How do we find our faith? What does it mean to have the will and the strength to have faith? 🤔 Let's discuss.
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How do we find our faith? What does it mean to have the will and the strength
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to have faith? Let's discuss.
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Music.
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This is the Walking in Step with God podcast, and I'm Steve McDonald. Donald.
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Welcome to the Walking in Step with God podcast. Here, we empower you to walk boldly with God.
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Visit our website at walkinginstepwithgod.org for resources,
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Once again, Again, that website is walkinginstepwithgod.org.
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Hello. Welcome to Walking in Step with God. I'm Steve McDonald.
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Today we explore the topic finding faith.
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So what is faith? How can faith affect our lives day to day?
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Today we're going to discuss the importance of faith in our walk with God and
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some of the things we can do to strengthen our faith.
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Day to day, we must have faith in many areas of our lives.
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One way to look at faith is the context of our need for trust.
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When we trust in someone or something, then we have faith.
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Let's expand on the idea of finding faith into the idea of the embodiment of
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walking with and fully trusting God with your life.
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Another way to say, what can we do to find faith is, what can we do to find
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and strengthen our trust in God?
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Today, we'll explore three ways to find faith.
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Before we dive in, why don't we take a quick break? I'll be right back.
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100stepsbook.com. Welcome back. Let's continue discussing three ways to find faith.
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I believe these ways apply to all of us, even if you are brand new to the idea of faith.
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Number one, look for God. How does one find God?
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Well, let's remember that God is omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient.
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He is everywhere and in everything you see in nature.
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Today, I'm not focusing on how you can find God with what you can see, hear, or feel.
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I'm inviting you to look for God from within, from your spirit.
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It's not a complicated thing to open up a dialogue with God.
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If we seek God, He will hear us.
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It doesn't matter what you have done or have not done in your life.
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All we need to do is take the first step toward him.
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God wants a relationship with all of us, and this should be the priority in your life.
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If you have never prayed or spoken to God, I invite you to call his name in your mind and speak.
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You know that same voice in your mind when you are pushing yourself to run that
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extra block when you're jogging, or maybe if you're reprimanding yourself for
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what you know is bad behavior, that's the voice.
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Don't be afraid or anxious. He longs to hear from you and for you to know him.
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I invite you, even right now, to use that inner voice to simply speak whatever you wish to him.
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In your dialogue with him, ask him to show you how to have faith.
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As you close in your dialogue with him, make a note to return to that conversation
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with him regularly, even daily or hourly.
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Whatever you choose, he is listening.
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Find time in your life to dialogue with him through prayer.
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The more you look for God, the stronger your faith will be.
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Number two, look for signs. After we have engaged in a dialogue with God,
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we should walk forward expecting Him to reveal to us that He has heard us.
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This is a very important aspect of faith.
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Knowing and trusting that the Almighty God has actually heard your voice out
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of 8 billion people on earth and is still wanting and willing to show you His love for you. you.
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What are the areas you have spoken to God about in your life?
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Whatever they may be, begin to look for signs of his influence.
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God knows your heart, and he knows your motives. So please listen to me very carefully.
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If you approach God with arrogance and doubt and cynicism, then you should not
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expect to experience signs aligned with your request of him.
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If, on the other hand, you posture your heart with humility, sincerity,
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and love for God, then keep your eyes, ears, and heart open to receiving signs
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that He has heard your prayer.
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I believe God rewards those who have strong faith in Him with more frequent
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and even more compelling evidence of His work than those who have very little faith in Him. him.
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Number three, look for opportunities.
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Have you asked God for something in your life? Why not include in your request
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to show you how you can serve him?
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While he does not need any of us, I believe God delights in our desire to serve
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him and be an ambassador for him on earth.
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Another important part of your walk in faith is service to others.
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Faith is not just about how and what you receive from God, it is deciding how
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you are going to show up in the world.
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It is deciding to help others even when you don't feel like it.
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It's taking the moral high ground instead of going along with the crowd.
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I encourage you to look for opportunities to serve God by being of service to others.
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Look for opportunities to show and share kindness.
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Give your time and resources to someone less fortunate. We can even ask God
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to send us into the world to be of service to him.
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He can and will direct your paths to intersect with others who would benefit from your interaction.
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It may be counsel. It may be providing resources, such as a donation.
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It may even be coming to the aid of a stranger in a way that only you can.
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Keep an open mind and heart for opportunities to serve God, you will be amazed at where He sends you.
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In today's episode, we discussed three ways to find faith and strengthen our faith.
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We learned the important first steps of seeking God and opening a dialogue with
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Him, if you have not, and sharing your desire with Him to learn how to have faith.
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We learned to look for signs, to walk in faith with a posture of expectation
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versus doubt, that God has indeed heard every word you said and you are actively
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looking for how He will respond.
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Lastly, we discussed the importance of looking for opportunities to serve God.
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We discussed the fact that service to others is a strong component of faith
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and that God will gladly send us into the world to be of service to others if we ask Him.
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Faith is something that will transform your heart and transform your life.
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Ask God today how He can shine His light upon your faith. faith.
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Let's close out in prayer.
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Father Almighty God, just thank you for this message about finding faith.
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Whether we are brand new to faith and we have never spoken a word to you in our entire life,
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or whether we're seasoned of years and years and years of relationship with
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you, we just thank you in both situations for the opportunity to have faith in you, Father.
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For those that are new to a relationship with you, we ask that you will shine
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your light upon them and have grace and just,
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when someone makes the decision to try to reach out to you, we just pray,
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Father, that you will shine your face upon them and shine your light on them in a way.
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That far exceeds all of their expectations so that they just know and can know
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in their heart and mind just the reality of your love in a very real and tangible way.
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For those of us who have been walking with you, Father, we just ask that you
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continue to lead and guide and order our steps.
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We ask that you continue to fortify our faith and continue to challenge us to
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lean into you even more, Father, and be of service to you as we go out into the world.
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In both cases, we just thank you in advance and we pray this trusting and believing in you. Amen.
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Are you interested in learning more about the sources guiding this message?
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I invite you to stay tuned after the break for our Going Deeper with the Word segment. segment.
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Here we examine how God's Word provides clear guidance and direction about faith.
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heart and meet you where you are, as you are?
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Visit walkinginstepwithgod.org slash messages, where you can find this message
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and many more like it. Bless you.
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The greatest way you can get involved with this ministry is to be involved in
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the community. We have four specific ways.
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Join the discussion by asking and engaging with questions in our community space,
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share a prayer on our prayer wall, or take some time to pray for others.
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Learn more about these opportunities to get involved by visiting walkinginstepwithgod.org slash get involved.
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Welcome to Going Deeper with the Word. In this segment, we welcome people of
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all backgrounds, religious or not, to review the Word of God with me.
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The Word of God provides guidance and direction and instructions for living
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our lives and walking with God.
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Today, we examine how God's Word provides clear guidance and direction about faith.
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Let's review examples of God's Word that that can lead and guide our steps and
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back up the principles we learned in today's message.
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I'll be reading today from the Amplified Bible. Here's our first verse.
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Matthew 21, verse 22. And whatever you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.
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In this verse, Jesus Christ makes it very clear that if we can find ourselves
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in a posture of believing as we ask, then we will receive.
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Our walk in faith should keep this verse in the front of our mind through any
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circumstances so that we can
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place our trust in the Lord and know that what we ask, we will receive.
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I want to add something here. Sometimes we don't know what is best for us.
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Sometimes we don't realize that what we ask for would bring us harm.
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We may even ask for something that is not God's will.
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Part of our faith is knowing that if we ask something that the Lord knows is
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not best for us, we can trust Him to guide us appropriately to what His will is for our request.
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That is why I always say to always ask that His will be done in your prayers.
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The the sooner we understand this fundamental fact, the sooner we can realize
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the perfect plans God has in store for each of us. Let's have a look at another verse.
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Luke 1, verse 37.
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For with God, nothing shall be impossible.
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This is another fundamental verse of having faith, trusting and knowing that
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there is no circumstance, no
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situation, no level of difficulty difficulty that is impossible for God.
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There is no complexity or challenge that is too messy for God.
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No individual is out of the reach of God.
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When we bring our petitions before God, we can trust and know that God can deal
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with any situation, no matter how small or large.
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Let's look at one last verse. Proverbs 3, verses 5 through 6.
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Trust in and rely confidently on the Lord with all your heart,
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and do not rely on your own insight or understanding.
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In all your ways, know and acknowledge and recognize Him, and He will make your
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path straight and smooth.
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This verse echoes what I mentioned a moment ago, but from a different perspective.
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It is so important in our faith that we recognize our understanding and knowledge
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of a situation is so limited compared to God's view.
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We can be in a situation where we think we know all there is to know,
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but my friends, this is naive.
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God has insight and understanding of all aspects of every angle of every nuance
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related to the circumstances we bring to him.
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If we can just find a posture to understand that God has a plan that is best
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for us, we can lean into the fact that God should be consulted before all things.
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We would understand that instead of fretting and worrying about a situation,
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that we can bring it straight to God and ask for his intervention and direction.
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I invite you once again today to ask God to guide you in your faith.
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If you are new to the idea of faith, open a dialogue with God and ask him to to show you the way.
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If you are already strong in your faith, then you also know there is no limit
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to what God can do for you and with you.
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So take a moment to thank him for
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all that he has done and ask him to continue to use you as he sees fit.
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Either way, let our faith serve as the bedrock for the remainder of our lives.
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Thank you for your time in reviewing these verses with me today.
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And thank you for the opportunity to share encouragement.
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Here at Walking in Step with God, we truly appreciate your support.
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We are fully committed to Christ in the community. We invite you to join us
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in fellowship and seek opportunities for fellowship in your local community as well.
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Have an amazing week, and we'll catch you next time. Bless you.
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Thank you for listening. Please share this podcast with others if this message
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help others walk boldly with God.
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Visit our website at walkinginstepwithgod.org to learn more.