Latest / Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast / #20240922 - The Need for a Godly Awareness - 2 Kings 6:8-23

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#20240922 - The Need for a Godly Awareness - 2 Kings 6:8-23 · Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast

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Welcome to the study of God's Word recorded live at Calvary
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Church in Aurora, Co. To learn more about the many
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resources available through Abounding Grace Media or to tune
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into our live stream services, visit us online at Calvary Co
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dot Church or download our free Calvary Church app.
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Now let's open our Bibles and study God's Word.
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Amen. So this year's been kind of a
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big year for me. If you want to get ahead, you
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can go to 2nd Kings Chapter 6. But earlier this year I
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celebrated 10 years of being on staff.
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Super excited about that. Grew up in this church.
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To be on staff of this church, Huge blessing.
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Later in the spring I got married, which was a huge
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blessing as well. Just very eye opening
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experience, learning a lot. Yeah, we can clap.
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Amen. Hallelujah.
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Praise the Lord. And then this summer I got to
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take my wife on our first ministry trip.
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So before I've been able to travel around and teach the
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Bible in various countries and States and churches and retreats
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and conferences, but I've never done it with a travelling
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companion. And this was the first time we
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got to do it together. And I was in charge of the
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travel plans. I'm learning a lot as a married
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man. I'm learning that it takes some
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longer than it takes me to get ready during the day.
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And we went out to New Jersey. We went out to Pennsylvania.
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I taught at a church in New Jersey and taught at a retreat
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in Pennsylvania. And I was in charge of the
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flights. Got us there.
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It was a great week. The Lord used it.
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I taught I think 5 or 6 times that week.
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We finally come to the last day. We're ready to fly out.
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I set a flight for 8:00 AM. Now, 8:00 AM may not sound early
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to you, but when I start explaining the details of this
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flight, you may understand where this may be going.
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So 8:00 AM flight in Philadelphia.
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We were staying about an hour and a half away from the
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airport. We have to get to the airport 2
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hours before 8:00 AM. And normally I would just wake
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up raw to bed, jump out and head to the airport.
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And I'm realizing that I need to take in consideration the people
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that travel with me is particularly my new wife and the
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time it takes her to get ready. So to get there at 6:00 AM for
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security, we would have to leave the house at 4:30 AM, which
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means that some of us would have to wake up much earlier than
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that to get ready to go. Well, the Lord rescued me and
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the pastor put it on his heart to give us a hotel by the
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airport, which saved us that hour and a half, but still we
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had to get up early in the morning.
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So please track with me. You're like, where are we going?
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Just trust me that it's going to be worth it.
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We get to the airport in Philadelphia, it's early in the
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morning. We get there about 5:45.
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We get out into the security, me and my wife get through
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security. It's great.
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It's about 6:30 in the morning. Realizing that I have had to put
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her in the position where she had to wake up early and get
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ready. I'm feeling bad and I understand
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that my role now as a husband is to provide sustenance for my
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wife. I need to get find her a good
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breakfast. And lo and behold, we're walking
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through the Philadelphia airport and there's an establishment
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that is serving God's chicken known as Chick-fil-A.
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And so we see Chick-fil-A. The line is long, but praise the
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Lord, Philadelphia has a Chick-fil-A in their terminal.
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We're going to get in that line. I'm going to provide for my
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wife. So we get in that long line and
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there is a lady in front of us by herself.
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Can't be more than 5 foot 2. She's not that old.
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She's not that young. She's right in between.
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And all of a sudden out of her comes this loud sound that many
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of you are familiar with, but it's a big hiccup.
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And you're just like, what's the point?
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Well, this hiccup in this long line at 6:30 AM in the morning,
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it's just one of those things where the first time, oh, that's
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funny. Oh, that's cute.
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Second time, we're like, OK, you know, maybe drink some water.
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And the third time, please hold your breath.
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Like, stop. 4th time, you're like, all right, now it's
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awkward. Everyone in the line is looking
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at you like, are you OK? Like, do we need to do something
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for you? It's two in the early in the
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morning for this. And it came to my mind that it's
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important for us as believers to step in and bring healing to
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people that are dealing and struggling with this.
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And as you know, you drink water, doesn't work.
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You hold your breath, doesn't work.
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Well, there is a surefire way to help someone when they have the
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hiccups. So I lean over to my wife and I
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tell her, hey, I'm going to scare this lady this morning.
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She's like, what? And I did this for two reasons.
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I want you to track with me or I did it one reason, it was kind
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of like letting her know so she wouldn't be afraid.
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The second reason was kind of half asking for permission,
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because if she responded like, no, you won't do that, then I
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would be like, ah, you know, maybe I shouldn't, but she
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didn't. She's like, what?
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Really? And I was like, it's early in
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the morning, took advantage of the grogginess of the moment.
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And I said, yeah, I'm going to actually scare her.
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And as you know, in order to scare someone, it takes
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precision, it takes timing, it takes a unique approach in order
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for this to be effective. Because if I don't scare her, if
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this doesn't work, then everyone's looking like a fool.
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And it's too early in the morning for that to be
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happening. So I casually look to my wife
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and I'm like, hey, what do you want from the menu?
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And then, you know, it's keep it's perfect cadence, perfect
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rhythm. I'm waiting.
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She's like, well, I think I'm going to get the chicken.
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And I just freaked this lady out.
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She screamed so loud. But the hiccups go away and she
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was healed that morning. Now when you walk in life,
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they're going to be opportune. I'm just kidding.
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That's not what the message is about.
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The idea for us and the reason I share this story, because if you
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walk out with anything, but just like this is the only thing you
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remember from what I'm about to share with you, I want you to
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remember this. It is easy to be afraid when
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you're unaware. When you are at least aware, you
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are at highest risk of being most afraid.
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When you are at least aware of what's going on around you, you
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are at the highest risk of being most afraid.
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And today, as the title is behind me, this need for a godly
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awareness, we're going to be looking at Second Kings at a
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time in Elisha's life, and really specifically the servant
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of Elisha's life where he was unaware of the situation that
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was surrounding him. And because of that, he was
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terrified. He was afraid of what he was
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about to face. And for you and I, as we walk
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through life, as we are honoring the Lord, wanting to live for
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the Lord, there are going to be things that overwhelm you.
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There are going to be things that scare you.
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They're going to be things that you're surprised by.
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They're going to be things that could be avoided if we just had
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a little bit more awareness of the presence of God in our
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lives. And so today as we jump into
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Second Kings, if that's the only thing you'd leave with, I, I
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hope you leave with this idea that when we are least aware of
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God's presence, we are at the highest risk of being most
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afraid by what surrounds us. So if you would pick up with me
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in Second Kings chapter 6, we're going to start in verse eight.
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Second Kings chapter 6, starting in verse 8.
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Now for some of you, when you come on the weekends, you know
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that we're in the New Testament in the book of Acts.
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If you come on Wednesday nights, you know that we're in Exodus
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right now. Recently, Pastor Josh Sorensen,
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who's up with the men this week, is in James the book of James,
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also a New Testament book. So I want to give some context
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as we jump into second kings. You may be aware that Israel was
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ruled by God until they demanded that they had their own king.
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And the Lord would raise up a man by the name of King Saul.
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King Saul, because of his character, would be eventually
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removed from the throne and replaced by a man who was after
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God's own heart, King David. King David would rule in a godly
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way, like he would have his mistakes, but he for the most
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part loved the Lord. He I'd have a son who would take
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over for him. His name was Solomon, one of the
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wisest men to ever live. He would expand the borders of
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Israel to the greatest extent. He would cause it to be an
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attraction. We know that the queen of
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Bathsheba would come to visit to see the grand and glory of the
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Kingdom of Israel. However, Solomon, although he
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walked with the Lord and was so wise for so long, towards the
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end of his life, he would later fall prey to adulterous idols.
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And because of his many wives, he made many mistakes and he
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would end his reign. And the people to take over
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would then split the Kingdom of Israel into two.
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You'd have the northern Kingdom of Israel, the capital in
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Samaria. Then you would have the southern
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Kingdom of Judah in the capital in Jerusalem.
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Now many of the kings that would take over in those two different
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kingdoms would not desire to fall after the Lord.
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They wouldn't follow after the Lord.
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The ones that did, there was maybe two or three less than a
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handful that had some desire to follow after the Lord.
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They would do it half heartedly. They wouldn't go all the way.
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And so Israel goes into this time of history just very
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distant from the Lord, very judged and very just unable to
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enjoy the blessings that God had for them because their
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leadership refused to follow after their one true God.
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So here we jump into Kings and 1st Kings, Second Kings.
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During this time there would be men who were known as the man of
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God. And these men were there to give
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the word of God to those who would listen.
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And this chapter we see that Elijah, and this is SHA, not
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Jah, he would take over the mantle from Elijah the prophet.
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Elijah will be speaking to the king in the north, the northern
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king of Israel, and he'd be giving him advice throughout
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this reign. Now the northern king, although
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he listens in these sections that we're about to read, he
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wasn't generally a king that would follow after the Lord.
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So although we see it in this section, I don't want you to get
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confused. If you keep reading on, you're
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like, hold on, what happened here?
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What? Well, it takes a turn, but there
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are areas where he does listen to the man of God and we'll see
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that in Second Kings chapter 6. So if you want to pick up with
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me in verse 8, we're going to read till verse 13 says Now the
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king of Syria was making war against Israel and he consulted
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with his servant, saying, my camp will be in such and such a
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place. And the man of God sent to the
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king of Israel saying, beware that you do not pass this place,
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for the Syrians are coming down there.
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Then the king of Israel sent someone to the place of which
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the man of God had told him. Thus he warned him and he was
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watchful there, not just once or twice.
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Therefore the heart of the king of Syria was greatly troubled by
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this thing. And he called his servants and
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said to them, Will you not show me which of us is for the king
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of Israel? And one of his servants said,
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None, my Lord, O king. But Elisha the prophet, who is
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in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words which you speak
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in your bedroom. So he said Go and see where he
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is, that I might send and get him.
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First thing I want to show you is the king of Syria is wanting
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to make war against Israel, God's people.
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The reason for this was because God's people were not walking
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with the Lord at this time. So the Lord is allowing these
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neighbouring nations to come in and attack them as judgement as
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a consequence for them not falling after the Lord.
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And we see that the king of Syria here is planning a war and
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planning where he wants to set up his camps.
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He's wanting to fortify where he's going to be in order to
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start this war with Israel. I find it interesting that many
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of us don't realize the spiritual warfare that's going
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on in our lives. We don't realize the plans that
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the enemy has, that he's setting up to make war with us, to cause
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us to be distracted, to fill in the blank, cause chaos, create
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this disturbing lifestyle to where we're caught up in the
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thing and many times we have no idea it's even happening.
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The king of Israel has no idea that this is happening until the
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man of God, Elisha, comes to him and says, hey, the king of Syria
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wants to plan camps in these areas.
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Immediately the king in the northern Kingdom of Israel says,
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OK, well, I'm going to send a man.
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I'm going to send a man out there to see and to act upon
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this word. He goes out.
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He sees there not once, not twice, but multiple times.
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There's nothing to be seen. However, we understand from what
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the passage is sharing that the king of Syria is disturbed by
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this. He's upset that for some reason
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there is now a scout in the area that he's planning to put his
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camps for war, so much so that he becomes accusatory to his own
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servants. He's who here has betrayed us,
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who here has messed this up? And his servant says none of us.
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No, no, you don't understand. There's a man of God in Israel
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who tells them what you speak about in your bedroom.
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And it's some translations. Some scholars believe that it
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would say he knows what you speak to your wife in your
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bedroom. The king of Syria hears this.
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He acts on, he's like, OK, we'll go get him.
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Where is he? Go find this man of God.
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There's a few things I want to point out.
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One I already mentioned. There are times in our lives
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where the enemy is planning attacks that we have nothing and
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no idea about. However, there are also times
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when the Lord gives us His word, whether through a man of God or
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through His word of God. Remember, Elijah represents the
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word of God to the Kingdom of Israel at this time.
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And from the word of God, the king, the northern king gets
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wisdom and understanding that there is an attack coming for
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him and his Kingdom. He understands from the man of
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God that the word of God to him is that you need to go and check
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this area out. And it's interesting to me that
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the king of Israel could have heard Elijah and said, you know
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what, that's crazy. You have no idea what you're
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talking about and rejected the Word of God.
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However, we don't see that. We see that the northern king of
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Israel decides to hear the Word of God and act upon it.
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I think you know where I'm going with this.
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But as believers, there's often times moments where the Lord
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wants to speak into our lives to prepare us for something that
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the enemy's about to do. And we have a choice to either
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receive it or to reject it. And for some of us, we choose to
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receive it, and now we have new knowledge that we now have
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another choice. We can either just receive the
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knowledge or we can act on the knowledge.
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Now some of us feel good just knowing, OK, I know this is
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happening, but there's really nothing I can do.
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So I'm not going to do anything about it.
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But I want to encourage you today as believers, it's
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important for us not just to hear the Word of God, not just
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to gain this new knowledge, but to be doers of the Word of God.
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Like we're also reminded of the word we need to hear and we also
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need to act. And for the king, he acts by
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sending out a scout to this area.
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And because he sends out this scout who doesn't see anything,
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remind you he doesn't see anything in the passage.
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However, his presence being there discourages the king of
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Syria to the point where he's unable to make camp and where he
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was desiring to make camp. Why?
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Because the king of Israel acted upon the word of God in his
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life. He acted upon what he was told
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even though he couldn't see any fruit, even though he couldn't
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see anything happening, even though the reports coming back
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from the scout were probably nothing.
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He went once, he went twice, he went multiple times, more than
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once and twice. Why?
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Because there was nothing to see once or twice or any of the
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other times. Because God was doing something
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behind the scenes. And often times in our lives
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when it comes to spiritual warfare, when it comes to your
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life, the Lord is actively working on your behalf, whether
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you know it or realize it. But the command still remains
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for us, whether you see something happening or not.
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Are you going to hear the word of God?
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Are you going to do something with what you hear?
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Because you don't know exactly what the Lord may be doing to
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help thwart the plan of the enemy in your life.
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We could have easily been like the king of Israel here and sent
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it out. And after the first time this
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guy comes back, he's like, I don't know what Elijah was
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talking about. There's literally nothing
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happening out there. Well, go again.
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He goes out again. I still have no idea what you're
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talking about. There is nothing going on out
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there. And the king could have been
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like, OK, well, that's it. You know, Elijah is a fool.
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He doesn't have any idea. But no, the king puts his faith
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in the word of Elijah and continues to send out this
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scout. And because now this area that
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was supposed to be hidden, that was supposed to be the perfect
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place to start a war, is now exposed.
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The king of Syria says, who in the world betrayed us?
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Who's ruining this plan? And it's important for us to
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realize that our obedience to the Lord putting faith in the
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fact that when we tell you it's important to read your Bible and
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pray every day, we're not just saying that because you know,
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that's what churches say. We're saying it because it's
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needed. You don't know what the Lord is
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trying to equipped you in His word with to help thwart the
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enemy in the future. You don't know what the enemy is
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planning. You don't know what camps he's
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hoping to surround you with. You don't know what war he's
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bringing you. But you do know that the Lord is
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ready and active and wanting to speak to you and not just speak
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to you in a passive way, but speak to you in a way that makes
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you active to where you send out the scouts, where you keep
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sending out the scouts. You keep reading even though you
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don't know why that passage in the Song of Solomon is not going
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to speak to you today. You keep reading because one
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day, those passages that you may not fully understand in the
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moment, how does this apply today?
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It may not play to today, but what the Lord may be doing is
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preparing you and fortifying you to thwart the enemy's plan.
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That's exactly what's happening here in this first section.
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The enemy is being thwarted by the Lord.
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The Lord intervened on Israel's behalf, spoke through the man
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Elijah. The word of the God was to the
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northern king to say you need to do something about this.
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This is what the enemy wants to do.
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He sends out the scouts. And now the Syrian king is in a
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place of wondering, what do I do now there's a traitor among us.
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And it reminds me of Revelation chapter 1210, which speaks about
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how the devil is quickly to be the accuser of the brethren.
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And it's interesting that the king of Syria, when his plan is
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thwart immediately becomes an accuser of those who are closest
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with him. I just want to remind you, as
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believers, when we accuse or when we act out an emotion
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because something doesn't go our way, it's never a good thing.
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It's never a good thing to be looked at like the devil, where
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you can accuse someone so openly without having all the facts.
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And for some of you, that may be something you deal with,
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something that you're quick to jump to conclusions instead of
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waiting on the Lord to give you wisdom.
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I just want to warn you like you can't do that.
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It's not good to be related to the devil in the way that you
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handle situations, in the way that you think towards people.
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The king of Syria, he's doing that.
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He's accusing the ones that are closest to him, the ones that
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are most loyal to him, of something that they have nothing
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to do with. And so the servant says, hey,
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king, there is a man of God in Israel.
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There's a man of God who tells the king of Israel the things
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that you share privately in your bedroom.
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And I find it interesting that the king of Syria doesn't say
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what? That's impossible.
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There's no way. No, no.
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The reputation of God and the reputation of the God of Israel
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was so much so that he takes it and says, OK, go get him.
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He believes it fully. He's like, all right, that makes
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sense. That's how they found out.
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That's how they thwarted this plan.
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That's how this worked. Go find this man of God.
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How quickly would it be for us if we would learn from the king
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of Syria, even in this one moment, to take God for what we
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know He can do not, not wonder if he could or could not do it.
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How important would it be for us to take God at His word, at what
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we know, what He could do? And, and my question is for you,
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do you know what God can do? Like, are you in your word
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enough to where you can take the Lord for what He says when he
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tells you that he wants to give you a piece that surpasses all
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understanding? Do you believe that?
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Because if you do, do you act on it?
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Do you pray to him? Do you go to him?
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Because we're going to see right now that Elijah and his servant
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are going to be faced with quite an overwhelming situation.
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And we're going to see two very different responses.
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And those responses I think all of us in this room can relate
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to. On good days, we look like the
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servant of the man of God. And on hard days and even better
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days, I would say what we look like Elijah standing in the face
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of this overwhelming odds pick up with me in second Kings
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chapter 6 verse 14 says, therefore, this is the king of
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Syria sent horses and Chariots and a great army there.
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And that's the city of Dothan. And they came by night and
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surrounded the city. And when the servant of the man
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of God arose early and went out, there was an army surrounding
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the city with horses and Chariots.
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And his servant said to him, alas, my master, what shall we
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do? So he answered, do not fear, for
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those who are with us are more than those who are with them.
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And Elijah prayed and said, Lord, I pray open his eyes that
19:55
he may see. Then the Lord opened the eyes of
19:59
the young man and he saw pause. Have you ever had those moments
20:04
where you go to bed and everything's fine and then you
20:06
wake up the next morning and everything is not fine?
20:09
Whether it's a text message, whether it's a phone call late
20:12
at night, whether it is an e-mail, who knows?
20:15
It's a situation in your family. I know that for me in my life,
20:19
phone calls are a thing that have wrecked me over the years.
20:21
I remember back when I was in just graduated high school, I
20:25
was standing and or I was sitting, excuse me, on a rainy
20:28
day like this at Coores Field and I was watching the Rockies
20:31
get destroyed by the Los Angeles Dodgers, best team in baseball.
20:34
And I was watching this game in the rain and I got a phone call.
20:38
And that phone call was my dad saying, hey, son, just want to
20:40
let you know, like our house is on fire.
20:42
I don't need you to do anything because the fire department's
20:45
already here. Enjoy the game.
20:47
But just so you know, when you come home, the house is on fire.
20:49
There's probably going to be fire trucks outside.
20:52
Hope you enjoy the rest of the game.
20:54
Thanks. Dad.
20:55
And I sat there in the rain, watched the Dodgers win that
20:58
game. And sure enough, I went home and
21:00
there was the house on fire. Windows black, fire trucks
21:02
everywhere. Everything's soaked.
21:03
And I just remembered there are moments in our lives where
21:06
things can change in an instant, things can change in a second,
21:10
things can change in a heartbeat, things can change in
21:13
a phone call, things can change in interaction with somebody.
21:16
And in this situation, in this situation, the servant of Elijah
21:22
goes to sleep feeling nothing at all, enjoying his call, enjoying
21:28
what he had for dinner, and wakes up the next morning, walks
21:31
outside and sees an army surrounding the city that
21:36
they're in an army. And when it describes that there
21:39
were horses and Chariots and today's modern equivalent, you
21:42
would be looking at not only infantry, but you'd also be
21:45
looking at tanks. The modern warriors of Syria
21:50
during that time would be equivalent to having tanks
21:53
surrounding your city, Absolutely no way for you to
21:56
defend it. The servant of the Lord is
21:58
overwhelmed. And what does he do?
22:01
He goes back to the man of God. It's a good point for us just to
22:06
tuck away in our hearts, in the back of our minds that when we
22:09
are faced and shown things that overwhelm us, things that are
22:14
there to disturb us, things that are there to rob us of our
22:17
peace, things that we don't understand.
22:19
It's important for us to take it not anywhere else but the Word
22:23
of God, the man of God. Not to your friends, not to your
22:27
family, not to your counselors, not to fill in the blank
22:31
research Google. How do I not to any of that
22:34
where you need to go like the man or the servant of the man of
22:36
God goes the servant of Elijah. He goes where?
22:39
To the man of God who represents to Israel at that time the word
22:42
of God. And as believers, when we are
22:45
struck with these things that could potentially change and
22:48
wreck our lives, or things that seem like they're impending
22:52
doom, or things that just rock us to the core, it'd be
22:56
important for us to take a a note out of how he handles this.
23:00
And he goes straight to the representation of the Word of
23:03
God, because the word of God for you and I as believers has
23:07
everything we need to make it through.
23:09
Now, it may not have the answer to your why immediately, why is
23:13
there an army surrounding us? But it will have the answer to
23:16
how you should handle it, how you should conduct yourself, how
23:20
you should walk in this next situation.
23:22
Because the army doesn't just disappear.
23:25
And we'll see that in this next section.
23:27
The army doesn't just go away because he goes to Elijah and
23:30
said, look at this. No, no, no.
23:32
But what he does receive from Elijah and as we see him, he
23:35
says Lord, he starts immediately praying to the Lord and says,
23:38
Lord, please open the eyes of my servant that he may see.
23:41
Open his eyes. He goes to the word of God.
23:44
He goes to this man of God. As we go to the word of God, as
23:47
we seek after the Lord when we are faced with things that are
23:50
outside of our control. And it may not solve your
23:53
problem instantly. And I want to be honest with you
23:56
because I think sometimes you say, oh, just go, the word of
23:58
God has all the answers for you. And people are like, I've read
24:00
everything and I don't know what to do still, because you're
24:03
looking for the wrong thing. You need to look for the Lord to
24:06
answer you according to his will, but answer not just how
24:09
he's going to solve the problem, but how you should conduct
24:11
yourself as you endure the problem.
24:14
Because we know that in first Peter chapter 4 verse 12, Peter
24:17
tells us, don't think it's strange when you face a variety
24:21
of fiery trials. Don't think it's weird when you
24:23
go up against things that are supposed to hurt.
24:26
Fiery trials, not just normal trials, fiery ones, ones that
24:29
burn, ones that hurt, ones that intimidate, ones that shake.
24:32
You don't think it's weird. And I know sometimes you're
24:35
like, well, how not to how do I not do that?
24:37
Well, humanly and just as a person, it's OK.
24:41
Like I don't want you to think it's terrible for you to be
24:43
like, oh man, the initial shock. But after that shock wears off,
24:46
it's important to realize where are you going to go now?
24:49
What are you going to do with what you are now receiving with
24:52
this shock, with this understanding that there are
24:54
things out of your control, what do you do next?
24:57
And like the servant of Elijah, it's important for us to take
25:01
our next step towards the Lord, to the Word of God.
25:04
Because the Word of God will have the answer for you to
25:07
endure what you just have seen. He will get you through it.
25:10
It's His promise to you and I as believers.
25:13
The Lord says He will endure with you.
25:16
He will not let you be snatched out of His hand.
25:19
He's going to walk with you through that trial, through that
25:21
overwhelming circumstance, through that relational
25:24
difficulty, through that tough situation at work, through that
25:29
memorial, through that grieving process, through the surprise,
25:34
through the shock. The Lord wants to walk with his
25:36
people through these situations. So we see Elijah immediately
25:39
prays, says, Lord, will you please open his eyes?
25:41
Pick up with me in verse 17 says, then the Lord opened the
25:48
eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain
25:52
was full of horses and Chariots of fire all around Elijah.
25:57
So when the Syrians came down to him, Elijah prayed to the Lord
25:59
and said, strike this people. I pray with blindness and he
26:02
struck them with blindness. According to the word of Elijah.
26:09
The Lord opens the eyes of the servant of Elijah and he sees
26:12
surrounding them not just this army of Syrians now, but he also
26:16
sees an army of Chariots of fire and horses of fire, the Lord's
26:22
army surrounding. It's very interesting to me that
26:25
we see this awe inspiring look. And I would read this as a kid
26:29
and be like, man, this is so cool.
26:30
It's so cool. And then it would kind of go
26:31
away. Like I wouldn't think about it
26:33
again now as I was studying it as an adult.
26:35
This picture is just crazy. It's insane to think about the
26:40
the thing that just happened here. 1 I think we can go back
26:43
to the king being told, hey, this guy in a different country
26:46
knows exactly what you're sharing with your wife in your
26:48
bedroom. That's crazy.
26:50
First of all, OK, But then you come to this picture in the
26:53
scene and this is crazy. He opens his eyes and he sees
26:56
Chariots of fire and horses. And I know some of you are like,
27:00
I just wish I could open my eyes and see that kind of thing.
27:03
I think the Lord allows us sometimes to not see that
27:05
because we'd be overwhelmed by what's going on even in this
27:08
room right now. Because if you didn't realize,
27:12
in this room right now, there's a spiritual battle going on for
27:14
your attention. There's a spiritual battle going
27:17
on for your hearts and for your minds.
27:20
The enemy is actively trying to distract you.
27:23
He's actively trying to dissuade you.
27:26
He's actively trying to keep your ears shut off to the Word.
27:30
He doesn't desire you to hear from the Word of God this
27:33
morning. He doesn't desire you to walk
27:35
out of here stronger and more aware of God's presence in your
27:38
life. He desires to keep you shut out.
27:42
He desires to keep you shut into your problem.
27:46
And there's a spiritual war going on right now for your
27:49
heart and mind, but there's also the presence of God in this
27:55
place at this moment, defending and defeating and pushing back
28:02
the attacks of the enemy. And what we see here in Elijah's
28:06
circumstance, when he prays, he walks out not afraid you don't
28:10
see him. Oh, man, they're serious.
28:12
You're right. We got to run.
28:13
We got to just, Lord, will you just open his eyes so he can see
28:16
what I see? Can you just open his eyes so he
28:18
has a full understanding of what he's looking at?
28:21
Would you just open his eyes to show him the bigger perspective?
28:26
Would you just give him an awareness of you and your
28:29
presence? And you see, when we go to the
28:32
Word of God, when we go to the Lord in our situations, in those
28:38
times of overwhelming, you may not get the exact answer you're
28:41
looking for on how to solve the problem, but you know what you
28:44
do get? You get a peace.
28:47
You get an understanding of God's presence in the situation.
28:50
You're reminded that the Lord still has everything that's
28:52
going on in control. You're reminded that the
28:55
promises of God still remain true despite what you're looking
28:58
at on the hill. You're reminded that the Lord
29:00
has not left you alone. The Lord is not far from you.
29:04
The Word has a way of soothing us and calming us and bringing
29:07
us back to a place of remembrance of all the things
29:09
that we knew before we were shocked, before we were
29:13
overwhelmed, before we were caught in our fears and our
29:16
worries. The Word of God has a way of
29:18
revealing to us what's going on around us, which then allows us
29:24
to look at the situation in this next verse and handle it in a
29:28
way that honors the Lord, but also allows us to walk and enjoy
29:33
our relationship with the Lord. Because you see it.
29:35
Just because he saw the horses and Chariots of fire, it doesn't
29:39
say next that the horses and Chariots of fire destroyed the
29:42
Syrian Army. That's actually not what
29:43
happens. He's just opened up and he sees,
29:45
oh, wow, there's so much more here.
29:47
What in the world is going on? But they don't rescue him.
29:51
In fact, it says in that verse, and the Syrians came down to
29:54
Elisha. They charged them, they went
29:58
down to them. And I think some of us can
30:01
relate to that. To where, man, I thought the
30:03
Lord, I thought I went to the word, I prayed, I saw counsel
30:05
from the Lord, I, I, and it's still happening.
30:09
They're coming down towards us. It was supposed to solve the
30:12
problem. What's going on?
30:15
And it's OK to feel that. It's OK to feel in a very real
30:18
way that maybe it's not getting better.
30:21
Or at least that's not what it looks like.
30:23
Because the Lord still has a way.
30:24
He's going to handle your issue according to his plan, not her
30:27
own. That's why when we go through
30:29
things, we're sometimes surprised.
30:31
It feels like it's getting worse, not better.
30:34
They didn't get destroyed by the horses and Chariots of fire.
30:37
No, they're now coming down the mountain.
30:39
What's going on, Lord? I sought you.
30:42
I wanted an answer from you. And now things are getting
30:44
worse. They're coming closer to me.
30:47
They're no longer on the mountain surrounding the city.
30:49
They're coming towards us. It's no longer a distant
30:53
problem. It's now getting more real.
30:56
What are we going to do? The man of God says he praised
31:00
the Lord and says strike them with blindness, please.
31:03
And the Lord strikes them with blindness.
31:07
And I know that as we jump into our situations and scenarios,
31:11
it's just good and important to note that you don't know how the
31:13
Lord's going to answer your problem.
31:15
You don't know how the Lord's going to rescue you.
31:18
It's not our responsibility to try to figure it out for God.
31:24
It's not our responsibility to try to charge the Syrians, to
31:27
try to tell the horses and Chariots of fire what to do.
31:30
It's our responsibility to seek the Lord and allow him to take
31:33
care of it for us. Now, I don't want you to think
31:36
that this is some type of you can be passive and not have to
31:39
care. No, there's a lot of activity
31:40
going on here through your trials and through your
31:43
situations. You're seeking the Lord.
31:45
You're waiting on the Lord. You're hoping that the Lord
31:47
comes through for you. Those are all things that the
31:49
Lord desires of us as believers. He wants us to rely on Him to
31:53
solve our problems. He wants us to wait for Him to
31:56
do this work. I'm just warning you, don't try
31:59
to do it for him. Don't try to figure it out for
32:02
him. Allow him to strike your problem
32:04
with blindness. Allow him to do a work that you
32:08
couldn't even fathom because logically, I think if we were in
32:11
the servants shoes, we would see the horses, the horses and
32:14
Chariots of fire and we'd be like, I know how this is going
32:17
to go down. The Lord's going to destroy them
32:18
all and we're going to be saved. That is not what happened.
32:21
The Syrians come down to them and they get sharp with
32:24
blindness. That's what happens.
32:27
If you're like, well, that was a curveball.
32:28
I didn't see how the Lord was going to do that, but he did.
32:30
It was amazing. I know it's not our job and it's
32:33
not our responsibility to try to solve the problem for the Lord,
32:36
but to just seek Him and allow Him to do the work for us.
32:40
But it doesn't mean you just sit back and wait.
32:42
No, no. You're actively going towards
32:44
the Lord. You're actively seeking him.
32:46
You're actively desiring to hear from Him.
32:48
You're actively looking for Him to work on your behalf.
32:52
You're not just piercing out. Oh, the Lord's got it.
32:54
No problem. I'm just going to keep doing my
32:55
own thing. No, no, no.
32:56
Every morning you're seeking the Lord.
32:57
Lord, how are you going to solve this situation until the
33:00
situation's solved every night before you go to bed?
33:02
How are you going to solve this situation?
33:04
Lord, this is your problem and I need you to answer it.
33:07
And again, this is towards things that are not caused by
33:10
our own sin. We know as Bible students that
33:13
if you sin, the right way to handle situations that cause
33:16
problems because of your sin is to repent and ask the Lord for
33:19
forgiveness so he might be able to go in and cleanse your way.
33:22
But these are problems and issues in the context of
33:24
spiritual warfare, things that are out of your control and not
33:27
caused by you just because the world system, just because the
33:30
enemy desires to trip you up. This is how you handle the
33:32
situations, actively seeking the Lord and allowing him to take
33:36
care of your problem. Pick up with me after he blinds
33:39
the Syrian Army. Pick up with me in verse 19 and
33:41
says, Now Elijah said to them, This is not the way, nor is this
33:45
the city. Follow me and I will bring you
33:47
to the man whom you seek. But he led them to Samaria.
33:51
So it was when they had come to Samaria that Elijah said, open
33:54
the eyes of these men that they may see.
33:57
And the Lord opened their eyes and they saw, and they were
33:59
inside Samaria. Now when the king of Israel saw
34:02
them, he said to Elijah, My father, shall I kill them?
34:05
Shall I kill them? But he answered, or excuse me?
34:09
But he answered and said, You shall not kill them.
34:11
Would you kill those whom you've taken captive with your sword
34:15
and your bow? Set food and water before them,
34:17
that they may eat and drink and go to their master.
34:20
Then he prepared a great feast for them, and after they ate and
34:22
drank, he sent them away and they went to their master.
34:25
So the bands of Syrian Raiders came no more into the land of
34:30
Israel. If you would turn with me to
34:32
Ephesians chapter 6. Ephesians chapter 6, it's in the
34:35
New Testament. It's right after Galatians right
34:38
before Philippians. I I would memorize these.
34:41
It was be Galatians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians,
34:45
Colossians and I would always remember this because my
34:47
sister's name is Katie. But go eat popcorn, Katie.
34:50
So these are epistles of Paul and Paul's writing to the church
34:55
in Ephesus in chapter 6 and I couldn't do it justice talking
34:58
about spiritual war. If we're talking about the
35:00
things that are going on around us without looking towards this
35:03
passage, but pick up to me in verse 10 says finally, my
35:06
brethren, be strong in the Lord, in the power of his might.
35:10
Put on the whole armour of God that you may be able to stand
35:13
against the Wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against
35:16
flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers,
35:19
against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against
35:22
spiritual hosts of wickedness in heavenly places.
35:24
Therefore take up the whole armour of God, that you may be
35:27
able to withstand in the evil day, having done all to stand,
35:31
Stand therefore, having girded yourself with the waste, having
35:35
gird your waste with truth, having put on the breastplate of
35:37
righteousness, having shod your feet with, with the preparation
35:40
of the gospel, peace. And verse 16.
35:42
Above all, taking the shield of faith, with which you will be
35:45
able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one, and
35:48
take on the Helen of salvation and the sword of the Spirit,
35:51
which is the word of God. Praying always with prayer and
35:53
supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with
35:56
all perseverance and supplication for all the Saints
36:00
and going back to 2nd Kings chapter 6.
36:03
It's important for us. And I bring that Ephesians 6
36:05
passage just as a helpful reminder for us that our battle
36:09
is not in the physical. It may seem like it when you're
36:12
looking at someone that you have a problem with and you're just
36:14
like, oh man, if they would just, it's not always in the
36:17
physical. It's most likely there's a
36:19
spiritual element to it. Not most likely.
36:21
Almost every single time there's something that is out of your
36:24
control, there's something that is disrupting your walk with the
36:27
Lord. There's something that is
36:29
unsettling your soul. If it's not sin, then it is a
36:32
spiritual warfare that is happening where the devil is
36:35
actively trying to take you out. Why?
36:38
Because if he takes you out, he takes out your influence for the
36:40
gospel. If he takes you out, if he
36:43
causes you to stumble and fall, then he causes your influence to
36:46
stumble with you. He causes your witness for
36:49
Christ to stumble with you. It is so important for us to
36:52
have this awareness of what's going on not only in this room,
36:55
but as soon as you walk out of this room, what's going on in
36:58
your life day-to-day. And I'm not meaning this to
37:00
scare you. I also am not sharing this with
37:02
you. Become hyper spiritual, OK, to
37:04
where you are reaching into your dishwasher and you prick your
37:08
finger on a fork when you're pulling it out.
37:09
You're like, the devil is in my dishwasher.
37:11
That's not what I want you to become.
37:13
And you laugh, but that is a real thing.
37:16
People walk around thinking every little thing that's the
37:18
devil. That's, that's not what I'm
37:20
trying to sell you. What I'm trying to help you
37:22
understand is that there is a battle going on for your soul.
37:26
And if you are saved today, there is a battle going on for
37:30
your witness, for your influence.
37:33
The Bible is very clear that the devil desires to rob, steal or
37:37
steal, kill and destroy and rob you of the joy of your
37:40
salvation. He desires to do that.
37:43
He is actively looking to do that in every opportunity that
37:46
he can. And we don't think about it
37:49
often. We don't recognize it often.
37:51
But I can tell you there are real problems in this room.
37:55
There are real things that you were wrestling with at this
37:57
moment. And if not right now, you have
38:00
in the past. And unfortunately, if you
38:03
haven't in the past, I promise you it's coming in the future.
38:06
There are fiery trials awaiting you according to First Peter
38:10
chapter 4. Don't think it's weird, don't
38:13
think it's strange, but know that there's a place you can go
38:17
to find your peace, to find the understanding you need, and to
38:21
find the clarity of what the next step for you should be, and
38:24
that's in the Word of God. The Lord is faithful to surround
38:28
you with His presence, surrounding you with the
38:30
promises of His Word, and to walk you through these
38:33
situations so that you come out bringing glory to Him.
38:36
I find it interesting that after the Lord strikes the Syrians
38:39
with blindness, Elisha decides to lead them to the capital city
38:42
of Samaria. He walks this whole army 12
38:46
miles from Dothan to Samaria into the presence of the king of
38:49
Israel. And immediately the King's like
38:50
I want to kill them, can I kill them?
38:52
Can I kill? Please let me do it.
38:54
And you see Elijah saying no, do not harm them, instead bless
38:58
them, feed them, throw them a feast, throw them a party and
39:01
send them back to their master so their master might hear of
39:04
how well you took care of them. And how counter cultural is that
39:08
thinking where when you're faced with a situation, especially
39:11
let's just take a personal one-on-one situation, you have a
39:14
problem with somebody else. And instead of retaliating
39:17
against them, instead of getting mad at them, instead of being
39:21
upset with them, you allow the Lord to show you how to bless
39:26
them through the situation. And it's amazing to me that
39:30
although you may have every right to strike them down, every
39:35
right to punish them, every right to correct the wrong with
39:40
another justifiable wrong, the Lord says don't do that to your
39:45
enemies. Instead, bless them.
39:48
Bless the ones who persecute you and send them on their way so
39:52
that when they leave your presence, they can talk about
39:55
how good you were to them. And when you are good to those
39:59
who deserve worse from you, when you show the mercy and grace of
40:03
God to them, they can only look at the glory of God emanating
40:07
through your life. They can only see the glory of
40:11
God working through your life through that situation.
40:16
However, sometimes as we handle these situations, we may get
40:20
through all of it to the very end and finally like yes, now I
40:23
can finally fill in the blank to them and I would tell you it's
40:28
not that thought process is now I can finally bless them.
40:33
Why? Because you have a greater
40:34
perspective, you have the one who's going to sustain you
40:38
through everything. And with that greater
40:41
perspective comes a greater responsibility to live and act
40:46
as if the Lord would have you. Because the one who provided for
40:49
you is the one who's calling you to bless those who don't deserve
40:53
it. That's a hard word sometimes,
40:57
most of the time, especially when it's something that's long
41:01
and drawn out for years, especially when it's something
41:03
that it's finally my time to get justice for all the fear, for
41:09
all the chaos, and for all the things that they've done.
41:11
And the Lord says, stop. Who's gotten you this far?
41:17
Oh, you, Lord, then you need to bless them and send them on
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their way. Are you serious?
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And I think we relate with the king of Israel.
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Shall I kill them? Shall I kill them?
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Like, no, you're going to bless them and send them off.
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And we see that the result of him blessing them and sending
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them off was that the Syrian Raiders stopped attacking Israel
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after that day. Now you're going to see if you
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were to continue to read in Chapter 6, the army doesn't
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stop. They're actually going to siege
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Samaria years down the line, but the Raiders do.
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And these Raiders of these pillagers would come in and they
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would steal from the communities.
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They would pull all the resources, the farming, the
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crops, the the wealth, the the people, they would steal people
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back and forth. But somehow, some way, as these
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men are headed back, this army of Syria is headed back and they
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speak about these things that they were treated, how they were
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treated. It stops the Raiders from
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pillaging the northern Kingdom of Israel.
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It's over, it's done. And I would even say this as I
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was studying this and thinking through this, it would be
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interesting if the the whole reason that this all takes place
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is so that the Lord might relieve his people from being
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raided by the Syrians, the Syrian Raiders, the whole
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situation, like everything we just read, the only reason the
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Lord allowed it to happen was so that the Syrian Raiders would
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have a reason to stop attacking his people.
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Elijah doesn't get hurt. The servant of Elijah doesn't
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get hurt. The Syrians don't get hurt.
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I mean, they get blinded for a little bit, but then they're,
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they're given their sight back. No one else gets hurt.
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What is the benefit? What's the gain from this
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situation? The Raiders stop attacking
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Israel. That was a problem that we don't
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even know was a problem until the very last verse of this
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passage that we were reading. It doesn't start off with and
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the children of Israel praying. Lord, please rescue us from the
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Syrian Raiders. No, no, no.
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The Lord used this whole situation to solve this problem.
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The Syrian Raiders stopped raiding the people of Israel.
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And for you and I, as we look at our lives, there may be things
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you just don't understand going on.
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And in reality, the Lord is using it to develop and to also
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defend you from something that wasn't even on your radar.
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And you're like, no. But I've learned so much.
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I've grown so much. There's so many trials, ups and
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downs. It's been the focus of my life.
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I'm glad that's how the Lord usually works.
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He'll walk through us with our life.
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But he defended his people from the Syrian Raiders.
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And for you and I, I don't know what your Syrian Raiders
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situation is where it may not be a big problem, but it's still a
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problem. It's still happening.
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But maybe you've gotten used to it.
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You, you're just like, oh, yeah, it's just a part of my life.
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It's just what's going to happen.
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The Syrians are raiding my it's just, it's just a part of what
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we do. It's a part of our existence.
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And yet the Lord is working out these plans and He's doing these
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things and He's allowing you to experience all of these ups and
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downs from the highs of knowing His presence to the Lowe's.
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A feeling like, is the Lord here just so that He can solve that
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problem that wasn't on your radar?
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I find it amazing how the Lord works and Even so much more how
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we need to trust in Him and call upon His name.
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As we close, will you turn with me once again to Psalm 145?
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Psalm 145. I love this Psalm for a variety
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of reasons. There's so many amazing verses
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that I would encourage you to highlight.
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Two of them I'll share right now.
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The first one, I think many of you need verse 14 in your life,
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and I'll read it for you. It says the Lord upholds all who
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fall and raises up all who are bowed down.
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And some of you are right now in a place where you've fallen.
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You haven't handled the situation in the best way that
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you should have. I just want to encourage you.
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The Lord is ready to raise you up as you bow down in humility
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to Him. You may have fallen, but the
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Lord desires to raise you up. He wants to lift you up.
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Some of you might be in a situation right now in verse.
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Turn with me in the next page, or at least for me it's the next
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page. Verse 17, you need to be
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reminded that the Lord is righteous in all His ways and
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He's gracious in all His works. You need to remember that the
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Lord is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon
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Him in truth. And lastly, in verse 19, He will
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fulfill the desire of those who fear Him, and He will also hear
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the cry, hear their cry, and save them.
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The Lord is good and he's ready to act on our behalf.
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And I'm so thankful that we have a word, We have his words to
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guide and direct our lives. Amen.
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Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for your
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word. We thank You that you are our
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sustenance. You are the one who sustains us,
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Lord. You are the one who comes
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alongside us and rescues us. And we just ask God that you
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would fulfil our desires this morning as we cry out to you.
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You would fulfil them according to your will, that you would
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reshape them, reshape our minds, help us with our perspective,
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developing us an awareness of your presence so that when we
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are shocked by the circumstance we're faced with, we can answer
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it like Elijah. Calm, knowing that you're in
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control, knowing that you're with us, developing us.
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Lord, a godly awareness, a godly awareness of your presence.
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I thank you for your word in Jesus name, Amen.
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For those of you here tonight, you may be or excuse me, not
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tonight, this morning it's a little dark so tonight, but you
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may be here tonight or this morning again, you may be here
46:51
today and you may be feeling like, Hey, I don't even have a
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relationship with God. Like you talk about having
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discomfort. You talk about having all of
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these things available to you. A better perspective this, this
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enduring all this stuff and I don't even have a relationship
47:07
with the Lord. If that's you like I want to
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help you with that. I want you to have a
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relationship with the Lord because you get all of those
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things I was talking about in a relationship with Christ, the
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God who loves you, who came and died for you.
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Rose again three days later, said you would know that he is
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God. If that's you right now, would
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you just stand so that I could pray with you?
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You're like, I need that. I need to know that comfort and
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that peace, especially right now in my life.
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And that's you. I want to pray with you and I
47:35
want to lead you in a prayer. It's a prayer doesn't save you,
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but it helps you follow the steps a confessing you'd need to
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realize that you're a Sinner who needs to be saved and there was
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a God who died so that you could be saved.
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Your sins separated you from Christ and God said I want to
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restore our relationship and he'd take it upon himself to be
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that bridge and to be that gap for us to wash us with his
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perfect and pure blood so we might be saved from our sins or
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our mistakes that have separated us from.
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I see you guys. So I'm just going to give you
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about a minute. That's you and you would like to
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start this relationship. Just go and stand so I could see
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you. Prayer is simple.
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It's really just a realization and an admittance and a
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repentance and asking for forgiveness.
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Just give me something like this.
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Dear God, I realize that I am a Sinner.
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I realized that my mistakes have separated you, separated me from
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you. I ask God that you would forgive
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me of my sins. I choose to turn away from these
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things that have separated me from you.
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I believe that you lived, that you died and she rose again.
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I believe that Your heart saved me to rescue me, to walk with
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me, and I received your gift of salvation.
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Pray Lord that you'd fill me up with Your Holy Spirit that I
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might live the rest of my days for you.
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I love you and thank you in Jesus name, Amen.
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Going to pray one last time before we jump into worship.
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And I just want to pray a general prayer over you because
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I know not only in this room there are things, not only are
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there relationships that need to be mended with Christ today,
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which Amen. I love it and a pastor will
49:56
connect to you guys, but I also know that there is also
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believers here that are struggling with some real
50:01
serious things. And last night I had them stand
50:04
up. But you know who you are and I'm
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just going to pray over you before you jump into worship.
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It's a real simple prayer. Lord, I pray that you would help
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them be aware of your presence. Lord, I pray that you would show
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them what they need to see in your word.
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I pray, Lord, that you would give them the endurance and the
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strength and the peace that surpasses all understanding that
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they may walk in strength and empower with You and enjoy the
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blessings that you have for them even in the most difficult
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times. Bless them as they go out.
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Jesus name Amen. We pray that you've been
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encouraged by this Bible study delivered live from the
50:43
sanctuary of Calvary Church for prayer.
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Call us at 87730 grace that's 877-304-7223.
50:55
To listen to this message in its integrity or to join us for our
50:58
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51:03
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Be blessed as you worship Jesus this week.