WEBVTT

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This is your daily reminder. God has not run

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out of mercy, not for you, not today. Welcome

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to the New Mercies Podcast. Welcome to today.

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It's February 21st, Saturday, and we are reading

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today in Psalms, Psalm 127 specifically. If you

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know much about the Psalms or if you don't know

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much about the Psalms, here's a little bit to

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kind of help you get an understanding of it.

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There's 150 chapters in the book of Psalms. If

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you look, those are grouped a couple of ways.

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There's a few different what they consider books

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in the psalm. And so you can read like a couple

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of psalms together or one book. And there's some

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that are grouped together in a couple of different

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ways. Psalm 127 is one of those that fits in

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a grouping. The grouping is 15 psalms. So there's

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15 psalms. And in the dead center of that, Psalm

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number 8 in that 15 is Psalm 127. These group

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of 15 Psalms are called the Psalms of Ascent.

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or the Psalms of degrees. And depending on what

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you know and understand about the Psalms, it's

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poetry writing, right? You don't go to the Psalms

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to find instruction on order in the church. You

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don't go to the Psalms to find historical accounts

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of the kings. You don't go to the Psalms to find

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the historical life and actions and ministry

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of Jesus, right? Those are in different areas

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in the Bible. The Psalms, however, give us a

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worshipful response or communication to God,

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to others, and in our own hearts. The psalmist,

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there's multiple psalmists, people that wrote

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the Psalms. There's David, there's Solomon, several

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more. I don't want to jump into all that to give

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you a background. If you want to know more about

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specifically the Psalms, you can go way back

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into the old New Mercies archives and listen

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as I did a few series through Psalms. I did one

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on the Psalms of Ascension. which we're going

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to look again at this one in here today. Psalm

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127 is the middle of that grouping. That grouping

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is used in several places. So that grouping of

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psalms, there's 15. Imagine building a playlist

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that is trying to get you into worship or get

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you into a congregational connection to the Lord.

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We may build these psalms of ascent in that.

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So you start out with this one, then you go to

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this one, then you go to this one. Imagine walking

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up stairs. There's a little bit of historical

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context in that. Each stair closer to the place

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and the presence of God was another psalm of

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ascent you would quote or you would proclaim.

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Today, we're going to look at 127, which is in

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the middle. So imagine building a playlist and

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you're getting closer and closer to the connection

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to God and Psalm 127. You're halfway there, and

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here's what it says at the halfway point, or

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the center point of all of those psalms. I encourage

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you, listen, today I know the reading plan suggests

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read Psalm 127. You can read multiple of the

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psalms around it, kind of see where it fits in.

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It's a pretty neat way that it's in the center

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of all of these psalms of ascent that go up.

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Psalm 127, I want to read just a couple verses.

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It's just five verses today. I'm going to read

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the first two and then see if I'm going to pick

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up the others or not, depending on the time we

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have together. So here's what it says in Psalm

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127, beginning at verse 1. Unless the Lord builds

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the house, those who build it labor in vain.

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Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman

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stays awake in vain. It is in vain that you rise

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up early and go late to rest, eating the bread

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of anxious toil. for he gives to his beloved

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sleep. You know, these first two verses give

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us a picture of what this psalm is heading into.

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This week we've read Haggai 1, we've read in

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Luke, we've read in Deuteronomy, we've read in

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different places in Scripture, Jesus' teaching

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and Old Testament teaching about... priorities,

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misplaced priorities, about misplaced funds and

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investing in our own desires and selves other

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than the things of God and eternal things. This

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psalm helps kind of cap this up as a worship

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moment at the end of the week here. He says,

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listen, if the Lord is building the house, it's

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awesome. If he's not building the house, it doesn't

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matter who your contractor is. It's not going

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to be good. It's going to be done in vain. God

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is not our subcontractor. He's the one that builds

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the house. If we build it, it will crumble and

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fall. Why? Because we have weaknesses. We don't

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know everything. We don't see everything. We're

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not understanding to everything that's going

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on. God doesn't miss anything. Wouldn't you want

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for the person to build your house to be the

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one that never misses anything? Absolutely. He

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doesn't cut any corners. He does everything with

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incredible accuracy, pinpoint accuracy. He doesn't

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miss. That's who we want building our house.

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What is our house? Our house is our legacy, our

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testimony, our call in life. Whenever this psalm

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is read or seen, it's one of the psalms of Solomon,

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who was one of the wisest men on earth. And Solomon

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says, listen, unless the Lord builds it, it doesn't

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matter how great of teams you have, how much

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understanding you have, how much power and influence

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you have. If God doesn't build it, it's not worth

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it. And as I read through the rest of this verse,

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it says if he's not the watchman over the city.

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You know, in the Old Testament times, there would

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be people that would watch over the city. They

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were on the city walls or right outside the city

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outskirts, and they would look and watch for

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the enemy. And if an enemy were to attack, the

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watchman would sound an alarm. And the reason

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they would do that is they would sound the alarm

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so that the city could prepare for the enemy

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or any type of attack. That's what the watchmen

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were there for. And God is telling us in the

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Scripture, if God's not the one watching over

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you, the watchmen are laying awake in vain. They're

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staying up all night in case the enemy comes

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and attacks, and they're going to miss things.

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God doesn't miss. He never misses for his people.

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He's always on. He's going to make sure. He knows

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the plans of the enemy. A watchman just sees

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what's about to happen. God knows how it's about

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to happen, who's involved, what the plans were.

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He knows what the enemy was saying in the enemy's

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bedroom, right? Before the enemy even came to

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the table to discuss with all the other allies

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that it may have. God knows all of it. He knows

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all of it. He's like, why in the world would

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you trust a watchman over the Lord? Why would

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you trust a builder over the Lord? Why would

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you trust anybody outside of just the Lord himself?

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Trust him wholeheartedly. He's the one that builds

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the house. He's the one that watches over the

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city. He not only builds our testimony in our

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house, he also protects our testimony in our

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house. That's what he does. Then that second

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verse there, it talks about why are we anxiously,

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we're working and working and working, and we're

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eating the bread of anxious toil, meaning we're

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stressed out about even providing for ourselves.

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We're stressed out about do we have enough of

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this? Do we have enough of this in order to take

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care of our own needs? And it says that God would

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give rest to those that he cares for. You know

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what that rest means? It doesn't mean laziness.

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It doesn't mean he says, you know what, take

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the week off. I'm just going to feed you, spoon

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feed you everything you need. Instead, he says,

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I want you to have peace. I want you to have

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a joy, and I don't want you to be stressed out.

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I want you to rely on me, know that I can build

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your house, I can protect your house, and I can

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provide for your house. I can do all of those

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things. That's what God is trying to teach us

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in the psalm. As I looked, it means no matter

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how hard you work, no matter how much you put

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into it. Here's what I think is crazy valuable.

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I'm going to read the last couple of verses anyway.

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I wasn't going to, but... You convinced me today.

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Keep listening. Here we go. It says this in verses

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3, 4, and 5. Behold, children are a heritage

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from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward,

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like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the

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children of one's youth. Blessed is the man who

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fills his quiver with them. He shall not be put

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to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the

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gate. This is a beautiful passage for parents.

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Children are a heritage. It doesn't say children

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are a burden. It doesn't say children are a frustration.

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It doesn't say children are a stressor. It says

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they're a heritage from the Lord. When I read

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through the Scripture, I see it says the fruit

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of the womb, a reward. They are a blessing to

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us, a heritage, meaning they carry on a legacy.

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They carry on something way more valuable. than

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a house, something way more valuable than a city,

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something way more valuable than sustainable

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food. They carry on a heritage, a testimony that

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keeps going, a legacy that keeps going. Is your

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family producing that? Because here's what it

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says next. They're like arrows in the hand of

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a warrior. You know, an arrow is useless if it's

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sitting here on this table. If an arrow is just

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sitting here and no enemy is afraid of an arrow.

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I want you to imagine this with me because I

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think about this and it fires me up as a dad.

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An enemy is not afraid of an arrow. An enemy

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is afraid of an arrow in the hand of a warrior.

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That's what the enemy is afraid of. An arrow

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by itself does nothing. But if you put it in

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a bow and you pull it back and you aim it at

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the right place and you let it go and that arrow

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comes shooting out, it is dangerous. An arrow

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is not dangerous unless it's in the hand of a

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warrior. Can I tell you, your kids can be dangerous

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to the enemy. Only if you, as a warrior, say,

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I'm going to help shape them. I'm going to help

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make sure they are on the straight path. I'm

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going to make sure they are straight and narrow.

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I'm going to make sure they are in the bow the

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right way. And I'm going to pull them back as

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hard as I can pull them back. And I'm going to

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make sure and take the time to aim correctly.

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That's what I'm going to do. Now, if you do that,

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the enemy says, uh -oh, I'm going to get hit.

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I'm going to get hit. That's what we as parents

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are called to do. If the Lord builds the house,

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we're in good hands. And as I read through it,

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as I hope you picked up on it a little bit too,

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it says, Eating the bread of anxious toil. You're

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nervous. You're scared. And so you think, I just

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got to work harder. I just got to earn more.

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I'm going to build a little extra on the house.

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I'm going to gain a little extra influence. Here's

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what I learned. If God's not in it, no amount

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of work will make it matter. If God is not in

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it, no amount of work will make it matter. I

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want you to think about that today in your parenting.

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in your school, in your social life, in your

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work life, in your church life. If God's not

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in it, no amount of work will make it matter.

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I have a tendency to think I'll just outwork

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everybody around me and I'll make it more meaningful.

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I'll make it matter more. I'll record more episodes.

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I'll go in and do this more. I'll do this more.

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If God's not in it, it's not going to matter.

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No amount of effort I put in can make it matter

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anymore. Today, here's what I need you to hear.

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Here's what I want you to hear as I've read through

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this text, as I've looked at it, as I've seen

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it over and over and over again. Busy does not

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equal blessed. If God's not in it, no amount

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of work will make it matter. I'm asking you today,

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look into your life, look at every aspect of

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your life. Is the Lord the one building your

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house or are you trying to build it? Is the Lord

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watching over your family, or are you trying

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to watch over your family? Is the Lord giving

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you provisions, or are you going out trying to

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anxiously toil for it? Are the children that

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he's entrusted to you, are you instilling in

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them the ways of the Lord? Are you pulling them

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back to fire them out so that they can be dangerous

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to the enemy? Or are you just trying to make

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sure they're okay? Make sure they're happy. I

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don't want to make sure my kids are happy. I

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want to make sure my kids are dangerous. I want

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to make sure that the enemy doesn't want my kids

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coming after them. That's what I want. I want

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to make sure that I'm doing everything for the

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Lord. And here's the only way that happens. The

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only way that happens is if I trust it to the

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Lord and not myself. If God's not in it, no amount

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of work can make it matter. I'm asking you this

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today. Put God in it all.