Latest / Bible Chat Devotional / February 17 - The Courage to Examine What We Believe

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February 17 - The Courage to Examine What We Believe · Bible Chat Devotional

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  Welcome to Bible Chat, where we have devotional conversations
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  rooted in Scripture and relevant for today, February 17th.
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  Real hope, real life. Have you ever been really
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  excited about something, only to feel that excitement drain away
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  when it didn't turn out how you expected?
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  Maybe you put your hope in a relationship that faded, a goal
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  you didn't reach, or a plan that completely fell apart.
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  That kind of disappointment can leave you guarded, even cynical,
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  wondering if it's safer not to hope at all.
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  But God never meant for hope to be fragile or temporary.
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  He designed real hope to give life.
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  Proverbs chapter 10, verses 27 to 28 speak straight into this.
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  It tells us that the fear of the Lord prolongs life and that the
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  hope of the righteous brings joy while the expectation of the
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  wicked perishes. In other words, where you place
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  your hope determines what kind of future you experience.
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  Hope rooted in temporary things eventually runs out, but hope
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  rooted in God produces joy that doesn't depend on circumstances.
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  Then in Acts chapter 17, Paul is speaking to people who had
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  filled their lives with ideas, philosophies, and beliefs, yet
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  we're still searching for meaning.
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  He delivers a clear and loving challenge in Acts chapter 17,
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  verse 30. He says that God now commands
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  all people everywhere to repent. That word repent isn't about
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  shame. It's about turning.
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  Turning away from empty pursuits, turning toward the God
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  who gives real life. Paul is saying God is calling
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  you to stop settling for lesser hopes.
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  He's inviting you into something better, something lasting,
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  something alive. Real hope isn't pretending
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  everything is fine. It's trusting God even when
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  things are. It's anchoring your heart in
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  truth when emotions fluctuate. It's choosing to believe that
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  God's way leads to life, even when the world offers louder,
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  flashier alternatives. This matters because what you
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  hope and shapes how you live. If your hope is in people,
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  you'll always fear losing them. If your hope is in success,
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  you'll never feel like you've done enough.
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  If your hope is an approval, you'll constantly adjust
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  yourself to fit expectations. But when your hope is in God,
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  joy becomes steady, Peace becomes possible.
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  Life becomes meaningful. God's call to turn toward Him is
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  deeply personal. It's an invitation to stop
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  wasting energy on what can't satisfy and to discover the joy
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  that comes from walking with Him.
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  Real hope doesn't disappoint because it's rooted in who God
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  is, not in what you can control. You don't have to give up on
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  hope. You just need to place it in the
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  right place. When your hope is in God, it
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  doesn't fade, it grows and it leads you into real life.
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  Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for
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  offering me a hope that doesn't fade or disappoint.
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  Help me to recognize where I've placed my hope in temporary
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  things and gently turn my heart back to You.
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  Teach me to trust You fully and to build my life on what truly
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  lasts. Fill me with joy that comes from
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  knowing You and give me courage to follow your call with my
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  whole heart in Jesus name, Amen. What if the way you pray changed
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  because you truly knew who God is?
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  The Supreme God Part 1 is an 8 book devotional and prayer
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  journey that unveils the power, presence and glory of God
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  through His biblical names. In Elohim you encounter God, the
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  Mighty Creator who forms and sustains all things.
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  Yahweh draws you into relationship with the eternal I
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  AM who is present and faithful. Adonai calls you to surrender to
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  the Lord and Master who leads and directs your steps.
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  El Elyon reveals the God Most High, exalted above every power
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  and authority. El Shaddai introduces the all
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  sufficient God who nourishes and strengthens you.
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  El Olam anchors your faith in the everlasting God whose
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  purposes never fail. Elroy assures you that you are
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  seen, known and cared for by a compassionate father.
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  And El Gibor awakens confidence in the mighty God who defends,
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  delivers, and prevails. Through scripture, devotional
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  insight, and prophetic prayer scripts, this series teaches you
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  to pray from revelation, worship with understanding, and walk
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  boldly in God's character. If you're ready to elevate your
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  prayer life and rediscover the God you serve, order the Supreme
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  God Part One on Amazon today or visit prayerscripts.org to begin
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  your. Journey Now I invite you to
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  spend time with God in today's three-year Bible reading plan.
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  Proverbs chapter 10 verses 27 to 28 World English Bible The fear
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  of Yahweh prolongs days, but the years of the wicked shall be
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  shortened. The prospect of the righteous is
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  joy, but the hope of the wicked will perish.
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  Acts chapter 17 World English Bible Now when they had passed
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  through Amphibolis and Apollonia, they came to
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  Thessalonica where there was a Jewish synagogue.
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  Paul, as was his custom, went into them, and for three Sabbath
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  days reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and
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  demonstrating that the Christ had to suffer and rise again
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  from the dead, and saying This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you,
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  is the Christ. Some of them were persuaded and
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  joined Paul and Selas of the devout Greeks, a great
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  multitude, and not a few of the chief women, but the unpersuaded
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  Jews took along some wicked men from the marketplace, and
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  gathering a crowd, set the city in an uproar.
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  Assaulting the House of Jason, they sought to bring them out to
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  the people. When they didn't find them, they
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  dragged Jason and certain brothers before the rulers of
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  the city, crying. These who have turned the world
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  upside down have come here also whom Jason has received.
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  These all act contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that
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  there is another king Jesus. The multitude and the rulers of
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  the city were troubled when they heard these things.
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  When they had taken security from Jason and the rest, they
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  let them go. The brothers immediately sent
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  Paul and Selas away by night to Berea.
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  When they arrived, they went into the Jewish synagogue.
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  Now these were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that
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  they received the Word with all readiness of mind, examining the
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  Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.
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  Many of them therefore believed also of the prominent Greek
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  women, and not a few men. But when the Jews of
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  Thessalonica had knowledge that the word of God was proclaimed
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  by Paul at Berea also, they came there likewise, agitating the
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  multitudes. Then the brothers immediately
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  sent out Paul to go as far as to the sea, and Selas and Timothy
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  still stayed there. But those who escorted Paul
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  brought him as far as Athens, receiving a commandment to Selas
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  and Timothy that they should come to him.
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  Very quickly they departed. Now, while Paul waited for them
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  at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him.
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  As he saw the city full of idols, so he reasoned in the
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  synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and in the
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  marketplace every day with those who met him.
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  Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also were
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  conversing with him. Some said, What does this
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  babbler want to say? Others said He seems to be
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  advocating foreign deities because he preached Jesus and
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  the resurrection. They took hold of him and
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  brought him to the Areopagus, saying, May we know what this
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  new teaching is which you are speaking about?
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  For you bring certain strange things to our ears.
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  We want to know, therefore, what these things mean.
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  Now all the Athenians and the strangers living there spent
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  their time and nothing else but either to tell or to hear some
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  new thing. Paul stood in the middle of the
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  Areopagus and said, You men of Athens, I perceive that you are
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  very religious in all things. For as I passed along and
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  observed the objects of your worship, I also found an altar
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  with this inscription to an unknown God.
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  What therefore you worship in ignorance?
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  I announced to you the God who made the world and all things in
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  it. He, being Lord of heaven and
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  earth, doesn't dwell in temples made with hands.
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  He isn't served by men's hands as though he needed anything,
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  seeing He Himself gives to all life and breath and all things.
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  He made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all
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  the surface of the earth, having determined appointed seasons and
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  the boundaries of their dwellings, that they should seek
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  the Lord, if perhaps they might reach out for Him and find Him,
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  though He is not far from each one of us.
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  For in Him we live, move, and have our being, as some of your
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  own poets have said, For we are also His offspring.
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  Being then the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the
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  divine nature is like gold, or silver, or stone, engraved by
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  art and design of man. The times of ignorance,
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  therefore God overlooked. But now He commands that all
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  people everywhere should repent, because He has appointed a day
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  in which He will judge the world in righteousness by the man whom
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  he has ordained, of which he has given assurance to all men, in
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  that he has raised him from the dead.
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  Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some
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  mocked, but others said, we want to hear you again concerning
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  this. Thus Paul went out from among
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  them, but certain men joined with him and believed, including
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  Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others
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  with them. Thanks for joining us on Bible
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  Chat, where Scripture meets everyday life.
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  If today's devotional encouraged you, share it with a friend and
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  be sure to follow the podcast so you won't miss the next
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  conversation. Until next time, stay rooted in
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  truth, anchored in hope, and walking daily with Jesus.