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Congratulations! Your gift of a

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new day is here. Ready

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to live it big? You're

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listening to the Big Life

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Devotional Podcast. Now, here's Pamela

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to get you fired up

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for all God has available

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for you today. Well, good

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morning, beautiful. Welcome to a

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brand new day of life.

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Happy Tuesday, my friends. I

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am coming to you from

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the shores of North Bali

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in the jungle. It's... Absolutely

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gorgeous. We woke up this

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morning to roosters crowing at

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4am. And it's just such

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a beautiful day of life.

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I'm excited to help you

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get your day started right.

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The title of today's episode

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of The Big Life Devotional

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Podcast is Counting Steps. How

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many steps did you take

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yesterday? I bet you counted

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them, didn't you? You know how

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many steps you took yesterday. But

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my question is, how many of

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them actually counted? Have you

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ever been walking or jogging or

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hiking and you realize that you

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forgot to start exercise tracking and

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then you feel like what you

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did didn't even count because you

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weren't tracking it? I think about

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that for a second. That's

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kind of ridiculous, isn't it?

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But we all do it.

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Like, oh no, those steps

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don't count because I wasn't

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tracking. Well, you're likely more

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mindful of your steps now

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than you've ever been

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because of your watch

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that tallies up all

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your steps each

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day. But let me

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ask you, do your

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steps count? You're counting

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them, but do they

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count? He delights in

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every detail of their

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lives. I love that

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scripture. so much. That would

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be a great little memory

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verse. You can memorize that

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today. The Lord directs the

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steps of the godly. He

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delights in every detail of

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their lives. Do you know

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that's true? That's absolutely true.

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He directs your steps. Your

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steps are directed. The average

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person takes over two million

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steps in one year and

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that's a lot of steps.

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The question is, out of

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those two million steps, you're

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faithfully recording on your watch

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every year, how many of

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those steps are in line

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with God's steps? When God

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created you, he had a

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plan in mind for you.

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A blueprint for your life

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outlining all you could be

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and all you could do

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with the potential that he

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has placed within you. Yes,

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he takes delight in every

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detail of your life. He

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has great and beautiful plans

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for you. And all you

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have to do is follow

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the steps. He's literally lining

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up for you. But have

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you been? Have you been

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aligning your steps with his

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steps? Have you been seeking

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his plan for your life?

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Here are four important questions

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about your steps. First, where

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are you going? Today you

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will be stepping. Your watch

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will be tallying. But have

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you ever stopped to ask,

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where are you going? Do

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you know there's somewhere God

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wants you to go? Your

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presence, your influence, your impact

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is desperately needed. Will your

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steps take you there? Look

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down the path you're If

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you keep doing what you're

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doing, is this going to

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take you where you should

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be going? Oh, isn't that

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so valuable to actually see

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where your steps are taking

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you? Where's this leading you?

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You continue doing this day

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after day after day, these

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steps, these steps? Where does

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it take you? Are you

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on the right path? Second,

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who are you walking with?

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Show me the five people

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you spend the most time

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walking with and I will

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show you who you are

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becoming and it is true

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without fail. Are these people

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living the kind of life

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you want to live? Are

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they seeking God the way

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you want to seek God?

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You're stepping with them. So

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don't you think it's important

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to ask? Third, what are

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you stepping in? Gosh, what

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messes we create when we

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step into situations we should

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have never been in in

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the first place. We go

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where we know we shouldn't

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be going. We put ourselves

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into these compromising and tempting

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positions and then we wonder

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why we fail. We are

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all far more weak than

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we think. We are one.

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bad choice away from really

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messing up some things. Like

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we should have never stepped

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into that in the first

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place. What are we stepping

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in? My husband and I

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have been married for over

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30 years and we trust

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each other explicitly. Like we

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have an amazing marriage. However,

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we have a rule. We

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will never put ourselves in

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compromising positions to be tempted

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to be tempted. You will

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not see me at the

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club. I don't go out

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drinking with the girls. I

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don't step into that. I

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have something to protect. And

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finally, what are you stepping

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over or trying to go

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around? We tend to avoid

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the hard stuff, don't we?

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There are steps in front

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of us. We know we

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need to take, but we

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have been trying everything we

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can to step over it

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and go around it when

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God is saying no. I

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brought you here for a

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reason and now I want

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you to go through this.

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Stop avoiding the necessary step

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in front of you. You

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are here for a purpose.

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Take the next step. Don't

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get stuck here because you're

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afraid. Today's the day. Next

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step. Oh, what a great

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motto that would be, just

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to repeat to yourself, next

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step, next step. So where

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are you going? Who are

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you walking with? What are

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you stepping in? What are

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you trying to go around?

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Today, the average person will

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take 5,500 steps. Maybe you

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take a lot more, maybe

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you take less. That's average,

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5,500 steps. How many will

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you take? But more

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importantly, how many of those

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steps will count? Count on

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God's watch. You know, you

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are on God's watch. How

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many of your steps will

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count on God's watch today?

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Will you go where you're

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supposed to go? Will you

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slow down when you're supposed

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to slow down? So you

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don't miss what's important. Will

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you step into the life

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he has planned for you?

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Will you take the next

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step in becoming the person

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you were created to be?

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Will you make your steps

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count? The Lord directs the

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steps of the godly. The

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definition of godly in the

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dictionary is religious, and I

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do not think religious is

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what your creator is looking

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for here. Your religion really

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isn't going to do anything

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for you. There are no

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labels, no memberships, no councils

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or boards here. There is

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a personal relationship and a

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desire to seek him. So

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maybe think of godly more

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like this. A person who

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is obedient to God. A

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person who is surrendered to

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God. A person who trusts

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God. A person seeking God.

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Is that you? Maybe you

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don't do it perfect, but

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you're trying to be obedient.

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You're trying to be surrendered.

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You're trusting God more and

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more. You're really seeking him.

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That's godly. If you're

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obedient to him, he will be

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able to direct your steps, and

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then your steps will count. If

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you are defiant and stubborn and

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insist on your own way, your

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steps simply won't count. So today

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we will seek him and we

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will be obedient to him. We

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will be in alignment with God.

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He will direct our steps and

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oh how he will take delight

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in every detail of our lives

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as we step into his plan

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for us. So let's step into

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the big life God has prepared

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for us. created us for, planned

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for us, aligned for us, and

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he's directing us to. Next step,

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my sister. May I pray with

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you today? Oh, join me right

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now. Well, good morning, God. Thank

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you for the... gift of a

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brand new day of life. And

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thank you, Lord, that you are

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watching over us, that you are

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counting our steps. You know right

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where we're at, and you know

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the step right in front of

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us. And I thank you, God,

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that you have given us exactly

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what we need, the courage and

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the strength and the provisions we

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need to take the next step.

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So Lord, I pray that we

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are aware of where we're going,

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where our steps are taking us

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to. and that we can check

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and see if we're out of

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alignment. Lord, I thank you for

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the reminder to check who we

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are walking with, to check what

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we are stepping into, and also

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just a holy conviction, are we

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trying to go around something? We're

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avoiding something. Lord, I thank you

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for the work that you're doing

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in each of our lives. I

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thank you for your spirit that

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speaks to us so clearly. We

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are seeking you. and we thank

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you. I pray for your provision

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and your protection over every family

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represented listening today. It is in

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the sweet and powerful name of

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Jesus. Amen. I write my friends,

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I hope you have a beautiful

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day of life. I will meet

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you again tomorrow. I love you

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wildly. Goodbye everybody. You were created

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for a big life. We'll help

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you do it. Join us each

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weekday for a new big life.

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If you're ready to dive into

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the Big Life way of living,

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visit our website at Big LifeHQ.com.