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Enjoying the Journey Together, Part 2 · Enjoying the Journey

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  In our busy world, family time is frequently
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  neglected. It is vital that we give attention to our families
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  while we can, and it is especially important to
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  give attention to what God says in his word about
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  our homes. For the next few moments, let's join Scott Pauley as we
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  open the scriptures and and find God's message for your
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  family.
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  On the road to Damascus, Paul met Jesus.
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  And now we find on the road to Emmaus that a family meets
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  Jesus. A married couple, Cleopas and his wife,
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  making their journey home, run into Christ.
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  I'm telling you, when you have a head-on collision with the Lord along the way,
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  it's a glorious thing. It's not just about the destination.
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  It's not just about getting somewhere. It's about meeting Jesus
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  along the way. We're studying this beautiful story in Luke chapter
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  number 24, and we're learning some things about how to enjoy the journey of life
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  together. When I say together, I don't just mean together
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  with your spouse, together with your children. I mean together with Jesus.
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  We've learned 2 truths already. We've learned, first of all, that we have to
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  communicate with one another. We have to talk. And then we've learned that we
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  have to communicate with Jesus. We have to pray. And really,
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  prayer is also talking. It's just the direction changes.
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  Instead of us talking horizontally to one another,
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  we're talking vertically to the Lord. We're directing our conversation heavenward.
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  Let's go a little further in the story today. We pick up in verse
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  number 25 of Luke 24 after Cleopas
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  has poured out his heart to Jesus not knowing who he is.
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  The Lord says in verse 25, then he said unto them, O fools
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  and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken.
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  Do you remember in the previous verse they were talking about what they could not
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  see? Now Jesus immediately turns to believe. Remember, we're to
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  walk by faith, not by sight. The just shall live by
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  his faith. Do you see how he turns their attention away from their emotion,
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  away from their experience, to the unchanging word of the
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  living God? And he says in verse 26, ought not Christ to have
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  suffered these things and to enter into his glory? And beginning at Moses and
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  all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures
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  the things concerning himself. Oh, I love this. He turned
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  their attention to Christ. The hymn writer had it right: turn your
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  eyes upon Jesus, look full in his wonderful face,
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  and the things of this world will grow strangely dim in the light of his
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  glory and grace. So let me give you another suggestion today. If you
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  want to enjoy the journey together, not only do you have to learn to communicate
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  with each other and communicate with Christ, but then number 3— don't
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  miss this— you have to learn to let Christ communicate with
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  you. It's not just us doing all the talking, it's us
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  learning to listen As long as Cleopas was doing
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  the talking, nothing changed. But the moment Jesus started speaking
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  to him, immediately everything changes.
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  And notice, how did Christ speak to him? Through the word.
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  This is powerful. Here is the living word of God, the Lord
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  Jesus Christ, but even he is using the written word.
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  There's power in the word of God, in the scriptures. Would you like to hear
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  Jesus speak today? Then open the Word of God.
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  Open the Word of God personally. Open the Word of God with your family.
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  Oh, the Lord has so much to teach us. That's how you're going
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  to get your eyes back on the Lord. That's how you're going to get a
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  spiritual perspective on what God is doing right now.
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  Read on. Now the Bible says in verse number 28,
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  and they drew nigh unto the village whither they went, and he made
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  as though he would have gone further. Do you see again the humor here?
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  Our Lord just acts like he's going to keep walking, and the Bible says in
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  verse 29, but they constrained him, saying, abide with
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  us, for it is toward evening and the day is far spent. And he went
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  in to tarry with them. Is Jesus welcome in your home?
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  Does Christ sit at your table? All through the gospel records,
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  our Lord had so much to say at suppertime. There's something about
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  these meal times, fellowship times, and in a practical way What a
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  great thing with your family just to have meals together. But the spiritual
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  application here is the Lord wants to do more than simply help
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  you have a better home life. No, he wants to change everything. He wants to,
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  to lift your family spiritually. The Bible says
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  in verse number 30, and it came to pass as he sat at meat with
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  them, he took bread and blessed it and brake and gave to them,
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  and their eyes were opened and they knew him. And he vanished
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  out of their sight. And they said one to another, did not our heart burn
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  within us while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to
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  us the scriptures? How does he talk with us
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  by the way today? He does it through the scriptures. He opens
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  the scriptures to us. Friend, when you open the word of God, God will
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  begin to open his truth to you. And when God begins to open his truth
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  to you, he's going to open to you a world of resources that you and
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  your family need. I believe in the sufficiency of Scripture.
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  I believe everything you need is found in the Word of God. The greatest
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  marriage and family manual in the world is
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  the eternal Word of the living God. And so if you want to
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  enjoy the journey together, you need to not only talk to one another
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  and talk to him, you need to let him talk to you. Let the Lord
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  speak to you through the power of his Word. Let the Lord come into
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  your home by opening the scriptures and allow him to communicate with
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  each member of the family. And then may
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  I give you one more suggestion? If you want to enjoy the journey together,
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  not only do you have to learn to talk to one another and talk to
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  him and let him talk to you, but then ultimately you
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  have to learn to talk to others about him. Communicate with other
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  people what you're learning along this journey. Here's the rest of the story. Listen to
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  verse number 33. And they rose up the same hour and returned
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  to Jerusalem and found the 11 gathered together and them that were with them,
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  saying, the Lord is risen indeed and hath appeared to Simon.
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  And they told what things were done in the way and how he was known
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  of them in breaking of bread. Oh, this is interesting to me.
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  They must have walked fairly slowly from Jerusalem to Emmaus.
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  Remember, it was a sad journey going home. They were disappointed.
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  But I tell you, friend, they ran back to Jerusalem. They made haste.
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  They, they got there as quickly as they could. Why? They had something to say.
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  They had something to share. Oh friend, the things that God
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  is sharing with you, the things God is teaching with you, pass them on.
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  Start with your spouse. Share with your husband or with your
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  wife today something God is teaching you right now along the journey,
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  something you, you got from your reading of the word of God, or something the
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  Lord has answered in prayer, or something the Lord has shown you through your own
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  experience with him. Talk about spiritual things with one another.
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  Then don't stop there— pass it on to your children. Isn't it
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  amazing, in our homes we can talk about everything, but we talk so little about
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  spiritual things? And that's the one thing that will matter for
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  eternity. The one thing you can truly pass on to your children is
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  truth. So talk about that in your home today.
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  Talk about it with your grandchildren, and then carry it outside your
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  own home. Carry it to others that need to hear. They knew there was a
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  group of disciples gathered together who were equally sad and hurting,
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  people who needed hope and people who needed help. And friend,
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  across the street from where you live, down the street from where you are,
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  in your neighborhood, all over your community, around your city,
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  there are other families that need Jesus. There are other people that need
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  Christ. Think how different their conversation,
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  their communication was after they had been with Jesus. Why?
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  Because Jesus brought true joy. You see, when you and I learn
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  to enjoy the journey together, then we can share that joy with other people.
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  I don't think there would be anything in your town that would
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  be a greater billboard for the grace of God than
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  a family that had grown to know Christ in such a way they
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  had discovered the joy of Jesus' companionship. You know, in a world
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  of despair where people are searching for answers, trying to figure it out,
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  Don't you know if they met a family like this that had had
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  their own personal encounter with Christ and were living in the overflow of that joy,
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  don't you know that people would want to know your Christ
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  as well? You see, when we talk about enjoying the journey together, we're not just
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  talking about what we can get out of it. We're talking about what the Lord
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  can give to a hurting world through us. Joy,
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  the joy of Jesus, is not something to be kept to ourself.
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  It is something to be shared with others. May the Lord help
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  us not only to meet Jesus along the way today, but to
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  introduce others to him as well.
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  For more resources for your marriage and family, visit us
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  at etj.bible and click on the Take the Next Step
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  link, where you'll find many Bible resources that will strengthen your marriage
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  and equip you to raise your children in the ways of the Lord.
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  We highly recommend Scott's book, New Testament Marriage.
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  In it, you'll discover timeless biblical principles from
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  the husband and wife team Aquila and Priscilla,
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  and these principles are very applicable to your marriage today.
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  From all of us at Enjoying the Journey, thanks for listening today,
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  and until next time, we pray that you will
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  enjoy the journey.