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Speaker 1: Life Audio. Welcome to the Crosswalk devotional. We're glad to

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Speaker 1: have you listening with us. Today's topic is how it's

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Speaker 1: important to set your heart on God to set the

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Speaker 1: best goals. We'll return with the devotional after a brief

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Speaker 1: message from our sponsors. Set your heart, not just your goals,

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Speaker 1: Written and read by Whitney Hoppler. Commit to the Lord

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Speaker 1: whatever you do, and he will establish your plans. Proverbs

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Speaker 1: sixteen point three v. When a new year starts, it's

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Speaker 1: natural to think about goals. You may want to set

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Speaker 1: some new Year's resolutions, to start some new habits, or

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Speaker 1: at least make plans for the year ahead of you.

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Speaker 1: While it's good to want to set.

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Speaker 2: And achieve new goals, it's important to focus on more

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Speaker 2: than just accomplishing a list of tasks. God wants you

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Speaker 2: to focus less on doing and more on becoming. God

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Speaker 2: cares far more about who you are than what you

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Speaker 2: check off a list. Proverb sixteen three highlights a simple

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Speaker 2: yet significant truth. If you commit what you do to God,

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Speaker 2: he will establish your plans. The key is first committing

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Speaker 2: your plans to God. You can only do that if

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Speaker 2: your heart is lined up with God's heart. When you

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Speaker 2: commit to the Lord whatever you do, you're not just

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Speaker 2: handing God your goals, you're handing God your whole self.

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Speaker 2: That choice opens the door for God to transform you

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Speaker 2: and lead you into plans that are really the best

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Speaker 2: plans for you. Maybe that's why so many New Year's

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Speaker 2: resolutions fall apart a few weeks into the new year.

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Speaker 2: It's hard to make much progress on goals if you're

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Speaker 2: relying only on your own limited power to achieve them.

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Speaker 2: But if you're relying on God's unlimited power to help

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Speaker 2: you achieve goals God wants for you, you'll experience the

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Speaker 2: Holy Spirit empowering you to accomplish those goals in any

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Speaker 2: kind of circumstances. The Spirit's power works from the inside out,

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Speaker 2: so in the process of working toward your goals, you'll

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Speaker 2: be transformed as a person. This year, Instead of asking

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Speaker 2: yourself what you want to accomplish, ask God who he

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Speaker 2: wants you to become. Think if your goals less as

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Speaker 2: what to do and more as how to be, how

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Speaker 2: does God want you to strengthen your character during this

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Speaker 2: new year? Do you sense God calling you to be

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Speaker 2: more courageous, patient, joyful, kind, generous or trusting When you

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Speaker 2: focus on becoming. The doing naturally follows habits flow from

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Speaker 2: the heart, so your goals will flow from the kind

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Speaker 2: of person you are becoming with God's help. Jesus didn't

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Speaker 2: start by giving his disciples tasks. He started by inviting

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Speaker 2: them to follow him. Walking closely with Jesus changed who

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Speaker 2: they were long before it shaped what they did. Their

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Speaker 2: lives were transformed from the inside out. God wants to

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Speaker 2: do the same with you. So this new year, bring

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Speaker 2: your goals to God, but bring your heart first. Ask

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Speaker 2: God how he wants you to learn and grow this

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Speaker 2: year so you can become the person he wants you

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Speaker 2: to become. Then listen, be open and willing to take slow,

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Speaker 2: steady steps closer to God throughout this year and beyond.

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Speaker 2: When Proverb sixteen three says God will establish your plans,

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Speaker 2: it means God will shape them so they match His

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Speaker 2: good purposes for your life. It doesn't mean everything will

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Speaker 2: go exactly how you imagined. Some plans will unfold beautifully,

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Speaker 2: some will change unexpectedly, some will be put on hold,

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Speaker 2: some will lead you into places you never thought you'd go.

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Speaker 2: But when you set your heart in the right place

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Speaker 2: with God, you'll fulfill all the important purposes for your

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Speaker 2: life this year. Don't pressure yourself to achieve everything you

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Speaker 2: want all at once. Instead, set your heart before God

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Speaker 2: and let him shape you. Focus not on trying harder,

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Speaker 2: but on trusting God more. The more you build a

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Speaker 2: closer relationship with God, the more your own goals will

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Speaker 2: line up with God's goals for you. Give God your

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Speaker 2: year and look forward to how He blesss your heart.

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Speaker 2: Intersecting faith in life, as you consider how it's important

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Speaker 2: to set your heart on God to set the best

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Speaker 2: go reflect on these questions. What goals have you made

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Speaker 2: in the past that focus more on doing rather than becoming?

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Speaker 2: What qualities do you sense God wants to grow in

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Speaker 2: you this year?

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Speaker 1: Are there any plans or expectations you need to surrender

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Speaker 1: to God today? What would it look like for you

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Speaker 1: to commit to the Lord whatever you do day by day.

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Speaker 2: How does knowing that.

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Speaker 1: God establishes your plans give you peace? We're confident further

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Speaker 1: reading Psalm thirty seven, five, Philippians one, six, Proverbs three

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Speaker 1: five through six, Ezekiel thirty six, twenty six, Psalm ninety seventeen.

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Speaker 1: The Crosswalk Devotional is a production of life audio and

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