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I'm saying bring on the wisdom, bring it on means bring on the joy and bring on the wisdom.

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I'm looking past the circumstance, I'm looking past the current malevolent insidious devious

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situation that I'm in because I know that on the other side of it I'm going to gain wisdom.

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Bring it on and this attitude that I have about hardship comes from James 1. So if you have your

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bible look at James 1 2 through 5. James writes, my brethren counted all joy when you fall into

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various trials knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience or some of your bibles say

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endurance but let patience or endurance have its perfect work that you may be perfect and complete

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lacking and nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom let him ask of God who gives to us liberally

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without reproach and it will be given to him. Bring it on because we get wisdom. I say bring

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it on because you know you're going to get wisdom through your hardship. We learn our

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deepest lessons through hardship. We gain our best knowledge through life experience through

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hardship. Wisdom is applied knowledge to a situation. Wisdom is applying discernment

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to a situation. So good people are good because of the learned wisdom that have come through

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difficulties. James is saying count it all joy when you fall into various trials

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and he talks about the fact that you gain wisdom through endurance through the trials that you go

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through. Strong leaders are strong because they've learned their strength through the wisdom gained

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in shame and failures. So shame that that unmentionable thing in our life that we don't

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want anybody to know about when we start to face that when we start to realize we do have shame

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and we do have failures in our background that's what I mean by bring it on. So I want I'm not

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saying bring it on bring on the bad situation or bring on the circumstances I'm saying bring on

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the wisdom. Bring it on means bring on the joy and bring on the wisdom. I'm looking past

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the circumstance. I'm looking past the current malevolent insidious devious situation that I'm

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in because I know that on the other side of it I'm going to gain wisdom. A lot of our problems

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are related to people. When you go through difficulties you learn who to trust and who

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not to trust a little bit just a little bit better. You learn who's going to stab you in the

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back and who's going to really stand by you and have your six and cover you. Well you learn that

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through hard situations you go through. So bring it on means wisdom man. It means you're going to

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get wisdom from God through your difficulties. Proverbs 9 10 says the fear of the Lord

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is the foundation of wisdom. Knowledge of the Holy One results in good judgment.

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So wisdom the ability to apply knowledge in a godly way comes from the fear of God.

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So I say bring it on because I fear God. I fear God. I believe God is doing something

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in my life through these circumstances that I can't learn any other way. Proverbs 2 we read

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my son if you will receive my words and treasure my commands within you so that you incline your

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ear to wisdom and apply your heart to understanding yes if you cry out for discernment and lift up

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your voice for understanding if you seek her as silver and search for her as for hidden treasures

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then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God for the Lord gives

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wisdom so the Lord gives wisdom to those who seek it out so when I say bring it on

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I'm saying bring on the wisdom Lord I'm going to need wisdom here bring on the joy Lord because

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I know you're working something out that's really really good I'm going to count it joy bring it on

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bring it on bring it on so the Lord gives wisdom to those who seek it it's like seeking silver and

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gold it's like seeking wealth it's seeking accomplishment seeking to be the best that

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you can be at something and that same kind of wisdom is developed through the hardship

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of life. Most of most of us won't seek wisdom unless we need it. It's amazing when COVID came

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I never anticipated how little I really knew about our health care industry and it just

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COVID just rocked me to begin to seek out what's happening with this virus is this really true or

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supposed to shut down everything and wear masks all the time and so I began to go after truth

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and seek it because I didn't have it. So that's the way it works a lot is that God allows

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circumstances where we feel very vulnerable. We do not know what to do. We're not sure how to

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handle a situation and so the scripture is saying here James is saying here that you count it joy

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when you have various trials because God's producing wisdom in you. God gives you what

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you start seeking wisdom when you don't have it and most of us get pretty comfortable

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with our habits being in a comfort zone. We call it a comfort zone just a comfort zone that you

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just you know what to do. You have certain friends that are comfort zone. You have certain job

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comfort zone. You have a certain level of money that you make that's your comfort zone but to

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break out of that usually something negative has to happen. Something kind of pushes you back.

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I talked about last time about the fact that you're that bring it on is a statement of like

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standing in the surf when the when the waves come. The waves of life. Well think of it this way.

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You're in a storm. You know you can't give in to the waves. You're going to say take it on.

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You're going to say bring it on and you're going to stand in that. Well guess what's

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going to happen after a while. You're going to start getting wisdom about how you stand in the surf.

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So like I think I alluded to last time I learned as a surfer to go sideways. So I always turn

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sideways so I'm not my whole body's not flush with the waves. Well that's the way life is. You know

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you learn to turn sideways. That's called wisdom. That's called applied knowledge. So if you're a

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surfer and you get into the waves and you get smashed a few times you'll learn how to catch

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the wave better. That's wisdom. You go to a job you're involved in a job and you get fired because

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you don't know stuff. Well you better you better start learning what you need to learn. If you're

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an athlete and you get kicked off the team because you're not in good shape you better get get in

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shape. So that's how wisdom wisdoms develop through shame. Wisdoms develop through failure.

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So bring it on. Bring it on. One of my favorite poems a poem that God really used in my life

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during a very hard time many many years ago and it's still my favorite poem. It's called If by

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Rudyard Kipling and it's really good in its analysis of how we gain wisdom in adversity.

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So listen I'm going to read it slow. I'm going to try to get the rhyme scheme going so you so I

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really read it as a beautiful poem that it is. But listen to the adversity that that this guy's

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going through and what he's saying to us about adversity in our lives and how I think he's just

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saying bring it on. He's saying the same thing that I'm saying in a beautiful poetic way.

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If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you.

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If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you but make allowance for their doubting too.

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If you can wait and not be tired of waiting or being lied about don't deal in lies or being

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hated don't give way to hating and yet don't look too good nor talk too wise. If you can dream

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and not make dreams your master. If you can think and not make your thoughts your aim. If you can

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meet with triumph and disaster and treat those two imposters just the same. If you can bear to hear

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the truth you've spoken twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools or watch the things you get

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for fools or watch the things you gave your life to broken and stoop and build them up with worn

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out tools. If you can make one heap of all your winnings and risk it on one turn a pitch and toss

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and lose.

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lose, and start again at your beginnings,

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and never breathe a word about your loss.

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If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew

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to serve your turn long after they are gone,

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and so hold on when there is nothing in you except the will

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which says to them, hold on.

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If you can walk and talk with crowds and keep your virtue,

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or walk with kings, nor lose the common touch.

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If neither foes nor loving friends

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can hurt you, if all men count with you, but not too much.

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If you can fill the unforgiving minute

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with 60 seconds worth of distance run,

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yours is the earth and everything that's in it.

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And with that, which is more, you'll be a man, my son.

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So Rudyard Kipling is saying in a poetic way, bring it on.

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And develop within you the spiritual, emotional,

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and the mental sinew, the muscle, memory,

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to be able to say, bring it on.

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When difficult times come, realizing

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that God is building joy in you and God's

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building wisdom in you.

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So bring it on.

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Challenge you.

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Say those three words.

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Anytime bad news comes your way, bad circumstances,

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say bring it on.

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Say it three times.

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Watch what God will do in your heart

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by you believing that you can handle these situations.

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You have what it takes.

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You're strong enough.

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Christ in you is greater than anything in the world.

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Christ in you can bring you joy.

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Christ in you can cause you to stay,

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stand with a smile on your face in the storm of the surf

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of life.

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Believe it.

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Bring it on.