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Amen.
If you've got your Bibles, open up to James chapter 4.
That's where we're going to be this morning.
As you turn there, I want to remind everybody we are having the Lord's Supper today at the
end of the service.
And so, if you did not grab one of the Lord's Supper element cups on your way in, I want
to encourage you to head right back there right now and grab one of those.
If you are visiting with us today, I just want to share with you, you do not have to be a
member of Willow Ridge Church in order to partake in the Lord's Supper together with us.
The only thing that we ask is that you be a believer in Jesus Christ, that you're a follower
of Him.
And if you are that, whether you go to a Presbyterian church or a Pentecostal church, we don't care,
and we'd love to have you partake in that with us this morning.
Also, I want to ask you guys to be praying this afternoon.
Our Hispanic congregation is going to have their last day of revival this afternoon.
And so, they'll be in here.
A lot of visitors come.
This is usually, they almost double their attendance on this Sunday.
And so, it'll be an exciting time for their neighbors and their friends who haven't heard
or haven't responded to the gospel to be here today, to have an opportunity to hear that.
So, if you think about it this afternoon, please be lifting them up.
It's why I'm kind of dressed up today, all right?
It's not Easter or Christmas Eve, but I'll be around for that.
And Juan rocks a full suit every week.
And so, I felt like I could at least go this over my jeans.
So, we'll be worshiping with them this afternoon as well.
So, we're going to dive right into James chapter 4, starting in verse 13.
It says this,
Come now, you who say, today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend
a year there and trade and make a profit.
Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring.
What is your life?
For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.
Instead, you ought to say, if the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.
As it is, you boast in your arrogance.
All such boasting is evil.
So, whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him, it is sin.
So, I hope as we've gone through this series so far in James, and I've gotten a lot of just
wonderful feedback as God's been taking us through this book of the Bible, that every single week
that we together kind of walk out of here, if you think it's bad on Sunday mornings, like
I get to walk through a week of it, right, of God invading those dark places in our heart
to reveal the sin that's there, right?
And I hope that every single week that that's where we're at.
Now, as I've studied this passage of Scripture this week, what it has been is a little progressive
of an avalanche of rolling down a hill toward me, of the clarity of what God's given to me
about the sinfulness of my heart as I've read this passage of Scripture and studied it this week.
And so, I want to open up by kind of throwing this out there and ask this question.
How many of you, and we're going to do a show of hands, all right, we're going to kind of see
where everyone's at this morning with this.
So, raise your hand if you consider yourself to be a planner.
Raise your hand.
Give it to Steve.
Let's look at all of us that need to admit right now that we probably have a problem, all right?
And our problem are those around us who do not plan, right?
That's our problem, right?
They drive us crazy, right?
They don't plan.
They're just living by whatever they want to do.
And we're there like, no, no, no.
Here's what the plan says.
And so, we've got to do it.
I'm a planner.
And here's how I know I'm a planner.
I love spreadsheets.
I love them.
God gave us spreadsheets, and I love spreadsheets.
Now, let me say this.
I've never done a mathematical formula on a spreadsheet in my life, but I can type up a
grocery list in a heartbeat on it, right?
And so, if you go on my computer, and you pull up Excel, and you look at all of the spreadsheets
that are there, you're not finding math.
You're finding lists of things to be done, lists of things to be accomplished.
I love spreadsheets.
Here's how bad spreadsheets are for me and my family and in our house.
I have a spreadsheet for every vacation we go on.
I know, that's bad, right?
But on Monday, I can tell you where we're going and what we're doing.
I can tell you where we're going out to eat.
I can tell you what we're having for dinner.
I can tell you the activities that we're going on.
And to the best of the knowledge that I can gain through Google searches, I can tell you
how much it's going to cost for us to do that, right?
I love spreadsheets.
It's a sickness.
The moment that I sat down and realized I'm creating spreadsheets for Disney World, right,
is the moment I've got to acknowledge that I've got a problem.
So, I read this passage of Scripture, and it kind of rubs me a little bit.
So, it's God saying, Bo, delete all your spreadsheets.
It's God saying, Bo, get rid of this.
And I would say to you that this is not a passage of Scripture as we look into this that is a
call for you and I to stop planning, to stop thinking about our future.
This is not a passage of Scripture to have us to stop setting goals and the things that we want to see
and accomplish in our life.
But it seems like that.
So, what is this Scripture referring us to?
And I would say that in these first several verses, until we get to verse 17,
what we're going to see is that it's not a call to stop planning,
but rather, it's a call to humble submission.
It's a call to humble submission in our life.
Now, let's look back.
Let's read verses 13 through 16 again.
Come now, you who say,
today or tomorrow,
we will go into such and such a town
and spend a year there
and trade and make a profit.
So, this is the scenario.
This is the don't do this.
Verse 14.
Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring.
What is your life?
For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.
So, verse 15, what we should have.
Instead, you ought to say,
if the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.
As it is, you boast, James says, in your arrogance.
So, this passage is calling us,
it's calling you, it's calling I,
to acknowledge who we are
in our limitations,
in our planning,
in our thoughts,
in our goals,
in our hopes,
in our dreams,
to acknowledge who we are in those
in light of who God is.
And when we fail to do that,
it's sin.
I love James' bluntness with this for us this morning.
It's not that it's just not wise
and you shouldn't do that.
It's not that here's a better practice for your life.
It's when you and I cease to acknowledge
who we are in light of who God is
in every aspect of our life,
that's sin.
And James doesn't paint
a horrific picture
of what you and I would commonly associate
with when it comes to a person
who is shaking their fist at God
as they pursue the things of their life
that they want.
Instead, he paints a picture
of what a town would look like
or a businessman would look like.
Traveling from town to town.
This would have been a common illustration.
And James has given a warning
to those who would read this.
James has given a warning for us today
that oftentimes,
instead of viewing ourself,
our plans,
our agendas,
our goals
in light of who God is,
we instead view them
in light of what the world is.
And in doing that,
right?
And in doing that,
what ends up happening
is we focus on the material realm
and not the spiritual realm.
We focus on the things of the world
instead of the things of God.
We keep our eyes locked on us
instead of our eyes locked on Him.
And so James is,
as he works through this,
is talking about your plan
and underline is asking us this,
does God have a place in your plan?
In the plan that you're living out right now,
maybe you're a high schooler in here today
and you've got a plan for after high school.
It's military,
it's career,
it's college.
Is God in the plan?
Maybe you're married with some kids
and you see that debt
that's stacked up on one side
of your spreadsheet, right?
And you've got a plan to attack that debt.
Is God in the plan?
Maybe you're getting closer and closer
to retirement
and you know that day
and you've got it highlighted,
you've got it circled,
you've got exclamation points
written all over it, right?
Is God in that plan?
It's God in that plan.
James is asking us the question,
in your life and in my life,
does God have a place in it, right?
And so when we take our eyes off of him
and we keep our eyes on us
and God is void of that,
James draws out some things
that you and I forget about ourselves.
Sometimes we have to have reminders
of our own limitations, amen?
We are limited.
And things that James points us to in this
is the things that we forget
when we leave God out of our plans.
Number one, we forget our ignorance.
We forget our ignorance.
James says this,
you do not know
what tomorrow will bring, right?
This morning I woke up.
I heard a sound outside.
What's that sound?
It's rain.
I didn't know it was going to rain.
We don't know what tomorrow will bring.
We don't know what the future holds.
Why?
Because you and I are limited
into the moment right now.
As best as we can,
we take educated guesses
about what tomorrow will hold.
We take educated guesses
about what the next hour will hold.
But we're ignorant
because we're not in tomorrow.
And here's,
without looking at your phone
because some of you got cameras
and updates and all those things,
here's my point.
There's no place in your life
that you know better
than your home right now.
But what's happening there?
You don't know.
You don't have a clue.
And this is what James is pointing us to.
How crazy is it
for us to leave God out,
the one who knows what tomorrow will bring,
when we don't know what tomorrow will bring,
but we make plans
of what will happen tomorrow.
All right?
He says,
do you not know
what tomorrow will bring?
So we forget our ignorance.
We don't know.
We can't know.
Number two,
we forget our frailty.
I love the bluntness of this, right?
Like,
if you believe the Bible
and believe you're a big deal,
let this verse sink in.
You are a mist
that appears
for a little time
and then vanishes.
That's the description he gives us.
Right?
Not necessarily what would go great
on a Hallmark card.
Right?
Congratulations.
You're a vapor.
You're gone.
Right?
And that's it.
But our frailty.
Not only do we not know
what will happen tomorrow,
but we know
that we're not even promised tomorrow.
We're not even promised
the next minute.
And you know this,
and here's how you know this.
Has death ever surprised you?
Absolutely.
Not everyone lives
to the old age
when the doctor says
this is what's going to happen.
We're filled with the reality
that every day
that those who are close to us,
those who are around us,
those who think
tomorrow will be
a certainty,
next year,
definitely.
And here's what this looks like
when all of a sudden
we get the phone call
and death has surprised us.
And it's gone.
And James says,
why should we be surprised
that you and I
are like a mist
that appears
for a little time
and then vanishes
is what he says.
And then lastly,
for us in this,
when we make plans
and we exclude God
from them,
right,
we forget our dependence
on God.
Like that's it
for our life, folks.
We depend on him.
And some of us
have taken this
this confused
version,
this incorrect version
of Christianity
that says,
I'm going to depend
on God
for my salvation.
It's Jesus
and only Jesus
who can save me.
And that's true.
And here's where
the incorrect comes.
But everything else
is through me.
Everything else
is through my power.
Everything else
is through my ability.
Do you remember
last week
when James is talking,
we were talking about this
and James says,
you adulterous people?
That's part of it.
That's part of spiritual adultery
that we've wandered
into this relationship
with ourselves
where we're dependent
on us.
And James says,
no, no, no,
that's not it.
In fact,
James says,
here's the correct posturing
of your spirit
and dependence on the Lord.
If the Lord will,
we will live
and do this
or do that.
If God wills it,
if it's in his will,
if it's in his plan,
if it's in his purpose
for my life,
then we will do this
or we will do that.
Right?
This is what we begin to see,
the dependence on him.
And so the problem, though,
because James says,
there's a plan.
There's a plan.
And if God wills it,
we will do this
or do that.
But what's implied?
If God doesn't,
if God's not a part of it,
then we won't.
The problem isn't planning.
The problem is planning
where God has no place
in the plan.
And this has caused me
this week
to take a step back
and look at the spreadsheets
of my life,
the decisions
and the plans
and the things
that are there
and asking myself
the question,
the hard question
and so many of these,
but where's God at
that end the plan?
Is he a bullet point?
Or is he saturated
throughout?
And this is not
what James
is just coming up with.
This is what Jesus teaches.
Look at Matthew chapter 6,
verse 9.
Jesus is teaching on prayer
at the Sermon on the Mount.
And he says
at the very beginning
of that,
as he's going to tell them
and teach them
how to pray,
he says,
don't pray
like the hypocrites,
which means this,
there's a wrong way
to pray.
Hypocrites
pray.
Jesus says,
don't pray like them.
And then Jesus teaches
us how to pray.
And he says,
our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come,
your will be done
on earth
as it is in heaven.
Give us this day
our daily bread
and forgive us
our debts
as we also have forgiven
our debtors.
And lead us not
into temptation,
but deliver us
from evil.
There's so much
that can be taught about
and I believe
several years ago
we went through this
and each one
of these verses
became a message
in a series
where we talked
about prayer.
But I want to focus
on verse 10.
Your kingdom come,
your will be done.
What Jesus has
is he places this
in this prayer
as he's teaching those
to not pray
like the hypocrites.
Jesus says,
hey, hey,
as you praise the Lord
and as you plea
for him
to give you
the necessities
of life
and forgiveness,
put this phrase
in there
that says
what you
and I desire
is the will
of God
and the rule
and reign
in our life
and all over
the earth.
that's the desire
of our hearts.
Now look at your prayer.
Look at my prayer.
Jesus says,
let your will be done.
That's the standard.
That's what Jesus says
we should desire.
That's what Jesus says
we should long for.
But oftentimes,
your prayers
and mine
as we're called
to submit
to his plans
oftentimes reflect
our prayers
say,
but God,
I just want you
to submit
to my plans
and Lord,
I'm going to ask you
to bless them.
Right?
The positioning
of the heart
and Jesus says,
no,
that's not what
it's supposed to be.
It's not about
bringing what
you've determined,
what you've decided,
what you've sought,
what you want
and say,
God bless it.
It's about saying,
God,
what I desire
is your will
to be done.
And Jesus
doesn't simply say,
don't do this.
Jesus does this
himself.
Let's flip over
to Matthew
chapter 26.
Jesus in the garden
of Gethsemane
as he awaits
his betrayal,
as he awaits
his arrest,
as he awaits
his beating,
as he awaits
his trial,
as he awaits
his crucifixion,
could argue
that you and I,
if we're being honest,
don't have
a fraction
of understanding
of what he's
experiencing
in this moment.
He comes to the Lord
in prayer
and says again,
Scripture tells us
verse 42,
again for the second time
he went away
and prayed,
my father,
if this cannot pass
unless I drink it,
your will be done.
Not trying to bend
for what he would prefer,
not trying to input
a different strategy
into place,
but simply says,
your will
be done.
And so James here,
I've heard this
kind of talked about
before loosely
in conversations
and then asked
the question,
is James 4,
13 through 16
just saying like,
well you know what,
God's gonna do
what God's gonna do
and so we're just
gonna sit back in it.
It's not what James
is talking about.
James is talking
about an activity
in those
who are believers
that are humbly
dependent
and humbly
submissive
to the Son of God
and the will of God
and who long
for both of those.
Oh, tell me Lord
what you want for me.
Tell me Lord
what you have for me.
And so I was reading
an author this week
that was talking
about this
and he was talking
about strategies
and long range planning
and thinking through this
and here's what he said,
I'm gonna put these
three points
on the screen
behind me.
He said,
when planning,
dedicate your plans
to God.
When planning,
dedicate your plans
to God.
So you're coming
to the planning process
of what you're thinking
about,
whether it's the planning
process about what
you do after high school
graduation
or the planning
of the process
for retirement
or anywhere in between,
anywhere before,
anywhere after
and you say,
God,
I'm gonna dedicate
these plans to you.
So what does that mean?
What does that mean?
Dedicate your plans.
That you're saying
that the goal
of these plans
is for your name
and your glory.
That's it.
It's not for zeros
in a bank account.
It's not for a degree
that we can earn
and achieve.
It's not for anything else
other than God.
These plans
are for you,
your name,
and your glory.
That's it.
And when they cease
to not be that,
or then bring me back
to where they need to be.
Dedicate your plans
to God.
Number two,
confess that you need
God's favor.
Confess that you need
God's favor.
One of the things
that I love to ask
my kids
and people
is a question
that I love
to ask myself
when you have a goal
to ask the question,
well,
what's the plan?
And what I mean by that is,
what are you going to do
to get there?
What are you going to do
to get there?
Help me walk through
and see this step
and this step
and make sure
that all of those steps
and that we're not
leaving anything out.
And then at the end of it,
what we see
is that we've arrived to this
and we can do that
and simply embrace that
in our life.
But when we come to,
Lord,
if this is where
you are leading us,
that we know
in our obedience to you,
we cannot do it
in our own power.
And so, Lord,
we're going to confess
that in order
for that to happen,
it's not going to be
through my talent,
it's not going to be
through my ability,
but it's going to be done
solely through the favor
of the holy
and living God.
And that's it.
And I need to confess that
to you.
Right?
So,
James says,
instead you ought to say,
if the Lord wills,
we will live
and do this
and do that.
If it's His favor,
right,
that's what we will do.
One of the best questions
that I love to ask myself
all the time
is,
as we're working through
whatever it is
that we're doing,
is God in it?
Is God in it?
Let's don't get
ourselves confused
the difference
between earthly success
and heavenly success.
Earthly success
can bring a lot of money,
a lot of fame,
a lot of power,
a lot of control.
Right?
But it's earthly success
void of God.
And so as we go through these,
we ask ourselves,
is God in it?
Which may mean
at certain points in time
we have to re-evaluate
our scorecard.
Because it might not end up
with the money
in the bank account
with the early retirement
that we hoped for
with the plans
that were there,
but those were our scorecards,
our determination
of what success is.
Right?
Instead,
asking God,
are you in it
and where do we see you
moving?
And then lastly,
when planning,
we need to give God praise.
Give God praise.
All right.
I stand right about over here
for worship.
And if you sit behind me,
what you see sometimes
is like this really controlled,
awkward,
I think I want to start dancing
kind of thing.
Right?
Like y'all know.
Like Brian Couch,
like you've seen that before,
right?
There we go.
All right.
And so that song,
Honey in the Rock,
I'm just going to tell you,
like there's the part of me
that's like,
I'm afraid I may make a noise
really loud
and it would get uncomfortable
in here, right?
When that's going on,
like a woo could happen here
at any point in time.
So next time we play that song,
if you hear that,
just like that's Bo over there,
right?
Woo!
Like just doing that,
okay?
All right?
Because the picture
of what it paints
is so wonderful
and so beautiful.
Then in the moment
of all this,
there's honey in the rock
that God is working,
that God is moving,
that God is blessing,
that God is providing,
and in that we praise Him.
And there's not a moment
in your life
as a follower of Jesus
that that song
isn't speaking true
in what you're going through
regardless of how dry
that rock seems.
And so as we go through
the plan,
as we go through,
as we work to achieve
the goals,
there's the tendency
and there's the bent in us
to at the end of it
celebrate the Lord.
But the picture of this
is all the way through.
All the way through.
That every lesson
is God working.
Every moment
is God showing.
Every moment
is God revealing
to us who He is.
So not only at the end
do we praise Him for it,
but as we're going through it,
we're praising Him
for the process
and the good
and in the bad.
And here,
here is why
I say this is about
humble submission.
That we're saying
at the heart
of this
that James gives us
is an individual
who just says,
God,
I want to know
what you have for me.
And I will do
what you say do.
I will go
where you say go.
I will give you
all the credit,
all the praise,
all the honor,
all the glory.
So Lord,
you say go to
this town
and Lord,
I'm going to go.
And I'm not going to
stay there
as long as I want
to stay there,
Lord.
I'm going to stay there
as long as you want me
to be there
living for your name,
for your glory,
for your honor.
Lord,
and giving you praise
all the way through
the stumbles
on the road
and all the way
on the successes
that we experience.
And that's what
humble submission
looks like.
But James is going
to wrap up
this section for us
this morning
with verse 17.
And what we see
from this
is from humble submission
comes godly obedience.
Look back at verse 17,
chapter 4.
So whoever knows
the right thing to do
and fails to do it
for him
it is sin.
It is sin.
So whoever knows
the right thing to do
and fails to do it
for him
it is sin.
So there are
two types of sins.
There's sins of commission
and sins of omission.
These are the sins
that we see
in the Bible,
the sins that we experience
in our life.
Now,
sins of commission,
you and I
are really good
at identifying.
Maybe not always
being obedient
obedient about
the sins of commission
but we're really good
at identifying them
and knowing them.
God says,
don't do this.
Right?
Now,
sometimes we don't do that.
Other times we do that.
But those are what
sins of commission are.
So God says,
don't steal
but we steal anyways.
Right?
Do not do this
but you and I
we choose
to do this.
But then there's also,
and this is what James
is giving us here.
There's also the sins
of omission
where God tells us,
do this.
And instead of doing it,
whether intentionally,
maybe even sometimes
ignorantly,
unintentionally,
we don't do it.
And this is what James
is pointing out.
So whoever knows
the right thing
to do
and fails
to do it,
for him
it is
sin.
So as you go
about your day
and as you're
going through
the plan
and as you're
going through
the opportunities
of what God
has for you,
God says,
do this.
Do the right thing.
Very simple,
simply in the words
of James.
And then James
says,
the solution
is,
pray about it.
James says,
the solution
is think about it.
James says,
the solution
is gather
a group of people
whom you trust
and ask them
the question,
should I do
this thing
that God
told me to do?
No,
that's not at all
what James says.
James says,
when God says
do the right thing,
he says then
do it.
You don't have
to think about it.
You don't have
to pray about it.
You don't have
to seek counsel
about it.
You just do it.
Do the right
thing.
But sometimes
that can be hard.
We know the biggies,
right?
We know the things
we're not supposed
to do.
But what about
as we're just
meandering through
and going through life
in the day in,
day out decisions
that we make
to leave this job,
to take this job,
to date this person,
to not date this person,
to put this much
in retirement,
to put this much
toward debt.
What do we do?
But James has
already said,
this is in the
mindset of the
person who's
walking through
everything and
dedicated it to
the Lord,
who's committed
the Lord to be
in and of
and through
the process.
And James says,
then in that,
you do it.
I want to close
with a story
from my life.
As I went
through this
this week,
it was a very
evident picture
of times
when I seen
that I needed
to repent,
right?
And times
that I've seen
where God's
given an opportunity
for obedience
in my life.
Years ago,
years ago,
we bought a house.
We bought a house.
You bought houses.
We bought a house.
And we,
before we went
and looked at houses,
we went and we wrote
down,
we had discussions
with our kids,
we talked about
our hopes
and our dreams
and we wrote
down a list
of things
that we wanted
for this house
as we made
this move.
And so we made
the move.
And we went
and we looked
at houses
all over the place
and this house
didn't meet
these check boxes
and this house
didn't meet
these check boxes
and this house
didn't meet
these checked boxes.
But then we came
to this house
and it met
every box
that we had.
Everything
that we ever
wanted
that we had
thought of
that we had
dreamed about
that we had
seen in the house
every box
was checked.
So we bought
the house.
I don't want to
speak for me
if I'm being
honest
and transparent
with you
as I've walked
through this
this week
what I did
was I left
God out
of the process.
I asked Erin
what she wanted
I asked Emma
what she wanted
I asked Grayson
what he wanted
I wrote down
what I wanted
and in that
process
left God
out of the plan
and we stayed
there for some
time and just
being honest
it's like every
season of life
we had our ups
and we had our
downs
but if I were
to look back
and assess
the time
that we were
there
well I'm
grateful through
what God
brought us
through there
there was a
struggle about
living there
there was an
uneasiness about
why are we
here
and I forget
one day
Erin and I
we were getting
ready for bed
we were in
our room
and we were
talking about
moving
and she said
this
she said
we just need
to pray
about moving
and as a
pastor
you would
think
that that
would have
been something
that I
would have
said
oh yeah
absolutely
but it just
kind of
resonated with
me
but there's
all of these
things that we
don't like
here
so is this
something we
even need to
pray about
and she said
yeah we need
to pray
and so we
came up with
how we were
going to pray
prayer number
God if you
want us to
move
then move
us
God if you
want us
out of here
then God
get us
out of here
prayer number
two that we
prayed
Lord take us
to the house
and to the
neighborhood
that you
have for
us
and make
it clear
that this
is where
you want
us to be
and then
number three
and God
we're going
to praise
you through
it
now I'd
like to
tell you
that the
next morning
we put
that house
on the
market
and made
a fortune
off of
it
right
but we
didn't
for about
two years
we prayed
that prayer
and every
time it
wasn't right
it wasn't
right
it wasn't
right
and then
God we
began to
see
not where
he was
working
because he
had been
working
but we
began to
see
what was
God was
doing
over
and over
again
and we
said yeah
now it's
time
and we
went and
looked at
houses
all over
Lexington
you all know
Lexington
can I tell you
what Lexington
has a lot of
Lexington has a lot
of houses
right
and this was
before it was
crazy to get a
house
like right now
I think you've
got to have
like 150%
down like
to get a
home
and you know
like you're
going to pay
three times
the value
of the house
like that's
not where
we were
then
or anything
like that
and we
went to
houses
and we
went and
saw some
wonderful
houses
and in
wonderful
neighborhoods
and we
were those
clients
right
nah
not it
what's wrong
with it
I don't know
but that ain't
it right
next house
that ain't
it
next house
that ain't
it
next house
that ain't
it
and then
in the
desperation
of our
realtor's
voice
one
Saturday
I heard
him say
I've got
one
last
house
for you
like alright
we'll go
look at it
but honestly
at this
point I'm
thinking
it ain't
gonna be
it
you know
and so
we went
to the
house
and it
was a new
construction
and we
were walking
through it
and we
liked it
and our
realtor
got excited
but then
we saw
another
house
and we
said what
about that
house
down the
bottom of
the hill
that's just
framed
he's like
well that's
not sold
let's
walk down
and look
at it
and so
we walked
through
a house
of
two by
four
studs
and
plywood
lines
marked
where
electrical
and plumbing
are gonna
go
and in
that
moment
there
was
a
holy
confidence
that
was
it
we
didn't
need
to
think
about
it
we
didn't
need
to
pray
about
it
we
didn't
even
talk
about
it
this
was
it
now
does
our
house
and it's
the house
we live
in now
does
our
house
check
all
of
our
boxes
is
it
our
dream
home
it's
not
it's
a
wonderful
house
does it
check
all the
boxes
that we
had
does it
check
all the
boxes
that we
have
no
are
there
things
about
our
house
that
drive
us
crazy
yeah
absolutely
things
that we
wish
were
different
that we
can't
change
that we
wish
we
could
change
we've
had
the
conversation
Aaron
and I
will
this
be
the
house
that
we
grow
old
together
in
no
it's
on
the
our
bedrooms
on the
second
floor
right
I don't
want
that
I don't
want
that at
43
you know
it's like
I gotta
go to
bed
I'm
on the
couch
I don't
want to
walk
all the
way
up
there
it's
12
steps
all
right
I don't
want
it
but
are we
in
the
house
that
God
called
us
to
yes
and
here's
how I
know
that
of
two
years
of
praying
God
we
just
want
to
be
where
you
want
us
to
be
and
so
God
put
us
there
and
it's
a
wonderful
home
not
because
it's
the
best
home
but
it's
because
it's
where
God
has
put
us
and
placed
us
and
called
us
to
be
and
my
family
knows
what
I'm
talking
about
I
don't
think
there's
been
a
moment
that
a
week
has
gone
by
where
we
haven't
seen
and
experienced
the
ministry
that
God
has
called
us
to
in
that
home
right
so
you
want
God
to
bless
your
plans
don't
do
what
I
did
don't
create
your
own
checkboxes
instead
do
what
God
taught
us
pray
that
God
will
bless
your
plans
dedicate
your
plans
to
the
Lord
confess
that
you
and
I
we
are
limited
that
we
need
his
favor
and
praise
him
praise
him
the
house
that
we
were
in
some
of
the
hardest
years
of
our
ministry
some
of
the
hardest
times
in
our
marriage
some
of
the
hardest
times
as
a
family
but
you
know
what
God
taught
us
and
God
brought
us
through
so
much
and
we
are
where
we
are
today
because
of
him
so
we
can
praise
him
for
it
let's
pray
Lord
we
come
to
you
this
morning
we're
just
seeing
so
many
different
times
where
we
set
in
our
mind
that
this
is
what
we're
going
to
do
we're
the
king
making
the
plans
we're
the
master
determining
what's
right
we've
got it
figured
out
Lord
but
instead
Lord
we need
to
humbly
come
humbly
submit
Lord
ourselves
to
you
Lord
this
can
be
one
of
those
things
where
we
see
and
we
walk
through
and
we
experience
and
we
try
to
make
it
ease
a
way
that
this
isn't
sin
in
our
life
but
Lord
but
it
is
it's
the
sin
that
we've
fallen
into
time
and
time
again
where
we've
become
our
own
master
our
own
determiner
of
our
plans
worthy
of
our
own
praise
and
our
own
adoration
but
Lord
you
call
us
to
something
more
to
something
different
in
our
lives
God
bring us
to
your
sweet
throne
of
mercy
this
morning
and
may
we
live
may
we
pray
may
we
plan
our
lives
not
out of
the
ignorant
wisdom
of
this
world
but
out
of
the
holy
wisdom
that
comes
from
the
Lord
and
Lord
if
you
will
it
may
we
go
from
here
and
do
this
and
do
that
to
bring
all
honor
and
glory
and
power
to
your
name
in
Jesus
name
we
pray
amen
thanks
again
for
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Willow Ridge
Church
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