#105. Unless the Lord Builds the House: Biblical Parenting Encouragement for Moms | Psalms 111-118, 127

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This is the Drawing Place from Entrusted Ministries.

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I'm Stephanie Hickox, and today we'll

be looking together at nine brief

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psalms from Psalm 111 to 118 and Psalm

127, which happens to include the

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theme verse for our entire ministry.

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So there will be plenty that

will connect to parenting today.

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Psalm 111 has a beautiful

focus on the works of God.

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It begins, " Praise the Lord.

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I will give thanks to the Lord with

my whole heart, in the company of

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the upright, in the congregation.

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Great are the works of the Lord,

studied by all who delight in them."

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It goes on to say

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That God provides food for those

who fear Him and ends with a

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principle we've often talked about.

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The fear of the Lord is

the beginning of wisdom.

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All those who practice it

have a good understanding.

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His praise endures forever

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The first verse reminds me how important

it is to have fellowship with believers.

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as Hebrews tells us, " Do not

forsake the meeting of the saints."

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The Christian walk is not intended to

live in isolation and throughout the world

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We're encouraged to come together to spur

one another on to be faithful to the Lord

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Psalm 112 continues the idea of the

blessedness of the fear of the Lord.

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" Praise the Lord.

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Blessed is the man who fears the Lord,

who greatly delights in His commandments.

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His offspring will be mighty

in the land; the generation of

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the upright will be blessed."

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Did you know you can greatly

delight in God's commands?

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It's when we know that His rules

are for our good and our protection

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We can bless our offspring with that

teaching Even though my husband makes

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fun of my family because we use this

word too much Psalm 112 verses six

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through eight are really precious to me.

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About two years ago, I felt an

undeniable growth under my ribcage.

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After an ultrasound confirmed that there

was indeed a spot on my liver, the doctor

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recommended I have an MRI to determine

if the area was cancerous or not.

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The verses God put on my heart

to meditate on were " for the

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righteous will never be moved.

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He will be remembered forever.

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He is not afraid of bad news.

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His heart is firm, trusting in the Lord.

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His heart is steady.

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He will not be afraid."

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I picked these verses because of the

steadfast faith that's indicated,

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but I had to have a little giggle

with the Lord when I was inside that

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tunnel because they told me that I

had to be still and not move at all.

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I thought it was so funny that

the Lord had led me to pick

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those verses that began, " The

righteous will never be moved."

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And I felt God's nearness that

He would even provide me with joy

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in the midst of a scary situation

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Psalm 113 through 118

are the Egyptian Hallel.

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Hallel means praise in Hebrew

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And hallelujah means praise the Lord.

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Calling them the Egyptian Hallel does not

mean that they were of Egyptian descent,

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but that together these psalms praise

God's deliverance from Egypt, which made

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them the perfect psalms for the Jewish

people to have meditated upon during

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their feasts, and particularly on Passover

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It's probably Psalm 118 that

Jesus himself recited right

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before leaving the upper room

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After the Last Supper I particularly

love at the end of 1:13, " He

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raises the poor from the dust and

lifts the needy from the ash heap

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To make them sit with princes

and with princes of his people.

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He gives the barren woman a home,

making her the joyous mother of children

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I know that there's many

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That pray to that end

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And I want it for you too.

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Whenever I read a Bible verse that

puts a worship song in my head, I put

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a little musical note in my Bible.

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And Psalm 115 will probably kick off one

for you too It gives a detailed account

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of why the other nations' idols are so

helpless, and I think it has something

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particularly encouraging for you as a mom.

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So I'll read it in its entirety.

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" Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your

name give glory, for the sake of your

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steadfast love and your faithfulness.

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Why should the nations

say, " Where is their God?"

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Our God is in the heavens.

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He does all that he pleases

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Their idols are silver and

gold, the work of human hands.

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They have mouths, but do not speak.

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Eyes, but do not see.

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They have ears, but do not hear.

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Noses, but do not smell.

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They have hands, but do not feel.

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Feet, but do not walk.

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And they do not make a

sound in their throat.

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Those who make them become like them.

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So do all who trust in them.

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Oh, Israel, trust in the Lord.

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He is their help and their shield.

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Oh, house of Aaron, trust in the Lord.

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He is their help and their shield.

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You who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord.

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He is their help and their shield.

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The Lord has remembered us.

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He will bless us.

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He will bless the house of Israel.

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He will bless the house of Aaron.

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He will bless those who fear the Lord,

both the small and the great May the Lord

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give you increase, you and your children.

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May you be blessed by the Lord

who made heaven and earth.

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The heavens are the Lord's

heavens, but the earth He has

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given to the children of man.

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The dead do not praise the Lord,

nor do any who go down into silence,

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but we will bless the Lord from

this time forth and forevermore.

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Praise the Lord

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Aren't you so reassured by that

threefold repetition that God

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is our help and our shield?

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And I'm sure you heard that promise that

God will bless you and your children

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And that he blesses those who fear him

See, that idea is all over His word

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Moving on to Psalm 116, these

initial verses are so sweet to me.

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" I love the Lord because He has heard

my voice and my pleas for mercy.

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Because He inclined His ear

to me, therefore I will call

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on Him as long as I live."

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The New Living Translation recounts,

" Because He bends down to listen, I

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will pray as long as I have breath."

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One of my friends gave me a necklace that

represents this verse and it has a little

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bend in it It's been such a treasure

that reminds me That this God that is

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powerful enough to do as he pleases,

that he listens to my prayers, and it's

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an honor and a privilege to come before

him I recently mentioned this verse as

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we talked about Uriah, but Psalm 116:15

tells us, " Precious in the sight of

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the Lord is the death of his saints."

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And if not a sparrow falls to the

ground without God noticing, how much

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more is that true of His children?

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Verse 17 reminds us that although praise

can be difficult to give, God is worthy.

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I will offer to you the

sacrifice of thanksgiving and

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call upon the name of the Lord.

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Even in those days where it's hard

to rejoice in what God is doing

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He is honored by that sacrifice of praise.

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If you've ever wanted to say that

you memorized an entire chapter

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of scripture, I think Psalm 117

has your name written on it.

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" Praise the Lord, all nations.

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Extol Him, all peoples, for great is

His steadfast love toward us and the

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faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.

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Praise the Lord."

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That's it.

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I think you should go for it Psalm 118

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has repetition of, "For his

steadfast love endures forever."

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A couple verses that really stood

out to me are five through seven

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Out of my distress I called on the Lord.

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The Lord answered me and set me free.

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The Lord is on my side, I will not fear.

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What can man do to me?

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the Lord is on my side as my helper.

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Psalm 118:23 was my wedding verse.

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" This is the Lord's doing.

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It is marvelous in our eyes."

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And that's because neither my

husband nor I were interested in

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each other at all, and the Lord had

to completely change our hearts.

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We've always said that we have

an arranged marriage, but not

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by our parents, by the Lord

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So much more pivotal than any

human union is the way that

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verses twenty-two and twenty-three

point to our Lord Jesus Christ.

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The stone that the builders

rejected has become the cornerstone.

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This is the Lord's doing.

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It is marvelous in our eyes.

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Jesus is a firm foundation and

the cornerstone of our faith.

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All the promises of God are yes

and amen in Him And with that firm

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foundation in mind, let's turn our

attention to Psalm one twenty seven.

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Unless the Lord builds the house,

those who build it labor in vain.

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Unless the Lord watches over the city,

the watchman stays awake in vain.

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It is in vain that you rise up

early and go late to rest, eating

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the bread of anxious toil, for

He gives to His beloved sleep.

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Behold, children are a heritage from the

Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward.

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Like arrows in the hand of a warrior

are the children of one's youth.

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Blessed is the man who

fills his quiver with them.

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He shall not be put to shame when he

speaks with his enemies in the gate

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In this agrarian society

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Children were really necessary

to continue their livelihood

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And just as arrows are essential for

battle, children were essential to

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help protect parents as they got older.

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And when there were disputes grown

children could sit at the gate

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attesting to the character of their

parents and putting to silence any

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accusations that rose against them

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this psalm is one of

two written by Solomon.

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As he's the man God called to build

His temple, we should listen when he

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says, " Unless the Lord builds the

house, those who build it labor in vain."

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And I wanna caution us against being

deceived into having visions for our

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kids that the Lord didn't inspire.

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Is it our every hope and expectation that

Christ would be glorified in their lives?

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Or are we also holding onto hopes

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Of college acceptance letters, athletic

accolades, and theatrical achievements.

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Every talent can bring God

glory, but if any of it is done

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for ourselves, it's in vain.

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The Lord cautions us against building

on such a shaky, unsteady surface

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This week I got to delight with a family

member as they welcomed another baby.

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They had to contend for the

blessing of children, and it

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was a long, difficult journey.

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but I am rejoicing in a

quiver full of arrows.

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Children are absolutely one of God's

greatest gifts to us, and the best

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thing we can do to show our gratitude

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is to point them to him

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Let's pray.

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Heavenly Father

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You are a firm, steadfast, unshakable

foundation on which we can build.

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We thank you that your word consistently

guides us and lovingly convicts us, and

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we pray your Holy Spirit would be at work

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Speaker 62: cautioning

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Speaker 63: us against building upon

things that are void of eternal value

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Help us to see our children as a reward

from you and a blessing and an honor.

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I pray particularly for the

moms struggling with infertility

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That you would give them

the desire of their hearts.

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I also lift up those struggling with

the intensity of caregiving for children

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with health issues or special needs.

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For the moms that are exhausted and

feeling really disheartened as they

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read that you give your beloved

sleep, Lord, I ask that you would

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help them endure well for this season.

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Give them wisdom to make any

adjustments that are needed

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But we pray that you would supernaturally

help all those kiddos that aren't sleeping

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well, and allow those moms to get the

rest that you designed to restore them

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Thank you that you bend

your ear to hear us

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It's in the name of the true

cornerstone, Jesus Christ, we pray.

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Amen