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Speaker 1: Life Audio. For more resources to help you in your

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Speaker 1: walk with Christ, please visit us at Bible Study Headquarters

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Speaker 1: dot com. You're listening to Daily Devotions with Pastor John.

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Speaker 1: I'm John Stogey, and today's devotion is inspired by Ephesians

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Speaker 1: chapter six, verse four, which says, fathers, do not provoke

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Speaker 1: your children to anger, but bring them up in the

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Speaker 1: discipline and instruction of the Lord. There are people in

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Speaker 1: your life that the Lord graciously allows you to influence.

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Speaker 1: There are people who copy what they see you practice.

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Speaker 1: There are people who make decisions for their lives based

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Speaker 1: on what they have learned from you. Whether you have

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Speaker 1: intentionally tried to teach them or not. You have been

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Speaker 1: granted the privilege to be a living example of the

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Speaker 1: presence of Jesus Christ to everyone. He graciously puts you

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Speaker 1: in contact with. Some of the people you will influence

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Speaker 1: most are the people who live in your home. The

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Speaker 1: people we live in closest proximity to are also the

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Speaker 1: people who have the greatest capacity to get on our nerves.

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Speaker 1: We can see their quirks up close, and they can

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Speaker 1: see ours. They may have habits and preferences that annoy us,

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Speaker 1: and if you're in a position of authority over them,

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Speaker 1: you may at times be tempted to retaliate against them

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Speaker 1: and provoke them to anger. When those tempting moments come,

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Speaker 1: please choose an alternate path instead of provoking others to anger.

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Speaker 1: Model the care, instruction, and leadership integrity that's been shown

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Speaker 1: to us by Jesus. Don't seek revenge, don't stir up strife.

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Speaker 1: Create a culture in your home that testifies to the

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Speaker 1: heart and mind of our Lord. Let's prey. Lord, we

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Speaker 1: thank you for your word, and we thank you for

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Speaker 1: this scripture that you've given to us from the Book

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Speaker 1: of Ephesians. Lord, you teach us that we're to create

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Speaker 1: a culture in our home that testifies to your heart

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Speaker 1: and to your mind. You show us that if we're

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Speaker 1: in a position of authority, like a father is in

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Speaker 1: a home, that we shouldn't provoke our children to anger,

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Speaker 1: but that we should instruct them in the ways that

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Speaker 1: you have instructed us in. Lord, we know that you

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Speaker 1: want us to model the example that you've given to us,

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Speaker 1: and we know that it's your calling on our lives

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Speaker 1: to show our children what you're like in how we operate. Father,

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Speaker 1: I also have come to believe that it's your desire

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Speaker 1: that we model this to our spouses as well as

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Speaker 1: a husband. You've called me to model your heart to

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Speaker 1: my wife, and likewise, I'm grateful, Father that you allow

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Speaker 1: my wife to show you your heart to me. And Lord,

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Speaker 1: when we look at this portion of scripture, we're shown

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Speaker 1: that we have the capacity to inspire our children to

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Speaker 1: walk in grace, to exemplify mercy as they're shown these

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Speaker 1: things directly. So, Lord, as we inspire and as we

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Speaker 1: provoke our children in any direction or in any way,

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Speaker 1: we pray that the inspiration or the provocation that we're

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Speaker 1: giving would be such that it would point them to

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Speaker 1: You and wouldn't needlessly upset anyone. Thank you, Lord for

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Speaker 1: the privilege to be instructed by your word, and thank

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Speaker 1: you for the privilege to pass that instruction on to

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Speaker 1: our children and to our households in general. We pray that,

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Speaker 1: by your grace, we would do a good job with that,

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Speaker 1: and we thank you that you empower us and that

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Speaker 1: you're present with us in the midst of this task.

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Speaker 1: It's a joyful task and it's a true privilege. But

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Speaker 1: we know that we need your wisdom and we need

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Speaker 1: your strength to do it well. We're grateful for for

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Speaker 1: all of these things, and we commit ourselves to you

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Speaker 1: today and pray this all in Jesus' name. Amen,