The Cost of Half-Hearted Obedience

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Hello, and welcome back to the Diary of a Black Woman podcast.

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I'm your host, Connie Morris, and we're diving into another powerful topic in

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our series, the games we play with God.

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And today's episode is titled, The Game of Half-Hearted Obedience.

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Have you ever followed God's instructions, kind of?

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Maybe you did part of what he asked, but stopped short of complete obedience.

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This episode will unpack why partial obedience isn't obedience at all and the

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consequences that come from it.

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When we look at the story of King Saul once again, focusing on his incomplete

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obedience to God's command in 1 Samuel 15.

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If you ever struggle with following through entirely on what God has called

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you to do, Once again, this episode is for you.

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Let's look at Saul's half-hearted obedience.

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Let's begin in 1 Samuel 15, verses 2-3.

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God's command to Saul was clear. This is what the Lord Almighty says.

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I will punish the Amalekites for what they did to Israel when they waylaid them

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as they came up from Egypt. waylaid.

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Now go attack the Amalekites and totally destroy all that belongs to them.

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Do not spare them. Put to death men and women, children and infants,

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cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys. Donkeys.

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Donkeys. But Saad didn't follow through completely.

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Instead, he spared King Agag and the best of the livestock, claiming it was for sacrifices.

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Samuel's response was sobering. Does the Lord delight in birth offering and

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sacrifice as much as obeying the Lord?

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To obey is better than sacrifice and to heed is better than fat rams. 1 Samuel 15, 22.

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People who disobey, you don't ever have those people in your life that they'll

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do something and they make it super spiritual.

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And really, the super spiritual, the way they quote the scripture is wrong.

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They made it fit made it fit them and you're like you you done misquoted the

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scripture you done did it all wrong you done,

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And they go, why are you being so mean? I'm like, because you're misquoting the scripture.

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Did God really say that or did you make that up?

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So half-hearted obedience is disobedience. It shows a lack of trust in God's

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wisdom and desire to do things our way.

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Oh my gosh. Are there areas in your life where you're following God partially instead of fully?

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We discussed this in the last episode about Saul's ability to just kind of do

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things this way. And so we're back.

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Why do we struggle with complete obedience? For many, it's about fear, pride, or convenience.

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We think we know better or we're afraid of the cost of complete obedience.

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John 14, 21 reads, Whoever has my command and keeps them is the one who loves me.

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The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.

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So how many want to see the Lord?

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I know we all do, right? And so when it reads like this in John 14,

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21, it says, whoever has my commands and keep them is the one who loves me.

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And so it begins to say, if you love me, you will follow my command.

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Not half of them, but all of them.

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The one who loves me will be led by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.

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Obedience is a reflection of our love for God.

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Partial obedience reveals divided priorities. Dang, that hurts, right?

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Either you love me or you don't. But it says it's divided priorities.

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You're deciding, I want to do this for you or am I going to do this? What team am I on, right?

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What's holding you back from fully obeying God?

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Like I mentioned in all the other episodes, what are the consequences for incomplete obedience?

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Let's find out. Number one, loss of God's favor.

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We heard that in the last episode. God rejected Saul as king because he didn't

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follow his instructions completely.

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It's like having a job. You get hired to do a particular task.

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First time, they probably warn you, this is not the task. This is not done properly.

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Second time, you might get written up. Third time, you're probably going to

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lose your job because you have to do the job that I hired you to do.

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So you lose God's favor. And so he only had one job. It was to kill everybody.

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Saul didn't do it. And so God rejected him as king.

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Number two, misblessing. Saul's disobedience caused him to forfeit an opportunity

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to lead Israel for more significant victories. So he did lose his job.

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He was rejected as king by God. He lost his job as king.

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And the number three, the ripple effects. His choice to spare Agag had long-term

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consequences as the Amokites continued to trouble Israel.

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So problems continued because he did not complete the task.

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Isaiah 1, 19-20 reads, If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the good

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of the land. But if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword.

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Complete obedience position us

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to receive God's blessings, while partial obedience delays His promises.

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Hmm...

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Complete obedience positions us

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to receive God's blessings, while partial obedience delays His promises.

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We all want to walk in full obedience.

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So how do we stop playing games of half-hearted obedience and let's go?

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We learn how to listen carefully.

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I think that's not funny, but if we...

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Lord, did you say everybody? Spend time in prayer and scripture to understand

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precisely what God is asking of you.

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John 10, 27 says, my sheep listen to my voice. I know them and they follow me.

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So you, did you hear me or are you saying you didn't hear me?

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My sheep listen to my voice. So they said, I know them.

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They hear my voice. And so they know that I'm speaking to them.

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And so if you hear my voice, we as parents know that you heard my voice and you heard what I said.

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And so you can't give me any excuses.

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Number two, surrender your will. Not my will, but your will. Your will be done.

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Luke 22, 42. That's what Jesus said in the garden. So let go of your own plans

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and trust God completely.

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Even when it's uncomfortable, surrender your will.

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Number three, follow through completely.

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Obedience isn't just about getting started. It's about finishing. Oh my gosh.

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Oh my gosh, that's so good. I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do.

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That's what Jesus said. I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do.

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How many of us are in the middle of projects that God has told us to continue?

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Wow, I told you I was working at this job, and it wasn't allowing me any podcast time.

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And so I'm like, how am I going to keep up on my podcast and the responsibility of this job?

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What was my main priority? This is what God told me to do.

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And so he didn't tell me to cancel it. He didn't tell me to turn it off.

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This was my responsibility.

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And so many of us would have said, you know what, job is important. I'm going to do that.

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And so instead of me just not finishing up my podcast, I had a meeting with

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the Lord. Lord, what do I do?

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I need to do my podcast. I'm exhausted from this job.

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What would you have for me to do?

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And he just said do some rebroadcasting and we're

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gonna work this thing out right so long story short

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I resigned from that position and he

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whispered to me and I have a devotion he said I have a ram in the bush for you

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and I ended up resigning from that job and the day that I resigned I had an

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interview the the day before I resigned I had an interview the day After I resigned,

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I still got interviews calling.

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People are still calling me for interviews when I accepted a job.

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You know, so that's how God works. When he tells you he wants something done,

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he has the blessings already lined up for you. He has that ram in the bush.

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You just have to be daring to just take a pause and just trust him.

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Amen. So it says, listen carefully, surrender your will and follow through.

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He did not tell me to stop podcasting.

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It would be so easy. That'd be one less thing to do. But he says,

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stop. He just said, no, I want you to rest.

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But I want you to take this job. I want you to rest.

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Because all the other jobs, they want you to work a little bit more overtime.

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You know, just a lot of stuff. You just have to ask.

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More money, more money, more work hours. Trust and believe, right?

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What would you have for me to do, Lord?

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Saul could have confirmed. Do you want me to kill everybody?

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Are you sure? Okay, killing everybody. all right, that's what I'm going to do.

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So listen carefully and it's important.

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If you didn't hear it clearly, ask again. Surrender your will.

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Okay, I don't think we need to kill everybody, Lord, but if you say so, I'm going to do that.

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And complete what he asks you to do. Don't stop that assignment until he tells you to stop it.

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If he gave you that idea, that plan, And then he wants you to finish it.

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Amen. So don't finish. Don't you stop.

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Whatever it is, it's all about finishing.

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That's why I thought this was interesting that he wanted me to go.

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We just talked about it last, you know, just the other day.

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And I said, this one too? And he was like, yeah, because have hearted obedience.

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A lot of people are not finishing the work that I have assigned for them.

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They have allowed worldly wisdom to take over, like deciding for themselves

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that I'm going to do this instead of that, instead of checking with me.

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Ouch. It says, if you are willing and obedient, you will eat the good of the land.

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But if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword.

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How many of us want to finish strong like Jesus did?

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He said, I have brought you the glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do.

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How many of us want to finish the work?

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Whatever that work is, right?

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And so we can't use worldly wisdom on a spiritual job that God gave you to do. I know, I know.

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I was like, well, how am I going to get this podcast done working like this?

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And I had to make a choice. I had to choose spiritual wisdom over worldly wisdom

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or a worldly job that's sucking me dry and not allowing me to finish,

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what God has called me to do.

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I know I'm just taking a pause because I just realized how important it is for

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me to finish the assignment.

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Decree to walk in complete obedience.

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Let's declare these truths together to commit to complete obedience.

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Not half-hearted obedience, ladies, gentlemen, if you're listening.

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God wants us to finish the work.

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What has he told you to do that you just stopped along the way?

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I know I'm clapping my hands because, let's repeat after me,

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I decree that I will trust in God's wisdom and follow his instructions fully.

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I decree that I will surrender my will to align with God's perfect plan.

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I decree that I will finish every task God calls me to with faithfulness and integrity.

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I want to repeat this last one. I decree that I will finish every task God called

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me to with faithfulness and integrity.

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How do we stop playing this game of half-hearted obedience?

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We stop playing it when we start to listen carefully. I love it.

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I just repeated this, but it's just kind of, you know how when you say something,

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it sticks to you like glue?

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This is sticking to me like glue. I hope it's sticking to you like glue.

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That you surrender your will and that you finish the course strongly.

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Okay, I think that's enough of that. So this week or sometime today or whenever,

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take time to reflect on areas where you might be practicing half-hearted obedience.

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Am I fully following God's instruction or am I holding back?

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Or even if you stopped, he told you something and then you stopped.

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Because it wasn't looking like it was going to be successful.

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It looked like it wasn't going to be successful.

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I started this podcast about in last July. Norris, I want you to start a podcast.

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It's slow. I'm just getting up, doing my podcast thing.

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You know, slow is still, to me, it's slow. I made a thousand downloads. I'm like, yes.

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I made it early. I thought I wasn't going to get there until July,

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and I had my heart set for July. But God blessed me with an early thousand.

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I'm like, praise the Lord. So where is God telling you to stop?

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It felt like I almost had to quit doing my podcasting because of this job.

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So Satan has a way of making you choose him or God's plan. Work hard or God's plan.

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God's plan, it's like the struggle you have to do. So you have to get in God's

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presence and pray, what would you have me to do?

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And if he didn't tell you to quit the plan he gave you, then he might have to

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tell you to get off that roller coaster bus with Satan trying to make the dollars.

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Let him be the provider. Amen.

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So go ahead and take time to reflect where you maybe have some things sitting

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on the pot and you haven't finished some things because you let other things get in the way.

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You know, like Saul trying to figure it out, worldly wisdom,

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trying to balance out everything without going to God.

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Go ahead and go to him and ask him to give you the steps so you can do what

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he already asked you to do. Amen.

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And the other one, another challenge is choose one area that you've been holding back.

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So you know there's many areas he's telling you to do some things,

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but you kind of hit the brakes on it.

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But pick that one area and commit to taking a bold step of faith this week.

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Just say, I'm going to do this thing. I'm going to do this thing.

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I'm going to ask the Lord. I'm going to pray about it. How do I do it?

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And then I'm just going to do it.

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Okay? I'm speaking from area of faith because I had to make a decision.

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I said, do I quit this or do I do this?

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I knew in my heart I couldn't quit it, so something else had to go.

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And so you might have to make some hard decisions.

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What do I need to give up to finish what God has called me to do?

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We talked about the gifts that we have in another episode, earlier episodes. What is that gift?

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That I have that God told me to use, and I'm just wasting it because I'm working

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9 to 5, trying to make a living, right?

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Or maybe working 8 to 6, or maybe working too much.

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Maybe we're too tired.

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So let's just pray. Father God, Heavenly Father, thank you for your patience and your love.

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Even when we fall short, Forgive us for the time that we obeyed you partially instead of fully.

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Teach us to trust your wisdom and to follow your instructions with faith and courage.

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Help us to surrender completely and walk in the fullness of your will.

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Let us finish what you have started in our lives, Lord God.

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Every task that you want us to finish, let us finish that faithfully and with integrity, Lord.

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We'll make time for you. We'll make time for your plans and your purposes.

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And we give you praise for that. In Jesus' name, amen.

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I want to thank you for joining me on this episode. The games we play with God

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is getting deeper, deeper, deeper.

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If this is a message that challenge or encourage you, share it with a friend,

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subscribe, and don't miss the next episode where we'll be discussing game number 11.

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How many games there are? I don't know. I got a list of them.

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Ignoring God's timing. Until next time, stay faithful, stay committed,

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finish what you started, and be blessed. Amen.