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Abram and Sarai - The Book of Genesis · Bible in a Year with Jack Graham

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  Speaker 1: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse
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  Speaker 1: him that curseth thee. And in thee shall all families
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  Speaker 1: of the earth be blessed. Genesis 12.3 Dear God, the
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  Speaker 1: seasons of uncertainty and adventure begin. Like Abraham, give me
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  Speaker 1: the courage to move without hesitation. Give me the ability
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  Speaker 1: to see through your eyes. so that the journey to
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  Speaker 1: my destiny doesn't overwhelm me, causing me to hesitate and
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  Speaker 1: miss what you have for me, Lord. From this moment on,
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  Speaker 1: I declare that I will move in faith and power
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  Speaker 1: as I take steps in the direction of my promised land,
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  Speaker 1: decreeing that everything my feet touch has already been established
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  Speaker 1: and given to me. I will not use manipulation and lies.
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  Speaker 1: to try to protect myself or the ones I love.
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  Speaker 1: But rather, through honesty and trust in the Lord, I
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  Speaker 1: know that everything will work out for my good. Thank you, Jesus,
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  Speaker 1: that even though, like Abraham, I try to take things
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  Speaker 1: into my own hands, your grace and love is enough
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  Speaker 1: to redirect my steps and set me on the right path.
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  Speaker 1: In Jesus' name, amen. Thank you for making prayer a
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  Speaker 1: priority in your day. To learn more about the Bible,
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  Speaker 1: stay tuned for today's story. Brought to you by BibleInAYear.com.
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  Speaker 2: Abram and Sarai. Before this story, we learned about the
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  Speaker 2: Tower of Babel and mankind's attempts to be their own
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  Speaker 2: gods and make their name great. Now we learn about Abram,
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  Speaker 2: God's chosen hero to be the father of nations. The
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  Speaker 2: following is inspired by the book of Genesis.
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  Speaker 3: Hello, I'm Pastor Jack Graham with today's episode of the
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  Speaker 3: Bible in a Year podcast. As I said in yesterday's episode,
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  Speaker 3: God was already at work to bring about His great
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  Speaker 3: plan of redemption for the world. And today we're going
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  Speaker 3: to look at a pivotal figure in his plan, a
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  Speaker 3: man named Abram. If you've ever had to pick up
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  Speaker 3: and move from a place you've called home your entire life,
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  Speaker 3: you will relate to Abram. He was 75 years old
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  Speaker 3: when God called him to take his wife Sarah, leave
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  Speaker 3: his home, and go to a place he did not know.
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  Speaker 3: That sounds like a very stressful move to me, But
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  Speaker 3: you see, God had a plan for Abram and it
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  Speaker 3: couldn't or wouldn't be accomplished if he stayed where he was.
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  Speaker 3: He needed to step out with faith and trust in God.
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  Speaker 3: Faith is a central theme throughout Abram's life. Often he
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  Speaker 3: passed the test of faith. Other times, as we'll see today,
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  Speaker 3: he struggled, tried to work out the problem in his
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  Speaker 3: own strength and wisdom. And as you can imagine, that
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  Speaker 3: doesn't work out well at all. But through it all,
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  Speaker 3: We'll continue to see how God is present, that he
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  Speaker 3: is provider and protector for Abraham and Sarah and all
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  Speaker 3: who trust in him. Let's listen in now to this story.
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  Speaker 2: Out of the line of Shem came Abram, a man
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  Speaker 2: well advanced in years. When Abram was 75 years old,
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  Speaker 2: the Lord spoke to him saying, go away from your
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  Speaker 2: country and your people to an unknown land. I have
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  Speaker 2: a place for you. I will bless those who bless
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  Speaker 2: you and curse those who dishonor you, and through you
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  Speaker 2: all the nations shall be blessed. This was Abram's call
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  Speaker 2: to adventure, and he had no idea what the Lord
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  Speaker 2: would truly do through him. Yet he obeyed and left
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  Speaker 2: his father's land with his wife Sarai and his nephew Lot.
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  Speaker 2: They journeyed together, determined to see God's will unfold before them.
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  Speaker 2: They set out to Canaan, the land God had chosen
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  Speaker 2: for them. There, God spoke to Abram, saying, This is
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  Speaker 2: the land I have promised to you and your descendants.
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  Speaker 2: Even now as the Lord's will was being shown to Abram,
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  Speaker 2: he could not fathom what great things God would do.
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  Speaker 2: Abram pitched their tent in between Bethel in a place
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  Speaker 2: called Ai, and built an altar there and dedicated it
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  Speaker 2: to the Lord. Shortly after, they ventured forth towards Negev
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  Speaker 2: to explore more of God's promised land. Later, there was
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  Speaker 2: a severe famine in the land. The land, once bursting
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  Speaker 2: with promise and opportunity, became desolate, and the once hopeful
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  Speaker 2: Abram decided to take his family and all his possessions
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  Speaker 2: to Egypt. There they lived until the famine was over.
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  Speaker 2: As they entered Egypt, doubt and paranoia began to seep
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  Speaker 2: into Abram's mind. Abram became fearful that Sarai's beauty would
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  Speaker 2: cause the Egyptians to kill him so they could take her. Abram,
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  Speaker 2: fearful and faithless, devised a lie. He spoke to his wife, saying,
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  Speaker 2: When we enter Egypt, do not tell them that you
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  Speaker 2: are my wife. Instead, tell them you are my sister.
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  Speaker 2: This way, my life will be spared and they will
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  Speaker 2: treat me well. As expected, Pharaoh caught notice of Sarai's
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  Speaker 2: beauty and brought her into his courts and so that
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  Speaker 2: he might be with her. And just as Adam put
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  Speaker 2: himself before his wife in the garden, so Abram did
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  Speaker 2: to his wife in Egypt. Pharaoh, to gain favor with Sarai,
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  Speaker 2: blessed Abram and adorned him with sheep, cattle, servants, and camels.
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  Speaker 2: Abram's lie was working, yet God is not one to
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  Speaker 2: play partner in a lie. The Lord afflicted Pharaoh and
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  Speaker 2: his house with great plagues and revealed that Sarai was
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  Speaker 2: Abram's wife. Pharaoh, frantic and confused, demanded answers from Abram.
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  Speaker 2: What is this you have done to me? Why did
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  Speaker 2: you not tell me that she was your wife? he shouted.
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  Speaker 2: Now then, here is your wife. Take her and go.
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  Speaker 2: So they went their way back to Canaan and settled
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  Speaker 2: in Bethel. This would be the first of many failures
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  Speaker 2: by Abram. Yet God's enduring protection over him and his
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  Speaker 2: future was steadfast. Abram would need it, for the journey
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  Speaker 2: would only become more difficult.
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  Speaker 3: Before Father Abraham, the one with many sons, was called
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  Speaker 3: by that name, he lived in the land of Ur
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  Speaker 3: and was named Abram. Genesis 12 starts out with God
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  Speaker 3: speaking to Abram. I just absolutely love this promise that
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  Speaker 3: God makes to Abram in verses 1 through 3. Go
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  Speaker 3: from your country. and from your relatives, and from your
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  Speaker 3: father's house, to the land which I will show you.
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  Speaker 3: And I will make you into a great nation, and
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  Speaker 3: I will bless you, and make your name great. And
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  Speaker 3: you shall be a blessing, and I will bless those
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  Speaker 3: who bless you, and the one who curses you I
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  Speaker 3: will curse. And in you all the families of the
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  Speaker 3: earth will be blessed. What an honor, what a privilege
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  Speaker 3: it must have felt like for Abram to hear God's
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  Speaker 3: promise that through him God would bless the entire world.
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  Speaker 3: In order for that promise to be fulfilled, however, Abram
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  Speaker 3: and his wife Sarah had to trust in God like
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  Speaker 3: they had never done before. Imagine being told to leave
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  Speaker 3: your home, your family, your friends, your land, and go
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  Speaker 3: somewhere to be determined. Just go. Would you take that step? Abram,
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  Speaker 3: one of our great examples of faith in the Bible,
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  Speaker 3: did answer the call and embarked on the great adventure
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  Speaker 3: of faith. In many ways, this is a story of
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  Speaker 3: contrast that reveals a truth about our own journey of faith.
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  Speaker 3: At many moments, Abram is faithful, trusting, and fully in
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  Speaker 3: step with God's plans. He follows God to Canaan, the
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  Speaker 3: land that God chose for him. But then a famine hit,
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  Speaker 3: and Abram decided to leave for greener pastures. Without consulting God,
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  Speaker 3: he left and he went to Egypt. We're not told
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  Speaker 3: that God directed him there, so this was clearly Abram's idea.
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  Speaker 3: It was the beginning of a series of poor choices
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  Speaker 3: that demonstrated a lack of faith. This is not unlike
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  Speaker 3: you and me. When things get tough, we may often
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  Speaker 3: try to take things into our own hands rather than
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  Speaker 3: resting and trusting in the care and the providence and
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  Speaker 3: the promises of God. And then one bad choice begets another,
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  Speaker 3: and soon we find ourselves in a desert. That's what
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  Speaker 3: happened to Abram He lied about his own wife, giving
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  Speaker 3: her to the Pharaoh to save his own skin. It
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  Speaker 3: seemed to work at first, but sin and lies always
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  Speaker 3: catch up to us, don't they? God stepped in and
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  Speaker 3: set Abraham back on course, but just imagine the loss
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  Speaker 3: of trust between Abram and Sarah and the erosion in
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  Speaker 3: their relationship. And still, as we've been seeing over and
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  Speaker 3: over again in each story, God's hand was there, his
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  Speaker 3: presence there, to protect and provide for Abram and his
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  Speaker 3: family and for the ultimate purpose of God's glory and
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  Speaker 3: their redemption and the redemption of the world. May we
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  Speaker 3: be like the Abram who stepped out in faith, believing God,
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  Speaker 3: rather than the Abram who set off on his own
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  Speaker 3: course in fear. And may we find hope and comfort
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  Speaker 3: knowing that even when Abraham lost faith for a while,
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  Speaker 3: God did not abandon him. Dear God, thank you for
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  Speaker 3: this beautiful story of your promise to bless the world
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  Speaker 3: through Abraham. Help us to follow his example of faith
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  Speaker 3: and learn from his mistakes that were born of fear
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  Speaker 3: and faithlessness. May we trust in your ever-present grace and
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  Speaker 3: mercy to call us back to you when we walk away.
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  Speaker 3: In Jesus' name, amen. Thank you for listening to today's
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  Speaker 3: Bible in a Year podcast. I'm Pastor Jack Graham from Dallas, Texas.
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  Speaker 3: Christian living, be sure to visit JackGraham.org. God bless.
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  Speaker 1: This episode is sponsored by MediShare, an innovative healthcare solution
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