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Perfected 3

Righteous

Being righteous used to mean something.

A good character used to be the currency of success.

Hebrews 12: 1-2 NLT 

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.

* Champion – He leads the way, prince; author

* Initiates – begins a work that can not be stopped 

*Perfects. – completes, in his faith brings ours to completion. (Tele ios) 

The Result? 

Matthew 5:48 NLT 

But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.

*Perfect (Tele ios) complete, fulfilled; purposed; balanced integral. 

We can not attain that level of perfect balance ourselves.

James 1:17

‘Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow. ‘

You will be completed by, brought into balance by, given purpose by God. Because He is perfect in these things, you too will be perfected in these things by Him through faith in Jesus.

The ultimate balance is found by aligning your flesh with what God has accomplished in your spirit (made you balanced and complete).

And that is faith…

Your flesh can’t see it, but Your spirit man knows it!

Our flesh runs out of options when the balance of our spirit prevails.

1 Corinthians 13:10 TPT

…but when love’s perfection arrives, the partial will fade away.

We adjudicate our entire world by what we can understand.

But all we ever define is the world we can see, feel, taste, and hear.

We have mapped out all the elements of the world we can define.  

The balanced world God created operates on a different set of elements. 

Jesus injects two divine elements, Holiness and Righteousness, into us to bring our faith to completion and our balance to perfection.

Hebrews 12:2

…the champion who initiates and perfects our faith.

It’s perfect faith that fuels everything.

We bring a mustard seed, and He explodes that to completion.

He has to neutralize some flesh elements to help us come to divine balance.

Blame, shame, condemnation, pride, selfishness, and judgment.

The Divine element of holiness neutralizes blame, shame, and condemnation because they directly prevent us from realizing our heavenly position and worth.

Christ’s imputed righteousness dismantles our artificial constructs, the systems, and solutions that we place in our lives to justify and excuse ourselves and that we use to control and manipulate others. All that to mitigate our hurts and control situations towards our comfort.

Righteousness

It is His righteousness, not your stuffy self-righteousness.

Let’s figure out some of the characteristics of this divine element.

IT IS NOT BASED ON HUMAN CONSTRUCT

Because this is not from the physical or human periodic table, it is not defined by human characteristics.

Matthew 5:20 NLT

‘ “But I warn you—unless your righteousness is better than the righteousness of the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven! ‘

The righteousness we are called to have surpasses religious construct and artificial laws.

IT IS NOT BASED ON OUR SUCCESSES

Matthew 19:21 NLT

Jesus told him, “If you want to be perfect (teleios), go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

What Is It?

The Equity of Character

H

Perfected 3

Righteous

Being righteous used to mean something.

A good character used to be the currency of success.

Hebrews 12: 1-2 NLT 

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.

* Champion – He leads the way, prince; author

* Initiates – begins a work that can not be stopped 

*Perfects. – completes, in his faith brings ours to completion. (Tele ios) 

The Result? 

Matthew 5:48 NLT 

But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.

*Perfect (Tele ios) complete, fulfilled; purposed; balanced integral. 

We can not attain that level of perfect balance ourselves.

James 1:17

‘Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow. ‘

You will be completed by, brought into balance by, given purpose by God. Because He is perfect in these things, you too will be perfected in these things by Him through faith in Jesus.

The ultimate balance is found by aligning your flesh with what God has accomplished in your spirit (made you balanced and complete).

And that is faith…

Your flesh can’t see it, but Your spirit man knows it!

Our flesh runs out of options when the balance of our spirit prevails.

1 Corinthians 13:10 TPT

…but when love’s perfection arrives, the partial will fade away.

We adjudicate our entire world by what we can understand.

But all we ever define is the world we can see, feel, taste, and hear.

We have mapped out all the elements of the world we can define.  

The balanced world God created operates on a different set of elements. 

Jesus injects two divine elements, Holiness and Righteousness, into us to bring our faith to completion and our balance to perfection.

Hebrews 12:2

…the champion who initiates and perfects our faith.

It’s perfect faith that fuels everything.

We bring a mustard seed, and He explodes that to completion.

He has to neutralize some flesh elements to help us come to divine balance.

Blame, shame, condemnation, pride, selfishness, and judgment.

The Divine element of holiness neutralizes blame, shame, and condemnation because they directly prevent us from realizing our heavenly position and worth.

Christ’s imputed righteousness dismantles our artificial constructs, the systems, and solutions that we place in our lives to justify and excuse ourselves and that we use to control and manipulate others. All that to mitigate our hurts and control situations towards our comfort.

Righteousness

It is His righteousness, not your stuffy self-righteousness.

Let’s figure out some of the characteristics of this divine element.

IT IS NOT BASED ON HUMAN CONSTRUCT

Because this is not from the physical or human periodic table, it is not defined by human characteristics.

Matthew 5:20 NLT

‘ “But I warn you—unless your righteousness is better than the righteousness of the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven! ‘

The righteousness we are called to have surpasses religious construct and artificial laws.

IT IS NOT BASED ON OUR SUCCESSES

Matthew 19:21 NLT

Jesus told him, “If you want to be perfect (teleios), go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

What Is It?

The Equity of Character

Having a Character of Divine Balance

IT IS GIVEN TO US BY CHRIST

God is righteous, and through Christ, th

Perfected: Holiness

Victory Life Church, Brownwood — Sunday, May 29, 2022

Introduction

1 Peter 1:13-16 (ESV) Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

Our holiness does not bring us closer to God, it does reveal God’s character to people.  

Holiness

Holy — (Hebrew) qadosh — unique, set apart, designated

God is utterly holy. 

When in the presence of the holy, there is a sense of awestruck wonder, an overwhelming effect that reminds you of your mortality and finiteness. 

Exodus 3:1-6 (ESV) Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.” When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” And he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.

Sometimes, there are experiences that remind us we are not the center of the universe. God is holy. He is divinely other than everything else, unique to the uttermost. But in this story, we don’t just see that God is holy (more on that coming in Isaiah), His holy character manifested, but additionally, the space around Him becomes holy from His presence. And what is Moses’ response? He doesn’t see God as His buddy. He hides his face and is afraid. And to be in the presence of the Holy God in Holy Space, he must “take off shoes.” There is a normal way of existence that Moses lives, but when encountering the Holy God, the normal way of existing must be put aside. Moses has to change to be in that space. 

There is something on his shoes that has to stay behind, that is not appropriate in the presence of the Holy One. Moses is a shepherd. In the normal flow of his life, he would be stepping on all sorts of bodily fluids of those sheep. That is inappropriate in the presence of the holy. It’s inappropriate to eat in the bathroom (yet we brush our teeth there). It’s just gross. 

Metaphor: the sun — unique, powerful, source of life = HOLY. Further, the area around the sun is holy as well — the power and goodness that generates this life is also dangerous. It doesn’t make the sun mean, it’s just its nature. It creates a paradox: that which is good is also dangerous. 

God’s holiness is dangerous to mortal humans corrupted by sin.

God’s holiness is so pure and good that it poses a paradox for humans living in a world ruined by sin. His power and purity can become dangerous to mortal humans corrupted by sin. This paradox of God’s holiness is seen most clearly in the dangerous goodness of God’s presence living in Israel’s midst in the tabernacle and temple.

Leviticus 11:44-45 (ESV) “For I am the Lord your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy. You shall not defile yourselves with any swarming thing that crawls on the ground. For I am the Lord who brought you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.” 

There are certain behaviors and conditions that are inappropriate in His Holy presence. To be in His presence, Israel was to change themselves to be in God’s presence. And how did th

LIVING THE PERFECTED LIFE

Humankind desires wholeness and balance. We desire to feel like we matter and have completed something when we die. We long to know we will have a legacy and strive to fulfill our purpose…

BUT

We look in the wrong places.

We can not fill the void through selfishness. The worst possible remedy to the feeling of worthlessness is selfishness.

We bring balance to our finance by getting a second job and bring unbalance to our family time and levels of exhaustion.

We bring balance to our relationship with God by attending conferences and reading quick-fix scripture passages but quickly lose spiritual momentum.

We try to balance our loneliness by finding relationships with anyone who will give us attention, only to break our hearts.

COMPLETED 

PERFECTED 

MADE WHOLE

Hebrews 12:1-2 TPT

‘As for us, we have all of these great witnesses who encircle us like clouds. So we must let go of every wound that has pierced us and the sin we so easily fall into. Then we will be able to run life’s marathon race with passion and determination, for the path has been already marked out before us. We look away from the natural realm, and we focus our attention and expectation onto Jesus, who birthed faith within us and who leads us forward into faith’s perfection. His example is this: Because his heart was focused on the joy of knowing that you would be his, he endured the agony of the cross and conquered its humiliation, and now sits exalted at the right hand of the throne of God!’

Hebrews 12:1-2 NLT

‘Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne. ‘

Our self-righteousness offends, our faith fails, and our “good” deeds always miss the mark!

You may never be so vulnerable as when you are full of pride.

PERFECTED

Perfected in righteousness and made holy

Receive the measure of Faith and operate in it

Walk out the purpose that righteousness, holiness, and divine faith propel us towards

To the Philippians, Paul spoke of pressing toward the mark, pressing toward the goal. Three parts to his plan:

1. That we might be found in Him 

That self-righteousness was replaced by Jesus’

righteousness is given to Paul because of his faith in Christ. 

2. That we may know Him intimately (John 17:3)

To die to self and become like Christ in His death

To understand and fellowship in the suffering in faith

Know the power of Christ’s resurrection and ascension fully

3. To know our Christ-focused purpose

Become aware of our purpose

To allow our desire to fulfill our purpose to overwhelm our

circumstances.

To accomplish our purpose for others in faith (Jesus’ 

example)

Jesus at the Center of our Faith

Found in Him (Completed)

Knowing Him (Made Holy)

Purposed by Him (Discover purpose)

Perfected By Who?

WHEN I LOOK TO JESUS, WHAT DO I SEE?

The One who is the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end, the author and the finisher of my faith. The One who created the universe and holds it together. The One who always was always is, and always will be.

The One who is unmoved, unchanging, undefeated, and never outdone.

He was bruised that I might be healed. He was pierced that He might ease my pain. He died to give me life. He fought the battle against the darkness to place me in the light and bring me peace.

The world cannot understand Him.

The armies cannot defeat Him.

The schools can’t explain Him.

The leaders can’t ignore Him.

Herod couldn’t kill Him,

The Pha

FIRST LOVE 4

THE HOPE GIFT

SUMMARY

WHEN LOSING YOUR FIRST LOVE BECAUSE YOU ARE LOSING HOPE:

STEP 1 – WONDER, DON’T WANDER

STEP 2 – WAIT, DON’T QUIT

STEP 3: REWIRE, REFOCUS AND RESET

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Shiginoth is a musical term.

Intense emotion—Impassioned exuberance.

Wild passionate singing with rapid changes of rhythm.

High-spirited praise. Vigorous enthusiasm.

Most passionate praise is the praise before the provision.

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The praise for the WHO, not the WHAT

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Our hope is in a who, not a what!

Jesus is our Hope

1 Peter 1:13-14 NLT

…Put all your hope in the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world. 

So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then.

Our hope is displayed to others by a who, not a what!

You are the WHO for others!

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WHEN YOU ARE IN THE VALLEY, YOU TAKE OTHERS WITH YOU, AND YOU PERMIT OTHERS TO CAMP IN THEIR VALLEY!

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Your family does not need you to be distracted by:

1. Hatred

2. Offense

3. Your Past Hurts

Your family does not need you to be disobedient:

1. Confused

2. Complicated

3. Giving up on doing the right thing

Your family does not need you to be disappointed:

1. Wandering from God

2. Getting impatient with God

3. Questioning your faith

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Verse 13: So prepare your minds for action and exercise self-control. (One version says self-discipline.)

Putting Hope In Action will take discipline. 

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The greatest discipline Jesus ever displayed is the discipline of sacrificing yourself for others.

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1. INDIFFERENCE

Hope is not shared by an indifferent church.

Jesus was not indifferent to the plight of others.

Jesus was not indifferent to your suffering.

Revelation 3:20 NLT

“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.”

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TWO CAUSES OF INDIFFERENCE 

SELF-SUFFICIENCY (ENTITLEMENT)

Revelation 3:17 NLT

“You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.”

DISTRACTIONS OF THIS WORLD.

Mark 4:19 NLT

But the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful.

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LIVING WITH LUKEWARM INDIFFERENCE 

1) We are more concerned with impressing people than telling them about our Hope.

2) We are obsessed with life on earth rather than eternity.

3) We rationalize sin and live without genuinely fearing God. 

4) We believe in Jesus, but we rarely share our faith.5) We only turn to God when we need Him. 

6) We only love others when it benefits us.

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REIGNITING OUR HOPE FOR OTHERS

Every day, do something for someone else that requires faith.

Your act of faith inspires someone else’s hope.

Our lives can be full of stuff but devoid of meaning!

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2. SELFISHNESS AND PRIDE

There was nothing selfish about Jesus.

Luke 18:9-12 NASB

And He also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt:

“Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.

The Pharisee stood and was praying thi

Wednesday Night Live | Pastor Craig Smee & Pastor Joey Bishop | Things Hope For Q&A Discussion

FIRST LOVE 3

THE THINGS HOPED FOR

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Distractions and a Confusing World

1 Corinthians 13:12 (TPT)

‘For now, we see but a faint reflection of riddles and mysteries as though reflected in a mirror, but one day we will see face-to-face.

My understanding is incomplete now, but one day I will understand everything, just as everything about me has been fully understood.

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Our Vision of Hope

1 Corinthians 13:13 (TPT)

Until then, there are three things that remain: faith, hope, and love—yet love surpasses them all.

So above all else, let love be the beautiful prize for which you run. ‘

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Hope, Love, and Faith Linked to Inspiring a First Love Lifestyle

Love inspires a deep faith

Deep faith creates an unconquerable hope.

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A love that allows us to face the unknown with hope!

Loving beyond our understanding is the highest expression of our hope.

Being loved beyond our understanding is the highest expression of our faith.

The Story of A Blind Man

Mark 10:52 TPT

Jesus responded, “Your faith heals you. Go in peace, with your sight restored.” All at once, the man’s eyes opened, and he could see again, and he began at once to follow Jesus, walking down the road with him.

The blind man’s faith clarified and helped him embrace the possibility of the unknown with such a HOPE that it became a reality.

His life had vision again! He didn’t just get his sight back; he got his hope back!

Once Hope was restored, He followed. He lived out a First Love Lifestyle.

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Hope and faith give us eyes to love and be loved by our First Love!

Many people can see with their eyes but not with their faith and hope!

“For the believer, there is hope beyond the grave because Jesus Christ has opened the door to heaven for us by His death and resurrection.” -Billy Graham.

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We can see the grave, but we can hope in eternity – because of our love of Christ.

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1 Peter 1:3-6 (TPT)

Celebrate with praises the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has shown us his extravagant mercy. For his fountain of mercy has given us a new life—we are reborn to experience a living, energetic hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. We are reborn into a perfect inheritance that can never perish, never be defiled, and never diminish. It is promised and preserved forever in the heavenly realm for you! Through our faith, the mighty power of God constantly guards us until our full salvation is ready to be revealed in the last time. May the thought of this cause you to jump for joy, even though lately you’ve had to put up with the grief of many trials.

Life has a peculiar way of stealing our hope. When hope goes, faith goes. When our faith is depleted, our love becomes mediocre.

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Week 1 Story: The Emmaus Story (Distractions)

Week 2 Story: The Apostles in Jail (Disobedience)

This week’s story: The Frustration of Habakkuk (Frustrations of Life)

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Background

Habakkuk—Not a lot of information.

One of twelve minor prophets—Temple musician/priest.

As a prophet, he would speak to the people on behalf of God and God on behalf of the people.

He lived in an exciting time—six hundred years before Jesus when the Nation of Judah was on a downhill slide. Disobedience and distractions had robbed them of their love of the law.

If you had shares in Judah, you would be watching the share price plummet. It had once been the most prosperous of all the nations of the earth, but now it was impoverished where injustice and corruption abounded.

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We were so happy to have Pastor Jacob Sheriff in the house!

FIRST LOVE 2

SIMPLE OBEDIENCE

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FIRST LOVE

Revelation 2:14

But I have this against you: you have abandoned the passionate love you had for me at the beginning.

If we let Him, the Holy Spirit can take us from distracted to revelation in moments!

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Three Reasons We Get Stopped Short:

1. Our faith perspective gets blinded by our circumstance

2. Our progress is not always obvious

3. The outcome becomes more important than the process

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Three Ways to Return To The Passion of Your First Love:

1. Notice when your spiritual attention starts to wander.

2. Shift your attention and focus on the Word.

3. Rewire, refocus, and savor the moment of growth.

In the weeks to follow:

This Week: Simple Obedience

We adjudicate our faith by the outcome or the benefit and not by the simplicity of our obedience.

Week 3: Hope

Hope in ourselves is not hope at all. What is hope? How do we hope? How do we share hope?

Week 4: Consequence

Keep on seeking the King and the Kingdom and not the fringe benefits.

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The Human Construct

We only seem to attempt to obey what our nature can understand (laws). Results in blame, shame, and condemnation.

INFORMED

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When we obey the supernatural (promises) or that which makes no natural sense, we are released into freedom.

TRANSFORMED

It’s not about WHAT we obey. It is about WHO we obey.

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Human Construct = Law – Informed.

Scripture bashing

At first love, we did not know the scriptures.

Our first love was about a who, not a what!

If we know who Jesus is, we will know what He wants.

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God’s Word = Promise – Transformed.

We can only hold to our first love if we fall in love with the character of Jesus.

We quickly identify Him if we love HIM

We quickly follow Him if we love HIM

We quickly obey Him if we love HIM

We easily trust Him if we love HIM

Like HE Loved Us – providing the promise, not the law.

Obedience to the Promise is Simple – Faith size of a mustard grain

Obedience to laws is confusing

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Apostles obeyed boldly; God blessed their obedience

Signs and wonders, more people saved

Brought sick on mats and beds for Peter’s shadow

Religious trapped. Don’t handle it; Rome will step in!

 Acts 5:17-20

Then the high priest and all his associates, who were members of the party of the Sadducees, were filled with jealousy. They arrested the apostles and put them in public jail. But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and brought them out.  “Go, stand in the temple courts,” he said, “and tell the people the full message of this new life.”

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The command was not a command but a promise!

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Simple Obedience…

1)    Usually ticks someone off (causes opposition)

Acts 5:18

They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail.

If you are not ready to face opposition for your obedience,

You’re not ready to be used by God.

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Every significant obedient act has faced opposition.

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2. There is always a release after the resistance

Acts 5:19

But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and brought them out.

Luke didn’t make a big deal out of the angel deal. He was not surprised.

When we walk in obedience to God (walk the blessing by being obedient to promises), we are not surprised by the miracles of God.

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