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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.
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  Speaker 2: But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart
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  Speaker 2: to lie to the Holy Ghost and to keep back
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  Speaker 2: part of the price of the land? Acts 5.3 Heavenly Father,
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  Speaker 2: as you begin to increase my life and multiply the
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  Speaker 2: blessings around me, I pray that you would keep my
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  Speaker 2: integrity steadfast and my motives pure. Whatever you require of
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  Speaker 2: me to show my diligence and obedience to you, I
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  Speaker 2: will not cut corners so that I may gain more
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  Speaker 2: through deceitful actions than I would by living a righteous
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  Speaker 2: and holy life. I denounce all greedy and selfish motives
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  Speaker 2: that would try to cloud my mind and my decisions.
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  Speaker 2: Because I am a person of character and integrity, my
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  Speaker 2: yes will be yes. and my no will be no.
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  Speaker 2: I will not be lukewarm and vacillate to and fro
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  Speaker 2: like the waves of the sea. Instead, I will remain
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  Speaker 2: consistent and strong like the rock of Jesus Christ. You
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  Speaker 2: can trust me with much, because I am faithful in little.
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  Speaker 2: Bring on the increase. In Jesus' name.
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  Speaker 1: Amen. Thank you for praying with me today.
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  Speaker 2: Continue listening for an incredible Bible story brought to you
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  Speaker 2: by BibleInAYear.com.
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  Speaker 3: Ananias and Sapphira. In our last story, Peter and John
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  Speaker 3: boldly healed a man who had been lame since birth.
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  Speaker 3: People were astonished. But Peter assured them that they did
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  Speaker 3: not heal from their own strength, but from the Spirit
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  Speaker 3: of Jesus. Now we see the church growing and sharing
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  Speaker 3: in all things, but some greed lingers in the new church,
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  Speaker 3: greed that will not be tolerated, inspired by the book
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  Speaker 3: of Acts.
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  Speaker 1: Jack Graham here with today's episode of the Bible in
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  Speaker 1: a Year podcast. In yesterday's episode, we heard of Peter
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  Speaker 1: and John's boldness to preach the gospel even when facing
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  Speaker 1: opposition and intimidation from the religious leaders of the day.
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  Speaker 1: God was working through them to grow his church. And
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  Speaker 1: because of their willingness to step out and obey God
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  Speaker 1: rather than human authority, thousands and thousands more came to Christ. Today,
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  Speaker 1: we'll see how sin is a presence even in the
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  Speaker 1: life of early Christians. We'll see how swiftly God dealt
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  Speaker 1: with one couple's deceit as an example to others that
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  Speaker 1: God is serious about sin. So let's listen now to
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  Speaker 1: the Word of God.
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  Speaker 3: The hearts and souls of those who believed were becoming one.
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  Speaker 3: A genuine community of people that loved selflessly was being formed.
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  Speaker 3: Every person who was added to the church looked out
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  Speaker 3: for their neighbor. As they learned more about the character
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  Speaker 3: of Jesus, their actions began to look more like His.
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  Speaker 3: Everything they owed, they offered up to be shared among
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  Speaker 3: each other. No need was left unmet by the family
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  Speaker 3: of God. The apostles preached the words of Jesus and
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  Speaker 3: proclaimed His life, death, and resurrection. Widows were given protections,
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  Speaker 3: orphans were given homes, and the lonely were given a community.
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  Speaker 3: Every day, the Lord met more needs through the generosity
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  Speaker 3: of the followers of Jesus. However, not all were willing
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  Speaker 3: to lay down their selfish ambitions for the sake of others.
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  Speaker 3: There were a few who desired to be seen as good,
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  Speaker 3: but maintained the deep sin within their hearts. A man
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  Speaker 3: named Ananias was plagued with this very illness. He and
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  Speaker 3: his wife Sapphira sold a piece of their property and
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  Speaker 3: gave the money to the apostles. They gave half of
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  Speaker 3: what they earned, but claimed to give it all. Peter
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  Speaker 3: noticed this. He noticed that Ananias and his wife desired
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  Speaker 3: the praise of good deeds with none of the sacrifice.
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  Speaker 3: This was something God would not tolerate, especially while the
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  Speaker 3: church was in its infant stage. Peter held the bag
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  Speaker 3: of coins in his hand from Ananias. He sighed and
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  Speaker 3: shook his head. Ananias, Peter said, why have you allowed
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  Speaker 3: Satan a place in your heart to lie like this?
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  Speaker 3: You did not have to sell your land. You did
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  Speaker 3: not have to give anything away. But here you are
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  Speaker 3: lying about what you did sell. You have lied to me,
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  Speaker 3: the church, and God. As Peter spoke these things, Ananias
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  Speaker 3: fell down at his feet and breathed his last. His
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  Speaker 3: body was taken away and buried, and a healthy fear
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  Speaker 3: came on all of the people. Only three hours had passed,
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  Speaker 3: and Sapphira, the wife of Ananias, had not heard what happened.
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  Speaker 3: She came to Peter with a humble image and holy attitude.
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  Speaker 3: But Peter saw right through it. He held the coins
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  Speaker 3: in his hand from her husband and said, Did you
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  Speaker 3: sell your land for this much? Sapphira looked at it,
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  Speaker 3: knowing it wasn't the full amount, and nodded her head.
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  Speaker 3: Peter rubbed his head. It grieved him to see Sapphira
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  Speaker 3: lie so boldly. Why is it that you do this?
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  Speaker 3: Why lie? What have you to gain? The feet of
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  Speaker 3: those who buried your husband will carry you out as well.
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  Speaker 3: And as Peter spoke these words... Sapphira dropped dead in
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  Speaker 3: front of him.
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  Speaker 1: We begin today's reading with a beautiful picture of Christian community,
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  Speaker 1: the church. The believers in Jerusalem gathered frequently to support
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  Speaker 1: and strengthen one another and to share with all who
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  Speaker 1: had need, and most of all to proclaim the gospel.
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  Speaker 1: This community of faith was drawn together because of their
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  Speaker 1: deep love for Christ and for one another. The community
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  Speaker 1: of Christ's followers stood out in a greater community as
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  Speaker 1: an example of generosity and selflessness, drawing more and more
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  Speaker 1: people to Jesus every single day. The church is multiplying.
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  Speaker 1: It is becoming a multitude. It is a beautiful picture
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  Speaker 1: of what is possible when God's people live with the
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  Speaker 1: heart of Christ, loving God and loving each other, just
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  Speaker 1: as Jesus commanded us. And yet in the midst of
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  Speaker 1: this great grace and the growth of the church, sin
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  Speaker 1: still showed up. as it does today. When we come
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  Speaker 1: to faith in Christ, we are freed from the power
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  Speaker 1: and penalty of sin. But as long as we live
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  Speaker 1: on this earth, sin will be a presence that we
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  Speaker 1: deal with. We will deal with temptation. And in today's reading,
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  Speaker 1: we discover the sin that tried to make its way
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  Speaker 1: into the church through a husband and wife named Ananias
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  Speaker 1: and Sapphira. With all the generosity going around, these two
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  Speaker 1: wanted to experience some of the glory of being the
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  Speaker 1: generous ones. They wanted recognition for their good deeds and
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  Speaker 1: their generosity, so they sold a piece of property that
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  Speaker 1: they owned and gave some of the money to the
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  Speaker 1: apostles for the work of Christ and the church. The
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  Speaker 1: problem is, while they said they were giving it all,
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  Speaker 1: they kept some of the money for themselves, and they
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  Speaker 1: lied to God and the church. It was Ananias, the husband,
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  Speaker 1: who sold the land and kept some of the money
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  Speaker 1: and then deceived the apostles, he thought. But Sapphira had
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  Speaker 1: full knowledge, so they both were guilty. When Ananias gave
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  Speaker 1: the money to the apostles, Peter said to him in
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  Speaker 1: Acts 5, verses 3 through 4, Ananias, why has Satan
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  Speaker 1: filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and
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  Speaker 1: to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds for
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  Speaker 1: the land? While it remained unsold, did it not remain
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  Speaker 1: your own? And after it was sold, was it not
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  Speaker 1: at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived
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  Speaker 1: this deed in your heart? You have lied not to man,
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  Speaker 1: but to God. When he heard these words, Ananias died
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  Speaker 1: on the spot. His wife Sapphira came later and Peter
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  Speaker 1: asked her how much they'd sold the land for. She
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  Speaker 1: did not know that Ananias was dead, but it was
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  Speaker 1: an opportunity for her to tell the truth. Unfortunately, she
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  Speaker 1: also lied. And when her lie was revealed, she also
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  Speaker 1: died and was carried away to be buried with her husband.
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  Speaker 1: Serious stuff. What is the message here? Ananias and Sapphira
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  Speaker 1: were an example to the early church, and we learn
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  Speaker 1: that because of what happened to them, great fear came
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  Speaker 1: upon the church and all who heard. It is a
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  Speaker 1: reminder that while there is grace and forgiveness in Christ,
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  Speaker 1: God is still serious about sin and will not allow
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  Speaker 1: sin to corrupt his people. Ananias and Sapphira may have
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  Speaker 1: thought their little deception really wasn't hurting anyone. After all,
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  Speaker 1: they did give a sum of money to help other believers.
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  Speaker 1: but they neglected to think about how their actions offended God,
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  Speaker 1: that our sin always grieves God and defiles our relationship
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  Speaker 1: with Him. Lying to God and testing the Holy Spirit
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  Speaker 1: is nothing to play with. God wanted to be clear
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  Speaker 1: about this with the early church. He wanted His church
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  Speaker 1: to be pure and therefore powerful. Likewise, we also need
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  Speaker 1: to be serious about sin, not only our own sin,
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  Speaker 1: but sin in the church. There must be discipline in
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  Speaker 1: the face of deceit. And in the church, we must
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  Speaker 1: never do anything that would somehow hinder the spread of
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  Speaker 1: the gospel. Dear God, we know that sin grieves your
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  Speaker 1: heart and is a destructive force in the lives of
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  Speaker 1: believers and the church. So help us to be on
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  Speaker 1: guard against every attempt by the enemy to hinder the
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  Speaker 1: work of Christ and his church around the world. May
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  Speaker 1: our hearts be pure as we give and serve and
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  Speaker 1: live for you. In Jesus' name, amen. Thank you for
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  Speaker 1: listening to today's Bible in a Year. I'm Pastor Jack
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  Speaker 1: Graham from Dallas, Texas. You can download the Pray.com app
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: and make Bible study and prayer the priority of your life.
• 10:29
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• 10:35
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• 10:44
  Speaker 1: Christ and grow in Him. God bless you. This episode
• 10:54
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• 10:58
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• 11:02
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