WEBVTT - This file was automatically generated by VIMEO

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I looked

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in the mirror the other day and suddenly

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realised I'm getting old but

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then aren't we all?

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And often I think to myself is this all there

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is to life. Is there more or what?

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Now when you're young your life is very very long.

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But then the years roll by and you start to think what's at

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the other end? Now some folks believe that once you're

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gone you're gone.

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Others believe you come back based on how you live.

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If you are a good person you come back to a better

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life. However,

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If you've been bad, then you come back worse  - a cockroach,

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for example.

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and then there's us

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well, what do we believe it's a bit

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like this rope?

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The red bit is your life.

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Now you might be here or here or even

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near the end.

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And that's not for us.

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We believe in Eternal Kingdom with

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God.

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But how do we get there?

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Simply by trying to be who God wants

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us to be and maybe then we'll have

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access to this eternal life that goes on forever.

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Now this rope.

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May have gone on forever.

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and ever

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but when I went to Bunnings, they're out of stock

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of Eternal rope.

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So now you've got to use your imagination.

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And boy was I angry I drove all the way there to

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get some Eternal rope and they're out of stock.

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And then I started prepare these words that I share

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with you today, and I picked up my bit of rope and I

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said, oh boy, I think I've messed

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up.

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Anger is the impulse to strike

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out with either words or with action at whatever

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threatens us or threatens something we

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value.

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Anger is an Impulse to distraction.

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Jesus and his friends were together just talking and he

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brought up some topics.

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That may be very scary.

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Anger is something that I've struggled with and with

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some help I found out the cause and I'm dealing with it.

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Yep angry walk away count to 10

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come back and smile.

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Have you ever caught yourself looking at your reflection in

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a mirror?

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I have to confess that I sometimes do and

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I'll wager there's not one person

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watching this who doesn't at least take one good

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look.

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At him or herself in the mirror every day.

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Maybe you don't care much, but you look.

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You have some idea of what the other

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people see when they're looking at you.

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The reading today is filled with things that we should look

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and see if it's us.

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Not in the mirror.

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But who we really are.

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Jesus talks about anger.

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Lust adultery a whole

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bunch of stuff. Man - It's a serious set

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of lessons. Mostly when Jesus spoke, he

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would speak in Parables  -  vague lessons that

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often needed to be explained. But in

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these verses it's just there black and

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white. It's like reinforcing The Ten Commandments,

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but the Commandments were narrowly interpreted.

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And are mostly "keepable".

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At least as far as anyone else can tell.

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But nobody but God knows if you are

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living by these Commandments.

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Sometimes you can even convince yourself

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that you've got them nailed down.

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Some of us can say that.

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And sort of mean it.

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But not many of us could have listened and moved

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if Jesus was saying to us "anyone who

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is angry with his brother will be

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subject to judgment."

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Okay, if I do some bad stuff from the

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10, well, then I deserve to be punished.

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But being angry that seems tough.

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But with these words that fill the rest of our reading

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Jesus is telling us what he meant by the fulfillment of

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the law.

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The law is completed when God's character is

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stamped on a person's heart as well

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as his or her behaviour.

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But that law cannot be filled under God's under sorry

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under human purposes God chose to give those to

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Moses those Ten Commandments for a reason. They're not arbitrary.

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They're not frivolous. They're not

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unconnected to reality.

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each one of these rules is saying

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"this is where the danger is". It's like

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those old maps with sea monsters on the edge warning. He'll

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be dragons.

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God only puts up fences on the dangerous curves

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these Commandments along with Jesus' commentary

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on them tells us something very important about being

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human.

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They show us.

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What we actually are like when we are

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left to our own devices. We have weaknesses. We are

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surrounded by the distractions of the world and sometimes we

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fail.

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Maybe not all the time. But on the whole this

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is what human beings are like.

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And Jesus showed us that even when you and

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I keep all the rules on the outside. We're still the

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same on the inside no matter how well we've been

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trained.

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And that's why we need the Holy Spirit. Only the

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Holy Spirit can write the law on our hearts the

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way God promised.

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I have a flashpoint.

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And I guess so many of you driving out there. Imagine imagine driving

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along and a person cuts you

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off while driving.

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That person pushes ahead of you in the queue.

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but the last of the cheap specials

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You're absolutely annoyed. Wow, you

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think you said wouldn't be a great. If a lightning

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bolt could come down and strike that person down who upset us.

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Not a nice thing is it?

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The rough spots on our soul matters to

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God whether we have the power to act on him or not.

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The value God places on your eternal life is

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what's happening inside of you right now. That's what

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Jesus is talking about.

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He's talking about the state of our souls.

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Jesus is not talking about war or capital punishment or

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even random street crimes. He's talking

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about interpersonal relationships.

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He's talking about how we interact with the people in our

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lives.

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He's asking us to consider whether the impulses

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of our heart create life or death. These things

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that he talks about a part of life, but

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they shouldn't be part of our lives.

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Not easy mind you.

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Like the man driving to church and he's running a little bit late and the

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lights are red.

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And when they change the car in

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front of him just sits there.

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So he waits toots the car still

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just sits there finally the car moves up but it

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changes the red so he can't go through and so

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the next set of lights again, he's behind

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the same car. So he yells gives them

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that special wave, you know that middle finger wave says a

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couple of swear words.

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But then behind him is a police car who pulls him

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over.

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"Why did you pull me over?" he says angrily.

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"Well", says at the policeman.

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You've got a Christian Fish sticker on the back window. I just

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thought your car had been stolen.

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Remember, it's not only others who get hurt you

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get burned too. So here we are

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once again caught between the old familiar rock and

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a hard place.

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What do we do with these things? Hope it goes away.

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It won't unless we control those impulses of the

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world around us. So what do we do?

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we take these things to God and prayer go ahead

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listen to what God is telling us

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He is there to show us.

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How to deal safely with distractions he can handle it

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this simple reading clearly telling us what is

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required of us as hard as that may be.

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Let me challenge you take a moment right now and

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ask God to help you direct your attention

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to the situations that take

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you away from him.

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Ask for the grace of him to let go of the worldly distractions and

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turn to the next step.

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Which is building something new on the

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Jesus Christ.

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Look at this rope of life. It can bend all

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different ways. It can get knotted and get

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tangled.

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but with the help of God and the Holy Spirit

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Look what happens?

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It untangles.

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Smooth it out.

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Look at that red piece.

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That's your life and what you do with

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this bit of red enables you to get access of this

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rope of life.

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to be

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who God wants you to be

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Amen