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{\b\fs48 Episode 1540: Springs of Living Water\b0}

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{\b\cf1 Scott Maderer:\b0}

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{ Thanks for joining me on episode 1,540 of the Inspired Stewardship Podcast. }

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{\b\cf3 Leo Marte:\b0}

{ I'm Leo Marte. I challenge you to invest in yourself, invest in others, develop your influence and impact the world by using your time, your talent, and your treasures to live out your calling, having the ability to work to transfer more than just money.}

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{Values is key, and one way to be inspired to do that is to listen to this, the Inspired Stewardship podcast with my friend Scott Maderer.}

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{\b\cf1 Scott Maderer:\b0}

{ It's about setting up an us versus them instead of a, we are all in this together and we don't deserve the grace that God is giving us. How can we find ways to work together to make the world better }

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{ rather than tear it down? Welcome and thank you for joining us on the Inspired Stewardship Podcast. If you truly desire to become the person who God wants you to be, then you must learn to use your time, your talent, and your treasures for your true calling in the Inspired Stewardship Podcast who will learn to invest in yourself.}

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{Invest in others and develop your influence so that you can impact the world.}

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{In today's spiritual foundation episode, I talk about Revelation chapter seven, verses nine through 17. I share how the message of justice isn't about the future, but also about now. Also share how this includes recognizing our own privilege and place. Revelation chapter seven, verses nine through 17 says, after this I looked and there was a }

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{ great multitude that no one could count from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages.}

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{Standing before the throne and before the lamb robed in white with palm branches in their hands cried out in a loud voice saying, salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne and to the lamb. And all the angels stood around the throne and around the elders of the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God singing, amen.}

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{Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power, and might be to our God forever and ever. Amen. Then one of the elders addressed me saying, who are these robed in white and where have they come from? And I said to him, sir, you are the one who knows. Then he said to me, these are they who have come out of the great ordeal.}

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{They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the lamb. For this reason, they are before the throne of God and worship him day and night within his temple. And the one who is seated on the throne will shelter them. }

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{ They will hunger no more and thirst no more. The son will not strike them, nor any scorching.}

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{Heat for the lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd and he will guide them to springs of water and life. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. I've been involved over the years in a lot of travel to different places internationally and different mission trips and things like that, and I've supported other missionaries and other projects in the developing nations.}

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{As well as here in the United States with things that are happening around here, and I've seen things like climate change as a real actual thing that is happening in the world. I. And how the work that we do and the behaviors that we have and the places that we live and the ways that we live contribute to that change, and how yet it affects parts of the world that }

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{ often are much poorer and are not directly contributing, at least in the same amounts to the same problem.}

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{I've seen how women and men are affected by war and disaster, and how oftentimes there's a great struggle to survive after a natural disaster like a CIR cyclone or a hurricane, or a monsoon, and all of these things I'm reminded of when I read this passage from Revelation. How this passage talks about a message of hope and redemption in the future, not just of justice, but in this case, even that of being protected from the environment, from hunger, from thirst, from heat, all of these things that create stress and strain on us living in the world, the harsh environment that we're }

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{ surrounded with.}

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{But I'm also reminded that this passage about never again will they hunger. Never again will they thirst. I don't think it's just about what should happen in some sort of far off future world, some sort of idealized afterlife. But instead, I think it's also a call to action today for us that have privilege in place to recognize that we have privilege in place, that we have things that we have access to, that others do not, and that we begin to look for ways to bring justice and equality and lift people up.}

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{How diversity and community is not a weakness, but rather. Is a sign of inclusivity and unity that the white robes in this passage are about purity and victory over adversity. This seems to be about racial }

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{ inequality and ecological inequality and justice that comes after that, that these disparities where affluent nations contribute to climate change while impoverished nations suffer from it.}

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{Is not fair to look at these and recognize that we are called to work together, not to lower what happens to everyone else. Not to raise everyone else up to the same exact thing, but to find a way that we could live in peace and harmony with each other and with the world. That's the kingdom of God that we're being called to.}

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{And so all too often I see what happens today in the news is instead this lashing out at difference is bad, diversity is bad, that inclusivity is bad, that somehow that's a weak message. I see a }

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{ pushback against what I see as the message of Christ for peace and justice and grace, and instead, I see anger and hatred.}

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{I. And fear and pain, and out of those things, those are not fruits of the spirit. Those are not things that God is calling for us to live in, and it makes me wonder how we can see the world the way it is, and instead of being called to action to change it for the better. We seem to be called to hold on tightly to the privilege that we have and fight and make sure that no one else gets anything because we are the only ones that should benefit.}

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{Instead of aligning ourselves with the promise of restoration and justice described here, we seem to fight against it. And say that there is no justice, there }

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{ is no restoration. Instead, it's about tearing down others and pushing people away. It's about setting up an us versus them instead of a, we are all in this to together and we don't deserve the grace that God is giving us.}

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{How can we find ways to work together to make the world better? Rather than tear it down. Thanks for listening.}

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{Thanks so much for listening to the Inspired Stewardship Podcast. As a subscriber and listener, we challenge you to not just sit back and passively listen, but act on what you've heard and find a way to live your calling. If you enjoyed this episode, do me a favor. Go over to facebook.com/inspired }

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{ stewardship and like our Facebook page and market that you'd like to get notifications from us so that we can connect with you on Facebook and make sure that we're serving you to the best of our abilities with time and tips there.}

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{Until next time, invest your time. Your talent and your treasures. Develop your influence and impact the world.}

}