Truth
It takes truth to bring us into true freedom and freedom must run on the rails of truth. If your freedom ever gets off the rails of truth it will hurt you badly and destroy those around you. People may want to be free to take other people’s money but it will destroy them and others. So the truth will set you free and knowing and living the truth will keep you free.
Truth is reality; life as it truly is. When you’re a child you need adults to tell you how life really is because a five year doesn’t know about scalding water. Truth protects and sets free.
A teenager needs parents to tell the truth because they don’t know about the danger of men or drugs. The truth set free. An adult needs God to tell them by a revelation about how life is designed to work best, how to become right with God or how to live successfully with their wife or husband.
The law or the Old Testament is not the Truth by itself. It set no one free and made no one righteousness. The Truth is not any one part of the bible; it is the whole Bible. Thy Word is Truth and that truth was perfectly demonstrated by Jesus Christ. Another word for truth is reality and the Bible tells us how a thing really is. There really is a God. There really is a hell. There is a devil and you do reap whatever you sow.
Friend the greatest reality is that God loves us and Christ died for us to bring us back to God forever. That is real love, really awesome and real truth.
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Growing in the Lord
The old farmer walked home as the sun slowly set behind him. He was happy the seeds had been sown and with rain about to fall, there was nothing more to do but wait. God also wants us to grow from babies into fully mature sons of God but He knows that we can’t make ourselves grow up. If a parent said to his child to increase in height it would be impossible. Jesus said “consider the lilies of the field. They don’t toil or spin yet they are beautiful” He also said. “Which of you can by worry can add an inch to your height?’ In other words you cannot make yourself grow up. Only God can make you grow. The seed, the flower, the lily of the felid does nothing except receive. It just stays rooted in the ground or connected to the vine. Similarly the little baby, doesn’t try to grow; it just grows. The seeds DNA says grow and as long as it receives, it will grow. Be a hungry receiver!
Friend, receive the Word and the grace of God and the water of the Spirit and you will grow.
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Through the cross
Although the cross is central to our believing, when Paul says that we died with Christ on the cross, it seems a bit hard to grasp as we never literally hung on a cross. So what happened on that terrible day of suffering and how did we die? Five things transpired.
First the flesh was crucified or the old man was crucified. This referring to the old nature; our dead spirit that was cut of from God; this was brought to an end.
Also the world is crucified to us. In Galatians 6:14 he says: But may it never be that I should boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. Christians can never belong to the world again - we are aliens here.
The law is taken away on the cross as it was "nailed to the cross.’ When a debt was paid, they would nail the notice of debt to the door of the debtor but written on it was paid in full.
On the cross the enmity between Jews and Gentiles (which covers everyone in the world), is removed. God has forever removed all class distinctions.
And of course as Isaiah says, we have peace with God because of what Christ did. We were once enemies of God, but through Christ we have been brought near (Ephesians 2:13). In other words, we have been reconciled to God through the cross (verse 16). It is a basic Christian belief that our relationship with God depends on the death of Jesus Christ.
Friend, the work of the cross is so great and so complete that now we are free from everything that we couldn’t be freed from, by the law.
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Give no place
The man goes to work wearing a suit and sits in the nice wood paneled room filled with expensive leather chairs. Nobody would guess that it is not his title or position that shape his life the most, but his heart.
It always will be, until he is healed and set free. He will always be affected in some way every day by his past. The father who committed adultery and left the home or the time when his friend died after he gave him too much to drink or the trip overseas when he visited a prostitute, nags away at his heart and the devil will keep him captive to that secret shame, till he is set free.
When there are unresolved or un-confessed issues in our life, it gives a place in our lives, for him to occupy areas in your life; it gives him a foothold and it may ultimately affect those in the family and around you. The devil prowls around seeking who he can devour. And the only way Satan gets a place and keeps a place in our lives is by places of brokenness and damage in our lives through our sin, or others sin or his lies about us or about others.
Friend, every person either looks back or looks forward. We are either more conscious of our past or more conscious of our future. And while our brokenness is not healed and the devil still has hooks into our life because of the wounds, we will be hindered in some measure to be able to go where Jesus wants to take us.
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Suffering of the Cross
It was necessary for the Messiah to die, but he couldn’t die in a painless way. He needed to suffer for our salvation. It was an essential part of Jesus’ ministry, and an essential part of the gospel. Jesus had predicted his own suffering and death, even his death on a cross. For the transgression of my people he was stricken.... Though he had done no violence ... it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer ... the Lord makes his life a guilt offering.... He will bear their iniquities.... He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. The cross allowed for suffering. Jesus even refused to speed up or dull the suffering with wine. On the cross he took the curse upon himself that was upon mankind. Jesus redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. He was made sin for us and bore our curses so we could be righteous and blessed. Since we failed to keep the law perfectly, we fell under its curse and we all deserved death. Jesus, being sinless, did not need to die, but he willingly died for us. The righteous died for the unrighteous. He received death so that we might receive life.
Friend, it is through the cross that we can be given the blessing promised to Abraham. It is through the cross that we are reconciled to God. It is through the cross that God forgives our sins, taking away the written note of debt that was against us. Thank God for the One on the Cross!
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Blessed are the peace makers
We know God is on a peace mission. There was peace in the Garden of Eden, and history closes with peace in eternity, but soon after the man was created, peace was taken from the earth when man sinned. There has been trouble on earth ever since. There seems to be no economic peace, religious peace racial peace, social peace, family peace or personal peace on earth.
There are strikes, referendums rallies and riots. There are demonstrations and wars are multiplying: the need for peace has never been greater than today. God never forgot His plan for peace, so God ramped up his peace mission in Jesus Christ. When He was sent, the angels announced peace on earth and good will to men. And in this verse in Matthew, Jesus says whoever joins Him in this peace mission, will become a son of God or a daughter of God. The one blinding fact about this verse is that peace makers are blessed. Not the peace lovers, it’s not those who love peace that are blessed or called sons of God. Not the one that heads for the hill, buys a block of land in the county to get some quiet. It’s not the one that withdraws from confronting those that need it, but the peace makers.
Friend, we are peace makers when we confront the problem, seek to solve it and after the problems is solved, seek to build a bridge between those who were separated by the problem.
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Forgiveness
Paul said that he had tried to avoid offending God or men. We should too and sometimes we need to ask somebody for forgiveness, if we know we have offended them. You may need to ask your parents to forgive you or a friend to forgive you for your unkind words.
On the other hand Jesus said if you come to the altar and you know someone has something against you should leave the altar and put things right with that person before you carry on to worship. Sometimes we may even have to ask Gods forgiveness for the sins of our grandparents as well as forgiving those who have sinned against us. We need to clear our conscience before God and people.
That doesn’t mean we go and confess all our sins to our parents, wife or a person we are secretly jealous at, unless they know of our sin. We don’t tell people that you had something against them for the last 10 years, if they didn’t have a clue. That may just create un-necessary problems.
Friend, a principle to live by is: Ask forgiveness from only those people that know of your sin or wrong attitude toward them; nobody else needs to be involved, apart from Our Heavenly Father who will forgive you completely as you confess your sin to Him.
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Truth and Grace
Fred who is a believer has a short temper and always seems to be blowing up his wife and kids. He makes yet another commitment to God to really try to not get angry so soon. The next day he fails again and feels like a hopeless failure. He will never break the cycle because he personally has no ability to help himself and the law (do not be soon angry) doesn’t empower him either.
He feels that he should be free but doesn’t seem to know-how. Jesus said “If you know the truth it will make you free. So true freedom is not from a physical problem but from something mental or spiritual.
Grace is a gift come to us from Jesus, but sometimes believers don’t seem to appropriate the gift of grace as we could. Often believers live more by self-effort.
God has revealed two weapons to smash off us, every bondage that the devil has put upon us - Grace and truth which came by Jesus Christ. Grace is the unmerited favour of God that God has shown us as sinners. Grace credits to us the righteousness of God. But grace is not just His righteousness but His ability too.
Now, what happens when Fred lives under grace or should we say understands the grace of God and Truth? Fred knows God is not angry with him and that God actually likes him. God has proved that by giving Fred His power, Spirit and Life.
He knows God actually loves him and wants Fred to have a healthy home and relationships even more than Fred does, so he comes boldly to the throne of grace to find help in a time of need. Fred is so in love with his heavenly Father now that he seeks to please Him even in the way he handles disappointments and he finds a new power at work in his life.
Friend, its grace that allows us to come feeling un-condemned before God our Father and ask for help. Grace teaches us that God is not surprised that you can’t control your anger or you lust or your fear without Him and grace will be given freely to you in your time at the throne.
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Altar Call
While Israel was languishing in Egypt’s as slaves, they lost much of their understanding of God. God began to teach his people how to approach Him. “An altar of earth you shall make for Me, and you shall sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen. In every place where I record My name I will come to you, and I will bless you”. Exodus 20:24. For hundreds of years they bought their sacrifices of worship to the altar at Moses Tabernacle. This altar was only a type of the final altar, Jesus. His final blood sacrifice for us, reveals completely Gods fullest mercy toward us. Today we still have an altar that God has placed his name upon. “We have an altar they have no right to eat Hebrews 13. Speaking of Jesus Christ the ultimate altar. God said everyplace that he recorded his Name on the altar, He would meet with them there. The altar was the place where God was going to meet with mankind and Jesus is the only place we can meet with God. Jesus is the final place of slaughter and the final altar. He is the only “place” that God will come to bless mankind. Jesus is the altar as he alone is named with the name of God. Altars were the place that God revealed himself to mankind and we can surely see that Jesus was God revealing Himself to us. Today we come to our altar Jesus, to offer worship to our Father God. When we came to the altar, we are not coming to a raised part of the stage or to some shiny table but we are coming to Jesus Christ to receive forgiveness, life, healing and blessing. He is the blood stained altar! “By him or through him (through Jesus our altar) we can offer to God our spiritual sacrifices (Heb.13.15).
Friend, He is the place God has recorded His name. He is the only place to meet with God and as we come to Him, He promises to meet us there.
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Disciples making disciples
Jesus last orders crashed on the disciple’s ears as they stood on the Mt of Olives “Go and make Disciples…”, but it seems often the same words bounce off deaf ears in the church today. We say we want a harvest but we won’t sow the field; we say we love the lost but we don’t spend any time with them. We think prayer alone will bring in the sheaves or that tearless sowing of seeds will penetrate the stony ground. We work harder and even try to work smarter but the days tick by and we wonder where the increase is. Often we are waiting for one to be given to us after the altar call or we wait to be asked to follow up a new believer in the church. We’re trying to make disciples in the wrong places. Go into all the world and make disciples means into all nations. For the Jewish disciples it meant gentiles; people unlike them, and for us, it means people not like us. That is the genius of this command; they are shocked straightaway at your concern or interest. Jesus chose his disciples before they had become Christians and we should too. He chose some to be with him when they were unsaved! If everyone chose and made a disciple of someone that is not like us, we would see the harvest begin to come in and it may still take time. When the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples they started preaching and making disciples. When Jesus came out of the wilderness, in the power of the spirit, the first thing he did was chose disciples; then he started preaching.
Friend, the evidence of being in the power of the Spirit is choosing and making disciples. It not feeling goosebumps; it’s not having gifts of healing its making disciples.
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Restored
Another day in the desert came and went; another day to see what was in their heart. Today the people found fault with Moses and God himself. There are people who think they could teach God a few things. Lord you not doing this right. The complained about their present circumstances and they complained about their future challenge. The two who didn’t complain should have gone in but were hindered by the rest for another forty years. (sobering) but the point is that your attitude will keep you in the same circumstance you’re complaining about and until our attitude glorifies God, we won’t be delivered.
It’s not suffering that glorifies God; anyone can suffer but suffering with an attitude that glorifies God. We don’t look for suffering; it’s coming anyway. Jesus suffered gloriously without complaint, but with trust. God is looking for settled character, where we remain stable and constant in trust because the ability is shown by stability. Some people are great today, but tomorrow they are negative, critical, cynical and flaky.
God is in charge and He hasn’t changed since yesterday. He hasn’t changed his plans and purpose for your life since last week or last year.
Friend, God only needs to see us keep the right attitude before He brings the release and the increase.
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Peace in life
You can have relief and still not have peace. You can leave home to get away from your parents and find relief but in your heart, you may still not have peace. You can have an argument with your wife then go and play golf. You may have relief but not peace. We might tiptoe around the house in silence for a day. We have a truce but we don’t have peace. Real peace always begins with spiritual peace. That is where the world misses it. They want to go from trouble to peace and bypass the Prince of peace. They want peace but don’t want the source of peace. Spiritual peace: the peace that God came to give us, is always a result of something else, called righteousness. The kingdom of God is not meat and drink but righteousness peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Rom 14 .17. We may find ways to cope a little better. There may be a way to mitigate some of our troubles and they could satisfy temporarily but till righteousness enters the heart of men, there can never be true peace. And unfortunately, this is why there is little you can do for broken families robbed of peace in so many ways, till they are ready to do it Gods way. We all have to lay down sin and our pride and our lives before Jesus and receive his forgiveness and righteousness.
Friend, where ever there is no peace, but friction, anger, wars, hatred or lack of peace in our hearts or home, workplace or nation, it is always a lack of righteousness, but thank God that is something he is willing to give us.
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Gods New Creation
Creation sparkled in the early dawn of life. It was a beautiful thing. When God created mankind, He made them pure, free and worthy to walk with God in a relationship with him. He gave them authority over the earth as His ambassadors on the earth, but they chose to move away from God and consequently, they were put out of the garden. The bible is the story of God bringing us back to where we fell from. If we choose to come back, he will make us re-make us. God won’t make you do anything but he will make you into something brand new. He doesn’t make people repent but He does invite and convict us by the Holy Spirit; He warns us through preaching. We had no choice about being in Adam but we do have a choice to be in Christ, and till we accept Christ we remain in Adam receiving all that he deserves. When we accept Christ as Lord, we receive all He deserves! We are either in Adam of Christ; this is the only distinction God sees. If you are in Adam you get all Adams stuff and his family traits; hopelessness, bondages, fear of dying, no sense of future and no relationship with God.
But Friend, If you are in Christ you get all Christs’ stuff; Eternal life, relationship with Father, blessing and joy unspeakable. We had no choice the first time we were born but thank God, we do have a choice to be born again!
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The work of the ministry
The fivefold is to equip the saints so the saints can do the work of the ministry. Bruce Wilkerson of “Prayer of Jabez” fame said “We don’t measure success by the number of people watching you do ministry but how many of those watching you, are doing ministry. Whatever it is that church members think pastors do: visiting the sick in hospitals, casting out devils, following up visitors to the church, ringing up the people that haven’t been seen for three weeks, teaching new believer the basics and discipline some people at lunchtime…is what they are to be doing! Jesus was modelling ministry for His body the whole church, not for the 5 fold. Ministry just means serving. Believers don’t go to church to be at a service or to enjoy a service but they go there to give service and then go out of the meeting to give service to the body and the world. Members are to edify or build the local church body up. It is not Jesus alone who is building the church, we have excused lack of availability from that verse, for far too long. It is the job of the saints to build up the church by doing the work of the ministry. That is a ministry to God in worship, ministry to the world as disciple-makers and ministry to the saints by service, love and encouragement.
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Murmuring and complaining
Another day in the desert came and went; another day to see what was in their heart. Today the people found fault with Moses and God himself. There are people who think they could teach God a few things. Lord you not doing this right. The complained about their present circumstances and they complained about their future challenge. The two who didn’t complain should have gone in but were hindered by the rest for another forty years. (sobering) but the point is that your attitude will keep you in the same circumstance you’re complaining about and until our attitude glorifies God, we won’t be delivered.
It’s not suffering that glorifies God; anyone can suffer but suffering with an attitude that glorifies God. We don’t look for suffering; it’s coming anyway. Jesus suffered gloriously without complaint, but with trust. God is looking for settled character, where we remain stable and constant in trust because the ability is shown by stability. Some people are great today, but tomorrow they are negative, critical, cynical and flaky.
God is in charge and He hasn’t changed since yesterday. He hasn’t changed his plans and purpose for your life since last week or last year.
Friend, God only needs to see us keep the right attitude before He brings the release and the increase.
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The Fear of God
Many years ago God gave us a serious financial challenge. The loss of money I didn’t mind so much but I struggled with the insecurity of being in that situation. I had been working toward purchasing my first house since I was seventeen. I felt it was my responsibility as a man; that is what I’d been taught.
God’s objective is the rearrangement of our life’s priorities, for our trust and security is in Him. I think He needed to show me that my value and worth is found in Him and not in an asset-based “net worth.”
What I found also was that the change brought me into a certain fear of God. Psalm 55:19
I become awed, dependent and reverent before him as we were now out on a limb because of this change. What I also found was a new focus on the things of God, a change of direction for my affections. I’d come home at night and have nothing but God, my wife and my family to love.
Everyone wants a brighter future but they think it can happen without change. It is a fantasy to believe you can have a different future unless something changes in your life now. We want the promise but not the process. We may want a house with a better view, but we don't want to change. A better job, but we don't want the pain of change. Israel had wanted the Promised Land, but not enough to change their unbelief to faith.
Friend, every good thing God has for you, is on the other side of change.
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If you knew Me
One day when the disciples had gone to town to buy some food, Jesus being weary sat by a well in the middle of the day. He was waiting for a Samaritan woman who was a sinner. When she arrived and was greeted by Jesus, the woman of Samaria said to Him, "How is it that you, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman? For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans?” Jesus answered and said to her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, 'Give Me a drink,' you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water." John 4:6-10. Here is a Samaritan woman from the wrong culture, the wrong side of the tracks, definitely the wrong lifestyle and she is a woman! She was the wrong gender to think that she could ever know God for herself. She was out of covenant, out of style and out of favour, but Jesus was waiting for her. Jesus is waiting for us; He is waiting for you. We are never too far out, too far wrong or too far gone. And this is what He says to you “If you knew me you would ask me ... for the living water of the Spirit and I would give it.” If we knew Jesus we would ask....If we know His heart; had a true understanding of His heart and love for you, His willingness, you would ask! If you knew his heart toward you the first thing you’d do is ask because he’s for you, he’s waiting for you there at the well. And he would do it too, he would give a spring that bubbles up to eternal life.
Friend, He wants to activate that spring within us, more than we do! The springing up of the Spirit of God in every person’s life and the reality of hearing his Spirit directly communicating with us is actually what both Him and us both want. There were two people at the well that were satisfied that day.
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Change can be good for you
The woman in Samaria knew she needed to change but it took Jesus to bring her to a breakthrough moment. It was a bit embarrassing and a bit frightening but what a change it made. The events that brought the woman caught in adultery to Jesus was something she never planned at all, maybe she hoped she would never be discovered but she was, in the end, indebted to the circumstances that finally bought change to her life.
We don’t usually invite change into our life, but it happens anyway. Sometimes it helps us get unstuck. Zacchaeus the taxman was stuck in his life. He thought he could never be accepted or respected, but Jesus changed his life. Paul was stuck in religion.
I think of Jacob; a mummy’s boy who needed to grow up. His mother dressed him and told him what to do till he was probably 40! He was the boy who liked to stay at home with mum. He was the first metro-sexual. His mother told him what to say and when his mother said to lie to his father, he did just that. He loved God I guess, but life was all about him. He needed to grow up and stand strong in God. After seven years of serving his father in -law to be, he was tricked into taking the older daughter before he is given the one he really loved. Laban, the father in law also changed his wages seven times. But God was helping him to overcome his insecurity and to become a prince that could wrestle with a man and finally God himself. He was setting Jacob up for his destiny.
Friend, maybe you're stuck in something and it will take the changes that Gods wants, to bring your release.
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Afflictions of the righteous
God doesn’t prevent every trouble; He doesn’t step in and stop every difficult time coming our way but He will help us out of the troubles or through those troubles. God often does not intervene before the trouble comes but he will intervene when you ask him to. When we see disasters happen we wonder, why didn’t God stop it from happening, but here’s the thing - God doesn’t keep us from suffering because He doesn’t even keep himself from suffering. Only beings that feel love, can suffer. If you want to love in the world, you have to have the possibility of suffering. He never stopped Adam from disobeying but when Adam realized his error, God quickly moved to forgive and to redeem him. God always warns but doesn’t coerce or force anyone to obey and he doesn’t stop people from disobeying either. For God to stop every sin, crime or event that might create suffering, like an argument between husband and wife, he would have to override our free will every day. He is not a controlling demigod, who takes away our personal freedom and personality but He gives us the dignity and responsibility for our own lives. He allows us to live in a world that is broken because of the results of bad decisions and actions both by others and by ourselves. He chooses to help the weak and restore the broken by empowering us with His own strength and grace that we might overcome in this life. Whoever loves the most, suffers the most and God suffers to see the choices we sometimes make but loves us enough to give us the freedom to do it.
Friend, this is the way God works. God does not control things on the front end but he restores the repentant person on the back end. The bible says “many are the afflictions of the righteous but the Lord delivers us from them all.”
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That Body!
Now we have Christ the King of righteousness reigning in our spirit, what is the place of king sin in the flesh? When the godless flesh was destroyed the king of sin and death lost his domain and our soul continues as a tutor. The fleshly body and members are undecided who to live for. He will back up whoever feeds him. If you feed you eyes and mind immoral films you will resurrect its sinful power but if you feed it with the word of God and all things godly, the body will serve the king of righteousness in your spirit.
Though our unregenerate nature was to follow sin, fortunately, there are moderating influences in people to more or less degrees. It’s called a brain. People don’t fully give in to the sin because they think of the consequences most times. The undisciplined body is prone to sin because the fleshly body men live in on earth, is interested in three things. Sex, food and comfort. If your body is king it will give instructions to your soul like "let’s watch some dirty movies or tv" Our body must keep a slave. The body doesn’t know Gods rules so it has to be totally controlled by the spirit led soul.
Unless a person’s soul has been trained by their parents and the Word of God they often just let their body do what it wants and they find themselves giving away their virginity to some person there may never see again. A married man’s body is still wanting to look at another woman. Our body doesn’t understand marital covenants, so we can’t let it have its way.
It will also be saying stop here at this takeaway bar and get some more food in spite of the fact you just had lunch two hours ago.
Your body must be trained and disciplined not to eat all the time. Sex sin happens when people can’t control the body’s sexual appetite. Eating is gluttony when people can’t control their eating habits. Don't have to be fat just have to give in to appetites every time you feel hungry. Make your body wait! It is part of the parent’s job to train their child to control their bodies appetite for food.
Friend, your body will be saying that you’re too tired to go to the homegroup and prayer meeting tonight and that you should take your ease. You need some comfort. You can’t go that hot room or the room is too cold and the seats are too hard. Your body keeps yelling till it’s satisfied so it must be told what to do - it must now become a slave to the King of righteousness within us.
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