How 'Subject To, Not Central In' Changed EVERYTHING | 016

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What's up, everybody?
It's Mick from When You Look.

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This is the story of how Subject
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Ready.
Let's go.

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Welcome to When You Look, where
ordinary people share their

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extraordinary experiences and
you get to decide, was it

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coincidence or God?
So back in 2023, I'm listening

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to a sermon from Matt Chandler
out of the Village Church Flower

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Mound.
And it's part of this sermon

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series called Formed, and he's
speaking specifically about

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identity.
And he's in the process of

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reading through Genesis 124
through 31.

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And he reads through that whole
block of text.

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And then he says.
One singular point.

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If we are created beings, then
we are not the measure of nor

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central to anything.
If we're created beings, then we

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are not the measure of nor
central to anything.

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And he goes on then to round
that whole point out with this.

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And therefore this, this is the
major point of the day.

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Our identity is not something we
got to go discover, but

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something we receive from the
One who created us.

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So he makes this one singular
point, as he puts it, by saying

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if we're created beings, then we
are not the measure of nor

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central to anything.
And then goes on to say our

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identity is not something that
we get to or go discover, but

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something that we receive from
the one who created us.

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And in that first moment where
he is saying if we are created

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beings, then we are not the
measure of nor central to

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anything.
I can distinctly remember

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sitting in a chair listening to
that on my laptop, watching it

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on my laptop.
And the Holy Spirit gave me a

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more distilled version that went
like this.

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Because you are created, you are
subject to not central in your

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own life.
And that changed everything

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because this was a moment of
super deep clarity.

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This is what I call sort of an
impression or a a pressing into

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me of information from the Holy
Spirit.

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Because you are a created being,
you are subject to, not central

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in your own life.
Game changer.

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Being subject to was completely
different than the way in which

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I was operating and I didn't
realize that.

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See, up to this point I've been
a Christian for many many years

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and I'll define that meaning.
I have been born again.

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I have accepted King Jesus as my
Lord and my Savior and that He

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is the only way to heaven and
everlasting life, confessing

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that and proclaiming that I have
a relationship then with God the

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Father and I have the Holy
Spirit.

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And I believe that I'm doing
things at this point in my life

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that are aligned with God's will
and aligned with God's

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expectation.
And those are things that you

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might think of as well, like
praying regularly and reading

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Scripture every single day.
Praying with my wife every night

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before we go to bed, praying
with my children every night

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before we put them to bed, going
on mission trips, going to

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church, doing all of these
things that seem like they are

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normal Christian expected
behavior.

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And I was doing them earnestly,
truly.

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But what it ultimately became
very apparent to me through this

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revelation from the Holy Spirit,
this impressing or this pressing

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down of information from the
Holy Spirit, was that all of

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that had been happening with me
in my mind and in my heart as

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central in my own life.
I didn't even know it, but

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essentially despite having what
I thought was a good

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relationship with God, a
meaningful relationship with

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God, and in the end it was kind
of like an embellishment.

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He made my life better and I
tried to do good stuff or be

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aligned with him, but in my
heart of hearts, I kind of

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thought didn't even think, but
operated in a way of where it

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was like this is my life and
it's great that God's in it.

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What the Holy Spirit was saying
to me was you're subject to

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buddy, you are not central in
your life.

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God does not embellish your
life.

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He does not bless your life
because your life is your life

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and central to things.
No, man, you are subject to him,

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period.
A good example of how I was

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operating in what I thought was
a good spot, but really beneath

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the surface it was God.
Adding to my life is my biggest

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fear.
And my biggest fear for a long,

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long, long time was that God was
going to ask me to move to

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Africa and live in a mud Hut.
And I, I never even got beyond

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that, truly.
It wasn't even that he was

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necessarily going to call me to
be a missionary, but just that

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that was the fear.
And my words here are really

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important because I just said
that God would ask me to move to

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Africa and live in a mud Hut.
To think about that I am

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operating here even in this fear
of God and I essentially being

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peers that he would ask me, He
would ask me to move to Africa

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and live in a mud Hut.
Not tell me because he's God,

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but ask me because that's kind
of the relationship I felt like

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we had.
So the bumper sticker God is my

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copilot was without me knowing
it, essentially the way I was

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living my life, even though I
didn't believe that I was living

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it that way.
I felt as if I was subject to

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him and doing his will and
trying to do his will and trying

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to do what he wanted me to do
and be a good Christian and all

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of those types of things.
But it really ultimately was God

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me peers, which is nothing but
deception.

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God is my copilot is nothing but
deception.

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Now God's grace enters the
picture where this pressing in

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of clarity changed everything.
My prayers changed.

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They went from God will you do
this and this and this and this

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and this and by the way, it'd be
really cool if we could have

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this and this this and that to
your will be done.

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My prayers got massively shorter
and a lot scarier.

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Transparently praying your will
be done and meaning it was

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really scary.
The weeks go on and remember

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we're praying daily here.
So I'm saying, OK, your will be

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done Lord, and I'm recognizing
by saying with my mouth and

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words out loud, we are subject
to so your will be done.

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And I would tell him, this is
scary.

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This is scary for me to pray
this.

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And so it was around the nine
month mark where I felt like the

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edge, the scary edge kind of got
rounded off and it just became

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more normal to say your will be
done and to actually mean it.

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And that sort of leads into this
idea of obedience, which I've

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got an upcoming episode to
discuss about that as well.

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But it was a process
sanctification for sure of going

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from God is my copilot and
thinking that was good to the

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Holy Spirit saying Nope, because
you are created, you are subject

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to not central in your own life.
So since this initial revelation

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in 2023, God has continued to
help me better understand it.

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And he's done this truly just
entirely through his grace.

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But he's reminded me time and
again that I should have died.

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So as a quick aside, November
7th of 2000, I legitimately

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should have died due to massive
trauma to my head from an

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avalanche.
And there's an upcoming episode

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about that that'll release in
November.

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But God reminds me, you didn't
die because I saved you.

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I saved you.
Just another example of how you

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are subject to meaning.
You're beneath me.

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I saved you, Mick.
I saved you.

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You didn't save yourself, I
saved you.

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And he showed me many other
things like that as well, where

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things I thought I was involved
in to a very, very or full

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degree.
No, he's like, that was me.

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So it's been really neat to see
how he has shown these different

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things in my life and given me
the ability to see them from a

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completely different
perspective.

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Now knowing that I am subject to
him, not central in my own life.

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And then behaviorally, that
matters.

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Because if he wanted me now to
dig a ditch to glorify him, I

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would dig a ditch to glorify
him.

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And if he said fill it in to
glorify me, I would fill it in

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to glorify him.
Because when the King of the

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universe, the God of the
universe, the creator of

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everything, including me, says
to do something or explains a

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law or writes out an
expectation, I have no choice

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but out of love in response to
his love to do it.

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So I can tell you straight faced
God is not my copilot.

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I am fully in the back of the
plane where I belong, subject to

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where he's taking it.
And I can also tell you straight

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faced that in certain days that
is legit hard because I want to

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control things and he goes, no,
I'm in control.

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And then I have to relent.
Like I didn't pick when you

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look, God directed me to do
that.

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This could be something massive
over time, Maybe, maybe not, but

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regardless, he wanted me to do
it, so I did it period.

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Like it's that straightforward.
It's not easy, but it is that

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straightforward.
He created me and everything

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else, but He created me and
therefore I am subject to Him.

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Boom.
So to close this out, I want to

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go to a verse that God has
really brought me to and helped

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me see His love in, and it
relates exactly to what we're

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talking about.
It's Ephesians 210.

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We are God's handiwork created
in Christ Jesus to do good works

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which God prepared in advance
for us to do.

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And the beauty in him taking me
here is that I have been

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reminded by him that one, he's
created me and the two, I'm his

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handiwork.
So all of the things that I

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think about myself as being not
good enough to do this or to do

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that, he says I made you the way
I wanted you to be because I got

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you.
And then he says there's

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specific things that I made you
to do to bring me glory.

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And I can tell you that when you
look in this entire podcast and

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show is absolutely one of those
things without question.

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And as I mentioned before, it
may or may not ever be some big

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thing, but I know that He
created me and then kept me

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alive for me to sit here and
have these types of

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conversations with others and
with you.

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So our prayers as a family use
Ephesians 210 over and over and

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over as we essentially ask Him,
OK, what are the things that you

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want us to do to bring you
glory?

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Because we recognize that you
made us and you made us exactly

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the way you wanted us to be.
So show us Lord, show us God,

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show us King, show us Creator.
What is it that you want us to

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do to bring you glory?
If you're wondering those same

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things, ask Him.
I'm confident that He will show

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you when you look.
I'm confident that He will

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answer when you ask.
Thanks for listening.

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If you've liked this content,
subscribe to the channel because

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it helps with the reach and the
reach is what helps glorify God.

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Until next time, God bless.