The 4 C's of Prayer Pt. 1

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I am so excited about this. I want to welcome you to the Purpose Project podcast. During our time

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together, I will teach you how to pray, how to intentionally develop intimacy with your creator,

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and challenge you to discover and embrace your God-ordained purposes. I am your host,

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Margie Flarrant. My prayer for you today is that you will be empowered and strengthened in the Word

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of God to move forward into your destiny. I'm going to ask you to turn in your Bibles to Genesis

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chapter 3. I've never started at Genesis chapter 3 ever. I don't think ever. But this is, we have,

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do the best that I can to get the exact message for the body that I go to. And this is the path

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that we're going to take. I actually have four C's concerning prayer that I'm going to get into.

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Genesis chapter 3.

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Why don't you, we go ahead and open up at verse 16. I want to talk to you first about

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confidence and prayer. I believe there's somebody in here that needs this word. I believe we're living

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in a time in a season where God, from what I hear from other people, but God is restoring to the

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church our identity, who we are, what we have, what we have been given. We live in a time, we live

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in a season, and I'm not being rude or disrespectful, but we are living in a time, we are living in a

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season where some of our services and some of our teachings are the Word of God, and that's

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absolutely needed, but sometimes it's just a lot of self-help psychology in our meetings.

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And what I believe God wants to restore to the body of Christ is who we are in Christ.

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The Word of God, what does the Bible say about who I am in Christ? What is my standing before

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God? What does the Bible say about my authority as a believer? I mean, we can have all the self-help

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meetings we could possibly get, but that's not going to help us if we've got demon spirits

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that have come our way and are trying to sift us as we can take us out through our thought life.

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Some people don't even know that there is a devil, that not all their thoughts are their thoughts.

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Are you listening? It's called warfare. So we're living in a time, we're living in a season where

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God is, I believe, is going to restore the counsel of his Word and take the church out of a psychology

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self-help mentality and more in a dominion and ruling and reigning with Christ mentality. Are

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you listening to what I'm saying right now? I believe that the other ministries and the other

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churches that God has a plan for them, that they are the ones that open up the door to get people

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saved, open up the door to get people into church, open up the door to get people started, but you

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know that our relationship with God and our walk with God doesn't stop at salvation and self-help

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and how I can be a better person and how I can have favor and I can have all these things.

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My friends, we're living in a time and we're living in a season where God is looking at his body

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and he's saying, can these bones live? You know, and I can sense that the Holy Ghost is seeing

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that the church, it's time for us to arise, it's time for us to stand up on our feet, and it's time

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for us to put on the full armor of God, and it's time for us to know who we are in Christ, it's time

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for us to speak the Word of God, and it's time for us to advance. We've been camping for a long

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time and camping is good, it's part of how it is in any natural army, it's okay to camp, camping is

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just important, that's that time and that season of resting and preparation, but I can see the

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body of Christ, it's time for us to stand up and it's time for us, as God told Joshua, it's time

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for us to take possession of the land, it's a season of advancement for the body of Christ,

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and what I can sense in my heart that the Spirit of God has been saying to many of us, he's saying,

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you know, I want to speak to the remnant, I want to speak to the remnant of my people

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that have lay aside every weight and every sin and have decided to follow me fully. Wasn't Caleb

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the guy that went down in Bible history as a man who followed God fully? Well, I don't know about you,

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but every day when I get up, I want to follow God fully. I want to make my life count, I want to do

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something for God, everything else to me is sheer boredom, and that may sound like I'm a little out

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there, a little fanatical, she's a little too much, she's too heavenly minded that she's too

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earthly good, you know, she's no earthly good, you know, I don't really care anymore about any of

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that. For me to live the apostle Paul said is Christ. To die is gain. What we need to do is the

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remnant, which you are, you wouldn't be here. What we need to do is the remnant, we need to get

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equipped, we need to know who we are, and it's a time for us to advance, and God is speaking to

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his church, and he's calling the church to advance. Now, you're the remnant. Are you listening? Say,

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I'm the remnant. You're definitely the remnant. Who in their right mind on a Saturday morning would

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be in a church? Are you listening for a prayer meeting? Are you listening? You're the remnant.

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You have decided to follow Jesus, no turning back. It's a be a lot easier for many of us to just

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lay in our beds and do nothing, but we are not of them that draw back. We are going to press in,

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and we're going to press on, and we're going to be everything that God has called us to do. I am,

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I am so ready for what God has. That's the beauty of those of you that have decided to be a house of

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prayer. You know, you're a house of prayer, so you've made prayer your ministry, so you wake up in

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the morning, and your life is purpose. Your purpose is not your job. Obviously, we need to make money

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to live, but your purpose is not your job. Your purpose is Christ. Your purpose is to be found in

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him. Your purpose is to be a house of prayer. You see beyond the natural, and you see into the

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spirit, and you see that God wants to do some great and mighty things with your generation, and you're

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just not satisfied. There is something stirring on the inside of the body of Christ, the remnant,

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and it's what I call a holy dissatisfaction. I am bored with everything else, except the things of

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God and the things that will advance his kingdom. Are you listening? That doesn't mean you don't go

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to school. That doesn't mean you don't have a career, but you'll move into your career. What will

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happen is you'll move into your career, and you'll do that thing for a while, but there'll come a time

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when God will say, well done, you're good and faithful servant, separate unto me, so and so and so

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and so, for the work whereon to I have called them. And you'll say to yourself, it's time for me to go

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into that thing which God has called me from before the foundation of the earth, before I was ever

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formed in my mother's womb. God, you knew me, you ordained a plan for me. Yes, I did this thing for

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a while, but now it's time for me to fulfill the five-fold ministry that is on my life. There's

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nothing more miserable than a person who's got the five-fold ministry called on his life and is not

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walking in the light of it. The Bible talks about people like that even in revelations. You know,

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they've got money, they've got all kinds of goods, they have all kinds of houses, but then God looks

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at them and he says, but you're wretched and you're miserable because you've left your first love and

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you're not doing the thing that I've called you to do in the earth. I actually, it's interesting

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because you know how when you grow in God, you don't really realize how you're changing? Because

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you know prayer changes you first. And the Word of God will change you. We're not conformed to this

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world, but we're renewed by our minds. Are you listening? Isn't that true? So you don't realize

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that gradually you're being changed. You know now, you know, I'm 58. I don't know how old Angel is.

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She's looking like she's all that. She's like about 30 something. I don't know what's going on with

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this girl. She's just going backwards. But you know what happens is, is that you know, you don't

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realize that you're changing, that God is changing you, that you were born in one way. You had some

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life circumstances that changed you in not a positive way. But you know, life is hard.

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Let's just face it. And if you get into like an abusive relationship or with Mr. or Mrs. Wackadoo

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who's verbally abusive to you, that will change you. Or if you are ever raised in an environment as

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a child and you were verbally abused or the parents didn't know how to speak life to you and spoke

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death and called you stupid and called you all kinds of names and they were mean to you, that

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changed you. Are you listening? Or if you were ever a child and you were abused sexually or physically,

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that changed you. So then as you grow up, what do we need? We need the word of God to change us

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back to how we were originally created in the beginning. Are you listening? Babies are born

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into this world with confidence. They're ready to take the world, but something changes them and

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it's called life. And sometimes relationships and all kinds of different things. You understand

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what I'm saying? So when I was growing up, I grew up with five brothers in an Italian home.

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And you know, my brothers, their way of loving me was teasing me. They'd call me all kinds of names.

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I think some of you can relate. They'd say all kinds of things. I was never like sexually abused

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or anything like that. But verbal abuse is just as bad as getting hit by somebody. Are you listening?

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So I mean, just called me names. I was the sister and they play all kinds of tricks.

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And I was born into this world with a melancholy temperament. Do you know what your temperament is?

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If you're a young person, it'd be a good idea to find out what your temperament is because it helps

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you in life to understand your strengths and your weaknesses. And what happens is the devil knows

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what kind of temperament you are because he, you know, people make fun of the devil, but he's

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actually kind of smart. He's kind of smart. He's so smart that he deceived Adam and Eve in the garden.

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Are you listening? So he's very subtle and he's very smart and the enemy is very patient.

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So the devil knows like your strengths and your weaknesses. So he says, okay, a melancholy temperament.

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I'm a double melancholy sanguae and the sanguae is actually my saving grace that manifests

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usually when I'm preaching the funny outward talkative person that normally I'm not in real life.

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But it's there. Thank God. But anyway, so you're born with that temperament. I was born with that

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temperament. And so I was a quiet person by nature ish. All the environment caused me to be even more

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quiet. And you know, Facebook opens up a lot of stuff. And you reconnect with a lot of people,

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correct? Well, maybe not the young people, they get connected, they stay connected. Yeah, those of

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us who are a little, you know, older, we connect with high school friends and people from, you know,

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way back. And one of my friends from high school said, she said, I couldn't even believe I can't

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even believe that you're the same person. She said, you were as quiet as a mouse in school.

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And you've got to be kidding me. Yes, I was quiet. Afraid. You'd look at me and that you know,

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ever hear that saying she shrinks like a violent, I would shrink like a violent. Well, how is that

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possible that you could be what you are now when back then you were that it's called prayer changes

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things. Prayer changes you first. And the word of God will do the changing as well. God wants to

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wants you to fulfill the totality of the destiny that he has called you to fulfill. You've been

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created in his image and his likeness. You were formed in your mother's womb. You have the right

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personality. You have everything you need. You may have to go through some transformation because

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of some trials and tribulations in your life. But eventually, you're going to get to where you need

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to be. I don't know why I said all that. But I said all that because I said it. That was most off the

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cuff rabbit trail I have been on. Well, I can't say in a long time because you know, we just go with

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the flow. God's called you to be what you've called to be and just be who you are. But I just want

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you to know one thing. You're going to go on that path for a while and you're going to do what you

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need to do. But eventually, yeah, your gift will make room for itself and it's going to rise to the

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surface and you're going to start having a sense of destiny is calling me. I have got to change the

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path that I'm on, not because the other path was wrong. It's because all of that was for preparation

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and then you're going to step into what I have called you to be and called you to do. And I am

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going to use you as my mouthpiece to your generation. So it's quite interesting in my mind how God can

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really change somebody and turn them into another person. As a matter of fact, the very first time

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that I spoke, I spoke, I was just, I just graduated from REMA. I think it was the 77 year or the 79

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year. Not exactly sure, but the very first time I spoke, I was so scared I could hardly stand it.

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I would just get into prayer and I'd go, go God, please, anoint me, please, oh God, help Jesus,

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I can't do this. I would not have a three day seminar. Oh my God, help me, Jesus. You know,

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this is little Margie who's the shy, introvert, melancholy temperament. God, you've got to help me,

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God, Jesus, please, please. You know, it's back then before we knew who we were. We had the favor

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and all that and you know, blah, blah, blah. You know, I didn't know, I mean, I knew what I knew

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from REMA, but I didn't know everything, but you never know. I'll tell you what, I'll tell you,

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there's so much that is deposited in you when you go to school like that. That word doesn't return

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void, but anyway, I'm still begging because it wasn't had renewed my mind yet. Oh God, please,

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please, please, please, please, anoint me. And the very first time I got up, Holy Ghost fell on

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Acts 10, 44 and all of them that heard the word. God will confirm your calling. He will bring you

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before great men and it's the anointing that confirms that the call of God is on your life.

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It's not about personality. Do you know that there's people in the ministry and they're in the

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ministry because they're good looking, number one, number two, they have a good personality and they

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know how to give a good speech. We're living in a time and we're living in a season where people

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want their ears tickled and they want their eyes to feel good and to like what they see and I'm

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telling you and I'm saying it, I say it because I don't really care because I got a husband.

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Him and God provide all my needs according to his riches and glory and I don't need anything from

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anybody except to obey God. I'm not a politically correct person at all. But do you know that we're

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living in a society now that you can't be over 35 and be a pastor? People don't want the over,

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anybody that's over 35 and you got to be good looking, you got to have the right clothes,

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you got to have the right look. You think I'm kidding? Am I kidding?

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But there are genuine Elijah's and Joshua's and Rahab's and Debra's that are in this generation

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and they're going to arise and they're going to shine and it's going to be said of them like it was

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said of the early church. They that have turned the world have come upside down also. But you still

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need your mothers, you still need your fathers, you still need us to train you and equip you.

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And those young people that are the remnant young people that honor their father and mothers,

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not just their natural fathers but their spiritual fathers and mothers,

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they're the ones God said I'm going to bring before great men. It'll go well with them because

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they've honored their father and their mothers and they've allowed the fathers and the mothers to

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deposit into them. Glory be to God, thank you Jesus, amen. All right. Confidence and prayer,

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let's look at Genesis chapter 3. You know the story. God told Adam and Eve straight up, listen,

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this is the deal. Don't eat the tree that's in the midst of the garden. Now God is not a mean God,

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he didn't tell them not to eat the tree because he's a mean God. You know, obviously he loved

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his creation. He's not a mean God. God is not mean. And what happened is the enemy came in,

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he was subtle. And God, the reason God told him, he said, listen, basically, and I'm not going to

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get into all of it, but he said, he said, God knew that Adam and Eve had an enemy. Lucifer had

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fell from heaven, right? You know the story. And now all these demon fallen spirits were roaming

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about and God knew that man had an enemy. So to protect his man, he said, listen, you could eat

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of anything you want here, but don't eat from that tree. And you know the story that they ate.

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So verse 6, so when the woman saw that the tree was good for food and that it was pleasant to the

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eyes and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and she ate it. Doesn't that sound

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like temptation in any kind of temptation in general? Those are the three gates. She also gave

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it to her husband with her and he ate. Then what happened? Something happened. The apostle Paul said,

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in dying, the apostles Paul said, I was once alive unto God, but when sin came, sin revived, and I

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died. So here we see the eyes of both of them were open. They knew that they were naked and they sewed

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fig leaves together and they made themselves coverings. And they heard the sound of the Lord God

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walking in the garden in the cool of the day and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence

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of God among the trees of the garden. And so therefore they had all this confidence, didn't

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they? And then now they sin, separation comes, and here we see them. They're hiding from God.

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They're covering themselves up. They hear the voice of God calling them and instead of responding in

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faith and in love, what does the Bible say? They hid themselves. Then verse 9, and the Lord called

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to Abraham, Adam, and said to him, where are you? Oh my God, where are you? How many of you ever had

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that happen with your kids? You know, my daughter, we were in New York this week and, you know, thank

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God for phones, but she was out with her friend. We went somewhere else for dinner and, you know,

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I tried calling her when we got back to the apartment and her phone wasn't picking up and then

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her best friend, who's my God daughter, hers wasn't picking up. And so I'm like this, where are they?

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They're not picking up the phone. Where are they? So, you know, what rises in you as a natural parent

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is a concern and a love. Where are you? So finally when she came home, I said, where were you?

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I know, Mom, my phone died. Well, you think about God. They had a connection with God.

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They're disconnected because of sin. Now, God is saying out of his fatherly creative heart,

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where are you, Adam and Eve? I miss you. I long for you. Where are you? You're my creation. I

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created you in my image and in my likeness. I want to be with you, but where are you? You know,

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where they were, they were lost. They were alienated from God without hope. They had fallen.

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So let's see what, how Adam responds. He said, I heard your voice in the garden and I was afraid

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because I was naked and I hid myself. And God said, who told you you were naked? Basically,

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you know this is true. His whole, his whole being changed. His, his, his, his, he, he, he, something

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in him changed. He was once a child of the light. Now through, through this sin, he's fallen and

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he's become a father of the devil. His whole nature internally changed. And now he realized

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that he was naked. Whereas before he had no consciousness of his body, no consciousness of

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the things of this world, no consciousness of anything, but God and just enjoying their creation.

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I believe that's what God is restoring in those of us who want to continue to follow him in the

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fullness of what he desires to do in these days. How about, what do you think? Obviously, we're not

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going to run around naked, but, but that point being, he, the point is, is he was hiding himself

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from God. And God says, who told you you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree from which I

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commanded you not to eat? Then the man said, of course, he blamed, you know, the woman you gave

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me, it's her fault. And the Lord said to the woman, what have you done? And the woman was honest.

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She said, the serpent deceived me and I ate. Now, I want to talk to you, we're going to get into this

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a little bit. Confidence in the presence of God. When Adam and Eve fell, did they have confidence

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in the presence of God? No, they had what we call sin consciousness. It's consciousness is a way of

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thinking and a way of behaving. And the way you think affects your behavior, as Angel said, correct?

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And so if a person has sin consciousness, it will affect the way they behave. They'll be shame-based.

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And not only affect the way they behave and how they think, what they think of themselves, and

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even what they think of others, it will affect how we pray and how we go before the throne of God.

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When you pray, you can't pray with a sin consciousness, with sin on your conscience.

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Adam and Eve said, this is how they approached God after the fall. They covered themselves,

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they hid themselves from the presence of God. Then their confession was, or the thing they said out

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of their mouth, I was afraid, I was naked, and I hid myself. What are you trying to say? I have come

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to tell someone in here today, and I knew, and I know that I know that I was led to do this, because

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I know beyond any shadow of a doubt. When you approach the presence of God, approach him with a

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righteousness consciousness, what is that? The Bible says, when a person is born again,

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he is a new person inside. Old things have passed away, all things have become new. And the scripture

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goes on to say in 2 Corinthians 5, that because of your new relationship with Jesus Christ,

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you now have access to the Father, you're in right standing with him, and therefore you are

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the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. You don't have to hide from God. You don't have to fear God.

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You don't have to cover yourself. Well, Margie, you don't know, sometimes I mess up really bad.

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Well, don't we all? Are you listening? I am 58 years old. I don't even know. In the Catholic

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church where we were raised, we would sin, and then we'd go to a confessional, and we would confess

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our sins. Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned, I've spent 30 days. I'd even lie sometimes about

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how many days it's been. It's terrible, isn't it? I'd go into confession on that lie, and I'm like

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a really sensitive person with God. I was always a God lover, but even if you're a God lover,

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you're going to make mistakes. Are you listening? He knows that we're just human. Psalms 139, read

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it sometimes. He knows that we're just human, so I'd go into confession. I'd make make a nap, make

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it all. I've spent 30 days. How many days? I didn't feel like counting, and then I'd tell them all my sins.

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Well, in Christ, Jesus is our high priest. We don't have to go to a natural priest anymore.

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That's Old Testament. We don't have time to get into it. It's Old Testament. Now Jesus is our

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high priest after the order of Him, Malchizedek. He lives and abides forever, so if we mess up,

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we could go directly to Him. And 1 John 1 9, it's not a very popular scripture nowadays among

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certain people and certain movements, but 1 John 1 9, you could go directly to the Father and say,

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Father, I have sinned. Forgive me. And the Bible says He is faithful and just to forgive you of your

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sin and cleanse you from all unrighteousness. If I didn't have a righteousness consciousness,

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I would never be where I am today. What does the Bible say? A righteous person falls down how many

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times? So many times. Well, a million, probably in a lifetime, right? But a strong Christian,

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a strong person, one who knows who they are in Christ, no one who understands the love of the

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Father, one who understands that they're just, they're just human and makes mistakes. A strong

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person is one who when you fall, you get back up and you keep running the race. But Margie,

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the Bible says that we're in a race and we should lay aside every weight and the sin that's so easily

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beset us and run with patience. I get it, yes, it does say that. But the Bible also says run with

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patience. Be patient with the process of growing in Christ. The hand of God is on your life.

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Don't give up, not now, not ever, not in the future, not 40 years from now, not 50 years from now.

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You hear me when I talk to you today. Mama's talking. Because you have an enemy and he's going

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to come in, he's going to try to take advantage of your weaknesses and your personality, he's going

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to try to take you out. One day you're going to hear my words in your spirit and in your mind.

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And the Holy Ghost is going to remind you to get back up, keep running. Don't give up. You are the

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righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. If you fall, you get back up and you go directly to him.

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This is between you and this is between God. Now, of course, there's times of restoration,

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you know, if you have a situation, then you got to have a year and people got to take time off and

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obey the elders and those that have rule over them that say, you know what, don't do this,

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don't do that, you need some time off and we understand that. Submit to them as long as

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they're submitted to God. So that sin consciousness versus righteousness consciousness. And let me

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tell you, I know the Bible and we produced all these CDs, all these spoken word, we've got like

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eight or nine of them in Christ, in whom and the whole nine yards to get it. But even for me, sometimes

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a situation arises and I don't know how to tell you, but it just happens. You listening. And then

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I'm like this, my people have heard me say, they can't even believe it, then I'm like this. I said

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at the women's conference last year, oh, you weren't there. But I couldn't believe it came out of my

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mouth, but I told everybody, I just tell everybody, sometimes it's good to show your wounds, you know,

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when Jesus showed his wounds to his disciples. And I think people can relate to you when you

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share your wounds. But you know, something happened, I'm not going to tell you what it was, but something

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happened. And, you know, I just was going to pray that day and I was going to get into the presence

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of God. And I was like this, God's over there and I'm like this. I don't even see me God.

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I messed up. You know, right when you're just getting ready to pray, or right when you're

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getting ready sometimes just to go to church. Don't wait till half the worship service is over

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before you get right with God. Just confess your sin. He's faithful and just to forgive you.

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But even in the stage that I'm at, I still hide from God sometimes. It's the most ridiculous

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thing on the face of this earth. Now, if I hide from God, right, so can you imagine

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what our believers do that have never been taught the way we've been taught the Word of God?

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What is your point? My point is it's a tactic of the enemy and I'm on it because the Holy Ghost

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has me on it. And guess what? I've never preached this in any of our KIU events or any of our

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House to House events. I'm preaching it here. Are you listening? Are you excited? So we want to

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have a righteousness consciousness when we go before the throne of grace. Hebrews 4.16 says,

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let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help

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in the time of need. You know, when Catherine Coleman, I was, I'm reading her books again because

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I really truly believe that we're coming into another phase of the working of miracles and gifts

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of healing. Telling you straight up, we are. And she, I decided to start reading her books again

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to see how she operated. And she said to this reporter, she said to him, she said, you see that

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doorknob right there? She said, I die a thousand deaths every time I go up the three stairs and

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turn that doorknob because she knew she couldn't do it. She needed God's grace, God's mercy. She

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knew who she was. See, we are, we are by the grace of God. Are you listening? But it says here in

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the scripture, let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy

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and find grace to help in the time of need. That word boldly means the Webster says fearlessly,

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let us therefore what? Come fearlessly. Where? To the throne of grace. Isn't that the opposite of

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what Adam and Eve did? The Webster says taking liberties. Let us therefore take our liberty and

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go up to the throne of grace. And the Webster's also said shameless. Let us therefore come shamelessly

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to the throne room of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

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Righteousness, consciousness. The apostle Paul said, I want you to come boldly to the throne of grace.

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He didn't say crawl to the throne of grace. Yes, there's times you know when I get down before

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God in my knees, but he wants you to come boldly. You are accepted in the beloved.

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As he is, so are we in this world. He loves you with a everlasting love. And his love

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never changes, never fails. You know that story, saw never fails, never quits, never gives up,

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but do we really believe it? Thank you for listening to the Purpose Project podcast.

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For more content, video, and teachings like this, visit margieflurant.org.