Faith on the God: Ep 4: Church Clothes & Covered Lies: Unmasking Spiritual Compromise

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Hello and welcome back to Diary of a Black Woman podcast as we continue our Faith on the Go series.

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Today we are covering a new topic. It's titled Church Clothes and Covered Lies.

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When familiarly fools you by playing holy before people and hiding from God is dangerous.

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Let's open with our decree, our declaration of the prayer of Jabez.

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And let's just pray this with us. Pray this with me. For God's hand is upon us.

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Our territory is expanding and we are kept from harm.

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Our prayers are heard and they will be answered.

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Here we rise from pain, walk in truth, and return to deep intimacy with God.

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Healed, empowered, and walking boldly in divine purpose.

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Okay, let's get ready for this one.

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I'm your host, Connie Morrison, and we're about to keep it real,

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keep it raw, and rooted in the Word of God.

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Have you ever found yourself showing up at church polished on the outside,

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but hiding some kind of secret on the inside?

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If you ever lifted your hands in worship, but held back your heart in private?

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Or if you've gotten just a little too comfortable around the sacred, this episode is for you.

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Today, we are continuing our bold new series, The Curse of Familiarity.

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And we're going straight to the story of Ananias and Sapphira.

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I mean, we heard about them, the husband and wife team. And so it happened in

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the book of Acts, the story of Ananias and Sapphira.

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There were two believers who got too casual with the presence of God.

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They thought faking holiness wouldn't cost them anything.

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But what happened when church clothes cover up spiritual compromise?

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What happens when lying to the Holy Ghost become routine?

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We're about to talk about it. So buckle up, be open, and lean in.

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Because in 2025, we're not playing church anymore.

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We are becoming the church. So we got to tear off all those false facades,

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all that fakeness that we've been playing.

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Remember, we just finished a series, the games we play with God.

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So we've already done figuring all that stuff out. We've already repented.

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We're on to something new. So this is faith on the go.

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Real talk, real growth, wherever you are and wherever you go.

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So let's head over to the main story.

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The main message is found in Acts chapter 5, verses 1 through 11.

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It says, Ananias and Sapphira sold a piece of property, brought part of the

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money to the apostles, and pretended it was the full amount.

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Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, calls it out. So you have lied.

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You have not just lied to human beings, but to God.

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And immediately, Ananias drops dead.

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Three hours later, Sapphira walks in, repeats the lie, and meets the same fate.

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Now, let's be clear. They didn't lie because they didn't give all the money.

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They didn't die because they didn't give all the money.

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They died because they lied to the Holy Spirit and thought nobody would know.

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That's the curse of familiarity. They were so used to being in the community

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of believers around the presence of God that they thought they can fake it just one more time.

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They wanted to honor the holiness without the honesty of obedience.

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So let's back this up a little bit. They made a promise that they will sell

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some property and they will give it all to the church.

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That sounds so interesting when you're in a group of people and they go,

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wow, they probably raised their hand. You know how we do.

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They raised their hand and said, hey, I will give my money to the church.

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I'm going to sell my property and I'm going to give it to the church.

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They go, ooh, that's a good deal. Thank you.

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And then husband and wife got together and said, you know what?

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We sold that for more than we thought.

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We can't give that all to the church. So they made a private plot.

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And even if they did change their mind, they could have just told Peter and

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it would not have been a big deal. Right.

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But no, they made a big scene about it. You know how people do?

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They made a big scene. We're going to give all our money to the church.

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And lo and behold, when it came to give the money to the church,

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they figure out, wait, we can't give all our money to the church.

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But they changed their mind. but they had committed it before the Holy God, the Holy Spirit.

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And when they came before Peter, Peter said this.

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He said, you have not lied just to human beings but to God.

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And so they died right there, right in the church.

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Isn't that something? And that's what we call the curse of familiarity.

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When you get so close to the Holy Spirit that you think you can just get away with anything.

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They were so used to being with the community of believers just flowing and

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nothing happening, right? Nothing was happening. Nothing was happening.

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Holy Ghost was still Holy. The Holy Spirit was still the Holy Spirit.

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But nothing was happening at this level.

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But how many know that that changed that day? And the presence of God that they

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thought they could keep faking it.

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They wanted the honor of holiness without the honesty of obedience.

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What does that look like today in 2025?

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So let's make it real plain. We're posting devotionals, but we live in offense.

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Singing in worship, but cursing in private.

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Saying God told me when he didn't say a word. Giving to impress,

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but not out of obedience.

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Quoting scripture to others, but not living it yourself.

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This is what happens when we get too familiar with the things of God,

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but lose our fear of the Lord.

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Mananias and Sapphira were part of the church, but they forgot they were standing before a holy God.

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And God made it clear. You don't get to lie to my spirit and think it won't cost you something.

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You don't get to lie to my spirit and don't think it won't cost you something.

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So how do we avoid this? Number one, how do we avoid death?

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Remember, you've got to understand, they lied to the group, but they thought

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they were getting away with it.

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There came a time when they came in front of probably that same group,

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and they died with that same lie in their heart.

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So four steps to walk in this truth. It says, confess, don't cover.

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In Proverbs 28, 13 reads, whoever conceals their sins does not prosper,

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but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy.

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God is merciful, but he honors honesty, not image management.

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Wow. God is merciful. He honors honesty, not image management.

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So you always want to be honest with God.

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They didn't have to give anything away. Remember, they chose to give the money

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to the church after they sold their property.

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They decided in secret to only give half or whatever they decided to do,

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but they lied to the Holy Spirit.

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So confess, not cover. Confess, not cover.

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Confess, don't cover. Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper.

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But the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy.

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That's Proverbs 28, 13.

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God is merciful, but he honors honesty, not image management.

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Number two, repent thoroughly. Don't just feel bad. Turn. Repent is a turning away.

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Repentance means changing direction, not just your emotions.

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It's not an emotional change.

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It's a directional change, turning from that bad back towards God.

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And number three, prioritize presence over performance.

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Matthew 6 tells us that your father who sees in secret will reward you.

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Go back to your secret place, get honest, and let him clean you up for real.

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So stop faking and playing church.

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Stop playing with the Holy Spirit. Remember we said God is a consuming fire.

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And at that moment, remember he's the one that gives us breath to breathe.

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And he's the one who decides when your last breath will be taken.

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He says, Your father who sees in secret will reward you. So prioritize presence over performance.

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Get back to your secret place, get honest, and let him clean you up for real.

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Number four, invite the Holy Spirit to search you.

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Psalms 139 verses 23 to 24 tells us to search me, God. know my heart.

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See if there's any offensive way in me.

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So ask him, the Lord, say, Lord, show me where I am faking it.

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Reveal where I've gotten too comfortable, and he will.

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Wow. So you be real with God, and he will definitely be real with you.

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Let's go over those four steps again.

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How to walk in truth. You want to confess, don't cover. You want to not conceal your sins.

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You want to go to God who is merciful, who will honor your honesty and not your image management.

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You want to repent, thoroughly repent, turn directions and not all that emotional stuff.

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You know, we cry, I didn't mean it, I didn't mean it.

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Did you repent? Because we, I don't feel the emotion. I feel the emotion,

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but not the repentance, right?

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And number three, prioritize presence over performance.

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Get real. Let them clean you up for real. And finally, the fourth point is allow

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the Holy Spirit to clean your heart.

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Find out if there's anything offensive in you.

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Find out if you are faking it.

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Just find out if you are faking it. We all have some friends who can't leave

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the house without their makeup, but they always got to have the,

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I have a sister like this, always got to have the most fanciest item,

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purse, blah, blah, blah.

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But then when you go to their house, it's the messiest house.

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They got to have steak and shrimp.

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But the house is a hot mess. Can we clean the house up first?

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Can we stop faking it out in public that we eat out like this all the time and we're gourmet?

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But yeah, we can't keep the simple things clean like this faking thing.

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God wants us to come real to him, be real with him, and be real to him and not fake it. Right?

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So in 2025, we're not playing with the presence of God because he ain't playing with us.

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We don't want to be the next Ananias and Sapphira, polished on the outside,

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but perishing on the inside.

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God isn't looking for perfection. He's looking for truth. Truth in our worship.

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Truth in our giving. truth in our walk.

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Don't let familiarity with the church cost you intimacy with God. Let's pray.

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Lord, I repent for every time I perform instead of obeying.

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For the time I made my life look right instead of living right.

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Holy Spirit, cleans up my motives. I root the desire to appear holy while hiding compromise.

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Make me real again. In Jesus' name, amen.

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This has been a Faith on the Go series with your host, Connie Morris.

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I hope you're enjoying this familiarity series in this season.

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Let's stop dressing up what needs

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to be delivered. Let's start faking holiness and start walking in it.

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Let's remember that familiarity is not the same as faithfulness.

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Let's remember familiarity is not the same as faithfulness.

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Make sure you subscribe, leave a review, share this episode with somebody who needs to hear it.

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You can connect with me in the Diary of Black Women podcast.

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I am now on Instagram. I want X and visit Dairy Black Women LLC for more devotional

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teachings and encouragement.

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Until next time, stay honest, stay humble, keep walking with faith.

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Glory to God. I want to, you know, send you off and activate you under the promises of Jeremiah 29 11.

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God knows the plans he has for you, plans to prosper you, not to harm you,

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plans to give you hope and a future.

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And when you seek him with all your heart, you will find him.

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And he will bring you back from captivity and restore everything that was lost.

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Hold on. Your healing, your clarity, your breakthrough are closer than you think.

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This is more than a podcast.

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This is a return to God's plan for your life.

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Let's keep walking it all together. and let's stay connected and I'll see you

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on the next episode. Bye-bye.