Not Laying Up For Ourselves — Dan Young

Earthly Treasures and Anxiety

If we go back a few verses in Matthew 6, verse 19, it says, do not lay up for yourselves treasures upon earth, or moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. And I think sometimes we have anxiety a lot of the time because we're trying to get ahead.

And we're striving to get ahead, to make provision for our lives, our family, our futures. And a lot of the time we get anxious because we don't have maybe the perfect situation in life. I know I do. A lot of the time, a perfect example of this would be me running my business and taking on more work than we can actually handle.

And what's the purpose of it? Well, one, we want to please our customers. But two, sometimes we try to get ahead, to be successful. And that's not always the best situation either because it produces stress and overload and too many burdens.

And sometimes we do that. We take on too much for ourselves. And in the end, we get frustrated with the situation because we're wondering, why is it so difficult? Why does it feel like I never have any rest or any break?

And that's just because we constantly are looking to feed our flesh and our appetites with something or some work or some job or some task, and it never ends. Once that one ends, we have a new one. And once that one ends, there's another one.

And we can never sit and actually rest and renew our minds, and so sometimes it's our own fault. Sometimes it's our own fault that we get into situations where we have anxiety. And so we need to learn how to balance that out.

Balancing Work and Spiritual Laziness

I shared last week about going too far on either side of the road. It's the same with this. We can be overworked where we're doing too much and we're taking on too much ourselves, or we can be very lazy spiritually.

We can be spiritually lazy. It says the lazy man, he folds his hands, a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of arms to rest, and his need will come upon him like an armed robber. So you can have both aspects, and you need to be able to understand and discern where you are at personally.

I don't believe it's God's will that we would be overworked to the point of exhaustion. No, I don't think that that's God's will. And even in the ministry, I don't believe it's God's work that we would be exhausted to the point of even ministering the gospel.

I don't think the ministry of the gospel should overtake and be a greater priority than your own family. No, the first thing in our life must be our own personal devotion to the Lord. The second thing should be our family.

And then the third thing should be your ministry. And those things should be kept in the right order. Otherwise, you can cause things in your life. The other thing that can take precedence over the Lord in your life is your job, your career, the things that you enjoy, the things that you like doing.

They can take over your heart and they can consume you. And you neglect the things that you need to do. And that's not good either. We need to learn to discern our lives. We have to get light on ourselves and judge ourselves rightly so the Lord doesn't have to get our attention.

He doesn't have to wake us up in some sense and say, hey, which direction are you going? Why are you doing that? Why is this thing consuming your life? What is it? Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal.

The Trap of More and the Call to Rest in Christ

And this is literally the number one thing. Jesus wouldn't have spoken about this if he knew that we weren't gonna go through this temptation. And we constantly want more riches. We constantly want more, more, more, especially in the North American lifestyle.

In fact, right now you can see lots of people complaining that the interest rates are going higher in Canada. But the reality is the interest rates are actually not that high. They're not. People's mortgages go up by maybe 30, $40 a month, but they're complaining about it.

Why? Because for the last five years, the interest rates in Canada were like 0%. And people just need to have more. We gotta get more because we can get more. And that's what satisfies them. That's the trap in North America.

Constantly our flesh is being bombarded. Flesh is being bombarded to have more. A perfect example of this, I remember when I went on a business trip to Las Vegas. It was our convention for the place that I was working at at the time.

And I remember just being bombarded nonstop while you're there. It's nonstop bombardment while you're on that strip. I'm like, man, I felt like I had a headache at the end of the day. So I was like, man, your flesh is constantly being bombarded at these situations.

And I was like, I don't like this place. But you know, here we are here in our lives here, and we're constantly looking at doing stuff and getting stuff done. And we forget to sit at Jesus' feet and just listen to him.

We forget to sit there. And this is why I believe we have anxiety. This is why I believe we have fear. This is why we have burdens, is because we can't rest. And the number one thing that produces unrest in a person's life is a love of money, is a desire for more, is getting ahead.

And you can get your eyes off of Jesus real quick onto these things, this passing pleasure, this futile gold, this futile silver, this thing that can protect you and your family. You can get your eyes off of Christ.

And you can miss what God has for you on a day-to-day basis, because you're sitting there trying to get ahead. You're trying to figure out your life. No, my friends, we need to put the Lord first. He has to be first in our hearts.

He has to be first in our lives. And we have to learn to be led by the Spirit. I know the Holy Spirit sometimes tells me, Dan, you just need to put it down, and I need you to renew your mind, and I need you to listen to me at this point.

But I tell you, every day it's a battle. I own two businesses, and I constantly think about them, nonstop. I dream about them, because I'm thinking about them all the time. And that's not good. Lord, my mind needs to be on you.

My heart and my soul need to be fixed on you, the true treasure. This is why we are Christians, because we have such a great precious pearl. We have such a great value. We have a so great of a salvation that can be worked out in our lives, and I know so little of it.

So I encourage us, all of us, to not lay up for ourselves treasures on earth. These things are gonna fade away. Do not, verse 20, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal.

For where your treasure is, there will be your heart also. You can have a ministry, and your name, building up a name and ministry, can be a treasure. Being somebody who ministers to other people can be a treasure.

You can be totally doing it out of self-sufficiency. You have not been called by God, and I will explain this, that there are many missionaries, many ministers who have gone to school, they have gotten a degree, and they go out, and this is their career, but it hasn't been the calling of God.

Some of you would say, well, I haven't been called to preach the gospel. No, my friends, we are Christians. We need to be lights in wherever we are at, whether it's at the workplace. But some of us, the Lord has called to work.

He's called us to work, and to be a witness and a testimony in that sphere that he's given us. Some of us, he's given gifts to minister the gospel, to share the gospel with those around us. And we can't be shy about that.

We have to be, ask the Lord to fill us with the spirit, to be encouraged by that. But the main thing is that we are living for the Lord on this earth, not for our earthly gain. Not for our earthly gain.

For where your treasure is, your heart will be there also. And these are the things that we constantly are battling with, not in allowing our heart to be overtaken with the thorns, which are the cares of life, the desires for pleasure, the desires for other things.

And what does it do? It chokes out, it chokes out the seed in your life. It chokes out the plants, the life of Jesus growing your life. That's what it does. It totally puts you in a stranglehold. You'll find yourself being depressed, discouraged, overworked.

And you're wondering, Lord, why did you allow me to do all this? Why am I doing this? And I don't believe the Lord asked you to do any of it. I believe you took it on yourself. And this is why you see many ministers nowadays, many missionaries.

They have gone to do these work for the Lord and the Lord hasn't called it and they're disgruntled, they're bitter. And I have to ask myself the same question. I have to ask myself the same question, Lord, am I doing this for you?

Or am I doing this for honor? Am I doing it because you have called me? Or is it because I've just been put in a position to do it? I don't wanna be in that, my friends. I wanna do what the Lord wants me to do.

Carrying the Cross and Becoming Dependent on God

And so I have to ask myself many times, Lord, I feel heavy in the situation I'm in. Well, then maybe you need to ask the Lord if you got yourself into a situation you shouldn't have been in. There's two aspects to it.

On one side, that's one aspect. The other side is, yes, the Lord is bringing you into a place of dying every day, where you have to take up your cross, you have to die to yourself, and you have to carry the load and the burden that the Lord has put on your back.

And why is the Lord doing it? He wants to keep us weak, dependent on him, but he's trying to conform us to the image of Christ. And one way he does that when he puts heavy workloads on us, which seems like it, is so that he can break our strong will.

He can break our strong will so that we can become broken vessels useful to the master. And the only way to do that sometimes is through a job, through raising children, through doing whatever the Lord has given you to do.

He's allowing it in your life because he's trying to break your pride. He's trying to bring you to a place where you can become useful to him. And you know what? As much as I hate getting put into weak situations where the Lord keeps me weak, sometimes I tell the Lord, I'm like, Lord, when is it gonna stop?

And I have to ask myself, have I taken on too much? Or, Lord, are you wanting me to endure in this situation? Are you wanting me to carry the cross and learn to give thanks and to praise your name and to humble myself in this situation?

I will do it, Lord. I will do it. You know, and it's difficult. But look what it says here. The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is clear or your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light.

This is what gets us in trouble, you guys, is our eyes turn off of Jesus and they get fixated on earthly things. Whatever it is that takes over your heart, what is it? That's where your eye is. Sometimes it can even have a name for yourself.

There's people throughout the whole world. You can look at them on YouTube or social media. And they are literally what they are called social media influencers. And they literally bombard and people follow them.

And this is their whole life. Their eye is on earthly things, but the whole root of it is self because you want to be known as somebody who's an influencer in those areas. You can do this in a carnal way, but you can also do it in a spiritual way.

You can become a notable speaker. You can become someone who's been used mightily by God. And you have to guard yourself against these things because that's not God's will for you. There's only one person who receives the glory, my friends, at the end of our days.

Do you know who receives the glory? It's Jesus for what he did for us by dying on the cross and shedding his blood for my sin. So as much as we're trying to attain to an earthly glory, and it's good to be faithful in what you're doing.

It's good. You have to understand that, but it can't overtake your heart. I had a brother once ask me, he says, Dan, when does a lawful thing become unlawful? And I said, when it takes over your heart.

And he says, that's right. That's when you know it becomes an unlawful thing. So if you're consumed by anything, it can be an idol, even your own ministry, being known as somebody who's a good speaker.

You have to learn to die to that. There's many countless examples of Jesus where they come to make him king. And what does he do? He goes and he hides himself. And he says, you know what? I'm going to be rejected by this generation, and I'm going to be crucified.

I'm going to be crucified. And his disciples didn't understand it. And many times we don't understand it when the Lord allows all of our ambitions and all of our desirings to fail. He allows them to fail.

Why? Because he doesn't want us to be exalted in this generation. He wants us to be exalted in the eyes of the Lord. So praise God when you fail. Praise God when he puts you through the mill and the grindstone and brings you to nothing.

Because you know what? That's his goal is so that we become nothing, so that he becomes everything. And we can only say, Lord, it's not I, it's Christ who lives within me. It's not I who's done it, it's you who've done it, Lord.

This is why it has to be of faith and not of our own doing. And this is why on all of our strivings, he allows the burden to get heavy and he allows it to fail so that we learn to trust in him. This is how our eye becomes healthy when we fix our eyes on him.

Comfort in Affliction and Dependence on God

If we turn to 2 Corinthians 1. You know, I have a friend of mine, he has four children. And his wife just passed away, she was 40. She had a brain tumor and she passed away. The doctors removed the brain tumor and then they left her and they didn't put on her any monitoring devices and they left her for two days just thinking she was gonna be fine.

And during that time, she passed away, didn't monitor. And they neglected it. And this guy is so frustrated with this. You know, the other day he texted me, I need some snow tires. And I said, well, I'll pray that the Lord helps you find some, he found some on Facebook marketplace for so cheap, I couldn't believe it.

I was like, what? You could sell those again, double the price. Like you could, like you could literally take them and sell them and double your money. But I was like, brother, the Lord loves you. And I sent him this verse in 2 Corinthians 1, verse three, blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the father of mercies and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

This person does not know the Lord, is not following the Lord, but he's been through a terrible circumstance. His wife passed away, his four young children, he's got to raise them himself. And I just, I was burdened for him.

And I'm like, Lord, what's the purpose in all of this? And like, I didn't know, but I know that the Lord comforted him in this situation. He said, you know, he actually reminded me of a few things that he could see God's hand in.

I'm like, this is how much the Lord loves a man who doesn't even follow him. And you know how much more the Lord loves us, my friends, how much the Lord loves us. And so we have to remember this, that the Lord comforts us in all of our affliction so that we may be able to comfort with those who are also going through affliction.

So you guys are wondering, why am I going through affliction? One, it's to break our pride, but it's also to produce in us a heart of compassion, a heart of gentleness, a heart of patience. And so the Lord allows us to fail.

Whenever, I don't know if you guys can trace it back, but whenever we get to a place of confidence, like we did something, I'm telling you, it's a short while later that the thing just fails. And I'm like, why, Lord, why did you allow it to fail?

He allows it to fail because he wants us to not rely on ourselves, but in God who raises the dead. Look at what it says in verse eight. For we do not want you to be unaware, brethren, of our affliction, which came to us in Asia.

And we were burdened excessively beyond our strength so that we despaired even of life. They despaired even of life. Indeed, we have the sentence of death within ourselves in order that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead.

That's amazing. So that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead. God does not want us to be dependent on ourselves. He wants us to be dependent on him. He is the one who gives us wisdom.

He is the one who gives us strength to even make money. He's the one who gives us strength to even fulfill our daily duties. He's the one who does it. And we have to remember that he's the one who's given us the gifts and the abilities to do the things that we do.

He's even put the desire in your heart to learn the things that you are doing. And so we have to remember, Lord, you get first precedence. I desire that during the day, when the Lord speaks to me, that I'm able to discern that he's talking to me and I can stop what I'm doing and I can renew my mind and listen to him.

I was thankful for that the other day because in the middle of the day, I had a moment where I stopped and I was like, Lord, what do you wanna say to me? Lord was just saying, be patient. Just be patient.

Patience is such a hard thing, guys. Such a hard thing that we have to learn, patience. Love is patient, but the fruit of patience is gentleness, kindness. When you're a patient person, we don't get angry.

A fool rushes into things to get involved in stuff and he never can slow down. He's always, I gotta do this and I gotta do this and I gotta do this. And then they can't do it. So then they lay the burden on other people.

And I'm like, Lord, I don't wanna be like that. And I do do that. I do do that. And I don't wanna be like that. Why? Because I wanna get something for my own life. I wanna get some peace and patience in my own life.

No, you're making the wrong decision. You weren't led by the Spirit. And you have to learn to be able to discern that in your own life. It says in Isaiah 28, look at what it says here. We're always rushing, guys, to try to get ahead.

Isaiah 28, verse 16. Therefore, thus says the Lord God, behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a tested stone, a costly cornerstone for the foundation, firmly placed. And he who believes in it will not be in a hurry.

He won't be in a hurry. He's not gonna rush to get it all done, guys. It doesn't have to happen overnight. It doesn't have to happen overnight. The Lord is able to tear down all the things that we build in three days and raise it up again.

So all those things that we work for in our life, we have to be careful that it's not for our glory. It's not for our ministry. It's not for our lives. It's because the Lord has given it to us, not because we went and sought it and found it.

I know many missionaries probably who went to do a work and it wasn't sent by God, they went and they were never sent. They went and they were never sent. And we need to examine ourselves, Lord, did I went or did you send me?

And we have to wait until we hear clearly until the Lord sends us and asks us to. And you know, the Lord, he's patient with us. He wishes that none would perish, but he's also patient with us sometimes for us to come to faith, to take a gentle step of faith.

And he will constantly, how he does that, he doesn't force you, he doesn't pressure you. He gently nudges you and he constantly leaves it in the back of your mind. I remember one time I was given an opportunity to take a job.

I just got married. I'd worked at Fraser Way RV and my needs were more than what I was making at the time. And I was thinking, Lord, I need to take a step of faith. So I sent out three resumes and I got three opportunities and they offered me a job and I was fearful.

And I said, no, I can't do it. I can't do it. But afterwards I felt in my heart that I made the wrong decision. I felt like I lost my peace. I was like, Lord, I feel like I've done the wrong thing here.

And you know what? So I just left it to the Lord. I said, Lord, I made a mistake. I feel like in my heart you wanted me to take a step of faith and I didn't. But it was sitting in the back of my mind.

The Lord wasn't, you bad guy. No, he was, he just reminded me that, Dan, like I wanted you to take that step of faith, but you'll never know until you do. I was like, okay. Sure enough, I was kind of regretting it for at least two months, Lord.

And then they called me back. Do you want the job? And by this time, the Lord had helped me learn at that time that I needed to come to faith. And I said, okay, Lord, I'll come to faith on this matter.

I'll take that. And it was, and I had peace and joy afterwards, like I was making the right decision. I said, Lord, if it's not your decision and it's because I'm desiring to get more money and I'm desiring this, it wasn't because of that.

Lord, you know my needs and I'm asking you to help me. Like David shared, you know my needs. You're going to provide for me. Then you got to help me to take a good step in the right direction. But if it's not your will, I'm asking you to slam the door in my face.

Please close the door, Lord. Like, don't let me do it. Because there were times and times past where I wanted to leave and the Lord would slam the door in my face. And then this time, the Lord encouraged me.

I felt like he released me. He says, you know what? You've learned your lesson here. I have something more for you here. I want to teach you something. And then that was when it was the right time. See, because I had to wait.

I had to be patient. You know, recently we sold our home, but we haven't bought another home. And our home, since the time that we bought it to the time where we're at, increased in value. You know, in almost every single year, me and my wife were wanting to go and look for a bigger home for me and my family.

We need more space. But the Lord closed the door. But you know, this last time, the Lord said, no, I want you to take a step of faith. I want you to sell it. I want you just to rent. And so I obeyed what the Lord did, but it was a long time before the Lord finally gave us that thing.

But I had to take the step of faith. I had to make that decision to do that thing at that time. And because I was led by the Lord, the Lord's been helping us. We have to be mindful of when the Lord puts these gentle nudges in our hearts when we're supposed to take that step of faith, because he cares for us, but he wants us to walk by faith.

He's not gonna force us. He wants us to learn to be patient, to wait on him. It says right here, a costly cornerstone for the foundation firmly placed, and he who believes in it will not be disturbed.

Perfect Peace Through Trusting the Lord

And now I'm gonna go back to Isaiah 26. Isaiah 26, verse one, it says, in that day, this song will be sung in the land of Judah. We have a strong city. He sets up walls and ramparts for security. Open the gates that the righteous nation may enter.

The one that remains faithful, the steadfast in mind thou will keep in perfect peace because he trusts in me. You know, whenever we lose our peace in our mind, we have to ask ourselves, why do I have no peace?

Whenever the Lord brings you into a situation where it's difficult, but he brought you into the situation, meaning you came to the situation and you're wondering, Lord, you led me here, and now it's become very difficult.

What do you do in that situation? Do you run from that situation? No, you need to learn to stand your ground and to overcome in that situation. You need to trust the Lord there. The Lord led you, now it's difficult, that's okay.

You have to trust the Lord in those situations. It says right here, the steadfast in mind, you will keep in perfect peace because he trusts in you. So the Lord desires it that when we go through difficulties and trials, that we would not be so easily shaken or moved, but we would learn to trust the Lord in those situations.

We would learn to rely on him, to keep our mind fixed on him, to allow my eyes not to get fixed on the situation, but to fix my eyes on the Lord who allows the situation in my life, who's also gonna lead me and guide me.

Sometimes he won't get you out of the situation, and that's a lot of the time what we're pleading for, Lord, get me out of this situation. But the Lord desires it that spiritually, we would get to a point where we don't cry to get out of the situation, where we learn to give thanks in the situation where we're in, and where we can learn to have peace.

A perfect example of this was when Peter got thrown in prison, and the next day, he was going to be martyred, he was going to be killed. And what was he doing the night before? He was sleeping. He was sleeping in his cell.

In fact, he was sleeping so much that the angel had to arouse him like a man who gets awoken from a dream. You know, you wake up from a dream, and you're just, oh, what was that? Peter had to get woken up like that.

That's how deep of a sleep the guy was in. The guy had such perfect peace. He was just like, you know, wake up, man, wake up. You know, that's how deep of a sleep he was in. He wasn't in a light sleep, walking around his thing.

You know, the other person, an example of that would be Paul. I think it's Silas. They're sitting in prison, and they're literally giving thanks and praising God at midnight, and everybody in the cell can hear them.

They learned to give thanks in that situation. Can we learn to give thanks? This is how we know we've grown spiritually, is when we can learn to praise the Lord, and we can learn to rest in the situations that he brings us into.

Peter, what had he done? He had done what God asked him to do. He preached the gospel, and now he's being persecuted for preaching the gospel. And you know what? I think there's a lot of ministers who probably get discouraged because they preach the gospel, and now they're getting persecuted for preaching the true gospel, and they're probably getting discouraged, thinking, Lord, you asked me to share these things.

You asked me to speak them. You asked me to preach this word, and people may persecute them for that, but that doesn't mean that God didn't ask them to. Jeremiah said the exact same thing. Lord, you put your words in my mouth.

I'm only speaking what you tell me to speak, and these people hate me for it. I'm so discouraged. You're like an unreliable stream to me, Lord. And what does God say to Jeremiah? He says to Jeremiah, if you learn to take the things that are worthless and turn them into a treasure, or take the treasure out of the things that are worthless, then you will be my spokesman.

You know, and we have to learn to do that, friends. We have to learn to take our situations that could be difficult, bleak, sometimes very minimal, sometimes very long and enduring, and we have to say, Lord, you're teaching me a great lesson in this.

What is it? And I'm gonna learn to give thanks in that situation. You know, and Peter, people were praying for Peter at that time, and this is why we need to pray for each other. That's why we need to ask for prayer.

I was encouraged when people asked for prayer today. I was like, this is good. We need to pray for one another. This is something that we don't do enough of here, guys. Prayer is a foundational cornerstone of overcoming in our situations because it shows that we're not relying on ourselves.

We're relying on who? We're relying on the Lord for help, for strength, for power, for grace. What did we sing today? Let us come boldly to the throne of grace in time of need. My friends and Christians, brothers, we need to come boldly to the Lord in time of need.

Ask for grace. Lord, help me to do the task that you've given me to do. It's a very small task, but I wanna be faithful in it. Give me the strength to do it. Give me the words. Give me your life. Give me your Holy Spirit.

Help me to be faithful. Help me to be a servant, not to be a king. You didn't call us to be kings, Lord. This is why we get anxious sometimes. Even as parents, we can get anxious because we wanna rule as a king over our kids.

We need to learn to come alongside them and help them, especially when the kids are teenagers or young adults. Parents need to help them, to support them. This is one of the greatest challenges is when teenagers are going through difficult seasons and there's nobody there to support them because they're being tempted.

They don't have many friends. They're being discouraged. They feel like they're trying to fit in in this world. No, my friends, parents need to come alongside their kids at that time and encourage them even more.

It's easy to do that when they're kids because the kids can forget quickly, but when they're young and they're growing and they're getting to be in the teenage years, you need to support them. You need to be there for them.

You need to pray for them. You need to spend time with them because they're gonna get so influenced by the things in this world because that's when their hearts are very open to it. They're influenced at that age.

We need to, you know, it came strong in my heart to share that, and I just hope that we can encourage one another in those situations. Verse four, trust in the Lord forever. For in the Lord, the Lord, for in God, the Lord, we have an everlasting rock.

That's amazing. We have an everlasting rock. We just read that in the other verse. He is a precious cornerstone. If we skip ahead here to verse 15, it says, Lord, you have increased the nation, O Lord.

You have increased the nation and you are glorified. You have extended all the borders of the land. O Lord, they sought Thee in distress. They could only whisper a prayer. Thy chastening was upon them.

This is when we pray, my friends. We pray when we're going through difficulty, when the Lord is chastening us.

You know, the Lord's discipline is never easy, but it's good for us that the Lord disciplines us. Our brother, Zach, shared the same the other day. He said, you know, if you're getting disciplined, but you know, the men who the Lord knows who will do the greatest damage to Satan's kingdom and also have the greatest impact for God's kingdom, those are the ones who get the sharpest rebukes from the Lord.

And he gave an example of Peter. He said, Peter, get thee behind me, Satan. You know, and imagine if the Lord said that to you. I mean, I'd be pretty discouraged. You know, I get pretty discouraged when he chastises me, but you know, imagine if he said to me,.

Get thee behind me, Satan. I mean, I would be, oh man, this is what you think of me, Lord? You know? In fact, so much when the disciples.

Were sitting at the last supper, he says, yet one of you is a devil. And everyone was, is it me, Lord? You know, they were asking sincerely, is it me, Lord? Yes, my friends, we can be devils. We can, we can betray the Lord for money.

That's why they saw it and got anxious, because of money. More money, Lord, we need more money. We don't need more money, you guys. We need more of Jesus. We need more of the Holy Spirit. We need more power.

If our needs require it, then we can ask the Lord to give us faith in those situations. But we need more of the Lord. And our heart can't be focused on these things, set on these things, lest we perish, building ourselves a little empire here on this earth.

All because we can have a little bit more square footage in the home. We don't need more square footage. We need more square footage in our hearts. I don't need white paint on the walls, some good whitewash.

No, I need a clean heart and a clean spirit and a willing spirit. Lord, sustain me with a willing spirit and I will teach transgressors your ways. Help me, Lord, to learn from the discipline that you give me.

Help me to see what's important and what is not important. Lord, your chastening was upon them. As the pregnant woman approaches the time to give birth, she rise and cries out in her labor pains, thus we were before thee, O Lord.