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Today we are going to take a posture of peace by seeing our challenging circumstances

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correctly. They are our opportunities for relational growth.

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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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Colossians chapter 3. We are back. We have been there before. Colossians 3 verses 1 through 4

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says, If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above where Christ is,

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seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things that are above,

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not on things that are on earth. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.

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When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.

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If we view our challenging circumstances with a mind that is not set on things above,

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we will be susceptible to discouragement, to desperation, and to despair.

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And I only know that because that's how I used to live. Challenges would come my way,

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and I would fixate on a resolution, on an ideal outcome. And the shorter the timeline, the better.

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Of course, you know, I wanted instant healing. I wanted instant provision. I wanted instant

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answers. And I would become so consumed by my need for rescue and resolve that I did not have

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any awareness of the opportunities in the middle of those challenges for my relational growth with

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God. You know, my joy, my peace, my faith, my hope, they were all held up by my circumstances,

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only to be freed once there was resolve. It was as if my life was buried in my circumstances

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instead of being hidden in Christ. But in Christ, my life, your life, is not about what is happening

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or not happening to you. It is all about who you are becoming. Every part of our living and

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learning in Christ is meant to be connected to who we are becoming in Him. Remember Genesis 1-26,

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we've talked about this before. God's primary purpose for us is to be made into His image

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and likeness. And that transformation happens not through resolution of circumstances, but in our

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relationship with Him. And on that relational journey, that is where we discover the keys that

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will unlock our circumstances. You know, Jesus didn't live ever in reaction to His circumstances

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or the circumstances of others around Him. He always lived in response to the Father.

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And in His response, His responsive living to the Father, came resolution of circumstances.

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You know, there's no point in getting an answer to your situation if you remain unchanged. In fact,

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it only guarantees that it's going to circle back around again. Every circumstance is an

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opportunity for relational growth in God. Every circumstance is an opportunity for you to grow

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in your relationship with God. There is territory to be taken. There is strength to be found. There

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are deeper levels of intimacy, closeness with God to be experienced. So here's a great question

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to ask today, no matter what your circumstances are, heavy, light, easy, hard, how are your

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circumstances contributing to you being made more into His image and likeness? Who are you becoming

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in Jesus today? The promise of perfect peace is found in Isaiah 26, 3. In Hebrew, it is shalom,

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shalom, meaning complete wholeness, nothing missing, nothing broken. This is who you are in

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Jesus because of Jesus. You are a living testimony of Jesus's ultimate win. With every step you take

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today, you're putting Jesus's victory on display and Satan's defeat on replay.

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you