Ch4: Episode 2: Transforming the Ordinary: Moses and His Miraculous Staff

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Welcome back to Diary of a Black Woman podcast.

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I'm your host Connie Morris and today we will continue our journey through chapter

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four, what is in your hands from the simple to the supernatural.

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And our focus today will be on Moses and his staff from Exodus four chapters two through nine.

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In this episode, we will, in this episode, reveals how God can transform the

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ordinary into the extraordinary.

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I don't know why I like that word, extraordinary. And so we're going to be reading

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from Exodus chapter 4, verses 2 through 9.

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So get your Bibles ready. I'm reading from the NIV translation.

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Let me find it.

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And I'm going to start from verse 1, because this is good, and we're going to go to verse 9.

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I think that's verse 9, where it ends, and it talks, no, we don't need to go

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to verse 9, but we'll be out of verse 9.

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Let's talk, Moses talking to the Lord.

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All right, let's go to verse 1 through 9 in the NIV translation, and let's read.

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Moses answered, what if they do not believe me or listen to me and say,

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the Lord did not appear to you.

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Then the Lord said to him, what is it that's in your hand?

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A staff, he replied. The Lord said, throw it on the ground.

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Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake and he ran from it.

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I want to pause there because you got to understand Moses is a shepherd.

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And so for him to run from a snake in itself is hilarious because he's seen

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snakes out there in the grass all the time.

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So for, but for him to see that rod turned into a snake was a shock to him.

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So he ran from it, but God didn't stop there. Remember God is a great teacher.

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Then the Lord said to him, reach out your hand and take it by the tail.

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So grabbing the snake by the tail, we know that in real life,

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you don't grab the snake by the tail because they reach around and bite you.

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But following God's instruction, take the snake by the tail.

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So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand.

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This, said the Lord, is so that they may believe that the Lord,

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the God of thy fathers, the God of Abraham,

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the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob has appeared to you.

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Then the Lord said, put your hand inside your cloak.

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So Moses put his hand inside his cloak, and then he took it out,

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and his skin was leprous. and it was white as snow.

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And now put it back, put your hand back in your cloak.

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And he said, so Moses did that, put his hand back in his cloak.

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And when he took it out, it was restored like the rest of his flesh.

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And then the Lord said, if they do not believe you or pay attention to the first

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sign, they may believe the second.

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It. But if they do not believe these two signs or listen to you,

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take some water from the Nile and pour it on the ground.

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The water you take from the river will become blood on the ground.

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So we're only going to cover the first part, but God always have a plan A, a plan B, and a plan C.

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So we see here in Exodus 4 that God asked Moses, what is it that you have in your hand?

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What is it that is in your hand? And Moses replies, a staff.

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And God instructed Moses to throw it on the ground and it turned into a snake.

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This ordinary shepherd staff becomes an instrument of God's power,

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demonstrating miraculous signs and wonders.

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So we see how God is a great teacher. This was in the beginning stages of Moses' ministry.

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So God was showing Moses his power through him.

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And so we see how Moses was fearful and like, this is different.

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Never had a God do this way before, do this thing before.

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I mean, I'm a shepherd and yet I'm running from a snake, a staff that turns

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into a snake. But yet you're telling me to grab this snake by the tail and then

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it turns into a staff right into my hands.

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So now look what that trust does to with Moses's heart, what it does with the

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trust between God and Moses and his faith.

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Look what's happening with Moses. Look what's going on with Moses.

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So let's do a little historical back check and then we'll keep going forward here.

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So we see here that Moses' staff was a standard tool for shepherds,

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used for guiding and protecting the sheep.

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It symbolized Moses' livelihood and identity as a shepherd.

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So he knew that tool. That tool was part of his everyday life.

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He fought with it. He fended things off with it. It was part of his weaponry,

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you know, his walking tool.

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I mean, so he did a lot of things with that tool that.

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That staff that he had in his hand. So God took that staff in his hand and he

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said, I'm going to use that for you.

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I'm going to use that as something miraculous in your hand.

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So when you think about that, what do you use every day that you can let God use?

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Something simple to the supernatural, to the miraculous. What do you have in your hand?

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And so we also know that the Egyptians held various objects as symbols of power and authority.

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Moses' staff became a divine tool

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to demonstrate God's supremacy over Egyptians, God, and the magicians.

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And so we saw that that simple staff that Moses had in his hand that he used every day,

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every single day became became the power and authority over the gods of the Egyptians.

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Powerful. The staff, a simple, ordinary tool was used by God to perform,

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my favorite word, extraordinary miracles, including turning it into a snake,

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parting the Red Sea, and bringing water from a rock.

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Think about that. Something that he used every day. Just take a moment now.

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What do you use every day? that God can use as a miraculous tool in your life

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to bring forth the supernatural in your life.

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The staff that Moses had turned into a snake.

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It was used as a weaponry to demonstrate God's supremacy over the Egyptians' gods.

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He parted the Red Sea with it. He brought water from a rock with it.

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Think about that. That's very, very powerful. It signifies how God can take

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what is ordinary and infuse it. Come on now.

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With his power to accomplish his purpose.

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Of course, God is a creator. He made all things. But if you give it to him,

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he can use it for his glory.

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What is the role of prophets like Moses in that biblical times?

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Prophets like Moses were chosen by God to lead, to guide and deliver his people. So.

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Their obedience and faith were crucial in manifesting God's power and plans.

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Moses' transformation from a shepherd to a leader of Israel highlights how God

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prepares and equips his chosen vessels.

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So a lot of times, especially, you know, I remember my younger days,

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you know, we think that it was funny to see, you know, we read in the Bible,

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that when God told Moses to drop the rod and the rod turned into a snake and

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Moses ran off, that that to me was funny.

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But how many of us have some fearful moments when God called us to do some things?

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I remember when God called me to preach and I'm just too scared to talk in front

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of anybody, in front of the mirror.

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And God began to train me to be a person that can talk in front of people without

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my notes, you know, because usually you can, you got your notes in front of you.

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Isn't that interesting how God is a great teacher.

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He's a great trainer. He trained Moses. Moses, matter of fact,

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he trained everybody in the Bible so that they can be the oracles of his words.

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Right. And so he is the one that

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trained Moses to be a great leader and prepares and equips his vessels.

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Hallelujah. Let's give him some praise. But let's talk about Moses before he

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became the great leader.

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Initially, Moses was hesitant and fearful about his ability to lead the Israelites out of Egypt.

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He doubted his own capabilities and feared the reaction of people. Yes, that was me.

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So we see that he was fearful. You see that he carried that rod around.

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He knew that rod wasn't a snake, but he also knew he wasn't afraid of snakes.

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But yet at that moment, he's fearful. Interesting.

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God provided Moses with signs, including transformation of his staff to reassure

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him of his presence and power.

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These signs were meant to strengthen Moses' faith and convince the Israelites

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and Pharaoh of God's authority.

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So for God to train him in his power and his authority gave Moses the strength

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to know that God was always with him, that his power and his authority was with him.

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That gives you a backbone to know that God is with you always.

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That should give you a backbone to know that God is with you always. ways.

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And when he asks you what you have in your hands, he already knows what he wants to do with it.

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He already understands what he wants you to do with it. And he has exact instructions.

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He has given Moses, he's given the last episode that we spoke with the lady with the oil.

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He says, this is how I want you to be prosperous. Follow these instructions.

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Moses, this is what you're going to do with your rod. Now, you know,

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this rod is with you all the time.

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All right. So just, just, just, just hold on to it. You're going to do many

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things with it. But first of all, we're going to change this thing into a snake.

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Now grab it by the tail, come back here. Cause he didn't let Moses run off.

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Moses get back here, grab that thing by the tail and he turned into a rod.

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Think what that did to him at that moment, the power that surged through him at that moment.

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That's powerful. So the question, it says, God's question is, what is in your hand?

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Serve as a focus point on what he already possessed.

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It underscores the idea that God can use our existing resources and ability

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to fulfill his purposes.

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This teaches us to value you that we have what we have and trust that God can

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use even the simplest things in our life to achieve the greatest things.

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I want to say that again. This teaches us to value that we, that we, that, can I say it right?

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This teaches us to value what we have and trust that God can use even the simplest

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things in our lives to achieve the greatest things.

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We're waiting for God to do some magic trick to bring some things into our lives.

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When he's telling you, what do you have in your hand?

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And then he can do the miraculous.

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We know, if you haven't read the story of the bread being multiplied,

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the oil being multiplied, supply and then what God did with Moses.

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Read the story of Moses. The symbol of the staff turning into a snake.

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The staff turning into a snake was a powerful sign, as the snake were symbols

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of power and authority in Egypt.

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This miracle demonstrated God's power over the Egyptians' gods and their symbols.

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Just as God uses Moses' staff, he uses other ordinary objects for extraordinary

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purposes, such as Gideons, clay jars, and trumpets.

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That's found in Judges 7, 16 through 22.

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And then David's sling and stone found in 1 Samuel 17, 40 to 50.

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So that shows that God can use whatever we have in our hand to bring us victory.

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And so let's for now, let's look up. Let's go to Judges 7.

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I wasn't going to do that, but we have to see how God uses other biblical characters,

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the things in their hands. Let's go to Judges 7.

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I love the story of Gideon. Of course, I love every story in the Bible,

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of course. But Judges 7, 16 to 22.

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Sometimes stories sound so familiar to us that we skip over it because we assume

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everybody knows the story. But for those who haven't heard this story,

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this is a very good story.

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Gideon was another one of those characters in the Bible who was afraid,

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but God used him to do a mighty thing.

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So Judges 7, I'm looking it up now in the NIV, and 16, it's only a few chapters.

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It only takes a few verses, a few minutes to read it. 16 to 22.

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16 to 22. Let's see how Gideon and his clay jars and trumpets made him victorious.

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16, it says, Get up, the Lord has given the Midianites camps into your hands,

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dividing the 300 men into three companies.

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He placed trumpets and empty jars in the hands of each of them with torches inside.

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Watch me, he told them, follow my lead. When I get to the edge of the camp, do exactly as I do.

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When I and all who are with me blow our trumpets, then for all who are around

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the camp, blow yours and shout for the Lord and for Gideon.

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Gideon and the hundred men with him reached the edge of the camp at the beginning

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of the middle watch just after they had left.

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Changed the guard. They blew their trumpets and broke the jars that were in their hands.

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The three companies blew the trumpet and smashed the jars, grasping the torches

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in their left hands and holding in their right hands the trumpets.

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They were to blow, they shouted, a sword for the Lord and for Gideon,

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while each man held their position around the camp.

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All the Midianites ran, crying out as they fled.

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When all the 300 trumpets sounded, the Lord caused the men throughout the camp

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to turn on each other with their swords.

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The army fled to Beth Shittah towards Zerothah, Z-E-R-E-A-H.

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As far as the board of Abel and these other names.

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And so what happens, they surrounded the enemy and they did what God said,

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collapse those clay jars and blow the trumpet. And what happened?

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The enemies turned upon each other. And so powerful, the tools that they had

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in their hands, they didn't have any weapons.

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They only had clay jars and trumpets.

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And what did they have in their hands?

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They won the victory. And we know the story of David and the slingshot and Goliath

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where he had the stone. He had three stones.

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He just took one. And that slingshot, that one stone hit the Goliath right in

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the forehead and knocked him forward, not backwards.

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How powerful is that? So how powerful is that, that we use what we have in our hand?

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It can be our weapon. It can be our victory.

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It also can be our provision.

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Right. And so those instances. So when God says what's in your hands,

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he's ready to use it for your victory or for your provision.

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It says and you can use pay your debt and you can use the rest.

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So faith and obedience, like we mentioned before, it says Moses faith grew as

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he witnessed the miracles of God perform through his staff.

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His willingness to obey God's command, despite his initial reluctance,

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led to the deliverance of the Israelites.

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Faith often requires us to act in obedience, trusting that God's instructions.

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Though they may seem illogical or daunting, will lead to his desired outcome.

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I always say, how bad do you want it? It says illogical. Like,

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why do I have to do it this way?

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Why do I have to do it this way?

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Right. Just do it. Faith and obedience will lead to your victory or your provision.

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So how do we apply this to our daily lives?

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How do we apply this practical, this biblical application to our practical lives.

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Number one, reflect on our resources.

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Take a moment to access what you have, your skills, your talents,

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times, or even your financial resources.

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Nothing is too small for God. Nothing is too small for God.

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Moses had a tool that he used?

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Is there a tool you can create, right?

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Is there a tool, is there a job that you do every day that if you really sit

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down and say, Lord, this can be done easier if I can create a tool that can do this?

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I don't know. We'll follow the rules or someone else create.

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But we said, this can be done an easier way if I had a tool.

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And God can give you the wisdom, knowledge, and understanding on how to create

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something that you use every day to make it easier.

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And that can be your provision. You can live off the rest. I'm just saying. I'm just saying.

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Scripture for that is each of you should use whatever gift you have received

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to serve others as faithful stewards of God, grace in its various forms.

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1 Peter 4.10. So whatever gift you have, use it.

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Whatever skill you have, use it. Whatever talent you have, use it.

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And so don't be afraid. You can draw it up, go find some skill and get it in

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a blueprint and create it.

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Secretly, don't tell your business, You know, just go do it incognito and live off the rest.

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Another one, act in faith. Like Moses, step out in faith with what you have.

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Trust that God can multiply your humble offering beyond your imagination.

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So step out in faith. You have to move. Do something. Don't just talk about it. Be about it.

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Hebrews 11.1 says, now faith is

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confidence in what we hope for and the assurance about what we do not see.

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And so have faith in it, do something, and confidence in what we hope for and

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assurance in what we do not see.

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And number three, obedience brings blessings.

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Moses follows God's instruction precisely.

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You know, he didn't say throw the staff.

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He said drop the staff he didn't say pick the snake up by the head he said pick

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the snake up by the tail because common sense would say pick the snake up by the the like by the face.

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I'm not picking up any snakes. I'm not a skilled snake handler.

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So let's not get that twisted.

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I'll be Moses. I'll be running. Matter of fact, I'll be like,

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Jesus, can we use another type of thing? Because I'm not into snakes, right?

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But maybe I might get a little bonus if he said, Connie, I'm with you.

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The snake will not bite you because I'm with you. Maybe, maybe,

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just maybe I will be following God's instruction precisely, just like Moses, right?

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So obedience brings blessings.

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So Moses followed God's instructions precisely. So whatever God says, do it.

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I just, as I'm, when I'm saying that I'm thinking about even Jesus followed

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God's instructions precisely.

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Remember he made, he turned that water into wine, right?

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And so he took those and the disciples followed Jesus' instructions precisely.

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So this following Following instructions precisely must be the thing for getting

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miracles. I'm just saying.

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And so obedience to God's guidance can unlock the supernatural provision.

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And so being in obedience can probably be a hard thing. You just have to just

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follow the instructions in the little thing.

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And then God can give you the big thing. So practice that and then find out

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where he's taking you. So I'm going to read that again because Moses followed

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God's instructions precisely.

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Not only did he follow his instructions

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precisely in that one little scenario that we read in Exodus 4,

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but if you read the book of Exodus as he was given out,

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God was given the orders for the plagues, He followed God's instructions all

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the way through about what God told him about the plagues.

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Moses made a little boo-boo towards the end, got a little boo-boo,

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a big boo-boo, because he didn't follow the instructions. He got in trouble.

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But throughout that process, he followed the instructions to the end.

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So that's very powerful.

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I don't know why I keep saying that. Following instructions is powerful.

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And so 1 Samuel 15, 22, it says.

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So it's always better than to obey than sacrifice. So obedience is a key.

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And the final is expect miracles.

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Anticipate that God will show up in a miraculous way. when you act in faith.

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Moses' staff became a symbol, a power of God's authority.

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It became a symbol of power, of God's authority.

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So, so good. And scripture for that in Philippians 4.19, And my God will meet

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all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.

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So we can expect a miracle when we do what? When we obey, when we have faith, we obey.

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And it's the simplest thing. And we will obey precisely what he said, not doing it our way.

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And number, and then additional scriptures is Proverbs 3, 5, and 6.

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Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lay not to your own understanding

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and all your ways submit to him and he will make your path straight.

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And so trusting God, when we do not understand the outcome will be your victorious,

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give you victory, right?

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And then James 2, 14 to 17, we know that without faith requires action.

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So faith by itself without action is dead.

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So we can talk about it, but we have to be about it.

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So we have to know that God wants to do a miraculous thing in our life, but we have to just do it.

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Like Moses did it afraid, you know, he didn't know what God was going to do.

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I mean, he was in the wilderness for a while.

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The bush was burning. Now we got this guy talking to us about throwing this rod on this thing.

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I mean, this is all really think about I was all new to him.

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And that's how God does us. It's all new to you.

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We become so familiar with this God we do not know.

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Just follow the instruction of this holy God, and he will get you through.

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But we need to become unfamiliar with the God that we do not know.

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And we can watch him flow in our lives from the simple to the supernatural.

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I just feel that he wants to do so much more.

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But we have this lean to our understanding more than lean to his understanding.

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And we get it twisted and then we don't get any miracles.

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And then we have Miss Sally pray all the time, getting all these miracles.

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And we get all upset because she's following the instructions and we're not.

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Nah, I'm just saying, just do you, do you, just do you.

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All right, so I think we're gonna move on. I think we're gonna move on.

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Let's just do just a quick review.

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Reflect on your resources.

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Take a moment to assess what you have. You know, new things are invented all the time.

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So don't be afraid if God gives you something that's not even invented yet,

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just go ahead and invent it.

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God gave me a new term and even the definition, and I'm just going to go out there and just use it.

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I mean, God is just so creative. He wants to use his creativity with you.

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Number two, act in faith. Step out in faith.

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Step out. Just step out. What happens if you crumble and fall?

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Get back up. Step out some more. God wants to show up and show out in your life. Don't be scared.

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Just do it. Trust that God can multiply your humble offerings beyond your imaginations.

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Obedience. Obey God's instructions precisely.

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Rewind. Obey God's instructions precisely.

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Don't lean on your understanding. Lean on on God's understanding.

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Don't try to do it your way. Our way is not working. Hello, that's me. It didn't work.

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His timing is always perfect. Don't lean on your understanding.

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Lean on God's understanding.

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And finally, have an expectation that it's going to work. Sometimes we're surprised. Oh, Lord, that worked.

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You obeyed, Connie. Yeah.

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Expect God to show up in a miraculous way.

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Something that is like saying that's a miraculous way when you act in faith,

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when you act in faith, glory to God.

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So let's close out in some decrees. Ready? So good.

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I decree that the ordinary things in my life, when surrendered to God,

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can become instruments of his extraordinary power.

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I want to say that again. I want you to feel this one.

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I decree that the ordinary things in my life, when surrendered to God,

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can become instruments of his extraordinary power.

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Number two, I decree that when I offer God, sorry, I decree that what I offer

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God will be transformed for his divine purposes.

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I like that one. I decree that my faith and obedience will unlock God's supernatural provision.

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Had a little hesitation on that obedience part. heart. So let's say that again.

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I decree that my faith and obedience will unlock God's supernatural provision.

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And the last one, I decree that I will expect and receive God's miraculous intervention in my life.

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Good job, you guys. And so right now we just activated our faith when we set these decrees,

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that we will surrender to God and we will surrender to God and become the instruments

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of his extraordinary power.

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And that what we have offered him will be transformed into divine purposes so

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that that divine purpose can be used for his will and his purposes. Right.

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And that we will use faith and that big old word obedience to unlock supernatural provision.

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And that we can expect and receive God's miraculous intervention in our life.

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I like when God shows up because I can't even, sometimes I'm like,

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well, how did God, how did you get that?

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I can't even explain it. I don't even want to explain it because if I explain

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it, it's going to take too long. How about that?

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But you need to go listen to my podcast. It's so good. I'm preaching to myself actually.

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Right. So I wanted to thank you all again for tuning in to Diary of Black Women podcast.

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Remember God can use whatever is in your hand to perform miracles.

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Trust in his power and be willing to offer the ordinary for his extraordinary purposes.

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Join me next time as we explore the story of Queen of Sheba.

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Stay blessed and keep on believing in the miraculous. This is the Diamond Black Woman podcast.

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This is Connie. See you on the next episode.