The Way Church Podcast

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A different kind of word today, but a few portion of scripture you're hearing. Second Corinthians, chapter number four, verse ten. Second Corinthians, chapter number four and verse ten is where we'll start and then I'll read a couple others. In your hearing it says, we always carry around in our body the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.

00:00:38
First Thessalonians, chapter number five and verse 23 says, May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. And then if you let me sneak one more in there, First Corinthians, chapter number six will be the main text. Verse 19 and 20 it says, do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit who is in you? How many have the Holy Spirit in you whom you have received from God?

00:01:37
You are not your own. You were bought at a price.

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Therefore, somebody say therefore. Therefore honor God with your bodies.

00:01:56
I tried to let it go, but I could not let it go. And God says, this is where I want you to go. On this Sunday morning, family, we are launching a new sermon series as well as a new lifestyle shift this month.

00:02:15
And we're calling this one Power Move. Somebody say power move. As you take your seats, just tell the person next to you, this move is personal.

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This move is personal.

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As I said, we're calling this season power Moves. Believe that in this season God is not just calling us to make moves, but he's calling us to make power moves. Not just movement as busyness, not just reactive movement, but purposeful, prophetic, spirit led movement. Somebody say it again. Power Moves.

00:03:11
We're not just asking God to move, but we are preparing ourselves to move with him. Because it is one thing to have a calling and it is another thing to have the conditioning to to carry that calling out and right out of the gate. Here is the truth that we have to confront is that you cannot make power moves if your body does not have the capacity to carry your calling. In other words, you just don't need a spiritual fire. You need physical fuel to be able to carry out what God has called you to do.

00:03:56
You don't just need a new anointing, you have to have proper alignment. Let me ask you this this morning. What good is a fresh word if you don't have the ability to walk it out? What good is divine revelation if your body is too depleted to act on that revelation? What good Is it for you to discover your destiny if your daily decision are destroying your strength?

00:04:30
Family? This is the tension that we have to deal with, the gap between what we want to do spiritually and what we actually have built the capacity to do physically. It's not whether or not you're gifted. It's not whether you're called or not. The problem is too many in the body of Christ are gifted by but depleted.

00:04:56
We live in a culture that celebrates the gift and we celebrate the calling and we celebrate the title. But we ignore the grit required to sustain the calling that God has on our lives. We shout over calling and we dance over destiny. But sometimes the greatest hindrance to your next level is not the devil. It is our discipline.

00:05:27
We want the mantle, but we don't want to manage the temple that God has given us for that mantle. But is it all right if we tell the truth in church this morning? Because there's a whole lot of us that we've prayed and we fasted and we've served week in and week out. But we did it tired and foggy and irritable and spiritual. Spiritually flat.

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Because too often we try to carry a divine mission in a neglected body. Let me say it a little plainer. Because you cannot fulfill a supernatural calling if your body is operating on natural fumes.

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Look at the person next to you and tell them your body matters to God, not just your soul. Yeah. You can be saved, sanctified, and still physically disqualified from the stamina needed to complete your assignment. Listen to me. This is bigger than your blood pressure.

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This is deeper than a diet plan. This is not a health issue. This is a holiness issue.

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It's all right. I'm already locked and loaded. Because I know we talked a lot about spiritual growth, and we should. And we pray for power and wisdom and breakthrough. And we have to do that.

00:07:06
But what if the only thing that is blocking your next breakthrough is the lack of physical strength? What if the next level that you are believing God for, the thing that you are praying for? What if I told you that the breakthrough that you have need of the clarity that you've been fasting for, the strength you've been shouting over isn't being blocked by the devil, but it's being blocked by our own daily decisions? Help me out here.

00:07:43
You're praying for God to open doors, but our energy level is too low to walk through the doors that he's gonna open for us. You asking for an outpouring, but you have not created space in your schedule. And Strength in your systems to receive the space and strength that God wants to give you. What am I trying to tell you today? You cannot carry God's assignment if you neglect the tool, the temple, the body that he's giving you to carry that assignment out.

00:08:26
I know this is a different kind of message, but God said, I got you to. I need you to tell my people because there's so much more that I have in store for them and there's so much calling on their lives. And this isn't just about anointing. This is about alignment, family. This move, this physical, spiritual, emotional realignment has to be personal.

00:08:50
It's not to impress people. It's not for social media. It's not to prepare for the summer. It's not to prove anything to even people that don't even like you. This move is to position yourself to do what God wants to do through you in your life.

00:09:09
And I just need about five or 10 people that will declare that this, this move is personal. I don't know about anybody else, but for me, this move is personal.

00:09:23
Somebody shouted, I'm making power moves. Yeah, in this season, I'm making power moves because listen to me. What God wants to do through you next will require more of you. You than ever before. It's going to require more clarity.

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It's going to require more strength. It's going to require more capacity than ever before. And family. This is not start in the clouds. This starts with our choices.

00:10:02
So today we're going to open up this session series and dig in to what it means to treat your body like the temple it really is. We're going to talk about what it means to move, not because you're just inspired, but to move because you're intentional. Because God is not just looking for talent. God is looking for temples that are yielded to everything that he wants to do through you. He wants to be glorified, not just in your spirit, but he's looking for people that are fit for the assignment.

00:10:48
And it starts with this foundational truth. Here it is for my note takers. God cares about your body, not just your spirit.

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I know there are people that just believe God only cares about your spirit. But we walk with God in our body, not just our spirit. So let's look again. What the apostle Paul said in First Corinthians, chapter number six, and verse 19 and 20. It says, do you not know that your bodies.

00:11:21
Somebody say my body. Say it again. Say my body. Your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit. You are not your own Therefore, honor God with your body.

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Point number one. Write it down. The temple is your responsibility.

00:11:41
The temple is your responsibility. Now let's take a step back and get some context so we can understand what Paul is saying. Because Paul is writing to the Corinthian Church. This is a church that is spiritually gifted, but yet they are physically undisciplined. The Corinthians were speaking in tongues on Sunday, but they were also making reckless choices in their body on Monday.

00:12:10
So Paul had to remind them of something that they forgot. You are not just saved in your soul, but you are saved sanctified in your entire self, your spirit, your soul, and your body. He said every part of you is sanctified. That's why you don't just have a relationship with God. When you come inside these four walls, every single day you walk, you got to have a relationship with God.

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When I'm walking on my job, I have a relationship with God. When I'm with my friends, I have to have a relationship with God because every part of me is sanctified. Let me show you just how serious God is with this. In Genesis, chapter number two, verse seven, God formed you from the dust of the earth. He formed your body.

00:13:02
In John Chapter number one and 14, when Jesus had to come and redeem mankind, he inhabited or he got in a body. And in First Corinthians chapter 6 and verse 20, Jesus purchased our body back with his shed blood. And in First Corinthians 15, he's coming back to raise our mortal body to be immortal with him. Salvation is not just soul deep, it's whole being deep.

00:13:36
God saved you to redeem your mind. He saved you to reclaim your soul. He saved you to restore your body. He doesn't just want to live alive in spirit, he wants to be strong in your body so that we can carry the assignment out that he has for us. That means that our body is not just the container in.

00:14:03
It's a conduit for God to use in these last and evil days. Are you getting this? So if God values your body that much, why do we treat our body like it's optional?

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Here is the truth. You can't say, God, I'm available to you while treating his temple like it's optional. You cannot say, use me, Lord, while refusing to maintain the body vessel that he wants to use.

00:14:37
Can we be real this morning? We can't want more influence, but cannot walk up a flight of stairs without being winded. Hear what I'm saying this morning? Because if you want God to expand your territory, but you're struggling to manage your energy and you're asking God for more respect, responsibility. But I have not stewarded what he has given me thus far.

00:15:05
How is he going to expand my territory? And I'm not fit to be able to walk into the land that he wants to give me.

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Let me be clear. Let me be clear. Don't understand, don't misunderstand me. This is not about six pack abs. This is about spiritual stamina.

00:15:28
This is not about vanity. This is about you having the viable ability to be able to carry out what God wants you to carry out in the earth. We have been called to carry out the assignment in the earth. This isn't about just looking the part. It's about being strong enough to sustain the part that God has called us to play.

00:15:55
How many believe that God has called you to do something in this earth, and God wants you to know that he needs you strong enough to be able to carry it out in the earth. Paul here isn't just addressing sexual sin. He's teaching temple theology. What do I mean? Back in the Old Testament, God's presence lived in a building, lived in a tabernacle.

00:16:23
Then the temple and those places had to be cleansed regularly. They had to be handled with reverence. They had to be intentionally maintained. Why? Because the glory of God does not settle on carelessness.

00:16:39
And now, under the new covenant, God doesn't live in a brick and mortar structure. He lives in bodies. He lives in us. In other words, we are the temple of the living God. And we have to still clean the temple, handle it reverently.

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We have to intentionally maintain the temple.

00:17:05
He says, do you not know that you are God's temple? First Corinthians 3:16. Do you not know that yourselves are God's temple and God's Spirit dwells in your midst? So here's the question. Would you invite God to a house that's torn down, dilapidated windows out, doors kicked in?

00:17:32
Or would you give him the keys to a car where there's no breaks, the doors are hanging off, hasn't had an oil change, and I don't know how many years? Then why would we ask God to live in a body that we are not maintaining to the degree that he requires for us to maintain it?

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You are God's voice.

00:18:02
You are the container for his calling that he's placed on your body. Neglecting your body is like silencing your own assignment. It doesn't happen all at once. You don't lose your purpose. All at once.

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But it leaks out gradually, little by little.

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And if the vehicle breaks down, the mission slows down. And we wonder why God's mission is not being carried out in the earth. Imagine asking God for increase, asking him for new opportunities. If I had a prayer line and prophecy line for more increase in platforms, more to pour. And your body can't handle the late night meetings and can't handle the back to back meetings and can't handle the spiritual warfare that's going to come with it.

00:19:01
And the emotional weight of leadership or the physical endurance that is needed for the long haul. You don't need to be a fitness model, but you do need to be mission ready for God to use you like he wants to use you. Somebody shout power moves. No, you didn't shout it. Shout power moves.

00:19:25
Because you cannot carry revival fire in a burned out body.

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Yeah, that's a good place to clap.

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You cannot steward spiritual weight in a body that's broken down from neglect. But here's the good news. God not only wants to use your body, he doesn't only want to dwell in your body. He wants to partner with us. What a wonderful opportunity for us to partner with God.

00:20:02
He's not asking for perfection, he's asking for partnership. And that brings us to the next layer. Because if the temple is our responsibility, then point number two, spiritual power requires natural discipline.

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Spiritual power requires natural discipline. That means discipline is your weapon. Because just like prayer without discipline equals frustration in disguise, having an anointing without discipline, it equals an alignment without burning waiting to happen. God wants to work with you on your health. He's not trying to shame you into anything.

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He wants to strengthen you, stress you out about your health.

00:21:01
But if we see it as optional, then we'll look at it like all I have to do is go and ask somebody to pray and we'll pray. We pray. But sometimes what we're praying for is something that could have been avoided.

00:21:26
Bishop, they like this this morning.

00:21:32
God wants to work with you. He's not just looking for temples, but he's looking for temples that say, God, I'll meet you at the place of discipline, not just desperation. We know how to go to God when we're desperate, when things go haywire, when, when, when all hell breaks loose, we can go to God. But can I go to God with discipline and not just go to him for emergencies? Notice this in Romans chapter number 12, verse 1.

00:22:07
Romans chapter number 12, verse 1. We're familiar with this. I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. This is the reasonable thing you can do. After all, what Jesus has done.

00:22:32
We're praising God and thanking God. What happened is some people start remembering what Jesus did for them.

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There's one thing I never want to do. I never want to forget what Jesus did for me. I don't ever want to forget how he brought me out.

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But notice what it says. Not only do I have to live a life of sacrifice that's holy, but it has to be acceptable that God would be pleased. Now I read this and then I read it in the message translation. Look at it in the message translation because here's what I want to make us aware of. He says, so here's what I want you to do.

00:23:18
God helping you take your everyday, ordinary life. How many have an everyday, ordinary life? Your everyday, ordinary life. Notice he breaks it down. He says, you're sleeping, you're eating, you're going to work, you're walking around life and place it before God as an offering.

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Say God cares about me and my everyday life.

00:23:57
He doesn't just want to be with me when I'm inside the church. He says, when I'm walking, when I'm sleeping, when I'm going to the store. Are you getting this? Notice Paul connects worship with what you do with your body. You're gonna get this in a second.

00:24:19
We don't just worship with our mouths, but we worship with our habits.

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You don't need a gym membership to be obedient.

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You don't need a fitness coach for you to be faithful to what God has called you to do. But you have to make a decision. Somebody say decisions. You have to make a decision. You have to have discipline and a desire to honor God in your temple.

00:24:55
Here's what I've learned. The Holy Spirit doesn't flow through exhaustion and chaos.

00:25:04
When I'm overtired, I can talk about me because I know me when I can. When I'm overtired and there's chaos going, I don't hear as clearly, I don't think as clearly because the Holy Spirit flows through clarity and and discipline. Now, you may think a 20 minute walk isn't spiritual, but actually it's more spiritual than you binging on the sofa watching another Netflix series, cooking a healthy meal. Worship.

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Going to bed a little bit earlier is worship.

00:26:00
Saying no to what doesn't serve your temple is worship.

00:26:07
Notice what John says in John 3:1 and 2. He says, beloved I pray that in every way you may succeed, seed and prosper and be in good health physically, just as I know your soul prospers spiritually. We got the spiritual side. We know how to pick them up and put them down. We know how to shout and dance and speak in tongues.

00:26:36
But notice, he says, I don't just want you to be spiritually prosperous, I want you to be physically prosperous.

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Why does this matter? Because spiritual prosperity and physical health is connected. John said, I don't just want your spirit healthy, I want your body healthy.

00:27:07
Because when you are healthy, you think clearer.

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When you are healthy, you respond more with grace.

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You have patience with people when you're healthy, when you're rested, not tired and irritable and on edge.

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Some of us don't realize, but we are sabotaging our own assignment. We don't realize it. We're sabotaging our own assignment because we refuse to adjust our appetites.

00:27:54
This is not legalism, this is lordship over lifestyle. I want to have him to be lord over every area of my life.

00:28:08
I want him lord over my money, I want him lord over my emotions, and I want him lord over my body.

00:28:24
Discipline is a spiritual weapon. Some people you're not tired because of demons.

00:28:36
You're tired because of drive through dinners and the lack of water.

00:28:45
It's all right. I know it's right. I know it's right. Discipline is your spiritual weapon because it protects your energy, it guards your clarity, it extends your reach. Proverbs 25:28 says, Like a city whose walls are broken down.

00:29:10
Listen at this. Like a city whose walls are broken down is a person whose, who lacks self control.

00:29:21
Now just wave at me if you know anybody that lacks self control. Not you, but if you. Wait, if you know, okay, all of us know somebody that lack self control.

00:29:32
In other words, lack of discipline in your body, in your sleep, in your food, in your hydration leaves your purpose vulnerable to the enemy.

00:29:52
You can't cast out fatigue, you have to get rest.

00:30:02
You can't anoint away inflammation. You gotta change your diet.

00:30:14
Amen. If you're feeling like. I don't know why he talking about this today. You, you need to hear it. Yeah, because that's, that's the devil that's trying to, to get, to get you to feel like.
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Ah, I came to hear something different. No, you cannot rebuke dehydration. You have to drink water.

00:30:37
Walls in the Old Testament. Walls in the Old Testament was for protection. When the walls were broken down, the city was vulnerable to Every kind of attack. And some of us are not being spiritually attacked. The devil is after me.

00:30:56
The devil is doing this. And the devil is no. You are just physically un discipline.

00:31:05
And God says I love you enough that I have to tell you that you're undisciplined. God did not give us the Holy Spirit just to shout. He gave us the Holy Spirit so that we would have self governance. One of the fruit of the Spirit is self control.

00:31:27
You can be anointed and still be out of order.

00:31:36
You can be gifted and gasping to complete your assignment. How do I know? Because I lived it. I've been there. Couldn't finish my assignment.

00:31:50
Couldn't finish a sentence because I was gasping for air.

00:31:56
Because I was physically undisciplined. Look at somebody and tell them health is a kingdom strategy. Health is a kingdom strategy. What do you mean, Pastor? Watch it.

00:32:08
Jesus fasted 40 days before launching his ministry. Discipline came before his destiny. Daniel refused to eat the king's food. He chose vegetables and water. And you know the result?
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He did not just survive. The Bible said that he excelled the prophet Elijah. He was exhausted and he was told by the angel. First Kings, chapter 19, verse 7. He says, get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.

00:32:55
Even prophets that hear from God need to have some protein so that you can have some strength.

00:33:03
Why? Because it's hard to be prophetic when you are fatigued.

00:33:11
It's hard to hear from God when you are fatigued. It's hard to be joyful when you're always bloated and burnt out.

00:33:26
I just got to give it to you like he gave it to me. Some people. It's hard to be present in worship when your blood sugar is crashing. I'm sluggish because my blood sugar is crashing. And it's hard to be present in worship.

00:33:44
This is not about vanity. It's about vitality in the spirit realm.

00:33:53
Not talking about your image. This is about your impact. God wants you to make an impact in the earth.

00:34:06
This means you just need to say yes to power moves. Yes to more water. Yes to more rest. Yes to boundaries. Yes to honoring God with what he gave you.

00:34:23
Somebody lift your hands and declare it. I say yes. Lift them again. Say I say yes. I say yes.

00:34:31
I say yes.

00:34:37
Number three and I'm done. Preparation is prophetic. Preparation is prophetic. First Kings 19, 7 and 8. The angel tells Elisha, get up for the journey is too much for you.

00:34:53
Watch it. Elijah had the anointing. He had the calling. But he didn't have the strength for the next leg of his mission.

00:35:07
And watch this. Before God gave him fresh revelation, he had to give him some nourishment. What good is another word if you don't have the strength to carry it out? Sometimes your next level does not require a new word, but it requires a new level of wellness.

00:35:41
Some people gonna see a difference in their life. And it's gonna start in this month. It's gonna start in this month. Watch this. The miracle was not just what happened on Mount Carmel.

00:35:57
The miracle was that Elijah had the strength to climb the mountain.

00:36:04
And guess what? We have mountains that we have to climb as well. Raising a family is a mountain. Building a business is a mountain. Preaching the gospel is a mountain.

00:36:18
Leading a ministry is a mountain. Carrying influence in the marketplace is a mountain, mountain that we have to have the strength to climb.

00:36:31
And the Spirit is saying, you don't just need my voice, you need my vitality. Look at somebody and say, small moves shifts. Destiny shifts destiny.

00:36:50
Zechariah 4 says, do not despise small beginnings because the Lord rejoices to see the work begin. God's not looking for us to go viral with something. He says, I want to see your next step go upward. I want to see your next move be aligned with my purpose. So you can walk in the next level that I have for you.

00:37:17
You. Here's what we're doing, and I want us to take it seriously. I talked about it last month, but I couldn't let it go. We're launching Jump Start June this month. Jump Start June?

00:37:33
Yeah. This is a spiritual reset, not a seasonal diet.

00:37:44
It's a spiritual reset, not for us to look different, but for us to live different.

00:37:54
This move is not about the summer. It's about submitting to the plan that God has for our lives. So many of us lifted our hands say, I believe God has a call on my life. I believe God wants to do something with me. And God is saying to us, I need you to submit.

00:38:15
It's not about trying to get right. It's about saying to God, God, I'm giving you this part of me also. Not just my spirit, but I'm giving you my body as well.

00:38:30
And we're asking every person that will, no condemnation, to join us. We're walking every day. We're drinking more water. We're saying no to excess sugar and yes to God's food. We're stretching and breathing and resting because you cannot make power moves when you feel powerless.

00:38:57
You can't be where God wants you to be. I keep reiterating it because I want to make it clear this is not about being skinny, because there's some skinny people. That's unhealthy.

00:39:13
This is about being strong.

00:39:17
So maybe the power move for you is taking a 15 minute prayer walk before you go to work. Maybe a power move for you is swapping out soda for water. Maybe a power move is preparing a meal in advance or taking the stairs instead of the elevator. Sleeping, going to bed 30 minutes earlier than you normally would. Somebody say, it's not about perfection, it's about progress.

00:39:52
Because motion leads to momentum. And we're jump starting the second half of this year with this. Small obedience. Because small obedience leads to big outcomes.

00:40:10
Small obedience. It's the small things.

00:40:16
He wants us whole spirit, soul and body. Because when we honor God with our temple, then we can prepare for his power. Stand with me all over this building.

00:40:34
Lift your hands.

00:40:38
If you believe this, you receive. Making a power move. Repeat after me, this move is personal. I am God's temple. I am not my own.

00:40:54
I move with purpose. I move with power. I move in obedience. And I'm strong enough to make power moves. Father, I thank you today.

00:41:10
I thank you for not just saving our souls, but for entrusting us with these temples that you call home. You did not just redeem our spirits, but you called us to steward our lives, spirit, soul and body. Today your people have made a conscious decision to surrender all of it to you, God. We surrender our habits. We surrender.

00:41:39
We surrender our routine and our rhythms. And we ask for more power. We ask for your guidance as we align with your will. Align us spiritually, physically, emotionally so we can walk worthy of the assignment you've called us to.

00:42:05
I thank you and ask you, forgive us for the times that we've neglected our vessel. Forgive us for treating our temple as if it was optional. And help us to walk in the wisdom, discipline and consistency that you require. We say yes to you. We say yes to you.

00:42:31
Let this month be a turning point, a season of small, consistent moves in our lives that we will see the results that will move beyond this month into eternity. We thank you for it in Jesus name. Thank God and Amen. If you believe that, put your hands together.

Total Duration 00:42:56