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Do you know that you're born for more?

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Do you feel that in your heart that there's something that God wants to do that's unique

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in your life?

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Something bigger than what you could ever think of or imagine?

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Well, that's because God loves you and he does have a plan for your life.

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But I've kind of noticed a pattern today and I want to talk about it out of the book

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of Jeremiah.

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Jeremiah was an amazing prophet and it's an amazing book, but in the very beginning,

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in chapter 1, he has this divine encounter with God.

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And he gets this word, and it was, Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you.

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Before you were born, I sanctified you and I ordained you a prophet to the nations.

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I mean, wouldn't that be exciting to hear?

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You're getting confirmation of this calling.

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Then I said, and he says, Oh, Lord God, behold, I cannot speak.

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I am but a youth.

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Now what is it about us?

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Human nature.

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We have a divine encounter.

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God comes into our lives.

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He saves us.

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He turns us around.

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And then he wants to use us and the first thing we want to do is say, wait a minute,

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I just don't feel qualified.

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I, God, really, are you sure?

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And it's funny because it goes on here and the Lord says to him, Do not say, but I am

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a youth for you shall go to all whom I send you.

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And wherever I command you to speak, you shall speak.

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Do not be afraid of their faces.

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Oh, don't you like that?

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Don't be afraid of their faces for I'm with you to deliver you, says the Lord.

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And then he goes on with them and he touches his mouth and he confirms to him that he's

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going to speak.

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Behold, I put my words in your mouth.

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See, I've set you this day over the nations and over the kingdoms to root out and pull

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down, to destroy and throw down, to build and to plant.

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I think we all have this excitement about life and living and, and wanting to do the,

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the bigger, broader thing and to make our life matter here on the earth.

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But where you're going to find that purpose is in Christ.

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And when Christ does begin to deal with you, your human nature is going to kick in and

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you're going to be like Jeremiah and you're going to want to run and you're going to want

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to make excuses and you're going to think of all of your inadequacies and you're going

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to begin to reason with him.

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But God, I just can't do this.

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God is so good.

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If you, if you study person after person in the Bible, he always uses people that are

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inadequate.

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You know why?

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Because when he uses inadequate people, he doesn't share his glory with anyone.

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It's all about him.

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It's about his plan.

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It's about his purpose.

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It's about his kingdom.

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And it's not about you.

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And if you're willing to get out of God's way and be broken and humble, I'm telling

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you, he will use you.

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Part of the process of walking into the great thing that God is going to call you to do

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is he's going to take you through seasons of preparation.

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And days of preparation are never wasted days.

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He will put you in the right place, he'll put you in the right position, he'll put people

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around you who can pour life into you and begin to give you the certain skills that

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you're going to need for that next season.

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Then just like all the Old Testament prophets, what he'll do is he'll call you out.

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He'll call you out of your complacency.

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He'll pull you to the very edge of what he's doing.

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He'll show you what the big plan is on the earth, and then he'll tell you to go.

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Like most men and women of God who have had the Lord do something like that in their life,

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there's going to be a hem and a haw and a wait a moment.

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I mean, think of Moses, you know.

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Here is the great Old Testament man of God, you know, and he's supposed to lead them out

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of Egypt.

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And he tells God, but God, I can't speak.

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And the Lord says, I've given you Aaron, and I've given you a rod, now.

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pull them out of out of Egypt into freedom. When he gives you something to

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do in the earth he's always gonna give you people. You're gonna move in a team

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or with a group of others. You're gonna work together. You're gonna build

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strength and those strengths are often areas of your personal weakness. Trust

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me I've been there. And then he'll give you tools. Moses was given a rod. We all

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have our tools. And I'm not just talking about people that may be called into

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ministry. Maybe you're called into a different arena right now. I mean we all

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you know want to obey God but maybe you're called into corporate America for

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a season or maybe you're called into the military or maybe you're called to teach

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or fly or be a pilot or work in technology. Whatever it is that God is

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calling you to do it's always gonna be overwhelming. It's always gonna feel

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bigger than you are. One of the things I've noticed with students and with

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friends of mine in ministry if it doesn't seem overwhelming, if it doesn't

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seem on the verge of impossible, then it's probably not him. And one of the

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things I'm really grateful for is that sometimes he's not going to show you the

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end from the beginning. And here's why. Because if you knew the ending from the

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beginning you'd mess it all up. And you'd try to do it your way. And you would try

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to make it happen. And God doesn't want you to do that. You know what he wants to

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do? He wants to take you step by step by step. You get to this place he'll open

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this door. You'll get to this place he'll open this door. You'll get to that

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position he'll give you this promotion. He'll give you to this place and you'll

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build a relationship with this person and it will lead you into the next

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season. That is how God moves. So just relax. What do you have to do? You have to

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get ready. And you really, timing is huge. Being at the right time at the right

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place with the right people and being prepared is really what will launch you

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into that next season. And will it be scary? Sure. All great men and all great

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women walk into big things that are scarier than what they could have ever

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imagined. And that is when greatness is discovered. And you know what? That is

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when you are most alive. That's when you're really living. I mean it's really

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easy to go sit home and you know sit on your couch and flip through the channels

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and you know watch TV and eat something. But are you really living? I mean are you

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really are you really living on the edge? Are you living the exciting life that

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God has called you to walk in? How boring. I mean anybody can do that, right? Or you

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can really step out and you can live the adventurous life that he wants you to

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lead. You can't be moved by fear. When I was going through this and I began

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thinking about like who else could I use as an example? What other great

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examples are that are used in either stories or scriptures that we could talk

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about? And I love the Lord of the Rings. How about you? The story is amazing

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and there's so many Christian parallels that I can see in it. But one of my

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favorite characters is actually Frodo. And I pulled a quote from him and he's

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the main character in the movie or in the book and he has to carry this ring.

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And it's powerful and it has great symbolism and and the enemy wants to

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take it from him. And the quote is, I do really wish to destroy it, cried Frodo. Or

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well or to have it destroyed. I'm not made for perilous quests. I wish I had

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never seen the ring. Why did it come to me? Why was I chosen? You know we're

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entering a season in human history right now where there's a lot of scary stuff

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going on. And you're saying why was I chosen? Because you're able. Because

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you're available. Because you were prepared. Because you're ready. And you

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can listen. You can make a litany and a list of everything that you cannot do.

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Or you can trust with great humility that God will give you the grace and the

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wisdom and the power.

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the divine appointments and the passion to follow it through and to live the

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life that you were born for. You were born for greatness. Why would you want to

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compromise? I mean you can be like Frodo and you can try to talk God out of your

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calling but is that really gonna work? I love this other quote too and this is

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actually from The Hobbit and it's another Tolkien quote and it's Gandalf

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and if Gandalf turns to Frodo and says, I have found that it is in the small

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everyday deed of ordinary folks that keep the darkness at bay. Small acts of

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kindness and love. It isn't that you have to be such a big person or it may

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be rationed in your head that you have to be something other than what you are.

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You know God uses ordinary people doing little kind things with great love and

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great compassion and those people are the people who shake the

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world for Christ and that's my prayer for you today. Be obedient. Don't

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question or doubt yourself. Don't give God a list of everything you

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cannot do. If you are in a position of influence now lead and lead boldly for

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Jesus. You were born for this. If you're concerned about

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maybe the next step, well trust him. He's good and sometimes when things don't

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happen when you want them to, there's that element of timing and timing in the

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kingdom and timing in greatness and timing in destiny is everything. You can

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be ready and it can be the wrong time. It can be the right time and you cannot

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be ready for it and you can miss it just as well. But if you put those two

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together, I'm at the right time and I'm at the right place and I'm ready for

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what he wants to do with me, I can tell you the favor of God will cover your

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life and you will walk into that next phase and you will live the adventurous

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abundant big life that God has ordained for you. But you have to make a choice

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and that choice often is going to entail you guarding your mind and not making a

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bunch of excuses, wanting to run. Trust me I've been there. I did it. I made excuses.

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God, I can't handle that. You know what? In spite of me running and my

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excuses, he used me anyway and he will use you too. He's faithful. Thank you for

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listening and have a good day.