Latest / In the Stillness Podcast / Known by the Shepherd

Transcript

Known by the Shepherd · In the Stillness Podcast

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  What's up everyone, Welcome back to the pod.
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  This is Friendsley and I hope you are having a great day so
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  far. Today we're continuing in
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  Matthew 25, looking at verses 31 through 46, where we see Jesus
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  describing his return as a king, but ultimately as the judge.
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  And before I read, I just want to say, at least for me,
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  sometimes I can get kind of in a daze as I'm reading Scripture
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  and it can become passive. But I really just want us to
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  engage with it today, to be active as we read these verses
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  and realize that Jesus is describing a future reality.
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  This is not just imagery meant to make us feel something.
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  It's not fiction. This is something that will
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  happen. Every nation, every heart will
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  be before the King of Kings one day.
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  So I also want to say Jesus is showing us something really
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  important that the gospel invite.
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  It's for all people, but not everyone belongs to Him.
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  So with that, let's go ahead and start in verse 31.
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  When the Son of Man comes in His glory and all the angels with
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  him, He will sit on His glorious throne.
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  All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate
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  the people one from another. As a shepherd separates the
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  sheep from the goats, He will put the sheep on his right and
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  the goats on his left. Then the king will say to those
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  on his right, Come, you who are blessed by my Father, take your
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  inheritance, the Kingdom prepared for you since the
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  creation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave
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  me something to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me
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  something to drink. I was a stranger and you invited
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  me in. I needed clothes and you clothed
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  me. I was sick and you looked after
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  me. I was in prison and you came to
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  visit me. Then the righteous will answer
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  him. Lord, when did we see you hungry
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  and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?
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  When did we see you as stranger and invite you in, or needing
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  clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in
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  prison and go to visit you? The King will reply, Truly I
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  tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these
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  brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.
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  Then he will say to those on his left, Depart from me, you who
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  are cursed into the eternal fire, prepared for the devil and
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  his angels. For I was hungry, and you gave
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  me nothing to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me
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  nothing to drink. I was a stranger and you did not
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  invite me in. I needed clothes and you did not
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  clothe me. I was sick and in prison, and
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  you did not look after me. They also will answer, Lord,
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  when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing
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  clothes or sick or in prison and did not help you?
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  He will reply truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one
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  of the least of these, you did not do for me.
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  Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the
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  righteous to eternal life. OK, so let's jump right into my
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  takeaways because the Lord taught me a lot in this quiet
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  time. First of all, I just want us to
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  notice that the gospel is for everyone.
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  We see that all will stand before Jesus, not divided by
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  people, groups, or background. It doesn't matter where you come
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  from or what your status is. But this passage does show a
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  separation on Judgement Day between authentic true believers
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  of Jesus versus non believers or even false believers.
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  So not everyone who claims Jesus actually belongs to him.
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  That distinction matters. I'm going to go more into it
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  later, but I did do some research on sheep and goats
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  because I just wanted to get some more context and it really
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  brought this passage to life in such a cool way.
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  A little side note, I went to Wales last March and just
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  picture Psalm 23 in real life. The Lord is my shepherd I shall
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  not want. And there's rolling pastures of
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  sheep just everywhere, real shepherds right in front of me.
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  And so learning all these things as I nerded out it made Jesus
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  illustration even richer. So here's some things that I
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  found interesting. Sheep and goats.
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  They often grace together in the same field and from afar they
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  can look similar. But when it's time to shear the
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  sheep, there's a specific season when these goats and sheep are
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  separated. And the shepherd, he can easily
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  tell the difference between the two even from a distance.
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  But here's the thing, they grow and eat together, but they do
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  not belong together forever. And I think that's what Jesus is
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  underlining here, that the separation is not random, it's
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  actually relational. So if we were to label sheep and
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  goats with personalities, if you want to view it like that, it
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  was easier for me. But you can view sheep as more
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  gentle. They are easily guided.
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  They're dependent on their shepherd.
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  They follow his voice. We see in John 1027, Jesus says,
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  my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me.
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  They also move with their flock and unity.
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  So there's harmony and peace. The sheep represents submission,
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  obedience, and ultimately dependence on their shepherd.
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  Now goats, OK, kind of just think of the reverse.
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  They tend to be stubborn. They're very independent, they
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  wander away and they're harder to manage.
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  So they represent selfishness, rebellion, and really just sin.
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  So they're separated because of their relationship to the
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  shepherd. Now the sheep reflect the heart
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  of the Good Shepherd. We see Jesus call himself the
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  Good Shepherd, but the the goats, they do not.
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  The sheep belong to Him and allow themselves to be LED.
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  They live submitted to their leader and to their Lord.
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  Now also true commitment. It is always revealed.
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  You can only pretend for so long.
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  Jesus reminds us in Luke 817. Nothing is hidden that will not
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  be made manifest, that will not be clear.
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  So on judgement day, truth comes out.
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  Motives are exposed, whether they are pure or impure, and
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  allegiances are clear. So that's what I found
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  fascinating here is that both groups are surprised because we
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  see the righteous. They didn't even realize that
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  they were serving Jesus when they served others.
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  The unrighteous, they say they would have if they had known it
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  was him. Now that tells us everything
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  about motives because the goats, they were so caught up in their
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  appearance and the who's who that they were in it for the
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  external benefits. But y'all first John 48 reminds
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  us love flows naturally from those who truly know God.
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  If you know him, you love him and you love his people because
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  God is love Now also judgement. We see that it brings reality.
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  It's not just about Jesus figuring out who belongs to Him,
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  because as our Shepherd, He knows who belongs to him.
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  He already knows His sheep. But Judgement Day is about
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  establishing justice. It's about rewarding the
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  righteous and unveiling the truth and making it public.
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  If God made no distinction between good and evil, what is
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  right and what is wrong? Obedience or sin, there would be
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  no significant meaning behind justice.
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  And y'all, he is a just God. He is holy.
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  That means he has to be just. He has to live in truth.
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  It's in his heart to establish this justice.
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  So I want to emphasize allegiance matters in every
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  single detail of your life. I know some choices, they may
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  seem small and feel insignificant in the moment,
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  especially when evil and sin is literally celebrated in the
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  world today. We live in a world that just
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  glamorizes it, but I just want to say it will not last.
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  Jesus calls us to live like we belong to him.
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  We see James too, that James is telling us faith without works
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  is dead. We are not saved by works.
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  I went into this in a few episodes ago, but we highlighted
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  that works are the evidence of what we believe and how we truly
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  view God. And notice something really
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  powerful in this story. These acts of service, they
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  don't require wealth or privilege or a certain amount of
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  money. They just require a willing
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  heart. They take effort, yes, but it
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  all comes down to obedience. Jesus when he is commissioning
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  the 12 disciples, He tells them freely, You have received so
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  freely give Matthew Tenay loving and serving others.
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  It freely glorifies God because it points back to our love for
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  Him and that kind of life, that kind of love, it stands out in a
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  consumer based, self focused culture today.
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  That's what it means to be sanctified, y'all?
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  To be set apart for holy use. Now I want to just tell you all
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  about a prayer that I pray almost every day because I think
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  it's something all of us can be praying.
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  Lord, give me eyes to see the overlooked and the undervalued
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  in the world today. Show me someone today who needs
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  encouragement, who needs a smile or just a quick moment of
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  prayer. Y'all.
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  God loves to answer that prayer because he wants to use his
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  people in the world. He uses those who are willing
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  and those who are obedient. And I have stories upon stories
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  of just the ways that I have felt the Lord through his Spirit
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  prompts me to go up to someone and they're like, you don't even
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  realize that's exactly what I needed to hear and see.
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  That is nothing in me that could have known that that was only
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  the Lord. So also whenever I was reading
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  this passage, God brought me to the verse wisdom is proved right
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  by her deeds. Matthew 1119 and it ties
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  perfectly into everything that Jesus has been teaching the wise
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  servant. A few passages ago, he went to
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  work because he wanted to make his master proud and he knew
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  that he was returning. The wise maidens, they stored up
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  their oil to be ready for their bridegroom.
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  Y'all, the wise live like Jesus is coming back.
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  So as we reflect, just remember that these sheep, they were
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  blessed because they belonged to their shepherd and also the
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  timing, the Kingdom was prepared before they did anything.
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  So we don't perform for blessing.
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  We live from belonging, we live from relationship with Jesus.
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  So just ask yourself really quick, do you blend into the
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  world or do you live set apart? Do you give your time or your
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  money and energy to be seen by others?
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  Or do you structure your life above reproach, consistently
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  reflecting Jesus? Y'all, we need to be more
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  attentive to the Spirit, let's be more sensitive to His leading
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  and to others needs around us and just be obedient in the
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  ordinary because it's those moments that make the biggest
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  difference and grow our faith in the Lord and the way that He can
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  lead us to other people. So let's go ahead and closeout
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  in prayer. Lord Jesus, thank you for being
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  our King, our Shepherd and our judge who is coming back to make
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  things right to reward the righteous.
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  Lord, we want to confidently belong to you.
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  It's not just a name but in how we live.
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  So would you give us hearts that reflect yours?
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  Would you give us eyes to see people the way that you see
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  them? God lives that quietly but
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  boldly point to you. Teach us to live ready and full
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  of love until the day that you return and we see you in all of
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  your glory, seated on your glorious throne.
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  We pray this on your name, Father, Amen.
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  OK, well pray that y'all have a wonderful rest of your day and
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  that the Lord will continue speaking to each of y'all as you
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  listen and pray and talk with Him.
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  I'll see you on the next episode.