Latest / In the Stillness Podcast / Are You Ready for Your King?

Transcript

Are You Ready for Your King? · In the Stillness Podcast

• 0:00
  What's up everyone, it's friendly.
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  Happy Saturday. Welcome to another episode on
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  the podcast, y'all. I am not gonna lie, I feel like
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  this is a very, very important episode and I'm realizing that I
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  don't think the enemy wants me to share this because there have
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  been several distractions, umm, one being my dog, like coming
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  and barking and just keeping me from recording this.
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  And so this is my take 3. So I just really want us to
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  listen in and not miss what the Lord is trying to teach us this
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  morning. We are going to be continuing in
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  Matthew chapter 24 and this is the final part of breaking this
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  chapter up into the three episodes.
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  There has been so much speculation and curiosity as we
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  see among the disciples surrounding Jesus's return.
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  And of course, we have that today as we inch closer to his
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  return. But Jesus himself is bringing us
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  back to the bottom line. We don't know when He's coming
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  back, and we're not supposed to. So with that, let's go ahead and
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  dive into verses 36 through 51. I'm going to skip a few verses
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  in the middle just to save some time 'cause I have a lot here
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  that I want to say, but I'm going to give y'all the meat and
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  the good chunk of it concerning that day, an exact hour.
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  No one knows when it will arrive, not even the angels of
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  heaven. Only the Father knows, for it
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  will be like it was in the days of Noah when the Son of Man
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  appears. Before the flood, people lived
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  their lives eating, drinking, marrying, and having children.
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  They didn't realize the end was near until Noah entered the ark
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  and then suddenly the flood came and took them all away in
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  judgment. It will happen the same way when
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  the Son of Man appears. OK, skipping a few verses, but
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  realize this. If a homeowner had known what
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  time of night the burglar would come to rob his house, he would
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  have been alert and ready and not let his house be robbed.
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  So always be ready, alert and prepared because at an hour when
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  you're not expecting him, the Son of Man will come.
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  What would qualify A servant to manage his master's house?
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  He would be a wise servant who is both faithful and dependable.
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  The master would Commission him to oversee others, for he would
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  lead them well and give them food at the right time.
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  What joy and blessing will come to that faithful servant when
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  the master comes home to find him serving with excellence, I
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  can promise you the master will raise him up and put him in
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  charge of all that he owns. But the evil servant says in his
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  heart, My master delays his coming, and who knows when he
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  will return? And because of the delay, the
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  servant mistreats those in his master's household.
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  Instead of caring for the ones he was appointed to serve, he
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  abuses the other servants and begins to party with drunkards.
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  Let me tell you what will happen to him.
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  His master will suddenly return unexpectedly, and he will remove
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  the abusive, selfish servant from his position of trust, and
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  the master will cut him in two and assign him to the place of
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  great sorrow and anguish along with all the other hypocrites.
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  Another translation says where there will be weeping and
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  gnashing of teeth. So bam, that ends abruptly and
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  harshly. But what stands out immediately
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  to me is how normal life looks before Jesus returns.
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  We see in this passage he's talking about the days of Noah.
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  There was eating and drinking, hosting.
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  There were weddings and celebrations, just ordinary
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  routines. Now, nothing about those things
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  were necessarily simple. But the danger is being so
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  absorbed in everyday life that we become spiritually asleep.
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  And Jesus makes it clear nobody knows the day or the hour, only
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  the Father. But that's intentional, because
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  think about it, if we knew the exact time that Jesus was
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  returning, how tempting would it be to continue in sin until the
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  last minute? Or to slow down spiritually and
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  then scramble at the end? So it looks like we were
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  faithful. Instead, God is calling us to a
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  life of consistent readiness. Yes, we are told to store up
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  treasures in heaven. Matthew 619.
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  We are not to find our worth in our work or worldly pleasures.
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  But remember that heaven is not just the end goal.
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  Because y'all as long as we have breath in our lungs and a
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  beating heart. God woke you up this morning for
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  a reason. And your physical body.
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  It's on this earth to glorify God through the work that He has
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  given you. So you don't just do the bare
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  minimum. You don't have to follow Jesus.
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  You get to follow Jesus. We know works do not save us.
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  We are saved by grace through faith.
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  Ephesians 28 But our works are evidence and proof of that
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  genuine faith. They're fruit if you truly want
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  to honor your master, like the faithful servant in this
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  passage, if you really do want to honor God, you work
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  diligently with integrity, with perseverance.
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  You don't stop when it gets hard or when you don't feel like
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  doing it because you want to please Him and you want to be
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  trusted with more. Y'all, our work is a reflection
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  of how we actually view Jesus. I like to think about it in this
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  scenario. OK, so for Christmas if I'm
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  getting my mom or my dad a Christmas gift, I don't rush
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  that or put no thought into it. I plan for it.
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  I'm intentional because I care that they like the gift.
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  They they actually want it. And our life is our gift unto
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  the Lord. How you steward your time, your
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  relationships and friendships, opportunities that the Lord
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  gives you, and ultimately his breath in your lungs.
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  And this doesn't stop with believers.
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  We're not just to serve the church.
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  We're called to love and care for those outside the faith too.
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  All of his creation matters. Jesus says Matthew 516, let your
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  light shine before others that they may see your good works and
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  glorify your Father in heaven. So our reminder to stay
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  spiritually alert is so significant too.
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  Jesus uses the example of a robber, and that's not just
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  symbolic because guys, we have an active robber in our lives
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  today, our enemy Satan. He prowls around you.
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  He studies your habits. That's what prowling is
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  referring to. He's looking at your routines,
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  your weak spots, and he is waiting for you to relax, to get
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  careless and to lower your guard so that he can attack.
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  So I just want to stop and ask ourselves, are we bolting the
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  door shut? Are we setting our alarms
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  spiritually? And if the enemy tried to get
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  in, would you notice? Would your alarm go off?
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  My family, we set our house alarm every night before bed.
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  And we're not just assuming danger, we're preparing for it
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  because it says in Scripture we will face temptation and walking
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  daily by the Holy Spirit's leading.
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  It makes you more sensitive and it makes you more aware.
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  But the enemy, he's always working against God.
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  He wants the opposite. He wants distraction and
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  numbness and compromise. So the urgency here, the final
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  call that Jesus is giving us, his return, his second coming,
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  it's going to be sudden and it's going to be swift.
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  He doesn't say he might come when you don't expect him, He
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  says that he will. So don't wait until the last
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  minute. Don't bet on last minute
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  repentance. The delay of Jesus return.
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  It's not permission to procrastinate.
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  It's actually God's great overwhelming mercy.
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  Scripture tells us second, second Peter 39 that the Lord is
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  patient, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to
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  repentance and y'all we're without excuse like I we cannot
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  sugarcoat the truth anymore. This is too serious to sugarcoat
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  it's life or death for eternity. We have been given God's Word,
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  the Spirit of truth, access to wisdom, and God even tells us.
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  James 15. James says if you ask for
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  wisdom, God will give it to you generously.
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  He freely offers more. So here's the part that hit me
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  personally, and maybe it'll hit you too.
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  Scripture never says to start following God when life gets
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  less busy. It doesn't say to wait until
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  after college when you get your fun years out of the way first
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  or when you have more time and you're not running around with
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  little kids. Obedience is not scheduled for a
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  more convenient season. So I just want us to ask
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  ourselves honestly, if Jesus came back right now, would he
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  find you faithfully, consistently, and diligently
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  doing what He has assigned you to do?
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  And this is not just in public for others to see.
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  It's not only in a morning devotional when you wake up, but
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  all throughout the day at 3:00 PM, in the afternoon at 9:00 PM,
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  when you're alone in what you're watching and what you're
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  listening to and allowing to shape you, the people you're
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  letting speak into your life. And here's just some final
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  reflection questions to ask the Lord to minister to your heart
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  and reveal things to you too. Number one, am I living with
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  daily readiness or spiritual procrastination?
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  Two, does my work reflect a heart that truly honors Jesus?
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  And three, are there areas where I'm delaying obedience instead
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  of responding right now? So let's go ahead and move into
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  prayer really quick. Dear Jesus, we don't want to
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  procrastinate. We do not want to delay
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  obedience or avoid the calling that you've placed on our lives.
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  Would you forgive us for waiting for convenience or less busyness
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  or more comfort before fully going all in for you and
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  following you? Teach us to live ready, Jesus,
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  not out of fear, but out of love.
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  Would you help us to steward our time and our work day-to-day,
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  our relationships, opportunities with faithfulness and with
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  integrity? Like the faithful, dependable
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  servant in the passage, strengthen us by your Spirit to
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  stay alert and diligent until you return.
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  Jesus, we want you to find us ready, waiting for you, pure and
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  holy as your children. God, we ask this all in your
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  name, Jesus. Amen.
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  OK, well I hope you all have a wonderful rest of your weekend.
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  This one was just such a great reminder for me and I hope it
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  was for y'all too. And I will see you on the next
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  episode.