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Today we are going to take a posture of peace by not forgetting what we look like.

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Posture is a short audible fist bump to remind you God is with you in everything.

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Together we're going to be emboldened to take a daily posture of perfect peace.

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So we started the week I made mention of James 1 and we're going to go back to James chapter 1

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today. I'm going to be reading from verses 22 through 25. It says,

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But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer

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of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in the mirror.

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For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like.

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But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres,

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being no hearer who forgets, but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.

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You know, God is relational and we've talked about this before. His primary purpose,

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Genesis 126, is to make us in his image and likeness. God's passion is to include us in his

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community, to connect us into fellowship with the Godhead, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And he

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desires for us to know how we are known by him, meaning he wants us to see through his perspective.

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He wants us to live in his glory. So he put his very spirit in us, Romans 8.11. He gave us

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the mind of Christ, 1 Corinthians 2.16. And he's given us precious promises so that we may partner

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with and partake of his divine nature, 2 Peter 1.4. And, you know, not only that, but he's given

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us his word. He's given a scripture to equip us, empower us to live the life that he has planned

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for us. And it's not an easy life by worldly definitions, but it's a victorious one. It's one

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of fullness. It's a life of strength. It's one of just not overcoming, but being more than a

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conqueror. How do I know this? His word says so. And what James is describing here in chapter one

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is an identity crisis, because to read or to hear the word of God is to see yourself accurately.

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This is how God sees you. This is how you are known in heaven. This is the true you.

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But just to read it or to hear it and not respond, not to put it into practice, not to embrace it as

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the truth is the same as walking away from a mirror and forgetting what you look like.

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Don't forget what you look like today. You know, James says, when we do this,

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we deceive ourselves. We settle for a lesser reality. You sell yourself short.

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So let me ask you this. Is there a scripture that just so deeply resonates with you? Maybe it's

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what you would call your life verse. Some people call it their inheritance word. Maybe it's

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something that you read even recently that you just can't seem to shake. It keeps popping up in

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your mind and your heart. Maybe it's a scripture you read recently about peace or healing or

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soundness of mind or joy or power or victory or righteousness or love or freedom. And you thought,

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I wish this were me. I wish this were true about my life. I want to encourage you.

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Plant yourself in that scripture. Embrace it as your reality because it is your reality in Christ.

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Meditate on it, rejoice in it, and ask the Holy Spirit to lead you in that truth. You know,

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years ago, I actually did this with Isaiah 61. I claimed it as my life verse. And I said,

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you know, in my heart, this is who I want to be. I want to proclaim the good news to the poor. I

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want to bind up the brokenhearted. I want to proclaim freedom to the captives. And I know

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many of you know my story that, you know, a few years ago, I was the captive. I was the one

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brokenhearted. I was caught up in the chokehold of anxiety and panic. And yet in the middle of that,

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I planted myself in Isaiah 61, as well as several other scriptures and promises about

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specifically peace that I know I've mentioned before in past.

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episodes, no matter what I was facing and my circumstances at that time, I knew enough to know

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God wasn't lying. God wasn't lying when he says in Isaiah 61 that they will be called

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oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.

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And now I don't just know this truth, I'm living it. Let his word be your certainty today.

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No matter what life is throwing at you, no matter what's swirling around you,

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this is who you are and this is who you are becoming. It's a beautiful journey that the

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Bible says goes from glory to glory. So today, don't forget what you look like,

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plant yourself in the word of God, and remember his reality is your reality.