Friends, there are many
such instances in archeology
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which have vindicated
the accuracy of the Bible.
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The Bible is true,
and it can be trusted.
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Just because the Bible mentions
something that we currently
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have no proof of its existence
does not mean that the Bible
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is not true.
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It simply means that we have
not found it and dug it up yet.
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Evidence Number Three:
The foretelling of the future
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is where the divine inspiration
of the Bible is proven
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through the
fulfillment of prophecy.
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Only an all knowing God
is capable of predicting
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the rise and fall of nations
hundreds of years before they
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ever even came into power.
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Perhaps one of the best examples
of this is found in the second
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chapter of the book of Daniel.
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I encourage you to pick up your
Bible and read Daniel chapter 2
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very, very carefully.
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Then understand that Daniel
chapter 2 was written about
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600 years before
the birth of Christ.
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With this in mind, crack open
your old high school history
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books, or go down to
your local library and compare
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the succession of world
empires beginning with Babylon.
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You'll soon see that the Bible
accurately predicted the Medes
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and the Persians as
Babylon's successors.
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Then Greece was to be next,
and after that it would be Rome
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with both its
eastern and western powers.
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Then Rome would fall and
be divided into ten kingdoms.
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We really don't have the
time to go through all of these
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things right now, so if you'd
like to learn more, and if you'd
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like to understand the symbology
of the image in Daniel chapter 2
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than I'd like to encourage
you to seek out a Seventh-day
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Adventist church near you,
and find someone to give you a
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set of Bible studies
which explains in clear language
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the things that
you're seeking to understand.
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The bottom line is this,
my friend, God does exist,
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and the Bible is true.
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You can give your life to
God and consecrate yourself,
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or devote yourself
to Him for a purpose.
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Quoting again from
Steps to Christ, page 30,
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You cannot change your heart.
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You cannot of yourself
give to God its affections,
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but you can choose to serve Him.
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You can give Him your will.
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He will then work in you
to will and to do according
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to His good pleasure.
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It's here where "the
rubber meets the road".
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No matter what you
may have done in the past,
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God will accept you if
you consecrate, or dedicate
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yourself to Him.
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Exercising your power of will,
and being willing to be made
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willing is the place to begin.
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Surrender yourself to
God and ask Him to live out
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His life within you.
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A man once said to
Jesus, "Lord I believe,
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but help thou my unbelief. "
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In other words He believed to
a certain point, but he wanted
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to strengthen
his belief in Jesus.
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It would be well for each of
us to have this type of an open
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heart towards God.
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Now in the closing minute
I'd like to offer a prayer
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on your behalf.
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If this is your
desire, than make it your own
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prayer to God.
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Father, we come
to You as we are.
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We ask You to forgive us of
our sins and to work within us,
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restoring us to the
image of your dear Son Jesus.
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We are willing to do
what You ask us to do.
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We desire the power of
Your Holy Spirit in our lives
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to bring about the
change we need to make.
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So to this end, Lord,
please give us Your Holy Spirit.
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In Jesus' name, Amen.
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May God bless you and
be with you as are found
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walking with Jesus.
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When we walk with Jesus
His love, mercy, and compassion
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guides us along
the path of life.
00:13:51.47\00:13:54.48
Our next program explores our
faith and acceptance in action.
00:13:54.51\00:14:00.16
Please be sure to join us
for this important message.
00:14:00.19\00:14:03.98