#35. Leviticus 9-13 | A Shadow of the High Priest to Come

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This is a dwelling place from Entrusted

Ministries, and if you find that

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the constant demands of motherhood

make you increasingly aware of your

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need for Jesus, you're not alone.

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I'm Stephanie Hickox and

I'm right there with you.

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Today we're looking at Leviticus

Chapters nine through 13.

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And it will make us all the more thankful

for our perfect high priest, Jesus Christ.

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When reading about all the offerings

that the priest would've had to offer

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on behalf of the people, it seems

that it would've been such a heavy

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obligation for a lifetime of service.

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It makes me think about pastors today,

or biblical counselors who walk with

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others through deep seasons of grief

and heaviness, but it would've been

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so beautiful to know that people

got to walk away from these moments

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of sacrifice forgiven and restored.

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The act of reconciling someone to

God is a beautiful thing, and I'm

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reminded to pray that they would

get to experience the lightness and

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joy of pointing others to Christ.

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In chapter eight, a thorough consecration

process was described for Aaron and

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his sons, and chapter nine begins.

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On the eighth day, Moses called Aaron

and his sons and the elders of Israel,

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and he said to Aaron, take for yourself

a bull calf for a sin offering and a ram.

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For a burnt offering, both without blemish

and offer them before the Lord and say

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to the people of Israel, take a male goat

for a sin offering and a calf and a lamb.

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Both a year old without

blemish for a burnt offering

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and an ox and a ram for peace.

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Offerings to sacrifice before the Lord

and a grain offering mixed with oil.

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For today, the Lord will appear to you.

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And they brought what Moses commanded

in front of the attentive meeting,

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and all the congregation drew near

and stood before the Lord and Moses

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said, this is the thing that the

Lord commanded you to do, that the

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glory of the Lord may appear to you.

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Then Moses said to Aaron, draw near to

the altar and offer your sin offering and

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your burnt offering and make atonement

for yourself and for the people.

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And bring the offering of the

people and make atonement for

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them as the Lord has commanded.

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And after the sacrifices

are offered in verse 22.

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Then Aaron lifted up his hands toward the

people and blessed them, and he came down

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from offering the SIN offering and the

burnt offering and the peace offerings.

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And Moses and Aaron went into the tent

of meeting, and when they came out,

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they blessed the people and the glory

of the Lord appeared to all the people

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and fire came out from before the

Lord and consumed the burnt offering

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and the pieces of fat on the altar.

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And when all the people saw it, they

shouted and fell on their faces.

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And the very next verse in chapter 10.

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Now NAB and Abba, who the sons of Aaron,

each took his sensor and put fire in

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it and laid incense on it and offered

unauthorized fire before the Lord, which

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he had not commanded them, and fire came

out from before the Lord and consumed

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them, and they died before the Lord.

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Then Moses said to Aaron, this

is what the Lord has said.

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Among those who are near

me, I will be sanctified.

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And before all the people

I will be glorified.

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And Aaron held his peace

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A few verses later, A and the

Lord spoke to Aaron saying,

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drink no wine or strong drink.

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You or your son's with you when you go

into the attentive meeting, lest you die.

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It shall be a statute forever.

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Throughout your generations, you are

to distinguish between the holy and

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the common, and between the unclean

and the clean, and you are to teach the

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people of Israel all the statutes that

the Lord has spoken to them by Moses.

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The Lord most frequently spoke

to Moses with his directions.

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I think it reveals something about God's

heart, that right here after Aaron's

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sons are killed and consumed by God's

fire, that God speaks directly to Aaron.

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Many commentators believe Nadab

and Abba who were coming before the

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Lord while they were intoxicated.

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After all of their experiences

of God's power and holiness, it's

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unbelievable they would come before

him in such an unworthy manner.

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In Exodus 24, they got to go

partway up the mountain with the

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70 elders, and it tells us that

they ate a meal with the Lord.

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They saw the thunder and

smoke and heard God's voice.

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They saw the miracles that God

led them out of Egypt with.

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They've seen the man reigning down from

heaven and the quail being provided.

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They've been led by God and the

cloud by day and fire by night.

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And here they chose irreverence

and they paid dearly for it.

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My Matthew Henry commentary, Is hundreds

of years old, and the language is

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so beautiful it offers this warning.

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Those that hate to be refined by the

fire of divine grace will undoubtedly

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be ruined by the fire of divine wrath.

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As we've talked about before, the fear

of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

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We must be cautious in how

we approach a Holy God.

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I truly admire Aaron and the way

he continued to serve the Lord even

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while he was grieving so deeply.

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It reminds me of a story I once heard

about Charles Spurgeon, the English

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pastor, known as the Prince of Preachers.

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He spoke of his mother's beautiful

prayers and he remembers one in

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particular as his mom once prayed over

her children saying, now, Lord, if my

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children go on in their sin, it will

not be from ignorance that they perish.

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And my soul must bear a swift witness

against them at the day of judgment

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if they not lay hold of Christ.

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Trials.

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Recounts that thought of my

mother, bearing a swift witness

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against me, pierced my conscience.

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And this story has really stood with me.

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How she says, God, if my children don't

choose you, then I will stand with you

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agreeing that they deserve judgment.

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It seems Aaron.

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Is embracing this idea as well.

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allegiance to Christ must

trump every other relationship.

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On a less serious note, when I read about

the list of things that are clean and

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unclean in chapter 11, I can't help but

notice how many professional sports teams

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would fall into the unclean category.

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If you have sports fans in your

house, they might find those versus

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interesting.

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chapter 11 the Lord declares,

for I am the Lord your God.

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Consecrate yourselves,

therefore, and be holy.

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For I am holy.

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We live in a culture that wants

us to embrace our hot mess status.

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We have a God that longs

for us to come near.

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But We should be evaluating our hearts

so that we are becoming more like him.

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In these chapters about unclean and

clean, god gave them these guidelines

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so infectious diseases wouldn't spread

that healing could be provided for, and

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that they would have an understanding of

what made it safe to approach the Lord.

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Being unclean wasn't a declaration of

someone's sinfulness or unrighteousness,

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but if they came before the Lord.

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In their unclean state

that was unrighteous

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There are times where observation was

recommended and at times isolation.

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There are several circumstances in

which blood is not allowed to come near

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unless it was the blood of a sacrifice,

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a lot of these guidelines were for

health benefits, but some were to

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set the nation of Israel apart from

the pagan practices around them.

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Having these rules would've helped

prevent them from engaging in

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evil practices that were common

during that time in other cultures.

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In chapter 12, we received confirmation

that the Lord Jesus when he lived on this

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earth was not born into a wealthy family.

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Women were called to bring a ram if they

could afford it after childbirth, but

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if they could not to bring turtle doves.

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and that's what Mary, the

mother of Jesus offered.

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If you're also struggling financially,

know that it's not an indicator of

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a lack of blessing in your life.

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Steph: And in all of it, God gave them an

awareness of how he should be approached.

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We're given New Testament

commands about these things.

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When we're told that we should not

take communion in an unholy manner,

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or that if we're going to church

and all of a sudden we realize we

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have issues with our brother or our

sister, we're supposed to work it out.

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These are difficult things to

honor and obey, aren't they?

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Sometimes we wanna sweep it under the rug,

and I'll admit that there have been times

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when I cannot take communion until I get

my heart right sometimes that means moving

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forward in forgiveness, and sometimes

it means I need to initiate a difficult

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conversation to work towards restoration.

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But Jesus called us to be peacemakers.

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He's the same God yesterday,

today, and forever, and he still

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wants us to draw near to him.

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in closing, I wanna read a passage

from Hebrews that reminds us that

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these Old Testament practices

were a shadow of what was to come.

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Hebrews seven 18 tells us for, on the one

hand, a former commandment is set aside.

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Because of its weakness and uselessness

for the law made nothing perfect.

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But on the other hand, a better

hope is introduced through

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which we draw near to God.

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This makes Jesus the guarantor

of a better covenant.

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The former priests were many a number

because they were prevented by death

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from continuing an office, but he

holds this priesthood permanently

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because he continues forever.

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Consequently, he's able to save

to the uttermost, those who

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draw near to God through him.

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Since he always lives to make intercession

for them, for it was indeed fitting

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that we should have such a high priest,

holy, innocent unstained, separated from

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sinners and exalted above the heavens.

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He has no need, like those high

priests to offer sacrifices daily.

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First for his own sins and then for

those of the people, since he did

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this once for all, when he offered

up himself for the law, appoints men

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and their weakness as high priests.

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Now, the point in what we are saying

is this, we have such a high priest,

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one who is seated at the right hand of

the throne of the majesty in heaven,

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A minister in the holy places, in the

true tent that the Lord set up, not man,

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And in eight five, they serve a copy and

shadow of the heavenly things but as it

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is, Christ has obtained a ministry that

is as much more excellent than the old,

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as the covenant he mediates is better

since it is enacted on better promises.

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Heavenly Father.

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We pray that just as Mrs.

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Spurgeon was that we are faithful

to share you with our children.

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Help us to be intentional that we

aren't just learning your word for

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ourselves, but that we are diligently

passing it on to our families.

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May we be available.

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Throwing off distractions and choosing

moments of eternal importance in a world

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telling our children that they are enough

and that they don't need to change.

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We pray that they would realize they

are in desperate need of a savior.

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May we lovingly guide them to be aware

of their sin and their need for you, and

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may we model that humility ourselves.

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I ask for restoration

for those relationships.

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We've been praying years for you

are the God of the impossible.

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We ask you to move in our hearts that

we would be obedient to whatever you're

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calling us to do, and that you would

also be moving in the hearts of those

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you long for us to be restored to.

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This is a bold prayer,

but we believe you for it.

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Jesus.

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It's in your name we pray.

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Amen.