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From Rules to Romance | Choosing Intimacy Over Legalism (Sept 15) · 1 Year Audio Bible Podcast

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We are on a journey pursuing a divine romance
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with Jesus Christ. What are some of the things that
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get in the way of that? Today we're going to look at that as
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we unpack Galatians chapter 2.
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Paul is addressing the spirit of legalism
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head-on. What is legalism?
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How does legalism impact our heart
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and love relationship with Jesus Christ?
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If we have fallen into legalism, how do we get
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out of that trap? Listen in as
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we continue our journey pursuing intimacy with
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Jesus Christ. Welcome to the Daily Audio
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Torah. Today is September 15th. Now let's continue our
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journey reading through the entire Bible in 1 year. This week
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we are reading from the New Living Translation for the Old Testament and for the
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New Testament.
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Deuteronomy 27:11-26.
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That same day Moses also gave this charge to the people: When you
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cross the Jordan River, the tribes of Simeon, Levi,
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Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin must stand
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on Mount Gerizim to proclaim a blessing over the people.
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And the tribes of Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan,
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and Naphtali must stand on Mount Ebal to proclaim a curse.
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Then the Levites will shout to all the people of
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Israel, cursed is anyone who carves, or casts
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an idol and secretly sets it up. These idols,
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the work of craftsmen, are detestable to the Lord.
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And all the people will reply, Amen.
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Cursed is anyone who dishonors father or mother.
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And all the people will reply,
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Amen. Cursed is anyone who steals
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property from a neighbor by moving a boundary marker.
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And all the people will reply, Amen.
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Cursed is anyone who leads a blind person astray
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on the road. And all the people will reply,
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Amen. Cursed is anyone who denies
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justice to foreigners, orphans, or widows. And all
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the people will reply, Amen.
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Cursed is anyone who has sexual intercourse with
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one of his father's wives, for he has violated his father.
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And all the people will reply, Amen.
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Cursed is anyone who has sexual intercourse with an animal.
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And all the people will reply, Amen.
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Cursed is anyone who has sexual intercourse with his
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sister, whether she is the daughter of his father or his
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mother. And all the people will reply,
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Amen. Cursed is anyone who has sexual intercourse
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with his mother-in-law. And all the people will reply,
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Amen. Cursed is anyone who attacks
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a neighbor in secret. And all the people will reply,
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Amen. Cursed is anyone who
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accepts payment to kill an innocent person. And all the
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people will reply, Amen.
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Cursed is anyone who does not affirm or obey the
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terms of these instructions. And all the people will reply,
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Amen. Isaiah 19:1-21:17.
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This message came to me, Isaiah, concerning Egypt.
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Look, the Lord is advancing against Egypt. Riding on
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a swift cloud. The idols of Egypt tremble. The hearts
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of the Egyptians melt with fear. I will make the Egyptians fight
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against each other, brother against brother, neighbor against
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neighbor, city against city, province against province.
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The Egyptians will lose heart and I will confuse their plans.
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They will plead with their idols for wisdom.
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They will call on spirits, mediums, and psychics to show them
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which way to turn. I will hand Egypt over to a hard,
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cruel master, to a fierce king,
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says the Lord, the Lord Almighty. The waters of the
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Nile will fail to rise and flood the fields. The riverbed
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will be parched and dry. The canals of the Nile will dry up,
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and the streams of Egypt will become foul with rotting
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reeds and rushes. All the greenery along
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the riverbank will wither and blow away. All the
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crops will dry up and everything will die. The fishermen
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will weep for lack of work. Those who fish with hooks and
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those who use nets will all be unemployed. The weavers
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will have no flax or cotton, for the crops will fail.
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The weavers and all the workers will be sick at heart.
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What fools are the counselors of Zoan!
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Their best counsel to the king of Egypt is stupid and wrong.
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Will they still boast of their wisdom? Will they dare tell
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Pharaoh about their long line of wise ancestors?
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What has happened to your wise counselors, Pharaoh? If they are
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so wise, let them tell you what the Lord Almighty is going to
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do to Egypt. The wise men
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from Zoan are fools and those from Memphis are deluded.
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The leaders of Egypt have ruined the land with their foolish counsel.
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The Lord has sent a spirit of foolishness on them, so all their
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suggestions are wrong. They cause the land of Egypt
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to stagger like a sick drunkard. Nobody in Egypt, whether rich
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or poor, important or unknown, can offer any help.
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In that day, the Egyptians will be as weak as women.
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They will cower in fear beneath the upraised fist of the Lord Almighty.
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Just to speak the name of Israel will strike deep terror in their
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hearts, for the Lord Almighty has laid out His plans against them.
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In that day, 5 of Egypt's cities will follow the Lord Almighty.
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They will even begin to speak the Hebrew language. One of these
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will be Heliopolis, the City of the Sun.
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In that day, there will be an altar to the Lord in the heart of
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Egypt, and there will be a monument to the Lord at its
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border. It will be a sign and a witness to the Lord Almighty in
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the land of Egypt. When the people cry to the Lord
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for help against those who oppress them, He will send them a
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Savior who will rescue them. In that day,
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the Lord will make Himself known to the Egyptians. Yes,
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they will know the Lord and will give their sacrifices and offerings
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to Him. They will make promises to the Lord
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and keep them. The Lord will strike Egypt in a way that will bring
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healing. For the Egyptians will turn to the Lord,
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and He will listen to their pleas and heal them.
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In that day, Egypt and Assyria will be connected
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by a highway. The Egyptians and Assyrians will
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move freely between their lands, and they will worship the same God.
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And Israel will be their ally. The 3
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will be together, and Israel will be blessing to them.
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For the Lord Almighty will say, Blessed be Egypt,
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my people! Blessed be Assyria, the land I
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have made! Blessed be Israel, my special
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possession!
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In the year when King Sargon of Assyria captured the
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Philistine city of Ashdod, the Lord told Isaiah
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son of Amoz, Take off all your clothes, including your sandals. Isaiah did
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as he was told and walked around naked and barefoot.
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Then the Lord said, my servant Isaiah has been walking around naked
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and barefoot for the last 3 years. This is
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a sign, a symbol of the terrible
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troubles I will bring upon Egypt and Ethiopia.
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For the king of Assyria will take away the Egyptians and Ethiopians
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as prisoners. He will make them walk naked and barefoot,
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both young and old, their buttocks uncovered,
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to the shame of Egypt. How dismayed will be the Philistines
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who counted on the power of Ethiopia and boasted of
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their allies in Egypt! They will say, if this can happen to Egypt,
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what chance do we have? For we counted on Egypt
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to protect us from the king of Assyria. This message
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came to me concerning the land of Babylon.
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Disaster is roaring down on you from the desert,
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like a whirlwind sweeping in from the Negev.
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I see an awesome vision. I see you plundered and
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destroyed. Go ahead, you Elamites and Medes,
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take part in the siege. Babylon will fall,
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and the groaning of all the nations she enslaved will end.
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My stomach aches and burns with pain. Sharp Pangs
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of horror are upon me, like the pangs of a woman giving birth.
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I grow faint when I hear what God is planning. I am
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blinded with dismay. My mind reels,
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my heart races. The sleep I once enjoyed at
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night is now a faint memory. I lie awake,
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trembling. Look! They are preparing a great feast.
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They are spreading rugs for people to sit on. Everyone is eating
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and drinking. Quick! Grab your shields and prepare for battle.
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You are being attacked! Meanwhile, the Lord said to me,
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Put a watchman on the city wall to shout out what he
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sees. Tell him to sound the alert when he sees chariots drawn
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by horses and warriors mounted on donkeys and camels.
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Then the watchman called out, Day after day I have stood on the watchtower,
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my lord. Night after night I have remained at my post.
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Now at last, look! Here come the chariots
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and warriors! Then the watchman said, Babylon is fallen!
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All the idols of Babylon lie broken on the ground!
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O my people, threshed and winnowed, I have told you everything
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the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, has said. This message
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came to me concerning Edom.
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Someone from Edom keeps calling to me, Watchman, how much longer
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until morning? When will the night be over? The watchman replies,
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Morning is coming, but night will soon follow. If you wish to
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ask again, then come back and ask. This message
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came to me concerning Arabia. O caravans
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from Dedan, hide in the deserts of Arabia.
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O people of Tema, bring food and water to these weary
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refugees. They have fled from drawn swords and sharp
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arrows and the terrors of war. But within a year, says the Lord,
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all the glory of Kedar will come to an end.
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Only a few of its courageous archers will survive. I,
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the Lord, the God of Israel, have spoken.
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Galatians 2:1-16.
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Then 14 years later I, Paul, went back to Jerusalem
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again, this time with Barnabas. And Titus came along too.
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I went there because God revealed to me that I should go.
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While I was there, I talked privately with the leaders of the church.
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I wanted them to understand what I had been preaching to the Gentiles.
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I wanted to make sure they did not disagree or my ministry would
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have been useless. And they didn't— they did agree.
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They did not even demand that my companion Titus
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be circumcised, though he was a Gentile.
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Even that question wouldn't have come up except for some so-called
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Christians there— false ones, really— who came to
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spy on us and see our freedom in Jesus Christ. They wanted
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to force us, like slaves, to follow their Jewish regulations.
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But we refused to listen to them for a single moment.
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We wanted to preserve the truth of the Good News.
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For you. And the leaders of the church who were there had nothing
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to add to what I was preaching. By the way,
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their reputation as great leaders made no difference to me,
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for God has no favorites. They saw that God had
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given me the responsibility of preaching the good news to the Gentiles,
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just as he had given Peter the responsibility of preaching
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to the Jews. For the same God who worked through Peter
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for the benefit of the Jews worked through me for the benefit
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of the Gentiles. In fact, James, Peter, and John,
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who were known as pillars of the church, recognized the
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gift God had given me, and they accepted Barnabas and me as their coworkers.
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They encouraged us to keep preaching to the Gentiles while
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they continued their work with the Jews. The only thing they suggested was
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that we remember to help the poor, and I have certainly been
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eager to do that. But when Peter came to Antioch, I had
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to oppose him publicly, speaking strongly against
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what he was doing, for it was very wrong.
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When he first arrived, he ate with the Gentile Christians
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who don't bother with circumcision. But afterward,
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When some Jewish friends of James came, Peter wouldn't eat
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with the Gentiles anymore because he was afraid of what these
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legalists would say.
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Then the other Jewish Christians followed Peter's
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hypocrisy, and even Barnabas was influenced
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to join them in their hypocrisy. When I saw that they
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were not following the truth of the Good News, I said
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to Peter in front of all the others, Since you,
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a Jew by birth, have discarded the Jewish laws and are
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living like a Gentile, why are you trying to make
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these Gentiles obey the Jewish laws you abandoned?
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You and I are Jews by birth, not sinners
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like the Gentiles. And yet, we Jewish Christians
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know that we become right with God not by doing
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what the Law commands, but by faith in Jesus
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Christ. So we have believed in Christ Jesus
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that we might be accepted by God because of our faith in Christ
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and not because we have obeyed the Law.
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For no one will ever be saved by
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obeying the Law.
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Psalm 59:1-17.
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Rescue me from my enemies, O God! Protect me from those who have
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come to destroy me! Rescue me from these criminals!
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Save me from these murderers! They have
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set an ambush for me. Fierce enemies are out there
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waiting, though I have done them no wrong, O Lord.
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Despite my innocence, they prepare to kill me.
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Rise up and help me! Look on my plight!
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O Lord God Almighty, the God of Israel, rise up to
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punish hostile nations. Show no mercy to
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wicked traitors. They come at night, snarling like vicious
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dogs as they prowl the streets. Listen to the filth that
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comes from their mouths, the piercing swords that fly from their
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lips. Who can hurt us? they sneer. But Lord, You laugh
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at them. You scoff at all the hostile nations. You are my strength.
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I wait for You to rescue me. For You, O God,
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are my place of safety. In His unfailing
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love, my God will come and help me. He will let me
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look down in triumph on all my enemies.
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Don't kill them, for my people soon forget such lessons.
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Stagger them with Your power and bring them to their knees.
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O Lord, our shield! Because of the sinful things
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they say, because of the evil that is on their lips,
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let them be captured by their pride, their curses, and their
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lies. Destroy them in Your anger. Wipe them out completely.
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Then the whole world will know that God reigns in
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Israel. My enemies come out at night,
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snarling like vicious dogs. As they prowl the
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streets, they scavenge for food but go to sleep unsatisfied.
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But as for me, I will sing about Your power. I will shout
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with joy each morning because of Your unfailing love.
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For You have been my refuge, a place of safety in
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the day of distress. O my Strength, to You I
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sing praises. For You, O God, are my refuge,
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the God who shows me unfailing love.
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Proverbs 23:13-14.
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Don't fail to correct your children. They won't
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die if you spank them. Physical discipline may well
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save them from death. I'd like to speak to you today from our
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reading from Galatians chapter 2, and Paul is
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railing against and pushing back against a
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spirit of hypocrisy and also legalism.
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So the ancient Jewish religion,
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which carried forward even all the way to today, they have
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the oral law, and that's separate or different
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from the written scriptures that we read from the Old Testament.
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The oral law is supposedly more
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of revelation of what Moses got from God at
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Mount Sinai. But this oral law, which they later wrote it all down,
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the Talmud, the Mishnah, all of that. A lot of it is
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just religious edicts coming from the mind
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and the heart of man, and it actually violates Scripture.
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And Jesus had strong words. He gave a lot of strong pushback
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against the Pharisees who were very legalistic
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in their approach. So one of the
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oral law traditions was that if you were Jewish, you could
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not have table fellowship with a Gentile. You could not invite
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them into your home and have a meal with them because they were pagans,
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they were uncircumcised, and it was against the oral law
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or the tradition of man for Jews to open up
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their home for table fellowship to the Gentiles. But then, of course,
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Peter had his vision with the sheet coming
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down from heaven with all kinds of unclean animals and 3
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times that he saw this vision and he
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heard the voice of God saying, arise, Peter, kill and eat.
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And this was not about food. This was about that
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the Gentiles were viewed as unclean.
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And very— the very next— after the vision was over,
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3 men came to him and brought him to the house of Cornelius.
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And all of a sudden now the Gentiles are getting saved. They're getting filled with
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the Holy Spirit. And so basically, Paul understood
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that this gospel now is not just for the Jewish people, but it's for all
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people, and that they could have table fellowship
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with Gentiles. And so he's railing and pushing back against
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Peter because Peter would go to the home of a Gentile and have a meal
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with him or her, but then as soon
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as the Jews came into town, he stopped having
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fellowship with the Gentiles in their home and having meals with them.
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Peter would not eat with the Gentiles anymore because he was afraid of
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what these legalists would say.
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So this spirit of legalism leads to hypocrisy.
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Legalism is following the rule book,
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doing it mechanically, by rote,
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by ritual, and there's no heart relationship.
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It excludes.
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It tends to be judgmental.
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I'm better than you. I'm more spiritual than you. I'm more holy than
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you. And the letter of
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the law kills, but the spirit of the law brings life.
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So how do we combat this spirit of legalism
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that Paul is addressing in the book of Galatians?
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I want to share with you a chapter from a wonderful, wonderful book.
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It's a classic. It's written by Jean Edwards. It's called The Divine
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Romance, and this would be chapter
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17. And this chapter really captures
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the essence of what it really means to have intimacy with
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Jesus Christ. We get lost and we go off
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in rabbit trails in our pursuit of Christ and
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trying to follow Him, and we go down dead
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ends. And this really shows you what the one true pathway
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is for intimacy with Jesus Christ.
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This shows you what it's not, and what it is.
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Chapter 17 from The Divine Romance. As the great
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throng broke up, the words of Moses still ringing in
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ears and hearts, the people returned thoughtfully
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to their tents. So quick background, this is right
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after the law has been given. Moses came down from the mountain, from Mount
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Sinai, and shared the Ten Commandments with the people. And now the people
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are returning to their tents and pondering and reflecting on what they have heard.
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And as they gathered in those dwellings, they shared their hearts.
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Among one family of the tribe of Levi, there occurred this conversation:
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Oh Father, I do love him. I wish to serve him.
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This very day I shall speak with Aaron. I wish to devote my
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whole life to serving our wonderful Lord, his dwelling, and his
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people. A short distance away, a wife
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turned to her husband, searching his face for a moment and
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then spoke her heart. Oh husband, in Egypt ours
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was a lot far easier than most of our countrymen,
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and the gifts given to us upon our departure were no small things for either
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slave or free. I see in your eyes that your thoughts are mine.
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Our God is so gracious, so kind, and we do love him with all our
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hearts. All that we have of silver and gold,
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let us give. To Him?
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Quick and eager was the husband's response: Yes!
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With the heart of love, let us give Him such as we have.
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And in another tribe, far distant from the Levites, a group
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of fervent young men spoke in grave and measured words: It is agreed.
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Today, here and now, we make a solemn vow to our Lord and
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to one another. We will forever obey the Voice. Of our
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God. What He speaks we will do, always.
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Whatever He asks, be it a small thing or be it our
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very lives, we will obey the voice of the Lord.
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If He speaks in the silent places of our hearts or
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in the hearing of our ears, or be it to Moses that He should speak,
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His demand shall instantly be our will, as long
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as breath is in us. 'Tis not enough,
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broke in another, prayer. Let us covenant to pray,
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to be men of prayer upon our knees seeking His face, allowing Him
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to search our hearts, yes, and asking
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for power to do His will in hours of need and crisis.
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As they spoke of these things, an elder of the tribe rushed
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by hurriedly seeking out the other leaders of his
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tribe. Having found them, he spoke in fervent terms.
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This we must do. Tomorrow let our tribe assemble.
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Let us come with our cymbals and trumpets. Behold, here in my
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hand already a song has been written by one
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of our youth. It is a psalm exhorting us to extol the
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ways of our God. Let us take this song and other psalms
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of praise. Let us render them unto our Lord and
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fall down upon our faces and worship him together eagerly.
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The elders agreed, Surely there is no better way
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to show our love for our God than to pour out our worship before Him.
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By nightfall, the great rock upon which Moses had spoken
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was vacant except for one lone figure.
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Unobserved by all, he had been there listening,
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listening to Moses recount to the people his very own message
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to them. Afterward, he had walked among his people
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listening intently to their every
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word. A deep sadness now disturbed the
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face of the Lord, for he was contemplating the response he had heard
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from his people. A long, deep groan
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of sorrow, unheard by human ears but shattering the
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tranquility of the entire heavenly host, rose up from his depths.
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I did not require of you your wealth,
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nor coins of gold. What need have I of these?
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I did not ask of you that you serve me.
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Do I, the Mighty One, need to be waited upon?
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Neither did I ask of you your worship, nor your prayers,
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nor even your obedience.
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He paused. Once more a long mournful
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groan rose from his breast.
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I have asked but this of you, that you love me,
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love me, love me.
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That's chapter 17 from The Divine Romance.
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I want to close now with a prayer from a
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book called Praying with Smith Wigglesworth, written by
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Larry Kiefauver.
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And we have a quote from Wigglesworth, a scripture,
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and then an actual prayer.
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In the words of Wigglesworth,
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let us repent of everything that is hindering us. Let us give place
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to God. Let us have no self-righteousness,
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but let us have brokenness humbleness, and submittedness.
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The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because He has anointed me to
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preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent me to heal
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the brokenhearted. Luke 4:18.
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Losing self in Him.
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Lord, break my heart with Your love.
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I repent of being unloving.
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Lord, break my heart with Your righteousness.
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I repent of self-righteousness.
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Lord, break my heart with Your humility.
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I repent of my pride.
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Lord, break my heart with Your submission.
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I repent of my rebellion.
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Thus broken, Then mend my heart,
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O thou healer of the brokenhearted.
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Have a blessed day, and we will see you tomorrow. Shalom.
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विहिष्मरेखा यह
29:08
है हारुना
29:15
है पनाविलका
29:19
विकुन्ने का ישע
29:27
אדוני נאב
29:34
אליך וישא
29:39
לך לך
29:45
שרון The
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Aaronic Blessing from Numbers chapter 6,
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24 to 26.
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Adonai bless you and keep you.
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Adonai make his face to shine upon you and be
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gracious to you. Adonai lift up his countenance
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upon you and give you peace.