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Ananias and Saphira - The Book of Acts · Bible in a Year with Jack Graham

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  Speaker 1: Let us pray. But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan
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  Speaker 1: filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost and
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  Speaker 1: to keep back part of the price of the land?
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  Speaker 1: Acts 5.3 Heavenly Father, as you begin to increase my
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  Speaker 1: life and multiply the blessings around me, I pray that
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  Speaker 1: you would keep my integrity steadfast and my motives pure.
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  Speaker 1: Whatever you require of me to show my diligence and
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  Speaker 1: obedience to you, I will not cut corners so that
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  Speaker 1: I may gain more through deceitful actions than I would
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  Speaker 1: by living a righteous and holy life. I denounce all
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  Speaker 1: greedy and selfish motives that would try to cloud my
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  Speaker 1: mind and my decisions. Because I am a person of
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  Speaker 1: character and integrity, my yes will be yes. and my
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  Speaker 1: no will be no. I will not be lukewarm and
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  Speaker 1: vacillate to and fro like the waves of the sea. Instead,
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  Speaker 1: I will remain consistent and strong like the rock of
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  Speaker 1: Jesus Christ. You can trust me with much because I
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  Speaker 1: am faithful in little. Bring on the increase. In Jesus' name. Amen.
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  Speaker 1: Thank you for praying with me today. Continue listening for
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  Speaker 1: an incredible Bible story. Brought to you by BibleInAYear.com.
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  Speaker 2: Ananias and Sapphira In our last story, Peter and John
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  Speaker 2: boldly healed a man who had been lame since birth.
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  Speaker 2: People were astonished. But Peter assured them that they did
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  Speaker 2: not heal from their own strength, but from the Spirit
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  Speaker 2: of Jesus. Now we see the church growing and sharing
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  Speaker 2: in all things, but some greed lingers in the new church,
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  Speaker 2: greed that will not be tolerated, inspired by the book
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  Speaker 2: of Acts.
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  Speaker 3: Jack Graham here with today's episode of the Bible in
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  Speaker 3: a Year podcast. In yesterday's episode, we heard of Peter
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  Speaker 3: and John's boldness to preach the gospel even when facing
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  Speaker 3: opposition and intimidation from the religious leaders of the day.
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  Speaker 3: God was working through them to grow his church. And
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  Speaker 3: because of their willingness to step out and obey God
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  Speaker 3: rather than human authority, thousands and thousands more came to Christ. Today,
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  Speaker 3: we'll see how sin is a presence even in the
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  Speaker 3: life of early Christians. We'll see how swiftly God dealt
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  Speaker 3: with one couple's deceit as an example to others that
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  Speaker 3: God is serious about sin. So let's listen now to
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  Speaker 3: the Word of God.
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  Speaker 2: The hearts and souls of those who believed were becoming one.
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  Speaker 2: A genuine community of people that loved selflessly was being formed.
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  Speaker 2: Every person who was added to the church looked out
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  Speaker 2: for their neighbor. As they learned more about the character
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  Speaker 2: of Jesus, their actions began to look more like His.
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  Speaker 2: Everything they owed, they offered up to be shared among
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  Speaker 2: each other. No need was left unmet by the family
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  Speaker 2: of God. The apostles preached the words of Jesus and
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  Speaker 2: proclaimed His life, death, and resurrection. Widows were given protections,
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  Speaker 2: orphans were given homes, and the lonely were given a community.
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  Speaker 2: Every day, the Lord met more needs through the generosity
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  Speaker 2: of the followers of Jesus. However, not all were willing
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  Speaker 2: to lay down their selfish ambitions for the sake of others.
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  Speaker 2: There were a few who desired to be seen as good,
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  Speaker 2: but maintained the deep sin within their hearts. A man
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  Speaker 2: named Ananias was plagued with this very illness. He and
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  Speaker 2: his wife Sapphira sold a piece of their property and
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  Speaker 2: gave the money to the apostles. They gave half of
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  Speaker 2: what they earned, but claimed to give it all. Peter
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  Speaker 2: noticed this. He noticed that Ananias and his wife desired
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  Speaker 2: the praise of good deeds with none of the sacrifice.
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  Speaker 2: This was something God would not tolerate, especially while the
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  Speaker 2: church was in its infant stage. Peter held the bag
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  Speaker 2: of coins in his hand from Ananias. He sighed and
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  Speaker 2: shook his head. Ananias, Peter said, why have you allowed
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  Speaker 2: Satan a place in your heart to lie like this?
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  Speaker 2: You did not have to sell your land. You did
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  Speaker 2: not have to give anything away. But here you are
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  Speaker 2: lying about what you did sell. You have lied to me,
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  Speaker 2: the church, and God. As Peter spoke these things, Ananias
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  Speaker 2: fell down at his feet and breathed his last. His
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  Speaker 2: body was taken away and buried, and a healthy fear
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  Speaker 2: came on all of the people. Only three hours had passed,
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  Speaker 2: and Sapphira, the wife of Ananias, had not heard what happened.
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  Speaker 2: She came to Peter with a humble image and holy attitude.
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  Speaker 2: But Peter saw right through it. He held the coins
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  Speaker 2: in his hand from her husband and said, Did you
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  Speaker 2: sell your land for this much? Sapphira looked at it,
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  Speaker 2: knowing it wasn't the full amount, and nodded her head.
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  Speaker 2: Peter rubbed his head. It grieved him to see Sapphira
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  Speaker 2: lie so boldly. Why is it that you do this?
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  Speaker 2: Why lie? What have you to gain? The feet of
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  Speaker 2: those who buried your husband will carry you out as well.
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  Speaker 2: And as Peter spoke these words... Sapphira dropped dead in
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  Speaker 2: front of him.
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  Speaker 3: We begin today's reading with a beautiful picture of Christian community,
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  Speaker 3: the church. The believers in Jerusalem gathered frequently to support
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  Speaker 3: and strengthen one another and to share with all who
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  Speaker 3: had need, and most of all to proclaim the gospel.
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  Speaker 3: This community of faith was drawn together because of their
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  Speaker 3: deep love for Christ and for one another. The community
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  Speaker 3: of Christ's followers stood out in a greater community as
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  Speaker 3: an example of generosity and selflessness, drawing more and more
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  Speaker 3: people to Jesus every single day. The church is multiplying.
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  Speaker 3: It is becoming a multitude. It is a beautiful picture
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  Speaker 3: of what is possible when God's people live with the
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  Speaker 3: heart of Christ, loving God and loving each other, just
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  Speaker 3: as Jesus commanded us. And yet in the midst of
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  Speaker 3: this great grace and the growth of the church, sin
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  Speaker 3: still showed up. as it does today. When we come
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  Speaker 3: to faith in Christ, we are freed from the power
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  Speaker 3: and penalty of sin. But as long as we live
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  Speaker 3: on this earth, sin will be a presence that we
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  Speaker 3: deal with. We will deal with temptation. And in today's reading,
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  Speaker 3: we discover the sin that tried to make its way
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  Speaker 3: into the church through a husband and wife named Ananias
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  Speaker 3: and Sapphira. With all the generosity going around, these two
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  Speaker 3: wanted to experience some of the glory of being the
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  Speaker 3: generous ones. They wanted recognition for their good deeds and
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  Speaker 3: their generosity, so they sold a piece of property that
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  Speaker 3: they owned and gave some of the money to the
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  Speaker 3: apostles for the work of Christ and the church. The
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  Speaker 3: problem is, while they said they were giving it all,
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  Speaker 3: they kept some of the money for themselves, and they
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  Speaker 3: lied to God and the church. It was Ananias, the husband,
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  Speaker 3: who sold the land and kept some of the money
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  Speaker 3: and then deceived the apostles, he thought. But Sapphira had
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  Speaker 3: full knowledge, so they both were guilty. When Ananias gave
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  Speaker 3: the money to the apostles, Peter said to him in
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  Speaker 3: Acts 5, verses 3 through 4, Ananias, why has Satan
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  Speaker 3: filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and
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  Speaker 3: to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds for
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  Speaker 3: the land? While it remained unsold, did it not remain
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  Speaker 3: your own? And after it was sold, was it not
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  Speaker 3: at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived
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  Speaker 3: this deed in your heart? You have lied not to man,
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  Speaker 3: but to God. When he heard these words, Ananias died
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  Speaker 3: on the spot. His wife Sapphira came later and Peter
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  Speaker 3: asked her how much they'd sold the land for. She
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  Speaker 3: did not know that Ananias was dead, but it was
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  Speaker 3: an opportunity for her to tell the truth. Unfortunately, she
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  Speaker 3: also lied. And when her lie was revealed, she also
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  Speaker 3: died and was carried away to be buried with her husband.
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  Speaker 3: Serious stuff. What is the message here? Ananias and Sapphira
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  Speaker 3: were an example to the early church, and we learn
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  Speaker 3: that because of what happened to them, great fear came
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  Speaker 3: upon the church and all who heard. It is a
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  Speaker 3: reminder that while there is grace and forgiveness in Christ,
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  Speaker 3: God is still serious about sin and will not allow
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  Speaker 3: sin to corrupt his people. Ananias and Sapphira may have
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  Speaker 3: thought their little deception really wasn't hurting anyone. After all,
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  Speaker 3: they did give a sum of money to help other believers.
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  Speaker 3: but they neglected to think about how their actions offended God,
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  Speaker 3: that our sin always grieves God and defiles our relationship
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  Speaker 3: with Him. Lying to God and testing the Holy Spirit
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  Speaker 3: is nothing to play with. God wanted to be clear
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  Speaker 3: about this with the early church. He wanted His church
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  Speaker 3: to be pure and therefore powerful. Likewise, we also need
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  Speaker 3: to be serious about sin, not only our own sin,
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  Speaker 3: but sin in the church. There must be discipline in
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  Speaker 3: the face of deceit. And in the church, we must
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  Speaker 3: never do anything that would somehow hinder the spread of
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  Speaker 3: the gospel. Dear God, we know that sin grieves your
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  Speaker 3: heart and is a destructive force in the lives of
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  Speaker 3: believers and the church. So help us to be on
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  Speaker 3: guard against every attempt by the enemy to hinder the
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  Speaker 3: work of Christ and his church around the world. May
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  Speaker 3: our hearts be pure as we give and serve and
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  Speaker 3: live for you. In Jesus' name, amen. Thank you for
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  Speaker 3: listening to today's Bible in a Year. I'm Pastor Jack
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  Speaker 3: Graham from Dallas, Texas. You can download the Pray.com app
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  Speaker 3: and make Bible study and prayer the priority of your life.
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  Speaker 3: And if you appreciate this podcast, please share it with
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  Speaker 3: someone else. I also want to encourage you to go
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  Speaker 3: to jackgraham.org. That's jackgraham.org, for we have resources that are
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  Speaker 3: free and available for you so that you may know
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  Speaker 3: Christ and grow in Him. God bless you.