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A Prophet, Priest, and King
Bro. Todd Alexander

Brethren, it's so great to see you. It was great to listen to your fellowshipping with each other and remember some of those stories from Sister Esther and Sister George, Sister Florence and Brother George Taback and your interactions. The brethren that are online, I really appreciate it. I stand on your shoulders and we are thankful that we have the word of God and the harvest message to take us through these difficult days. What I'd like to do is share my screen briefly, and I think you can download the this. file in the chat. Let me know if you can see this on the screen. But what I'd like to do is a visual, this is a visual summary of chapter 13 of volume six. That chapter, as you might remember, is called Parental Obligations of New Creations. Can you see that on the screen? Okay. Yes. So what I'd like to do is provide this visual illustration of the major principles in Volume 6, Study 13. And this is the scriptural ideal of fatherhood. in the Bible. And I think we can take a look at this and relate it to spiritual fatherhood too and And as we go out into the big wide world and witness to whoever we have opportunity, but especially to our children, remember the story about the light on the hill that cannot be hid. Well, I think the hill that our light shines brightest to is our family. And our family will benefit from the concepts presented in Study 13 of Volume 6. Those three major concepts are that we as fathers or spiritual fathers to our family should be the role of a prophet as a blueprint for our life a prophet, a priest, and a king. And so what I did is I used this diagram to illustrate the concept because all three of those sometimes overlap in the ideal we should be part of that to our family, both a teacher or a prophet a leader as a king. and a priest as a mentor. Now, what I'd like to do is i'd like to do share what it's like to not be one of those. So if we are both a teacher and a mentor to our children or our spiritual children, but we don't lead them. with godly resilience, teaching them how to overcome their weaknesses or what they observe in the world. then they will probably just be wandering without focus. And we can lead our children and our family in much more powerful ways than just our words. We lead it in our actions. So sometimes we're going to take a look at some of these white spaces also. If we teach and we lead, but we don't mentor. then we can be cold and detached from our children. in our spiritual children. So let's remember these white spaces and let's remember to keep all of these three items in our repertoire. And lastly, if we mentor as a priest, bring people closer to God as we guide them into their God-given strengths. And we can lead them as a king with godly resilience, but we don't teach them as a prophet by introducing them to their opportunities before God. then we are setting an uncertain standard. And believe it or not, our children are being taught at school of what it's like to live without the truth. People are trying to tell them that they should live without the truth. And the scriptural ideal, which I think is described in study 13 is that we should really strive to be closer to that image of God and lead our children and our spiritual children, just as God did. as a prophet, priest, and king. Of course, our Lord Jesus Christ also. So now I'm going to stop the share and let's have a conversation. As fathers, we play a unique and vital role in our families. And today we are besought by so many temptations and so many difficulties. And that compounded with our individual weaknesses really create havoc in families. And I think the scriptural ideal of fatherhood, as is emphasized in study 13 of Volume 6, is emphasized with three different roles. that of the prophet, that of a priest, and that of a king. And these are in our own homes. The prophet teaches the king leads and the mentor leads or the priest is a mentor. the priest, the prophet introduces our children to their opportunities before God. The priest guides them into their God-given strengths and brings them closer to God. and the king leads them with godly resilience. as we fend off the attacks of the adversary by the grace of God and in the power of our Heavenly Father. And God makes these three biblical leadership patterns available to us. as fathers, as we seek to learn from him in the scriptures. Sister Esther had to plug in her computer to keep the power on. I think that was a wonderful metaphor of how we need to plug into the word of God. to keep the power on for our family. So as a father, as a testimony, when I read the scriptures, I feel either informed by doctrine I feel either inspired by instruction and purpose. Where I feel judged by reproof. And I think it's important for us as fathers to keep our eyes focused on the word of God. And the neat thing about the scriptures is that they will continually unfold to us as we have new experiences. That's the unique power of the Holy Spirit, how it operates in our lives and how we are nurtured and developed And how that seed grows in that good ground of our heart. as we work hard to keep the weeds and the rocks and the stones and the thistles out of it. And I believe these three things are God's pattern of leadership demonstrated in our lives as we read and listen and obey the word of God. So let's take a look at the scriptural role of fathers as prophets and some of the source material that we have in the scriptures. So what is the role of a prophet? that blueprint that the scriptures teach us to use in the role of leading our families well We proclaim that God's truth. and teach our families about God's ways. The scriptural support for that we find in Deuteronomy chapter 6 verses 6 through 9. Basically, this tells us that we need to teach these commandments diligently to our children. And this is what Deuteronomy 6 verses 6 through 9 says. And these words which I command thee this day shall be in thine heart. And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk to them when thou sittest in thine house. And when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down and when thou risest up. Well, that's pretty much all the time. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand. That's the things that we do. And they shall be as the frontlets between thine eyes. That's the things that we see. God sanctifies us by what we see and what we do. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house and on thy gates. If we have these things written on the posts of our house. then we will be giving our children wayfinding opportunities. It's basically to the ability to find where they should go and what they should do and what they should know. Because we have that on the on the doorposts of our homes. Now, interestingly enough. the two more important elements of wayfinding are engagement and energy. And we should bring both of those tasks to our spiritual leadership of our families. And the scriptures teach us to find our way when we do not know where we are going. Here's a couple of examples of finding our way when we do not know where we are going and how our spiritual fathers from the scriptures have demonstrated that. How about Noah? Noah warned the world of the impending flood. And what did he do? Well, he preached righteousness. And guess what? His children were obedient. Wow, that's a big idea. How about Abraham? Abraham taught his children and household to keep the way of the Lord. That's the first moment in the scriptures that Jehovah Jireh is used in context and basically Abraham used that. as a proof that God will provide. God will provide a lamb. God will provide. Isaac, God will provide. Let's just keep our eyes open. How about the prophets of the Old Testament? They spoke God's messages to their families. and the children of Israel, these were God's children. So God used the prophets to speak to his children. And to teach them. Do you see the pattern in the scriptures? For fathers, as an example. The lesson for us is that just like the prophets of old. The new creation is to be God's messengers to their children and their spiritual children as well. How about this one in Deuteronomy chapter 11, verses 18 through 21? Therefore shall ye lay up these words in your heart and in your soul and bind them for a sign upon your hand and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. And ye shall teach them your children speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house and when thou walkest by the way When thou liest down and when thou risest up. Well, walking by the way that that's our entry into the big wide world. When we take our children to football games, when we take our children to different events when we take our children to celebrate their birthdays, when we take our children places to help them decide who to invite to their birthdays. Verse 20, and thou shalt write them upon the doorposts of thine heart of thy house and upon thy gates. When we do that we are showing the world and our families that the word of God is important in our household for everybody to see. Now, here's a reward that comes with this. And this reward extends to our children. And our spiritual children, that your days may be multiplied in the days of your children in the land which the Lord sware unto your fathers to give them as the days of heaven upon earth. It's in all areas of our life. the scriptures and the scriptural support role of a father as a prophet is to provide a safe haven in the home I tell everybody that they need to have at least one safe haven in their life. It might not be work. It might not be their church. It might not be their friendship circles. But you have to have one at least in the home. Now, there are four different types of learning in the home that I really appreciate. And our children learn from us. They learned from us in four different major ways. They learn by observing. They learn by hearing. They learn by reading. And they also have intuitive learning. where they can be silent and just connect the dots between the things that they see And the things that they hear. And our job as spiritual fathers and spiritual prophets is to teach our children by example. That's more powerful than the words that we use. By using our words, the influences we allow into our home. And one of my favorite things and my favorite tools is Brother Bob Brandt suggested is that I like to ask questions. A lot of times when your kids come home from school or your grandchildren come home from school, you can say, hey. Instead of what did you learn at school today, you can say. Hey, were you nice to anybody at school today? Or did anybody surprise and delight you? or did your Did you ask your teacher any question in public. That shows real interest and real development in real interest in their spiritual development. their desire to know. Now, there are four different ways of knowing. We talked about four different ways of learning. There are four different ways of knowing our children come to this conclusion and we live by it every day. There's four different ways of knowing are emotional. We know things through our emotions. We know things through our spiritual eyesight. We know things in our social community and we also use intuition. to come to conclusions. And these should all be guided by the word of God. In our knowledge and learning is increased. through curiosity and awareness. Are you curious? Are you self-aware? Are you emotionally intelligent? Are you spiritually intelligent? Are you socially intelligent? And we get all of these from the scriptures. Now, Psalm chapter one is one of my favorites and King David's fatherly advice to Solomon and all of his spiritual children of Israel that God put him in charge of. This is what it says in Psalm chapter one, verse 1. Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly. Wow. That's a great opening line. to our grandchildren and our children. Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly. It's all around us, isn't it? Social media, the addictive nature of these tools that are put in our children and grandchildren's hands. Nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. Have you ever met somebody that was scornful? somebody that um somebody that was counterproductive in your family's life Don't even engage them. Walk away. Keep your family sheltered from them. Verse 2, but the delight But his delight is in the law of the Lord. And in his law doth he meditate day and night. That's a great reminder. Our delight is in the law of the Lord. And God surprises and delights us with the study of the word of God. I know my wife, Marilyn, she reads every day the scriptures and she relates to me things that she sees that just really inspire and her eyes light up because her big blue eyes light up with fire. It's awesome. Verse 3, and he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that bringeth forth his fruit in his season, his leaf also shall not wither and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. Wow. We're like a tree and we need to plant ourselves by the rivers of water, which is the word of God. And we will bring forth fruit. if we faithfully manage these nuances to the power of the Holy Spirit and the power of the word of God as it lives in our life And as we teach them as prophets. to our children. You know, the first commandment is that thou shalt have no other gods before me. Wow, we can be a the decisions that we make in our life are made with our feet. we're not supposed to listen to the ungodly. And it's very difficult in our world today. if we show our delight in God's law. It nurtures. the work that we do at day but also the thoughts that our children and grandchildren have at night. their thoughts. I know a tree is a slow growth product. We don't have to boil the ocean, so to speak. We don't have to download the whole divine plan of the ages to our children in one hour. What we do need to do is demonstrate a life and focus that leads by example. And we need to stick close to the rivers, the word of God. And the results of the fruit that comes from the tree will be in your family. The proof is in the pudding. Now, the second role I'd like to share with you is the role of priests. And that is leading our families into worship and prayer. and interceding for their loved ones. The scripture I'd like to share with the responsibility of fathers as priests or as guiding our children into their God-given strengths is Job chapter 1 verse 5. Job chapter 1 verse 5. In this experience, Job offered sacrifices for his children. And it says, Job chapter one, verse one, there was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was perfect and upright. And one that feared God and eschewed evil. Verse four, and his sons went and feasted in their houses every one his day and sent and called for their three sisters to eat and drink with them. Then verse five, here is where Job. leads by example and we get to sit at the feet of God as we read his word of his faithful men of old. and see what by observation, what Job did. It says this in verse 5. And it was so in the days of their feasting were gone about that Job sent and sanctified them. and rose up early in the morning and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, you know, it might be that my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts. Thus, thus did Job continually. Wow. Isn't that interesting how Job is interceding for his loved ones? Others examples of this in the scriptures abraham He built altars and called in the name of the Lord. Joshua, he led the Israelites in renewing their covenant with God. Jesus. He prayed for his disciples. in their followers. Isn't that john 17 a beautiful moment where jesus says i pray not only for these men, but those that would believe on me through their word. That is fabulous. A priest encourages a relationship with God. I'll tell you an interesting story. had an opportunity, one of my associates was having chest pains about five years ago. And I said, let's not mess around. Let's go straight to the hospital. So on the way to the hospital. I said, you need to call your wife and your mom and dad. And so he did and and uh his mom and dad showed up about a half an hour after he arrived at the hospital and And I didn't know what they looked like. I never met them before but I heard them asking for Shannon. And so I walked up and I said, are you Shannon's parents? And they said, yes, we are. Gail and Curtis Lewis. I said, well, I'm the one that brought Shannon here. He's going to be fine. This is what they told me, blah, blah, blah. Anyway, we had a special moment. And then I said, let's have a prayer. And so we had a circle prayer right in the middle of the emergency room and it was precious. It really settled Gale's the mother's heart. And I could tell she was a person of faith. Well, about… Oh, two weeks ago, maybe three weeks ago. Shannon called me up and said, listen, Todd, my mom and dad died within two weeks of each other. And he says, I need somebody to officiate the funeral. Would you be able to do that? And I did. And it was a precious moment. And so here it is. Shannon is a spiritual child of mine. I gave him his first Bible and we had Bible studies in my office in the mornings. And that is what leading people into a relationship with God is all about. Now, I don't say that to brag i just say it says, hey, if you have the opportunity to serve somebody by taking the hospital, do it. And God can do the rest. How about this beautiful moment where David charges his charge to Solomon? In 1 Chronicles 28 verse 9. And now Solomon, my son, know thou the God of thy father. Wow, that is guiding him into strength with God. That's what David was doing. He says, and thou solomon, my son, know thou the God of thy father and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind. For the Lord searcheth all hearts and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts. If thou seek him, he will be found of thee. But if thou forsake him He will cast thee off forever. And David said to Solomon, his son, be strong and of good courage and do it. Fear not, nor be dismayed, for the Lord God, even my God. will be with thee. He will not fail thee, nor forsake thee until thou hast finished all the work for the service of the house of the Lord. So in this moment. David gives us an example that we can learn by observation. that he does the priestly work of encouraging Solomon in an obedient relationship with God. Now, the Apostle Paul gives us this advice in Galatians chapter 6, verses 5 through 8. And we like to call it the law of the harvest. And this is an important concept. Verse 5, Galatians 6 verse 5, for every man shall bear his own burden. Let him that is taught in the word communicate. unto him that teacheth in all good things. Be not deceived. Be not deceived. Be not deceived. God is not mocked. For whatsoever a man soweth that he shall also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh of the flesh reap corruption, but he that soweth to the spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. Now, there's another really powerful scripture. It's in Isaiah chapter 3 that's very much like this. And it says this in verses um Isaiah chapter 3 verse 10 and 11. Say ye to the righteous that it shall be well with them. For they shall eat the fruit of their doings. Wow, that sounds like the law of the harvest to me. If you don't work, you're not going to get the fruit. If you don't plant your tree by the river, you're not going to get the fruit. Verse 11, woe unto the wicked. It shall be ill with him for the reward of his hand shall be given him. So part of our decision and our decision discernment as a father or spiritual father is to help people understand that you got to walk away. vote with your feet and walk away when you meet those people that are described as wicked. So here is what the Apostle Paul is doing in Galatians 6. he's encouraging us. He's actually showing us how to do the priestly work of inspiring us to a closer walk of obedience to God. And there are certain rules that God has ordained. sowing to the flesh or spirit. reaping corruption or life everlasting. That's an important thing to tell our children and spiritual children. And we get to watch the Apostle Paul apply his advice to Timothy to do that spiritual resuscitation of Timothy. Paul gave Timothy a job to do in Ephesus and he wasn't really doing it because he was fearful. And we read about this in 1 Timothy chapter 1. Verse 3, that the apostle Paul tells him to stay in Ephesus and teach doctrine. And then in 2 Timothy verse 1, he says. Basically, he comes upon Timothy and realizes he's discouraged. The Apostle Paul reads his body language maybe like a book and begin giving actually living his own advice by doing the priestly work with Timothy. Paul encourages Timothy into an inspired walk with God. we won't read it because it's common, but Timothy was laboring under the fear of the unknown. The fear of the unknown is daunting. Especially with all the wickedness in our world today, our children and our grandchildren and our great grandchildren, as the case might be, are living under a daunting, terrible, sins filled world. And the Apostle Paul inspires Timothy to live to his spiritual potential by doing what? by using his spiritual gifts. And I think we get to see the feet of the Apostle Paul and learn by observation The Apostle Paul shows us as a spiritual father to Timothy how to lead as a prophet priest and her king. He leads Timothy as a king. He teaches Timothy as a prophet and he mentors Timothy as a priest. Daniel is another great example. We won't get into it, but it's in Daniel chapter one. Evidently, Daniel was trained properly by his parents. and um Daniel chapter 1 verse 8, he purposed in his heart not to defile himself with a portion of the king's meat. Now that could be physical food or it could be a metaphor of the food that people are serving us. Remember the scripture it's in Isaiah 29 maybe it talks about the Tables of vomit that the nominal church is serving. Well, there's tables of vomit at school and there's tables of vomit among their friends. I always tell children or young people that I coach, I said, listen, you need to have good friends. You need to find better friends. Because you're going to become like your five best friends. And I also tell him, I said, listen, you're going to get yourself into trouble when you allow people to sell you things or ideas that will not make you better. In fact, at the football game today with my grandson, I said, do you remember what I told you? Grayson, he's 13 years old. He's in eighth grade. And I said, when you work, you work for yourself. you work for yourself to make yourself better. work for yourself to make yourself better. Don't worry about what anybody else is doing. And I think that's what Daniel did. When he was about 16 years old, that's when he was wanted other food than the king's meat. When he was 19 years old, he interpreted Nebuchadnezzar's dream of a terrible image And I think our life is divided into two to four year chunks. that we can call the seasons of life. And this is true for both young and old. And we need to tell our children as priests that becoming happy really requires you making good decisions and good choices that you can move your life into. Now, we've considered the biblical ideal of fatherhood as that of a prophet and a priest. These blueprints, if you will, are like books in a library. You see a lot of books behind me in my library. These are about a quarter or 20% of all the books I have. that I've read and I've studied. And these books are a book in a library. I can pull any book off the shelf and review it with the highlights that I've made, the notes that I've made in the front leaf. and review those things. And that's kind of how these kind of how prophet, priest, and king work when we work on these individually we can pull these blueprints off our shelves and our spiritual library. we need to pull them off at the right time, though. and use them like tools in our toolbox to fix our family. and to prepare them for living in the present evil world. And if we don't know how to use them. our family will not benefit. We need to use the right blueprint at the right time. And Jesus shows us this during his 1260 days of ministry. He shows us by his desire to serve and please his Heavenly Father in the face of great danger. The word of God will train us. The word of God will train us on where and when to use the right blueprints of prophet, priest, and We need to make sure that we nurture these in our spiritual library. Now let's take a look at the father as kings. We have our job to do in governing our own homes, not as a tyrant. But they say… As the pastor talks about as a philosopher and a guide. Remember the scripture it says this is the will of God in you, even your sanctification Part of this is our desire to serve and please God. We govern our own homes with love and with wisdom And with the God-given authority providing and protecting our families. Now, I've had some unique opportunities during my life, and I've been a failure. I've been a poster job of a failure. And I've been also successful in some cases in using the word of God as a teaching moment. Some of you remember the experience I had when my son was beat up and almost killed. He's 41 years old now. He has no lasting effects from it. But that was a teaching moment. And the word of God gave me the scriptural principles of meekness and righteousness. But the laws of mankind gave me the framework of how to proceed. when i today at the football game, I had my grandsons there. And when I asked that man to please refrain from using profanity or at least minimize it. It showed my grandsons by example The power of choice. in unwanted influences. When we have unwanted influences in our life, it shows that we have the power of choice. Proverbs chapter 22 verse 6, it says train up a child in the way that he should go Well, Joseph was trained up in the way that he should go. He ended up governing Egypt. with wisdom. And he provided for his family during the famine, the family that tried to kill him How about King David? David led Israel as a king after God's own heart. with meekness, righteousness and wisdom. Well, most of the time. Jesus, wow, the Son of God. The King of Kings leads and rules with perfect love and justice. These are our templates. We can't live up to these ideally but If we can merge these three principles together, the prophet, the priest, and the king, the prophet that teaches the king that leads and the priest that mentors then we will be doing our best as we consider the scriptures and try to operationalize them in our life. Now, one of the things I've learned is that families have origin stories. How did your family arrive at the truth. And origin stories are really one of the most important powerful levers that we can pull. to guide our children's identity. So what origin stories are we telling our children? about ourselves, about how we learn the truth, about our families I remember I was going to earlier this year, my wife and I, we went to the Lion King Broadway musical with our son and daughter-in-law and our two grandsons and My son was singing the Lion King song down the sidewalk with his two boys in tow. I've got a great picture of it. His boys were sufficiently embarrassed, but they loved it. And we walked right by the Bricker and Eckler building. It's a big law firm here in Columbus. And it used to be the old post office in Columbus. And I said, hey, that's where I put a bid on my first house at 18 years old and I bid $21,611 and I got it. That's an origin story. That tells my grandchildren, where's grandfather, where their grandfather came from. Remember the four different types of learning? observation, hearing. reading intuitive reading intuitive we get to teach our children and our spiritual children By example, by using our words, the influences that we allow into our home And especially our questions. Wow, when we lean into the conversation with our questions, with a rising intonation at the end, man, that's like a delicious beautiful meal that we're providing our children, a spiritual meal that pulls them right into the and intrigues them with the word of God. I really appreciate that testimony from Brother Larry. about going to that place and trying to probe and probe through intuition, Brother Larry used the ways of knowing, you know, intuitive is the way of knowing. And that's the tool that he was using to try to know how to operate in that witnessing opportunity. He was considering the four ways of knowing, the emotional side of witnessing, the spiritual side of witnessing, the social side of witnessing, and the intuitive side of witnessing. And remember our knowledge is increased through curiosity and awareness. You know, just like sins of the fathers are passed down to fourth generation I think the righteousness of the fathers or the desire to please our Heavenly Father is passed down also. And it creates a pyramid effect. that creates a strong footprint as our children are assaulted by things in the world today. So the origin story, how we began in a similar way, the origin stories of obedience and times of temptation provide inspiration. just like failure in the face of temptation provides learning opportunities and sometimes sin that's passed through generations. I think origin stories of obedience. in times of temptation, provide inspiration and strength to future generations. So let me tell you a quick story. And I might go a couple of minutes over time, Brother Clippen. I hope it's okay. But when my Aunt Marge Hagensick passed on, I was kind of the one in charge of scanning a bunch of documents. And I came upon one document that was a letter written to her aunt Harriet Jekyll in 1953. And it was a notice of a notice of a mathematics chair that was going to be created at an academy in a way high school in Beaverdam, Wisconsin. called the Wayland Academy. Brother Tom Gilbert knows about it. Well, guess what? I found out that they… They were starting this chair and they were calling it the Newell mathematics chair in honor of Harriet's grandfather that founded it in with his wife Mary Eliza Barrett Newell in 1855. This is an origin story. My great-great-grandparents They got married in 1853 and they took a wagon or a covered wagon to go up to open up this Baptist school in the middle of nowhere, Beaver Dam, Wisconsin. Today, it only has 16,000 people in it. Well, guess what? The school is still in operation. It's a very exclusive high-end high school for children all over the world. And it's a terrific academic experience for people. And so I've been connected with them. I'm on the development committee. And they treat me like a celebrity when I go up there because I'm the great, great grandson of the founders. But more importantly, this is an origin story. It gives me strength. It gives me When I smell that great Wisconsin air the fall the the golf outings in the summer and I get to sit there and I get to talk to people about the faith of my great great grandparents. Wow. How about Daniel praying in front of the window? That's a visual origin story that none of us forget. One of my opening questions is, tell me your story. So let's go right to our conclusion. So how do you feel? How do you feel after these thoughts? Do you feel judged? Do you feel informed? Do you feel inspired? How do you feel? What I've learned is that if I don't hurt from my mistakes, I won't learn from them. I've felt all of these things and i think life experience as a father, as a spiritual father. But you know what? We're all immigrants to the world. of living in the kingdom of God. We're all immigrants. We're on that spiritual journey. And God gives us grace. We can hit that reset button. In our secret story, that story that lives in our heart allows each of us to see all of the good and all of the bad things that happen in the world around us. as permitted by God. for our benefit, for our development. and for our strengthening. Daniel showed us this by example. Joseph showed us This by example, Mary showed us this by example. Saul of Tarsus showed us this by example. Wow. He worked hard to unwind that sin against the church. And he had 36 times where he taught about the body of Christ. This was the Apostle Paul's secret story. This was Mary's secret story. And the secret story that we hold in our heart, it transcends our world and it prepares us for that heavenly inheritance of the saints. Our secret story fortifies us from the adversary. from the lust of the eyes, from the lust of the flesh and from the pride of life. And our secret story. that thing that only God knows about. helps us be better prophets. better priests and better kings in our home. Daniel the prophet's secret story was that he had a thirst for prophetic knowledge. What was the tension in his life? Well, it was captivity. He was a prisoner. And what was the breakthrough? Wow. The breakthrough came when he submitted to the sanctifying power of God in chapter one. Another breakthrough came when he was 19 years old in using God's help in interpreting that image in that terrible image in Daniel chapter two. But his secret story was his thirst for prophetic knowledge. The Apostle Paul's secret story. was that he had three directives directly from our Lord Jesus Christ. And his job was to take that message to Jews, Gentiles, and kings. What was Mary? Mary of Nazareth secret story. The miracle of Jesus's birth. David's secret story was his anointing by Samuel, the hand of God. And our challenge. is to identify our secret story with God's will in mind. And then live it. And believe me, I'm the poster child of that as a failure. But true learning can only happen when we have something to lose. Daniel lost his freedom. Joseph lost his family. Mary lost her reputation. Saul of Tarsus. He was no longer a prisoner to his conscience. My brethren, time is the best judge. of the quality of our secret story. And we should not get stuck working on a problem that cannot be solved. Daniel didn't try to combat his friends that were after him with knives in the back. What did he do? He just prayed in front of an open window. He didn't try to fix that impossible problem with his evil associates. He trusted in God. who had the power to change the future of what was possible? So let's hit that reset button if we need to. Every morning. And we can change the future. that is possible in our life also. Let's hit that reset button. And let's do it with meekness and righteousness. Now, I have one closing scripture. And it's in Hebrews chapter 12, verse 5. Hebrews chapter 12 verse 5. My son despised not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him. If we ever find ourselves in that moment. invite it. Be thankful. Don't deny it. Take it. Take it as a blessing from God. And may God be with you and may God bless the work of your hands. God bless you. Amen.