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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 Stangey, and today's devotion is inspired by Matthew

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Speaker 1: chapter nineteen, verse fourteen, which says, but Jesus said, let

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Speaker 1: the little children come to me, and do not hinder them,

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Speaker 1: for two such belongs the kingdom of heaven. One of

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Speaker 1: the great blessings we are able to experience by observing

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Speaker 1: the earthly ministry of Jesus is the privilege of gaining

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Speaker 1: a deeper appreciation of his heart. We learn more about

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Speaker 1: what motivates him, what pleases him, and what he desires

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Speaker 1: to see in our lives. We also observe how deeply

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Speaker 1: he values the lives of those who are often neglected

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Speaker 1: or marginalized by society. Throughout the Gospels, Jesus spoke kindly

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Speaker 1: and respectfully toward women, who at that time were often

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Speaker 1: treated like property. He also treated children with kindness and

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Speaker 1: welcomed them into his presence. Children don't possess wisdom, but

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Speaker 1: they do display great faith. They are examples of what

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Speaker 1: it means to walk by faith and Jesus teaches us

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Speaker 1: that unless we trust in him with the kind of

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Speaker 1: faith we often see expressed by a child, we will

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Speaker 1: have no place in his kingdom. It can be easy

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Speaker 1: to become impatient with children because they are still in

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Speaker 1: the process of learning and growing mature. But Jesus was

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Speaker 1: patient with them, and he's also patient with us. He

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Speaker 1: loves children, he loves adults, and he invites us all

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Speaker 1: to come to him with genuine faith and excitement over

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Speaker 1: being welcomed into his presence. Let's pray, Lord, we thank

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

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Speaker 1: privilege that it is to be able to look at

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Speaker 1: this portion of scripture from the Gospel of Matthew today.

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Speaker 1: And Lord, we're grateful for the example that you've set

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Speaker 1: for us and how you treated children. You showed them love,

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Speaker 1: you showed them appreciation, you welcomed them into your presence.

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Speaker 1: You didn't treat them like a burden or an inconvenience.

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Speaker 1: You made sure that they knew that they were valued.

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Speaker 1: And then you made it clear to us that children

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Speaker 1: are an example of faith. Lord, we know that throughout

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Speaker 1: the course of our lives, you desire that we walk

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Speaker 1: by faith, that we go through every day trusting in

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Speaker 1: you completely. And when we look at a child's life,

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Speaker 1: we realize that everything they do is by faith. They're

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Speaker 1: always trusting somebody else to take care of them or

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Speaker 1: look after them or protect them. That's just their daily pattern.

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Speaker 1: But as we get older, we move away from that,

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Speaker 1: and sometimes it seems to become quite difficult for adults

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Speaker 1: to express faith because we grow so adept at walking

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Speaker 1: by sight. But Lord, we pray that we would understand

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Speaker 1: the lesson that you are communicating in this passage, that

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Speaker 1: we would recognize that we are to walk by faith

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Speaker 1: in You in all contexts, and that you've called us

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Speaker 1: to stop over relying on our own worldly wisdom because

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Speaker 1: you give us a greater wisdom that's only accessed through faith.

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Speaker 1: Thank you, Lord for this example from your word, and

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Speaker 1: thank you for the work that you're doing in our

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Speaker 1: lives by your grace. We pray that we would trust

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Speaker 1: you more and more as we live out each day

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Speaker 1: of our lives. And we pray this all in your name,

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Speaker 1: Jesus Amen,