January 24 – Stay Alert, Guard Your Heart

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Welcome to Bible Chat, where we
have devotional conversations

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rooted in Scripture and relevant
for today, January 24th.

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Stay alert.
Guard your heart.

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Have you ever had that moment
where you thought, I’ve got

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this, only to realize later that
you ignored advice you really

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needed?
Maybe someone warned you about a

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choice, a relationship, or a
pattern you were stepping into,

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and you brushed it off.
At first, everything seemed

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fine.
Then things slowly unraveled.

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That uneasy feeling afterward is
often the cost of not guarding

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your heart.
Proverbs chapter 6, verses 20 to

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21 speaks with the voice of
loving wisdom.

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My son, keep your father’s
commandment and forsake not your

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mother’s teaching.
Bind them on your heart.

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Always tie them around your
neck.

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God isn’t just talking about
rules, He’s talking about

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protection.
Wise instruction is meant to

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stay close, so close that it
shapes how you think, choose,

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and respond when pressure hits.
When wisdom is tied to your

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heart, it shows up right when
you need it most.

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Later in Proverbs chapter 6,
verse 34 gives a serious warning

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about jealousy and unchecked
desire.

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It says jealousy can make
someone furious and destructive.

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That’s what happens when the
heart isn’t guarded.

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When emotions run unchecked and
wisdom is ignored, damage

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follows not just outwardly but
inwardly too.

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God knows that what we allow to
grow in our hearts eventually

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controls our actions.
Then Matthew chapter 21 gives us

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a powerful image.
Jesus walks into the temple and

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sees that what was meant to be
holy has been turned into

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something corrupt and
distracting.

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So he flips tables and says, My
house shall be called a House of

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prayer.
Jesus wasn’t having a bad day.

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He was protecting what mattered.
He was restoring the purpose of

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a sacred space that had been
misused.

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That moment should stop us and
make us think.

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Your heart is sacred space, too.
It’s where faith grows.

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It’s where decisions are shaped.
It’s where God wants to dwell.

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When distractions, compromise,
bitterness, or unhealthy desires

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take over, it affects
everything.

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Jesus cares deeply about what
fills your heart, not to shame

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you, but to protect you.
God’s commands aren’t meant to

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cramp your life.
They’re meant to guard it.

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Just like ignoring warning signs
on the road can lead to an

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accident, ignoring God’s voice
can lead to unnecessary pain.

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But when you stay alert, listen
to wise counsel, and protect

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your heart, you’re positioning
yourself for peace, clarity, and

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purpose.
Your choices today are shaping

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who you become tomorrow.
Guarding your heart isn’t about

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fear.
It’s about love.

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Love for God, love for your
future, and love for the life

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He’s calling you to live.
Let’s pray.

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Heavenly Father, thank you for
caring enough to guide me and

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warn me when I’m drifting.
Help me value the wisdom You’ve

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placed in my life and keep it
close to my heart.

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Show me anything that doesn’t
belong in your temple and give

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me the courage to let it go.
Teach me to stay alert, guard my

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heart, and walk in your purpose
every day.

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In Jesus name, Amen.
What if the ache you feel for

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more is actually God calling you
deeper?

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Thirst for God is a powerful
Seven Book prayer scripts series

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inspired by Psalm 63, created
for believers who refuse to live

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on spiritual leftovers.
This is a journey from longing

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to encounter, from dryness to
delight.

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Seek teaches you how to pursue
God with passion and

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intentionality.
Savor trains your heart to

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recognize and enjoy His presence
in every season.

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See opens your spiritual eyes to
God’s power, glory, and beauty

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at work in your life.
Satisfy leads your soul into

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fullness, strength, and deep
contentment in Him alone.

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Sing ignites joy, gratitude, and
worship that rises naturally

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from intimacy with God.
Stay anchors your heart in

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steadfast devotion when
distractions try to pull you

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away, and Stand equips you to
remain firm in God’s justice,

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protection, and victory.
With over 210 prophetic

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Scripture anchored prayers, this
series helps you cultivate daily

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communion, personal revival, and
a lifestyle of holy pursuit.

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If you’re spiritually hungry,
weary, or simply longing for

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more of God, this is your
invitation to drink deeply.

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Order Thirst for God on Amazon
today or visit prayerscripts.org

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and begin your journey into
deeper intimacy with the God who

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satisfies.
Now I invite you to spend time

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with God in today’s three-year
Bible reading plan, Proverbs

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chapter 6 verses 20 to 35 World
English Bible.

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My son, keep your father’s
commandment, and don’t forsake

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your mother’s teaching.
Bind them continually on your

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heart.
Tie them around your neck.

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When you walk it will lead you.
When you sleep it will watch

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over you, When you awake it will
talk with you.

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For the commandment is a lamp,
and the law is light.

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Reproofs of instruction are the
way of life.

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To keep you from the immoral
woman, from the flattery of the

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wayward wife’s tongue.
Don’t lust after her beauty in

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your heart, neither let her
captivate you with her eyelids,

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for a prostitute reduces you to
a piece of bread.

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The adulterous hunts for your
precious life.

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Can a man scoop fire into his
lap and his clothes not be

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burned?
Or can one walk on hot coals and

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his feet not be scorched?
So is he who goes into his

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neighbor’s wife.
Whoever touches her will not be

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unpunished.
Men don’t despise a thief if he

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steals to satisfy himself when
he is hungry.

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But if he is found, he shall
restore 7 times.

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He shall give all the wealth of
his house.

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He who commits adultery with a
woman is void of understanding.

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He who does it destroys his own
soul.

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He will get wounds and dishonor.
His reproach will not be wiped

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away, for jealousy arouses the
fury of the husband.

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He won’t spare in the day of
vengeance.

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He won’t regard any ransom,
neither will he rest content

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though you give many gifts.
Matthew Chapter 21 World English

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Bible When they came near to
Jerusalem and came to Bethsfidge

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to the Mount of Olives, then
Jesus sent 2 disciples saying to

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them, go into the village that
is opposite you, and immediately

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you will find a donkey tied and
a colt with her.

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Untie them and bring them to me.
If anyone says anything to you,

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you shall say the Lord needs
them and immediately he will

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send them.
All this was done that it might

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be fulfilled, which was spoken
through the prophet saying, Tell

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the daughter of Zion, Behold,
your king comes to you humble,

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and riding on a donkey, on a
colt, the foal of a donkey.

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The disciples went and did just
as Jesus commanded them, and

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brought the donkey and the colt,
and laid their clothes on them,

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and he sat on them.
A very great multitude spread

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their clothes on the road,
others cut branches from the

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trees and spread them on the
road.

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The multitudes who went in front
of him and those who followed

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kept shouting Hosanna to the Son
of David.

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Blessed is he who comes in the
name of the Lord, Hosanna in the

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highest.
When he had come into Jerusalem,

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all the city was stirred up,
saying, Who is this?

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The multitude said, this is the
prophet Jesus from Nazareth of

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Galilee.
Jesus entered into the temple of

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God and drove out all of those
who sold and bought in the

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temple and overthrew the money
changers, tables and the seats

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of those who sold the doves.
He said to them, It is written,

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My house shall be called a House
of prayer, but you have made it

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a den of robbers.
The lame and the blind came to

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him in the temple, and he healed
them.

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But when the chief priests and
the scribes saw the wonderful

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things that he did, and the
children who were crying in the

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temple and saying hosanna to the
Son of David, they were

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indignant and said to him, Do
you hear what these are saying?

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Jesus said to them, Yes.
Did you never read out of the

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mouth of children and nursing
babies?

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You have perfected praise.
He left them and went out of the

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city to Bethany and camped
there.

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Now in the morning as he
returned to the city, he was

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hungry.
Seeing a fig tree by the road,

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he came to it and found nothing
on it but leaves.

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He said to it, Let there be no
fruit from you forever.

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Immediately the fig tree
withered away.

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When the disciples saw it, they
marvelled, saying, How did the

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fig tree immediately wither
away?

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Jesus answered them most
certainly.

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I tell you, if you have faith
and don’t doubt, you will not

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only do what was done to the fig
tree, but even if you told this

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mountain be taken up and cast
into the sea, it would be done.

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All things, whatever you ask in
prayer, believing you will

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receive.
When He had come into the

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temple, the chief priests and
the elders of the people came to

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him as He was teaching and said,
By what authority do you do

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these things?
Who gave you this authority?

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Jesus answered them.
I also will ask you one

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question, which if you tell me,
I likewise will tell you by what

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authority I do these things.
The baptism of John, where was

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it from?
From heaven or from men?

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They reasoned with themselves,
saying, if we say from heaven,

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he will ask us, Why then did you
not believe him?

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But if we say from men, we fear
the multitude, for all hold John

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as a prophet.
They answered Jesus and said, We

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don’t know.
He also said to them, Neither

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will I tell you by what
authority I do these things.

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But what do you think?
A man had two sons, and he came

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to the 1st and said, Son, go
work today in my vineyard.

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He answered, I will not.
But afterward he changed his

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mind and went.
He came to the second and said

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the same thing.
He answered, I’m going, Sir.

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But he didn’t go.
Which of the two did?

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The will of his Father they said
to him.

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The first Jesus said to them,
most certainly.

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I tell you that the tax
collectors and the prostitutes

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are entering into God’s Kingdom
before you.

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For John came to you in the way
of righteousness, and you didn’t

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believe him, but the tax
collectors and the prostitutes

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believed him when you saw it.
You didn’t even repent afterward

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that you might believe him.
Hear another parable.

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There was a man who was a master
of a household who planted a

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vineyard, set a hedge about it,
dug a wine press in it, built a

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tower, leased it out to farmers,
and went into another country.

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When the season for the fruit
came near, he sent his servants

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to the farmers to receive his
fruit.

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The farmers took his servants,
beat one, killed another, and

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stoned another.
Again he sent other servants

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more than the first, and they
treated them the same way.

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But afterward he sent to them
his son, saying, They will

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respect my son.
But the farmers, when they saw

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the sunset among themselves,
This is the air.

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Come, let’s kill him and seize
his inheritance.

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So they took him and threw him
out of the vineyard, then killed

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him.
When therefore the Lord of the

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vineyard comes, what will he do
to those farmers?

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They told him, He will miserably
destroy those miserable men and

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will lease out the vineyard to
other farmers who will give him

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the fruit in its season.
Jesus said to them, Did you

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never read in the Scriptures?
The stone which the builders

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rejected was made the head of
the corner?

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This was from the Lord.
It is marvelous in our eyes.

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Therefore I tell you, God’s
Kingdom will be taken away from

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you and will be given to a
nation producing its fruit.

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He who falls on this stone will
be broken to pieces, but on

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whomever it will fall, it will
scatter Him as dust.

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When the chief priests and the
Pharisees heard His parables,

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they perceived that He spoke
about them.

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When they sought to seize Him,
they feared the multitudes

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because they considered Him to
be a prophet.

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Thanks for joining us on Bible
Chat, where Scripture meets

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everyday life.
If today’s devotional encouraged

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you, share it with a friend and
be sure to follow the podcast so

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you won’t miss the next
conversation.

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Until next time, stay rooted in
truth, anchored in hope, and

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walking daily with Jesus.