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The Camels Are Coming · Sermon Podcast at Cartersville1st

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If you have your Bible going to make your way to Genesis chapter
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24, we are at the conclusion of five months of walking through
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12 of the chapters of this first book of the Bible as we have
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sought to see what it has to say about answering God's call on
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our lives. And each one of us, every single
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one of us has a call from God on our lives.
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This chapter of the Bible has a special place in my heart
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because as a junior high and high school student, I would go
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on a mission trip with my student group, youth group every
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summer. We called it our mission tour.
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We had two giant charter buses and we'd load up and go to
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somewhere in the country. And the plan was we'd always be
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prepared for this, but we would break up and do backyard Bible
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clubs, basically vacation Bible school for a couple 3 hours a
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day in various parts of the city or a community.
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Then we'd be inviting people back for revival services at a
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local church. We'd be partnered with and we as
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a youth had practiced in youth choir and we'd be the ones
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leading the singing and the worship.
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And then we'd have a usually a pastor, a preacher that would
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travel with us and he'd preach the revival services.
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And I'll never forget the most famous message that one of those
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preachers had was out of Genesis 24.
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The camels are coming. I have no idea what the sermon
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said, but I just remember the title.
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All right, so my hope and prayers, you remember more than
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just the title, but that's where it comes from.
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And that man is a faithful preacher and pastor to this day.
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We've been watching Abraham as a living example of what it means
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to say yes to God's call on his life over and over again.
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Case in point. And this text of Genesis 24 is
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another specific example of why it is so vitally important for
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you and for me to say yes to God's call on our lives.
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In fact, here's what we're going to learn today.
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I'm just going to tell it to you up front.
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I hope to say it over and over again.
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If somebody asks you, hey, what's your pastor preach about?
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This is what I want you to say. Are you ready?
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It's going to take a few times for you to get it.
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It's longer than I want it to be, but here it is.
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You ready? When you say yes to God's call,
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you get God's plan, and God works powerfully for those who
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want His plan. When you say yes to God's call,
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you're going to get God's plan, and God works powerfully for
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those who want his plan. Listen to chapter 24, beginning
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in verse one through verse 9. Now Abraham was old, well
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advanced in years, and the Lord had blessed Abraham in all
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things. And Abraham said to his servant,
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the oldest of his household, who had charge of all that he had.
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Put your hand under my thigh, that I may make you swear by the
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Lord the God of heaven and God of the earth, that you will not
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take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites
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among whom I dwell, but will go to my country and to my kindred,
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and take a wife for my son. Isaac, the servant said to him,
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Perhaps the woman may not be willing to follow me to this
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land. Must I then take your son back
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to the land from which you came? Abraham said to him, See to it
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that you do not take my son back there.
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The Lord the God of heaven, who took me from my father's house
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and from the land of my kindred, and who spoke to me and swore to
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me, to your offspring I will give this land.
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He will send his Angel before you, and you shall take a wife
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from my son for my son from there.
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But if the woman is not willing to follow you, then you will be
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free from this oath of mine. Only you must not take my son
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back there. So the servant put his hand
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under the thigh of Abraham, his master, and swore to him
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concerning this matter. Abraham is old, about 140 years
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old, and he's also a widower. And after losing his wife,
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Sarah, Abraham has continued to stay the course of following
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God's call on his life. One day it's as if Abraham wakes
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up and realizes that life is really no longer about him.
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He's not long for this world. His race is soon to be run.
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You could say he's about to be before long with his Savior
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Jesus. And it's as if he it's as if he
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realizes one day, and he looks down in his hand and it's as if
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he realizes God has put a baton in my hand.
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It's no longer about me, but this baton from God is the
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responsibility to pass to the next generation, the call to be
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faithful to God's will and God's promises in their lives, the
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responsibility to pass on the call of God to the next
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generation. In this particular situation, if
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the baton is going to be successfully passed, then
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Abraham is going to have to have a wife.
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In other words, remember all the promises that God has given to
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Abraham of land, name, nation, offspring, blessing to them, and
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then through them to all the nations of the earth that that's
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going to happen. Then Isaac is going to have to
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have a wife and listen to this parents.
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At this point in time, in these days, that responsibility was
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not Isaac's, that was Abraham's. Wouldn't that be nice if we just
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had the responsibility to pick out for our children the right
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one to marry? Things might go a little
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smoother, I'm not sure, but there you go.
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This is Abraham's role now that Sarah is gone, and therefore
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Abraham gives his oldest and most trusted servant very
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specific instructions. Do not take a wife for my son
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from the locals. Why?
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Well, just a little blast from the past.
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Do you remember how that worked out For a lot?
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Not so. Well, why not?
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Why not from the locals? Because they aren't passing down
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the same baton that Abraham has been charged to pass down.
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They don't worship the same God. They've not responded to the
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same call. They're not living for the same
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reasons that Abraham is living for.
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So don't take a wife from the locals.
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Then he says, return to my home country.
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That's like 520 miles to the north, about a 21 day trip.
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He says, find a wife for my son Isaac from my kindred from my
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hometown. The servant realizes he's been
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given a tall task. I want you to just how tall this
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task was. Listen closely.
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Take a trip, two months round trip.
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Show up unannounced. Find a suitable woman from one
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family. Propose on behalf of Isaac, a
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man this woman will have never met.
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Get her to agree to move immediately to a faraway
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country. This man's been asked to scout,
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date, talk with the father, propose, and return with the
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woman all in one trip. He asked the question you would
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have asked had you been in his shoes.
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What if she says no? What if she says no?
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What if she won't go? What if she won't come with me?
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Should I then take Isaac back there and then?
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What does Abraham say? Swiftly and quickly?
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Absolutely not. That would drop the baton.
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Do not take my son back there. Whatever you do, notice what
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Abraham says and notice the confidence with which Abraham
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says it. Verse 7 The Lord, the God of
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heaven, who took me from my father's house and from the land
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of my kindred, and who spoke to me and swore to me, to your
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offspring I will give this land. He will send his Angel before
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you, and you shall. Who shall take a wife for my son
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Isaac. From there he's saying, God,
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who's been faithful to me is going to be faithful to you, and
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it's going to be faithful to my son.
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You see, when you say yes to God's call, you get God's plan
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and God powerfully works for those who want his plan.
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Verse 8, Abraham says, hey, just in case to ease your mind.
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If not, if she says no, you'll be free from this oath.
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Praise God. They make the oath there, and
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they do it in a strange sort of way.
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Praise God. We just shake hands or sign the
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dotted line today. That's all I'm saying about
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that. All right.
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The deal here, though, is the intentional responsibility that
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Abraham is taking to prepare the next generation to be in a
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position to say yes to God's call on their life, specifically
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his son Isaac. You see, the call of God always
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comes with the baton. That is a responsibility to
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ensure the next generation receives from you, receives from
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us, what they need to be in position to say yes to the call
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of God on their lives. One of the temptations though
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that we face as we get older, I think is to sometimes get more
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internally focused than externally focused.
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One of the temptations we face is to get more self preservation
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focused than baton passing focus.
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We tend to seek more comfort and less sacrifice.
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Let me just ask you a question. What are you doing as we speak
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to pass the baton to the people in your life that you know are
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going to be in position that they need to be ready to say yes
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to God's call on their lives when it comes?
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I saw a little post on the Internet made by a pastor that
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I'm aware of. That's just kind of a, it's
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somewhat of a silly, but not really, but it's just a tiny,
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itsy bitsy way that this could come to fruition in our lives.
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Just a practical little random may seem random, but I thought,
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man, this is great. This is baton passing right
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here. And all he, all he said was
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this. Hey dads, how many of you would
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take up the challenge with me for one month, read a proverb a
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day with your son and then do 50 push ups every day.
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A proverb for a day and 50 push ups.
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How many are you are in? That's just a simple way to pass
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the baton to ensure that your son hears the word of God,
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learns how to read it for himself.
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Write just simple things that we can do.
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What are you doing to pass the baton to the next generation?
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Let's pick up in verse 10 of chapter 24.
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Then the servant took ten of his master's camels and departed,
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taking all sorts of choice gifts from his master.
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And he arose and he went to Mesopotamia, to the city of
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Nahor. And he made the camels kneel
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down outside the city by the well of water at the time of
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evening, the time when women go out to draw water.
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And he said, O Lord God of my master Abraham, please grant me
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success today and show steadfast love to my master Abraham.
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Behold, I am standing by the spring of water, and the
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daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water.
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Let the young woman to whom I shall say, Please let down your
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jar, that I may drink, and who shall say, drink, and I will
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water your camels. Let her be the one whom you have
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appointed for your servant, Isaac.
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By this I shall know that you have shown steadfast love to my
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master. Before he had finished speaking,
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behold, Rebecca, who was born to Bethuel, the son of Milka, the
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wife of Nahor, Abraham's brother, came out with her water
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jar on her shoulder. The young woman was very
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attractive in appearance, a maiden whom no man had known.
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She went down to the spring and filled her jar and came up.
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Then the servant ran to meet her and said, Please give me a
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little water to drink from your jar.
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She said, drink, my Lord, and she quickly let down her jar
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upon her hand and gave him a drink.
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And when she had finished giving him a drink, she said, I will
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draw water for your camels also until they have finished
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drinking. So she quickly emptied her jar
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into the through and ran again to to the well to draw water and
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she drew for all his camels. The man gazed at her in silence
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to learn whether the Lord had prospered his journey or not.
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When the camels had finished drinking, the man took a gold
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ring weighing 1/2 a shekel, 2 bracelets for her arms weighing
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10 gold shekels and said, Please tell me whose daughter you are?
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Is there room in your father's house for us to spend the night?
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She said to him, I am the daughter of Bethuel, the son of
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Milka, who she bore to Nahor. She added, we have plenty of
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straw, both straw and fodder, and room to spend the night.
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The man bowed his head and worship the Lord, and said,
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Blessed be the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not
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forsaken his steadfast love and his faithfulness toward my
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master. And As for me, the Lord has led
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me in this way to the House of my master's kinsmen.
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And then the young woman ran and told her mother's household
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about these things. The trip of 10 camels was quite
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an entourage. During this day and time, camels
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domesticated camels in their use was only a symbol and only
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something in the possession of the wealthy and the socially
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prominent. The equivalent of an entourage
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of 10 camels would be if you were to travel today somewhere
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on I-75 and be forced to pull over because an entourage of 10
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Black SU VS fronted and reared with flash flashing lights
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taking up all four lanes forced all other traffic to the side.
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That's the kind of impression this entourage would have made.
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Abraham is after trying to make a good first impression for his
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son Isaac upon their arrival. The 10 camels need refueling.
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They're thirsty, right? So they need water.
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The servant knows the women are going to come to the well during
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the evening, during the cool of the day, to refill their water
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jars and make the trip back home.
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And this is the perfect place to scout and to refuel.
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And it's there that the servant praised this prayer.
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Did you notice it? He basically says, God, you've
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been faithful to my servant Abraham, to my master Abraham.
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Rather, I'm asking you today to give me success.
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God, would you show steadfast love?
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I know that's who you are. I know that's what you do God,
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I'm seeking you for success and then God hears the plan.
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Let this let this work. God, I'm putting a plan forward.
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I'm going to ask a woman for a drink and God, if she's the one,
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let her also not just give me a drink, but let her water offer
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to water the camels as well. You know, what the servant is
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doing here is exemplary in that this guy is going about his
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call, his assignment, by seeking the success that only the Lord
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can give. What he understands is, is that
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God already has a wife picked out for Isaac.
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He's not gone on this trip to be the one to do the finding.
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God's already done the finding. He's going to go do the
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discovering. Do you follow me?
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And this is a perfect example of the difference between the way
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most people do life. You see, the way most people do
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life is that they're really out there trying to get it done on
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their own, in their own effort, in their own intelligence and
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their own hard work, by the sweat of their brow or their
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bootstraps. They're just trying to get a
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break, to get a little luck, to do their best, hoping things
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work out, to try to on their own, make a plan and hopefully
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things will come together. And yet that's not the way God
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calls Christians to live. God caused Christians to wake up
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every day. And it's not about what we can
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do. It's not about what we have.
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It's not about our gifts and abilities.
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God's given us all those things. And those are wonderful things.
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But for the Christian, it's everyday about daily
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surrendering one's life and living and everything you got to
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Jesus and say, Jesus, I know you have a plan for today.
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God, I know you have a purpose for me today.
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God, I know you already have planned in advance the places
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you want me to live, the places you want me to go, the schools
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you want me to attend, the person you want me to marry, the
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house you want us to buy, the job you want me to take.
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God, you've got the things in advance plan for me.
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You have a call for my life and God, today I'm not.
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After they're trying to put it all together myself.
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I figure it all out myself. God, I'm asking you for success
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in your plan. God, show me the way.
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I belong to you. I want to live your plan.
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You see, when we say yes to God's plan, yes to God's call,
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we get what we get, God's plan, and then God works powerfully
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for those who want His plan. This is what's unfolding here
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before our eyes. You see, based on who He knows
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God is, based on the fact he knows God has a plan, He's
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asking God for success, and he's asking God to confirm with a
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sign of success. And what I love here is the
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conditions of the plan seem to indicate the kind of woman that
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he would be seeking and that he would know God would have
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selected for Isaac. Now, let me be specific.
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Are you ready #1? He says, Lord, I'm looking for a
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woman who's kind and gracious enough to grant my request for a
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drink of water. Let's put it like this.
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He's looking for a woman who's kind.
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Let me just give you hint, hint to young people in the room.
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You're looking for a spouse who is kind.
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You get one who is unkind and you're in trouble #2 he's
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looking for a woman who's willing to go the extra mile to
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meet the needs of those around her.
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Notice here that he's looking for someone that's not just
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going to allow him to have a drink, but it's going to offer
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outside of him asking to offer to water the camel.
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So we're looking not only for a woman who is kind, we're looking
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for a woman who is generous. Young people, listen to me.
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You're looking for a spouse who's not just kind, but you're
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looking for one who is generous. You get one who's selfish,
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you're in trouble #3 a woman, he says, that is willing to work
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hard. Why would we say that?
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Because I want you to hear a little camel ology that I'm
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going to give you about what he's just asked.
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Are you ready? Watering 10 camels?
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They say the average water jar that a woman would have carried
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to the well during this day would have held about 3 gallons
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of water. And then they say that camels,
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after a long trip with no water, can drink up to 25 gallons each
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at the gas pump. Do the math 3 into 250 means
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over 83 trips to the well to the through.
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The Bible says she did it until the camels quit drinking.
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Ladies and gentlemen, he was looking for a woman willing to
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work hard. Let me tell you, young people,
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listen to me. You're looking for a spouse
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who's kind, who is generous, and one who has watched this, not
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lazy. You marry a lazy person, you're
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in even bigger trouble. Just mark it down.
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You're looking for that kind of person.
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What's God going to do? Will God be faithful to provide?
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Will He answer the servant's prayer?
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He's been faithful all these years to Abraham.
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Is he going to continue to be faithful?
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Listen to verse 15. Before he had finished speaking,
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praying. Behold, you know who Rebecca
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shows up. God doesn't answer all our
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prayers immediately, but sometimes he, sometimes He does.
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Amen. Just like that, before he'd even
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gotten the prayer out of his mouth, God provides again.
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When you say yes to God's call, you get what you get.
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God's plan and God powerfully works for those who want His
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plan. Rebecca is the granddaughter of
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Abraham's brother Nahor. She steps out, water jar on her
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shoulder. Could she be the one?
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The Bible says not only is she beautiful, but she has saved
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herself for marriage. Young people, please do the
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same. You'll save yourself trouble and
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heartache if you'll do the same. She fills her water jar and the
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servant makes his move. I can't help but think the
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servant is a little aggressive right here because it says he
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doesn't walk up to this lady. Kind of nonchalant.
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Hey, we've never met, can I introduce myself?
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He runs up to this woman, it's like first one on the scene.
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God, let's go for it. He runs up to her, rolls out the
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plan, ask for a drink. Sure enough she says yes and
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then offers to water the camels. And this is the jaw on the floor
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moment. He's looking at her right,
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wondering what in the world this is amazing.
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God, could just could she be the one?
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Could she be? He doesn't even know her name
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yet. He doesn't even know she's from
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the right family yet. And he's busted out the jewels
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about the average value of like an average year's salary. 2 gold
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bracelets, a gold ring, He's acting in faith, going on God at
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this point and then she communicates her identity and
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her family and he drops to his knees to worship God.
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The second thing in your notes, if I skip the first one, the
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first one was the call of God comes with the baton.
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The call of God always comes with the baton.
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But the second one is this is the call of God includes seeking
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God for success. The call of God includes seeking
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God. What what am I trying to what
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I'm trying to say there is that success truly only comes from
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God, but it requires seeking God for it.
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We have not because we ask not one of my favorite proverbs,
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this Proverbs chapter 2, verse seven.
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I love this. I mean, this will blow your
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mind. He stores up that he is God.
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He stores up success for the upright.
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God's got silos in heaven storing up success, storing up
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wins for those who walk uprightly for with him, those
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who seek His will and say yes to his call.
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God wants us to win in his plan. He wants to work powerfully on
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our behalf for His will to be realized in our life.
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He's literally stores up success.
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And that's what he's giving here.
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The godly realize that any and all true success in life
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ultimately and only comes from God.
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And it's been said that success inflates the ego of the worldly,
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but it humbles the godly because the godly realize where that
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success comes from. And it's not from them.
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It's ultimately not from their blood, sweat, and tears.
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Even though God asks you to give it, it's ultimately not from
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your intelligence. Even though God has given you
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it, ultimately it comes from God.
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This is why the servant reacts the way he does, because he is
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giving credit where credit is due.
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Y'all. Genesis 24 is a living,
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breathing illustration of a verse you know well.
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Proverbs 3, five and six, it says trust in the Lord with what
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all your heart lean not in your own understanding.
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Even though God's given us a level of understanding, but He's
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asked us not to lean in ultimately on it, but trust Him
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with all of our heart. Acknowledge Him in all of ways.
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In other words, ask God for success that only He can give in
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all of our ways, and then what? Then He'll make your pass
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straight. Now sometimes that means
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straight through the hardest thing you've ever experienced in
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your life, but you wouldn't want to be on any other path.
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Then you'll know. Then you'll confirm.
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Then he'll empower you to be in his exact place and plan of your
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that he's designed for your life.
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Y'all. I'm going to summarize verses 29
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through 51. But next thing you know, Rebecca
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is running to her family with the news and they see her
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running and they come running towards her.
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Laban, her brother, meets her in the middle and then the servants
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not far behind and they then offer the servant incredible
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hospitality and they sit food set food in front of him.
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But he says, listen, I can't eat a bite until I use my mouth to
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tell you exactly a story that you wouldn't believe.
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But what I why I've come and the assignment that I'm on.
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I got to tell you something you wouldn't believe.
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I want you to hear it detail by detail.
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And he walks into the plan about Abraham's blessing and God's
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blessing on his life and the confidence Abraham had in
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sending him and then the plan at the well and then it going down
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exactly like he had asked just just just like that.
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The first person he sees and the response after he pops the
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question for real to the family is in verse 50 through 51.
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It says the thing has come from the Lord.
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We can't speak good or bad. Why?
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Because the Lord has spoken. Behold, Rebecca is before you,
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take her and go and let her be the wife of your master's son.
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As the Lord has spoken #3 the call of God comes with the
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Providence of God. You say, Pastor Kyle, what in
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the world does that mean? Let me tell you what that means.
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It is the all knowing, all powerful, always present,
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unstoppable hand of God that enables the plan of God to
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happen in our lives no matter what.
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When we say yes to God's call, when we say yes, when you're in
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the middle of God's call, there's nothing able to stop.
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Who can stand against the Lord? If God is for us, who could be
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against this? No weapon formed against you
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shall prosper. When you've said yes to the call
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of God in your life, there's nothing that can stop God
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powerfully working on your behalf when you've said yes.
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This is the reality of Matthew 633, that Jesus says if you'll
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seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, guess
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what, all these other things will be added unto you.
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That doesn't mean you'll have everything you want.
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That just means every other part to the tiniest detail of God's
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plan for your life and what you need is going to be provided
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providentially. If you just put first Jesus and
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His plan, God's going to take care of the rest.
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Say yes to God's call on your life.
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Then you get God's plan and then God's power working powerfully
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in your life for that plan to be realized.
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Now I'm going to read verse 52 through 61.
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Follow along with me. When Abraham's servant heard
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their words, he bowed himself to the earth before the Lord.
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And the servant brought out jewelry of silver and of gold
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and garments, and gave them to Rebecca.
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He also gave to her brother and to her mother costly ornaments.
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And he and the men who are with him ate and drank, and they
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spent the night there. When they arose in the morning,
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he said, Send me away to my master.
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Her brother and her mother said, let the young woman remain with
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us a while, at least ten days after that she may go.
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But he said to them, do not delay me, since the Lord has
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prospered my way, send me a way that I may go to my master.
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They said, let us call the young woman and ask her.
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And they called Rebecca and said to her, Will you go with this
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man? She said, I will go.
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So they sent away Rebecca and their and their sister, and her
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nurse, and Abraham's servant and his men.
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And they blessed Rebecca and said to her, Our sister, may you
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become thousands of 10 thousands, and may your
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offspring possess the gate of those who hate him.
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And then Rebecca and her young women arose and rode on the
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camels and followed the man. Thus, the servant took Rebecca
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and went his way. As you can imagine, the servant
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is eager to return to Abraham, his master.
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I mean, right? Have you ever found that perfect
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Christmas gift that you just can't wait for the person that
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you found that Christmas gift for to open it up?
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You can't wait for Christmas to arrive.
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You can't wait to see their joy. You can't wait to to celebrate
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that with them. Rebecca's family, as you can
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imagine, is not quite as excited for them to leave, for obvious
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reasons. She's about to move a world
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away. It's not like they're going to
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see her in a few months at Christmas.
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Let me tell you the truth here. That's not always easy.
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But not everyone will celebrate the call of God on your life.
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Not everyone will celebrate the call of God on your life.
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There comes a point when the call of God is just between you
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and God. Mama can't help you.
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Daddy can't help you. Friend, brother, sister, best
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friend. Your pastor can't help you.
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There comes a point in time when God asked you and you alone to
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respond to him not mediated by anything else.
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Now looking to the opinion of anyone else what your answer
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will be, it's going to come down to between you and God.
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You have to decide for yourself. Rebecca here in the first part
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of verse 58, will you go with this man?
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Her family has witnessed the handiwork of God.
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They've already said this is of God.
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How can we speak against it? And yet overnight their feet got
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cold. Will Rebecca's feet get cold?
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Will she say yes? Will she walk down the aisle?
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Will she say yes to God's plan? So obvious plan for her life or
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not. Notice their words, 3 words in
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verse 58. I will go forth and finally, not
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finally, but forth in your notes is that the call of God will
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sometimes require faith to walk alone.
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The call of God on your life will sometimes require faith to
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walk alone, y'all? Rebecca did what her family did
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not want her to do. When they asked her, she didn't
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say Mama, what do you think brother, What do you think?
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She already knew what they thought.
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At that point it really didn't matter what their opinion was.
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What only mattered was whether or not she was going to be
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faithful to respond to the call of God on her life.
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Can you imagine the level of courage and faith it took for
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her to climb on that camel and go hundreds of miles away to a
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land she had never seen? To marry a man she had never
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met? But what she did know was that
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the handiwork of God was clear and she was asked to go about it
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by faith. Talk about a blind date.
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But let's be honest, the Bible says life for us as believers is
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a lot like a blind date to be lived not by sight, but by by
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faith. That's exactly what she says yes
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to. I will go y'all when she says
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that she not only puts herself in the smack middle of God's
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plan, that's going to help Isaac be in the smack middle of God's
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plan for him. That's going to help Israel be
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in God's plan and that's going to allow the plan of God to
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unfold even for the nation's is through this family.
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God would bring about the promise to bring about his son
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for all the nations of the earth.
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As I read Sarah's not but Rebecca's response here I will
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go. I can't just but help Fast
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forward and think about the response of Jesus the son of God
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to God the Father. When you think about that in the
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fullness of time, God would send his son because God so loved the
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world that whosoever would believe in him.
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The God so loved the word that he sent his one and only son.
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But I don't skip the part, that's pretty important there,
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that whosoever would believe in him should not perish, but have
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everlasting life. Can you imagine though?
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We don't have these 3 words exactly recorded.
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Can you just imagine though? Because we see this exemplified
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with Jesus on earth. Can you imagine Jesus the Son
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saying to God the Father, I will, I will go.
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And that same attitude he carried the night before.
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He was the night he's arrested in the garden.
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And again, all alone. The disciples, he'd ask to pray
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with him and for him, but guess what?
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They kept falling asleep. This was going to be between him
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and God the Father alone. He would say yes to the cross.
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He'd have to say yes alone. He'd have to walk a road alone,
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sweat drops of blood alone. Carry that wood by himself.
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Be hung there for you and for me, paying the price for our
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sin, going to the grave, all saying yes to the Father for
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your sake and for mine, so that one day we could too say yes to
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God's plan for our life. Jesus says I will go.
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Rebecca says I will go. Have you say it said I will God,
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I'll go. Have you said yes to God's plan,
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yes to God's call. When you do, you get his plan.
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And then God works powerfully for those who want His plan.
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Listen to the final verses beginning in verse 62.
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Now Isaac had returned from Beer Laharoy and was dwelling.
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And then the gib and Isaac went out to meditate in the field
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toward evening. And he lifted up his eyes and
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saw, and behold, there were camels coming.
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Rebecca lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, she
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dismounted from the camel and said to the servant, Who is that
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man walking in the field to meet us?
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The servant said, It is my master.
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So she took her veil and covered herself.
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And the servant told Isaac all the things that he had done.
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And then Isaac brought her into the tent of Sarah, his mother,
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and took Rebecca, and she became his wife and he loved her.
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So Isaac was comforted after his mother's death 500 miles to the
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South, obviously several days later, after the return trip had
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already commenced for for Rebecca.
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One particular evening, Isaac goes out to meditate in the
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field. I think you could read right
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past that, but it'd be a mistake.
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I want you to realize what Isaac is doing.
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Let me be more specific. Isaac goes out that evening to
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get alone with God. Isaac goes out that evening to
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have his quiet time. Isaac goes out that that evening
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to spend time with God in prayer.
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He goes out to get a loan to hear from God and to be with God
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and to grow in his relationship with God.
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I think this was something he was in the habit of daily doing.
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You see, you would too on this particular day if you knew your
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bride could show up that you never laid eyes on.
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And yet this is something I think you had a habit here of
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doing every day. And he was in position, right
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with his eyes on the Lord, walking with God and doing what
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he did every day. That put him in position to be
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the first one to see on the horizon coming, the one that God
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had provided for him as a bride #5 I want you to write this
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down. The call of God counts on
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getting alone with God. The call of God counts on
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getting alone with God. There was a famous French
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mathematician, physicist, inventor, philosopher by the
35:31
name of Blaise Pascal who said this.
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He said all of humanity's problems stem from man's
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inability to sit quietly in a room alone.
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Let me translate what he was saying.
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In other words, he says all our problems stem from our failure
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to be in and spend time in the presence of God alone.
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You see, it was Isaac's decision that day to get alone with God
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that positioned him to be the first one to witness the will of
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God unfolding in his life. If you don't hear anything else
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I say this morning, I want you. I want you to hear this.
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This one is so critical that the call of God in our lives depends
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on getting along with God so often, so often.
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More times than not, the thing that we need most, the answer
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that we're so desperate for. The answer to the question we
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need that we've been asking. The direction that we need to
36:38
go, the where we need to be. The how we need to do something
36:42
to the response or the next step that we're looking for.
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The crucial decision that's on the line, the whatever it is
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that we're facing next in life. More often than not, the answer
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can be found and found alone when you get a loan with God.
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When you like David says, where else does my help come from?
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My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.
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No wonder the Bible tells us to look to Jesus, the author and
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finisher of our faith, to keep our eyes on him.
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Isaac had gone out to put his eyes on God.
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Isaac didn't go chasing camels. We so often go chasing camels.
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God, I want this and God I want that and God, I want this.
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God, I'm going to be unhappy unless you do this, unless you
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do that and God, I need to know this.
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And we run to and fro, crazy and frantic when what we need to
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daily do, most of our problems are the result of simply not
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getting alone and listening to the only one who has the answer,
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who can give success, who has the plan if we'll just say yes,
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and who then will work powerfully on our behalf to see
37:48
it. And Isaac Simply put his eyes on
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God and guess what? The next thing he sees, the
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camel's coming. The call of God in our lives
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depends on a willingness to get along with God.
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I'm going to say it like this. If you're not daily getting
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alone with God, you are missing out on a lot on a lot of God's
38:11
plan for your life. You don't even know it.
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If you're not daily getting along with God because you're
38:20
not asking and you're not sensitive to it, you're not
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looking and your eyes are not in the right place and the will of
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God and the plan of God that is better than your is, it will
38:29
what will pass you by if you're not looking in the right places
38:33
for it. When you say yes to God's call,
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you get His plan and God works powerfully for those who want
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His plan. You see, the deal is that sermon
38:48
that I heard in high school. The camels are coming.
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I don't remember what he said in the sermon, but I've remembered
38:55
the point from the title. And I don't know if he said this
39:00
or not, but this is just a phrase, just another text of
39:02
Scripture that God put on my mind as I contemplated and
39:05
thought through this. But you know, another promise of
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God comes in Psalm 23 from the same psalmist that says that
39:10
where does my help come from? And he closes it like this.
39:13
He says surely goodness and mercy will what follow.
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He doesn't say I got to go chasing after it.
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It says they're going to trail me on both heels.
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Surely the camels of God's goodness and mercy will follow
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you all the days of your life if you will just say yes to God's
39:38
call, because then you're going to get His plan.
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And then God's going to work powerfully for that plan to come
39:43
to fruition by His Providence, which is unstoppable for those
39:47
who want His plan. And ladies and gentlemen,
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friends, that is what we want. Father, I pray that we would be
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people who say yes to your plan. God, I pray that if someone is
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in the room today that has never said yes to your plan of
40:01
salvation through your son Jesus, that today would be the
40:04
day. God, I pray they would say yes.
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They would confess with their mouth that you are Lord, believe
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in your heart, their heart that you were raised from the dead.
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Father, they'd be even willing to step out and maybe come talk
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to me and. And make the decision that would
40:17
change their life forever. And God, I pray for anyone else
40:19
in the room that's just not getting alone with you each day.
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Or they're not seeking you. They're not asking you for
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success. God, they're not, they're not
40:26
seeking and and trusting in your Providence and in your power,
40:29
their Father. They're trusting and chasing
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camels in their own abilities rather than your abilities.
40:33
And God, I just pray that you'd reroute them, reorient them in
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their priorities. And God help us realize when we
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just Simply put you first and get alone with you and say yes
40:45
to you, that your goodness and your mercy will not fail to
40:50
trail us and protect us and provide for us.
40:54
So God help us say yes. Help us say yes in Jesus name I
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pray, Amen. Would you stand with me?
41:00
I'm going to be here at the front if you'd like to come talk
41:02
with me or pray with me or get on your knees at this altar to
41:05
say yes to God in whatever way he's calling you.
41:07
You say yes no matter what it takes, you come, say I will go.
41:11
When God calls, you, come.