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Elijah and Elisha

Pastor Barbie unpacks the story of Elijah and Elisha, sharing truths about legacy, kingdom transition, and passing faith from generation to generation. Walk away with a deeper understanding of your role in spiritual discipleship and how to ensure your ceiling becomes someone else’s floor.

Scriptures Referenced

1 Kings 19:16-21; 2 Kings 2:2, 2:11-13a, 3:11-12; 1 Corinthians 15:50-58

Key Insights

  • How spiritual legacy shapes your present and future
  • Why kingdom transition requires obedience to God’s voice
  • The cost and reward of serving faithfully in obscurity
  • The difference between growing and advancing God’s kingdom
  • How to position yourself for generational impact
  • The importance of intentional discipleship in your home and church

Prayer Targets

Please join us in prayer for:

  • A hunger for the Word.
  • Tears for the lost.
  • Testimonies to share.

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We would love it if you would consider joining us in person for one of our Sunday gatherings.

Gathering Times

  • Sundays, 9:00 AM
  • Sundays, 11:00 AM
  • Thursdays, 6:00 PM

Contact Info

Springhouse Church
14119 Old Nashville Highway
Smyrna TN 37167

615-459-3421

Additional Resources

CCLI License 2070006

Transcript
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God is always in this. Seems to be in this habit of saving the very

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best for right now. And, guys, there's urine for a

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treat today. Not because she's so wonderful, which she is, but because the

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God inside her is wonderful. Pastor Barbie is going to bring the Word this morning.

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Would you welcome Pastor Barbie?

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Before we jump into the Word today, I have been studying

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with you guys about Elijah and Elisha, and I've just been

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carrying that in my spirit. And so this week, as I was

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studying it out and I was thinking about. No spoiler here,

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but Elijah gets carried away in a chariot of fire.

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Yeah, he does. And I was thinking about this

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relationship between Elijah and Elisha, and I was thinking about

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this discipling thing that takes place as we walk in the

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kingdom and we do what God has called us to do. And I got to

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thinking about, man, how many of y' all had a mama that served the Lord

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or a grandparent that served the Lord? And now

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you're sitting in this room with a purpose, for a reason,

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because of a faith that was a legacy. And

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I have that mama. I had that mom and dad that served the Lord.

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And one of the things that they used to do, they used to sing

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this song called Ain't no Grave. Now,

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see, it used to be that you told stories to

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give histories. It used to be that you sung a song to tell

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the histories. And my mom and daddy would sing this song, ain't

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no Grave. Now, now, I wish you could have known when my mama was

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a shouter and my dad was a holder on to her,

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and he'd be like, okay, Barbara, we're

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gonna find your shoes. After church today.

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The last time I heard my mom and daddy sing this song, they were

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standing on a porch in the middle of downtown Alver Springs.

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And my daddy was playing the guitar, and my mom was singing, and he was

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trying to keep her on that platform because she was

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sharing what she knew to be true. She was sharing a story

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that told about a God who loved her, about a battle

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between Satan and the angel armies, the battle that would take

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place and the victories that would be won. She was sharing the histories.

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Now, my mama sang it. Now my daughter's gonna sing it.

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Because, guys, if we do this thing, if we really believe

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what we say, we believe. What she handed down to me

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is what I need to hand down to Katie and to Erin and what Erin

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and Katie need to hand down to Rowan and Nora and Alyssa

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and Bo and Parker. Because if we really believe

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this, it doesn't stop Here. The kingdom didn't begin with

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us, and it will not end with us unless he comes.

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Amen. Amen. So since I

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absolutely cannot hit any of these notes, we are

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gonna stand up, and they are gonna share ain't no grave. And let me tell

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you something. Here's what I want in your spirit during this time. We're

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gonna worship with them as they tell the history and they tell the

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story. I want you to grab hold of yours, and I want you to grab

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hold of the fact that you are passing down something that you truly

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believe to those sitting next to you, to those that you're raising in your

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household, because let me tell you something. Believe in the resurrection of

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Jesus Christ. I believe it. My life is built on it. It's why

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I'm here today. There ain't no grave

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gonna hold his body down. It didn't hold his down, and it will not hold

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yours down. So let's stand and let's go there.

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Bless you, Lord. Bless you, Lord. I believe it.

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I believe it. My mom believes it. I'm

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standing over there thinking, yeah, Daddy, I had to chase her down a few times.

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She would have been so proud. I tell you what she'd been like, girl,

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testify. And that's what we do. We

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testify of the goodness of the Lord. He is

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faithful. I feel a little bit like Nate Bergatzi when he's

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talking about, you know, his daughter or he's talking about

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his sister and everything. And then all of a sudden, he goes, oh, yeah, we

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got another brother. Anyway, I have another son.

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Matthew and Rachel are doing a phenomenal job with their four

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babies, too. I was then looking over there, that's such

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a thing to do to a middle child. You know?

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I love you, John Matthew. He probably will not watch this, but just in case.

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I really love you. And

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God is so good, is he not good, guys? Do you believe

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that? Do you believe that it doesn't stop here.

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Do you believe that there is more to the story? I tell you what, I

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wouldn't be sitting here if I didn't believe it. I wouldn't be standing here. I

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wouldn't have taught it to my children if I didn't believe it. This is

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just. We get to be a part of a

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long chain of sharing the stories and

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the testimonies of Christ. And that's what I want to do with you this morning

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as we jump into a teaching on Elijah and

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Elisha. Wow. Could I have gotten a better assignment?

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I don't think so. Thank you for that, Pastor Kevin. This

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Is this one? I, I, I, I.

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It's just good. Okay. So last week, Pastor Kevin left

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us with these words he was talking about. Elijah had had a pretty bad

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week. Elijah had been

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chased by Jezebel, had threatened his life, hadn't gone

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well for him. It says he took off to the mountain. Is it

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Horeb, the mountain of the Lord. And there he

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hid in the cave. And one of Pastor Kevin's last

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questions were the words that

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God spoke to Elijah at the mouth of the cave. Why

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are you here? Why are you here?

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Why are you here? And it was a heart check, and it was a question

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to go, why are you ordering your life the way that you're

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ordering it? I mean, for me, I'm going, why did you come here

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this morning? Why are you reading the

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Bible? Why are you teaching your kids about faith? Why,

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if it's something that you carry and it's so strong, why? And if you

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do believe this the way that you believe this, there is so much

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to grab onto. And I believe the Lord gives us teachings

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through his Word that give us encouragement in how to do that.

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Now, when he actually closed the service last week,

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Elijah had come out of the cave. The Lord had spoken to him, asked

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him, why are you here? You know, I'm pretty sure the

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Lord knew why he was there. He was just making sure Elijah knew why he

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was there. And sometimes that's what the Lord doing with us. And the second

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thing that he asked him or the second thing he told him was, go back

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the way you came. Go back the way you

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came. And that's where Pastor Kevin left us with the words

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last week. And the passage of Scripture that comes next is where we

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are going to start. It's going to be our jumping off point. And

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so Elijah has come out of the cave. The Lord has said, what

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do you think you're doing? I'm paraphrasing. And. And

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then he goes, okay, here's what we're going to do. Here are your next instructions.

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You're coming out of the cave, and this is what you're going to do. So

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if you would stand with me, we're going to read First Kings 19, 16,

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21. Actually, we're going to jump around a little bit in it so you don't

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have to read the whole passages. We're just going to get into this particular

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part and we'll see what the instructions of the Lord were to Elijah when he

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came out of the cave. Let's read it, as Pastor

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Kevin says, with gusto. When you get there, anoint

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Hazael king over Aram. Also anoint

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Jehu son of Nimshi, king over

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Israel. And anoint Elisha son of

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Shaphat from the Abel Mehloa.

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Okay, let's read that last part. Anoint Elisha

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son of Shaphat from Abel Meholoah

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to succeed you as prophet. And

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so Elijah went from there and found Elisha

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son of Shaphat. He was plowing with 12 yoke

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of oxen, and he himself was driving the 12th

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pair. Elijah went up to him and threw

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his cloak around him. Elisha then left his

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oxen and ran after Elijah. Let

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me kiss my father and mother goodbye, he said, and

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then I will come with you. Elisha left him,

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went back. He took his yoke of oxen and slaughtered

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them. He burned the plow, cooked the meat, and

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gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he set out

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to follow Elijah and became his servant. Father

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God, I thank you so much for your word, Lord. Thank you for

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letting me share what you've shown me. Thank you, Lord, that

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you will get it exactly where it needs to go. I pray, Father God, that

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our hearts would be taught of you today, Lord, not taught of me. But

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Lord, I pray that my stuff would fall and yours would stand. We're

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gonna lean in and listen for your voice this morning, in Jesus name,

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Amen. Amen. Now let me tell

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you something. When I got into that passage of scripture,

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there's a part of that that grabbed me. We actually read

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it twice when it said, go and anoint Elisha

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as your successor as prophet.

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What? I'm just thinking what my response

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might have been of going, what?

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I know I had a bad week. I

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know I've been hiding in this cave for a while, but now I'm

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getting replaced. You know, that might be what

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Insecure Barbie would say. Hey, you know what? Mattel never

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created that one.

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I'm gonna have to call them because I think it would be a big seller

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anyway. Insecure Barbie,

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she's like, should I wear this or should I

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woo, come back. Anyway, I

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was thinking about that. And I was thinking about, you know, if you did that

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today. Actually, our elder board did that to us

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a few years ago, and it was absolutely the right thing to do.

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They begin to go, okay, what's next? Who's

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are you training? The person behind you. And we're like,

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are we done? You know, the insecure side of you goes, but what?

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But the spiritual God kingdom side of you should go,

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absolutely, absolutely, Lord. Because if you tarry

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it doesn't end here. So, Lord, where should I sow and

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where should I go? And I felt like when I was studying

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this, the Lord gave me this phrase, every transition requires an

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evolution. We evolve into and

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out of transition. Okay, this

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is really important. And I'm. We don't like change.

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We don't like change, especially if it affects us or feels like

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it takes something out of our hands. Change is hard.

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Change is hard. I mean, even the good things, it's hard. And

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to evolve means to move slowly into a

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more advanced position and sometimes

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or more advanced state, sometimes we have to

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allow ourselves time to evolve into a

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more kingdom advanced state

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when the Lord gives us a word. And see, that's the kicker.

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Elijah received a word from the Lord

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God. Transition requires a God word, a God

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word. We don't get there. It's so as hard as our flesh tries to stick

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and stay and do, it's so hard for us to let

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go unless we have a word from the Lord.

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Nowhere in this passage of scripture, when the Lord tells

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Elijah, I want you to go anoint your successor, nowhere do

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I see Elijah going, but God.

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Now, maybe he did internally, I don't know. But it obviously wasn't worthy of

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the page anyway. But God,

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I still got a lot of good years left in me. That's not the point.

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The point is Elijah knew God voice. And

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when you know God's voice, when you know

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God's voice, what you going to do with that? When the Lord speaks, here's what

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you got to do. A God word requires a kingdom response.

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And sometimes we have to sit on it for just a minute

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before we can give a kingdom response to something that's

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affecting our flesh. What's the right

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thing, Lord? Am I thinking about me or am I thinking about

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them? Am I thinking about advancing the kingdom

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or promoting myself? What is

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the kingdom response in this? Now, remember I

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said this is because you believe what you say. You believe

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that you are part of a long lineage of people leading toward him,

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leaning toward him. And how do we advance the

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kingdom? And I'm not talking about grow in the kingdom. There's a

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difference. Cause you can fill a room and you can make it really

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big, full of people and make no progress forward in the

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kingdom. And the best thing we can do the way that we do this,

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guys, it's generational exchange.

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If I love Beau Oliver, then my job

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is to disciple him in such a

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way that that whenever I leave, my

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ceiling becomes his floor. And if I take all of the

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secrets of the kingdom, all of the things the Lord has shown me how

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to do. And I hold them close because I don't want to teach anybody about

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this. Because if I teach them about it, they might be better at it than

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I am. Let them be better. Let them

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be better and see. So, Bo, aren't you so glad you're on the front row,

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buddy? Yeah.

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If I do what I'm called to do, and I do it correctly and

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unselfishly, then my stopping point should be

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his launch pad. But, guys, if

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we don't do that, they have to go back and relay foundations that we

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were supposed to lay a long time ago. Because in our

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insecurity, we don't give it all to them. We gotta start

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giving it all to them. Ay yai yai.

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Anyway, God word requires a kingdom response.

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And that's what we get here with Elijah and Elisha.

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One of the things that impressed me about Elisha

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was Elisha was a

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servant by choice, not by station. Now,

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let's talk about this one for a minute. How do we know this? It does

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not. There's not a, you know, habascus 4 that says

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Elisha was a servant by choice, not by station. But the Lord shows us things

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in his Word that we can glean from. And we just read in a

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passage of Scripture that Elijah, when he went to find

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Elisha, Elisha was

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plowing in a field with 12 yoke of oxen.

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And he himself, according to Scripture, was driving the 12th pair.

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Driving the 12th pair. Why does that matter? Because

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I come from a farming family. Shouting and farming

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family. You know, I'm sorry I said that. And if you were gonna

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plow a field, you staggered the

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oxen. You would send a plow an oxen, and

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that person would go and let them get just a little bit down the

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row. Then you would send the next plow and the next oxen.

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And so eventually it's just like this, the side of a V,

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and you're staggering the plows for a couple of reasons. You stagger them

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because if you put the oxen up next to each other, they're distracted and they'll

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go toward one another. And so they would be sent not only

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the field tilled better because what the first one plowed, the second

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one replowed the side of it. And so eventually you're getting a double

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plow anyway. Why does that matter? Well, it matters because

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Elisha was driving the 12th pair, and

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the 12th pair of oxen was the last to go. That

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meant that person ate the dust of the first 11.

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Okay? And it was usually the lowest man on the

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totem pole that got that 12th plow. Now, so that could lead us to believe.

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Okay, well, maybe. Maybe Elisha was just the lowest one. Nope. Au

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contraire, mon frere. Anyway,

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I also speak pig Latin. Anyway.

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No, because what we see in the passage of Scripture is that when Elijah tells

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him we are going, you know, when he calls him and anoints him,

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it says that Elijah,

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Elisha went back. What did he do? He burned

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the yoke. He killed the oxen.

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He distributed the meat to the people. Do you think a

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laborer in a field would have the right to go and burn the man's

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property? Seriously? No.

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If he had the ownership. Now, whether he owned the field or whether his

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parents did whatever it did, there was a level of ownership and

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authority enough in him that he went back and he burned it

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all and he offered it to the people. Now, there's so much

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prophetic in that, guys. There's so much prophetic in that. Not only

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did he tell his mother and father his past and all that he had known

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goodbye, he also burned the plow. His

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mode of making a living, his mode of taking care

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of things, and he distributed the meat to me, which was

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a. What he was going to actually be doing the rest of his life is

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distributing to the people what he had. And

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if you don't have the authority to do that, how could you

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go and do that? So that tells me something about Elisha. It tells

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me he was a servant. He chose the 12th

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yoke. Guys, sometimes we need to be mindful

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of choosing the 12th yoke. Sometimes we're so

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quick to want to grab hold of that front thing that we

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lose the power of walking in the 12th place.

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That's a whole other teaching. But anyway, and

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Elijah goes toward Elisha, and Elisha knew

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him. I mean, everything that I read in Scripture tells

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me this. Our mantles often define us.

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When Elisha. When

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Elijah there was a king and he had fallen through the

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window, he had fallen through the latticework at his house, and he

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wanted somebody to tell him if he was going to live or die.

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And. And so he sends a guy, and the

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guy comes back and he says, I want you to go and treat of Beelzebub.

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I want you to go and treat. And I want you to find out if

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I'm going to die. And the guy comes back, says, you going to die?

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And he said, who told you that? And he said, well, there was a man,

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and he had this Cloak. He had this cloak. And he begins

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to describe this cloak of Elijah. It's called an

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Atarath, and it is a cloak that is doubly wide. The

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prophet's cloak was doubly wide. I think it's really interesting, though,

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because we're going to jump back to Elisha in a minute. So that king

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didn't like the answer, so he sent 50 men to go back and

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inquire. Well, you remember that story about the fire

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and stuff that Kevin. Well, okay, they went through, like, three sets of

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50 men. And every time Elijah would send back, yes,

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he was going to die, but there were no men to carry the word back

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anyway. And finally, the third group goes.

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And the leader falls on his face before Elijah and says, don't kill

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us. Don't kill us. But the

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king wants to know, and he's like, you're going to die anyway. So they go

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back and tell the king, and he goes, what did he look like, this man?

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He said, well, he had this cloak, and he had a leather belt in it.

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And the king goes, oh, that was Elijah.

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Did you know sometimes we're known by the mantles we wear, the

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mantles we carry. That's why when you're with somebody and they go, oh, you

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know, it's, you know, Chelsea. It's Chelsea. You know, she's the one who

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sings here. She's the one who carries this. She's the one. And you begin to

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describe the mantle that she carries. And a lot of times,

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that's what we're known by. Right? That's why it's so hard to let it go.

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Anyway, so here we see

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Elisha in the field and Elijah coming toward him,

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which, by my way of thinking, if kings knew

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what Elijah was wearing, chances are the people in the field knew

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as well. Oh, I love this. I want to be on a tin roof porch

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right now.

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And so what we see Elijah do with this cloak

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that he has, it's not the picture. It's not the picture of him going

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out into the field, grabbing Elisha, taking

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his cloak off, and throwing it over him. This prophet's

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atarath, it had a leather belt around the prophet's waist,

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and there was a wing. It was doubly wide. And the

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picture that this paints is that he would go and he would throw

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that mantle around. Elisha didn't

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say he gave it to him, because if he'd already given it to him, what

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would be the point of him dropping it when he was. Anyway, we're just not

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going to go there. Anyway, he throws it around him. And there's

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a something about that. Knowing who Elijah was, knowing

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what he carried, knowing that Elisha had to know that. It's.

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It sparked all of these things in me. Because. Can I tell you something? When

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you get close to somebody who carries a similar anointing, don't you feel it?

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Don't you feel it? You don't even like it sometimes. It's

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like when I was running from the Lord, like, really

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intensely running from the Lord. I really hated to be around

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teachers who taught the Word. It

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was wonderful. And it was just because let me tell you,

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Scripture tells us that eternity is written on the hearts of men.

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Right? That's what Scripture says. So if you are a

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teacher and you're running from the Lord and

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you get around a good teacher, I feel like God just goes,

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let's touch the eternity on her heart for a minute. Let's just

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mess with this for a minute. And. And you walk around going,

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oh, God. Because he

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stirs us up. And I believe that when

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Elisha felt that covering

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of Elijah the prophet come around him, I believe there was something in

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him that just quickened and went, ah, I know what this

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means. I know what it means. And see,

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God will give us glimpses of our calling through the mantles worn by others.

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Have you ever. Have you seen that? Have you experienced that?

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Oh, I really. I just. Ugh, the way that he does

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that. That's why we have to share what the

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Lord has done. And sometimes, guys, in order to chase and in order to

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go do what God is calling us to do, sometimes we just gotta burn the

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yoke. Sometimes we just gotta burn the yoke and go, okay,

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this is what I expected to do the rest of my life. This is

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what I thought I was supposed to do, and it was a good thing. But,

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Lord, I have received a word from. From you. And I want to order my

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life according to the word that I have received, not according to what I

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assumed. I don't want to live my life based

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on an assumption. I want to live my life based

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on a word from the Lord. And so Elisha

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lays it all down and goes to follow Elijah.

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Now, see, there's a different kind of relationship that takes place

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here. To me, discipleship is not a casual

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relationship. It is intentional in purpose and

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deliberate in focus. I have messed up some

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relationships in my life by not allowing God to

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define them. Sometimes.

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Sometimes I have wanted a friend so bad that

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I've cultivated a friendship that had nothing to do with discipling

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and that's all well and good if that's what God has called you to be

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in their life as their best friend. Man, I need. I've got a wonderful

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bestie, but I have

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blown it at times because someone that I was

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called to disciple and speak into their life and lead toward the Lord,

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I led toward me and lost the authority to speak

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into their lives. And I know, I mean, people may

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feel differently about this, but I believe consecration lives looks different

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for people who step into teaching roles. That's why

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I didn't want to do it anyway.

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But I believe consecration and being set apart for a purpose and a

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goal is important. And I believe as a leader, it's

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extremely important that you allow the Lord to

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define the role of the relationships in your life. Because we

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can do much harm and we can do much good. And I

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want to do good in those relationships anyway.

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In our desire to create and accommodate friendships, we have the potential to lose

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disciples. That could just be for me.

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That could just be for me. Because I know of one particular instance in my

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life that God had called me to pour into a person, and I

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loved this person as a friend instead of

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leading them more toward the Lord and lost a level of

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authority with them. So I'm just going to leave that with you guys to deal

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with. And it's not just guys. It's not

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just, oh, well, I'm not a pastor. I'm not a this or that. What about

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at your work? What about at your work? Are you

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creating relationships where you have no authority to speak into their

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life because the life you live in front of them is not necessarily in

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keeping with the life that you live here? Are

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you pouring into the lives of the people that are around

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you? Here was the kicker. Elijah

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discipled and Elisha served and was known for it. You know

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what's so funny to me is the minute that that cloak

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went around Elisha, the minute that he.

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It went around him, you know, that he knew that he had

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just been called into office of a

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prophet, but he hadn't yet received the anointing

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of a prophet. And so now, knowing that he's a

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prophet, he went and he held his first prophetic

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conference.

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Happens every day. No, you know what he

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did? It said he went and he became an attendant for

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Elijah. He went and he served because that's what he

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did to the point that that's what he's known for. And you're like, oh, what

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did. Did he serve? Like, you know, six months of an

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apprenticeship? Oh, no. What about a Year. Maybe

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a year. No. Two years. Three

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years, Four years. Nope.

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He served almost a decade. Just following,

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you know, just following and learning the lessons of

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the mantle. Learning what God and being allowed.

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And see, he could have gone, oh, yeah, I

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am basically tonto to

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Elijah. You know, I am his right hand. But that wasn't what he was

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known for. It wasn't what he was known for. Here's the. Look at this. Look

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at this right here. Jehoshaphat

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asked, is there a prophet of the Lord here that we may inquire of the

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Lord through him? An officer of the king of Israel answered, elisha,

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son of Shaphat is here. He used to pour water

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on the hands of Elijah. Jehoshaphat

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said, the word of the Lord is with him now. You

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want to know what's really interesting about this is that

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Elisha had already parted the rivers. He

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had already parted the waters. He had already

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healed the waters of Jericho. And so when this man

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was asked, you know, is there someone we can inquire of? Oh, well, yeah, there's

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this guy. And he parted the waters, and he healed all the waters of

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Jericho. No, because that's not what the Lord wanted him

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to be known for. He was known for the way that he

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served. He poured water on the

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hands of Elijah. You know, one of the things my mommy used to do all

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the time, she'd say, take him a cup of water. Take him a cup of

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water. If we had guest speakers or if we had guest singers, take him a

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cup of water. And I knew why she made me do that. Cause she didn't

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want to. No, I'm kidding. She made me do

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that because she knew that Scripture said, if you give a prophet

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so much as a cup of water, you receive a prophet's

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reward. What if you serve

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one for 10 years? What if you just get in there and

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serve? Not with the goal of, oh, eventually they're going to quit and I'm going

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to get their position. You might, but you might not.

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But 10 years of a prophet's reward,

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and it wasn't a big thing. If you will go and do this, and you

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will do this, and you will do this. Give them a cup of water.

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Give them a cup of water. Guys, we are losing the

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ability to teach our children to drive the 12th set of

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plows. We are losing it. There's something

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in us that you know. A reward for everything.

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Now, this could get a little bit messy, so I'm gonna talk

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to Bo. Anyway, listen,

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I believe in giving kids an allowance so they Got some, as my

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mama would call it. They need some walking around money anyway, so she'd slide a

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dollar into their pocket. But we shouldn't have to pay our

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kids to do chores at our house. They live there.

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That's your food they're eating. That's your bed they're sleeping in.

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Yes, bless them. Give them some money. Walking around money to do

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something, but don't pay them because they live in your house

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and you want them to put their own cup in the dishwasher.

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Jesus, help me, oh, Lord. Now let's

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take that one step forward. Love, big

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live truth. Healthy family.

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Family. This is your house. This is your

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house. We need your help. We

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need your help. If we had the opportunity, man,

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we would give you everything that we have, but we just need your

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help as family. Find a place to serve.

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It will do you so much good. It will do us

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so much good. Because I know what comes

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from serving. I know the benefits we get

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from serving. We have that opportunity

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to just serve. Just serve. And

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guys, listen, if you serve in close proximity to someone learning

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long enough, you learn the secrets of the mantle. I

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guarantee you that Sue Cole could do my job in a heartbeat.

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She would hate it, but she would do it.

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She knows what I do day to day. She knows what

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has to be done, and she does it so

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faithfully. And Keith is like, okay, we're doing that today. And I'm like,

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I'm so grateful for their role in my life.

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It wasn't an intentional thing. God just brought her along. And her

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heart has always been to serve. To

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serve. But let me tell you something. She's not serving me. She's serving

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him. She's serving him.

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Serving in close proximity reveals the responsibility and requirements of the

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mantle. You can stand afar off for a long time and never

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understand what's going on here. You know, you hear people go, oh, I want to

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be a. I think I want to be a. A youth pastor. I want to

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be a youth pastor. Do they, James?

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Do they, Dana? Until you've walked

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in there, she's not a mile, eight,

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ten years. Then you might get a glimpse. I want to be a

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children's pastor. Really?

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I'm tired just saying her name.

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I tell you what, the way that Sherry served these

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kids this week, and it wasn't just one thing. The whole

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team just knocked it out of the park.

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And they are. Notice I said, they are tireless.

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I just stood off and going, bless them, Jesus. You know,

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Woo. Go. Until you walk

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beside the mantle for an extended period of Time. You have no idea what

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you're asking for. And see, here, here's the thing. You gotta

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stay. You gotta stay. Nowhere in Scripture

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do I see Elijah going. Has anybody seen Elisha?

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He was supposed to be here today. I don't know. Something going on with

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his family. No, he was there. He was there

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because God was doing something. Elijah and Elisha had a

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word from the Lord, and they were not going to stop until it was

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fulfilled, until Elijah was completed. What word are you standing

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on? What has God told you? Are you going to see

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it out to the end?

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Comes toward the end. And the prophets tell Elisha,

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God's going to take your master away today.

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And Elijah. Elisha says, I know, I know. And

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Elijah says, stay here. I'm going to go over here.

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And Elisha says, nope,

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nope, I'm not going. As surely as the

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Lord lives and you live, I will not leave you. I

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will not leave you. Does that not sound like Naomi and Ruth? For just a

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minute there, I will not leave you. And the prophets come again. And they say,

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God's going to take your master away from you. And he's like, I know, I

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know. Stay here, Elisha. No, I'm

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going with you. Three times. Three times. And

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finally, the last time, the prophecy. He's going to take your master away today. And

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Elisha says, I know, but be

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quiet, be quiet.

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Because his heart had come to trust in this man of God that God had

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put over him. And he was on this journey through to the end with

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him. And so

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Elijah asked him, what do you want? What do you want? What

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can I give you? And Elisha says, I want a double portion of what you

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have. I want a double portion of your spirit. Let me tell you something. It

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wasn't because Elisha wanted to do twice the miracles. It

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wasn't because he wanted to be more greatly known than Elijah. It was

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because he loved what he saw of God in

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this man of God. And he's like, let me continue it. Let me take

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it forward. Let me take it down this field. And I prayed that

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I could do doubly because of what you've

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lain here. Take it on. And then we see

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the sweetest thing happen as they

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were walking along. I want you to see this in your spirit. They were walking

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along and talking together. Suddenly, a chariot of fire and

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horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them.

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And Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind.

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Elisha saw this and cried out, my father.

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My father. And Elijah saw him no more.

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Then he took hold of his own garment and

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he tore it in two. He tore it in two.

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And he picked up the cloak that had fallen from Elijah at that moment.

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Elisha tore his cloak. He tore it in

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mourning. He tore it to go. Things will never be the

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same. Who I was in that moment no longer exists. It's

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irreparable, this thing that has happened. And in that

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moment, I believe he laid aside the

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cloak of a servant, minister,

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apprentice, and he picked up the

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mantle of the prophet. It he

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served and did. And guys, listen.

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Kingdom transition should advance the kingdom until he returns.

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And he is going to return. We're supposed to continue

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what he has done. And we're getting ready to sing this song again

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because of this.

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This is what I believe.

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First Corinthians 15. Listen very

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carefully. I tell you a mystery, a secret truth

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decreed by God and previously hidden. We will not

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all sleep in death, but we shall all be

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changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at

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the sound of the last trumpet call. For a trumpet will sound and the

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dead in Christ, Christ will rise. Then it says right here, therefore,

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Therefore, my beloved brothers and sisters, be

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steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work

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of the Lord. Always doing your best and doing more. Being

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continually aware, continually aware

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that your labor in the Lord is not futile

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or wasted. It is never without purpose.

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My prayer for you is that you

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would soar. That you would soar

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one day, that you would go to be with him,

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to go and join those that have gone on before the

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lineage. Guys, if it isn't true, if it

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isn't true, my mother and your mother and

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Pastor Harvey and Pastor Margaret and

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Simon, Peter, Andrew, James, Philip, Thomas,

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Matthew, Bartholomew, all of them.

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All of them. Was it wasted?

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Was it futile? Or did they pass that baton to us and

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ask us, will you carry it forward? Will you carry it

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forward? Because I tell you this and you can stand.

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If he walked out of the grave. We're walking too.

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We're walking too. And that's what we're going to sing here for a minute, I'm

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going to offer you a blessing. And then we are going to make a declaration

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here at the end. And guys,

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grab hold of it in your spirit. Let's continue

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the legacy. Let's continue the charge. Let's make the

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disciples. Let's complete the work. Let's pass the

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baton and walk out. Can I offer you a blessing? Blessing. May the God

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and Father of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ continue

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to remind you that the story does not end here. May

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he continue to give you the upward draw that lets you know

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that eternity awaits. And Father, may we

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anticipate all that you have in Jesus name.

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Amen. Amen. Let's go. We're going to sing. Just for a minute.

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