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Love Letters From God: Is Wealth Worth It? · Military Broadcast Radio | MBR Talk

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  To love letters. Welcome to Love lovers from God.
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  We have been reading about King Solomon and all of his wisdom
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  and what that wisdom really brought him in his old age and
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  that wisdom that he had went all over the world.
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  People began to hear about him everywhere.
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  And what we're going to notice here today is in First Kings
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  chapter 10, the queen of Sheba heard about his wisdom.
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  So let's read that First Kings chapter 10.
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  When the Queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning
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  the name of the Lord, she came to test him with hard questions.
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  She came to Jerusalem with a very great retinue, with camels
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  that bore spices, very much gold and precious stones.
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  And when she came to Solomon, she spoke with him about all
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  that was in her heart. So Solomon answered all her
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  questions. There was nothing so difficult
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  for the king that he could not explain it to her.
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  And when the queen of Sheba had seen all the wisdom of Solomon,
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  the house that he built, and the food on his table, and the
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  seating of his servants, and the service of his waiters and their
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  apparel, and his cup bearers, and his entryway, by the way
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  which he went up to the House of the Lord, there, there was no
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  more spirit in her. And then she said to the king,
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  It was a true report which I heard in my own land about your
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  words and about your wisdom. However, I didn't believe the
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  words till I came, and I saw it with my own eyes.
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  And indeed the half was not told me.
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  Your wisdom and prosperity exceed the fame of which I
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  heard. Happy are your men, and happy
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  are these your servants who stand continually before you and
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  hear your wisdom. Blessed be the Lord your God,
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  who delighted in your setting you on the throne of Israel,
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  because the Lord has loved Israel forever.
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  Therefore he made you king to do justice in righteousness.
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  And then she gave the king 120 talents of gold, spices in great
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  quantities, and precious stones. There never again came such
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  abundance of spices as the queen of Sheba gave to Solomon.
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  Also the ships of Hiram, which brought gold from Ofer, and
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  brought great quantities of almond wood and precious stones
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  from Ofer. And the king made steps of the
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  alpha wood for the House of the Lord, and for the King's house.
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  And also harps and string instruments for singers.
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  There never again came such almond wood, nor has alike been
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  seen to this day. Now King Solomon gave the Queen
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  of Sheba all that she desired, whatever she asks, besides what
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  Solomon had given her according to the royal generosity.
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  So she turned and went to her own country, and she and her
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  servants. The weight of gold that came to
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  Solomon yearly was 666 talents of gold.
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  Besides that, from the travelling merchants and from
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  the income of traders, and from all the kings of Arabia and from
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  the governors of the country. And King Solomon made 200 large
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  Shields of hammered gold, 600 shekels of gold went into each
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  shield. He also made 300 Shields of
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  hammered gold. 3 miners of gold went into each shield.
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  And the king put them in the House of the forest of Lebanon.
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  Moreover, the king made a great throne of ivory, overlaid it
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  with pure gold. The throne had 6 steps and the
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  top of the throne was round at the back and there were armrests
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  on either side of the place of the seat, and two lions stood
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  beside the armrests. 12 lions stood there, one on each side of
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  the six steps. Nothing like this had been made
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  for any other Kingdom. All of King Solomon's drinking
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  vessels were gold, and all the vessels of the House of the
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  Forest of Lebanon were pure gold.
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  Not one with silver, for this was accounted as nothing in the
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  days of Solomon. For the king had merchant ships
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  at sea with a fleet of Hiram, and once every three years the
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  merchant ships came, bringing gold and silver and ivory and
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  apes and monkeys. So King Solomon surpassed all
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  the kings of the earth, enriches and wisdom.
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  Now all the earth sought the presence of Solomon to hear his
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  wisdom which God had put in his heart.
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  Each man brought his present articles of silver and gold,
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  garments and armor, spices, and horses and mules at a set rate
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  year by year. And Solomon gathered Chariots
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  and horsemen. He had 1400 Chariots and 12,000
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  horsemen who be stationed in the chariot cities and with the king
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  of Jerusalem. The king made silver as common
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  in Jerusalem as stones, and he made cedar trees as abundant as
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  the sycamores which are in the lowland.
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  Also Solomon had horses imported from Egypt and Kiva.
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  The King's merchants brought them in Kiva at the current
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  price. Now a chariot that was imported
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  from Egypt cost 600 shekels of silver and a horse 150 And thus
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  through all their agents, they exported them to all the kings
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  of the Hittites and the kings of Syria.
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  So is the reading of First Kings chapter 10.
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  And you can see all of the riches that Solomon had, the
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  wealth that was there. He just, I mean, there wasn't
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  anything he needed at all. Now let's notice at the end of
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  Solomon's life what he thought about all of this.
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  So if you turn over to the book of Ecclesiastes, which is a book
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  that Solomon wrote toward the end of his life, we're going to
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  read chapters four and five. Notice his thinking, Chapter 4.
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  Then I returned and considered all the oppression that is done
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  under the sun, and look the tears of the oppressed.
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  But they have no comforter. On the side of their oppressors
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  there is power, but they have no comforter.
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  Therefore I praise the dead who are already dead more than the
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  living who are still alive. Yet better than both is he who
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  has never existed, who has not seen the evil work that is done
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  under the sun. And I saw that for all toil and
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  every skillful work a man is envied by his neighbor.
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  This also is vanity. In grasping for the wind the
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  fool folds his hands, and he consumes his own flesh.
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  Better a handful with quietness than both hands full together
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  with toil and grasping for the wind.
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  Then I returned, and I saw vanity under the sun.
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  There is one alone, without companion.
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  He has neither son nor brother, yet there's no end to all his
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  laborers, nor is his eyes satisfied with riches.
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  But he never asked, From whom do I to Ellen deprive myself of
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  good? This also is vanity, and a great
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  misfortune. 2 are better than one because they have a good
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  reward for their labor, but if they fall, one will lift up his
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  companion. But woe to him who is alone when
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  he falls, for he has no one to help him up again.
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  If two lie down together, they'll keep warm, but how can
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  one be warm alone? Though one may be overpowered by
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  another, two can withstand, and threefold cord is not quickly
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  broken. Better a poor and wise use that
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  an old and foolish king, who will be admonished no more, for
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  he comes out of prison to be king, although he was born poor
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  in his Kingdom. I saw all the living who walk
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  under the sun. They were the second youth who
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  stands in his place. There was no end of all the
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  people over whom he was made king.
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  Yet those who come afterward will not rejoice in Him.
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  Surely this also is vanity and grasping for the wind.
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  He continues in chapter 5. Let's read on with that.
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  Walk prudently. When you go to the House of God,
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  draw near to hear rather than to give the sacrifice of fools, for
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  they do not know that they do evil.
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  Do not be rash with your mouth, and let not your heart utter
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  anything hastily before God, for God's in heaven and you're on
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  the earth. Therefore let your words be few,
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  for a dream comes through much activity, and a a fool's voice
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  is known by his many words. When you make a vow to God, do
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  not delay to pay it, for he has no pleasure in fools.
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  Pay what you have vowed. Better not to vow than to vow
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  and not pay. Do not let your mouth cause your
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  flesh to sin, nor say before the messenger of God that it was an
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  error. Why should God be angry at your
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  excuse and destroy the work of your hands?
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  For in the multitude of dreams and many words, there's also
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  vanity. But fear God, if you see the
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  oppression of the poor and the violent perversion of justice
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  and righteousness in a province, do not marvel at the matter, for
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  high official watches over high official, and the higher
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  officials are all over them. Moreover, the profit of the land
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  is for all. Even the king is served from the
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  field. He who loves silver will not be
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  satisfied with silver, nor he who loves abundance with
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  increase. This also is vanity.
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  When goods increase, they increase who eat them?
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  So what profited the owners, except to see them with their
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  eyes? The sleep of a labouring man is
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  sweet, whether he shall little or much, but the abundance of
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  the rich will not permit him to sleep.
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  There's a severe evil which I have seen under the sun.
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  Riches kept for their owner to his hurt, but those riches
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  perish through misfortune. When he begets a son, there's
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  nothing in his hand, as he came from his mother's womb naked
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  Shall he return to go as he came, And he should take nothing
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  from his labor which he can carry away in his hand.
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  And this also is a severe evil. Just exactly as he came, so
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  shall he go. Now what prophet is he who is
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  labored for the wind all his days?
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  He also eats in darkness, and he has much sorrow and sickness and
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  anger. Here's what I've seen.
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  It's good in fitting for one to eat and drink, and to enjoy the
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  good of all his labor, and which he toils under the sun all the
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  days of his life, which God gives him.
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  For it is his heritage, As for the every man to whom God has
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  given riches and wealth and given him power to eat of it, to
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  receive his Harry and rejoice in his laborers.
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  This is the gift of God. For he will not dwell unduly on
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  the days of his life because God keeps him busy with the joy of
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  his heart. And such is the reading of
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  Ecclesiastes chapter 5. We read two of these chapters in
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  in Ecclesiastes now. And you can see with all of the
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  wealth and the power that Solomon has, he's still not a
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  happy man, not a happy man at all.
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  Let's note another little point that I want to pass on to you
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  today. One of my friends has said that
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  the COVID-19 pandemic challenged the message of the church in a
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  significant way. What kind of message have we
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  been proclaiming? Did it help people during this
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  traumatic time of loss and uncertainty?
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  Why do we only discover meaning when we look back?
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  The challenge is to have hope and see meaning.
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  And even while we're in the furnace of life, you desire to
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  know the art of living. My friend, someone is sad.
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  It is contained in one phrase. Make use of the suffering you're
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  involved in. Hard times expose the impurity
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  of our faith life. It teaches us to no longer trust
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  in ourselves, but to build our hope on God and His faithfulness
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  alone. His faithfulness is what has
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  given us a new life, and that's what carries us through every
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  trial. Shall we pray?
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  Our Father in heaven, we're thankful that You give us so
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  much. You give us all we need, our
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  health, our strength, our daily food.
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  It's all there. And sometimes you give us much
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  more than we need. Help us to use it faithfully.
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  Help us to understand that money and wealth don't really
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  accomplish much unless we use it for you and help us to do that
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  very thing. We're thankful that in your love
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  letter that you have given it to us.
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  You give us the example of people who have misused the
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  wealth and wisdom you gave them. And it's an example for us to
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  not make the same mistakes. So be with us.
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  Help us on our way. May we be the kind of people you
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  want. We're thankful for your Son
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  Jesus who came here and made everything possible.
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  And we pray this in His name. Amen.
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  And that's it for today. Hi, I'm Beaker with Military
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