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Speaker 1: Thanks so much for listening to the podcast today. I

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Speaker 1: want you to know that Victoria and I are praying

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Speaker 1: for you and your family this summer, and just asking

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Speaker 1: God to bring you more peace and joy and victory

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Speaker 1: than you've ever seen before.

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Speaker 2: Know that God's for you.

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Speaker 1: He's got you in the palm of His hand, and

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Speaker 1: I hope you enjoy the message today.

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Speaker 2: We believe it.

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Speaker 1: Amen.

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Speaker 2: You may be seated. So good to have you in

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Speaker 2: the house of the Lord.

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Speaker 3: The older that I get, the more I live on

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Speaker 3: this earth, the more I understand how important relationships are

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Speaker 3: and how important it is to be in community with

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Speaker 3: one another. You know, I can look back over my

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Speaker 3: life and I can see how God placed me in

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Speaker 3: an amazing family. Do you know sometimes when we're in

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Speaker 3: the moment, we don't understand how great the moment really is?

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Speaker 2: But I look back now and.

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Speaker 3: I see how God put people, friends, family in my

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Speaker 3: life that not only held me accountable, that not only

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Speaker 3: sharpened me, but prayed with me, supported me, linked arms

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Speaker 3: with me so that I could weather the storms of life.

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Speaker 3: And I believe that is what God has intended for

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Speaker 3: all of us, to live a life that is together,

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Speaker 3: You see, God intended us to have families and make community.

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Speaker 3: When He created Adam, He stood back and He said,

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Speaker 3: it's not good that Adam is alone. And He created Eve.

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Speaker 3: What He was doing was putting in the heart of

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Speaker 3: every one of us community, family, love. He said, Adam, Eve,

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Speaker 3: I want you to go. I want you to multiply,

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Speaker 3: increase the earth. He was saying, I want you to

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Speaker 3: grow your family strong.

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Speaker 2: Bring the other people that are in community with you.

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Speaker 3: See, that's what God intended for every single one of

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Speaker 3: us to do. I can truly say today that I

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Speaker 3: am what I am, not because of all my great decisions,

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Speaker 3: not because I was so smart, because I had people

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Speaker 3: in my life who helped me, who motivated me, who

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Speaker 3: challenged me. Even when I didn't want to hear it,

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Speaker 3: I listened. It made a difference in my life. And

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Speaker 3: I believe you could probably say the same thing. I've

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Speaker 3: had good people in my life. You see, we need

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Speaker 3: to be those good people. We were never intended to

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Speaker 3: live this life isolated as an island unto ourselves. God

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Speaker 3: intended us to be in community with one another to motivate,

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Speaker 3: to strengthen, and support one another.

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Speaker 2: You see, that's the healthy way to live.

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Speaker 3: Ecclesiastes says it like this, two people are better off

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Speaker 3: than one, for they can each help one another succeed.

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Speaker 3: If one person falls, the other one can reach out

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Speaker 3: and help them up.

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Speaker 2: You see, we need each other.

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Speaker 3: If you're gonna live a successful life, you've gotta understand

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Speaker 3: the people in your life that are like-minded are important.

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Speaker 3: and they are worth developing a strong relationship with, a

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Speaker 3: strong community with. Good relationships are two-way streets. It's as

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Speaker 3: much about what you give than what you receive. The

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Speaker 3: Bible tells us to encourage one another daily. It doesn't

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Speaker 3: say wait around to be encouraged. It says we are

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Speaker 3: to have an exchange of encouragement on a daily basis.

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Speaker 3: Do you know when you need encouragement, the greatest thing

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Speaker 3: that you can do is to speak encouragement? Because when

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Speaker 3: you speak encouragement to them, you literally breathe God's life

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Speaker 3: into them. And as a result, you breathe God's life

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Speaker 3: into your own soul. You see, God says this should

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Speaker 3: be an exchange of encouragement. We can't live as islands

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Speaker 3: to ourself. You know, sometimes it feels like it would

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Speaker 3: be easier to do it alone, doesn't it? Because sometimes

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Speaker 3: the people in our life are annoying and they're aggravating

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Speaker 3: and they're troublesome.

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Speaker 2: But you know what God is saying? It's okay.

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Speaker 3: If you're with the right group of people, the people

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Speaker 3: I've put you with, you have potential in that group

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Speaker 3: of people. If there are people in your family that

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Speaker 3: you don't think that they can get it right, that's okay.

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Speaker 2: Because you're there for them.

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Speaker 3: And I can tell you someone else is there for you.

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Speaker 3: It's interesting because I believe that we're our happiest and

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Speaker 3: our healthiest when we are helpful to other people.

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Speaker 2: In fact, there was a study on happiness.

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Speaker 3: And it was interesting because it talked about what actions

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Speaker 3: that we can do that create this emotion of happiness

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Speaker 3: within us. And you would think it was when we

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Speaker 3: go on vacation that we're our happiest. When we get

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Speaker 3: a present, we're our happiest. But it was saying that

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Speaker 3: the emotion of happiness is really a sense of when

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Speaker 3: you are helpful and your purpose is tied to someone

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Speaker 3: else and helping them. That gives you the greatest heightened

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Speaker 3: sense of happiness. In fact, it was interesting they called

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Speaker 3: it the helpful high.

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Speaker 2: That's how they, that's what they labeled it. It's the

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Speaker 2: helpful high.

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Speaker 3: See, I can't imagine getting high on anything but being

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Speaker 3: helpful knowing that it's such.

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Speaker 2: A euphoric feeling.

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Speaker 3: It doesn't even have a hangover. You can be helpful

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Speaker 3: and get high at the same time. I believe that's

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Speaker 3: why this church works. I believe that's what makes this

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Speaker 3: church what it is. Because this church is a place

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Speaker 3: that you can come and be loved and encouraged and

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Speaker 3: prayed for. This church is a place that people will

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Speaker 3: link arms with you. And I love this church because

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Speaker 3: you don't have to be perfect to be loved. You

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Speaker 3: don't have to be perfect.

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Speaker 2: No one's judging you.

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Speaker 3: They're just loving you and being helpful. You know, it's

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Speaker 3: interesting because we all have people around us.

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Speaker 2: You know, sometimes we think, well, God, I can't help everyone.

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Speaker 2: But can I tell you.

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Speaker 3: That if you'll look very closely, God will have many

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Speaker 3: people around you that you can invest into, that can.

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Speaker 2: Be a part of your life.

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Speaker 3: I was talking about how, you know, one way to

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Speaker 3: be a helpful person is to be a person that

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Speaker 3: has the best interest of someone else. And what I

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Speaker 3: mean by that is the Bible says we're to be

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Speaker 3: sharpeners to one another.

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Speaker 2: And think about that word just a minute.

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Speaker 3: If you've ever cut your hand on a knife, you'll

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Speaker 3: understand sometimes sharp things hurt.

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Speaker 2: They don't always feel so good.

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Speaker 3: But God is saying, I want the people in your

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Speaker 3: life to sharpen you as you sharpen them. But that

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Speaker 3: only comes from a trusted community, a place where you

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Speaker 3: know there's a sincere love. I can tell you that

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Speaker 3: my greatest growth has come when I've been challenged by

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Speaker 3: the people that love me the most, when I've been

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Speaker 3: held accountable by the people who love me the most,

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Speaker 3: because they not only hold me accountable, they not only

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Speaker 3: sharpen me, but they're also there to link arms with

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Speaker 3: me and support me. You see, that is where we're

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Speaker 3: going to find help and growth. What am I saying today?

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Speaker 3: I'm saying we're better together. We were meant to be together.

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Speaker 3: I found this wonderful story about the redwood trees in

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Speaker 3: Northern California. And these trees grow 350 feet up in

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Speaker 3: the air. They grow very close together. The interesting part

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Speaker 3: is their roots are very shallow. They're only about five

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Speaker 3: and a half feet underground. You would think something so

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Speaker 3: incredibly tall would have to go very, very deep in

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Speaker 3: the ground to hold itself up. But the extraordinary fact

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Speaker 3: about this tree is that the roots don't go deep,

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Speaker 3: but they spread wide. Those roots find the other tree's roots,

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Speaker 3: and they begin to intermingle their roots together. And they

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Speaker 3: say that they find nutrition with one another, and that

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Speaker 3: literally the way their roots are so intermingled.

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Speaker 2: They hold each other up.

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Speaker 3: That a tree in the middle of those trees can

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Speaker 3: die from old age and it can stay there 100

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Speaker 3: years because it's so intermingled with the other trees. You see,

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Speaker 3: it finds its strength in all climates from being woven.

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Speaker 2: Together with the other trees.

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Speaker 3: So whether the winds are blowing, the rains are coming down,

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Speaker 3: or whether there's a drought, there is always stability.

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Speaker 2: In the forest of the redwood trees.

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Speaker 3: And if we could be as united together in our

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Speaker 3: lives as those redwood trees are, I believe we could

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Speaker 3: withstand any storm, that we could withstand any drought, because

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Speaker 3: we're not only holding one another up, but we are

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Speaker 3: giving nourishment to one another. You see, God intended us

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Speaker 3: to be together. He intended us to start in our families.

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Speaker 3: The Bible talks about giving your life away. Who are

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Speaker 3: you entwined with today? Who are you investing in? Who

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Speaker 3: are you giving your life to? I believe there should

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Speaker 3: be people in our lives that we ask God, can

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Speaker 3: I invest in this person? You see, you can give

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Speaker 3: people money. You can give them cars. You can do

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Speaker 3: nice things for them. But can I tell you, when

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Speaker 3: you give them your greatest commodities, which is yourself, it

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Speaker 3: makes all the difference.

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Speaker 2: In the world.

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Speaker 3: When you entwine your life with someone else, even if

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Speaker 3: it's seasonal, and you invest in them, I believe that's.

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Speaker 2: When you'll stand strong.

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Speaker 3: You'll grow, and you will be able to withstand the

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Speaker 3: storms of this life.

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Speaker 2: Amen?

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Speaker 1: Amen.

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Speaker 2: He's an awesome God.

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Speaker 3: He's created us to be better together.

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Speaker 1: The scripture says, write the vision and make it plain

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Speaker 1: to see. There's something powerful about writing down what you're

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Speaker 1: believing for. That's why I'd love to send you my

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Speaker 1: new I Believe Planner. It's a place to write down

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Speaker 1: your dreams, your prayers, and the promises you're standing on.

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Speaker 1: What stays before your eyes has a way of staying

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Speaker 1: in your heart. Every time you see what you've written,

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Speaker 1: let it be a reminder to thank God that it's

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Speaker 1: already at work behind the scenes, even.

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Speaker 2: When you can't see it.

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Speaker 1: As you keep your faith in front of you day

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Speaker 1: after day, you'll be encouraged, your expectation will grow, and

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Speaker 1: you'll begin to see God bring those dreams to pass.

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Speaker 4: The I Believe Planner is a beautiful new resource designed

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Speaker 4: to help you believe God for more in your health,

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Speaker 4: your family, your future. Inside, you'll find a weekly I

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Speaker 4: Believe Declaration to frame your mindset and shift the atmosphere

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Speaker 4: with God's Word. daily planning, to-dos, and prayer prompts, and

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Speaker 4: space to reflect and record God's faithfulness in your life.

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Speaker 4: Each month brings a fresh scripture and theme, plus a

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Speaker 4: QR code linking to an exclusive message from Joel to

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Speaker 4: keep you encouraged all year long. This 15-month planner will

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Speaker 4: inspire you for the rest of this year and set

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Speaker 4: you on a course for breakthrough throughout 2027. It's yours

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Speaker 4: as a thank you for your gift to the ministry today.

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Speaker 4: Be sure to request your copy of The I Believe Planner,

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Speaker 4: available this month by visiting us at joelostein.com or call 888-567-JOEL.

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Speaker 1: Don't just carry your dreams in your heart. Put them

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Speaker 1: on paper. As you read them each day, keep thanking

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Speaker 1: God that He's working. Victoria and I are praying for

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Speaker 1: you and your family every day. Thanks so much for

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Speaker 1: your prayer and support. Your generosity helps us take this

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Speaker 1: message of hope to people around the world. A special

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Speaker 1: thank you to our Champion of Hope partners for all

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Speaker 1: you do to make the ministry possible. Until we meet again,

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Speaker 1: may the Lord keep you and bless you.

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Speaker 4: Be sure to request your copy of The I Believe Planner,

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Speaker 4: available this month by visiting us at joelosteen.com or call 888-567-JOEL.

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Speaker 4: With an additional gift, you can also receive the I

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Speaker 2: This is your moment.

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