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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 Studyheadquarters dot com.

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Speaker 1: You're listening to Daily Devotions with Pastor John I'm john

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Speaker 1: Stongey and today's devotion is inspired by Proverbs chapter twenty three,

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Speaker 1: verse twenty four, which says, the Father of the righteous

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Speaker 1: will greatly rejoice. He who fathers a wise son will

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Speaker 1: be glad in him. Children are a blessing from the Lord. Certainly,

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Speaker 1: there are times when raising them can be quite a challenge,

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Speaker 1: but the long term fruit of bringing them up in

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Speaker 1: the fear and knowledge of the Lord is a great

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Speaker 1: source of joy and encouragement. Righteousness is a gift from God. Specifically,

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Speaker 1: Scripture tells us that the gift of the righteousness of

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Speaker 1: Christ is freely granted to all who trust in Him.

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Speaker 1: Fathers should encourage their children to understand this truth. Likewise,

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Speaker 1: they should model their faith to their children, so the

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Speaker 1: generations that come after them can visibly see a reliable

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Speaker 1: demonstration of what it looks like when a man truly

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Speaker 1: believes in Christ. Fathers should pray for their children as well, first,

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Speaker 1: that they would trust in Jesus and receive his righteousness

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Speaker 1: and Secondly, that they would utilize and embrace the wisdom

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Speaker 1: that they are granted by the Holy Spirit. Navigating our

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Speaker 1: lives in this world can be complicated, but thankfully our

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Speaker 1: Lord is present with us, guiding the steps we take. Likewise,

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Speaker 1: we can thank Him for earthly fathers who represent Him

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Speaker 1: well and serve as a faithful example of the love, wisdom,

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Speaker 1: and guidance of Christ. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you

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

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

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Speaker 1: passage together today. And Lord, when we read through your word,

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Speaker 1: we encounter great wisdom. We see much of this wisdom

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Speaker 1: presented for us in the Book of Proverbs. And as

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Speaker 1: we look at this particular proverb, we see that fathers

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Speaker 1: are addressed. And Lord, it can be both a challenge

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Speaker 1: and a wonderful privilege to be a father. But Lord,

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Speaker 1: we know that there are many who choose to not

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Speaker 1: take that responsibility very seriously. Yet when we look at

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Speaker 1: this portion of scripture, you reveal to us that fathers

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Speaker 1: have the privilege to model the righteousness of Christ to

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Speaker 1: their children. We know that the moment we trust in

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Speaker 1: Your Son, we are declared righteous in your sight, and

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Speaker 1: we're given the gift of the righteousness of Christ. And Father,

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Speaker 1: we know that you want us to display that to others,

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Speaker 1: particularly our children, because it's your desire that a great

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Speaker 1: harvest of righteousness would come from that that generation and

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Speaker 1: after generation would proclaim your name and know you and

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Speaker 1: grow in their walk with You, and that we, as fathers,

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Speaker 1: would play a part in that as you use our

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Speaker 1: lives and put our faith on display so that the

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Speaker 1: generations that come after us would see a visible model

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Speaker 1: of what it looks like to follow Christ. Father, we

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Speaker 1: know that this task is challenging, but we also know

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Speaker 1: it's rewarding, and we know that we need your wisdom.

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Speaker 1: And likewise, Lord, we pray that you would give your

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Speaker 1: wisdom to our children, that you would help them to

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Speaker 1: grow in their walk with you, that you would soften

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Speaker 1: their hearts, that you would give them wisdom beyond their years,

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Speaker 1: and that they would begin to see things with the

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Speaker 1: eyes and the mind of Christ. Father, we know that

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Speaker 1: you can accomplish this, and so we entrust our children

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Speaker 1: to your care and ask for your help and your intervention.

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Speaker 1: On our behalf. We commit our lives and we commit

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Speaker 1: our children unto you now, and we pray this all

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Speaker 1: in Jesus' name. Amen,