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  DON'T GIVE UP KEEP WATERING
  by Shane Idleman
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Summary: This sermon emphasizes the importance of perseverance and not
giving up, using the analogy of watering a garden to symbolize
continuous effort and nourishment. It addresses the need for parents,
both mothers and fathers, to lead their families spiritually,
highlighting the role of prayer, intercession, and standing against the
cultural norms. The sermon stresses the significance of spiritual
maturity, avoiding carnality, and focusing on God's sovereignty and
faithfulness in bringing growth and victory.

Topics: "Perseverance", "Spiritual Leadership"
Scripture References: Galatians 6:9, Psalms 89:20, Isaiah 59:16, Psalms 34:17, Matthew 6:33, 1 Corinthians 3:1, Nehemiah 1:4, John 4:13, Psalms 91:14

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DESCRIPTION
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This sermon emphasizes the importance of perseverance and not giving up,
using the analogy of watering a garden to symbolize continuous effort
and nourishment. It addresses the need for parents, both mothers and
fathers, to lead their families spiritually, highlighting the role of
prayer, intercession, and standing against the cultural norms. The
sermon stresses the significance of spiritual maturity, avoiding
carnality, and focusing on God's sovereignty and faithfulness in
bringing growth and victory.

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CONTENT
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This morning is don't give up Don't give up keep watering Don't give up
keep watering and I have not forgotten what day it is Don't worry We all
know that we're here to thank and appreciate our moms Mother's Day. It's
a time. We'll remember them Let's clap for them.

And of course I as I mentioned the first service, I think my mom Who's
been just an inspiration my wife and mother-in-law? And we thank all the
moms out there. What you do is is something that men cannot do Tried to
watch all five of our kids one day for an hour and it was uh, it was
tough, especially at the little baby But I do that often I just I know
how hard it is and we just look to you We thank you and we want to honor
you and this message though is actually for both men and women So don't
tune it out just because it's Mother's Day. It's a very important
principle This is actually a biblical principle.

Keep watering. Keep watering. Don't give up.

I'm gonna get to in just a minute But I'm gonna read a when I was
preparing this message I came across a short story it's not true, of
course But it goes something like this God was making woman. He was
putting into her compassion and understanding and Fortitude and strength
and all these things and the angel said to God that's too much. You
can't put that much in one model Why don't you rest for a while and
resume your creating tomorrow? The Lord said no, I cannot I'm Choosing
I'm creating someone very special I've already come up with a model that
can heal herself When she is sick who can feed a family of six with one
pound of hamburger Who can persuade a nine-year-old to take a shower and
Do many other things then the angel looked at the model of motherhood a
little more closely and said she's too soft.

Oh But she's tough said the Lord you'll be surprised at how much this
mother can do Can she think asked the angel not only can she think said
the Lord but she can reason she can compromise She can persuade she can
convict she can embrace she can love all these different things Then the
angel reached out and touched her cheek. This one has a leak. He said I
Told you you couldn't put that much into one model and the Lord said
that's not a leak.

That's a tear What's a tear for us the angel? Well, it's for joy and for
sadness for sorrow for disappointment And the angel said you're a genius
To put that into her and the Lord said oh, but I didn't put that in
there Life brings that out Life brings that out when you sow in tears,
you will reap and joy. There's something about tears There's something
about Travelling for our families. There's something about a Just
grieving in a good way this this anguish for what is going on and I've
noticed without that there There is no prayer closet it's that anguish
and that contending for our families and and Contending for our
marriages and contending for our nation anybody want to contend for our
nation these days Just read the the headlines.

We have lost our mind and it's that anguish that drives you to the
prayer closet So it's tears because those tears are do not go unanswered
God hears the cries and prayers of his Saints And I'll get to that in a
minute, but I want to jump to chapter 3 in 1st Corinthians We're going
through the book of 1st Corinthians answers for a confused church is the
series and Paul is writing to the church and remember this is a living
Vibrant church and did you know that living vibrant churches need rules?
Just like your children just like our kids We need rules and so Paul
would would give out these these commands to the church in Corinth. It
was a pretty carnal church They were growing they were new they were
abusing the gifts They were allowing all kinds of things and Paul in
this chapter. He said something very interesting He said brethren.

I Could not speak to you as spiritual people but as carnal Now imagine
them receiving this that would be like me coming up here and hey guys
just want to let you know I can't speak to you as spiritual people this
morning. You're all carnal nobody's getting up yet and Leaving but
that's what he's doing. He's writing to the church and he's saying I
want to speak to you as spiritually mature people But you're carnal Your
babes in Christ That's okay.

If you're a new believer But he said I fed you with milk and not with
solid food. How many of you know, that's very good for a newborn Don't
put a stake in front of her or him They have to be fed milk to match
their their development So I fed you with milk and not with solid food
for until now for until now you were not able to receive it So Paul's
basically saying hey, we're at a point now Where I've been feeding you
the milk, you know the elementary things and the the simple things and
but but now But now you need to step up you need to take the meat of
God's Word and that is meat is Going deeper with God and in times of
prayer and worship and fasting and pressing into God that's going deeper
There's a hunger there. There's a there's a meat.

Oh that his word would be meat to me and strength to my body and Then he
said even now you are still not able You're still carnal Okay, so what's
going on Where's this all coming from? Well, Paul doesn't leave us
guessing he clarifies here for you are still carnal for where there is
Where they put are so I go for where there are envy strife and Division
among you you are are you not carnal and behaving like mere men?
Basically saying church. Why is there envy in here? Why is there strife?
Why is there division? Why is there all this this is carnal nature? This
is that carnality in a person that that it's in all of us But the
immature believer walks by this mindset their character is reflected of
this they're envious and they're there's they love strife and division
and Then he said for when when someone says I'm of Paul and someone else
says I'm of Apollos and and I'm of this person Are you not carnal? So
that's what carnality is in a nutshell. It's what Paul just defined I'm
going to get to that in a minute.

But before I get there, I think he's talking about breast milk and Milk
of the word milk He's comparing with a mother because breast milk
provides the ideal nutrition for infants It has a nearly perfect mix of
vitamins protein and fat everything your baby needs to grow Okay, but at
a certain age That's real cute at six months, but it's six What happens
the nutritional needs of the baby begin to exceed what can be produced
by the mother's milk? Same way as a person grows in Christ There begins
that deeper walk has to form Always always stick with what God wants to
do Maybe just a shout out for For those who want to keep doing that much
better choice than formulas, by the way, just a side note for you What
what comes from the mom how God designed us and remember what you
consume? So does the baby and You can bring all that nutrients in that
life to the child So that's what's happening when the nutrient need
exceeds the milk. It's time to increase to solid food intake So here's a
spiritual parallel Newborn agains, which is somebody who's newly born
again. They're young in the faith.

They need milk God loves you and encourages you and just start to read
the Bible and say a quick little prayer on your way to work and You
start to you know, nourish them in that encourage. I mean, you don't
want to overwhelm them Hey, I just I just repent and believe they got
baptized last week. I'm ready.

Okay. Now you need to start on a week fast. I Know what is this? It's
not necessarily bad if person is led to do that, but there's a there's a
seasoning There's a discipleship and they're growing in God's Word You
don't have to explain a lot of big theological terms to someone who's
new in the faith, you know Well, let's talk about pneumatology and
theology and all these things and like what is that? I just love Jesus
So but there's a time and a place for all these things So the definition
of spiritual immaturity is this according to Paul You're still carnal if
there's envy strife and division among you Are you not carnal and
believing and actually act actually behaving like mere men? Like the
world is what he's saying.

So do you want to have a quick family meeting? I Was encouraging Let's
talk about these three Envy what does that mean a feeling of discontent
or resentfulness? Against someone who has something you want or their
circumstance It's a circumstance you want and you begin to envy that
person now as a word of encouragement that Not good characteristic that
ungodly feeling comes in many of us Many of us we feel that but what do
you do with it say Lord, I'm thankful for what you gave me That's not a
right thought. I'm not gonna go there And we give it back to God and we
don't entertain that but those who entertain that they begin to envy Why
don't I live there my marriage and their home and their money and we
begin to envy what it does It starts to you start to get bitter inside
at God and you start to put them down You'll start to pull them down. So
now you've got this envy going on You're not satisfied in what God gave
you and that will Oh Envy and bitterness.

It's a root of all kinds of ungodliness Because it's just evil at its
core. It's it's not being happy when content with what God has given But
then strife he says if envy isn't bad enough here comes strife Do you
know what strife is? It's causing conflict You ever have family members
or friends when you see them coming you're like, oh no It's gonna be
like rubbing sandpaper on my hand You know those people right? Oh What's
wrong with them? They're always There's conflict. There's friction.

There's discord. There's disagreement. There's arguing arguing There's
bickering and praise God.

It's not the the characteristic of this church But there are a lot of
churches where it's just the clicks and if you don't do things the way
we've done it There's no move of the spirit. There's no prayer There's
just this this growing resentment and this this sides divided here and
the sides divided here and it's over the they're upset over the color of
the carpet and All these paintings and painting of the wall just there's
so much division in the church. So you see this church.

They're envious They're coming in. They're just full of strife and then
he says divisions Divisions for when one says I'm a Paul and another
says I am of Apollos. Are you not carnal? Here's what's happening.

We do the same thing today many people We become divisive. I listen to
this speaker I Gravitate towards these beliefs and there was the other
person says I'm a this person I'm a this person. I listen to this person
or I'm a this denomination I'm Baptist And Baptist got it, right What
does this person say? I'm Pentecostal Least we're not dead like you
Baptist and another person says I'm I'm reformed theology I'm very smart
And I can quote John Calvin and all the five tulips points of tulips
total depravity and unconditional election limited atonement
irresistible grace and Perseverance of the Saints and and I'm Calvin And
then somebody else quotes John Wesley.

Well, I'm Wesley I'm of this and and we get out and we get in these
little tribes in these little camps and and that's okay to have beliefs
and Discuss them, but when it begins to bring division into the body and
you begin to look at yourself as superior and you begin to Put others
down and there's there's we come into church Let me just tell you this
unless you're not sure when you stand in heaven There is zero
denominations. No denominations You're not going to argue about about
all these other non essentials You're going to say all hail King Jesus
now. I love that song all hail King Jesus That's going to be the song
throughout heaven So it's it's it's this corrupt carnal church, and
that's really what an immature believer is That's why I often say that
you can be an immature believer even though you've been a Christian 20
years or 30 years and They're still operating in this flesh.

You know that person you call them here comes some negativity They're
gonna put down the church Or cause division or because who we should be
protecting each other Do you go and put you down your family and your
kids in front of others and your wife? I mean some people do it's not
good, but you protect them you guard them, right? As much as it might my
son and daughter sometimes don't get along If some other boy tries to do
something mean to her oh watch out right because you're protecting See
that's how the church should be we're protecting each other so Paul is
calling them out. Why are you I'm after Paul I'm after a Paul Osen, and
he's saying no It's it's about Christ and who Christ is and really this
type of identification is pride filled filled with pride Carnal
Christians are filled with pride. They don't want to be challenged
unless they're wanting to change I Mean I get this all the time Anytime
I challenge carnal Christians, whether it's an articles or sermons Their
only response is you're arrogant You're legalistic You're mean-spirited
No, I just don't think you should watch those movies and get drunk all
the time I'm not arrogant You're being carnal in your nature, and you
don't like people calling you out You have no prayer life.

You don't walk closely with the Lord you're bored during worship looking
at your clock That's carnal. That's carnality. You're allowing the flesh
to govern your decisions So mom and dads we have the same role to play
as Paul Did you know that we have the same role to play as Paul feed
them solid food Feed them solid food even if they don't listen right
away.

That's why the title is don't give up keep watering Don't give up keep
watering you want to see how hard it is just try to do a family
devotional I just I haven't done one in three days. I want to get back
to it It's it's sometimes it gets so challenging I was just doing one
last week on we're going through systematic theology for kids And it's
doesn't you don't need a lot of time you want to pray with them and
teach them And I was I thought I was doing good on Talking about how we
know who God is through his word through his invisible attributes things
are clearly seen through morality in our heart And I'm like oh, this is
great. I'm like do you have any questions and my six-year-old raised her
hand Like Kylie all right, what's your question? She goes? I want some
of Gracie's peanut butter No, no, no, no, that's not right now questions
about what we're talking about But you fight for you contend for you
keep watering you keep persevering you don't give up You have to fight
for this.

It doesn't come naturally what comes naturally That's just all glued to
the entertainment center for hours on and that comes naturally You have
to fight for this. I'm saving this for Father's Day, but I'm gonna read
it this morning In the 1940s the church in Germany was weak filled with
unbelievers or carnal Christians The church would sing louder when the
train cars that were taking the Jews to the death camps passed by so
they wouldn't hear the wailing Of the people and much of was was
considered the Protestant Church in Germany actually supported Hitler
But think about it today a lot of the church Supports agendas that are
clearly outside of God's will The church is even divided Anytime I say
anything about LGBT or gay rights and gay marriage and loving that
struggle But also preaching the truth of God's Word that it's not right.
It's not good.

It's not given. It's not God given It's not godly the majority of emails
I get are from Christians You're a hater you're actually back to this
you're a hater you're arrogant you're mean-spirited. No, it's just I'm
just reading the Bible if God Created that and he'd say fine with that.

I'm just reading the Bible That's what God's truth is and we have to not
be scared of that. We we actually need more Bonhoeffer's we need more
Niemoller's and and preaching and and and being bold in the midst of a
dying and decaying culture Moms and dads don't give up because I'm
tempted to do that. You look at the news.

You say what is the point? What is the point? But remember you plus God
is a majority There's no majority above God We need people to stand up
and be bold to pray and pull down heaven The church is sleeping low to
sleep how we load to sleep. Well, here's a few ways the NFL Avengers
Game of Thrones smartphones, whatever it is rock-a-bye, baby Shane you
saying I can't go the movies Of course not But if all you do is get your
mind focused on today's culture today's world today's media You love the
things of the world do not love the things of a God God Then you do have
a problem because you cannot serve two masters The Bible says you either
love one and despise the other or be loyal to one and hate the other you
cannot serve both God In this world, where are your affections going?
Where is your love? Where is your heart? Where's compassion? Where where
do you drift in the right direction or towards the world? It's it's very
clear in Scripture Where there is no holy living there is no Holy Spirit
Did you know you only pray as well as you live Ian Bowne said this many
years ago. I highlight him.

He is absolutely right He goes on to explain it better But you're you
you pray as well as you live in other words You show me somebody holy
filled with God's Spirit living for God. They've got a prayer life.
That's powerful Somebody who's carnal has no prayer life Your prayer is
only as powerful as your life.

They go together. Holy living produces Holy Spirit inspired prayer
Nobody's gonna live carnally all week and then come and fall on the face
before God for an hour and a half and pull down heaven and contend for
their family Why because you go? That's boring Listen, it's true. Thank
God not in this church a lot but out there I believe I run to more
people out there and in ministry out there is just as much but I run to
people and I Say pray for my son pray for my daughter.

I Say I will but have you thought about fasting and coming to early
morning worship and and spending so no I can't do that I'm too busy
Fasting I love Burger King. See we want God to move but we don't want it
to cost us anything David said I will not give God something that cost
me nothing Really the cost shows the seriousness of the commitment When
something when we're serious when we're serious If we can instantly swap
the Chinese government with our government overnight, you'd become very
serious I bet we could fill up this church every morning for prayer
Because the seriousness of what's going on so practical application so
far are you encouraging? spiritual health in your family Mom's dads. Are
you encouraging that? Are you striving towards that? You don't see
results many times.

I don't either I don't either I'm gonna jump ahead and tell you about
the Chinese bamboo tree Anybody heard of this wonderful tree You plant
the seed and you water and you water and you water Water see I'm going
Months and months years go by Research it. I would have given up if I
don't see anything sprouting within a couple weeks or a month. I'm done
But they know they water they water they water they water year after
year I don't know how many years like four or five six years Then it
shoots up 80 feet in six weeks The Chinese bamboo tree, but see we would
have given up but you don't give up on God That's what you do.

You water and you water even when you don't see anything. I tell you
that's true persevering That's true praying. That's true praying.

It's easy to pray for the prodigal daughter when you get the Texas's
mom. Happy Mother's Day I'll come see you God's working in my heart. Oh,
you'll rejoice But when you don't get the text when you don't hear from
anyone That's when you got to go to prayer and anguish and pull down
heaven and say God I don't see anything but your word is true.

Your word is faithful I trust in you when Zion travail sons and
daughters are born he who sows and tears will Reap and joy and you seek
and you push and you persevere because the results are up to God not you
That's the secret Persevere and I thought a lot of people say I want to
honor my mother. What do I do? What gift should I buy? If you truly want
to honor someone finish strong Finish well Don't go get a card and Rosa
that's wonderful, but finish strong be men and women of character. I
Spoke at a memorial Friday the best friend of my dad passed away And I
spoke at his memorial It was so ironic where he was being buried about
50 feet away Was my dad's headstone the same grave site same location.

I Looked at their kids are actually older than me And I said the best
way to honor him is to finish strong Isn't that what all parents want I
Just see it so much especially in our culture They want to raise the
next Michael Jordan or Mike Trout Say I don't care if he can hit a
baseball. I want to see him have some character. I want to see him treat
his spouse Well, I want to see him raise his children in the fear and
admonition of the Lord You will be swimming against the culture
Christian get that out of your mind right now That you're going to be a
friend of the world because when you say you I'm gonna follow Christ
You're swimming against the current Everything you do how you spend your
money your marriage your movie choices how you live is against the
culture.

It's called counter Cultural you go against the flow of society But we
want to be part of it and enjoy it and I'm all for enjoying life, thank
you But true Christianity Goes to war with the culture Did you know that
you are at war with the culture Do you know I'm dressed for battle so
are many of you Where's your AR-15? Where's your bulletproof vest?
Where's all that? Oh, no. No This is spiritual battle Paul said the
weapons of our warfare are not carnal But they're mighty through God for
the pulling down of strongholds casting down arguments at every high
thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God Watch out for the
trickery the wiles of the enemy therefore putting on the breastplate of
righteousness right standing before God Thank God for Jesus Christ and
living holy Righteous life putting on the belt of truth and allowing the
truth to gird and hold everything together Shot and covering your feet
with the preparation of the gospel and going out and being a minister. I
told Satan this week I said, I'm gonna grab you by the throat and I'm
gonna choke you.

I'm so sick of what you're doing in this culture. I Have a confession
too. I have a confession.

I cussed a little I know it's hard Sometimes I can let that that guy
have it and you have the shield of faith The shield of faith don't give
up isn't that true faith Because faith is the evidence of things hoped
for the evidence of things not seen You're not exercising faith if you
see the answer Faith is actually believing and trusting God despite what
I see For without faiths it's in faith, it's impossible to please God
why because I'm trusting you despite how things look Bruce Ball in an
article recently wrote something amazing He said here are some of the
things some of our small children are learning today. They learn that
the world's morality is The way to go if it feels right it is right They
learn humanism God doesn't exist and we're fully capable of everything
ourselves. Hope God help us They learn that man descended from monkeys
Has no value we live in a society of that Jeremiah spoke of a society
that does not even know how to blush Did you know it's okay to blush?
We've been so Desensitized now we don't even blush What used to alarm
the church 40 years ago now amazes the church now amuses the church We
would have never allowed into our homes now, it's amusement And be
careful because gradually the unthinkable becomes tolerable Then
acceptable then legal then praised are we getting close The unthinkable
becomes tolerable then acceptable then legal then praised We need godly
mothers and fathers He wrote who will stand up and say I will teach my
children to walk in the way of the Lord We cannot let the most important
thing in our children's lives be left up to chance or up to somebody
else's false teaching We must stand up and be accountable as parents for
our children's spiritual safety Have you ever thought about that the
most important decision your children will ever make is what do they do
with Jesus Christ? Or your grandchildren any grandchildren grandparents
out there.

There's a lot the power of interceding And here's where it gets
encouraging verse 5 Paul says who then is Paul Paul saying who is
Apollos? But ministers through whom you believed as the Lord gave to
each one of us see that's why you want to be careful Don't exalt man
Please Exalt all hail King Jesus Don't exalt man Preachers pastor they
should not be Exalted they are fellow workmen running going alongside of
you But we elevate these people and God said no I I called Paul I gave
to him and Paul says I planted a Paulist watered, but God Gave the
increase That's why you see some of those big rallies Billy Graham used
to do a great glory all these people come down you like oh Man amazing
oh no no those seeds were planted years ago from praying parents praying
Grandparents pleading before God pleading before God don't give them the
credit I know they wouldn't want it why because God gives the increase
this will remove a lot of stress from your life Because it's not up to
you what the results are your kids are not going in a healthy direction
you say Lord Go go get them I've done all I'm not discounting important
parenting, but I'm saying we put too much. Oh look at what I've you know
It's all my fault. It's all this God's children are Bill He gives the
increase your job is to water and water and water and pray and not give
up And I do believe if you train a child in the way, they should go when
they're old They will not depart from that way.

They will eventually get back. Why Shane I've been praying. I've been
praying Here's why in the human heart there's something evil called
pride and they will fight God as long as they can and Usually it gets
worse before it gets better Because they've got to break that pride out
the carnality in the church it happens in all churches oh God even in
this church even in this church I Talked to a lady who's ready to move
out.

She's had enough in this church The husband puts on worship music so she
doesn't know he's looking at porn in the room next door What's wrong
with us? We have lost our mind the carnality of the church thinking that
God doesn't care that he just winks at sin. That's no big deal We must
bring back the fear of God and the reverence of God in the adoration of
God and sing those songs all hail King Jesus all hail King Jesus Because
God sees through your carnality You think we're fooling God? You're
fooling yourself more than you're fooling God and God gets us to a point
of desperation But again like a garden like the bamboo your words begin
to grow in time Galatians 6 9 I love this verse let us not become weary
in doing good for all For I'm sorry for at the proper time we will reap
a harvest if we do not what give up So you have to remember this I heard
this from David Wilkerson as well Any time God begins to renew a church
or a nation or state? He puts a man or a woman into a position of
anguish. He basically baptizes them in anguish What does that mean you
begin to feel what God feels you see the sin and the depravity you see
the direction of some of? These school districts and the curriculum you
see governors of our states allowing us to abort children at nine months
And you begin to be anguished and you begin to cry out.

Oh God Oh God Hear the cries of our of our parents and hear the cries of
our children and you cry out and God hears that cry It's a lot different
than just walking around well Lord help us bless us. Yeah, whatever He
hears the cry of his children the anguish the brokenness come on. You
know what his parents Don't you? Just this week.

I'm laying on the couch reading a book. Oh, it's so relaxing You can
hear don't you love to hear your kids playing outside? Oh, they're
getting along. It's great.

It's wonderful. I'm sitting there. It's just Taking it in but then but
then I hear crying Sounds like somebody's getting beat up daddy daddy my
little daddy daddy daddy Oh that book I was through that book to the
ground I almost broke down the screen door and I took off the bike that
fell on her and I threw that bike and I said Here I am see what brought
me there.

It's the cries and saying daddy daddy daddy I need you at some point
church You gotta humble yourself and fall on the altar and say daddy. We
need you Daddy, we are broken daddy work. We're calling good evil evil
good.

We're a perverse society We're leading our children astray Oh daddy How
God help us and you go into anguish and in that pit of anguish and
despair That's when God says I hear you. I hear you. He calls us to
intercede Look at all the scriptures especially in the Old Testament
dealing with intercession He told the prophet Isaiah He said I saw there
was no man no man and I wondered why there was no one there to intercede
for the people Saw him he said therefore he said I was going to destroy
the people had not Moses interceded for the people What about Ezekiel
incredible book of the Bible He told Ezekiel I sought for a man from
among them Who would build the wall and stand in the gap before me on
behalf of the people but I found no one Listen you can go throughout the
whole Bible and when the walls of Jerusalem were torn down the people
were in distress They told Nehemiah the king saw Nehemiah's face.

He said what's wrong with you. This is nothing but sadness of heart he
said the place of my father's tombs lies in waste and he became a man
who took on a Anguish and he and he fasted and he made a difference and
any life she took on this anguish and Paul for the church Paul weeping
for the church saying Oh God, he even said I'd be accursed if you would
save my people There's an anguish Jesus Oh Jerusalem. Did you know Jesus
Christ wept over the city of Jerusalem? He looked over her and he said I
see when Titus is coming in 7 AD I see in 40 years from now when he's
gonna wipe out the city million Jews slaughtered blood running down the
streets I can see it yet.

Your visitation is right here. Your Messiah is right here Oh Jerusalem,
oh, I want to gather you as a mother gathers her children But you were
not willing pride of the heart Pride of the human heart to wait me for
me to start preaching it already happened. So We're almost done
Traditionally, this is a day when we give back to moms or cherish moms
You might be married to a mom as well husband You've got to finish well
You've got to finish well Men you are called to lead your family you're
called to die for your family I Better stop I'm just liar.

I'm just tired of Christian men who are lazy They don't want to lead
their families. They don't want to pray. They don't want to worship.

They want to complain They want to bicker. They want to look at porn.
They want to look at sports sports They don't want to have anything to
do with training and guiding and leading the family I'm tired of it So
here's just the final closing thought don't give up keep watering Don't
give up keep watering That water brings nourishment just a few weeks
ago.

My kids say where they plant a little garden. I said dad All the flowers
are dying And there was brown was coming on the sides I said no It's not
we need to pick up the what the watering the watering see the Sun is the
Sun heats them the the elements the wind it begins to you that water has
to Increase you have to bring in more nutrients than what's being taken
away Same thing spiritually how in the world are you going to get
through in these dire times with once coming to church on Sunday? That's
the nourishment You need more water more water though That's what Jesus
said he who comes to me if you believe on me out of the scriptures say
out of your belly will flow Rivers of lot of loving water. He stood up
and among the city I guarantee he wasn't quiet and he said whoever
thirsts Whoever thirsts come after me the fountain of living water He
said on the well with the woman At the well, and he said woman if you
drink of this water You will never thirst again in this this wonderful
picture We have of taking in more of God and more of God Did you know
that the more you take in of God you don't get full and sick of it like
food It has the opposite effect the more you want and the more you want
more of God and you're hungry for the things of God and And trust as we
close this remember it's God's sovereignty Resting God trusting God
water water do whatever you can't don't give up allow God to bring the
increase Allow God to choose and do what he wants.

I remember when he when he chose David. It was amazing He chose a
shepherd boy to be a king and He gets right to the point in Psalm 89. He
says I've exalted David.

I've chosen David I found David David didn't find me. I found David. I
called David.

What did I do? I took my holy oil and I anointed him a king above Over
my people and I strengthened him with my right arm when God says I
strengthen you watch out because he'll strengthen you He said I
strengthened David with my right arm. I lifted him up. No enemy will
come against him No one will plague him.

No one will outwit him God goes on to say I will beat down David's
enemies New King James, look it up. I will beat down before the young
adult saying I'm gonna beat you down God was saying it some couple
hundred thousand years ago 200 2,800 years ago be exact right in there
Or 3,000 years possibly. I will beat down your enemies because of my
faithfulness.

I will see you through And just remember a praying mom is stronger than
any earthly ruler and the dad as well Your prayers you are stronger Did
you know that you're stronger than any earthly ruler when you pray and
you pull down heaven because prayer can do anything that God can do Let
that sink in Prayer can do anything that God can do That's why the enemy
wants to distract us Listen, you can tell how popular churches or I'm
sorry You can you can you can see how popular a pastor is by who shows
up on Sunday You can tell how popular Jesus is by who shows up at the
prayer meeting That's how you gauge the health of a church That's how
you gauge the health of a believer through the prayer closet through the
prayer meetings and pressing in for God So I don't want to close though
with all saying this as well and I want to give you an invitation Maybe
your parents have been praying for you. Maybe your mom or your
grandparents We don't know but if you came here not knowing who Jesus
Christ is I want that to change this morning for you. Don't allow pride
to keep beating you Don't don't don't keep fighting God because of pride
why I want to understand everything.

Well, so do I But I realize that's not gonna happen. I like what
somebody said I'm not I'm more concerned with what I do know in the
Bible than what I don't know about the Bible What I do know is we are
all sinners Under God's wrath and condemnation And we need to turn to
Christ and be saved and be set free So if you don't know in this
morning, you've been going through the motions I want to encourage you
take that step. The Bible says just repent and believe Just repent and
believe in the gospel.

Do you truly know Jesus Christ? Do you truly know about him or do you
know him you have that relationship with him? What a special day on
Mother's Day for moms who have been praying for the children They're
closed with a verse from Psalms from the Psalms God says because he can
obviously say she in there because they have set their love upon me They
will safely abide in my presence. I will deliver them. I will set them
high.

I will be with them in times of trouble Where are you setting your love?
Where are you setting your affections? Who do you love? Listen is God
who you love on Sunday? Who do you love on Monday? Tuesday Wednesday,
Thursday Friday Seek ye first the kingdom of God and everything else
will be added to you. God's got to be the priority We've got to bring
God back to the forefront

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Video: https://sermonindex2.b-cdn.net/u0QfluuKEQc.mp4
Source: https://sermonindex.net/speakers/shane-idleman/dont-give-up-keep-watering-u0Qflu/
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