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Together Through Every Season · In the Stillness Podcast

• 0:00
  Hey you guys, it's friendsly. Welcome back to In the
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  Stillness. So glad that y'all are joining
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  me on the podcast today. I honestly don't know what kind
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  of season each of you are walking through right now.
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  It might feel stretching, lonely, it might be great and
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  sweet, or maybe you're just ready for a shift and a change.
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  But today's passage reminds us that seasons are intentional,
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  and in those seasons, community always matters.
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  It matters so deeply and also what we invest in.
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  It carries so much weight spiritually and eternally.
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  So we are going to be reading in First Thessalonians chapter 2,
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  verses 17 through 20. I'm going to read it in the
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  Passion translation because I love this version.
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  So let's go ahead and get started, beloved friends.
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  We may have been torn away from you physically for a season, but
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  never in our hearts, for we have had intense longings and have
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  endeavored to come and see in your faces the reflection of
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  this great love. We miss you badly, and I
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  personally wanted to come to you trying again and again, but our
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  adversary Satan blocked our way for what will be our confident
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  hope, our exhilarating joy, our wonderful trophy that we will
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  boast in before our Lord Jesus at His appearing.
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  It is you. Yes, you are glorious pride and
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  joy. OK, I love that version because
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  there's just so much emphasis on the exclamation and you truly do
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  feel Paul's emotions. But I want to go right into one
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  line that really stuck out to me in the beginning.
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  We see that he says, torn away from you physically for a
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  season, but never in our hearts. So this underlines that you can
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  be physically separated but still spiritually united.
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  And it's true not just for Paul and the Thessalonians here.
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  It's true for us and Jesus because we obviously do not see
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  Jesus in the physical form, but we're united to him by his
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  Spirit and that same Spirit. It binds believers together.
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  This is how the body of Christ is designed to be unified.
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  It's not just on Sunday mornings when we gather in a church
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  building. Not just surface level
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  connection, but everyday life together, ordinary conversations
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  and sharing burdens, sharing joy.
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  Paul says that he had intense longings and that he endeavored
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  to see them. He missed them so badly.
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  So I just want to ask. When is the last time that we
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  felt that kind of longing for Christ centered, rooted
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  community? It makes me think back to the
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  early church in Acts. I want to read y'all from Acts
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  chapter 2 verses 46 through 47. It says every day they continue
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  to meet together in the temple courts.
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  They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and
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  sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the
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  people. So that is daily life together,
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  praising God side by side in unison.
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  And zooming out even further, this is where it's all headed.
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  We see in Revelation 79 that John is describing.
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  Before him there was a great multitude that no one could
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  count, from every nation, tribe, people, and language standing
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  before the throne and before the Lamb.
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  And they're crying out in a loud voice, Salvation belongs to our
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  God, who sits on the throne into the Lamb.
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  So this picture of eternity, the bride of Christ that Jesus is
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  coming back for, is meant to be together, every nation, every
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  tribe. It does not matter what your
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  background is, what you look like, where you come from.
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  We're meant to worship as one. And when we're truly walking in
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  community, we get to see more of Jesus because he lives in each
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  believer. We see the reflection of this
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  great love, as Paul says, in one another's faces and hearts.
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  And that kind of unity, it takes effort.
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  You have to be intentional and you have to be present.
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  So just also I just want to add, just because one friend might be
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  in a single season and one is married, that doesn't mean that
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  your closeness has to disappear. Yes, of course rhythms are going
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  to change with one having a spouse, but spiritual unity and
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  meaningful friendship, it can still remain and it should still
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  remain. There's so much to learn from
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  what God is doing in different seasons of each person's life.
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  Now Paul also says that they were part for a season and
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  seasons are purposeful, but they're not permanent.
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  And just think about natural seasons with weather.
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  They're like life seasons and they shift too.
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  Sometimes we forget that what feels endless right now, you can
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  get so stuck and caught up in the moment that you forget it's
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  actually temporary in light of what's to come.
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  I love second Peter 3/8. It always recalibrates me.
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  It says do not forget this one thing with the Lord.
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  A day is like 1000 years and 1000 years are like a day y'all.
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  This reminds us God is not on our timetable, we are on His.
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  And think about it. Paul could have spiraled in
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  frustration about being blocked by the enemy.
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  He could have focused on all the inconveniences that he was
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  experiencing. But instead he lifts his eyes up
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  and he looks forward to Christ appearing in his return.
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  He was already thinking eternally.
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  So I just want to ask. How are you viewing your current
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  season that you're in? Is it something that you just
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  want out of, or do you trust that it is intentionally shaping
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  you? Are you engaging in today, in
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  the present moment, with gratitude in your heart, while
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  still longing for eternal glory? I think this is something we can
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  all be asking the Lord daily. God, what are you teaching me
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  right now? How can I become more like Jesus
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  today? And then we see Paul talk about
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  Satan. He says that he is our
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  adversary. And sometimes I just want to say
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  he doesn't block us with only chaos.
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  Sometimes it's more subtle than that.
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  It can be accusations, discouragement, comparison,
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  discontentment. Satan literally means adversary,
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  opposer, or accuser, and he wants to accuse you in your
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  thoughts, in your head. He wants to block your growth
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  and your obedience. He wants to cancel out your joy
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  in the season that God has given you right now.
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  And for me personally, for a little bit, I had to confront
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  discontentment and singleness because I have a desire for
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  marriage and I wanted a relationship so badly that it
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  was almost consuming me. And it was like I was treating
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  it as if it would complete me. But I had to come to terms with
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  the bottom line that only Christ completes me and learning
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  contentment. It's a daily choice.
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  I had to stop feeding a narrative that I was missing out
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  and stop taking in things that reinforce that mindset.
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  Whether that's through the music that I was listening to or the
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  shows I was watching, I had to choose gratitude intentionally.
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  I still do right now. Now, I can still desire
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  marriage, but I'm not waiting to live once I get it because I'm
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  fulfilled in Jesus. So I just want y'all to think,
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  if you believe that your joy starts in the next season,
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  you're going to definitely miss out on the abundant life
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  available to you right now. So ask yourself these things
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  honestly. Are you aware, like actually
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  aware, that you have an enemy who opposes you?
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  Are you letting him block your growth in any way, shape, or
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  form? Are accusations and thoughts
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  shaping your perspective? Because we need to let that
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  awareness make us more focused, not fearful.
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  And I love how Paul ends this passage.
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  It says, he says what will be our confident hope, our
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  exhilarating joy, our wonderful trophy.
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  It is you. Besides knowing Jesus himself,
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  guys, one of the greatest joys in life is who we get to
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  minister to about him. Paul did not point to his status
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  or even his success rate with who he was evangelizing to.
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  He pointed to people. There is nothing like seeing
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  someone encounter Jesus, truly watching the freedom break out
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  and the chains just be released and being a part of someone's
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  growth in the faith. I was talking about this
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  recently with a friend. But sometimes you're the one
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  planting the seeds and you're part of the sowing, and
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  sometimes you're watering. Sometimes, though, you get to
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  see the harvest. You're in the reaping, but
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  ultimately, God is the one who saves.
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  We are just the vessels. So there's not a better than
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  moment and sharing. Jesus is not meant to feel
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  heavy. Paul calls it confident hope.
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  He calls it joy. It's a trophy, it's a reward.
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  Those are positive, happy words. So something I just love
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  envisioning is getting to heaven one day.
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  Imagine you're standing before Jesus, and with him are the
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  faces of people who you recognize, who have encountered
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  him because you were faithful to speak out about your faith.
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  That is eternal joy that Paul is pointing to.
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  So let's go ahead and close out in prayer.
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  Dear Father, thank you for the season that you have each of us
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  in right now. Would you help us to not rush it
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  or even resent it, but to grow through it, to embrace it?
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  Would you give us a deeper longing for Christ centered
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  community? Would you protect us from the
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  enemy's lies and accusations? Give us the ability and the
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  awareness of when He is attacking us?
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  What is not your truth? And help us to recall what is
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  your truth so that we can fight back.
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  Would you teach us contentment in you alone?
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  It's not found in a perfect job, in a perfect relationship or
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  situation. It's found only in you.
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  Jesus, use our lives for eternal impact.
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  Would you let our joy be evident to everyone around us into
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  people that we get the privilege to point towards you?
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  We pray this in your holy name. Amen.
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  OK, well that is today's episode.
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  I hope that it blesses you guys and you can learn something from
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  it. And praying for y'all's day and
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  hope that y'all have a great rest of the week.
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  I'll see y'all in the next episode.