Latest / A Chapter a Day Bible Reading / December 30 - 1 Kings 2

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December 30 - 1 Kings 2 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

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  Hello friends, it's shown here. It is Monday, it is the last
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  Monday of 2024, it's the 30th of December and it is good to have
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  your company. I reckon most of you are
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  probably taking it easy, enjoying some easy days as you
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  go about this strange twilight zone between Christmas and New
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  Year, where the days kind of bleed into each other and you
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  take it a little bit easier. Ah, that's going on for you now
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  friends. Enjoy this time, enjoy just
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  being unplugged and forgetting what day of the week it is.
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  But what you haven't forgotten is to tap on play.
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  And thank you for inviting me into your chill period so that
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  we can continue this story together.
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  We, of course, are reading through the story of First Kings
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  and we are about to spend some time in Solomon's company, and
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  he is a pretty amazing guy. And as we listen to his story of
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  coming to power and the way that he rules for most of his time
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  anyway, these are dead set the golden years of Jewish history.
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  This is the period where they are at their greatest,
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  strongest, most advanced, most prolific, and glorious and
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  powerful and influential in the world of kings anyway.
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  So we will enjoy this part of the story, but never, never
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  forgetting that the purpose of the Book of Kings is not to
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  glorify the King's reigns, but to point out that their reign is
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  never, never going to be as good as God's reign.
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  In fact, they fall well short by the time we come to the end of
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  these stories. So let's continue on our way,
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  hearing all about David handing that flaming torch over to his
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  son Solomon as we read together First Kings Chapter 2.
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  As the time of King David's death approached, he gave this
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  charge to his son Solomon. I am going where everyone on
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  earth must someday go. Take courage and be a man.
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  Observe the requirements of the Lord your God and follow all His
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  ways. Keep the decrees, command,
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  regulations, and laws written in the law of Moses so that you
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  will be successful in all you do and wherever you go.
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  If you do this, then the Lord will keep the promise He made to
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  me. He told me if your descendants
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  live as they should and follow me faithfully with all their
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  heart and soul, one of them will always sit on the throne of
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  Israel. And there is something else.
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  You know what Joab son of Jeroiah did to me when he
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  murdered my two army commanders, Abner, son of Ner, and Amasa,
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  son of Jetha. He pretended that it was an act
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  of war, but it was done in a time of peace, staining his belt
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  and sandals with innocent blood. Do with him what you think best,
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  but don't let him grow old and go to his grave in peace.
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  Be kind to the sons of Bazalai of Gilead.
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  Make them permanent guests at your table, for they took care
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  of me when I fled from your brother Absalom.
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  And remember Shimei, son of Gera, the man from Bahurim in
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  Benjamin. He cursed me with a terrible
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  curse as I was fleeing Mahanaim when he came down to meet me at
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  the Jordan River. I swore by the Lord that I would
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  not kill him, but that oath does not make him innocent.
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  You are a wise man, and you will know how to arrange a bloody
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  death for him. Then David died and was buried
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  with his ancestors in the city of David.
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  David had reigned over Israel for 40 years, seven of them in
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  Hebron and 33 in Jerusalem. Solomon became king and sat on
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  the throne of David, his father, and his Kingdom was firmly
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  established. One day, Adonijah, whose mother
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  was Haggoth, came to see Bathsheba, Solomon's mother.
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  Have you come with peaceful intentions?
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  She asked him. Yes, he said.
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  In fact, I have a favour to ask of you.
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  What is it, She asked. He replied.
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  As you know, the Kingdom was rightfully mine.
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  All Israel wanted me to be the next king, but the tables were
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  turned and the Kingdom went to my brother instead, for that is
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  the way the Lord wanted it. So now I have just one favour to
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  ask of you. Please don't turn me down.
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  What is it? She asked.
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  He replied, Speak to King Solomon on my behalf, for I know
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  he will do anything you request. Ask him to let me marry Abishag,
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  the girl from Shunam. All right, Bathsheba replied.
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  I will speak to the king for you.
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  So Bathsheba went to King Solomon to speak on Adonijah's
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  behalf. The king rose from his throne to
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  meet her, and he bowed down before her.
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  When he sat down on his throne again, the king ordered that a
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  throne be brought for his mother and she sat at his right hand.
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  I have one small request to make of you, she said.
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  I hope you won't turn me down. What is it my mother?
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  He asked. You know I won't refuse you.
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  Then let your brother Adeniger marry Abishag, the girl from
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  Shunam, She replied. How can you possibly ask me to
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  give Abishag to Adonijah? King Solomon demanded.
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  You might as well ask me to give him the Kingdom.
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  You know that he is my older brother and that he has Abiatha
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  the priest and Joab son of Jeroiah on his side.
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  Then King Solomon made a vow before the Lord.
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  May God strike me and even kill me if Adonijah has not sealed
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  his fate. With this request, the Lord has
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  confirmed me and placed me on the throne of my father David.
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  He has established my dynasty as he promised.
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  So as surely as the Lord lives, Adonijah will die this very day.
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  So King Solomon ordered Binaya son of Jehoiada to execute him,
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  and Adonijah was put to death. Then the king said to Abiatha,
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  the priest, go back to your home in Anathoth.
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  You deserve to die, but I will not kill you now, because you
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  carried the ark of the Sovereign Lord for David my father, and
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  you shared all his hardships. Sir Solomon deposed Abiatha from
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  his position as priest of the Lord, thereby fulfilling the
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  prophecy the Lord had given at Shiloh concerning the
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  descendants of Eli. Joab had not joined Absalom's
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  earlier rebellion, but he had joined Adonijah's rebellion.
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  So when Joab heard about Adonijah's death, he ran to the
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  Sacred Tent to the Lord and grabbed onto the horns of the
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  altar. When this was reported to King
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  Solomon, he sent Beniah son of Jehoiada to execute him.
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  Beniah went to the Sacred Tent to the Lord and said to Joab,
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  The king orders you to come out. But Joab answered, No, I will
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  die here. So Benaiah returned to the king
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  and told him what Joab had said. Do as he said, the king replied.
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  Kill him there beside the altar, and bury him.
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  This will remove the guilt of Joab's senseless murders from me
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  and from my father's family. The Lord will repay him for the
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  murders of two men who are more righteous and better than he.
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  For my father knew nothing about the deaths of Abner son of Ner,
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  commander of the army of Israel, and of Amassa son of Jetha,
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  commander of the army of Judah. May their blood be on Joab and
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  his descendants forever, and may the Lord grant peace forever to
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  David, his descendants, his dynasty, and his throne.
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  So Binaya son of Jehoiada returned to the Sacred Tent and
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  killed Joab, and he was buried at his home in the wilderness.
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  Then the king appointed Banaya to command the army in place of
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  Joab, and he installed Zadok the priest to take the place of
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  Abiatha. The king then sent for Shimay
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  and told him Build a house here in Jerusalem and live there, but
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  don't step outside the city to go anywhere else.
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  On the day you so much as cross the Kidron Valley, you will
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  surely die and your blood will be on your own head.
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  Shimay replied. Your sentence is fair.
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  I will do whatever my Lord the king commands.
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  So Shimay lived in Jerusalem for a long time, but three years
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  later, 2 of Shimay's slaves ran away to King Akish, son of Marka
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  of Gath. When Shimay learned where they
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  were, he saddled his donkey and went to Gath to search for them.
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  When he found them, he brought them back to Jerusalem.
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  Solomon heard that Chimay had left Jerusalem and gone to Gath
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  and returned. So the king sent for Chimay and
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  demanded, Didn't I make you swear by the Lord and warn you
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  not to go anywhere else, or you would surely die?
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  And you replied, The sentence is fair, I will do as you say.
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  Then why haven't you kept your oath to the Lord and obeyed my
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  command? The king also said to Shimay.
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  You certainly remember all the wicked things you did to my
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  father David. May the Lord now bring that evil
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  on your own head. But may I, King Solomon, receive
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  the Lord's blessing, and May 1 of David's descendants always
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  sit on his throne in the presence of the Lord.
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  Then, at the King's command, Banaya, son of Jehoiada, took
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  Shimay outside and killed him. So the Kingdom was now firmly in
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  Solomon's grip. Oh Lord, in this Bible reading
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  we see so clearly that the things that we do have clear
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  consequences, and that's so often those consequences cannot
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  be dodged or cannot be avoided, but they will play out in the
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  fullness of time. We understand this Lord, for
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  that is how the world works, Lord, but you, you have shown us
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  a completely different way. We celebrate the birth of Jesus
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  and his coming into this world where you show us a different
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  way, a way of forgiveness and a way of restoration and a way of
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  love. You show us so clearly through
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  the way that Jesus has lived and the truth that he shared about
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  you and your character. Our Lord thank you for your
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  forgiveness that even though we have turn from you in so many
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  ways and done the wrong thing, you forgive us and through Jesus
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  sacrifice for us our slate is wiped clean and we come to you
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  holy and acceptable through His sacrificial death for us.
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  Oh, we are so grateful that you have rigged the system in our
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  benefit because of your love for us.
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  Help us always to live in that love, that redemptive love hard
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  earned for us. Thank you Jesus, for doing this
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  for us. We love you and we praise you
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  and we pray all these things in your precious name, Amen.