Sunday, April 21, 2013

Taking up the Mantle

Kings 2:12-22
Good Morning!  We will continue today with our series on the prophet Elisha.  Last week, Carl set the stage for us with an overview of Old Testament history from the time of King David through the first part of ministry of the prophet Elijah, a period of about 150 years.  Yes, we really heard about 150 years of history from David until Elijah.  Actually, it is only about 100 years from David’s death until the beginning of Elijah’s ministry; literally, a drop in the bucket of time.  I think for me I expect it to be far removed because that century span begins with the pinnacle moment of the temple of God being completed at Jerusalem.  Spiritually and politically, the people are united.  But just 30 years later, the united kingdom of the twelve tribes of Israel has been divided into two nations, Israel in the north and Judah in the south.  In 24 more years, the dynasty of Jeroboam, king of Israel, is ended violently with the death of his son.  Twenty six years after that, the succeeding dynasty is ended violently after only two kings.  The next king lasted only 7 days before he burned the palace in Tirzah down around himself.  The following king moved the capital of Israel to Samaria.  King Ahab was his son.


At the same time of all this political and physical turmoil, the people of Israel continued to turn further and further away from God and His Law.  As Carl explained, Jeroboam led the people astray by introducing idol worship and new festivals at the same time as the festivals established in the Law.  Succeeding kings further turned away from God introducing again the foreign gods which the Lord so despises.  All the detestable and unholy practices of these idol worshipping religions were practiced in Israel.  In response to this crisis, God sent prophets to testify against these evil practices and to draw the Israelites back to the one true God.  Elijah is the most well-known and most influential of these prophets who stood against deceitful practices of the kings and apostasy of the majority of the people of Israel.  Elisha is the successor to Elijah. 


Before we go further, let’s take a moment and pray.


Lord God, I thank You that You are always at work.  You are continually advancing Your Kingdom.  It is Your desire to bring about the maximum good amidst the sinfulness of man.  I thank You that You are a magnificent conductor weaving our lives and experiences in such a way that we would “seek You, reach out to You, and find You.”  Speak to us now from the life of Elisha.  By studying his life, may we be better able to follow and serve You.  We pray in Jesus’ name.  Amen.


We concluded last week with Elijah putting his cloak or mantle on Elisha.  At the time, Elisha was plowing at his family’s farm.  Elisha proceeded to make a sacrifice to God of his oxen and uses the wood of the plow for the fire.  Then, Elisha sets out to follow Elijah and be his servant.


Even after Elijah was taken to be with the Lord, it appears that Elisha was regarded by some as a servant.  In II Kings 3:11, “An officer of the king of Israel answered, ‘Elisha son of Shaphat is here. He used to pour water on the hands of Elijah.’ ”


During their time together, Elijah confronted King Ahab over the treachery that Ahab and Jezebel committed to steal Naboth’s vineyard.  There is also a confrontation between Elijah and Ahab’s son King Ahaziah where Elijah foretells the kings death.  These are the only specific situations that we have recorded during their time together, and Elisha is not mentioned specifically in either case.  It makes me curious to know what else happened in those days.  It does not seem like there was some kind of dynamic duo where they worked together as equals in ministry, prophecy, or performing miracles. 


This is an interesting consideration for how it would be best to go about training for doing a job or even a ministry.  In our culture, it is most common to train by going to school.  You go there and get information and some basic practice.  Then, you pass a test or complete a certain number of hours, graduate, and then you are expected to “do the job.”  This can be true for a wide range of “careers” including some missions and full-time pastorates.  In other places, apprenticeships are a key method to train someone.  You are assigned to a specific person or group, and you work with them doing the same kinds of things they do.  You do the easy jobs first, and then as you master a skill, the mentor gives you something more challenging to work on.  You learn by doing and there is continuous feedback on whether or not you are able to do the job. 


Elisha’s experience appears that it may have been a bit different.  Based on what is written, I just see Elisha serving Elijah, “pouring water on his hands.”  It is not clear exactly how long Elijah and Elisha were together.  It was at least 4 or 5 years.  During this time, Elisha was with Elijah continually, following, helping, serving.  Keep in mind, Elijah first came to Elisha at God’s command to anoint him to succeed Elijah as prophet.  He didn’t go to anoint him to be his servant.  It’s like when Samuel anointed David as king, but then David went back to tend sheep.  There is no record of junior-sized miracles by Elisha.  No record of any other special activity.  Obviously, this is not the only way to train at something, but I feel like the paradigm is so different from what we do today, that I wanted to stop and point it out.  Both in the case of Elisha and in the case of David, I think they had great humility and great patience.


My whole life, I was in a terrible hurry.  I was in a hurry to grow up.  I was in a hurry to move away from home.  I was in a hurry to get more than a stone’s throw away from my parents.  I was in a hurry to graduate.  I was in a hurry to get married.  I was in a hurry to be successful in a job.  I was in a hurry to start a family.  I’m not saying any of those things were wrong or bad.  In fact, God has blessed me in all those areas more than I could have imagined.  He has been so gracious to me, way more than I deserve.  I just think that a lot of the time, I did not rest in the Lord.  I had almost a competitive sense in my spirit, like I was going to “win” at life.  Do you guys remember the board game Life?  That game was all about whoever gets the most money.  There are other things that can become our goals in life.  If I just do this one thing, I will be better than someone else or I’ll be satisfied or happy with myself.  I hope this is not a struggle for you, and you can just walk away scratching your head and say, man John is one weird guy.  But if this does resonate with you, if you relate to what I’m saying, I encourage you to be willing to rest in the Lord.  Seek Him and His ways.  Don’t be in a hurry to do it “all by yourself.”  Wait on the Lord to renew your strength and to give you the desires of your heart.


That brings us to the end of Elisha’s time together with Elijah.  Let’s go to II Kings 2:1:


When the LORD was about to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal.  Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here; the LORD has sent me to Bethel.” But Elisha said, “As surely as the LORD lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel.  II Kings 2:1-2


It is now time for Elijah to depart.  It sounds as if they are already on the way, at least they were packed and ready for the journey.  Suddenly, it seems that Elijah turns to Elisha, “Stay here.”  Some commentators suggest that Elijah is testing Elisha’s devotion.  Will he really stay with me until the end?  Others suggest that Elijah just wants to be out of the spotlight.  Perhaps he knows the miraculous nature of his impending departure, and he does not want to draw attention to himself.  Regardless, Elisha will not be parted from Elijah, and they journey on.


The company of the prophets at Bethel came out to Elisha and asked, “Do you know that the LORD is going to take your master from you today?” “Yes, I know,” Elisha replied, “so be quiet.” Then Elijah said to him, “Stay here, Elisha; the LORD has sent me to Jericho.” And he replied, “As surely as the LORD lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So they went to Jericho.  II Kings 2:3-4


So, not only does Elijah know.  Elisha knows and the company of the prophets knows.  They are not trying to discourage Elisha, but make sure that he knows, too.  Elisha likely doesn’t want to burden Elijah and asks not to make a big deal about what is happening.  Again, Elisha refuses to be left behind.


The company of the prophets at Jericho went up to Elisha and asked him, “Do you know that the LORD is going to take your master from you today?” “Yes, I know,” he replied, “so be quiet.” Then Elijah said to him, “Stay here; the LORD has sent me to the Jordan.”


And he replied, “As surely as the LORD lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So the two of them walked on.  II Kings 2:5-6


We see again a repeat of what has gone before.  Elijah is making a last visit to those who have been his followers.  At a minimum, there are three “schools” or locations of these companies of the prophets.  Literally, the Hebrew says they are the “sons of the prophets.”  The locations are Gilgal, Jericho, and Bethel.  It is especially interesting that there is a company of the prophets in Bethel as this is the one of the two cities where Jeroboam set up the calf idols to turn the people of Israel away from the Lord.


At this time, King Ahab has died, but Elijah’s adversary Jezebel is still living.  I find that remarkable.  Last week, we talked about how Elijah was on the run for his life.  He thought that he was the only prophet of God left.  Now, he has three schools of prophets.  The do not appear to be in hiding or taking any special precautions.  God has worked mightily to establish a group of prophets to support those Israelites “whose knees have not bowed down to Baal.”  (I Kings 19:18)


Elisha refuses to depart from Elijah.  He will continue with him until they are separated.  It is a good example for us in devotion to the Lord.  We should not allow ourselves to be separated.  We should continue to walk on with Him.


Fifty men from the company of the prophets went and stood at a distance, facing the place where Elijah and Elisha had stopped at the Jordan.  Elijah took his cloak, rolled it up and struck the water with it. The water divided to the right and to the left, and the two of them crossed over on dry ground.  II Kings 2:7-8


Not only has Elisha continued on with Elijah, they are accompanied by a group of the company of the prophets.  Perhaps, they knew that Elijah was headed for the Jordan River.  Jericho is less than 5 miles from the Jordan, so they could have expected to witness something there at the river.  I don’t think they could have foreseen what they did witness.


Do you try to visualize these scenes in the Bible?  I wonder funny things like, “How did Elijah roll up his cloak?”  When I was looking for a background for the Power Point, I saw one drawing where it looked like Elijah was working some kind of Kung Fu on the Jordan River.  Apparently, it was a firm and swift action.  Even if you knew someone had performed miracles, if God had performed a miracle through someone you knew, I think it still must have been a shock to see the Jordan River open up like dry land. 


Elijah is often mentioned together with Moses.  They appeared together with Jesus.  Moses performed miracles with his rod or staff.  With Elijah, the symbol of God’s power in him is his cloak or mantle.  It was apparently a kind of hairy or furry coat.


When the Israelites entered the Promised Land, they came the other way, from west to east.  Now, Elijah goes from east to west not very far from the spot where the Israelites had entered.  He is leaving the earthly Promised Land for the heavenly one.


When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken from you?” “Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit,” Elisha replied. 


“You have asked a difficult thing,” Elijah said, “yet if you see me when I am taken from you, it will be yours—otherwise, it will not.”  II Kings 2:9-10


This one question from Elijah has some pretty significant doctrinal ramifications.  Elijah says plainly, “what can I do for you before I am taken?”  In other words, ask before I go, don’t ask when I am gone.  Elijah is not going to heaven to serve as an intermediary or go between for Elisha.  If there is something that Elijah can do for Elisha, he must do it before he departs.


It’s also cool that Elijah is still about the work of service.  He’s still available and desires to help Elisha.  He’s not self-absorbed nor is he focused only on heaven.


I have often thought that Elisha was pretty bold in asking that he would have twice the spirit of Elijah.  It may not be exactly right to say that Elisha was asking to be twice as important or effective or filled with the Spirit.  Deuteronomy 21:17 talks about the first born son’s portion of the inheritance being a double portion.  Elisha’s request may be better understood as, “I want the share of the first born son.  As your successor, I want to have your spirit in me more than anyone else.”  Having Elijah’s Spirit is a kind of qualification for service.  It renders Elisha able to do the work of a prophet.


When Solomon first became king, he asked God for wisdom, and God was pleased.  God gave him wisdom and wealth and honor.  And yet, Solomon could and did turn away from following the wisdom.  Elisha on the other hand asks for spirit.  It is better to be filled with the Spirit of God than with wisdom, wealth, or honor.


It is interesting that although Elisha was likely not asking to be twice as much as Elijah, commentators have counted out that Elisha did perform double the miracles of Elijah.  God hears our requests and answers them.  He does not miss or forget a single word.


As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind.  II Kings 2:11


I wonder, what did they talk about?  Their time was almost gone, and yet they continued walking and talking.  This can also be a good reminder for us.  Our time with one another is limited.  We should make the most of our time with one another to gain as much as we can.  The apostle Peter wrote, “I will make every effort to see that after my departure you will always be able to remember these things.”  (II Peter 1:15)  What things?  The things that “confirm your calling and election.”  In other words, the assurance of your salvation.  In addition, Hebrews 10:24 says, “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.”


Isn’t it interesting that Elijah who asked God to take his life does not die? (I Kings 19:4) Instead, Elijah is translated to a heaven bodily.  I find that a strong representation of God’s grace.  The man who wanted death for relief does not have to cross over to eternal life in that way.


You can also contrast Elijah’s departure with King Ahaziah’s death at the end of II Kings 1.  There, we see a man who had rejected God and had sent messengers to consult one of the Baal’s about whether or not he would recover from his injury.  He dies at the word of Elijah because he rejected God.  Here we see Elijah who courageously followed the Lord at the risk of his own life, standing before kings and testifying to the Lord in the face of hundreds and even thousands who rejected God.  This man is taken up to God as only one other before him.


I used to spend time being puzzled over why Enoch and Elijah were singled out for this translation of their bodies into heaven, but preparing for this message I realized there will be a whole bunch more people who will experience this death-less “crossing over.”  All Christians alive at Christ’s return will be changed in the twinkling of an eye.  (I Corinthians 15:52)  Maybe you and maybe me, if Jesus does not tarry long. 


Another what if?  It doesn’t do much good to posit what it would have been like without the fall, because you can’t take it away.  But maybe this is what it would have been like without the fall?  You would have lived on the earth until it was your time to go to heaven.  Then, you would just be taken up without dying.


Jesus did both.  He experienced death, but after his body was resurrected, he was translated to be with God.  He went to the Father on Easter morning, and then He ascended into heaven at the Mount of Olives.


God is always working on multiple levels, like a master composer of music.  This being taken up was not only a blessing for Elijah.  It was also for Elisha’s faith and the sons of the prophets, too.  They could look and see that there was no body.  Elijah was taken to heaven, he was no more.  Elisha saw it.  He saw Elijah go up to heaven.  What confidence that must have given to him.  And that confidence was needed for the challenges which would lie ahead.


Another question I had, but didn’t have time to look into.  I wonder what the Sadducees would say about this passage.  They did not believe in the resurrection of the dead, so where did Elijah go?  Therefore, in addition to Elisha and the sons of the prophets, we too can draw confidence and comfort in Elijah’s ascension as another proof of eternal life.


Elisha saw this and cried out, "My father! My father! The chariots and horsemen of Israel!" And Elisha saw him no more. Then he took hold of his garment and tore it in two.  Elisha then picked up Elijah's cloak that had fallen from him and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan.  II Kings 2:12-13


I’m not sure if Elisha is crying out to Elijah about what he has seen, the chariot and horses of fire?  Or whether Elisha is describing Elijah as the chariots and horsemen of Israel?  The chariots and horsemen were the strength of an army in those days.  They also were the advance force that would see what was coming ahead because they could move quickly.  Interestingly, the same words are said about Elisha when he dies even though there is no visible chariot and horses of fire.  Also, consider Psalm 20:7, “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.”  Elijah was a mighty prophet of God, strong in word and deed.


Here, Elisha displays his grief by tearing his clothes.  He takes up Elijah’s cloak, his mantle.  As we see next, he doesn’t take it as a kind of artifact.  He doesn’t take it as an object to be preserved as a relic.  He uses it, and likely, he wears it.


He took the cloak that had fallen from Elijah and struck the water with it. “Where now is the LORD, the God of Elijah?” he asked. When he struck the water, it divided to the right and to the left, and he crossed over.  II Kings 2:14


Elisha repeats exactly what he saw Elijah do.  His question is not, “Where is Elijah?”  He knows where Elijah is.  Instead, he asks, “Where is the Lord?” in anticipation.  Will God continue to work in the same way as when Elijah was here?  As far as we know, this was the first miracle of Elisha.  He’s on his own.  “Where now is the LORD?”  He is here just like he has always been for the Lord does not change.  (Psalm 55:19, James 1:17, Numbers 23:19, I Samuel 15:29)


Elisha did see Elijah when he was taken which fulfilled what Elijah had spoken as confirmation.  Now we have proof displayed of God’s spirit resting on Elisha.  This proof confirms it both for him and the sons of the prophets waiting across the Jordan.  Who can stop a river using only an old hairy coat apart from the Spirit of God?


The company of the prophets from Jericho, who were watching, said, “The spirit of Elijah is resting on Elisha.”  And they went to meet him and bowed to the ground before him.  II Kings 2:15


They show Elisha respect.  He is confirmed to them as Elijah’s successor.  He is not a farmer or a lowly servant to them.  God’s spirit is not a spirit of confusion, just as God himself is not a God of confusion (I Corinthians 14:33).  Rather, He is a God of peace and order.  Elisha is revealed as God’s chosen one.


“Look,” they said, “we your servants have fifty able men. Let them go and look for your master. Perhaps the Spirit of the LORD has picked him up and set him down on some mountain or in some valley.” “No,” Elisha replied, “do not send them.” But they persisted until he was too embarrassed to refuse. So he said, “Send them.” And they sent fifty men, who searched for three days but did not find him.  When they returned to Elisha, who was staying in Jericho, he said to them, “Didn't I tell you not to go?”  II Kings 2:16-18


I’ll just note here that sometimes it is not necessary to push back indefinitely when someone is set in their mind and pushing the issue serves only to bring about an argument or injure someone.  In this case, no harm is done except wasting the time of the fifty men.  Perhaps they needed to complete this work to assure themselves that Elijah wasn’t sitting on a hill somewhere waiting for them.  We don’t know if the company of the prophets saw anything of Elijah’s departure.  Obviously, they didn’t see him go into heaven.  The may have seen nothing of it at all.  They didn’t find Elijah either, just as Elisha had said.


Elisha continues to stay in Jericho for a while.  He is sought out as a prophet and given a problem which the people are unable to solve.


The people of the city said to Elisha, “Look, our lord, this town is well situated, as you can see, but the water is bad and the land is unproductive.”  II Kings 2:19 


Do you remember that there was curse placed on the city of Jericho by Joshua after the walls had fallen down and the city had been destroyed?  (Joshua 6:26)  The curse said that whoever rebuilt the city would lose both his first born and last born sons.


The city of Jericho lay in ruins for more than 500 years.  Hiel of Bethel rebuilt the city and lost his sons Abiram and Segub as Joshua had said.  The rebuilding took place immediately prior to the three year drought proclaimed by Elijah that Carl described last week.  (I Kings 16:34 and I Kings 17:1)


The city is on the plain of the Jordan, but it is not on the river.  It’s about 5 miles away.  Jericho was known as the “City of Palms” because there were springs in and around the city.  It was an oasis city.  The image you see in the background is a picture taken from the road which descends from the hills of Jerusalem toward Jericho.  It is a bleak landscape.  No trees or plants.  It’s dry apart from the river or springs.  The Google maps image looks about the same even today.  All brown except the city and the immediate vicinity.  I don’t know if there had been some influence of the drought which had rendered the water unsuitable but perhaps so.  Regardless, the city had just been rebuilt within 20 years, but it wasn’t much of a place to live.


This situation is yet another demonstration of God’s grace.  The Lord’s intent was that the ruins of Jericho would be a continual reminder that the Promised Land had been given to them by God’s hand, not their own strength.  And yet, the city was rebuilt and continues until today.  In Jesus time at Jericho, he healed blind Bartimaeus and called Zaccheus down from the tree and brought salvation to his house.  God does not stay angry forever but delights to show mercy.  (Jeremiah 3:12, Micah 7:18)


“Bring me a new bowl,” he said, “and put salt in it.” So they brought it to him.  II Kings 2:20


So, a new bowl full of salt doesn’t have any power to clean a water supply.  However, this action on behalf of the people is an opportunity for them to demonstrate faith.  The work of God is not brought about by something we do.  We can’t calculate a formula for God and conjure him up on a whim.  However, the work of God is enabled by our faith and obedience.


Then he went out to the spring and threw the salt into it, saying, “This is what the LORD says: ‘I have healed this water. Never again will it cause death or make the land unproductive.’ ” And the water has remained pure to this day, according to the word Elisha had spoken.  II Kings 2:21-22


This miracle also has the effect of giving credibility to Elisha.  If Elisha can help in God’s name, he can also teach and lead (reprove, admonish, command) in God’s name.


Making the water clean is a kind of precursor, forerunner of Christ.  Elisha makes bad water good.  Jesus gives us living water instead of liquid water.  The bad water at Jericho made the land around it unproductive.  Without living water, our lives are unproductive.  Elisha made the water clean and brought food and life to the city.  Jesus gives us living water, and we are brought to life, and never thirst again if we stay connected to Him.


When God heals something, it’s healed.  Ecclesiastes 3:14 says, “I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that people will fear him.”


I want to close with a quote from the Bible commentator Matthew Henry and a story.  Matthew Henry wrote, “Prophets should endeavor to make every place they come to, some way or other, the better for them, endeavoring to sweeten bitter spirits, and to make barren souls fruitful, by the due application of the word of God.”


Last week, Carl defined a prophet in this way:  “One who calls people around them to repentance and to return to the worship of the true God.”  When he said that, I thought, who wouldn’t want to be a prophet?


I had an interesting and unexpected situation come up on Friday.  I’ll try and make a long story short.  We have problem investigation reports that get graded.  They can be graded at different levels of the organization.  Well, we had a report that wasn’t finished and didn’t get graded by anyone below the division level.  It would be like someone taking one piece of your homework at random without your knowledge and turning it in to the professor.  Then, the grade on that one piece of homework was your grade in the course for the semester.


To make matters worse, the information came back to us in a very accusatory style.  This was our fault because we didn’t check it properly, we didn’t pre-grade it as we should, we can do much better.  The comments on the grading mentioned that we had left out a piece of documentation which we had definitely completed.  The brunt of this disappointment and chastisement fell on our quality engineer.  To me it was disappointing, but I could tell he was totally frustrated.


We untangled what actually had happened, and the accusation turned out to be unfounded and incorrect.  I asked the person who made the initial accusation to apologize publicly to the quality engineer since this had been carried out in public, but even this went awry.  The supposed apology was no apology at all.  The situation was simply reiterated that we should do better.  No grace, no truth, no life.


At the same time the “not” apology came out, I was writing this:


Life is a far more complicated thing than we realize most of the time.  There are many things going on in all of our lives.  God sees everything, and He is directing our circumstances as a magnificent conductor.  I think we are not able to conceive that anyone, even God, can work in nearly 7 billion people’s lives simultaneously to bring about the maximum good.  I do not claim to understand this, only that as more and more time goes by I know it to be true.


In regard to today’s … grading confusion, I think it is important for you to know that there are circumstances in my own life over the past month or so where it is needful for me right now to get a failing grade.


Circumstances beyond either of our control] resulted in me getting a “FAIL!” on my 8D assignment.  You have no idea how comforting that will be in my situation outside of work.


I tell you this because I appreciate you bearing up under this imposition.  In order for me to get a “FAIL!” you had to get one, too.  As time goes by, I am increasingly drawn to the fact that a few people carry the weaknesses of a greater number of people.  When things happen to me that have a tendency to bend me out of shape, I often comfort myself with the fact that by doing the right thing or the kind thing, I can help carry someone’s weaknesses.  Why is that important?


Well, if I ever got graded by the True Standard-bearer, the Holy and Perfect God, I would surely get a “FAIL!”  I won’t though, because His Son Jesus carries my weaknesses, my sins.  If my Christ carried my weaknesses all the way to the cross, then surely I can carry the daily challenges I face even though someone else may have ultimately been responsible for it.


I also appreciate that you help carry the weaknesses here at work.  You do not cover our weaknesses over rather you help carry them while working diligently to bring us out of the mire and onto the high road.


Thanks for all you do,


John


I sent it out, and went home.  Three or four hours later, I got a text from our quality engineer.  “Your words were like a cool drink of water on a hot day.  Very timely and much appreciated.”  Because it was after 9pm at night, I don’t even know for sure if his comment “very timely” is with respect to work or to some situation in his life.  It wouldn’t surprise me though because that’s just how God works.  He arranges circumstances to draw us to Him and minister to others through us.


I share all that as a practical example hoping to spur you on to love and good deeds.  As prophets of the living God, may we “endeavor to make every place we come to, some way or other, the better for us, endeavoring to sweeten bitter spirits, and to make barren souls fruitful, by the due application of the word of God.”


Let’s pray.


Lord Jesus, thank You for the testimony and faithfulness of Your servants.  I pray that You would help us find ways to apply Your truth in our lives and in our circumstances.  Give us big picture vision, eternity vision.  Help us to see with Your eyes that we may pour living water into our relationships with our family, our friends, our fellow students, our co-workers and even strangers we may meet along the way.  Give us the courage and strength to take up our mantle, our cross, each day and a follow You.  Glorify Your Name in us and through us we pray.  Amen.

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