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Today, we're going to take a posture of peace

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by being led by peace, not pressure.

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Posture is a short, audible fist bump

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to remind you God is with you in everything.

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Together, we're going to be emboldened

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to take a daily posture of perfect peace.

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In John chapter five, verse 19,

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Jesus says, very truly I tell you,

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some translations say, truly, truly I say to you,

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or most assuredly, and I love the emphasis there.

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I don't want us to miss it.

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It's like he's saying this is absolutely true.

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Pay attention.

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Very truly I tell you, the son can do nothing by himself.

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He can only do what he sees his father doing

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because whatever the father does, the son also does.

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As a posture community, we have been focusing on

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and becoming very well acquainted with

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the fruit of the spirit, the very nature of God,

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what he is like, and as I mentioned before,

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the fruit is not gained through self-empowerment

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because it is spirit empowerment.

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So Galatians five is not handing you a list

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of things to go achieve by yourself.

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No, it's so much better than that.

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It's an invitation to receive from the spirit,

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and what God is offering us in this invitation

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is his unchanging nature so that we too

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can become unchanging in our nature and character

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so we can be consistent and confident

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no matter what is occurring around us.

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And the fruit often partner together.

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So in past conversations, past episodes,

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we've talked about joy and peace partnering

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and goodness and kindness partnering together,

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and over the last two episodes,

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we have been talking about gentleness,

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and gentleness often partners with self-control.

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And I know for some of you,

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maybe self-control seems unexciting.

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I totally get it, but I have to tell you,

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I have discovered that self-control

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is not simply a discipline.

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It is an absolute delight, and that's what I'm gonna

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be sharing with you in this episode.

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Self-control partners with our expectation

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of God's gentleness, giving us ears to hear

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what God is saying to us.

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So in noisy, chaotic, confusing situations,

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with self-control, we can tune in to God

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and hear what he is saying.

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Be still and know that I am God.

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When a terrorizing spirit threatens us,

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tries to shake us, with self-control,

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we tune in, we hear God saying there is no reason to fear.

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I am with you.

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When the enemy wants to leverage the enormity

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of a crisis or a pain or a mistake

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to try to block our view from seeing God

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or seeing from God's perspective,

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trying to close us in like he does sometimes,

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we, with self-control, can tune in and hear God saying,

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hey, I'm big enough for this.

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I've already made provision for it.

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I will lead you in this.

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When we anticipate, expect the gentleness of God,

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we become sensitive to his peace in us.

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We become ultra-aware to that peace and we follow it.

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When we are sensitive to his peace,

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we cannot be controlled by fear or panic

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or doubt or confusion.

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We won't be controlled by pressure or angst.

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Instead, we will be led by peace.

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Self-control elevates us to a space

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where God's perspective becomes ours,

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where we can see what he sees,

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where we clearly see how his splendor

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so easily overwhelms any overwhelming circumstance

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in our lives.

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Self-control just refuses to accept any doubt or negativity.

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It keeps us fully persuaded of who God is

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and who he has empowered us to be.

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And when we're persuaded like that,

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we respond to and build our lives around

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the nature of our never-changing God

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instead of being swayed and tossed around

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by the negative nature of our ever-changing circumstances.

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It's for this freedom that Christ has set us free.

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This is the life we have been freed to live.

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Self-control is so much more than a dieting tactic

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or a productivity hack.

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I mean, leave that to the world.

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Self-control for the people of God, it's a delight.

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It's not some heavy obligation.

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It's a massive provision.

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Self-control, it creates the space

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for us to see more clearly, to hear more accurately,

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and to speak only what we need to.

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Jesus used self-control all the time.

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He said, I only do what I see my father doing.

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Later he says, I only speak the words that the father is speaking.

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Jesus would not allow the pressure of opinion or of negative emotions.

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He wouldn't allow the pressure of pain or accusation or intimidation lead him.

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He would only be led by peace.

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And here's the beautiful thing.

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He said in John 14, 27, that that kind of peace, his peace, he has given to us.

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And so let's partner with self-control today.

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Let's expect to hear the gentle voice of our father no matter what is occurring around us.

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And instead of being led by the pressure of the world, let's be led by our prince of peace.

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The promise of perfect peace is found in Isaiah 26, 3.

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In Hebrew, it is shalom, shalom, meaning complete wholeness, nothing missing, nothing broken.

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This is who you are in Jesus because of Jesus.

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You are a living testimony of Jesus's ultimate win.

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With every step you take today, you're putting Jesus's victory on display

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and Satan's defeat on replay.