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Today, we're gonna take on a posture of peace

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by letting steadfastness have its full effect on us.

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Hi, I'm Lindsay Van Zale.

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Posture is a podcast that serves a short, audible fist bump

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to remind you that God is in everything.

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Together, we're gonna be emboldened

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to take a daily posture of perfect peace.

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James chapter one, verses two through four says this.

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Count it all joy when you meet trials of various kinds,

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for you know that the testing of your faith

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produces steadfastness,

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and let steadfastness have its full effect,

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that you may be perfect and complete,

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lacking in nothing.

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You know, that word perfect also means whole,

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whole and complete.

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I don't know about you,

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but for me, the biggest test to my faith,

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the biggest trials that I have faced

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has always been rooted in some form of lack,

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whether it's been a lack of finances or resources,

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a lack of friendships or community,

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a lack of, you know, knowing all the details,

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not having all the information,

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a lack of certainty in something or someone,

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a lack of good health or wellness.

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These are the types of things

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that are so rooted in the testing of my faith

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because lack always threatens my promise of wholeness.

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You know, it leaves me asking questions

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that are fear-filled like,

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will my life ever be normal again?

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Will I ever recover from this?

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Will I ever regain what's been lost or stolen from me?

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And it's in those times of lack

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that I find reading the word of God

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and embracing his promises are especially difficult.

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And I used to think it was because I was being difficult,

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but I realized, you know,

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lack is offended by the promises of God

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because they are rich in abundance,

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which is the exact opposite of lack.

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So the promises of God by their own abundant nature

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are a total threat to the lack in our lives.

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So in these times of lack, the word of God,

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the promises of God sometimes seem to cut especially deep

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and there's this temptation to believe things like,

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oh, that's really far-fetched

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or that's really hard to believe,

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or I don't know, I don't understand this.

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This is all so confusing.

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I don't think I can understand

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what the word of God is trying to tell me.

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And I realized that those thoughts

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are actually not my thoughts

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because the Bible says that

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I have been given the mind of Christ,

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you have been given the mind of Christ,

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and Christ would never think that way

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about his own promises.

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Those thoughts of doubt and unbelief,

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that is the lack in my circumstance,

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the lack in me responding.

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It's the lack trying to survive and stay alive.

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But the word of God, it's cutting it off.

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And you know, James 1 used to be one of those offensive,

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threatening, confusing chapters for me.

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I used to think that when he said,

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count it all joy when you meet trials of various kinds,

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that he was saying, be happy that you're in pain.

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And you know, friend,

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we don't have to be happy about suffering.

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I used to think that that's what this verse was about,

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but it's not a command to play some kind of glad game

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where we have to pretend to get excited about bad things.

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No, that's not kingdom.

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That doesn't align with the nature of God.

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When pain comes, you don't have to say,

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I'm so glad that this pain has come to me.

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But what you can say with a full expectation of goodness

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is I am so glad for what will become of me.

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Because while in the world suffering takes away

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and depletes and drains,

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for the people of the kingdom, suffering only strengthens us.

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If suffering is present in your life today,

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upgrade is on the way,

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and you will not walk away empty-handed.

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You know, I believe right now

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what's going on with this global health crisis

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is that we are perfectly positioned.

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to receive the promise in James 1, a steadfastness, a perseverance that when it

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takes full effect will make us whole and will ensure that we are lacking in

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nothing. God is offering so many upgrades to his people right now and I'm asking

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the Lord, what is my upgrade in all of this? You know, whatever you're lacking

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the most of right now, whatever is feeling the most broken or the least

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whole, whatever promise is feeling most offensive to you right now, perhaps

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that is the very thing that God is wanting to upgrade in you right now.

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Isn't that an amazing thought? This is what James 1 is saying. Look, you don't

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have to take my word for it, take God's word for it. It's right here. I cannot

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find one single scripture that ensures our total destruction or our total

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depletion. I can only find promise after promise, guaranteeing our freedom and

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guaranteeing our wholeness. We serve a radically kind and good God. So today,

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let's not just be hearers of the word as James 1 talks about later in this

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chapter, but let's be doers of it by embracing it and putting it into action

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in our lives. Let's actually count it all joy. Let's get excited about what God is

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up to right now. We don't have to be excited about the virus, about the

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crisis going on, but we can be fully expectant that he is turning this crisis

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on its head and he is upgrading it to the benefit of those who love him. Let's

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actually believe more in God's goodness today than the enemy's garbage. Today, you

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are being strengthened. You are being made whole. And when all this suffering

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settles, you will be lacking nothing. The promise of perfect peace is found in

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Isaiah 26 3. And in Hebrew, it is shalom shalom, meaning complete wholeness.

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Nothing missing, nothing broken. This is who you are in Jesus. Let's declare this

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together. Today, I am kept in perfect peace. With my whole heart, I trust the

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Lord. I am strong. I am victorious. I am whole. Remember, friend, you are a living

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testimony of Jesus's ultimate win. Not because of anything you did, but because

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of what he did for you. With every step you take today, you're putting Jesus's

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victory on display and Satan's defeat on replay.