We may not know exactly what God is doing in our times of difficulty, but in Deuteronomy 8 we learn that God sometimes tests His people to give them an opportunity to prove the purity of their hearts before Him. This is a test you want to pass! Thankfully, He is the God Who Sanctifies Us, and He will be there to see us through!

Today's Reading: Deuteronomy 8-10

Scripture Read or Referenced:

Deuteronomy 8:1-20

Deuteronomy 9:5

Deuteronomy 10:12-21

Micah 6:8

Matthew 4:4

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https://www.entrustedministries.com/studies

Commentaries Most Referenced: Moody Commentary, MacArthur Commentary

Welcome to The Dwelling Place from Entrusted Ministries.

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If you are a mom, longing to focus

on the things that matter eternally,

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but feeling that the constant demands

of motherhood are ever getting in

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the way, this is for you to keep your

eyes on Jesus in the midst of it all.

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I'm Stephanie Hickox, and today we're

looking at Deuteronomy eight through 10.

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After reading so many stories of pain

and narratives of sin, I am delighting

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in reading God's heart through the

pages of this book of the Bible.

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There is such beauty in these sermons

that Moses gave the people before he left,

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Deuteronomy eight has been one of those

chapters I've carried through the years

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to encourage me, especially when I feel

like I'm going through some of those

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wilderness seasons and it reminds me

that the Lord has a purpose for it.

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I can either be made better or bitter

by the suffering, and I can press into

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Christ through all the challenges.

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I'm gonna read that entire

chapter of Deuteronomy eight

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' cause it's just that good.

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The whole commandment

that I command you today.

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You shall be careful to do that.

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You may live and multiply.

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And go in and possess the land that

the Lord swore to give to your fathers.

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And you shall remember the whole way

that the Lord your God has led you

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these 40 years in the wilderness, that

he might humble you, testing you to

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know what was in your heart, whether

you would keep his commandments or not.

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And he humbled you and let you hunger

and fed you with manna, which you

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did not know, nor did your fathers

know that he might make you know

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that man does not live by bread alone.

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But man lives by every word that

comes from the mouth of the Lord.

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Your clothing did not wear out on

you, and your foot did not swell.

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These 40 years.

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Know then in your heart that as

a man disciplines his son, the

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Lord your God disciplines you.

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So you shall keep the commandments

of the Lord your God by walking

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in his ways and by fearing him.

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For the Lord, your God is

bringing you into a good land.

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A land of Brooks, of water, of fountains

and springs flowing out in the valleys

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and hills, a land of wheat and barley

of vines and fig trees and pomegranates.

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A land of olive trees and honey.

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A land in which you will eat bread without

scarcity, in which you will lack nothing.

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A land who stones our iron

and out of whose hills.

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You can dig copper and you shall eat and

be full, and you shall bless the Lord your

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God for the good land he has given you.

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Take care lest you

forget the Lord your God.

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By not keeping his commandments and

his rules and his statutes, which

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I command you today last when you

have eaten and are full and have

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built good houses and live in them.

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And when your herds and flocks multiply,

and your silver and gold is multiplied,

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and all that you have is multiplied,

then your heart be lifted up and you

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forget the Lord your God, who brought

you out of the land of Egypt, out of the

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house of slavery, who led you through

the great and terrifying wilderness with

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its fiery serpents and scorpions and

thirsty ground where there was no water.

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Who brought you water

out of the Flinty rock?

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Who fed you in the wilderness with

manna that your fathers did not

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know that he might humble you and

test you to do You good in the end?

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Beware.

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Lest you say in your heart, my

power and the might of my hand

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have gotten me this wealth.

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You shall remember the Lord your God

for it is he who gives you power to get

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wealth, that he may confirm his covenant,

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that he swore to your fathers as it

is this day, and if you forget the

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Lord your God and go after other gods

and serve them and worship them, I

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solemnly warn you today that you shall

surely perish like the nations that

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the Lord makes to perish before you, so

shall you perish because you would not

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obey the voice of the Lord your God.

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You may have recognized verse at the

beginning that Jesus quoted when Satan

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was trying to tempt him in the wilderness.

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He had gone without food for 40

days and was weak physically, but

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he fought with the word of God.

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When he said, man does not live by

bread alone, but lives by every word

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that comes from the mouth of the Lord

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As the passage acknowledged, it reminds

me of spiders and snakes and drought.

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Oh my.

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It wasn't a pleasant thing, but

God was giving them an opportunity.

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He humbled them to test them,

to know what was in their heart.

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Sometimes when you're in a wilderness

season, do you ever wonder, am

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I being punished for something?

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I did.

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But if we take the perspective that

no matter what comes, we can show that

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Christ means more to us than anything,

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then we're much more likely

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to do well in the mundane

and in the difficult.

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Early in the Pentateuch, God revealed

himself as the Lord, my sanctifier.

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He knows how to reveal our sin to

us, and he knows how to keep us

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when we're in a time of testing.

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I never wanna come across

as holier than thou.

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Because believe me, I

am a work in progress

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and so I wanted to share,

about a difficult season in my

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life and how I was absolutely

astounded at how the Lord kept me.

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When I knew how strongly and sinfully my

flesh wanted to handle my frustration,

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I don't really consider myself an

angry person, but there was a season

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all I wanted to do was take a baseball

bat and smash someone's car windows.

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I know it's terrible.

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I may have had a good reason to be angry.

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But I certainly didn't

wanna handle it righteously.

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Thankfully, I didn't own a baseball

bat, but I can't tell you how

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many times I wanted to get in

my car and drive to go buy one.

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But each time the Holy Spirit helped me, I

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about a year later,

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two of my boys signed up for

their first baseball season.

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I can remember standing in the aisle and

them picking up baseball bats to see which

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would fit them best, and the Lord brought

that season of anchor to my mind and I

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nearly dropped to my knees praising him.

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Because it was so evident that he

had kept me from sinning and a time

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where my flesh was so weak and I

was feeling powerless to forgive.

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I am so thankful for God that is patient

with me when the sin in my heart feels

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as though it's going to overtake me.

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But he is the God who sanctifies us,

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and it's when we're refined through

difficult times that we can enter God's

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blessing and be more prepared to keep our

focus on him Amidst the answered prayers.

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Often when I'm going through a

hard time and I worship, I feel

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like the Lord has all of me.

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And then there are those times

where I come into church and

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things aren't as difficult and

I have to apologize to the Lord

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because as much as I don't

want to admit it, my fervency

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isn't quite at the same level.

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Did I just think about how I wish

I would've chosen a different

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outfit And I have to ask him

keep my heart attuned to him.

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Can you relate or is that just me?

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As parents, we wanna give our

kids these great experiences.

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And opportunities, but it's often

in the lack that God refines us

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and stretches us and grows us.

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In nine five, Moses tells the people.

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Not because of your righteousness or the

uprightness of your heart, are you going

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into possess their land, but because

of the wickedness of these nations, the

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Lord your God is driving them out from

before you, and that he may confirm the

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word that the Lord swore to your fathers,

to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.

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He is saying, you don't deserve this.

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You didn't earn it.

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But I am faithful to my promises.

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This is the redemptive God that we serve.

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If we look at the blessings in our

life right now, can we admit it's

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not because we were righteous that

the Lord allowed us to have children?

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It's not because we were righteous

that the Lord brought us a husband.

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It's not because you are righteous that

you were born in the country you were.

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It's not because you're righteous that

you live in a home with a warm bed.

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It's the Lord's grace and goodness

and we need to praise him for

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what we have, not pridefully.

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Take credit for it all.

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Micah six, eight says, he has

told you, oh man, what is good?

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And what does the Lord require of you?

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But to do justice and to love kindness,

and to walk humbly with your God.

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That seems to be an echo of this passage

that Moses tells the people in chapter 10.

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And now Israel, what does the

Lord your God require of you?

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But to fear the Lord your God, to

walk in all his ways to love him, to

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serve the Lord your God with all your

heart and with all your soul, and to

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keep the commandments and statutes

of the Lord, which I am commanding

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you today, for your good behold.

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To the Lord your God belong heaven

and the heaven of heavens, the

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earth with all that is in it.

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Yet the Lord set his heart in

love on your fathers, and chose

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their offspring after them.

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You above all peoples as you

are this day circumcised.

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Therefore the foreskin of your heart and

be no longer stubborn for the Lord your

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God is God of Gods and Lord of lords.

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The great, the mighty, and the awesome

God who is not partial and takes no bribe.

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He executes justice for the fatherless

and the widow, and loves the sojourner,

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giving him food and clothing.

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Love the Sojourner.

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Therefore, for you, we're

sojourner In the land of Egypt,

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you shall fear the Lord your God.

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You shall serve him and hold fast to

him, and by his name you shall swear.

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He is your praise.

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He is your God.

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Who has done for you these

great and terrifying things

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that your eyes have seen?

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Let's pray.

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Heavenly Father, you are our praise.

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We thank you once again that you reveal

to us the goodness of your plans.

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Whether we're in a rough season of

training our kids trying to survive potty

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training or teaching them to read or

tie their shoes or obey us, or whether

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it's a season of scarcity or abundance.

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We see regardless, we are to fear

you, to walk in your ways, to love

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you, to serve you and keep your

commandments sanctify our hearts

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so we can know the goodness

of your guidelines and the

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blessings of your mandates.

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Help us to be faithful and consistent in

molding and shaping our children's hearts.

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May we worship you in all seasons

modeling for our children to do the same.

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And although you set your heart on us, we

know it's not just about our families.

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You are calling us to be a

light and a hope for others.

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So Lord, when we're tempted to

just make sure everything is

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going well within our homes.

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Give us your heart, Jesus, to

walk as you did sacrificing and

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serving and seeing those outside our

homes that we're called to love.

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Thank you, Jesus, that you are the

bread of life that sustains us.

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It's in your name we pray.

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Amen.