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Cain and Abel - The Book of Genesis · Bible in a Year with Jack Graham

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  Speaker 1: Let us pray. And Adam knew Eve his wife, and
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  Speaker 1: she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten
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  Speaker 1: a man from the Lord. Genesis 4.1 Dear Lord, through
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  Speaker 1: today's reading of Genesis 4.1-16, I now realize that, even
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  Speaker 1: though life has its hard moments, I can still choose
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  Speaker 1: to thank you that your presence will never leave me.
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  Speaker 1: Because of this truth, I don't have to allow jealousy
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  Speaker 1: to settle in my heart when it appears that others
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  Speaker 1: are being blessed by you. Instead, I will focus on
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  Speaker 1: the fact that as I keep my heart right and
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  Speaker 1: serve you with gladness, nothing that has been reserved for
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  Speaker 1: me will go to anyone else because what you have
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  Speaker 1: for me is for me. I decree and declare that
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  Speaker 1: my seat has been reserved at the table of success.
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  Speaker 1: I declare that nothing but joy and happiness will come
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  Speaker 1: forth through me when I see others succeed and win
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  Speaker 1: at life. Thank you, God, that you've already covered my
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  Speaker 1: past emotions of jealousy and anger. Thank you that hatred
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  Speaker 1: and resentment are not a part of my story. Through
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  Speaker 1: the lives of Cain and Abel, I will make sure
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  Speaker 1: that my sacrifice to you is one of joy and
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  Speaker 1: wholeness of heart. In Jesus' name. Listening to these daily
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  Speaker 1: prayers strengthens your relationship with God. Continue hearing from the
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  Speaker 1: Lord by listening to today's Bible in a Year. Brought
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  Speaker 1: to you by BibleInAYear.com.
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  Speaker 2: Cain and Abel Before this story, we learned about the
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  Speaker 2: fall of mankind. Adam and Eve lived with God, shameless
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  Speaker 2: and without sin. But because of their pride and desire
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  Speaker 2: to be their own gods, they were deceived and turned
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  Speaker 2: away from him. Now they live in exile, still with God,
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  Speaker 2: but no longer in an intimate relationship with him. Now
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  Speaker 2: we will learn about how Adam and Eve start their
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  Speaker 2: family outside of paradise. They have their own children, but
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  Speaker 2: the sinful nature of Adam and Eve has now been
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  Speaker 2: given to their children, And what comes next is a
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  Speaker 2: tragedy that has been repeated for all of human history,
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  Speaker 2: 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. Today we pick up with
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  Speaker 3: Adam and Eve outside the garden. This is life after
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  Speaker 3: the curse. If yesterday's story was about doubt and pride,
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  Speaker 3: today's theme is insincere worship of God, anger. bitterness, and
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  Speaker 3: the passing down of sin nature to all future generations
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  Speaker 3: after Adam. Adam and Eve start a family. They have
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  Speaker 3: two sons, Cain and Abel, names that have become infamous
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  Speaker 3: for the devastating effects of sibling rivalry. Cain and his
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  Speaker 3: brother Abel grew up knowing God. They were taught the
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  Speaker 3: importance of sacrifices. Abel chose the best to offer to
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  Speaker 3: God while Cain brought offerings from a sense of obligation
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  Speaker 3: rather than gratitude and praise. So God accepts one and
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  Speaker 3: rejects the other. Cain was angry, bitter, and sin took
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  Speaker 3: hold of his heart. The tragedy that ensued once again
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  Speaker 3: created an irreparable rift in the family. The first human
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  Speaker 3: blood that was shed on God's once perfect earth came
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  Speaker 3: from the hands of one brother upon another. Sin was
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  Speaker 3: now spreading through generations, and the cost was high. Murder, banishment,
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  Speaker 3: another curse, and yet in the midst of it all,
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  Speaker 3: God's grace and mercy once again shining through. Let's listen
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  Speaker 3: now to the telling of this story from Genesis 4,
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  Speaker 3: the story of Cain and Abel.
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  Speaker 2: Adam and Eve had been banished from Eden, and their
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  Speaker 2: sin had made life hard, but the steadfast love of
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  Speaker 2: God had not left them. Adam and Eve knew each
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  Speaker 2: other intimately and became pregnant. First came Cain. Afterward came Abel.
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  Speaker 2: Cain labored in the fields, growing food for the family.
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  Speaker 2: Abel tended to the livestock as a shepherd. Cain and
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  Speaker 2: Abel are the first of us to grow up in
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  Speaker 2: a world riddled with imperfection, sin, and distance from God.
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  Speaker 2: Both children grew up in the new world, and it
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  Speaker 2: was time for Cain and Abel to bring sacrifices to God.
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  Speaker 2: Cain brought some of the fruits of his labor, grains, vegetables,
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  Speaker 2: and other vegetation. Abel brought the firstborn of his flock,
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  Speaker 2: a lamb. Abel brought the best of what he had.
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  Speaker 2: Not only this, but Abel had to raise this little
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  Speaker 2: sheep and kill it before God. This means that it
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  Speaker 2: was not just a sacrifice of materials, but a sacrifice
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  Speaker 2: of the heart. Because of this, God accepted Abel's offerings.
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  Speaker 2: God also rejected Cain's offering, knowing that it did not
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  Speaker 2: come from any real love at all. Jealousy gripped Cain's heart.
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  Speaker 2: Contempt towards God boiled up inside him. This is mankind's
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  Speaker 2: first rumblings of true hatred. Cain's face gave away his
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  Speaker 2: true feelings. God noticed this and asked, Why are you
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  Speaker 2: so angry? Knowing full well what the issue was, If
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  Speaker 2: you do well, will you not be accepted?
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  Speaker 1: God asked.
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  Speaker 2: If you don't do well, you give more room for
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  Speaker 2: hatred and sin to rule in your heart. Do not
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  Speaker 2: let hate rule over you. You can overcome it. But
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  Speaker 2: Cain didn't listen. His anger had already won him over.
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  Speaker 2: There would be no stopping the sin he was about
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  Speaker 2: to commit. Cain lured his brother into the fields. Then,
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  Speaker 2: at that moment, all the hatred... Jealousy and contempt of
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  Speaker 2: Cain unleashed onto his brother. Blow after blow, Cain unleashed
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  Speaker 2: his wrath and spited God by murdering his brother. His
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  Speaker 2: hands stained red, dripping with the blood of his brother. God,
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  Speaker 2: already knowing what Cain had done, asked him, Cain, where
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  Speaker 2: is your brother? Cain replied, I do not know. Am
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  Speaker 2: I my brother's keeper? God is the creator of life,
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  Speaker 2: and Cain had taken an innocent one. This enraged God.
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  Speaker 2: He cursed Cain, saying, What have you done? The voice
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  Speaker 2: of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground,
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  Speaker 2: and now you are cursed from the ground, which has
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  Speaker 2: opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand.
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  Speaker 2: When you work the ground, it shall no longer yield
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  Speaker 2: to you its strength. You shall be a fugitive and
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  Speaker 2: a wanderer on the earth. This punishment was fitting. Because
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  Speaker 2: Cain had taken a life, God wanted his life to
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  Speaker 2: be burdensome. It was more than Cain could bear. Fortunately
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  Speaker 2: for him, God's mercy is still present in punishment. God said,
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  Speaker 2: If anyone kills you, vengeance shall be taken on them sevenfold.
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  Speaker 2: And he put a mark on Cain to keep anyone
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  Speaker 2: from doing to him what he did to his brother.
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  Speaker 2: Cain had shed innocent blood, and this was a pattern
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  Speaker 2: mankind would continue in for a thousand generations after. Yet
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  Speaker 2: God continues to show mercy, waiting to bless them and
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  Speaker 2: save them from their evil.
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  Speaker 3: When jealousy and anger take root, they fester and grow.
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  Speaker 3: That's what we see happening in today's story. Abel, who
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  Speaker 3: really only plays a brief role, is lifted up as
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  Speaker 3: the example of God honoring sacrifices and offerings. He gave
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  Speaker 3: God the first and the best, and God accepted that sacrifice. Cain,
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  Speaker 3: whose heart was not in the right place, full of
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  Speaker 3: faith to begin with, brought God vegetables and grains, but
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  Speaker 3: not his first fruits, not his best, and not in faith.
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  Speaker 3: His motives were wrong, and he became angry when his
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  Speaker 3: offering was rejected. Sin started to creep in through resentment
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  Speaker 3: and anger. So God warned him of the danger of
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  Speaker 3: letting sin in. He speaks to Cain in Genesis 4,
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  Speaker 3: verses 7 and 8, saying, If you do well, will
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  Speaker 3: your face not be cheerful? And if you do not
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  Speaker 3: do well, sin is lurking at the door, and its
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  Speaker 3: desire is for you, but you must master it. I
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  Speaker 3: appreciate this passage providing a warning that's applicable to you
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  Speaker 3: and me today. Sin is now loose in the world.
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  Speaker 3: It lurks at our door. It desires us. In other words,
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  Speaker 3: it wants to get in our heads and in our hearts,
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  Speaker 3: into our lives. When sin is allowed to rule over us,
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  Speaker 3: the outcome is never good and ultimately tragic. That's what
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  Speaker 3: happened to Cain. Sin took hold of him, and he
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  Speaker 3: directed his jealousy and anger at the one whose offering
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  Speaker 3: was accepted, to his own brother, whom he killed in
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  Speaker 3: cold blood. Once again, we're reminded that sin always comes first.
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  Speaker 3: with a price. As he did with Adam and Eve,
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  Speaker 3: God questions Cain and his guilt is revealed. Cain is
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  Speaker 3: cursed to wander in the earth. Sin, separation, is always,
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  Speaker 3: always always the same. When we sin, there is always
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  Speaker 3: separation that happens from God, which is the worst of
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  Speaker 3: all separations, and then from others. But again, God in
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  Speaker 3: his mercy does not abandon Cain or leave him without protection.
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  Speaker 3: God marks him. not as a sign of the curse,
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  Speaker 3: but as a sign of God's hand of protection. God,
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  Speaker 3: thank you for this story that shows us how sin
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  Speaker 3: can take hold and rule our thoughts, leading us to
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  Speaker 3: commit unthinkable acts. Help us through your spirit to master
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  Speaker 3: the sin that lurks at our doors. And thank you, Lord,
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  Speaker 3: that even when we sin, even through the consequences of
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  Speaker 3: our sin, your mercy and grace remain. In Christ's name, amen.
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  Speaker 3: Thank you for listening to today's Bible in a Year podcast.
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  Speaker 3: I'm Pastor Jack Graham from Dallas, Texas. Download the Pray.com
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  Speaker 3: sure to visit jackgraham.org. God bless.