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Embracing Truth | Better Together

January 16, 2020

26:22

Power and healing comes from not always believing the little voice in your head! It's time to embrace who God says you are! | TBN Prayer Line: 1-888-731-1000

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Embracing Truth | Better Together

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(soft new age music)
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- We are all madein God's image,
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but do we see ourselvesthe way he does?
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Today's conversation willhelp us forgive ourselves
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and embrace God's truth.
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(inspirational new age music)
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- I accidentally got marriedand intentionally divorced
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when I was 23, and intentionallydivorced when I was 25.
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I had just finished filminga movie called Chasing Papi,
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and it was a film thatactually really hindered
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my good girl persona.
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Good girl, Christian,CCM persona.
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So I tried to figure out away to come back and look like
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a good girl, so, Iknow, I'll get married.
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'Cause then you look safe.
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Because, I mean, I felt very,
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I felt bad that maybe Ilet some little girls down
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that looked up to me.
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And it wasn't thatthe movie was so bad,
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it was just, it was mewalking in disobedience
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and being a little selfish brat.
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I wanted to make a movie,and I thought it was
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God's will becauseit was my dream.
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So, this guy and I starteddating, and it was about
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11 months later we decidewe're gonna get married.
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So we did,
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and it was just, I knewit was the wrong choice
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from the beginning, Iknew that I had made
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a terrible mistake, buteverybody was sitting
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in that church, and Ihad to go down this aisle
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because I was wearing Vera Wang.
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(shared laughing)
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- You wouldn't wantto waste a Vera.
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- Exactly; so, Idid, I married him.
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And it was very depressing.
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I actually struggledwith depression while I
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was marrying him, 'causeI knew that it was
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walking in disobedience,it was trying to fix
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the mistake that I hadmade, this, by doing this.
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So after his heart startedwandering another direction,
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it was like my getout of jail free card.
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I could get out of jail.
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And see, my family, in myfamily there's a lot of divorce,
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so I remember thinking tomyself, is this like a curse
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that I'm gonnacontinue carrying on?
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Am I broken like everybody else?
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Is it something thatreally is the curse?
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'Cause the family talksabout the family curse.
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So, I knew that people would
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say a lot about meafter I got divorced,
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and I knew that if I hadn'truined my reputation already
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enough, this wasdefinitely gonna kill it.
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So I decided to run.
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And when I say I ran,I ran so far away.
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I'm saying, I sold myhouse, I sold my furniture,
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sold shoes, and I packedeverything up into a couple
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of boxes, and shippedthem to London, England.
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'Cause I found a flatmatewho was Scottish, Scottish,
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she was hilarious,she was crazy.
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And I had never met her.
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I went online, it was awebsite called Flatmate.com,
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or FindAFlat.com,(shared laughing).
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So I went online and I found
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this person.- You were brave.
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- And scared, I'mbrave and scared.
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Running like a little girl.
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So I found this girlwho needed a flatmate,
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and living in Londonproper is super expensive,
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so two people makesthe living cut in half.
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So I ran, and when you runyou still take you with you,
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'cause if you never dealwith it, if you never face
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the fact that you arebroken, and that your heart
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will never maybe heal, andyou're just feeling that way,
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'cause you feel broken.
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I remember during that timeit was actually very healing
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for me too.
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I was running away fromme, but I was still
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taking me with me.
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But I learned somethingthat I never realized
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that was truly affecting me.
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I learned that I wasfinding my identity in being
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a singer, my identitywas found in being
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the breadwinner for my family.
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Being a good girl,being Jaci Velasquez,
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what does that mean?
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All my identity was wrappedup from the time I was
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nine years old travelingwith my parents,
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singing, going from tochurch, to church, to church,
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to church, and then gettingmy record deal when I was 14,
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my whole identity waswrapped up into that persona.
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I had no identity.
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And so, that time in London,although I was running
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I still had me of course,but I learned how to
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be a daughter again.
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I learned what it was liketo have nobody watching,
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and to find comfort andpeace in allowing God
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to reveal to me who I was,that I wasn't just this person,
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this persona trying to,making so many poor choices,
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poor choice after poorchoice, and walking in such
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disobedience, and walkingin such selfishness,
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and then having to dealwith the shame and the pain
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and the embarrassment,of my own choices,
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because I was(soft new age music)
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just being a brat.
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So, it was a good time, becausehe was able just to really
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bring those thingsto light in me.
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- I think for Jaci,it's eyeopening that
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the scenario plays out the same.
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It's like, when you'rerunning, that's when
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you find Jesus, right?
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When you're at your lowest,you find Jesus, right?
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When you are making aliving, making the best life,
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and it looks like youhave the enviable life,
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but you're reallyempty, it's amazing
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where you can find Jesus, right?
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I just think for manyof us, and like Jaci,
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that sin never pays.
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But when you submit yourlife, all the poor choices,
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all the experiences, Godwill force everything
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to work it out for our good.
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He will make the goodstuff, the bad stuff,
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the crazy stuff,the gnarly stuff,
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and make it work itout for our good,
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for those who believe in him.
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That promise is notextended to everybody else,
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it's only for thosewho believe in him.
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So that means that we can usethe stuff that we dishonored
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God with, we can use the stuffthat we used to lie about,
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we can use those stories ofour lives and actually minister
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and help people.
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He will force it to workit out for our good,
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and I think that's oneof the big takeaways
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that I walked awayfrom that conversation.
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It's like, no matter what,when you give your life
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to God, you willalways come out on top.
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- He took my poor choicesand turned them for good.
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And made them beautiful, outof so much burnt ugliness.
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- What do you thinksome of the lies were
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that you believed, Jaci?
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- That I wasn't anythingelse out of being a singer,
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that that was who Iwas and nothing more.
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Because I'm a Christian singer,
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or that's Christian,
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just a singer.- It was a big deal
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when you hit the scene, Iremember it very clearly.
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- [Jaci] That's all I knew.
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- I remember the firsttime I heard you sing,
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and I was like, whoa, Imean, that is a powerhouse
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with a voice, but Iremember thinking,
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"I hope somebody'staking care of her soul."
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- Yeah, that's good.
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- Because it was just outthere, and you were just being
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pushed into the spotlight.
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- And it was scary.
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But you know what's interesting?
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I can remember so much
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but there's a point inthat timeframe, I can't
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remember anything,because it was like,
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everything happened,it was a blur.
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It was a total blur.
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But what's amazingto me, is I look back
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and I think, Lord I feel badthat I wasted so much time,
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so much,
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I should have done more.
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I should have been moreopen and listening clearly,
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to what you wanted me todo, instead of focusing
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on all the people aroundme, and the yes people,
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having to pay peopleto be my friends,
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because that's what youdid, because everyone knew
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I could pay for everything,and so that's what,
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that was so unhealthy.
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I mean, I was employingmy entire family,
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employing friends, because,well I wanted them around,
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so I'll just give you ajob, and I'll pay you.
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So unhealthy, but God,in his goodness and grace
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and faithfulness, wasable to redeem that time,
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and put me, like today, and feel
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this such fullness(soft new age music)
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and joy that God hassuch a beautiful calling,
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and being able towalk in obedience,
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and understand thedifference between my dreams
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and God's calling.
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- I mean, when we'vemade a bad choice
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or a bad decision, ournatural instinct is,
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how do I forgive myself?
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In another ways,we're trying to say,
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how do I move on from here?
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But, I've searchedscripture, and I can't find
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any precedence there wherewe're called to forgive ourself.
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What I do find is thatwe're called to bring
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all of who we areinto the grace of God,
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into the light of Christ.
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And to me, it's there, thatwhen we receive his forgiveness,
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see, sometimes we hold back,but if you've done something,
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and often it's thingslike had an abortion,
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I had an affair, I'veruined my marriage,
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I've driven my familyinto bankruptcy,
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things that seeminsurmountable, how can we ever
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get over that?
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But when we say, Ican't forgive myself,
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it's almost as if we'resaying, what Christ did
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on the cross was not enough.
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That somehow we've added onething he didn't think of,
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and that's not true.
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When Jesus died hesaid, "it is finished."
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Bill paid in full.
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Now I think there's adifference between forgiving
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ourselves, and livingsometimes with consequences.
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Some of our choiceshave consequences.
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If a marriage did fallapart through infidelity,
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then that's something thatmight not be possible to change,
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but if you find yourselfin a place like that,
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what I want you to knowis you're not now living
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in God's second best, you'reliving with fresh grace
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for a new day, for a newhope, and for a new future.
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- [Laurie] What didrepentance look like
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to you during that time?
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- Oh man, repentance?
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Repentance lookedlike, please God.
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(shared laughing)No, it was ugly.
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- A ugly cry.
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- Repentance actuallylooked like anger for me.
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Yeah, there was a timethat I went through
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a lot of yelling at God,and being mad at him.
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- For your choices.
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- For my choices.
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And when I realized thatthat was what was happening,
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I mean, repentance wasjust, please God forgive me.
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I am broken, and I knowwhat your word says,
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but I don't believe it for me,
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because why me?
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I don't deserve it?
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I mean, I wasn't, I wassupposed to be perfect
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that's what everybodyexpected of me,
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and I didn't do it.
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I wasn't there, Iwasn't good enough.
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So I think for me it was just,I know what your word says,
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but I don't think it pertainsto me, I don't believe it
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for me, because howcould you use me?
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You were using me, I thought,but how could you use me
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after so many poorchoices of my own accord?
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And how could you makethose any good now?
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(soft new age music)
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- Whether you'resharing your testimony.
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- Or a prayer request.
00:12:05.872 --> 00:12:07.107
- Stay connected withus oon social media
00:12:07.107 --> 00:12:09.342
at Better Together TV.
00:12:09.342 --> 00:12:10.944
- Join the conversation.
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- We can't waitto hear from you.
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- As I listen to your story,I'm going back in my mind
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to the story ofDavid and Bathsheba,
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and how he did thisthing with this woman,
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and now she's pregnant.
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And so, in order tocover that, he then sends
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her husband to the frontlines in order to die,
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so it's almost likethis double sin,
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and what was prompting himto do that was this desire
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for redemption, but hetook it into his own hands.
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- He DIY'ed, DIY'ed,do it yourself.
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- Yes, and you can't redeemyourself because you have
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to have a higherpower redeem you.
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- I am not God.
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- [Dee Dee] You're not.
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- We are not God.- And I think,
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that's where thechallenge comes,
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is we're trying tofix what we broke
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without realizing that wedon't have the power to fix it.
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Because everything that wedo creates consequences,
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but it createsdivine consequences.
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- And then you'rewalking in obedience.
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- Yes, but thebeauty of repentance,
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the beauty of repentanceis the humility of it.
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Just to say, God, I messedthis all the way up,
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jacked it up.
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- Jacked it up.
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- But I'm willing to admit that,
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and I'm willing to do the work,
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I'm willing to own what I did.
00:13:23.583 --> 00:13:25.485
- And that's whathappened with David,
00:13:25.485 --> 00:13:26.686
when Nathan theprophet came to him,
00:13:26.686 --> 00:13:28.421
and told him a storyabout what would you do
00:13:28.421 --> 00:13:30.190
if this guy did that?
00:13:30.190 --> 00:13:31.224
And he said,
00:13:31.224 --> 00:13:32.292
- "I would kill him."- He said,
00:13:32.292 --> 00:13:33.093
I would have him killed.
00:13:33.093 --> 00:13:34.327
- But the minute Davidsaw that it was him,
00:13:34.327 --> 00:13:36.763
he repented, and hecreate, made a clean heart.
00:13:36.763 --> 00:13:40.700
And restore a rightspirit within him.
00:13:40.700 --> 00:13:42.535
"Cast me not awayfrom your presence."
00:13:42.535 --> 00:13:44.471
But to me, that's the beauty,it's when God in his mercy
00:13:44.471 --> 00:13:48.174
allows us to see thepoor choices we've made,
00:13:48.174 --> 00:13:51.111
for whatever reason, andto me, it's your kindness
00:13:51.111 --> 00:13:55.448
that leads us to repent.
00:13:55.448 --> 00:13:56.616
I even think ofthe prophet Elijah,
00:13:57.784 --> 00:13:59.319
after he'd seen thisgreat big thing happen
00:13:59.319 --> 00:14:01.187
at Mount Carmel, but thenit doesn't go the way
00:14:01.187 --> 00:14:03.590
he thinks it's gonna go,and he's in the desert,
00:14:03.590 --> 00:14:05.458
and wilderness, and he's like,"just kill me, I'm done."
00:14:05.458 --> 00:14:08.094
And I think, and whenthe angel comes to him,
00:14:08.094 --> 00:14:11.464
he didn't say, "look, whatare you doing here you loser?"
00:14:11.464 --> 00:14:14.334
He made him lunch(soft new age music)
00:14:15.502 --> 00:14:16.436
and told him to take a nap.
00:14:16.436 --> 00:14:18.238
It's the kindness of Godthat leads us to repentance.
00:14:18.238 --> 00:14:20.974
- Jesus, in his grace,and his love for us,
00:14:22.142 --> 00:14:26.346
that's what draws us to him.
00:14:27.213 --> 00:14:31.117
It's never anybody pointingat you and telling you
00:14:31.117 --> 00:14:35.322
you're a sinner, you alreadyknow you're a sinner,
00:14:35.322 --> 00:14:38.158
nobody needs to tell us that.
00:14:38.158 --> 00:14:40.193
But it's by his kindness thathe leads us to repentance.
00:14:40.193 --> 00:14:45.165
If somebody doessomething sweet for me,
00:14:45.165 --> 00:14:48.335
and is kind for me, I'lljust about do anything
00:14:48.335 --> 00:14:51.571
for that person.
00:14:51.571 --> 00:14:53.039
You want to do something,you want to live well.
00:14:53.039 --> 00:14:57.610
Jesus loves you, Jesusthinks your amazing.
00:14:57.610 --> 00:15:02.549
Jesus thinks you're perfect.
00:15:03.416 --> 00:15:05.785
And he loves you, andhe says, "come to me,
00:15:05.785 --> 00:15:10.056
and I'll love you, I'll giveyou everything you need."
00:15:10.056 --> 00:15:13.159
Doesn't that make youwant to repent and go,
00:15:13.159 --> 00:15:16.162
yes Lord, here I come?
00:15:16.162 --> 00:15:17.864
- Naps can resolvea lot of things.
00:15:19.499 --> 00:15:21.668
(shared laughing)
00:15:21.668 --> 00:15:23.403
- Just sleep on it.
00:15:23.403 --> 00:15:25.372
- A good sippycup and a blanket.
00:15:25.372 --> 00:15:27.540
- If I can offer this, it'ssomething that you said
00:15:29.142 --> 00:15:31.411
about being anonymous.
00:15:31.411 --> 00:15:33.480
I think there's just somuch, like an exhale,
00:15:33.480 --> 00:15:37.650
that happens in theprivilege of a pause.
00:15:37.650 --> 00:15:41.121
Even though you wererunning, God was like,
00:15:41.121 --> 00:15:44.290
"I've seen this play out before,
00:15:44.290 --> 00:15:45.592
"I've seen thislittle game plan,
00:15:45.592 --> 00:15:47.694
"I've seen this in asketchbook somehow,
00:15:47.694 --> 00:15:49.996
so go ahead and run."
00:15:49.996 --> 00:15:51.664
And then you came back,but you had this word
00:15:51.664 --> 00:15:55.201
that you said anonymous,I had this space,
00:15:55.201 --> 00:15:57.737
no one knew me, Iwas under the radar,
00:15:57.737 --> 00:16:00.140
no one really had eyes on me,and I think there's a lesson
00:16:00.140 --> 00:16:05.078
in that, if I could pull it out,
00:16:05.945 --> 00:16:07.847
and it would be this;
00:16:07.847 --> 00:16:09.082
that Jesus, we onlyhave the infant Jesus
00:16:09.082 --> 00:16:12.385
at one moment, wehave a 12 year old,
00:16:12.385 --> 00:16:14.421
or a junior high Jesusin another moment,
00:16:14.421 --> 00:16:16.389
and then Jesus stepping intohis ministry at the age of 30.
00:16:16.389 --> 00:16:20.894
Three years, just threeyears on the planet,
00:16:20.894 --> 00:16:23.897
fullness of who he was,being called, chosen,
00:16:23.897 --> 00:16:27.267
he was just aschosen as an infant,
00:16:27.267 --> 00:16:29.602
but it's that space of growingbetween that infant stage,
00:16:29.602 --> 00:16:34.607
and then from 12 years old on,you have a couple of decades
00:16:36.042 --> 00:16:37.777
where he was justunder the radar,
00:16:37.777 --> 00:16:39.979
and I think it's a lifelesson for all of us,
00:16:39.979 --> 00:16:42.248
and even, you're thelife lesson as well.
00:16:42.248 --> 00:16:44.784
It's, there's no rush to bepushed into the spotlight.
00:16:44.784 --> 00:16:49.789
There's no rush whereyou have to do anything,
00:16:51.224 --> 00:16:55.195
fix anything, because it's your,
00:16:55.195 --> 00:16:57.464
you're in a incubationplace where you're being
00:16:57.464 --> 00:17:01.534
in a test tube of sortswhere you're growing,
00:17:02.869 --> 00:17:06.039
you're being nurtured,you're thriving,
00:17:06.039 --> 00:17:08.741
and then all of a suddenthis happenstance of,
00:17:08.741 --> 00:17:12.045
someone else was pushingyou to do something.
00:17:12.045 --> 00:17:15.215
You loved it, you enjoyedit, but at the same time
00:17:15.215 --> 00:17:18.518
you felt this surgeof bad choices.
00:17:18.518 --> 00:17:22.122
I think it's God'sway of saying, "okay,
00:17:22.122 --> 00:17:23.823
"I want you to play it out,
00:17:23.823 --> 00:17:25.325
"I want you to see how itgoes when you make decisions
00:17:25.325 --> 00:17:29.362
in your own hands."
00:17:29.362 --> 00:17:30.396
- I'm gonna go aheadand let you do this.
00:17:31.598 --> 00:17:33.333
- And that's his grace.
00:17:33.333 --> 00:17:34.634
- And that's goodparenting as well.
00:17:34.634 --> 00:17:36.703
- It's kindness to us.
00:17:36.703 --> 00:17:38.204
- And humble yourself.
00:17:38.204 --> 00:17:39.806
- We hear aboutthe prodigal son,
00:17:39.806 --> 00:17:41.274
we hear about thatstory, but I don't think
00:17:41.274 --> 00:17:43.710
that story is about theson, it's about the father.
00:17:43.710 --> 00:17:46.779
- Yup, my friend and I weretalking about that, too.
00:17:46.779 --> 00:17:48.548
- It's the unwaveringlove of the father,
00:17:48.548 --> 00:17:51.084
and I read that story,and the son's like,
00:17:51.084 --> 00:17:53.553
"give me my inheritance."
00:17:53.553 --> 00:17:54.821
Which is very pompous,by the way, prideful,
00:17:54.821 --> 00:17:57.657
to go to your parent,while they're living,
00:17:57.657 --> 00:17:59.993
be like, "give me what's mine."
00:17:59.993 --> 00:18:02.395
I wish you weredead, give me money.
00:18:02.395 --> 00:18:03.930
But he goes, he does his thing,
00:18:03.930 --> 00:18:05.865
and it says that whenhe came to himself,
00:18:05.865 --> 00:18:07.634
and he returned to his father,his father was like, "yes."
00:18:07.634 --> 00:18:11.771
And I see that's how God is,
00:18:11.771 --> 00:18:14.040
there's nothing we can do,there's no length we can go to
00:18:14.040 --> 00:18:17.310
that would make himsay, "you know what?
00:18:17.310 --> 00:18:19.145
Don't come back."
00:18:19.145 --> 00:18:20.480
He's like, "I'mjust waiting on you
00:18:20.480 --> 00:18:22.849
to step into the realitythat I will never leave you."
00:18:22.849 --> 00:18:26.386
- We gotta remember thatthat story was a story.
00:18:26.386 --> 00:18:29.055
That story is a storythat Jesus told,
00:18:30.223 --> 00:18:32.692
and it was about the father.
00:18:32.692 --> 00:18:34.327
- It's about the father.- That was about
00:18:34.327 --> 00:18:35.528
the love of the father.
00:18:35.528 --> 00:18:37.030
- And it's interesting too,there wasn't one word of,
00:18:37.030 --> 00:18:39.432
"why did you do this?"
00:18:39.432 --> 00:18:40.934
He actually ran to the son,which would be unheard of
00:18:40.934 --> 00:18:43.336
in those days for anelder, but he wanted to get
00:18:43.336 --> 00:18:46.172
to his son before thevillage elders came
00:18:46.172 --> 00:18:48.474
with that part, ifa son has done that
00:18:48.474 --> 00:18:50.743
you're supposed to come tothis pot of dried things
00:18:50.743 --> 00:18:52.645
and you break it at theson's feet, you say,
00:18:52.645 --> 00:18:54.247
"you can't come home."
00:18:54.247 --> 00:18:55.748
But the father ran tohim first, to get to,
00:18:55.748 --> 00:18:57.550
before anybody couldsay a negative word
00:18:57.550 --> 00:18:59.686
and put a robearound his shoulders
00:18:59.686 --> 00:19:01.087
and a ring on his finger.
00:19:01.087 --> 00:19:02.956
Father is always,"welcome home."
00:19:02.956 --> 00:19:05.024
- He does that, it'sus that holds us back.
00:19:05.024 --> 00:19:07.827
- We're our worst,
00:19:09.028 --> 00:19:09.929
we will be harder on ourselves.
00:19:11.164 --> 00:19:13.633
- We believe it, insteadof believing the word.
00:19:13.633 --> 00:19:17.070
The living word.
00:19:17.971 --> 00:19:19.239
- We're not worthit, don't love me,
00:19:19.239 --> 00:19:20.740
we will push away, we wouldrather be in the pigsty,
00:19:20.740 --> 00:19:24.711
eating the pig's slop, andsaying, "you know what?
00:19:24.711 --> 00:19:27.647
I think this is good."
00:19:27.647 --> 00:19:29.349
- I just (mumbling).
00:19:29.349 --> 00:19:30.984
- I have this image of God, wedo something and we mess up,
00:19:30.984 --> 00:19:35.021
and we repent, werepent, and then,
00:19:35.021 --> 00:19:37.624
and we go to himlater, and we're like,
00:19:37.624 --> 00:19:39.425
"God I'm so sorryfor what I did."
00:19:39.425 --> 00:19:40.660
And God is like,"what did you do?"
00:19:40.660 --> 00:19:42.262
Like, "what areyou talking about?"
00:19:43.396 --> 00:19:44.864
That's true forgiveness,
00:19:44.864 --> 00:19:46.532
when God is like, "you'renot, what are you coming
00:19:46.532 --> 00:19:49.168
to me for?
00:19:49.168 --> 00:19:50.370
Yeah, you messed upagain, but I love you."
00:19:50.370 --> 00:19:51.371
- And you're not your choices.
00:19:51.371 --> 00:19:53.506
You're a child of God.
00:19:53.506 --> 00:19:54.674
I think of the number of womenI get to spend time with,
00:19:56.075 --> 00:19:58.478
and they think, Ihad an abortion,
00:19:58.478 --> 00:20:00.546
I had an affair, I had this,
00:20:00.546 --> 00:20:02.382
and I'm like, "you know what?
00:20:02.382 --> 00:20:03.883
"The amazing thing is thatwhen we come to the Lord
00:20:03.883 --> 00:20:05.918
"and we ask for forgiveness,he removes our sin
00:20:05.918 --> 00:20:08.388
"as far as east is from the west
00:20:08.388 --> 00:20:09.922
and remembers it no more."
00:20:09.922 --> 00:20:11.291
So when he, we look atourself from the mud
00:20:11.291 --> 00:20:13.559
we're sitting in, butwhen God the father
00:20:13.559 --> 00:20:15.862
looks at us, he sees us throughthe shed blood of Christ.
00:20:15.862 --> 00:20:18.197
And says, "beautiful,redeemed, clean, whole."
00:20:18.197 --> 00:20:21.734
- And you know what?
00:20:22.568 --> 00:20:23.736
I learned, and I believethis is the case,
00:20:23.736 --> 00:20:26.706
our brokenness isnot our burden,
00:20:26.706 --> 00:20:28.875
our brokenness is our ministry.
00:20:28.875 --> 00:20:30.910
All those things, thatwe've gone through,
00:20:30.910 --> 00:20:33.112
the divorce, theabortion, the rape,
00:20:33.112 --> 00:20:35.114
the bankruptcy, all of that,God wants to use as a tool
00:20:35.114 --> 00:20:40.086
to free other people.
00:20:40.853 --> 00:20:42.422
And it's because we areashamed that we end up
00:20:42.422 --> 00:20:46.059
being silent, and I believethat silence is a tool
00:20:46.059 --> 00:20:49.462
of the enemy.
00:20:49.462 --> 00:20:50.930
And I mentioned thestory of Peter earlier,
00:20:50.930 --> 00:20:53.066
I think it's so interestingthat it was the rooster
00:20:53.066 --> 00:20:56.536
that prompted his shame,because if you think about it,
00:20:56.536 --> 00:20:58.771
back in that day, they didn'twake up to alarm clocks,
00:20:58.771 --> 00:21:01.107
it was the sound of therooster every single morning
00:21:01.107 --> 00:21:04.377
that woke him up, so he wokeup to shame every morning.
00:21:04.377 --> 00:21:07.980
I believe that the verything that gives us the
00:21:07.980 --> 00:21:11.384
deepest sense ofregret, is the thing
00:21:11.384 --> 00:21:13.553
God wants to use inorder to free others,
00:21:13.553 --> 00:21:16.089
who are silent,because they're like,
00:21:16.089 --> 00:21:17.790
oh, I can't talkabout that, I can't.
00:21:17.790 --> 00:21:20.526
No, talk about it, becausethat is your ministry.
00:21:20.526 --> 00:21:24.664
The very thing that you don'twant anybody to know about
00:21:24.664 --> 00:21:27.066
is the thing that Godwants to bring to light,
00:21:27.066 --> 00:21:28.901
because that's going to leadto people getting abundant.
00:21:28.901 --> 00:21:31.104
- Your pain is your purpose.
00:21:31.104 --> 00:21:32.972
- And our brokenness(soft new age music)
00:21:32.972 --> 00:21:34.107
is a far greaterbridge to other people,
00:21:34.107 --> 00:21:35.508
than pretend (mumbling).
00:21:35.508 --> 00:21:37.043
- [Dee Dee] Yes, perfection.
00:21:37.043 --> 00:21:38.010
- I'll drink to that.
00:21:38.010 --> 00:21:38.978
(shared laughing)
00:21:38.978 --> 00:21:41.814
I think it's a very hardthing to walk through life
00:21:43.282 --> 00:21:46.452
carrying baggage frommistakes that you've made.
00:21:46.452 --> 00:21:50.123
And you think, I wish Icould turn the clock back.
00:21:50.123 --> 00:21:53.693
And, as you and Iknow, we can't do that.
00:21:53.693 --> 00:21:56.562
Sometimes we make adecision and even though
00:21:56.562 --> 00:21:59.399
we can experience Christ'sforgiveness for that,
00:21:59.399 --> 00:22:02.068
there's stillripples that go on.
00:22:02.068 --> 00:22:04.670
But what I believethe Lord wants for you
00:22:04.670 --> 00:22:07.607
is to be able to let go.
00:22:07.607 --> 00:22:10.076
To let go, of that baggage.
00:22:11.043 --> 00:22:13.913
And to take up Christ's offer.
00:22:13.913 --> 00:22:16.315
Remember the last two versesof Mathew, chapter 11,
00:22:16.315 --> 00:22:19.852
where Jesus says, "come unto me,
00:22:19.852 --> 00:22:23.289
"all who are weary,and heavy laden,
00:22:23.289 --> 00:22:26.759
"and I will give you rest.
00:22:26.759 --> 00:22:28.661
"Take my yoke uponyou, and learn of me
00:22:28.661 --> 00:22:32.098
'cause my yoke is easy,and my burden is light."
00:22:32.098 --> 00:22:35.568
See, that meant somethingdifferent to those
00:22:35.568 --> 00:22:37.203
who were listeningto Jesus that day.
00:22:37.203 --> 00:22:39.172
Every Jew, everydevout Jew in that day
00:22:39.172 --> 00:22:42.642
woke up under what theycalled the burden of the law.
00:22:42.642 --> 00:22:46.212
We know the big 10 commandments,but there were 613 rules
00:22:46.212 --> 00:22:50.716
to keep if you wanted tolive a life honoring to God.
00:22:50.716 --> 00:22:54.120
So everyday they wouldwake up and they're under
00:22:54.120 --> 00:22:56.189
the burden of the law.
00:22:56.189 --> 00:22:57.957
Jesus said, "no, come untome, my burden is easy,
00:22:57.957 --> 00:23:02.495
and my burden is light."
00:23:02.495 --> 00:23:04.230
Let me pray for you.
00:23:04.230 --> 00:23:05.264
Lord I wanna thank you somuch that you were willing
00:23:07.567 --> 00:23:10.169
to come and take our place,and bear our burdens,
00:23:10.169 --> 00:23:15.174
and pay for our sin.
00:23:15.908 --> 00:23:17.443
Lord, I pray right now,for the one who feels like
00:23:18.878 --> 00:23:21.848
I can't let go of this,I can't forgive myself,
00:23:21.848 --> 00:23:25.585
I've damaged notjust my own life,
00:23:25.585 --> 00:23:27.286
but the lives of others.
00:23:27.286 --> 00:23:29.589
And Lord, that'spart of this journey
00:23:29.589 --> 00:23:32.592
on this broken earth,but you are a redeemer.
00:23:32.592 --> 00:23:35.528
So I ask Lord now, thatyou would give the faith
00:23:36.796 --> 00:23:40.500
to take those burdens,that we have been dragging
00:23:40.500 --> 00:23:44.303
through our lifeand lay them down
00:23:44.303 --> 00:23:46.772
at the foot of thecross, and stand up,
00:23:46.772 --> 00:23:50.009
and not carry them anymore.
00:23:50.009 --> 00:23:52.178
Thank you that you giveus grace for a new day.
00:23:52.178 --> 00:23:56.616
And for those whoare struggling, Lord,
00:23:56.616 --> 00:23:58.417
bring it back to our minda hundred times a day,
00:23:58.417 --> 00:24:01.787
that because of whatyou have already done,
00:24:01.787 --> 00:24:04.423
we can be free.
00:24:04.423 --> 00:24:06.325
I pray for peace, wherethere's been turmoil.
00:24:06.325 --> 00:24:09.762
You said in this world,
00:24:09.762 --> 00:24:11.364
you will have trouble,and we know that's a word
00:24:11.364 --> 00:24:13.833
for a storm.
00:24:13.833 --> 00:24:15.067
In this world you willwalk through storms.
00:24:15.067 --> 00:24:17.703
But take heart, I haveovercome the world.
00:24:17.703 --> 00:24:20.907
So I ask that youwould speak peace now,
00:24:20.907 --> 00:24:24.043
in Jesus name, amen.
00:24:24.043 --> 00:24:25.811
- [Announcer] You can callthe number on your screen
00:24:29.015 --> 00:24:30.750
right now to talkto a prayer partner.
00:24:30.750 --> 00:24:32.885
We're here for you 24 hoursa day, seven days a week.
00:24:32.885 --> 00:24:36.656
We love you, but mostimportantly, Jesus loves you.
00:24:36.656 --> 00:24:39.659
- I believe repentance isso important and necessary
00:24:41.594 --> 00:24:45.231
because repentance is freedom.
00:24:45.231 --> 00:24:47.400
It leads to freedom,and it says that
00:24:47.400 --> 00:24:49.869
"the truth shall set you free."
00:24:49.869 --> 00:24:51.304
So, if we have beenfunctioning in life,
00:24:51.304 --> 00:24:54.774
a very half fulfilled lives,
00:24:54.774 --> 00:24:57.743
the Bible talks about whenyou have a relationship
00:24:57.743 --> 00:25:00.846
with God, you getforgiveness from him,
00:25:00.846 --> 00:25:04.350
but when you're wanting healing,
00:25:04.350 --> 00:25:06.152
you get healing from people.
00:25:06.152 --> 00:25:08.120
So confess to one another sothat your sins may be healed.
00:25:08.120 --> 00:25:12.024
So I think, when it comes torepentance, it's important
00:25:12.024 --> 00:25:15.695
that it's the steppingstone to freedom.
00:25:15.695 --> 00:25:18.431
When you avoid that process,I think for a lot of us,
00:25:18.431 --> 00:25:22.134
we avoid themirror, so to speak.
00:25:22.134 --> 00:25:24.303
We avoid ourselves,we avoid being honest
00:25:24.303 --> 00:25:27.473
with the stuff that webuilt with our own hands.
00:25:27.473 --> 00:25:30.743
If Abraham created an Ishmael,and then he followed up
00:25:30.743 --> 00:25:35.748
with an Isaac, believe me,he's gonna live with that
00:25:37.216 --> 00:25:38.184
Ishmael for a long time.
00:25:38.184 --> 00:25:39.418
He had to come toterms with that.
00:25:39.418 --> 00:25:42.855
For Judas it ended in his life.
00:25:42.855 --> 00:25:45.992
And so, repentanceis a true thing,
00:25:45.992 --> 00:25:49.228
a real place, it'sa real freedom,
00:25:49.228 --> 00:25:51.797
and if you avoid that stepyou'll never encounter
00:25:51.797 --> 00:25:55.368
the true freedom thatis needed in your life
00:25:55.368 --> 00:25:57.436
when it comes to inner healing.
00:25:57.436 --> 00:25:59.672
- [Announcer] You can streamBetter Together episodes
00:25:59.672 --> 00:26:01.540
on the go.
00:26:01.540 --> 00:26:02.541
Download the TBNapp to watch all
00:26:02.541 --> 00:26:04.443
of our latest conversations.
00:26:04.443 --> 00:26:05.978
Here's what's coming upnext on Better Together.
00:26:07.747 --> 00:26:10.950
- And my first prayerforgiveness was like,
00:26:10.950 --> 00:26:13.552
"Lord, I forgive her, butyou know I don't mean it."
00:26:13.552 --> 00:26:16.722
- [Announcer] WatchBetter together weekdays
00:26:16.722 --> 00:26:18.457
and Tuesday nights, only on TBN.
00:26:18.457 --> 00:26:21.427

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Embracing Truth | Better Together

Embracing Truth | Better Together

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Embracing Truth | Better Together

Embracing Truth | Better Together

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