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122. Is Jesus truly first in our lives?
In this episode, Christian Keeter explores the question of whether Jesus is truly first in our lives. Through a discussion of Psalm 63 and various scripture passages, he challenges listeners to reflec...
122. Is Jesus truly first in our lives?
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Hey everybody and welcome back to I just want to talk about the Bible. If this is your
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first time joining us today then let me just welcome you and say that I am so glad that
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you're here. My name is Christian Keeter and I live in the southeast of the United States
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of America with my amazing beautiful godly wife Lacey and our two wonderful daughters,
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Felicity and Serenity.
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Today let's begin by reading Psalm 63 verses 1 through 8. It says,
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O God you are my God, earnestly I seek you. My soul thirsts for you, my flesh faints for you,
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as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,
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beholding your power and glory. Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will
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praise you. So I will bless you as long as I live. In your name I will lift up my hands.
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My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips
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when I remember you upon my bed and meditate on you in the watches of the night.
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For you have been my help and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy.
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My soul clings to you, your right hand upholds me. That was Psalm 63 1 through 8.
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So yes we can read those words and we can read those words very very quickly. I didn't take
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my time at all to do that but there is a question that I want us to consider as we begin our
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discussion for today and that question is this, yes I can read those words but can I truthfully say
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them. Do the words that we just read in Psalm 63 1 through 8 do these words accurately reflect the
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posture of our hearts? Is Jesus truly first in our life as he truly our top priority? And let me
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just say before going any further in this episode that my goal is not to condemn anybody. I don't
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want anybody walking away feeling defeated, discouraged or anything like that. However, I do think
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that we need to take an honest look in the mirror. I do think that we need to be challenged. We're
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going to be talking about stuff today that none of us does perfectly that all of us can grow in.
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None of us has arrived in this area. So I don't want anybody feeling like I said condemned
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but rather challenged and I just want to encourage us all to have the courage to look in the mirror
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as we carry on the conversation. So there was a man of God that I knew he has since gone on to be
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with the Lord. For those of you who have heard me mention mentoring men for the master before, as I do
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at the end of each podcast episode, this is the guy who founded that ministry. And one of the things
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that he said in a lesson that he taught is how we spend time and how we spend money, these things
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show what we value. So our schedules and our bank statements reveal our priorities. And I think
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that is so insightful and so true. And if you think about it for a second, you'll see just how
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how true that is. Okay, so how we spend time and how we spend money. Regardless of the things
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that we say, regardless of the words that necessarily come out of our mouths when it comes down to it,
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how we spend time and how we spend money show the things that we value, the things that are important
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to us. They reveal our priorities. So for the sake of our conversations today, I want to talk about
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one of those two things. And so let's talk about time. Like I said, our schedules and our bank
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statements. Let's talk about our schedules. So let me tell you an assumption that I'm making right
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at the outset of this episode that I think is true for most, if not all people listening. And if it's
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not currently true in your life, don't check out because the things we're going to be talking about
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are going to apply regardless of how busy you do or don't find yourself. And life just has a way
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of becoming busy. So even if you don't feel like it necessarily is true today, it might be
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tomorrow or in the next season or so on. So just just hang with us here. So what's the
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assumption that I'm making? The assumption that I'm making is this, we're all busy. We all have
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demands on our time. We all feel pressures. We all at times feel stressed. We're busy. We have
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things going on. And the fact remains that no matter how busy somebody is or is not, we all only
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have 24 hours in the course of a day. And when we are busy, it can be very easy to put our spiritual
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lives on the back burner. So let me just give you an example. One thing that I want to encourage every
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single one of you to do, if it's not something that's a normal part of your life, is to do everything
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in your power to be able to spend time with Jesus each and every day, to spend time in his word
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and in prayer. This is a critically important priority. I think about in John 15 verses 4 through 5,
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where Jesus says, abide in me and I in you as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it
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abides in the vine. Neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine. You are the branches
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whoever abides in me and I in him. He it is that bears much fruit. For apart from me, you can do
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nothing. John 15, I'm sorry, John 15 verses 4 through 5. And so this is what I'm talking about. It
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should be a high priority for us to abide in the vine every day to spend time with Jesus each
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and every day to seek him to spend time in prayer to spend time in his word. So if that's something
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that's not currently a part of your daily life, I just want to encourage you to do so. But whenever
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things start getting really busy, that time with him can easily begin getting shorter or you start
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missing days or it just becomes really sporadic or maybe it disappears altogether. It's something you
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may acknowledge the value of yet all the time just seems to be slipping away and you're already
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consistently tired or whatever it may be, you're already not accomplishing all the things that
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need to get done and this just kind of goes overboard. And so this is something I want to talk about
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today. So let's look at some examples from the life of Jesus. Let me start by making this observation.
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Jesus was busy. He was busy. We're going to look at a lot of scriptures that illustrate that and
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in the scriptures that we go through, there's going to be a lot of stuff that we do not talk about
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just because we'd be here all day if we tried to exhaust each of these passages, but these
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passages are going to serve as illustrations to show and reinforce that exact point that Jesus
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was busy. So looking at Mark chapter 1 verses 40 through 45, it says, an Alepper came to him,
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imploring him and kneeling said to him, if you will, you can make me clean.
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Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, I will be clean.
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And immediately the leprosy left him and he was made clean. And Jesus sternly charged him and
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sent him away at once and said to him, see that you say nothing to anyone but go, show yourself
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to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded for a proof to them. Let's pause
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there. So there's this leprosy, he kneels before Jesus, he begs him for healing and it says that
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Jesus was moved with pity, which is a beautiful phrase. And then it says that Jesus stretched out his
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hand and he touched him. Jesus did not need to touch him to heal him. We see Jesus healing people
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just with a word, but he reached out and he touched this guy who had been an outcast from society
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and was supposed to keep a distance away from people. And so Jesus does the opposite of keeping a
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distance. He moves in and lays his hand on him. And then Jesus heals him. And then Jesus tells him
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to go show himself to the priest. Again, it says show yourself to the priest and offer for your
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cleansing what Moses commanded for a proof to them. So you can read Leviticus 13 through 14 for more
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information on leprosy and also the process through which somebody had to go to be re-admitted into
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society and involved going to the priest and the priest pronouncing someone cleansed of it.
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The priest could diagnose, but they could not cure. The priest could pronounce somebody to be
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cleansed, but they could not cleanse someone themselves. And so this was an important step to be
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re-admitted into society and again, Leviticus 13 through 14. But notice what Jesus said to him,
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he said, see that you say nothing to anyone. So let's continue where we left off in this passage.
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It says, but he went out and began to talk freely about it and to spread the news so that Jesus
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could no longer openly enter a town, but was out in desolate places and people were coming to him
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from every quarter. In total, that passage was marked 14 through 45. So what happens is Jesus
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tells this guy, don't tell anybody about this, go through the process, go to the priest, but this guy
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goes out and does the exact opposite of not telling anyone about it. It says he began to talk freely
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about it and to spread the news. And what was the result of this? Jesus could no longer openly
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enter a town. He was out in desolate places and people were coming to him from every quarter.
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Think about the implications of this. Jesus's fame is growing. People are, you know,
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beginning to look for him. He can't even openly enter a town because the news about what he has
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done has spread. And so he's out in desolate places and people were coming to him from, quote,
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every quarter. So people are coming to Jesus. He can't even openly enter a town here.
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Let's go to Mark chapter 2, verses 1 through 4. It says, and when he returned to Caparnum after
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some days, it was reported that he was at home and many were gathered together so that there was no
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more room, not even at the door. And he was preaching the word to them and they came bringing to him
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a paralytic carried by four men. And when they could not get near him because of the crowd,
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they removed the remove the roof above him. And when they had made an opening, they let down the
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bed on which the paralytic lay. And this is a famous passage. I was Mark 2, 1 through 4. Of course,
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we know the passage is going to go on to describe how Jesus forgives this man's sins and then
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heals him of his paralysis. But look at the details here that I kind of slowed down when I was
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reading it. It says, and many were gathered together so that there was no more room, not even at
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the door. So this house is packed out. And this is further illustrated by the fact that when they
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get there with the paralyzed man, they can't even get near to Jesus because this huge crowd that
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is thronging about him, right? And so then they go up on the roof and they do some good old-fashioned
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vandalism. Just rip a hole in the roof. But I guess they get a pass because it was to get the
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guy to Jesus, right? I guess we can call that evangelism, right? You, they destroyed property
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to get someone to Jesus. So, evangelism. So, but the point is this. The point is just that it was
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so crowded that they couldn't even get to him. This house is packed. Jesus is busy. He is in high
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demand. People are seeking him out. People are coming to him. A few verses later down in Mark 2,
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13, it says, he went out again beside the sea and all the crowd was coming to him. And he was
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teaching them. Okay, all the crowd was coming to him. So this is a large group of people. Let's look
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in Mark chapter 3, beginning in verse 7, it says, Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the sea
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and a great crowd followed from Galilee and Judea and Jerusalem and Idoumah and from beyond the
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Jordan and from around Tyre and Sidon. When the great crowd heard all that he was doing, they
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came to him. And he was and he told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd
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less they crushed him for he had healed many so that all who had diseases pressed around him to
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touch him. And whenever the unclean spirit saw him, they fell down before him and cried out,
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you are the son of God and he strictly ordered them not to make him known. That was Mark 3, 7 through
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12. But listen to that. So you have people coming from all these regions from Galilee and Judea
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and Jerusalem and Idoumah and from beyond the Jordan and from around Tyre and Sidon. You have people
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coming from all these places. It uses the phrase a great crowd. And this crowd is so great and is
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so hard to get close to him to come in physical contact with him. It says that he told his disciples
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to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd and it says, less they crushed him.
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So there's this big group of people surrounding him and pressing towards him and so there's this
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boat ready. A few verses later also in Mark 3, verse 20, it says, then he went home and the
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crowd gathered again so that they could not even eat. Things are so busy that it's just like this
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is interfering even with their ability to eat. It says that a crowd gathered again. This crowd
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sought him out. So Mark 5, 22 through 24, it says, then came one of the rulers of the synagogue,
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gyrest by name and seeing him, he fell at his feet and implored him earnestly saying,
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my little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her so that she may be made
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well and live. And he went with him and a great crowd followed him and thronged about him. So that
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was Mark 5, 22 through 24 and we know that Jesus is going with gyrest to heal his daughter. And while
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Jesus is on his way to heal gyrest, if you continue reading through the passage, you realize that a
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woman who had had a discharge of blood for 12 years who had suffered under the hands of many
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physicians interrupts him as he's going to help somebody. So him helping somebody is interrupted by
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somebody who needs help. And he of course, the woman is healed. He heals the woman and also
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he goes and raises gyrests' daughter from the dead. We remember this. But the point is this,
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people are coming to Jesus and making requests of him. They are begging him for help. And
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as to the point that somebody comes and makes a request, it says there was a crowd with him and he
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is going with gyrest and says a great crowd followed him and thronged about him. So you have this
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request, this big crowd, and then another need comes up when this woman comes and grabs the
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fringe of his garment. So this just illustrates just the fact that people are coming to Jesus,
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making requests of him. Again, Jesus was busy. Let's look at Mark chapter 6, beginning in verse 30.
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It says, the apostles returned to Jesus and told him all that they had done and taught. And he
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said to them, come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while. For many were coming and
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going and they had no leisure even to eat. So this Paul is there. So what does Jesus say? So the
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apostles return, they're talking to Jesus, they're talking about the things they had done and taught.
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And what does Jesus say to them? He says, come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a
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while. So let's withdraw and rest. It says, for many were coming and going and they had no leisure
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even to eat. And so here again, we see they're so busy that it's, they're not even able to sit
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down and have a meal. So continuing on in the passage, it says, and they went away in a boat to a
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desolate place by themselves. Now many saw them going and recognized them and they ran their
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on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. When he went to shore, he saw a great crowd
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and he had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd and he began to
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teach them many things. So that was Mark 6, 30, 3, 3, 4. So Jesus says, come away by yourselves to a
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desolate place and rest a while. So then they get in the boat and they're going to this place.
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A lot of people see them and recognize them. It says they ran their on foot from all the
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towns and got there ahead of them so that whenever Jesus and the disciples arrive and get out of
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the boat, there is quote a great crowd. But guys, I love the way Jesus is. What was his response?
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Was his response irritation or frustration or annoyance? No, it says he had compassion on them.
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He looked at them and he saw, he says that he they were like sheep without a shepherd.
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And he began to teach them many things. And so just to put this in context, this is right before
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the feeding of the 5,000, which in and of itself shows how in demand he was. This is 5,000 people
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that are there and of course he's teaching them and then we know that he's going to multiply the
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bread and the fish and feed all of them and there's going to be 12 baskets full of leftovers.
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But let me just say something that I've pointed out in other episodes before that that number 5,000
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refers only to the adult males because in Matthew 1421 it says, and those who ate were about 5,000
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men besides women and children. So this number exceeded 5,000 people, this massive crowd.
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And just that number alone shows how in demand he was and these people saw him recognize him,
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out ran the boat and was waiting for them on the other side.
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And the next chapter of Matthew 15, we see a similar miracle where 4,000 people are fed.
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So another large group and it says in Matthew 1538, those who ate were 4,000 men besides women
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and children. So same sort of thing. 4,000 that number refers exclusively to the adult male.
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So that means my point in saying that is to say that the number was actually larger than 4,000.
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This group was even bigger than 4,000. It was 4,000 dudes plus all the women and children who were there.
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So huge, huge groups of people. Just a couple more passages and you might be saying,
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well, Christian, don't you think the point's been made? I do think it's been made.
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But I want us to look at these additional passages just to realize it's like this was,
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this was a normal part of Jesus's life. This was happening a lot throughout the course of his
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ministry. Mark 7, 24 through 25 says, and from there he arose and went away to the region of
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Tyre and Sidon and he entered a house and did not want anyone to know yet he could not be hidden.
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But immediately a woman, his little daughter had an unclean spirit heard of him and came
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and fell down at his feet. So this is going to be another miracle where he delivers this little
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girl from the unclean spirit. But it says he entered a house and explicitly says that he did not
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want anyone to know yet he could not be hidden. People were still seeking him out and making requests.
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One more passage here just to illustrate the point. Matthew 19, 1 through 2.
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Now when Jesus had finished these sayings, he went away from Galilee and entered the region of
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Judea beyond the Jordan and large crowds followed him and he healed them there.
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Okay, so all of these passages illustrate just how busy Jesus was. And as I pointed out with the
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Mark 6 passage, I just love how Jesus responds to this. It's not, oh my goodness, I can't get away
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from you people. Leave me alone. It's not that. What do we see him doing when this crowd finds him?
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And Mark 6 and he began to teach them many things. Matthew 19 and he healed them there.
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But my point is just to illustrate the fact that I think we've seen very clearly now which is
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Jesus was very busy. There were many requests being made of him. Many people were seeking him out.
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Many people wanted his time and his help. Nevertheless,
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nevertheless, something else we see as we look at how Jesus lived during his early ministry here,
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nevertheless, Jesus deliberately spent time with his father.
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So let's just look at some examples. Mark 135 says in rising very early in the morning while it was
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still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place and there he prayed. Matthew 14, 22 through 23 says,
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immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side
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while he dismissed the crowds. And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain
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by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone. This is actually right after the
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feeding of the 5,000 and the events there. But it says that after he had dismissed the crowds,
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he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone.
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John 6 describing the exact same event, the feeding of the 5,000, John 6, 15 says,
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perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king,
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Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself. So we see Jesus withdrawing to this mountain alone
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in praying. And notice this example here. So in Luke 5, it's going to be verses 12 through 16,
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this is Luke's recounting of the very same miracle that we looked at a few minutes ago at the
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beginning of Mark in Mark chapter 1 verses 40 through 45 where there's the leper that came and
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knelt before him. So this is Luke describing the exact same account, but there's a detail that Luke
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includes that I want us to look at today for the sake of our conversation. Luke 5 12 through 16 says
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while he was in one of the cities, there came a man full of leprosy. And when he saw Jesus, he fell
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on his face and begged him, Lord, if you will, you can make me clean. And Jesus stretched out his hand
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and touched him, saying, I will be clean. And immediately the leprosy left him. And he charged
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him to tell no one but go and show yourself to the priest and make an offering for your cleansing
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as Moses commanded for a proof to them. But now, even more, the report about him went abroad and
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great crowds gathered to hear him and to be healed of their infirmities. So that's let me just pause
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here. Listen guys, listen to what this next sentence says. But he would withdraw to desolate places
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and pray. But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray. Let me just tell you so that's how the
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ESV renders it. So that last sentence, the NASB says, but Jesus himself would often slip away to the
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wilderness and pray in IV, but Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed. New King James
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version. So he himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed amplified, but Jesus himself
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would often slip away to the wilderness and pray in seclusion and new living translation. But Jesus
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often withdrew to the wilderness for prayer. So I just go through those various translations just
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to illustrate the fact that this was not a one time sort of thing in Jesus's life. This was a
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recurring sort of thing, but he would withdraw to desolate places and pray. And flying
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a repeated action, a normal rhythm of his life, or you know, some of the translations even said
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things like that he would often slip away or he often withdrew. So we see that Jesus despite
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his busyness, despite the request being made of him, despite the fact that so many people were
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seeking him out and there were so many people trying to make demands of his time and all of that,
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despite all of that, he still prioritized time with his father and would intentionally and
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regularly withdraw, go and be alone and spend time seeking him. But as we said near the beginning
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of this episode, for us, when things get busy, sometimes we jettison that daily seeking of the Lord
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and it begins to diminish and maybe even disappear entirely from our daily lives.
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But we saw from these passages just how busy Jesus was. It said a couple times they didn't
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even have leisure to eat. You know, he sailed to the other side of the lake to spend some time in
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seclusion with his disciples. And in that instance, it was a crowd of over 5,000 people waiting for him.
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Jesus's earthly ministry was busier than our day-to-day lives. He had more going on. He was in higher
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demand. And yet he still found time to spend with his father. How can this be? Well, I want to make
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a couple of observations really quickly about that that I think we would do very well to take note
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of and to follow. Two things from Jesus's life that I think are part of the equation here that I
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think that we could pick up today that could really revolutionize our experience with busyness
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and schedules and things like that. First thing is this, Jesus' priorities were always in order.
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He always had his priorities proper. We get our priorities out of order all the time. Instead of
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resting when we should, we stay up late. Instead of making wise health choices, we skip exercising
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and eat processed foods. Instead of investing in our relationship with Jesus, we give our time to
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things that ultimately aren't really productive or beneficial. So our priorities can very easily
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get out of order, but Jesus' priorities were always in order. His relationship with his father
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was paramount in his life. He would withdraw and go and be alone and seek him.
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And so I think the first thing we can do is really do an honest assessment and honest audit here
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and say, okay, are my priorities straight? And the second thing is this, Jesus didn't fall prey to
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people pleasing. Jesus was and is full of love, but people pleasing isn't actually driven by love,
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people pleasing is actually driven by fear. People pleasing is basically trying to control other
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people and control what they think about you through doing what you think they want you to do.
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And that frequently comes out as the inability to tell somebody no.
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But we see Jesus, he had no problem doing and saying things that others didn't like. We see that
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many, many times. He was absolutely driven by love and is driven by love by he Jesus, okay,
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the scripture say God is love. But again, people pleasing isn't driven by love, it's driven by fear.
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And if we have people pleasing tendencies, we will absolutely live overwhelmed stretched
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then lives. So these two things right there, having our priority straight and not falling prey to
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people pleasing are going to be a big part of this thing when it comes to managing our time and being
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able to keep God in his proper place and seeking him daily. Pastor Craig Rochelle said this about Jesus
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and I love this. It's so concise and so wise and so true. He says Jesus was busy, but he was never
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rushed. Think about that. Jesus was busy, but he was never rushed.
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So quickly, let me just take this one step further for anybody who's listening that saying,
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yep, check, I spend time reading my Bible and praying every day. I just want to say, good,
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amen, praise the Lord. And may you continue to do so. But I just want to challenge this and say
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wrapped up in this idea is also the importance of obedience. If we're just reading our Bibles daily
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and praying daily, but we're not actually obeying the Lord or obeying his word, then frankly,
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I don't think we can genuinely say that we're seeking him if we're unwilling to obey him. We're
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just legalistically reading our Bible and uttering some prayers. Seeking the Lord is not some
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form of just intellectual exercise, right? When we see Jesus seeking God, we see Jesus totally
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submitted to the Father's will. Philippians 2.8 says, and being found in human form, he humbled himself
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by becoming obedient to the point of death even death on a cross. Or John 6.38, for I have come
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down from heaven not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me. Or John 14.30-31,
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I will no longer talk much with you for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no claim on me,
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but I do as the Father has commanded me so that the world may know that I love the Father.
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Rise, let us go from here. That passage there in John 14, he was talking to the 11 remaining
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disciples after Judas had departed, and this is after the last supper, and they're about to
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head towards Gethsemane where he's going to be betrayed. But you hear the obedience to the Father,
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the submission to the Father's will in those verses. And just think about these verses,
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here, James 122, but be doers of the word and not here as only deceiving yourselves. If we are
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coming to the Bible and spending time in the scriptures each and every day, but we're only
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reading and not applying it, then according to James 122, we are in a posture of self-deception.
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We are convincing ourselves that we are somehow succeeding when we are not. Again, I've said it
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before on this podcast many, many times, the Pharisees and Satan himself can quote scripture,
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but that does not make them godly or spiritually mature. John 14, 15, Jesus said,
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if you love me, you will keep my commandments. For John 5, 3, for this is the love of God that we
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keep his commandments, and his commandments are not burdensome. So wrapped up in this idea of
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seeking the Lord is going to also be the idea of obeying the Lord, submitting our will to the
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Father's will. So let me just take this opportunity just to ask invasive questions.
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Is there any area of disobedience in our lives? Is there any forgiveness that needs to happen?
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Is Jesus first in our lives? Are we making disciples? Or are we just kind of ignoring the commands
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of the Lord? Do we care more about the opinions of others than pleasing him? Are we honoring God
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with our finances? Are we fulfilling our roles in honoring God and marriage and parenting?
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Are we refusing to live in such a way that somehow our actions might cause someone to
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unnecessarily stumble and so on and so forth? So are we walking in disobedience or disobedience?
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Is there any area of our life that is not submitted to the Father? But is Jesus our top priority?
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If we were handed a schedule that revealed how we spent every minute of the past week,
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would that schedule indicate that Jesus is our top priority? Or would it indicate something else?
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Would it indicate there's something else as a top priority? So yes, I'm just I'm pleading with
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you guys abide in the vine daily. Seek him daily. Don't don't allow your relationship with Jesus
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to be pushed to the back burner. I'm not saying that you're going to lose your salvation if you don't
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spend enough time with him each and every day, but I am saying this you can lose intimacy.
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You can lose the closeness of that walk that you had with God. You can lose fruitfulness in your
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life because Jesus had abide in me and I and you right? A branch cannot bear fruit unless it's
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abiding in the vine. I can say you you'll lose peace, you'll lose joy, you'll lose all sorts of
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stuff and you'll begin making less and less of an impact for the kingdom of God.
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So I'm just I'm pleading with you guys just let him be top priority in your time.
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So let's um let's quickly talk through some questions or potential objections people might be
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thinking in response to the content so far. Somebody might just honestly say I don't know how to
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seek the Lord. Well let me just encourage you with just a few simple things if that's you.
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Prayer in the Word of God. Just daily reading the scriptures and daily talking to the Lord.
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I would encourage writing prayers out, getting a prayer journal that can be helpful.
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I would encourage you to begin reading the gospel accounts perhaps beginning with Luke.
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You can look up great Bible reading plans that can help provide structure.
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Um and I would encourage you also to hang out with others who are seeking the Lord and to learn
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from them. Join a small group where a Bible study, join a church and get involved there. Hang out
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with the people who are doing the very thing that you want to grow in who who you can tell have a
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genuine solid relationship with the Lord and just ask them questions and just and learn from them.
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So I would start with that. Somebody might respond to the content we've looked at today and say
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well I spend time talking to him throughout the day. Why do I need to have a specific set aside time?
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I would say that's good and we should be spending time talking to him throughout the entire day.
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But that doesn't replace genuine focused, unhurried time with him. And so just think of the
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example of marriage. Yes, you talk to your spouse throughout the day. But that in no way negates the
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need to have set aside times for meaningful conversations. Husbands and wives should still go on dates
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despite the fact that they interact throughout the course of the day. And if that's true of a
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physical relationship down here on earth, why wouldn't that also be true of our relationship with
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our Lord where we just have just focused uninterrupted time with him? Because here's the thing guys,
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we can't meditate on the scriptures in a hurry. Biblical meditation, pondering the scriptures,
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praying through them, thinking about them, you can't do that in a hurry by definition.
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You might be able to speed read some stuff. You might even be able to memorize something in a hurry,
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but Biblical meditation requires focusing your mind on the scriptures and listening for the
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voice of the spirit through them, seeing how the scriptures apply to your life and like all that.
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So another objection. Someone might say, I genuinely can't find time to do this. I hit the ground
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running every single day and don't stop at all until I collapse and fall asleep.
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So in the book, the ruthless elimination for hurry, John Mark Comer has a couple of quotes that
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I think would be helpful here. He's actually quoting Dallas Willard in what I'm about to read,
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but Dallas Willard quoted by John Mark Comer and now quoted by me, says,
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hurry is the great enemy of spiritual life in our day. You must ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your
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life. And then John Mark Comer later says, the solution to an overbisied life is not more time.
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It is to slow down and simplify our lives around what really matters.
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I think that's great. So if you hit the ground running every single day and don't stop until you
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collapse and fall asleep at the end of the day, that's not a sustainable pace anyways.
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If possible, certain things just have to go. You know, as other people have pointed out,
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what we're talking about now is not a function of adding something else to an overbisied schedule.
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It's the idea of subtraction. It's a function of removing things so that you can create margin and
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put things back in their proper place and proper priority. Somebody else might object and say,
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well, Jesus's earthly ministry didn't take place during a point in history when there are so many
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distractions like smartphones and so on. So I have two issues with that. One, it implies that Jesus
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had it easier than us. And I would just say, let's think back to all the scriptures that we read
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and how busy he was, how people were just showing up, how there were at times, not even they couldn't
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even eat. Things were so busy. But second off, it implies that Jesus is physical earthly ministry if
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he were during the present moment, then he would be distracted like the rest of us.
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It implies that Jesus would have not been as focused or productive if he had lived, or if his
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earthly ministry, he obviously, he still lives, but if his earthly ministry had been during the time
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that we live. And that's just an offensive distortion of his character, right? That is just like,
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Jesus is who he is. He is how he is. The scriptures say that Jesus Christ's name yesterday,
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today and forever, which means this, if his earthly ministry took place during our time, as opposed to
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you know, around 2000 years ago, he would have done the same things now that he did then. He
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still would have prioritized his father. He still would have had his priorities in perfect order.
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He still wouldn't have been controlled by people pleasing. So I mean, that's that argument
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doesn't hold any water and is actually like I said, a distortion of his character.
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To think that if he lived now instead of then, that it would somehow,
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like, affect his productivity or his priorities. Somebody else might say, well, that was Jesus.
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Of course, he could do it. And that sort of thinking just ignores the fact that we're all
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called to do the same thing. Matthew 6, 5 through 6, Jesus says, and when you pray, you must not
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be like the hypocrites for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners
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that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you
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pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your father who is in secret and your father
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who sees in secret will reward you. The New English translation has a footnote. There we talked
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about, go into your room. The New English translation renders that as inner room and it says,
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the term translated inner room refers to an inside room of a house normally without any windows
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opening outside the most private location possible. So here Jesus is encouraging us to go into our
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room, go into this private secret place and pray to our father who is in secret and he says,
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in your father who sees in secret will reward you. Psalm 105, 4, seek the Lord and his strength,
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seek his presence continually, Hebrews 116, and without faith it is impossible to please him for
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whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
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So Jesus said as an example to follow, we are his disciples, a disciple is a student, a learner,
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a pupil. In Luke 640, Jesus said a disciple is not above his teacher but everyone when he is
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fully trained will be like his teacher. So rather than saying, well, Jesus, of course, Jesus could do
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it, Jesus is Jesus. No, on the contrary, we look at that and say, Jesus said as an example, I am a
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disciple of Jesus and therefore I am going to follow that example to the best of my ability.
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So the bottom line is this. The bottom line is that if we continue to come up with objections as to
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why we can't do this, it probably actually reveals something else. It reveals that we are probably
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looking for a justification as to why we don't or won't do this. And I'll just use the example,
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many people might say they don't have time to seek a Lord yet they might still find time somehow
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to watch TV. This is a matter not ultimately of time but of priority. So again, like I said at the
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beginning, I'm not trying to, I'm not trying to condemn anybody, just do the next right thing. Guys,
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this is something that none of us does perfectly. I don't do this perfectly. Nobody does this perfectly
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other than Jesus Christ himself. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't seek to grow in this. You know,
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I'm not trying to be insensitive at all. Nevertheless, we got to be honest with ourselves. What we make time
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for reveals what we value and we just, we got to refuse to allow our time with the Lord to slip
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away. It is so easy to allow our time just to slip away little by little for our time to be nickel
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and dined away throughout the course of the day. Even if there aren't like huge things that are
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like distracting us, there can be just a series of small things. And the next thing we know the day
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is gone and we haven't really spent much time with the Lord at all. But guys, I know this can be hard.
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I know this can be hard. And I realize that many people are very, very busy. I realize that many
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people have helped struggles that affect their sleep and their ability to focus. You know,
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somebody battles with insomnia that can make things very, very hard. I understand that. I know
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that there are full-time caregivers who are, who feel like they have not an ounce of margin in their
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lives. I know that there are single moms with four kids working two jobs just trying to keep their
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heads above the water. I realize that there are situations and seasons that are very, very busy.
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And if you're in one of those, then I don't want you in any way to feel condemned.
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That's not my heart. I would encourage creativity, even if it's like, okay, I'm driving somewhere
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instead of listening to music. I'll turn on the Bible and listen to the audio being read.
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Or I won't listen to anything. I'll pray while I drive. Or even if it's just like, I'll just take
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10 minutes just at the very beginning of the day or the very end of the day, just 10 or 15 minutes
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and just spend that time deliberately seeking him and meditating on the scriptures, just anything to
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take a step in that direction. So I guess a good question is this, where are you now in this?
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And what does it look like? And this is to everybody, where are you now in this? And what does it look
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like to take just the next step? You know, if you're not doing this at all, then what if it were to say,
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okay, I'm just going to start by doing this. Like I said, 10 or 15 minutes a day. I'm just going to
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focus on doing it 10 or 15 minutes a day for however long. And then moving that up to
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the other 15 minutes, making it 30 minutes, moving that up to 45 minutes, you know, just saying,
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how, what can I do to create enough space for me to be able to intentionally focus on the Lord
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and allow myself enough space to be settled, not to be watching the clock the whole time, and to
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sit with a posture of just seeking him? Guys, this is a function of abiding in Jesus, the very
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source of our lives. This isn't a function of a spiritual checklist. This isn't a function of
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like legalism. This isn't a function of being afraid you're going to lose your salvation or
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that God's going to get mad at you or something like that. No, this is a function of loving Jesus,
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knowing that he is the source of your life and cling to him. So I'm just encouraging and
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challenging us to be honest with ourselves. And if we have the courage to do that, then the changes
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that we need to make will probably become pretty clear. We might just need to wake up earlier,
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go to bed earlier so that we can wake up earlier. We might just need to tell people, no,
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we might just need to watch less TV. We might need to leave our phone in another room.
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You know, there's a lot of things. And let me back up as well and just say, if you know people
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who are in full-time caregiver positions, one of the biggest gifts you can give them is helping
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them shoulder that load is creating a little bit more margin in their lives for them.
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The scriptures, of course, say bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ in
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Galatians 6. Or if a husband and wife have small children, that's a busy season of life,
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then they could intentionally work it out so that each of them has focused time to seek the Lord
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while the other one takes care of the kids and does whatever is necessary.
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So there are lots of ways to go about this sort of thing, but I just want to highlight and emphasize
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the importance of it. So let me just leave you with Matthew 11, 28 through 30 here,
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where Jesus says, come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
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Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly and hard, and you will find rest
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for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. Let's pray. So Father, we just ask for your
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help. We acknowledge that you are the most important thing in our lives. You are the highest priority,
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Lord. Please help us to center our lives around you and to deliberately create the space to create
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margin. I pray that you give us all creativity as we look at how to do this, creative solutions to
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overbusy schedules. That you give us the courage to say no to people when necessary so that we can
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create time for keeping you in your proper place. The Lord, I just pray that you bless all the
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dear ones listening to this today. Lord, we love you and praise in Jesus' name. Amen.
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All right, guys, and closing really quickly. In addition to this podcast, I am also on staff
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with a ministry called Mentoring Men for the Master, which is an international discipleship ministry,
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and our mission statement is encouraging training and equipping believers to know and follow Jesus.
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So if you would like somebody to come alongside you and invest in your relationship with Jesus,
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or if you would like to have the opportunity to do that in the life of somebody else,
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then feel free to reach out to us instructions on how to do so can be found in the footer of every
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podcast episode. And two quick notes, despite the name Mentoring Men for the Master, this offer is
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also open to women and also wherever you are in the world, feel free to reach out because the
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majority of what we do as a ministry is conducted remotely. Secondly, if you'd like to sign up for
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the newsletter instructions on how to do so can also be found in the footer of every podcast
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episode. And lastly, I just want to talk about the Bible is a 501c3 non-profit organization,
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which means that any and all gifts given are indeed tax deductible. So if you feel so led to give
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instructions on how to do so can also be found in the footer of every podcast episode description.
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And thank you so much to those of you who have already given. May the Lord bless you
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abundantly for your generosity. All right guys, until next time, God bless you.