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When Grace Offends Our Pride... · In the Stillness Podcast

• 0:00
  Good morning y'all, this is friendly.
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  Welcome back to another episode. So happy you're here.
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  Happy Saturday. Today's passage was honestly
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  such a humbling reminder for me, especially as someone who has
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  been walking with the Lord for a while now.
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  It really did reset my heart in the best way and I'm looking
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  forward to getting into it with you guys.
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  So we are going to be in Matthew chapter 20 and going through
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  verses one through 16. This is titled Jesus tells the
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  Parable of the Vineyard Workers, and it is a little bit longer.
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  I don't want to paraphrase, I want y'all to get the full
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  story. So as I read it, try to envision
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  it and just focus on the words that I'm reading over you guys.
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  For the Kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out
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  early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard.
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  He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into
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  his vineyard. About 9:00 in the morning he
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  went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing
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  nothing. He told them, you also go and
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  work in my vineyard and I will pay you whatever is right.
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  So they went. He went out again about noon and
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  about 3:00 in the afternoon and did the same thing.
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  About 5:00 in the afternoon he went out and found still others
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  standing around. He asked them why have you been
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  standing here all day long doing nothing?
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  Because no one has hired us. They answered.
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  He said to them, you also go and work in my vineyard.
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  When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his
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  foreman, call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning
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  with the last ones hired and going on to the first.
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  The workers who were hired about 5:00 in the afternoon came and
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  each received a denarius. So when those came who were
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  hired first, they expected to receive more.
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  But each one of them also received a denarius.
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  When they received it, they began to grumble against the
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  landowner. These who were hired last worked
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  only one hour, they said. And you have made them equal to
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  us who have borne the burden of the work in the heat of the day.
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  But he answered one of them. I'm not being unfair to you,
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  friend. Didn't you agree to work for a
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  denarius? Take your pay and go.
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  I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave
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  you. Don't I have the right to do
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  what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I'm
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  generous? So the last will be first and
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  the first will be last. OK, Remember that last verse,
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  verse 16? So the last will be first and
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  the first will be last. Because it is almost verbatim
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  what Jesus said in the passage from yesterday.
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  And we know that when Jesus repeats himself, that means it's
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  important. So now I'm going to go into
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  understanding the parable better.
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  I'm going to clarify some terms and give y'all a little bit of
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  context as usual. But in this story, God is the
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  landowner, the workers are believers.
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  And the denarius, that is a full day's wage.
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  And this is representing salvation.
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  Right away. Jesus gives us a very clear and
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  sobering reminder access to heaven.
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  Salvation is only because of God's grace.
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  This means it is not because you've been a believer longer.
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  It's not because you've served more.
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  You've grown up in the church or in a Christian family, or you've
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  been on mission trips. Maybe you've experienced quote
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  UN quote more of His Holy Spirit or held a certain role or
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  position. And honestly, I think this is
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  such an encouragement, especially for new believers
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  because as a new believer, you may be feeling intimidated
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  because you don't know as much yet or your faith is newer and
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  feels simpler. But I want you to hear this
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  clearly that you are just as welcome.
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  You're just as invited into His Kingdom and just as loved by
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  your Father. Y'all, the truth is that none of
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  us deserve eternal life. We were all once enslaved to our
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  sin, in bondage, in chains. We were forgotten.
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  It seemed like we were too far to be gone, too filthy for holy
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  and pure God. But he sent Jesus anyway.
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  And this reminds me of the story in Luke chapter 23, verses 40
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  through 43 of the criminal on the cross beside Jesus.
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  Because that day he had more faith than a lot of Jesus's
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  followers. Then some of them, they went
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  into hiding. They were so distraught and
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  discouraged. They were convinced that their
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  Messiah had been defeated by death and that that was the end.
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  But that man beside Jesus, although a criminal, he saw
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  beyond the present pain and agony, and he first saw into
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  Jesus's future glory. His faith is what saved him and
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  he simply said, Jesus Remember Me when you come into your
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  Kingdom. And Jesus answers while enduring
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  the unimaginable pain that we can't even fathom.
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  He responds with overwhelming grace.
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  Today you will be with me in paradise.
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  Y'all. That is the reckless,
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  breathtaking love of God that even in his suffering, the worst
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  of the worst, his heart still deeply longed for people to
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  believe and be with him. Just wow.
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  I had to sit with that for a minute because that is so, so
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  dense. And going back to the parable,
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  it is not about rewards. It's not about spiritual
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  ranking. It is about salvation when you
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  really think about it, God's presence with us right now
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  through his Spirit that He entrusts and seals us with.
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  When we receive Him into our hearts in the life with Him
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  forever and in eternity, that is the greatest gift that we could
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  ever receive. Jesus, He is the prize.
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  He's not just the one who gives the reward and saves us.
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  He is what we want. So I pray over myself and for
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  listeners that we desire the giver more than we desire what
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  He can give us, the gifts that He can bring.
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  And this passage, it also is challenging comparison.
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  So that's something I want to touch on because when we compare
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  our walk and faith journey with someone else's, I think a few
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  things can happen. First, it can rob us of joy what
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  God wants to show us personally. Second, we can forget that every
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  relationship with Him, it is meant to be personal, it's
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  different and therefore it's unique.
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  And 3rd, it can ignore that God works on each heart in His own
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  perfect timing. So that means some may encounter
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  Him earlier and some may encounter him later in their
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  life. I don't think that we're meant
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  to get stuck on the why Isaiah reminds US, Isaiah 55, that
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  God's thoughts and his ways are so much higher than ours.
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  But I believe what matters most is how we respond when we become
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  aware of this invitation, His offer for us.
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  And whether we choose to follow the obedience is what matters.
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  So then you may ask, OK, so how do we combat comparison?
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  Because it is so easy to get caught up in, I think we need to
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  return to God's kindness toward us.
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  I want this to sink in for you guys.
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  The God of heaven and earth. He knows you by name.
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  He knows how many hair follicules are on your head.
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  Y'all. This is something I personally
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  do not even know about myself. I'm assuming y'all don't either.
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  He looked at you and he said you.
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  You are my Beloved, and I'm willing to do whatever it takes
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  to rescue you, even if that means leaving my glorious throne
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  in heaven, perfection and enduring the most painful death
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  imaginable and entering into a simple world.
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  So when you feel tempted to want what someone else has or maybe
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  experiencing, I want y'all to lift up your eyes and set them
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  back on your Savior. He does not want your
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  performance, what you can do. He simply wants your attention
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  and your eyes to be locked on Him.
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  And scripture tells us that when we seek Him with all of our
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  heart, we will find Him. It says ask and it will be
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  given. Seek and you will find knock and
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  the door will be open. Matthew 77 in Psalm 37, four, it
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  reminds us that when we delight ourselves in the Lord, He will
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  shape and fulfill every single desire because He is giving us.
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  Whenever He is making us more into the image of Jesus, He is
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  naturally giving us His desires and they're His best, what He
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  desires for us. So I just want to give y'all a
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  few questions that I am going to be reflecting on and doing a
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  little heart check. But the first one is how am I
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  using what God has entrusted to me?
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  So my time, the people in my life, my relationships or
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  friendships, my resources and my opportunities.
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  Two, am I doing these things to earn God's approval or the
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  approval of others, or to simply honor Him with what I've been
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  given and trusted? 3 Is comparison trapping or
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  maybe even immobilizing me in any area of my life?
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  Is it producing bitterness or envy and possibly stealing the
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  joy of walking hand in hand with my Father?
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  Ultimately, guys, do we want to be trapped and enslaved to
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  comparison, or do we want to live in contentment?
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  So I'm going to move into prayer.
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  Father God, thank you for your grace.
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  Your grace that none of us could ever earn deserve, but grace
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  that all of us desperately need. Thank you for seeing us in our
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  brokenness and for choosing to pursue us anyways.
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  God, would you align our hearts with yours?
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  Draw our focus back to You when we're tempted to look sideways
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  and compare ourselves with our neighbor.
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  Lord, would You build a greater contentment in our hearts just
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  being in Your presence and seeking You in our personal
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  relationship with You? Would You form in us a deeper
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  trust in Your timing and a genuine desire to honor You with
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  what You've placed in our hands? God, release us from comparison.
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  Lead us into lasting gratitude and joy that is only found in
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  You. God, we adore you.
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  We exist to magnify your name for the gift of salvation.
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  May we be eager to preach this and tell others about it.
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  We love you so much. Jesus.
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  We ask this all in your name. Amen.
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  OK, well that is today's episode and I will be praying for y'all
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  as you continue through the weekend and I will see you on
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  the next one.