Awakening Hearts with The Word and Holy Spirit

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Coming up on Renewed Mindsets.

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Imagine being faced with a decision that changes your life forever.

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Imagine how a death could change the lives of a whole world, how it shattered the grip of sin and how His resurrection offers freedom and an abundant life.

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If you've ever wondered about God's grace, your purpose or what it truly means to live free, this message is for you.

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Let's grace your purpose or what it truly means to live free, this message is for you.

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Let's go, boys.

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Hey, welcome to Renewed Mindsets, where we study the basics of the faith through the lens of our middle-aged experiences.

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I'm Rick.

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Welcome to the show where I help you, gen Xers and Millennials, navigate spiritually through a world that looks nothing like we expected back, when cars were square and mullets were totally awesome.

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I am so glad you're here.

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In Matthew 27, verses 21 and 22, we encounter an important moment.

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The Roman governor, pontius Pilate, asked the crowd which of the two do you want me to release to you?

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And they replied Barabbas, barabbas.

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Then Pilate follows up with a question that echoes through time.

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What, then, shall I do with Jesus, who is called the Christ?

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And the crowd shouts Crucify him.

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Now, this scene is intense, but it poses a question for us as well.

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What will we do with Jesus?

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Pilate faced that choice, and so do we.

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Each day, we decide how we're going to respond to Jesus.

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Will we accept him or, like the crowd, will we reject him by choosing our own way over his.

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Now, when we talk about accepting him or rejecting him, we talk about what's actually called crucifying the anointing.

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It means choosing our own way instead of following the leading of Jesus in our life.

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How many times have we done our own thing, putting aside what God asks of us to do?

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Sometimes it's as simple as choosing convenience over conviction.

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Maybe God is nudging you to make a tough decision or act in faith, but it's easier to stay in your comfort zone.

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It's like hearing God's voice but responding with eh, not today.

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Think about the small daily decisions where this plays out.

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Have you ever ignored a prompting to forgive someone because your pride got in the way?

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Or maybe you felt called to help someone in need, but busyness in your life became an excuse.

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It's in these moments that we have to answer Pilate's question what will you do with Jesus today?

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Thomas Jefferson we all know who he is.

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He's one of the founding fathers of this country.

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He edited the Bible if you didn't know that.

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And he did not like anything supernatural.

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So when he edited the Bible he cut out all the supernatural parts.

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He just left the moral teachings.

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His version of the Bible ends with Jesus being buried.

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He leaves out the resurrection entirely.

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Can you imagine that it's tempting for us to follow a safe version of Jesus that doesn't require much from us, where the focus is on all the nice teachings, the Jesus is love, right, and avoid all the difficult calls to sacrifice and change.

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If you're following someone that says it's all okay, jesus is all about love, love is love.

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Guess what You're wrong?

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You're not going to spend eternity with Christ in heaven.

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Paul in 1 Corinthians, 15, 17, and 18 says if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless and you're still guilty of your sins.

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In other words, without the full power of the gospel the full gospel including the resurrection there's no real transformation.

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Now look how Jesus prepared for his crucifixion.

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He didn't just rush into it without thought.

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He spent time in a place called Gethsemane, which means oil press.

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It's a fitting image, because olives have to be crushed to produce oil.

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And Jesus was crushed in spirit as he wrestled with his coming sacrifice.

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Was crushed in spirit as he wrestled with his coming sacrifice.

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In Matthew 26, verse 36-39, we see Jesus go to Gethsemane to pray.

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His prayer was raw and real.

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It says my soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death.

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Stay here and watch with me.

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He asked God if there was any other way, but he also surrendered, not as I will, but as you will.

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Sometimes we approach prayer wanting a quick fix or a feel good moment.

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But real prayer, like Jesus's prayer at Gethsemane, is about releasing our deepest emotions and our fears, and even our destiny, into God's hands.

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It's about full surrender.

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Jesus didn't get a way out, but he got the strength to carry out God's will.

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Philippians, chapter 2, verse 5 through 9, encourages us to have the same mindset as Jesus.

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Though he was God, he humbled himself and he became a servant and was obedient to the point of death on a cross.

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And because of that God exalted him above all others.

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Think about that for a moment.

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Jesus didn't cling to his rights or his status.

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He gave it all up for the sake of God's mission.

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And what does that mean for us?

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It means that we too are called to lay aside our pride and our comfort and our will to follow Jesus, even when it's hard.

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Now, let's be honest.

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Sometimes obedience doesn't come easily and we can be a bit like a child who doesn't want to go to bed.

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You know how it is the kid pulls out every trick in the book I need water, I have to go to the bathroom.

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Just one more story, please.

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The kid's just hoping to delay the inevitable.

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The funny part about it is that we, as parents, know exactly what's happening, but we just go along with it, being patient, knowing that we can guide the child towards what is best, which is going to bed.

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That's a lot like how God deals with us.

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We might resist, thinking that we can delay right.

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We think we can delay his plans by making excuses or avoiding hard steps that he's asking us to take, but God knows what's best for us and he patiently waits and he uses love and grace to gently guide us in the right direction.

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He doesn't force us, but he keeps inviting us to trust him.

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So what are you going to do with Jesus?

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So what are you going to do with Jesus?

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What will you do?

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Will you keep resisting, holding back from the life that he's called you to, or are you going to take a step of faith, trusting that his way, even when it stretches you, leads to something greater than you can imagine.

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It's your choice, but remember God's plan is always filled with love and purpose.

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The choice is yours, but remember Jesus is offering you the greatest reward.

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It's not just a crown in heaven or a seat at the banquet table.

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It's the joy of walking with him right now, even through the tough times.

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That's a reward worth running a race for.

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Now let's just stop for a moment and think about what Jesus endured for us.

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His crucifixion wasn't a quick event.

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It was excruciatingly slow and painful, both spiritually and physically.

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When Jesus cried out from the cross "'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me', it was a cry of deep abandonment.

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In that moment he bore the weight of the world's sin and for the first time he experienced the separation from God that sin causes.

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Jesus, who had always been one with the Father, was now bearing the full wrath of God for our sins.

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And when he cried out it is finished in John 19 30, that's a victory shout.

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Not I am finished, but it is finished.

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God's will up to that point was completed.

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Jesus accomplished what he came to do.

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He bore our sins and he paid the price in full and with his final breath he surrendered his spirit into his father's hands.

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That's Luke 23, 46.

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Imagine the scene at that moment of Jesus' death.

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Darkness covered the land, the earth trembled and the strong Roman soldiers were shaking in fear.

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It wasn't just an ordinary death.

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Nature itself reacted to the gravity of that event.

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This wasn't just a man dying, it was a son of God laying down his life.

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A medical description of the physical toll that crucifixion took on Jesus is sickening.

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Crucifixion wasn't just about dying.

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It was about dying very slowly, in the most painful way possible.

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Imagine the agony of hanging by nails, with shooting pain traveling up through your arms and your back and your feet.

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He had to push himself up just to take a breath.

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It's chilling.

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It was overwhelming.

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The suffering that he endured until he allowed his body to die.

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It's chilling, isn't it?

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It's more than we can fully wrap our minds around.

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And we hear all of this in a few words in the Bible.

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Everything that I just said right now in the Bible is summed up in.

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And they crucified him.

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But behind those words is an unimaginable sacrifice, a sacrifice that he made for you and for me.

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Now think of this.

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Jesus endured all of this so we wouldn't have to.

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He took the punishment for sin so that we could be forgiven.

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He was forsaken so that we could be accepted.

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He died so that we might live here.

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Imagine you were a child, lost in the woods, feeling utterly abandoned by yourself.

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The night grows darker, the fear sinks deeper and just when you think there's no way out, you see a familiar face, your parent, who'd been searching for you the whole time, and they're there to take you safely home.

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Jesus is like that parent.

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He walked into the darkest place, took the suffering that we deserved so that he could lead us back to the Father.

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And we treat sin so lightly, but if you just reflect on what Jesus went through, it'll move you.

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It should move you.

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It should remind you of the great love that he has for you and the great lengths that he went to to save you.

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What will you do with this Jesus, the one who was crucified for you?

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Will you live for him in the light of what he's done, or will you go on living your life as if nothing has changed?

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The truth is, everything has changed, and that's the good news.

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We are free.

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We're free from sin, free from condemnation, free to live in the grace and love of Jesus, in obedience to him.

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We don't have to earn our way to God.

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It's been finished.

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We simply need to accept what Jesus has done for us and walk in that freedom and share this amazing love with others.

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It's not just knowing the story, but it's about living in the reality of what Christ has done.

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You've got to tell the world about the one who gave everything for you, jesus.

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Jesus wasn't just a man.

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He wasn't just one person among many who might have been able to die for our sins.

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Christ by himself alone had sufficient worth to die in place of every single person in history.

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That's why he was the sacrifice.

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His blood was powerful enough to roll backward to cover the sins of the very first sinner, adam, and forward to cover the sins of the very last person who will ever sin.

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No other blood could do that.

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Think about the sacrifices under the law of Moses, the blood of the bulls and the goats that had to be shed repeatedly, year after year, because it could never truly take away sin.

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It only delayed God's judgment.

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It was like putting a band-aid on a deep wound that needed serious surgery.

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But when Jesus died.

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His blood didn't just cover over a sin for a little while.

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His blood removed sin once and for all.

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The price for sin is high.

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Sin has to be punished, there's no way around it.

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But the good news is, jesus took the punishment for us.

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He was the final, ultimate sacrifice.

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Now let me tell you one more story to bring this home.

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Picture a courtroom.

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You're sitting in the defendant's seat, guilty as charged.

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You've broken the law, and there's no way around it.

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You're waiting for the judge to hand down the sentence, which is a lifetime in prison.

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But then, just as the gavel's about to drop, someone steps forward and says I'll take the punishment for you, and the judge looks at you and says you're free to go, your debt has been paid.

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That's what Jesus did for us.

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He stepped in and took the punishment that we deserved.

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He didn't just cover our sins temporarily, like the old sacrifices did.

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He erased them.

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He paid the price in full.

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So what do you do with that?

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How do you respond to a love so great that Jesus gave his life for you?

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It's simple Really Trust him, follow him, which means do what he said and did.

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Trust him and you live in gratitude for what he's done.

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Remember this Jesus didn't just die to give you a better life.

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He died to give you new life, abundant life, eternal life.

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He took the weight of sin, the punishment that we deserved, and he offers us freedom.

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The question is will you accept it?

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Will you let Jesus be Lord of your life and live in the freedom that he's already paid for?

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Because Jesus Christ paid it.

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All the debt is clear.

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The punishment's been taken and the victory is won.

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Now we get to walk in that freedom.

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We get to live in the light of his sacrifice, knowing that we're loved and forgiven and set free.

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And that, my friends, is the greatest news you'll ever hear.

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So what will you do with this Jesus?

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Will you trust him with your life?

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Will you accept the gift of grace and live in the freedom that he offers?

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That's the question that he's asking you today.

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Let's not let this podcast end and that be it.

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Let's not just hear this good news.

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Let's let it transform us, let it transform you, because Jesus didn't just die for the world.

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He died for you and he's calling you to live in the new life he's given.

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Let this day end with your heart filled with gratitude and your life, committed to the one who gave everything for you, who gave everything for you.

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And now, deep Thoughts with Rick Yuhas.

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If you ever decide to get into a wrestling match with God, remember these two things One, he always wins, and two, we walk away with a limp.

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In a fast-paced world, with noise and distractions, it can be hard to find moments of peace and clarity.

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But what if you could start your day with a moment of wisdom and reflection, introducing Wisdom for the Day, a short daily podcast dedicated to sharing godly wisdom from the book of Proverbs.

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In just a few minutes each day, you can start your morning with insights and guidance that will uplift and inspire you.

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Imagine in just one year, you'll have learned the entire book of Proverbs, giving you a foundation of wisdom to carry with you for a lifetime.

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So why not start your day the right way?

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Subscribe to Wisdom for the Day now and begin your journey towards a life filled with godly wisdom, available at wisdomforthedayorg and wherever you get your podcasts.

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Wisdom for the Day, because a little wisdom goes a long way.

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I love it when y'all send me messages.

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I love it when you ask questions, and I got a good one the other day from Derek in Chicago.

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He said how do the Holy Spirit and the Word of God work together in the new birth?

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That is such an important topic.

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What a great question.

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Let me break it down step by step in a way that makes sense and it shows how beautifully God's Spirit and His Word collaborate in transforming us.

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First, we have to remember why we even need to be born again in the first place.

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By nature, we're spiritually dead.

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The Bible makes it clear that all of us, before we come to faith, are separated from God.

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Ephesians 2, verse 5 says Even when we were dead in our trespasses, god made us alive together with Christ.

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Being spiritually dead means that we don't have the ability to truly love or follow God on our own.

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We can't see the glory and beauty of Christ for who he really is.

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We're stuck in a state of resistance to God.

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We value the things of this world more than him.

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Without a new birth, we remain in that state.

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We're cut off from the life that God offers us.

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That's why Jesus says in John 3, 3, that unless someone is born again, they can't see the kingdom of God.

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To be born again is to receive new spiritual life, to have a fresh start that transforms us from the inside out.

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But how does this happen?

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This is where the Holy Spirit steps in.

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Jesus describes the work of the Holy Spirit in John, chapter 3, verses 6 through 8, saying that the new birth is the work of the Spirit.

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It's like the wind, moving powerfully but mysteriously right.

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Just like we don't control the wind, we don't control the Holy Spirit.

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The Spirit is sovereign, meaning he works according to God's will, not ours.

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We don't cause our new birth.

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We don't raise ourselves from spiritual death.

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It's a miracle that only the Spirit can bring about, giving us new life when we had none.

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So the first key part of this process is that the Holy Spirit is the one who awakens our heart to God.

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It's a work of grace, and when we're born again, the first sign of this new life is faith.

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Imagine a newborn baby's first cry.

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When someone is born again, their first cry is faith in Jesus.

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Suddenly their eyes are opened and they see Jesus for who he really is beautiful, loving and worthy of their trust.

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His heart cries out.

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I believe I need him.

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He's my savior.

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But here's where it gets really interesting.

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This faith doesn't just appear out of thin air.

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It comes through hearing the word of God.

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Romans 10, 17 says faith comes from hearing and hearing through the word of God.

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Romans 10, 17 says faith comes from hearing and hearing through the Word of Christ.

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The Word of God is the message of the gospel, the good news of what Jesus has done for us.

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So while the Holy Spirit is the one who brings us to life, he does it through the means of God's Word.

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In other words, the Spirit and the Word work together.

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The Holy Spirit doesn't just randomly make people alive who've never heard the gospel.

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Instead, he uses the gospel, the message of Jesus Christ, to open people's hearts.

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When we hear the Word of God preached, the Spirit is at work in the background, opening our eyes and helping us to understand and to believe.

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Now let's look for an example the story of Lydia in Acts 16, 14.

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Paul was preaching the gospel and it says the Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was being said by Paul.

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You see both parts here Paul was sharing the word and God was working in Lydia's heart to receive that word.

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The Spirit and the word were working in harmony to bring her faith.

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So when we talk about the new birth, we can't separate the work of the Spirit from the role of the word.

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The Spirit doesn't move without the Word and the Word doesn't have its full effect without the Spirit.

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It's like these two are partners in a process of bringing people from spiritual death to life.

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It's why, when people are reading the Bible to prove you wrong because you hear about atheists that know the word, they know what is written, but they don't have understanding.

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That's the difference.

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You can read words on a piece of paper, but if you don't understand the language or the context, you have no idea what it means.

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I could get a book on Chinese and eventually learn to recite the words, but I don't know what they mean, right?

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What does it mean for you?

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Practically, it means that you as believers, or we as believers, have an important role to play in the whole process.

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We can't cause anybody to be born again.

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That's the work of the Holy Spirit.

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We can faithfully share the Word of God, though, right.

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We can speak the truth of the gospel, trusting that, as we do that, the Holy Spirit will work through our words to bring people to faith.

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Romans 10.14 says how are they to believe in him of whom they've never heard, and how are they to hear without someone preaching.

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God has chosen to work through the preaching of his word.

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This means that we have the privilege and the responsibility to share that word with others, knowing that this is through us sharing in that spirit, and that's what brings people to life.

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Through us sharing in that Spirit, then that's what brings people to life.

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So, to sum the whole thing up, the Holy Spirit is the one who gives us new life in the new birth, and he does this by working through the Word of God.

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The Word brings the message of Christ and the Spirit opens our hearts to receive that message and together they accomplish the miracle of new birth, giving us faith and a new life in Christ.

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And if you're feeling hesitant about sharing your faith or worried that you might not know enough, remember this it's not up to us to make people believe.

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Our job is to share the word and God's spirit will do the rest.

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And if you're wondering whether you're truly born again, ask yourself this Do you see Christ as beautiful?

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Do you trust Him as your Savior?

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If so, that's the work of the Spirit in you.

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Keep holding on to that faith and continue growing in the Word, trusting that the Spirit will guide you every step of the way.

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Well, that's all for this week's show.

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You know the name of this show speaks my hope for you.

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It's taken from the words of Romans 12, verse 2.

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Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

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If you enjoyed what you heard, do me a favor, please, and tell someone you know about it.

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Send them a link and a text.

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You know you may even need to download it to their phone and show them what a podcast is.

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If it was valuable to you, it will be to them.

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Visit renewedmindsetscom to hear past episodes, read the blog and check out the new merch and, as always, while you're there, send me a voicemail by clicking the button at the bottom right corner of the main page.

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Tell me what you think about this show.

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I just might play it on a future episode.

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Until next week, I'm Rick.

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I love you.

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The intro and outro music for the Renewed Mindsets podcast is Are you Ready?

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By Floodgate from the album Are you Ready?

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Copyright 2002 Offbeat Ministries Incorporated.

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To Offbeat Ministries Incorporated.

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Floodgate can be found on Apple Music and iTunes Music used with permission.