August 18, 2025 • 51 mins
Pastor Lance continues in 1 Thessalonians, The Model Life. He discusses the Model Life of Adoration this week with his message exhorting us to live a life that adores the Lord and helps us understand how to do so.
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Charles Wesley was a a great hymn writer.
Not just a preacher, but a but ahymn writer.
He wrote over 6500 different hymns and one of them in
particular deals with what it iswe are discussing this morning.
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That hymn titled is Joyful, Joyful, We adore thee.
In each stanza of that hymn, he talks about the joy, the
rejoicing, the gladness that comes from the Lord.
Listen to what he says, Joyful, joyful, we adore thee.
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God, a glory, Lord of love. Hearts unfold like flowers
before thee. Opening to the sun above, melt
the clouds of sin and sadness, Drive the dark of doubt away.
Giver of immortal gladness, fillus with the light of day.
All thy works, with joy surrounding earth and heaven
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reflect thy rays. Stars and angels sing around
thee. Center of unbroken praise,
Fields and forests, Vail and mountain, flowery Meadow,
flashing sea, chanting bird and flowing fountain.
Call us to rejoice in Thee. Thou art giving and forgiving.
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Ever blessing, ever blessed wellspring of the joy of living
ocean depth of happy rest Thou our Father, Christ, our brother,
All who live and love are thine.Teach us how to love each other.
Lift us to the joy. Divine mortals, Join the mighty
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chorus which the morning stars began.
Love divine is reigning o'er us,Leading us with mercy's hand.
Ever singing March we onward victors in the midst of strife.
Joyful music leads us sunward inthe triumph song of life.
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He understood that rejoicing is the aspect of adoration.
The model life is all about learning to adore the king.
And so the model life is lived in, in adoration, and
particularly in three ways, being joyful, rejoice always,
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being prayerful, pray without ceasing and being thankful for.
And everything we are to give thanks for.
This is God's will in Christ Jesus concerning you.
What does it mean to be joyful? What does it mean to rejoice
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always? Paul was the master of
rejoicing. No matter what the circumstance,
no matter what the situation, there was a joy about his life.
And I wonder how many of us today are able to rejoice
always. You know, when situations arise
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and they are devastating, how isit you rejoice in times like
that? Let's say you you heard that a
loved one close to you just justdied.
How do you rejoice in that kind of time?
Or the doctor comes back and says you have a terminal
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illness, you have not very long to live.
Do you rejoice always in that situation?
Or you, you have a child that rebels against your authority,
runs away from home, not interested in following the God
you serve. Do you rejoice always in that
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situation? You see, Paul, Paul was
concerned that those in Thessalonica who had already
rejoiced when they received the the gospel, First Thessalonians,
one verse #6 amidst much tribulation.
So he knew that rejoicing was a part of their lives.
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So he gives his command at the end of chapter 5.
Rejoice always because he wants to never to forget that that the
hallmark of Christianity in our adoration to God is to live a
life rejoicing no matter what. And so last week we began to
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explain that to you. How is it you truly rejoice
always? And so we gave you principle #1
and that was to rest in His Providence that that God is in
control of every situation, in every circumstance, and
everything that happens in me tome, because Romans 1133 to 33
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six says that all things are from him and through him, and to
him to God be the glory forever and ever.
Amen. That's why Paul could say we
know that all things will work together for good to those who
love God and are called according to His purpose.
Why? Because God has a plan, He has a
purpose. And the Providence of God is
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working through every situation,every detail of my life, and
therefore I can trust Him and rest in His Providence.
Listen to what the psalmist saidin Psalm 37, Psalm 37, verse #1
do not fret, do not worry, do not be anxious, don't be be
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filled with anxiety. How many of you are fretting
today because you're anxious about tomorrow when the Bible
says take no thought of tomorrow?
For each day has enough trouble of its own?
But we're always thinking about tomorrow or next week or the
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next thing down the Pike, and God wants us to rest in his
Providence and trust Him. So Psalmist says, do not fret
because of evil doers. Be not envious toward
wrongdoers, for they will witherquickly, light the grass and
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fade like the green herb. Instead, he says, trust in the
Lord, do good, dwell in the land, and feed on the
faithfulness of God. Your food is His faithfulness.
Your food is His guarantee. Your sustenance centers around
what God does for you every day.So feed on His faithfulness.
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Delight yourself in the Lord. He will give you the desires of
your heart. Commit your way to the Lord.
Trust also in Him, and He will do it.
He will bring forth your righteousness as the light and
your judgement as the noonday. Rest in the Lord.
Wait patiently for Him. Then he repeats it.
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Do not fret, do not be anxious. Do not worry because of him who
prospers in the way, because of the man who carries out wicked
schemes. Cease from anger and forsake
wrath. Do not fret because why?
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He says it leads only to evil doing whenever you worry,
whenever you're anxious, whenever you fret, it's going to
lead inevitably to something evil in your life.
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It's not leading you closer to the Lord, it's leading you
further from the Lord. So the psalmist makes it very,
very clear, do not fret, don't do this.
Trust in the Lord, rest in his Providence.
Trust what God's going to do. Wait patiently for him and He
will give you the desires of your heart.
Commit your way unto the Lord, resting in his Providence.
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So important. I love.
And in Acts chapter 5, after theapostles had been flogged, you
know what that means, don't you?When you're flogged, your, your,
your, your whipped 39 different times.
And the whips they use were devastating.
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And so it says the verse #40 of Acts 5 calling the apostles in.
They flogged them, order them not to speak in the name of
Jesus, and then release them. Just a very quick statement.
Bottom in, beat him silly, then let him go.
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So they went on their way from the presence of the Council,
rejoicing. Rejoicing that they had been
considered worthy to suffer shame for his name.
It wasn't that he felt good, butI feel great.
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Hit me again. Wasn't like that, but they had
been been flogged because of what they had said in the name
of Christ. And so it says.
And every day in the temple and from house to house, they kept
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right on teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.
A little bit of flogging. Was it going to stop them from
preaching the gospel? They just kept right on doing
what God had called them to do, and they rejoiced in the midst
of it. They rejoiced always.
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But so here's the point. Rest in His promises, and
there's a Part B to that. Rest in His Providence.
Excuse me. And the promises that go with
it. Rest in His Providence and the
promises that go with it. God's word is filled with
promises. Listen to this Isaiah chapter
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43. God is speaking to Israel.
He says in verse #1 But now thussays the Lord your creator, O
Jacob, lets them know that, that, that that I created you.
I I formed you, I put you together.
I am the the master architect ofthe nation.
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God is the designer of Jacob, sohe says, your creator, Jacob, I
am the one who formed you of Israel.
I formed you. I've done this.
Do not fear, because I'm your creator.
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I am your designer. I am the master architect of the
nation. I have a a plan, and the
Providence of my plan will be fulfilled as I have designed it
to be fulfilled. So therefore do not fear, for
whatever comes your way, I am incharge of so he says, Do not
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fear, for I have redeemed you. I have purchased you.
I called you out of slavery, outof Egyptian bondage.
This is what I've done. I have called you by name.
You are mine. You're my possession.
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You're possessed by me, the God of the universe, the creator of
the world. They says this.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you.
Not if you pass, but when you pass through the waters.
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Sometimes the waters begin to overflow.
Sometimes the waters are deeper than we imagine.
Sometimes the the, the, the waters have waves that rise way
above our heads. Because when you pass through
the waters, I will be with you and through the rivers, they
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will not overflow you. Then he says when you walk
through the fire, not if you walk through the fire, but when
you walk through the fire, notice they're not running
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through the fire. You ever been in a fire?
Nobody walks out of the houses on fire.
You're running out of the houseson fire.
You're high tailing it out of there.
You're gone. But notice He says when you walk
through the fire, He says, you will not be scorched, nor will
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the flame burn you, for I am theLord your God, the Holy One of
Israel, your Savior. Then verse #5 He says, do not
fear, for I am with you again, do not fear, do not fret, do not
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be anxious, do not be scared. I am with you.
I'm your creator, O Jacob, I've chosen you.
I will comfort you later he saysin chapter 49 of Isaiah.
These words, Isaiah 49 verse #14but Zion said Zion is Israel.
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Zion is a place, of course, Mount Zion, but it's also a
people in the Scriptures. And so Israel or Zion has said
the Lord has forsaken me and theLord has forgotten me.
You've been there. You've said those kinds of
things. You you have faced difficulties
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or hardships or, or painful experiences, and you're
thinking, wait, wait a minute. Maybe the Lord stepped off the
throne for a moment, or maybe the Lord blinked and didn't see
my situation, or maybe the Lord was preoccupied with someone
else, so much so that he could not see or understand my
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situation. We always get to the place
where, Lord, have you forsaken me?
Have you forgotten me? Yoohoo I'm here but God knows
everything, you're his. So he says.
Can a woman forget her nursing child and had no compassion on
the son of her womb? Yes, yes, many women forget
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their nursing children, have no compassion on the son of their
womb. Many children, many moms give
their children away and walk away from them.
It says even these may forget, but I will not forget you.
Even a mother's love for her child, which is the the greatest
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bond in the world. A mother and her child is a by
nature the strongest bond in theworld.
And even though a woman can forget our nursing child, God
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says I will never forget you, I won't do that he says behold, I
have inscribed you on the palms of my hands.
Your walls are continually before me.
I know you like I know my hand. I see my hand every day.
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I know my I've inscribed you on the palms of my hands.
You are written right there. How can I ever forget you?
And therefore all your walls arecontinually before me.
You see, when you rest in the Providence of God, you rest in
His Providence and the promises that go with that Providence.
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So important. I could spend weeks here.
I'm not going to do that, but I could because this is just so
profound. The Providence of God in the
working of God. The Bible is filled with how you
begin to understand the workingsof Almighty God in the lives of
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people. It's amazing.
He's never out of control. God's, God's never up in heaven
going wringing his hands thinking, man, I sure hope they
make it through this, but I surehope they don't say that.
I sure hope things turn out for the better for them.
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God doesn't do that. God's in charge.
He's in control of everything, and we just learn to rest in His
providential control and the promises that go with it.
And there are so many promises in the Scriptures, but we must
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move on. Gosh, time goes by so fast, so
let's hurry. All right, Rest in His
Providence and the promises thatgo with it #2 embrace His peace.
Embrace His peace. Turn to 2nd Thessalonians
chapter 3, Second Thessalonians chapter 3.
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Listen to what Paul says in a second letter to the
Thessalonians. He says, now may the Lord of
peace himself continually grant you peace in every circumstance.
The Lord be with you all. Now may the Lord of peace.
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Continually grant you peace. Peace is a gift that God gives
to his own. The wicked will never receive
that gift. Isaiah says twice.
There is no peace for the wicked.
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There isn't. The peace that God gives, He
gives to his own. John 1427 My peace I give unto
you, not as the world gives, butmy peace I give unto you.
I, I give to you the, the, the non fragile, non superficial,
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real, serene, calm life. I give you my life because I'm
the God of peace. The Father is the one who
provides peace, the Son purchased peace, the Spirit
produces peace, and the Scriptures promote peace.
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That's why the Bible says in Psalm One 19165 Great peace have
those who love thy law, and nothing causes them to stumble.
Great peace have those who love thy law at the coming of the
Messiah, peace on earth toward those with whom he is pleased.
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God grants peace to those with whom he is pleased.
Who is that? Psalm 147 tells us that those
who fear the Lord are those who please Him.
So the only ones who receive thepeace of God are those who fear
God. He says May the God of peace
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continually grant you peace. In other words, it's a non
interrupted kind of peace. May he continually do this on a
regular basis. Grant you the peace that you
need. You need to embrace this so
important. You see, sin can can disrupt
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your peace. Disobedience can disrupt your
peace. Rebellion can disrupt your
peace, but that's you doing it, not God doing it, because He's
granted you his peace. And so Isaiah 26 three says that
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I will keep him in peace. Peace whose mind is stayed or
fixed or focused or steadfast onme, I will keep him.
In perfect peace. You'll experience peace.
Peace. There was no way for for the
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writer to describe the the overwhelming peace that God
gives, so he just repeats it. The translator is called it
perfect peace in Hebrew. It's peace.
Peace because it's something that goes beyond anything you
can ever imagine for those whosemind is stayed on thee.
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In fact, the Bible says in Colossians 316, let the peace of
Christ rule in your heart. The word for rule means to to
umpire, to call the shots. In other words, let the let the
fact that you're at peace with God because of Christ, let the
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fact that you're at peace with God be the governing factor in
every decision that you make. In other words, because we're on
God's side, we need to realize that he's calling all the shots.
So we subject ourselves to the one who calls all the shots.
That's what letting the peace ofChrist rule in your hearts mean.
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So Paul comes along and says, I want the the Lord of peace, the
God of peace to continually grant you peace in every
circumstance. That that's just in every
circumstance, not in certain circumstances, but in every one
of them. Meaning that there can be peace
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in every every issue in life, whether it be turmoil or
tragedy, whether it be happinessor joy, whether it be a
difficulty or depression. Peace is continually granted.
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But you need to embrace that peace, and you can only do that
because you rest in the Providence of God and the
promises that go with it. So he says the last phrase, the
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Lord be with you all. We'll see this.
To our Third Point, not only do you rest in the Providence,
Providence of God and the promises that go with it, not
only do you embrace this peace, but #3 journey in His presence.
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You journey in his presence. They say, well, isn't God on the
present? Isn't God everywhere at all
times? Isn't God occupying the past,
the present, and the future all at the same time?
Isn't God eternal? Isn't God immutable?
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Isn't God everywhere? How?
How can I journey outside the presence of God?
Well, theologically you cannot, because God is on the presence.
But practically, you can walk out on your own, do your own
thing, make your own decisions as if God is not even present
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among you. We, we kind of do this all the
time, right? We, we make decisions without
ever consulting God. We make decisions about jobs, we
make decisions about purchases. We make decisions about our
family. We make decisions about all
things in our life where we go to school without ever
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consulting God because we think we're smart enough to do that,
that we can. We, we're autonomous and we're
independent and we can make decisions.
We don't need God to guide us. I'm smart enough to make this
decision on my own. That's not journey, journeying
in the presence of God, that's that's walking away doing my own
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thing. That's why the psalmist said in
Psalm 42, these words, I love this, it's so precious.
He says, why are you in despair,O my soul?
So let me ask you that question.Why is your soul in despair
today? Why?
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Why is your soul downcast today?Why is your soul depressed
today? That's the question that
Psalmist asks. Why?
And why have you become disturbed within me?
What is your soul disturbed? Hoping God for?
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I shall again praise Him for thehelp of His presence.
Isn't that great? I will hope in God and I will I
will praise him because he is present with me.
It's it's the help of his presence.
Turn back with me if you would, to the book of Exodus, the book
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of Exodus, the 33rd chapter. You'll remember these words,
Exodus chapter 33, verse 12. Then Moses said to the Lord,
See, you say to me, Bring up this people, but you yourself
have not let me know whom you will send with me.
Moreover, you have said, I have known you by name, and you have
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also found favor in my sight. Now, Now, therefore I pray you,
if I have found favor in your sight, let me know your ways,
that I may know you, so that I may find favor in your sight.
Consider too that the nation is your people.
These are your people, God. He says this and he said, my
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presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest.
God says to Moses, My presence will go with you, and I will
give you rest. Now this is the words of Moses.
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They said to him, If your presence does not go with us, do
not lead us up from here. We're not going anywhere without
you, Lord. We're not making a step.
We're not. We're not branching out to do
anything unless you go with us because we can't do it on our
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own. That's a man who has learned to
depend upon the the presence of Almighty God in his life.
And Moses was a great leader. He was educated in the finest
school system of his day. He was a powerful, strong man.
When he slayed the Egyptian trying to convince the nation of
Israel to follow him, he was nixed in line to be the Pharaoh.
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He was a great leader. He had all the external
capabilities and opportunities before him, but he turned it all
the way to follow the Lord. He forsook the riches of Egypt,
he forsook fame in Egypt, that he might seek and follow the
name of his God. And now at the end of his life
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he is saying, Lord, I'm not going anywhere unless you go
with us. Read on.
For how then can it be known that I have found favor in your
sight? I and your people?
Is it not by your going with us,Said we, I and your people may
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be distinguished from all the other people who are upon the
face of the earth. What distinguishes you from
everybody at work? What distinguishes you from
everybody at school? What distinguishes you from
everybody in your neighborhood? It's the presence of God with
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you. That's what it is, that there's
something about your life, there's something about who you
are that that just exudes the presence of God.
You walk into the room and people, they smell the presence
of God. It's everywhere.
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It overrides your Cologne and perfume.
It over overrides the clothes that you wear.
It's the presence of God among you.
And Moses says, this is what's going to distinguish us from
everybody else. We can't go anywhere, Lord,
unless you are going with us. And that he says, the Lord said
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to Moses, I will also do this thing of which you have spoken,
for you have found favor in my sight, and I've known you by
name. This is so precious.
I know you by name, Moses, you found favor.
You've been graced in my sights.I'm going with you all the way
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journey in his presence. I just I can't emphasize this
enough. It's called walking in the
spirit. So you don't fulfill the lust of
the flesh, right that that's Paul's way of saying it in
Galatians and and Ephesians. Walk in the Spirit, walk in the
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presence of Almighty God and you'll be distinguished from
everybody else because there's something unique and special
about you. Note this.
The Psalm was said in Psalm 16 verse #8 I have set the Lord
continually before me because heis at my right hand.
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I should not be shaken. How do you know You journey in
the presence of God? Because you'll continually place
the Lord before you. He's at your right hand and you
never fear. You're never shaken, you never
stumble. Because God's at your right
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hand. He is continually before you.
You're focused and fixed on Him.If I had time, I I would tell
you that the Prince of God supports and sustains you in
your service. Just read the book of Joshua.
Read the book of Deuteronomy. Read the book of Matthew.
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When you're journeying God's, God's presence, he, he comforts
you amidst your crises. All you have to do is read
Paul's account in Acts 18 and Psalm 23 verse #4 that when you
walk through the valley of the shadow of death, you'll fear no
evil, for He is with you. He comforts you in your crisis.
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He sustains and supports you in your service.
He strengthens you in your suffering.
Only the Lord can do that. That's Deuteronomy 3327 and 2nd
Corinthians 1 verses 3 and following.
And then you realize that He alleviates your anxiety.
He alleviates your anxiety. I'll have to read this one to
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you. Isaiah chapter 41, he says,
verse #9 you whom I have taken from the ends of the earth and
called from its remotest parts, and said to you, you are my
servant. I have chosen you and not
rejected you. So do not fear, for I am with
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you. Do not anxiously look about you,
for I am your God. I will strengthen you.
Surely I will help you. Surely I will uphold you with my
righteous right hand, the presence of God.
When you journey in this presence, He alleviates your
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anxiety, He comforts you and your crisis.
He is the one who sustains and supports you in your service,
and He is the one who strengthens you amidst your
suffering. I like this one.
Wish I had time for this. He eliminates your enemies.
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All you got to do is read first Samuel 17 story of David right.
He went against Goliath with theLord of hosts by his side, the
Lord of armies. And Saul told David before he
went, the Lord be with you, David.
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And that's kind of quite ironic because the same Lord would have
been was Saul had Saul gone after Goliath.
But you see, he was afraid, but David wasn't.
He knew that the Lord would eliminate his enemy because he
had already alleviated his anxiety.
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He'd already comforted amidst his crises.
He knew that He would strengthenhim in his suffering and support
and sustain him in His service For the King.
That's what it means to journey in His presence.
Do you do that? You want to rejoice always Rest
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in His Providence and the promises that go with Him.
Embrace His peace. Journey in His presence.
Next number 4. Obey his precepts.
Obey his precepts. Listen, there is no joy and
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disobedience. You can't rejoice when you
disobey. You can only rejoice when you
obey that. That's why the woman, some woman
in the crowd, Jesus is walking by in Luke 11 says blessed is
the womb that bore you and the breasts that nourished you.
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And Jesus stops and says, oh, Onthe contrary, blessed are all
those who hear my word and obey my word.
That's where the blessing comes,that that's why John 13 is so
important. John 13 begins the, the evening
of the last night of our Lord's life, John 13 through 17.
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And we get to our study of John.We'll spend we'll spend months
in those chapters, John 13 to 17, because it's the last night
of our Lord's life on earth and he begins that night.
Remember, there's an argument that arises among among the
disciples about who's the greatest in the Kingdom and, and
and Jesus begins to get up and and tie his slaves apron around
his his waist and and gets a wash basin and begins to wash
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the disciples feet. You know that story.
And Peter said, what are you doing Lord?
Well what I'm doing Peter is I'mI'm washing your feet.
He says no, let me wash your feet.
Christ says if I don't wash you,you have no part with me.
Peter says throw the whole bucket of water on me then I
want to be cleansed. Christ says you don't need a a
cleansing you just need a, a washing because the wash
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disciples feet and what's all said and done.
He says you've seen what I have done for you.
I've set you an example. John 1317 And blessed are you,
joy is yours when you do what I have done unto you.
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And people think, well, the joy must be in washing somebody
else's feet. Are you kidding me?
There's no joy in that. We don't want to wash your
crusty toes and all that kind ofstuff.
There's no joy in that. That's, that's not what the, the
Bible says. Well, where's the joy?
The joy is that when you are suffering isolation and
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loneliness and nobody cares about you because the disciples
didn't care about Jesus. They just argued about who was
the greatest in the Kingdom. So Jesus says, you know, when
nobody cares about you, when you're completely isolated and
nobody's praying for you in all your suffering and no one's
paying attention to the fact that you're going to die for the
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sins of man, know what you do? You serve your fellow man, you
serve him. That's where the joy is.
That's how you rejoice, always obeying the precepts of God.
When it's the hardest to do so, when you don't want to do so,
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that's where the joy is. So you say I'm going to serve my
fellow man when my fellow man could care less about my my
future tomorrow, could care lessabout my physical condition,
could care less about anything going on in my life.
But in our narcissistic society,we are so consumed with
ourselves we can't even look outside of the wash basin
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because all we can think of is me, me, me, me, me, me, me.
And that's why you have no joy. That's why you can't rejoice
always. It's all about you and God's
program. It's all about Him and everybody
else. So you rest.
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I know I'm late, but I'm going to finish this today.
You rest in His Providence and the promises that go with Him.
You embrace His peace, you journey in his presence, you
obey his precepts, and then you identify with his plans and his
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purposes. Not your plans and purposes, his
plans and purposes. You must identify with his
plans. That That's why the Bible says
in Romans 12, you present your body a living sacrifice wholly
acceptable in the God, which is your only logical form of
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worship, that you may be able toprove what is that good and
acceptable and perfect will of God.
But but you, you must present your your life as a living
sacrifice. That is see the problem with the
living sacrifice is that you canjump off the altar whenever you
want to, right. When things get a little hot,
you jump off the altar. When the blade looks really
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sharp, you jump off the altar. But when you present yourself as
a living sacrifice, you're, you're, you're, you're, you're
seeking to please and, and honorthe name of God because you want
his will done in your life. So you have this scenario in
Matthew chapter 16 where, where Jesus asks, who do men say that
(42:33):
I am? And Peter makes that great
confession now with the Christ, the Son of the living God, and,
and, and Christ commence him forwhat he says.
Flesh and bloods not reveal thatto you my friend Simon, but my
Father in heaven is revealed to you.
Then you had that scenario whereChrist begins then to talk to
them about his crucifixion, his death, his beatings and how it
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rise again. And Peter says, oh, far be it
from you, Lord. Peter began to rebuke him, says
Can you imagine rebuking Jesus, Peter?
Peter was so comfortable with Jesus, he felt like he could
rebuke him, said Lord that that's not going to happen to
you. What did Christ say?
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Get thee behind me, Satan, for you do not have in mind the
plans and purposes of God. You see, Peter only had his
plans and purposes in mind. He had his idea about the way
the Messiah should be. He had his idea about the way
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Christianity should be. He had his idea about the way
church should be. He had his idea about how he
should walk with the Lord. He didn't have the Lord's idea
in mind. The Lord's mission was to was to
suffer and die and rise again. That was his mission.
Peter didn't want that. He wanted something different
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because he thought his way, his plans, his purposes were better
than Jesus's plans and purposes.You ever been there?
Sure you have. Yeah.
You you want to marry somebody, right?
And they're not a believer. That's your plan.
That's your purpose. And God says don't do that.
I got my own plan. I got my own purpose.
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And God says don't do that. It's OK.
I got this, Lord, don't worry about it.
They'll get saved later down theroad and they don't see what we
we have our own plans and we think that they're right, but
for the most part they're, they're wrong because they're
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not in line with what the Lord has said His word.
So you must identify with his plans and his purposes.
But you can only, only do that when you obey his precepts.
And the reason you obey his precepts is because you embrace
his peace. And the only way you embrace
this peace is because you're resting in the province of God.
And the promises that go with them make sense.
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Of course it does. Two more Consider, say again,
I'm just, I'm just getting started.
Consider his person. Consider his person Hebrews
(45:34):
chapter 12. Therefore, since we have so
great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside
every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us,
and let us run with endurance the race that I set before us,
fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfector of faith,
who for the joy set before Him endure the cross, despising the
shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
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For consider Him who has enduredsuch hostility by sinners
against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose
heart. You must consider Him His
Person. He did what he did because of
the joy that was set before him.You know, there's only one time
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in the New Testament that says that Jesus rejoiced only once,
and that's in Luke's Gospel, the10th chapter, when it says that
Jesus rejoiced greatly. Why?
Because He told his men that even though you got back from
ministry and you saw great things happening, rejoice in
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this, that your names are written down in heaven.
And then he says he rejoiced greatly, because His Father in
heaven has hidden these things from the wise and the
intelligent, but has offered them up to the infant, the
lowly, that they might embrace the Messiah.
The joy before Him was the salvation of lost souls.
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And so when you, when you have, when you consider the person of
Christ, you're considering the joy that was before him, and the
joy was the salvation of lost souls.
You rejoice always when the salvation of lost souls is
preeminent in your mind as it was in the mind of Christ.
Rest in His Providence and the promises that go with them.
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Embraces peace. Journey in His presence.
Obey His precepts. Identify with His plans and
purposes, and then consider His person.
Once you do that, you can finally enter His gates with
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praise. Psalm 100, which says these
words. Shout joyfully to the Lord all
the earth. Serve the Lord with gladness.
Come before Him with joyful singing.
Know that the Lord Himself is God.
It is He who made us, and we, not ourselves.
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We are His people in the sheep of His pasture.
Enter His gates with Thanksgiving, and His courts
with praise. Give thanks to Him.
Bless His name, for the Lord is good.
His loving kindness is everlasting and it's
faithfulness to all generations.You want to rejoice always,
(48:40):
that's how you do it. R Rest in His presence and the
promises with Him. E Embraces peace.
J Journey in His presence. O obey his precepts, right.
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I identify with his plans and purposes.
C Consider his person. E enter his gates with praise.
You want to rejoice always. That's where it begins.
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And May God give us the grace toobey the command that says
rejoice always, let's pray together.
Father, we thank you for today, the opportunity you give us to
look into the Word of God so much we did not even touch on
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today. And yet, Lord, we trust that the
things that we have learned would be with us and grow us
deep and our walk with the Lord.And so, Lord, I pray for every
one of us in the room. And I don't know what's
happening in families or workplaces or schools, in the
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individual lives of those who are here, but you do.
And that's all that matters. You're with them.
You've inscribed them on the palms of your hands.
You know them intimately in every detail.
May they embrace the peace that you give them because you give
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it to them continually. May they rest in the in the
Providence of Almighty God, journey in your presence, obey
your precepts, identify with your plans and purposes, and
consider you the great God of the universe, that they might
enter your gates with praise andThanksgiving, shouting joyfully
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unto the name of our God. Pray this in the name of Jesus
Christ, our coming King, Amen.
Charles Wesley was a a great hymn writer.
Not just a preacher, but a but ahymn writer.
He wrote over 6500 different hymns and one of them in
particular deals with what it iswe are discussing this morning.
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That hymn titled is Joyful, Joyful, We adore thee.
In each stanza of that hymn, he talks about the joy, the
rejoicing, the gladness that comes from the Lord.
Listen to what he says, Joyful, joyful, we adore thee.
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God, a glory, Lord of love. Hearts unfold like flowers
before thee. Opening to the sun above, melt
the clouds of sin and sadness, Drive the dark of doubt away.
Giver of immortal gladness, fillus with the light of day.
All thy works, with joy surrounding earth and heaven
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reflect thy rays. Stars and angels sing around
thee. Center of unbroken praise,
Fields and forests, Vail and mountain, flowery Meadow,
flashing sea, chanting bird and flowing fountain.
Call us to rejoice in Thee. Thou art giving and forgiving.
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Ever blessing, ever blessed wellspring of the joy of living
ocean depth of happy rest Thou our Father, Christ, our brother,
All who live and love are thine.Teach us how to love each other.
Lift us to the joy. Divine mortals, Join the mighty
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chorus which the morning stars began.
Love divine is reigning o'er us,Leading us with mercy's hand.
Ever singing March we onward victors in the midst of strife.
Joyful music leads us sunward inthe triumph song of life.
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He understood that rejoicing is the aspect of adoration.
The model life is all about learning to adore the king.
And so the model life is lived in, in adoration, and
particularly in three ways, being joyful, rejoice always,
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being prayerful, pray without ceasing and being thankful for.
And everything we are to give thanks for.
This is God's will in Christ Jesus concerning you.
What does it mean to be joyful? What does it mean to rejoice
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always? Paul was the master of
rejoicing. No matter what the circumstance,
no matter what the situation, there was a joy about his life.
And I wonder how many of us today are able to rejoice
always. You know, when situations arise
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and they are devastating, how isit you rejoice in times like
that? Let's say you you heard that a
loved one close to you just justdied.
How do you rejoice in that kind of time?
Or the doctor comes back and says you have a terminal
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illness, you have not very long to live.
Do you rejoice always in that situation?
Or you, you have a child that rebels against your authority,
runs away from home, not interested in following the God
you serve. Do you rejoice always in that
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situation? You see, Paul, Paul was
concerned that those in Thessalonica who had already
rejoiced when they received the the gospel, First Thessalonians,
one verse #6 amidst much tribulation.
So he knew that rejoicing was a part of their lives.
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So he gives his command at the end of chapter 5.
Rejoice always because he wants to never to forget that that the
hallmark of Christianity in our adoration to God is to live a
life rejoicing no matter what. And so last week we began to
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explain that to you. How is it you truly rejoice
always? And so we gave you principle #1
and that was to rest in His Providence that that God is in
control of every situation, in every circumstance, and
everything that happens in me tome, because Romans 1133 to 33
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six says that all things are from him and through him, and to
him to God be the glory forever and ever.
Amen. That's why Paul could say we
know that all things will work together for good to those who
love God and are called according to His purpose.
Why? Because God has a plan, He has a
purpose. And the Providence of God is
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working through every situation,every detail of my life, and
therefore I can trust Him and rest in His Providence.
Listen to what the psalmist saidin Psalm 37, Psalm 37, verse #1
do not fret, do not worry, do not be anxious, don't be be
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filled with anxiety. How many of you are fretting
today because you're anxious about tomorrow when the Bible
says take no thought of tomorrow?
For each day has enough trouble of its own?
But we're always thinking about tomorrow or next week or the
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next thing down the Pike, and God wants us to rest in his
Providence and trust Him. So Psalmist says, do not fret
because of evil doers. Be not envious toward
wrongdoers, for they will witherquickly, light the grass and
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fade like the green herb. Instead, he says, trust in the
Lord, do good, dwell in the land, and feed on the
faithfulness of God. Your food is His faithfulness.
Your food is His guarantee. Your sustenance centers around
what God does for you every day.So feed on His faithfulness.
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Delight yourself in the Lord. He will give you the desires of
your heart. Commit your way to the Lord.
Trust also in Him, and He will do it.
He will bring forth your righteousness as the light and
your judgement as the noonday. Rest in the Lord.
Wait patiently for Him. Then he repeats it.
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Do not fret, do not be anxious. Do not worry because of him who
prospers in the way, because of the man who carries out wicked
schemes. Cease from anger and forsake
wrath. Do not fret because why?
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He says it leads only to evil doing whenever you worry,
whenever you're anxious, whenever you fret, it's going to
lead inevitably to something evil in your life.
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It's not leading you closer to the Lord, it's leading you
further from the Lord. So the psalmist makes it very,
very clear, do not fret, don't do this.
Trust in the Lord, rest in his Providence.
Trust what God's going to do. Wait patiently for him and He
will give you the desires of your heart.
Commit your way unto the Lord, resting in his Providence.
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So important. I love.
And in Acts chapter 5, after theapostles had been flogged, you
know what that means, don't you?When you're flogged, your, your,
your, your whipped 39 different times.
And the whips they use were devastating.
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And so it says the verse #40 of Acts 5 calling the apostles in.
They flogged them, order them not to speak in the name of
Jesus, and then release them. Just a very quick statement.
Bottom in, beat him silly, then let him go.
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So they went on their way from the presence of the Council,
rejoicing. Rejoicing that they had been
considered worthy to suffer shame for his name.
It wasn't that he felt good, butI feel great.
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Hit me again. Wasn't like that, but they had
been been flogged because of what they had said in the name
of Christ. And so it says.
And every day in the temple and from house to house, they kept
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right on teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.
A little bit of flogging. Was it going to stop them from
preaching the gospel? They just kept right on doing
what God had called them to do, and they rejoiced in the midst
of it. They rejoiced always.
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But so here's the point. Rest in His promises, and
there's a Part B to that. Rest in His Providence.
Excuse me. And the promises that go with
it. Rest in His Providence and the
promises that go with it. God's word is filled with
promises. Listen to this Isaiah chapter
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43. God is speaking to Israel.
He says in verse #1 But now thussays the Lord your creator, O
Jacob, lets them know that, that, that that I created you.
I I formed you, I put you together.
I am the the master architect ofthe nation.
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God is the designer of Jacob, sohe says, your creator, Jacob, I
am the one who formed you of Israel.
I formed you. I've done this.
Do not fear, because I'm your creator.
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I am your designer. I am the master architect of the
nation. I have a a plan, and the
Providence of my plan will be fulfilled as I have designed it
to be fulfilled. So therefore do not fear, for
whatever comes your way, I am incharge of so he says, Do not
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fear, for I have redeemed you. I have purchased you.
I called you out of slavery, outof Egyptian bondage.
This is what I've done. I have called you by name.
You are mine. You're my possession.
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You're possessed by me, the God of the universe, the creator of
the world. They says this.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you.
Not if you pass, but when you pass through the waters.
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Sometimes the waters begin to overflow.
Sometimes the waters are deeper than we imagine.
Sometimes the the, the, the waters have waves that rise way
above our heads. Because when you pass through
the waters, I will be with you and through the rivers, they
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will not overflow you. Then he says when you walk
through the fire, not if you walk through the fire, but when
you walk through the fire, notice they're not running
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through the fire. You ever been in a fire?
Nobody walks out of the houses on fire.
You're running out of the houseson fire.
You're high tailing it out of there.
You're gone. But notice He says when you walk
through the fire, He says, you will not be scorched, nor will
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the flame burn you, for I am theLord your God, the Holy One of
Israel, your Savior. Then verse #5 He says, do not
fear, for I am with you again, do not fear, do not fret, do not
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be anxious, do not be scared. I am with you.
I'm your creator, O Jacob, I've chosen you.
I will comfort you later he saysin chapter 49 of Isaiah.
These words, Isaiah 49 verse #14but Zion said Zion is Israel.
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Zion is a place, of course, Mount Zion, but it's also a
people in the Scriptures. And so Israel or Zion has said
the Lord has forsaken me and theLord has forgotten me.
You've been there. You've said those kinds of
things. You you have faced difficulties
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or hardships or, or painful experiences, and you're
thinking, wait, wait a minute. Maybe the Lord stepped off the
throne for a moment, or maybe the Lord blinked and didn't see
my situation, or maybe the Lord was preoccupied with someone
else, so much so that he could not see or understand my
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situation. We always get to the place
where, Lord, have you forsaken me?
Have you forgotten me? Yoohoo I'm here but God knows
everything, you're his. So he says.
Can a woman forget her nursing child and had no compassion on
the son of her womb? Yes, yes, many women forget
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their nursing children, have no compassion on the son of their
womb. Many children, many moms give
their children away and walk away from them.
It says even these may forget, but I will not forget you.
Even a mother's love for her child, which is the the greatest
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bond in the world. A mother and her child is a by
nature the strongest bond in theworld.
And even though a woman can forget our nursing child, God
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says I will never forget you, I won't do that he says behold, I
have inscribed you on the palms of my hands.
Your walls are continually before me.
I know you like I know my hand. I see my hand every day.
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I know my I've inscribed you on the palms of my hands.
You are written right there. How can I ever forget you?
And therefore all your walls arecontinually before me.
You see, when you rest in the Providence of God, you rest in
His Providence and the promises that go with that Providence.
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So important. I could spend weeks here.
I'm not going to do that, but I could because this is just so
profound. The Providence of God in the
working of God. The Bible is filled with how you
begin to understand the workingsof Almighty God in the lives of
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people. It's amazing.
He's never out of control. God's, God's never up in heaven
going wringing his hands thinking, man, I sure hope they
make it through this, but I surehope they don't say that.
I sure hope things turn out for the better for them.
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God doesn't do that. God's in charge.
He's in control of everything, and we just learn to rest in His
providential control and the promises that go with it.
And there are so many promises in the Scriptures, but we must
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move on. Gosh, time goes by so fast, so
let's hurry. All right, Rest in His
Providence and the promises thatgo with it #2 embrace His peace.
Embrace His peace. Turn to 2nd Thessalonians
chapter 3, Second Thessalonians chapter 3.
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Listen to what Paul says in a second letter to the
Thessalonians. He says, now may the Lord of
peace himself continually grant you peace in every circumstance.
The Lord be with you all. Now may the Lord of peace.
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Continually grant you peace. Peace is a gift that God gives
to his own. The wicked will never receive
that gift. Isaiah says twice.
There is no peace for the wicked.
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There isn't. The peace that God gives, He
gives to his own. John 1427 My peace I give unto
you, not as the world gives, butmy peace I give unto you.
I, I give to you the, the, the non fragile, non superficial,
(20:50):
real, serene, calm life. I give you my life because I'm
the God of peace. The Father is the one who
provides peace, the Son purchased peace, the Spirit
produces peace, and the Scriptures promote peace.
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That's why the Bible says in Psalm One 19165 Great peace have
those who love thy law, and nothing causes them to stumble.
Great peace have those who love thy law at the coming of the
Messiah, peace on earth toward those with whom he is pleased.
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God grants peace to those with whom he is pleased.
Who is that? Psalm 147 tells us that those
who fear the Lord are those who please Him.
So the only ones who receive thepeace of God are those who fear
God. He says May the God of peace
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continually grant you peace. In other words, it's a non
interrupted kind of peace. May he continually do this on a
regular basis. Grant you the peace that you
need. You need to embrace this so
important. You see, sin can can disrupt
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your peace. Disobedience can disrupt your
peace. Rebellion can disrupt your
peace, but that's you doing it, not God doing it, because He's
granted you his peace. And so Isaiah 26 three says that
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I will keep him in peace. Peace whose mind is stayed or
fixed or focused or steadfast onme, I will keep him.
In perfect peace. You'll experience peace.
Peace. There was no way for for the
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writer to describe the the overwhelming peace that God
gives, so he just repeats it. The translator is called it
perfect peace in Hebrew. It's peace.
Peace because it's something that goes beyond anything you
can ever imagine for those whosemind is stayed on thee.
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In fact, the Bible says in Colossians 316, let the peace of
Christ rule in your heart. The word for rule means to to
umpire, to call the shots. In other words, let the let the
fact that you're at peace with God because of Christ, let the
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fact that you're at peace with God be the governing factor in
every decision that you make. In other words, because we're on
God's side, we need to realize that he's calling all the shots.
So we subject ourselves to the one who calls all the shots.
That's what letting the peace ofChrist rule in your hearts mean.
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So Paul comes along and says, I want the the Lord of peace, the
God of peace to continually grant you peace in every
circumstance. That that's just in every
circumstance, not in certain circumstances, but in every one
of them. Meaning that there can be peace
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in every every issue in life, whether it be turmoil or
tragedy, whether it be happinessor joy, whether it be a
difficulty or depression. Peace is continually granted.
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But you need to embrace that peace, and you can only do that
because you rest in the Providence of God and the
promises that go with it. So he says the last phrase, the
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Lord be with you all. We'll see this.
To our Third Point, not only do you rest in the Providence,
Providence of God and the promises that go with it, not
only do you embrace this peace, but #3 journey in His presence.
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You journey in his presence. They say, well, isn't God on the
present? Isn't God everywhere at all
times? Isn't God occupying the past,
the present, and the future all at the same time?
Isn't God eternal? Isn't God immutable?
(26:17):
Isn't God everywhere? How?
How can I journey outside the presence of God?
Well, theologically you cannot, because God is on the presence.
But practically, you can walk out on your own, do your own
thing, make your own decisions as if God is not even present
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among you. We, we kind of do this all the
time, right? We, we make decisions without
ever consulting God. We make decisions about jobs, we
make decisions about purchases. We make decisions about our
family. We make decisions about all
things in our life where we go to school without ever
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consulting God because we think we're smart enough to do that,
that we can. We, we're autonomous and we're
independent and we can make decisions.
We don't need God to guide us. I'm smart enough to make this
decision on my own. That's not journey, journeying
in the presence of God, that's that's walking away doing my own
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thing. That's why the psalmist said in
Psalm 42, these words, I love this, it's so precious.
He says, why are you in despair,O my soul?
So let me ask you that question.Why is your soul in despair
today? Why?
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Why is your soul downcast today?Why is your soul depressed
today? That's the question that
Psalmist asks. Why?
And why have you become disturbed within me?
What is your soul disturbed? Hoping God for?
(28:07):
I shall again praise Him for thehelp of His presence.
Isn't that great? I will hope in God and I will I
will praise him because he is present with me.
It's it's the help of his presence.
Turn back with me if you would, to the book of Exodus, the book
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of Exodus, the 33rd chapter. You'll remember these words,
Exodus chapter 33, verse 12. Then Moses said to the Lord,
See, you say to me, Bring up this people, but you yourself
have not let me know whom you will send with me.
Moreover, you have said, I have known you by name, and you have
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also found favor in my sight. Now, Now, therefore I pray you,
if I have found favor in your sight, let me know your ways,
that I may know you, so that I may find favor in your sight.
Consider too that the nation is your people.
These are your people, God. He says this and he said, my
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presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest.
God says to Moses, My presence will go with you, and I will
give you rest. Now this is the words of Moses.
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They said to him, If your presence does not go with us, do
not lead us up from here. We're not going anywhere without
you, Lord. We're not making a step.
We're not. We're not branching out to do
anything unless you go with us because we can't do it on our
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own. That's a man who has learned to
depend upon the the presence of Almighty God in his life.
And Moses was a great leader. He was educated in the finest
school system of his day. He was a powerful, strong man.
When he slayed the Egyptian trying to convince the nation of
Israel to follow him, he was nixed in line to be the Pharaoh.
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He was a great leader. He had all the external
capabilities and opportunities before him, but he turned it all
the way to follow the Lord. He forsook the riches of Egypt,
he forsook fame in Egypt, that he might seek and follow the
name of his God. And now at the end of his life
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he is saying, Lord, I'm not going anywhere unless you go
with us. Read on.
For how then can it be known that I have found favor in your
sight? I and your people?
Is it not by your going with us,Said we, I and your people may
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be distinguished from all the other people who are upon the
face of the earth. What distinguishes you from
everybody at work? What distinguishes you from
everybody at school? What distinguishes you from
everybody in your neighborhood? It's the presence of God with
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you. That's what it is, that there's
something about your life, there's something about who you
are that that just exudes the presence of God.
You walk into the room and people, they smell the presence
of God. It's everywhere.
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It overrides your Cologne and perfume.
It over overrides the clothes that you wear.
It's the presence of God among you.
And Moses says, this is what's going to distinguish us from
everybody else. We can't go anywhere, Lord,
unless you are going with us. And that he says, the Lord said
(32:17):
to Moses, I will also do this thing of which you have spoken,
for you have found favor in my sight, and I've known you by
name. This is so precious.
I know you by name, Moses, you found favor.
You've been graced in my sights.I'm going with you all the way
(32:42):
journey in his presence. I just I can't emphasize this
enough. It's called walking in the
spirit. So you don't fulfill the lust of
the flesh, right that that's Paul's way of saying it in
Galatians and and Ephesians. Walk in the Spirit, walk in the
(33:02):
presence of Almighty God and you'll be distinguished from
everybody else because there's something unique and special
about you. Note this.
The Psalm was said in Psalm 16 verse #8 I have set the Lord
continually before me because heis at my right hand.
(33:25):
I should not be shaken. How do you know You journey in
the presence of God? Because you'll continually place
the Lord before you. He's at your right hand and you
never fear. You're never shaken, you never
stumble. Because God's at your right
(33:46):
hand. He is continually before you.
You're focused and fixed on Him.If I had time, I I would tell
you that the Prince of God supports and sustains you in
your service. Just read the book of Joshua.
Read the book of Deuteronomy. Read the book of Matthew.
(34:07):
When you're journeying God's, God's presence, he, he comforts
you amidst your crises. All you have to do is read
Paul's account in Acts 18 and Psalm 23 verse #4 that when you
walk through the valley of the shadow of death, you'll fear no
evil, for He is with you. He comforts you in your crisis.
(34:27):
He sustains and supports you in your service.
He strengthens you in your suffering.
Only the Lord can do that. That's Deuteronomy 3327 and 2nd
Corinthians 1 verses 3 and following.
And then you realize that He alleviates your anxiety.
He alleviates your anxiety. I'll have to read this one to
(34:50):
you. Isaiah chapter 41, he says,
verse #9 you whom I have taken from the ends of the earth and
called from its remotest parts, and said to you, you are my
servant. I have chosen you and not
rejected you. So do not fear, for I am with
(35:10):
you. Do not anxiously look about you,
for I am your God. I will strengthen you.
Surely I will help you. Surely I will uphold you with my
righteous right hand, the presence of God.
When you journey in this presence, He alleviates your
(35:30):
anxiety, He comforts you and your crisis.
He is the one who sustains and supports you in your service,
and He is the one who strengthens you amidst your
suffering. I like this one.
Wish I had time for this. He eliminates your enemies.
(35:51):
All you got to do is read first Samuel 17 story of David right.
He went against Goliath with theLord of hosts by his side, the
Lord of armies. And Saul told David before he
went, the Lord be with you, David.
(36:14):
And that's kind of quite ironic because the same Lord would have
been was Saul had Saul gone after Goliath.
But you see, he was afraid, but David wasn't.
He knew that the Lord would eliminate his enemy because he
had already alleviated his anxiety.
(36:37):
He'd already comforted amidst his crises.
He knew that He would strengthenhim in his suffering and support
and sustain him in His service For the King.
That's what it means to journey in His presence.
Do you do that? You want to rejoice always Rest
(36:58):
in His Providence and the promises that go with Him.
Embrace His peace. Journey in His presence.
Next number 4. Obey his precepts.
Obey his precepts. Listen, there is no joy and
(37:18):
disobedience. You can't rejoice when you
disobey. You can only rejoice when you
obey that. That's why the woman, some woman
in the crowd, Jesus is walking by in Luke 11 says blessed is
the womb that bore you and the breasts that nourished you.
(37:40):
And Jesus stops and says, oh, Onthe contrary, blessed are all
those who hear my word and obey my word.
That's where the blessing comes,that that's why John 13 is so
important. John 13 begins the, the evening
of the last night of our Lord's life, John 13 through 17.
(38:04):
And we get to our study of John.We'll spend we'll spend months
in those chapters, John 13 to 17, because it's the last night
of our Lord's life on earth and he begins that night.
Remember, there's an argument that arises among among the
disciples about who's the greatest in the Kingdom and, and
and Jesus begins to get up and and tie his slaves apron around
his his waist and and gets a wash basin and begins to wash
(38:27):
the disciples feet. You know that story.
And Peter said, what are you doing Lord?
Well what I'm doing Peter is I'mI'm washing your feet.
He says no, let me wash your feet.
Christ says if I don't wash you,you have no part with me.
Peter says throw the whole bucket of water on me then I
want to be cleansed. Christ says you don't need a a
cleansing you just need a, a washing because the wash
(38:53):
disciples feet and what's all said and done.
He says you've seen what I have done for you.
I've set you an example. John 1317 And blessed are you,
joy is yours when you do what I have done unto you.
(39:14):
And people think, well, the joy must be in washing somebody
else's feet. Are you kidding me?
There's no joy in that. We don't want to wash your
crusty toes and all that kind ofstuff.
There's no joy in that. That's, that's not what the, the
Bible says. Well, where's the joy?
The joy is that when you are suffering isolation and
(39:36):
loneliness and nobody cares about you because the disciples
didn't care about Jesus. They just argued about who was
the greatest in the Kingdom. So Jesus says, you know, when
nobody cares about you, when you're completely isolated and
nobody's praying for you in all your suffering and no one's
paying attention to the fact that you're going to die for the
(39:59):
sins of man, know what you do? You serve your fellow man, you
serve him. That's where the joy is.
That's how you rejoice, always obeying the precepts of God.
When it's the hardest to do so, when you don't want to do so,
(40:20):
that's where the joy is. So you say I'm going to serve my
fellow man when my fellow man could care less about my my
future tomorrow, could care lessabout my physical condition,
could care less about anything going on in my life.
But in our narcissistic society,we are so consumed with
ourselves we can't even look outside of the wash basin
(40:44):
because all we can think of is me, me, me, me, me, me, me.
And that's why you have no joy. That's why you can't rejoice
always. It's all about you and God's
program. It's all about Him and everybody
else. So you rest.
(41:05):
I know I'm late, but I'm going to finish this today.
You rest in His Providence and the promises that go with Him.
You embrace His peace, you journey in his presence, you
obey his precepts, and then you identify with his plans and his
(41:28):
purposes. Not your plans and purposes, his
plans and purposes. You must identify with his
plans. That That's why the Bible says
in Romans 12, you present your body a living sacrifice wholly
acceptable in the God, which is your only logical form of
(41:50):
worship, that you may be able toprove what is that good and
acceptable and perfect will of God.
But but you, you must present your your life as a living
sacrifice. That is see the problem with the
living sacrifice is that you canjump off the altar whenever you
want to, right. When things get a little hot,
you jump off the altar. When the blade looks really
(42:12):
sharp, you jump off the altar. But when you present yourself as
a living sacrifice, you're, you're, you're, you're, you're
seeking to please and, and honorthe name of God because you want
his will done in your life. So you have this scenario in
Matthew chapter 16 where, where Jesus asks, who do men say that
(42:33):
I am? And Peter makes that great
confession now with the Christ, the Son of the living God, and,
and, and Christ commence him forwhat he says.
Flesh and bloods not reveal thatto you my friend Simon, but my
Father in heaven is revealed to you.
Then you had that scenario whereChrist begins then to talk to
them about his crucifixion, his death, his beatings and how it
(42:56):
rise again. And Peter says, oh, far be it
from you, Lord. Peter began to rebuke him, says
Can you imagine rebuking Jesus, Peter?
Peter was so comfortable with Jesus, he felt like he could
rebuke him, said Lord that that's not going to happen to
you. What did Christ say?
(43:18):
Get thee behind me, Satan, for you do not have in mind the
plans and purposes of God. You see, Peter only had his
plans and purposes in mind. He had his idea about the way
the Messiah should be. He had his idea about the way
(43:40):
Christianity should be. He had his idea about the way
church should be. He had his idea about how he
should walk with the Lord. He didn't have the Lord's idea
in mind. The Lord's mission was to was to
suffer and die and rise again. That was his mission.
Peter didn't want that. He wanted something different
(44:04):
because he thought his way, his plans, his purposes were better
than Jesus's plans and purposes.You ever been there?
Sure you have. Yeah.
You you want to marry somebody, right?
And they're not a believer. That's your plan.
That's your purpose. And God says don't do that.
I got my own plan. I got my own purpose.
(44:27):
And God says don't do that. It's OK.
I got this, Lord, don't worry about it.
They'll get saved later down theroad and they don't see what we
we have our own plans and we think that they're right, but
for the most part they're, they're wrong because they're
(44:47):
not in line with what the Lord has said His word.
So you must identify with his plans and his purposes.
But you can only, only do that when you obey his precepts.
And the reason you obey his precepts is because you embrace
his peace. And the only way you embrace
this peace is because you're resting in the province of God.
And the promises that go with them make sense.
(45:10):
Of course it does. Two more Consider, say again,
I'm just, I'm just getting started.
Consider his person. Consider his person Hebrews
(45:34):
chapter 12. Therefore, since we have so
great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside
every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us,
and let us run with endurance the race that I set before us,
fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfector of faith,
who for the joy set before Him endure the cross, despising the
shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
(45:56):
For consider Him who has enduredsuch hostility by sinners
against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose
heart. You must consider Him His
Person. He did what he did because of
the joy that was set before him.You know, there's only one time
(46:19):
in the New Testament that says that Jesus rejoiced only once,
and that's in Luke's Gospel, the10th chapter, when it says that
Jesus rejoiced greatly. Why?
Because He told his men that even though you got back from
ministry and you saw great things happening, rejoice in
(46:40):
this, that your names are written down in heaven.
And then he says he rejoiced greatly, because His Father in
heaven has hidden these things from the wise and the
intelligent, but has offered them up to the infant, the
lowly, that they might embrace the Messiah.
The joy before Him was the salvation of lost souls.
(47:05):
And so when you, when you have, when you consider the person of
Christ, you're considering the joy that was before him, and the
joy was the salvation of lost souls.
You rejoice always when the salvation of lost souls is
preeminent in your mind as it was in the mind of Christ.
Rest in His Providence and the promises that go with them.
(47:29):
Embraces peace. Journey in His presence.
Obey His precepts. Identify with His plans and
purposes, and then consider His person.
Once you do that, you can finally enter His gates with
(47:52):
praise. Psalm 100, which says these
words. Shout joyfully to the Lord all
the earth. Serve the Lord with gladness.
Come before Him with joyful singing.
Know that the Lord Himself is God.
It is He who made us, and we, not ourselves.
(48:13):
We are His people in the sheep of His pasture.
Enter His gates with Thanksgiving, and His courts
with praise. Give thanks to Him.
Bless His name, for the Lord is good.
His loving kindness is everlasting and it's
faithfulness to all generations.You want to rejoice always,
(48:40):
that's how you do it. R Rest in His presence and the
promises with Him. E Embraces peace.
J Journey in His presence. O obey his precepts, right.
(49:03):
I identify with his plans and purposes.
C Consider his person. E enter his gates with praise.
You want to rejoice always. That's where it begins.
(49:27):
And May God give us the grace toobey the command that says
rejoice always, let's pray together.
Father, we thank you for today, the opportunity you give us to
look into the Word of God so much we did not even touch on
(49:47):
today. And yet, Lord, we trust that the
things that we have learned would be with us and grow us
deep and our walk with the Lord.And so, Lord, I pray for every
one of us in the room. And I don't know what's
happening in families or workplaces or schools, in the
(50:10):
individual lives of those who are here, but you do.
And that's all that matters. You're with them.
You've inscribed them on the palms of your hands.
You know them intimately in every detail.
May they embrace the peace that you give them because you give
(50:34):
it to them continually. May they rest in the in the
Providence of Almighty God, journey in your presence, obey
your precepts, identify with your plans and purposes, and
consider you the great God of the universe, that they might
enter your gates with praise andThanksgiving, shouting joyfully
(51:02):
unto the name of our God. Pray this in the name of Jesus
Christ, our coming King, Amen.
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