The Book of Hebrews: Week 9

Tell you a story.

Several several years ago, Lauren and I were traveling to

Nicaragua with a team of missionaries.

Then we're gonna do some missionary work there.

And this trip was a struggle from the very beginning.

It was a challenging trip, and it started before we

even left the United States.

Our first airplane ride.

Was delayed by bad weather and we had a connecting

flight in Texas, and so because of the delay, we

landed with just a few minutes before that connection left.

And so Lorna and I were running through the airport

termer like we were those people trying to chase our

way before the plane took off.

And as I was running down the terminal.

I saw the gate for our connecting flight, and I

saw the gate agent for our connecting flight, and I

was running as fast as I could. And as I

was running, I saw the gate agent close the door

to the plane just by a few seconds. And you

know they can't open the door again once it's closed.

We missed it well. The gate agent was encouraging, and

the agent said, don't worry, we'll put.

You on the next flight today.

And I said, great, when does it leave? And the

agent said in seven hours. So I had seven hours

in Texas. I can't remember if it was Houston or

if it was Awestin. I blocked it all out because

it was just a long delay. But eventually we did

get on that next flight, and we landed in Nicaragua,

you know, seven eight hours delayed, about midnight that night,

and the missionary team that was waiting for us had

been waiting at the airport all day because when we arrived,

we had another two hour bus drive through the jungle

to get to where we were going, and so it

was just a struggle.

To even get there. And then the rest of the

trip was a struggle.

It was hot, it was humid, it was sweaty, and

then Lauren started to feel ill about the second day

of the trip.

She had this really bad pain in her mouth.

She couldn't eat food, she couldn't drink water, she became dehydrated,

she developed a fever like it was really really concerning.

Thankfully, we were with a team.

Of doctors, and a doctor examined Lauren and found inside

her mouth a stone like you may have heard of

kidney stones. The saliva gland can create that same kind

of stone. Calcium stone build up, there's so much pain

and inflammation, and so after a little backyard surgery, Lauren

got immediate relief and then was able to hydrate and

eat and recover from that. But that trip was just

a struggle from the beginning. All the way through. Life

is full of struggles. But there's a lot of struggles

financial struggles, money struggles. There's struggles at work, struggles in

career things. I mean, there's relationship struggles, family struggles. You know,

being a single parent as struggle, being a step parent

and a blended family is a struggle. Some of us

have health struggles, like there are struggles in our lives.

The title of today's message is called Strength for the Struggle.

Strength for the Struggle.

And today we're gonna look at Hebrews chapter twelve, and

we're gonna work our way through this whole chapter. Today

here at church at the crossing, what we typically do

is we will look at one passage of scripture and

we will look at what God is saying from that scripture.

His intended messages for our lives.

And so we're gonna be working our way through this

whole passage Hebrews chapter twelve. Because in Hebrews chapter twelve,

we meet the greatest struggle in a Christian's life.

It is the greatest struggle. It is.

It is a bigger struggle than all those other struggles

I just mentioned. It's a greater struggle than an international trip.

It's a greater struggle than a health struggle. It is

the greatest struggle. And I want you to look at

Hebrews twelve, verse four. What does it say in your

struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the

point of shedding your blood.

The struggle against sin is the greatest struggle. Can I

get an amen?

It's the greatest struggle, resisting temptation, overcoming sin. It's a

great struggle. The Book of Genesis says sin is crouching

at the door. Its desire is for you. Sin is

rady to pounce on your life. It's raight to pounce

on your thoughts, your mind, your decisions. It is crouching.

It is lurking, looking for an opportunity to sabotage your faith,

to fracture your relationships, like sin is looking for a

way to pull you away from God.

It is the great struggle for believers in Jesus.

In the fourteenth century, A ancient monk named Thomas Kempis

wrote the book The Imitation to Christ, and he writes this,

as long as we live, we can never be entirely

free from temptation. When one temptation or tribulation is over,

another arises. Those that only flee temptations outwardly and do

not pluck out the root will make little progress. Instead,

temptations will soon return, and their condition will be worse

than before.

Have you ever seen that whack them ole game at

the arcade?

Got a little mallet and they pop up and you

gotta hit them and smack them, and they start popping

up with more frequency, right like they start out with one,

then two, and then three, and then you're just both

hands trying to keep them.

I think of sin and temptation a lot like whack

them mole.

You know, you get this one, you got victory here,

and then another one pops up. You gotta get that one,

And then there's another issue in this part of your life,

and you're constantly trying to keep it under control and overcome.

Because sin is the struggle today.

Hebrews chapter twelve is going to give us strength for

the struggle. Notice what we read in verse fourteen, make

every effort to live in peace with everyone and to

be holy. Without holiness, no one will see the Lord.

Would you say the word holiness. We need supernatural strength

to overcome.

Sin and temptation.

We cannot defeat sin and our own willpower, our own strength.

We need a supernatural power. We need the power of

God's spirit.

And I want to be clear that you and I

do not overcome sin merely by resisting it alone. You

don't overcome temptation by running away from it or fleeing

it alone.

You need something else. What we need is holiness.

Holiness is our strength for the struggle against sin. As

we pursue holiness, as we follow holiness, we find supernatural

strength in the struggle.

Because holiness is the opposite of sin.

And I want to be abundantly clear. Please hear this,

Please do not forget this. Remember this.

Holiness is not perfection. Holiness is not perfection.

Bible scholar Tom Shriner writes holiness should not be understood

in the terms of sinlessness, but describes those who continue

to seek and pursue the Lord. You see, one day

we will be perfected, we will be in heaven, we

will be without sin, we will be no temptation, no weakness.

It'll be perfect one.

Day, but that day is not today, and so until

that day we pursue holiness by obeying Jesus, seeking Jesus,

becoming more like Jesus.

The bottom line, what is holiness?

At the bottom line, holiness is simply being different. That's

what holiness is. A holy person is a different person.

A holy person makes different choices, different decisions. A holy

person has different values, different priorities. A holy person wants

something different than what.

This world wants.

You see, when the world says you get even with

those who hurt you.

Holiness chooses forgiveness.

When your friends say, hey, do whatever feels good, do

whatever makes you happy, Holiness is different and says, deny

yourself to obey and honor God. You know, when everyone

else chooses selfishness and greed, holiness chooses generosity. When the

world celebrates sexual sin, holiness chooses sexual integrity. The world

fights fire with fire, but a holy person chooses grace.

Like a holy person is different. A holy life is

a different life. And let me tell you a different life.

A holy life.

Doesn't fly under the radar, It doesn't stay in the background.

A holy life is not a secret life. A holy

life of different life will be noticed. A holy life

will stand out. It will stick out, and a holy life.

Will be criticized.

We read in tecond Simothy, all who desire to live

a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. This

world will criticize and persecute you for being holy. You'll

be laughed at because you believe the Bible is true

and you obey it.

You will be excluded.

You be excluded at work because you may not join

in the jokes.

You'll be excluded because.

You don't support something that's immoral. Friends will stop calling

or texting because you don't party like they do. A

boyfriend or a girlfriend might break up with you because

you will not compromise holiness.

You might even make less money because of holiness. Holiness

is not easy.

Holiness is a struggle because it's a different way of life.

It's different from this world. It goes against the grain.

Our text tells us that holiness is how we see

the Lord. Holiness is how we live a life obedient

to God. Let's look at verse four again. Says in

your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to

the point of shedding your blood. And have you forgotten

the exhortation that addressed you as sons, My son, do

not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be

weary when he when reproved by him.

For the Lord disciplines the one he loves and chastises

every son whom he receives.

Verse seven. It is for discipline that you have to endure.

God is treating you as sons, for what son is

there whom his father does not discipline.

So the author of Hebrews here.

Is quoting a scripture from the Old Testament in Proverbs

three when he says, do not regard lightly the discipline

of the Lord. That's a quotation for Proverbs three. And

notice how often the word discipline appears. Do not regard

lightly the discipline of the Lord. The Lord disciplines the

one he loves. This word discipline is repeated. Let's talk

about discipline. It's easy to read discipline and think that

discipline is the same as punishment, and sometimes that that's true.

But discipline is a lot more than that. Because this

word for discipline in Greek is used not just for punishment.

It's a word used for many many things. The word

in Greek is the word pot idea, and pot idea

can be translated from Greek to English to mean instruction, education, mentoring, tutoring, training, correction, nurturing.

Like has all of.

These various meanings, and most often, pa idea is used

in the scriptures to describe parents who are raising their

children to maturity.

And so we keep reading in verse eight.

If you are left without discipline, that's pot idea in

which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and

not sons. Besides this, we have earthly fathers who disciplined us, and.

We respected them.

Shall we not much more be subject to the father

of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a

short time, as it seemed best to them. But He

disciplines us for our good that we may share in

his what say it holiness, God's discipline, His pot edea

makes us holy. The discipline of God makes us holy.

Potideya makes us holy. Remember potideya. Discipline is used to

describe instruction, educating, teaching. It's also used for punishment, correction, discipline.

Let me share a couple of stories that I think

helped illustrate the spectrum of discipline. When I got my

driver's license at sixteen, my dad gave me some instruction,

some pot eedeya. I remember that evening where we were

in the garage and my dad showed me how to

change a tire. He showed me how to get the

jack out of the car and we're to put it

under the car securely, and then I'll always remember my

dad intentionally instructed me to use the wrench on the

lug nuts to loosen them before raising the car so

that you don't wrench the car off of the jack

and get hurt. Like he gave me instruction training pot idea.

About a year after driving and having my license, I

was driving home one day in the afternoon and I

was distracted and.

I accidentally rear ended the car in front of me.

Nobody was hurt, but the cars were banged up and

there was some damage.

So what do you think I did? I called my dad.

My dad was glad nobody was hurt, and he didn't,

you know, lose his temper. He didn't unleash wrath on me.

And after exchanging insurance with other driver and getting home.

My dad gave me pa edeya. He gave me some discipline.

First, he made me use my own money to pay

the insurance deductible to pay for the repairs. That's po edaya, accountability, consequences, discipline. Secondly,

you probably know this, but I learned that insurance companies

don't like it when you're in accidents. And so what

do they typically do? They raise their rates, the premiums

get higher. And so my dad gave me pot idea

and required me to pay him the difference for that

increase in the insurance rates.

Like that was pot eedea.

It was discipline, correction, accountability, responsibility, consequences. You see both

those stories. Pot Idaya can be instruction, potyda, it can

be correction. It's the discipline of God that makes us holy. Now,

I want to share with you very briefly five things

about the discipline of God that I think will help

us understand how God makes us holy. Five things we

need to know about the discipline of God. Number one,

God's discipline is different from his wrath. God's discipline, do

not confuse his discipline with his wrath.

They are different. Our tech says and verse ten.

He disciplines us for our good that we may share

in his holiness throughout.

The New Testament.

God's wrath is reserved for unbelievers who do not repent

from sin and believe in Jesus.

That's who gets wrath, because.

Wrath is condemnation, wrath is judgment.

But for believers there is.

No wrath because when Jesus was on the cross, when

Jesus was dying, he absorbed all the wrath. His blood

atoned for our sin, so that there is no wrath

for us.

Jesus took it all. He was our substitute.

So now we can be forgiven, and we can become

children of God.

And as his.

Children, we receive discipline, not his wrath. Discipline is different

from wrath. The text says in verse six, the Lord

disciplines the one he loves. God's discipline comes from his love.

Last week, my son was playing in the front yard

and he chased a ball out into the street. And

immediately I shouted, shepherd stop, and I ran after him,

and I grabbed him and held him tightly, and I

got down on his level, and I put his little

face in my hands, and I said, you look at dad.

You never run into the street. And yes, he cried, Yes,

he threw a tantrum and he powdered.

And I do not regret hurting my son's feelings because

I love him.

I want to protect him. I want to guard him.

I want to keep him from danger. You see, the

God's discipline comes from his love. Sin tempts us to

chase after dangerous things. We haphazardly run into the world

without thinking about the consequences of our sin. And God's

discipline is from his love to keep us from damaging

our lives. I believe somebody needs to hear this today.

God's not trying to ruin your fun. He's stopping you

from ruining your life. God's commands, it's not some like

power trip trying to control you like a robot. His

commands are there to protect us and protect the relationships

and the people we love, to keep us from damaging those.

You see, God's discipline comes from his love, and I

love what Proverbs twelve, verse one says whoever loves discipline

loves knowledge, but whoever hates correction.

Is stupid. Tell you what.

I read this verse in several translations, looked at it

from different translations, and every translation.

Uses the same word It.

Might be harsh and might be offensive to some, but

it's right here in the text, and we're a church

that preaches what's in the text. The bottom line is, man,

if we don't follow God's correction, his discipline, we're stupid.

But look at what the first part of the verse says.

If we listen to discipline, we get knowledge, we learn,

we grow because God's discipline is instructive. God's discipline teaches

us like my dad teaching me how to change a tire.

There's instruction throughout my ministry. God has used situations and

lessons to teach me how to be a better leader

and how to become a better person, how to grow,

even when it's been painful or even sometimes a little embarrassing.

So I'll tell you a couple of those. When I

was a youth pastor, my senior pastor, one day he

asked me to do something, and I heard what he

had asked, and I agreed to what he had asked,

and then I forgot and I didn't make it a priority,

and I didn't do what he had asked.

And so when the time came for me to deliver

and he asked.

Me about it, I made excuses, and my senior pastor

was disappointed and he was frustrated, and he used that

moment as.

A teaching opportunity to teach me a lesson.

Don't make excuses, responsibility, accountability. I was once responsible for

a youth project and I delegated a lot of the

details of the project to volunteers who were doing a

lot of the work and implementation. However, at the end

of the project, those volunteers had overspent the expense budget significantly,

and I was accountable for the budget. Now, Thankfully, my

leadership was graceful and my leadership helped me. And my

leadership also taught me how do we prevent this from

happening again?

How do we manage better? So he I was learning

a lesson.

See, God's discipline is instructive to teach us, to educate us,

to train us, even when it's painful, Our tech says

and verse ten, he disciplines us for our good that

we may share in his holiness Verse eleven. For the moment,

all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it

yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have

been trained by it.

It says. Later it yields righteousness.

The next thing we wonder about God's discipline is that

it is preventative or protective. God's discipline prevents and protects us.

Years and years ago, Lauren and I had only been

married for maybe eighteen months or two years, very short time,

and we participated in a two day training boot camp

for church planting. It was a two day workshop for

pastors and their spouses to be trained and evaluated to

start new churches. And let me tell you about this

organization that was hosting this event. This organization had a

great reputation.

They had a.

Lot of money behind them. They had planned and started

hundreds and hundreds of churches. They claimed a ninety seven

percent success rate from launching to maturity, like this was

the premiere organization. And I went into this event for

two days wanting to make an impression, wanting to show

what I got, wanting to impress this well known organization.

And it was intense.

We had Bible knowledge quizzes, we had to simulate fundraising meetings.

We had to preach or teach on the spot like.

It was intense, and all weekend the couples were interviewed

and evaluated and at the end of the workshop, each

couple received one of three possible grades. First move ahead,

full steam ahead, second move ahead with some caution, and

three don't move ahead like this is not for you,

You're not ready.

And so at the end of that training, Laura and I.

Got the third grade, do not move ahead, You're not

ready for this.

And man, it felt like God was closing a door.

The opportunity was closed. I felt a little bit embarrassed.

I felt like I hadn't impressed the people that I

wanted to impress. But I'll tell you what now, looking back,

more than a decade later, I'm thankful that that door closed,

that God prevented some things because here's what I'll tell

you a couple of things. Number One, later I learned

about that organization. It really wasn't a healthy culture. Secondly,

I think that if I had gone down that road,

that there were some things in my life that wanted

to matured well, that my pride would have grown, that

my maturity would have stalled. My marriage was so young,

I don't know what might have happened to our marriage

if I'd gone down that way. And so today I'm

grateful for God's denial for God's discipline, because God's discipline

is preventative. Where in your life can you look back

and see God's grace preventing things from getting worse? Like

if you had made that move man, how would have

things turned out? Or if you bought that house man,

you might have ended up in financial ruin. Or if

you took that job or made that decision, would your

marriage have survived? Like can you see God prevents us,

He closes doors, he closes.

Opportunities for our good.

Proverbs fifteen thirty two says, anyone who ignores discipline despises himself,

but whoever listens to correction acquires good sense.

Many times.

God disciplines us in order to correct and remove sin

in our lives. The next verse in our texts, verse twelve, says, therefore,

lift your drooping hands, strengthen your weak knees, make straight

paths for your feet, so that what his lay may

not be put out a joint, but rather be healed.

Sin ultimately is brokenness that needs to be healed. A

broken bone is very painful. Broken bone is very painful.

And I remember being in high school on the soccer

field and watching a teammate of mine in a collision

and hearing the loudest crack that I had ever heard

and the loudest scream that I had ever heard as

he broke his collarbone.

Extremely painful break.

And when a bone is broken, or when a joint

is dislocated, it needs to be reset. It needs to

be set in place, and that can be very painful.

But if you don't reset the bone, it won't heal properly.

In fact, I knew a young man who broke his

elbow and he did not go to the hospital. He

did not go to the doctor. What do you think happened?

It healed back improperly, almost twisted, and so that side

of his arm was maybe twenty percent useful. He could

barely bend it, and he could not even raise it

above his shoulder because it was not set. You see,

when God corrects our sin, he's resetting our hearts in

our minds. God's discipline is often corrective, and he's wanting

to heal what has been broken on the inside. He

wants to heal our hearts, he wants to heal our minds. Now,

we gotta be really wise when we talk about God's correction.

Do not assume that every hardship or every trial in

life is a consequence of sin. Like it's not healthy

to believe that a Christian who is suffering a disease

is being punished by God.

That's bath theology.

God does not inflict illness on Christians as a punishment

for sin.

But God will call out our sin because he loves us.

If you're living in sin, God will do anything it

takes to get your attention because he wants to heal

what's inside. When I was a youth ministry intern, I

had a sin issue. It was not obvious all the time,

but it was there, just under the surface, and it

would come out here and there, and it was an

attitude of pride.

And it all came to a head one summer with

my boss.

I just had display this pattern of pride, and my

boss sat down with me and rebuked me firmly, clearly, gracefully,

and man, I felt so convicted and regretted a lot

of what I had said and done, and it just

just I was ashamed. But he rebuked me in love.

If he had not loved me, he could have fired me,

or he could have ignored it and just released me

to go on somewhere else, But he loved me, and

so he corrected me. And I'll tell you that person

was Pastor James years ago, when we were in youth ministry.

Together.

Love motivated discipline. God will call out our sin. He'll

correct our sin because he loves us. He wants to

heal us.

When you feel that conviction, respond immediately.

Do not ignore it, don't talk yourself out of it,

Swallow the pride, humble yourself because our text warns us

that if we ignore God's discipline, you will become bitter.

We read right here in verse fourteen, strive for peace

with everyone and for the holiness, without which no one

will see. The Lord see to it that no one

fails to obtain the grace of God, that no root

of bitterness springs up and causes trouble, and by it

many become defiled. If you ignore God's correction, you will

become bitter. If you delay obeying his discipline, you will

become bitter. There will be more trouble, you will become defiled,

and ultimately sin will destroy you. Because sin is always

trading away holiness for instant gratification.

Holiness is delayed gratification.

You see our text says, without holiness, we will not

see the Lord. That is our future reward, that is

our future goal. It's a delayed gratification. Sin always compromises.

Sin trades away holiness for instant gratification. That temptation to

lie or to deceive, it trades away holiness.

For some temporary relief.

The temptation to abuse alcohol substances. It trades away holiness

for instant pleasure. Pornography trades away holiness. For instance, gratification.

Holiness is always a choice between instant gratification or delayed gratification,

and our text gives us a very clear and tragic

example of someone who traded away holiness.

Look at the next verse here, verse fifteen.

See to it that no one fails to obtain the

grace of God verse sixteen.

That no one is sexually immoral.

Or unholy, like Esau, who sold his birthright for a

single meal. For you know that afterwards, when he desired

to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found

no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears.

You can find Esau's story in the Book of Genesis,

but very briefly. Esau was the firstborn son of his father,

and he had a younger brother. And as the firstborn,

Esau had a birthright. Esau was a powerful, courageous strong man.

He was an outdoorsman. Esau was a hunter, and.

As the first born, Esau had a right to two

thirds of the father's wealth, that was his inheritance two thirds.

The other third would go to the younger son.

And Esau also had a right to the father's status,

the father's title, the father's respect. He was the firstborn,

so he had this birthright. Well, one day, Esau had

been out for days hunting and working in the wilderness,

and he was exhausted.

And he was starving, and he came back home.

And when Esau came back home, exhausted and depleted, his

younger brother was cooking some food. And in a lapse

of judgment, in a moment of weakness, Esau traded and

negotiated with his younger brother.

He gave his younger brother his birthright for some food.

He lost his birthright.

Do not trade away your holiness for instant gratification. One

Bible scholar says, God did not take Esau's blessing from him.

Esau traded it away Esau gave up the promise in

order to ease his physical discomfort. Do not trade away

your holiness. Do not trade away your righteousness. Do not

trade away your integrity. Do not trade away your future

reward with Christ in Heaven.

Holiness is delayed gratification.

When Laura and I were dating, before we got engaged

and before we got married, I was teased and criticized

by some guys because Laura and I had decided that

we're gonna wait till marriage for physical intimacy. And even

remember one young guy just criticizing and he said, well,

don't you love each other.

Like why do you wait?

And I remember responding to him just gently and firmly,

just saying, yes, of course, I love Lauren, and that's

why we've chosen delayed gratification. I love Lauren too much

to shortcut God's plan. I love Lauren too much to

dishonor God. I don't want my marriage built on sin.

I want my marriage built on holiness. And I know

that for many of us that may not be our

story in our past, and for some of us, we're

asking the question right now, well, what if we blow it?

What if we fail? What if we mess up. What

if we give in to that temptation and we stumble

and we fall. Is there any hope for holiness?

Yes, there is hope for holiness because I want to

tell you what I said at the beginning. Holiness does

not come from our willpower. The struggle against sin is

not one and our own strength. It is a supernatural strength.

We need the spirit of God. Yes, there is always

hope for holiness because Jesus died and Jesus rose from

the dead. Because of his resurrection, we can overcome any failure,

any regret, any sin. Tewod Corinthian says, godly sorrow brings

repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret. Repentance

restores holiness. God's conviction brings sorrow, and we must respond

to his discipline with repentance. Repentance simply means turning your

back on sin, confessing that sin and walking away. Repentance

is walking to Jesus, not away from Jesus. Repentance means

you leave that sin in the past. It means you

end that sinful relationship. It means you cut out that

secret addiction, that habit, You remove that sinful behavior, You

avoid tempting situations. That's what repentance looks like, because repentance

restores our holiness. I want to end by telling sharing

one more story. In nineteen seventy four, one of the

most powerful persons in the United States was sentenced to

federal prison. And afterwards, this person once said, God sent

me to prison to save me.

And his name was Chuck Coulson.

Coulson was arrested and found guilty of crimes connected with

the Watergate scandal, and he was sent to prison. And

while he was in prison, Coulson put his faith in

Jesus and later Coulson launched the well known ministry called

Prison Fellowship. It's one of the most successful largest ministries

to those incarcerated.

Around the world.

Millions and millions and millions of people and their families

have been touched by the work of Prison Fellowship. When

Coulson was in prison, he wasn't just paying for his crimes.

He's being disciplined by God.

See, before prison, Coulson was prideful, manipulative, deceptive, he was corrupt.

But in prison he met Jesus and.

He wrote this God had only one place where he

could get my attention. Prison the greatest humiliation of my

life became the beginning of God's greatest use for my life.

God is not afraid to do whatever it takes to

get our attention because He loves us, and God wants

to use you for his glory.

God wants to make us into the image of Jesus.

Sin has marred us, sin has corrupted us, but there

is no sin too great for the love and the

grace of Jesus.

And so He uses discipline to make us holy.

So when you feel that conviction, respond to it. Don't

ignore his correction, seek to obey him, seek holiness.

I want to invite us to take a moment to

respond today to what we've heard. Would you bow your

head and close your eyes with me? And it's possible that.

If there is something God is speaking to you about,

if there.

Is a.

Something that needs to be confessed, something needs to be

repented from, it's likely God has already revealed that. Would

you just take a moment and ask the Lord Lord,

how do you want me to respond to what I've

heard today?

And let Him speak to you, and then I'll pray

for us.

God, We thank you that you give us the strength

and you give us the supernatural power in this struggle

against sin. And God, we thank you that when we

miss it, when we humble, when we fall, there is

grace that we can come to you, We can.

Run to you, that you help us, that you teach us,

that you change us. So, God, would you give us

the faith to obey you? Would you give us the

courage to.

Take whatever step You've put on our hearts and our minds. God,

we want to be more like Jesus, and so we

need your help.

And it's in his name we pray Amen.