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Hey everyone, Easter is right around the

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corner. It's pretty early this year. And

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you might not realize this, but traditionally

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Christians prepare themselves for Easter through what's

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called Holy Week. We want

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to help prepare you for Easter by putting

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together an email devotional. Every day of Holy

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Week you're going to get an email that's

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getting you ready to celebrate the death and

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resurrection of Jesus. Make sure to click

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the link in our show notes and we'll do that together. Welcome

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to 10 Minute Bible Talks. Where we connect the

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Bible to your life. In the time it takes to get

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to work. I'm Patrick Miller. My

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son can barely reach the water spigot in our

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refrigerator. At first I thought that this was great

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because he could get his own water and that

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would save me tons of time walking from place

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to place every single time that he was thirsty.

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That's the upside. But there is a downside. The

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downside is that he can't see when the

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cup is full. And so overflows aren't that

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uncommon. It means that even though he doesn't

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need me to fill his cup, I still

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have to walk there every single time he

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fills it up so that I can let

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him know when the cup is full so

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that he doesn't overflow it and pour it

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on top of himself. If

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you're a parent, nothing about what I'm saying

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is surprising. Even at their

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most independent, children really are dependent.

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They need help. I've often

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wondered if this is something of what the

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Bible intends for us to think about when

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it challenges us to call God our Father.

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It's not merely that we're a part

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of his covenantal family and that we've

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taken on his covenantal family name and

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that we've been invited into the covenantal

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family business. It's also that

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we're a lot like four-year-olds in his presence. Often

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we're overconfident about what we can do and

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we end up overflowing our cups in the

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process. We're a lot like four-year-olds,

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even at our most independent. We're still

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deeply dependent on him. Of

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course, there's times when my son knows that he needs

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my help, when he's hurt or when he's in danger,

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when he's scared. He has no problem. calling out

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for his father. And even as

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adults, the same is true of us with God. When

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we are hurt, when we are in danger,

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when we are scared. Well those are

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precisely the moments when we are more

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aware of our need for our father.

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We need his help. We need him to show up. We

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need him to be present with us. Second

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Chronicles chapters 14-16 tell the story

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of King Asa, a king who

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sought after Yahweh and he tore

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down the idols in Judah. But

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he reestablished the covenant with God

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and he radically trusted God when

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he was in danger like a

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good four year old should. But

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this story doesn't whitewash King Asa's story because

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his story is kind of the tale of

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two different kings. You see in one life,

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in his early life, he's like that four

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year old who knows that he needs help.

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But in his later life, he's like an

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overconfident four year old. He has no idea

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how much help he needs and so he

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doesn't ask for it and that ends up

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getting him into trouble. You

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see early in his reign, Asa faced a

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tremendous threat, a threat that could have permanently

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ended his kingdom. Let's pick this up in

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2 Chronicles 14 verse 9. Zara

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the Ethiopian came out against them with an

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army of a million men and 300 chariots

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and came as far as Marisha. Okay, we

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got to pause for a second. That is

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a really big army that is now marching

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up to fight against King Asa in this

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region called Marisha. I've been there, it's this

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region of beautiful caves and I've actually been

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on the plateau where Asa would have looked

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out and seen this army of a million

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people marching towards him and he's just a

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tiny little kingdom with maybe a few tens

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of thousands of soldiers. Verse

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11, and Asa cried out to Yahweh

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his God, O Yahweh, there is none

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like you to help between the mighty

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and the weak. Help us,

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O Yahweh, our God, for we now

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rely on you and in your name

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we have come against this multitude. O

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Yahweh, you are our God, let

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not man prevail against you. And

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so Yahweh defeated the Ethiopians before...

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Asa and before Judah and

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the Ethiopians fled. So this

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invasion of Ethiopians ends up failing even though

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they had much stronger numbers, a much more

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powerful military. The reason why is because Asa

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was like a four year old who knew

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that he was in danger and he cried

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out to his dad, protect me, save

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me, rescue me. Later

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God commended Asa for trusting him. But

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given the circumstances, what choice did Asa

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have? He was in danger and he

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was totally incapable of protecting himself. Of

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course there were other choices he could have chosen.

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He could have run away and just given the

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land to the Ethiopians. He could have tried to

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do it himself and failed. He could have called

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on some other God. There were other choices but

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he does the right thing, the thing

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that is commendable. He calls out

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to his father. When Yahweh

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commends Asa, it comes with a tinge

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of warning. He doesn't say

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because you've done this one thing, all

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will be well in the future. Instead

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he calls Asa to a lifetime of

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childlike trust. We read in 2 Chronicles

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15 verses 2-4 what a prophet said

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to Asa. This is God speaking to Asa through

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the prophet. Hear me Asa, and

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all Judah and Benjamin, Yahweh

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is with you while you are with

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him. If you seek him, he will

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be found by you. But if you

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forsake him, he will forsake you. For

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a long time, Israel was without

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the true God and without a

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teaching priest and without law. But

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when, in their distress, they turned to Yahweh,

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the God of Israel, and sought him, he

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was found by them. And

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in many ways, Asa takes this message from

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the prophet to heart. He has

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a long reign and experiences peace because

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he is trusting Yahweh throughout that reign.

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But 36 years into his reign, he

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ends up growing self-confidence and very wealthy.

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He was an experienced king at this

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point and so he knew how to

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deal with problems and that self-reliance turned

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out to be poison for his faith.

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Yet Another king comes against Asa and tries to

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fight against him. But Instead of trusting God during

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this war, he is a man of faith. Acer

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send a big bag of cash to a pagan

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enemy the King of Serious and he asks the

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King of Syria to help him in this battle.

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Afterward yet another profit comes to a

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certain says this because he relied on

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the King of Syria and did not

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rely on the Lord your God. The

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army as a king of Syria has

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escaped. You were not the Ethiopians in

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the Libyans, a huge army with very

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many chariots and horseman. yet because you

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relied on your way, he gave them

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into your hand. For. The eyes

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of your way run to and fro

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threats the whole Earth to give strong

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support to those whose heart is blameless

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towards. You've. Done foolishly in

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this. For from now on you will

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have wars. Than. A So was

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angry with the prophet and put him in the

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stocks in prison for he was in a rage

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with him Because of this. And. A

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said for to cruelties upon some of the

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people at the same time. So.

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In the end, Acer not only ignores the

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profit, but puts him in prison for speaking

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the truth. He oppresses the people and in

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a very short period of time he goes

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from being a just king who pursues yeah

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way. To. A corrupt king?

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Be trusted himself. He

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later died of a fever and even on

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his deathbed he never asked yeah way for

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help. This. Text doesn't

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explicitly tell us what happened between

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his youth and his old age.

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But. I suspect it implies something

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subtle because what we know this

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period is that Isa grew wealthy,

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his kingdom flourished, he had success.

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And as many of these stories from Chronicles

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teach us such experiences of wealth and success

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and things going well. Well. Though

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either make us grateful. Or. Proud.

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God or alliance or self

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reliance. What? Are your successes

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do to you? Do. You need

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danger in fear in your life to turn

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to God. Or have you learned how

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to turn to God in plenty? And.

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And want, enjoy and and sorrows

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in sickness and in health. Your.

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Heavenly Father is not a helicopter pair

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then he wants to do everything for

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you. But. He does patiently wait

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with you by the refrigerator to help

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you make sure you don't overflow your

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copper, put two little water. See.

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On the surface, someone who relies on

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God and someone who doesn't rely on

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god may look the same. They may

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do many similar things, but the question

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is whether those things are done with

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a supernatural presence in power. Or.

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They done by means of self

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reliance. This. Kind of power

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cannot be present apart from a simple

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disciplined. Prayer. Preferably consistent

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prayer. Throughout the day, I practice a

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daily ritual of praying in the morning,

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in the mid day, and in the

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evening. I do this. Usually I pray

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through one or two psalms at any

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given time. I wouldn't say that anything

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magical happens by praying throughout the day,

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in the morning, in the midday, and

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for yo to sleep, but I do

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become more aware of my father's presence.

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I do find myself praying for what

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has happened and what will happen. And

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in doing this, I am protected from

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my own sense. Of self reliance.

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Not. Perfectly but far more than I would

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be with only one prayer. and certainly

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would be without any prayer at all.

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Could. You and a similar habit in your

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wife to make sure that you can trust

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God and the best in the worst of

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times, I want you to rely on him

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like a child. And he will

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bless you with his salaam, his joy in

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his presence on every side. Thanks

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so much for listening Today is this podcast

9:28

is helping you grow in your face. Would

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you do me a favor? tax it to

9:32

a friend who you think might benefit from

9:34

it as well? Maybe you can put it

9:36

is time to discuss what's your of learning

9:38

from the podcast and more importantly what God

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is doing in your search and in your

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life.