Pray about preparing [for the Thanksgiving season that we are about to celebrate]: Who is it that God would have you to be thankful for and to show your gratitude, your thankfulness for that person? 

We can get caught up in a lot of unnecessary tasks. And at the end of the day, we have laid aside the things the Holy Spirit is saying: this is important to do. 

Think about one thing: What is it that we need to focus on that we could speak to and minister to the heart of another person? 

Today, I want to talk about us being very intentional and slow down and show some deep heartfelt gratitude to some individuals. Name specific people that you're grateful for. 

And when you name them, you go seek them out. And in seeking them out, you spend some moments, minutes with them to look them in the eyes, face to face encounters. And you speak words of life to them, not just stirring emotions but speaking to their heart. 

Scripture demands us to do this. 

Before you start to express this gra...

This will be a reminder to us of how God can use everyday relationships, everyday encounters with other people that when we're honest and we self-reflect on ourselves -- how God can use those relationships to draw us closer to Him. God doesn't waste a thing.

That word [John 3:30] was a turning point for him -- how God called him to a position of humility and a deeper walk with God. Since then, God has taught him how to bring his thoughts under Christ's authority. He doesn't want to return to his old ways of living. 

When God does transform our lives, that's what He wants us to do -- give testimony because it's God Himself that did it. We just simply joined the work of God. 

How did God use [2 Corinthians 10:5] in your life and using it today to transform you?

Jeff: It's a daily struggle. I have to remind myself often. "You never have to explain what you don't say." (from a philosopher) 

Take control of that thought, give it the authority of Christ before it comes out of your mouth...

(Jo uses the example of running the air conditioner and opening or leaving open the back door and leads us to think about the last week of October being that way spiritually)

What is Halloween? What does the Scripture tell us? Are we living in a responsible atmosphere according to the Word? 

Remember: Ignorance is no defense. We must be informed because the enemy does not care that we do not know. 

"God protect our homes; protect our families." 

We must be careful. Are we leaving any cracked doors for the enemy to creep in because of our ignorance?  And snatch our peace, steal the joy of our children, steal God's purpose for our children and grandchildren

We cannot pray in one breath for a hedge of protection around our home, covering it with the blood of Jesus while in another act we open the door and invite darkness in. 

God says that we're to be aware of the practices of other nations, peoples that open the door to darkness. They're not neutral or harmless -- not just cultural...

Jo: There is one principle that God used in the Garden of Eden to help Adam and Eve get their home in order. And that same principle is alive, active, and effective today to help us get [our] home in order. And when they get their home in order, to maintain that order

Sydney: We want to reflect God's glory in our family. God has a design for that. 

When we know who we are in Christ, we don't have to fight for significance, for our worth, our voice, identity. We don't have to look at culture or career or title, the children we have, our husband, our social media following or comments or anything to know that we have value. God has spoken. We have His Word and we know we're secure in who He says we are. And, we're free to stop fighting and to start really loving, serving, and becoming the person He's created us to be. He has a design, an order, and it's laid out in the Word. 

Abide in Christ, under His authority, His order, and how that changes the way that we live, love, and lead and...

"Does anyone see me?" Does anyone care?" "Do I even have a purpose?" "Does God hear me?" "Is God going to move?" "Is He going to answer me?" "Will God ever break through this situation, bring answer or solution?"

You're waiting on God to bring a miracle. What if the real situation is that God is actually waiting on you? Maybe the holdup is not God, but you.

It's time to stop, and it's time to see, time to speak, to begin to sing a new song. The new song is waiting for you to sing it.

"I want to see Your way out of this." 

It's time to stop. When we live our lives running, there's a time to stop. 

stop running from past mistakes

stop running from fears

stop running from quiet moments with God

(Example of Moses)

Before Moses could hear God, he had to stop. God had to get his attention. 

God will go to any extreme to get our attention. 

"You're going to send me to Pharaoh?" I'm sure Moses inside was laughing. But God wasn't laughing. When God sends you, He's serious. 

It's tim...

Jo: Life has circumstances and circumstances that can be storms in our lives. 

How can we draw close to God through circumstances in our lives -- her journey of how she has surrendered to God and allowed these circumstances to draw her closer to God. 

(Jo asks Brittney to introduce herself.) 

Brittney: I'm married, mother of four. I grew up in the church. I've been active in the church, and I'm raising our children to be the same way. I stay at home with them. 

Jo: Growing up in the church, how did that prepare you for marriage and motherhood?

Brittney: Knowing that it was all designed by God -- He created our family and glorify Him in that. 

Jo: What does [glorify God] mean to you? And what does that look like in your home now? 

Brittney: How I raise the children every day -- getting up, getting them ready for school, we pray together; we talk about our day; we put on the armor of God every morning to prepare for the day -- that no matter what we go through during that day, eve...

We see a lot of restlessness, anxiousness, uncertainty, despair. Our hearts remain fundamentally unsettled, left longing. Why is that? I maintain that it's because we have totally misunderstood what life is actually all about. 

From what we know in Genesis, we know that God looked out into the void and spoke creation into existence. What was He after? Was He performing a powerful, cosmetic demonstration? No. He was designing something very specific, very creative to Him. God desired a relationship. He was creating all of this to be in a relationship with His created beings that would reflect Him. 

We were created in the image of God. 

Life requires a relationship with the Creator to function because Himself is life. He's the source of our life. 

Satan doesn't just simply want to inconvenience your life. He wants to sever your relationship with God. 

• Example of Job

The enemy uses independence and isolation and to convince you that you can govern your own existence. It's an amb...

Jo: The demands of family life are constant. 

The Word is not getting through. It's there, but it's not getting through. And, we wonder: How in the world do we cultivate a deep spiritual life, when we can barely find five minutes. 

Notice what the tree does. The fruit is visible. The branches they reach outward. The roots that feed every single leaf, they are completely unseen, buried deep underneath the surface of the soil. 

Spiritual depth in the Christian home does not come from the grand, theatrical gestures. ... It's built on the hidden, quiet, faithful everyday moments.

What life practically looks like when we remain in Christ -- How do you keep your family rooted in truth? How do you ensure that the seed of the Word is not choked out by the cares and circumstances of life? How do you embrace the high calling of motherhood, grandmotherhood? Even in the small things to be faithful one step at a time

Sydney: What does it look like to stay abiding in the everyday, with the mess...

Looking around, our nation needs healing. We need to be made whole again. The enemy always works to divide. The answer for division is unity. But God wants to heal us. 

Today, I want to talk with you about healing and the point where true healing begins -- for an individual, for a nation -- fellowship. The pathway to healing is through fellowship. 

I'm talking about a gathering at the church where we're broken on the altar and we see our hearts the way God sees us -- the way God saw us when He allowed Jesus, His Son, to go to the cross for our transgressions. 

How does that healing take place? And how do we get there through fellowship?

• Transgressions is for outright rebellion against God. 
• Stripes or wounds is translated fellowship.
  • By His fellowship, we are healed. By coming into fellowship with Jesus, it will bring healing. 

So how do we heal a nation? How do we put us back together?

Our nation must come back into fellowship With God. We were (are) to keep the chur...

How do you handle frustrating moment or frustrating people that steal your joy? And in the middle of that frustration, you sin. You respond in a way that you know is not honoring to God. 

Three steps to victory over these encounters

1) Intentionally stop and take a deep breath

God is looking at us. He wants us to overcome these moments. He wants us to walk with such joy in our lives that it's an overflowing testimony of the goodness of God. 

Be intentional, when you feel the temptation coming on or in the midst of the struggle, stop what you're doing and take a deep breath. 

2) Acknowledge what's really going on -- what the Holy Spirit is speaking to you at the moment. Call it whatever God calls it. Agree with God. Confess it. 

It may be someone else that started it. It may be something else out of your control. Your response to it -- that's what you want to take responsibility for. That's what you want as the leading of the Holy Spirit. That's what you want to confess.

"God, th...