Latest / Bible Chat Devotional / May 18 - When Sorrow Leads to Change

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May 18 - When Sorrow Leads to Change · 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.
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  May 18th Choosing the right path Let's be honest about something.
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  There are moments when the wrong choice is really tempting.
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  Not because it's obviously terrible, but because it seems
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  easier, more satisfying in the moment, or like it'll make
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  people like you more. Maybe it's going along with
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  something that doesn't sit right with your conscience.
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  Maybe it's letting pride win in an argument when you know you
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  should back down. Maybe it's cutting a corner just
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  to get ahead. And in the moment, you can
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  usually talk yourself into it. We're good at that.
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  Proverbs chapter 16, verses 5 and 6 address that directly.
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  Everyone who is arrogant in heart is an abomination to the
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  Lord. Be assured he will not go
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  unpunished. By steadfast love and
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  faithfulness, iniquity is atoned for, and by the fear of the Lord
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  one turns away from evil. There's a lot in those two
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  verses. Pride, not just loudmouth
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  arrogance, but the quiet kind, the kind that puts your own
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  judgment above gods, has real consequences.
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  But look at the other side of that coin.
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  Steadfast love and faithfulness are the path away from
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  destruction and the fear of the Lord.
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  That humble recognition of who God is is what actually turns us
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  in the right direction. This is so important for
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  navigating the choices you face every day.
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  Pride whispers you know better, do what feels good.
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  You deserve this. But humility says God, I want to
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  honor you more than I want to satisfy myself right now.
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  That's not always an easy prayer to mean, but it's a powerful
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  one. 2nd Corinthians chapter 6, verses 11 and 12 show us Paul's
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  heart laid completely open. Our heart is wide open.
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  You are not restricted by us, but you are restricted in your
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  own affections. Paul is essentially saying we're
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  not the ones holding you back. The limitation is inside you.
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  Your own closed off heart is what's keeping you from the
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  fullness of what God has for you that's worth sitting with.
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  How often do we blame circumstances, other people, or
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  bad luck for where we are, when really what needs to change is
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  our willingness to let God in completely?
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  And then Second Corinthians Chapter 7 verse 9 introduces A
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  distinction that is genuinely life changing.
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  I rejoice not that you were grieved, but that your grief led
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  to repentance. For you felt a godly sorrow so
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  that you were not overwhelmed by it.
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  There is a difference between godly sorrow and guilt.
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  Guilt says I'm terrible, I'm a failure, I'll never get this
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  right. It spirals inward and leads to
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  shame. Godly sorrow says, I got this
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  wrong and I want to make it right.
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  It turns outward toward God, toward change, toward growth.
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  One crushes you, the other frees you when you mess up.
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  And you will, because we all do. The question isn't whether you
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  feel bad, it's what direction that feeling takes you.
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  Does it drive you toward God or away from Him?
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  Does it motivate change or just produce more shame?
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  God's love is bigger than your worst choice.
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  His grace covers what humility brings to Him.
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  And every moment of genuine repentance is actually a step
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  forward, not just a moment of failure.
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  The right path isn't the path where you never fall.
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  It's the path where you keep getting back up and turning back
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  toward Him. Let's pray.
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  Heavenly Father, thank you for your steadfast love that is
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  bigger than my pride and my mistakes.
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  Help me to stay humble, to choose your way over my own,
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  even when it's hard, where I've been holding back, keeping my
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  heart closed, or justifying choices I know aren't right.
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  Soften me. Teach me the difference between
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  guilt, that paralysis, and godly sorrow that brings real change.
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  I want to walk the right path, not because I'm perfect, but
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  because I trust You in Jesus name, Amen.
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  What if the battles hitting your family are not random and your
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  home can become a place where darkness loses every right to
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  stay? The Secured Home is a powerful
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  six book prayer series for believers who want to guard
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  their households with biblical authority, peace and confidence
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  in Jesus Christ. Book 1.
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  Guarded Thresholds fortifies every doorway, room, and entry
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  point with prayerful protection. Book 2, Cleansed Rooms, helps
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  reclaim spaces marked by fear, unrest, and spiritual
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  defilement. Book 3, Closed Breaches, exposes
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  hidden access points and severs every agreement with darkness.
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  Book 4, Broken Assignments, confronts oppression, torment,
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  and attacks against your family. Book 5, Consecrated Walls,
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  dedicates every space and rhythm of the home to God.
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  Book 6, Abiding Peace, shows how to maintain spiritual order,
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  rest, and holy presence every day.
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  Order now on Amazon or visit prayerscripts.org.
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  Now I invite you to spend time with God in today's three-year
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  Bible reading plan. Proverbs chapter 16 verses 5 to
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  6 World English Bible. Everyone who is proud in heart
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  is an abomination to Yahweh. They shall certainly not be
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  unpunished by mercy and truth. Iniquity is atoned for by the
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  fear of Yahweh. Men depart from evil.
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  Second Corinthians chapters six to seven world English Bible
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  working together. We entreat also that you do not
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  receive the grace of God in vain.
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  For he says, at an acceptable time, I listen to you in a day
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  of salvation. I helped you.
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  Behold, now is the acceptable time.
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  Behold, now is the day of salvation.
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  We give no occasion of stumbling in anything that our service may
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  not be blamed, but in everything commending ourselves as servants
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  of God. In great endurance.
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  In afflictions, in hardships, in distresses, in beatings, in
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  imprisonments, in riots, in laborers, in watchings, in
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  fastings, in pureness, in knowledge, in perseverance, in
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  kindness, in the Holy Spirit, in sincere love, in the word of
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  truth, in the power of God. By the armor of righteousness on
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  the right hand and on the left. By glory and dishonor, by evil
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  report and good report, as deceivers and yet true, as
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  unknown and yet well known, as dying.
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  And behold, we live as punished and not killed, as sorrowful,
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  yet always rejoicing, as poor, yet making many rich, as having
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  nothing and yet possessing all things.
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  Our mouth is open to you, Corinthians.
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  Our heart is enlarged. You are not restricted by us,
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  but you are restricted by your own affections.
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  Now in return I speak as to my children.
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  You also open your hearts. Don't be unequally yoked with
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  unbelievers. For what fellowship do
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  righteousness and iniquity have? Or what fellowship does light
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  have with darkness? What agreement does Christ have
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  with Belial? Or what portion does a believer
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  have with an unbeliever? What agreement does a temple of
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  God have with idols? For you are a temple of the
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  living God. Even as God said, I will dwell
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  in them and walk in them. I will be their God, and they
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  will be my people. Therefore come out from among
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  them and be separate, says the Lord.
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  Touch no unclean thing. I will receive you.
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  I will be to you a father, You will be to me sons and
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  daughters, says the Lord Almighty.
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  Having therefore these promises, beloved, let's cleanse ourselves
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  from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in
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  the fear of God. Open your hearts to us.
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  We wronged no one. We corrupted no one.
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  We took advantage of no one. I say this not to condemn you,
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  for I have said before that you are in our hearts to die
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  together and live together. Great is my boldness of speech
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  toward you. Great is my boasting on your
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  behalf. I am filled with comfort.
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  I overflow with joy in all our affliction, for even when we had
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  come into Macedonia our flesh had no relief, but we were
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  afflicted on every side. Fightings were outside, fear was
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  inside. Nevertheless, He who comforts
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  the lowly God comforted us by the coming of Titus, and not by
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  His coming only, but also by the comfort with which He was
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  comforted in you, while He told us of your longing, your
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  mourning, and your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced still more.
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  For though I grieved you with my letter, I do not regret it,
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  though I did regret it. For I see that my letter made
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  you grieve, though just for a while.
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  I now rejoice, not that you were grieved, but that you were
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  grieved to repentance. For you were grieved in a godly
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  way, that you might suffer loss by us in nothing.
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  For godly sorrow produces repentance to salvation, which
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  brings no regret, but the sorrow of the world produces death.
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  For behold this same thing, that you were grieved in a godly way.
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  What earnest carrot worked in you?
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  Yes, what defense, indignation, fear, longing, zeal and
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  vengeance in everything you demonstrated yourselves to be
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  pure in the matter. So although I wrote to you, I
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  wrote not for his 'cause that did the wrong, nor for his
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  'cause that suffered the wrong, but that your earnest care for
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  us might be revealed in you. In the sight of God, therefore,
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  we have been comforted in our comfort.
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  We rejoice the more exceedingly for the joy of Titus, because
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  his Spirit has been refreshed by you all.
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  For if in anything I have boasted to him on your behalf, I
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  was not disappointed. But as we spoke all things to
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  you in truth, so our glorying also, which I made before Titus,
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  was found to be truth. His affection is more abundantly
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  toward you, while he remembers all of your obedience.
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  How with fear and trembling you received him.
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  I rejoice that in everything I am confident concerning you.
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  Thanks for joining us on Bible Chat, where Scripture meets
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  everyday life. If today's devotional
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  truth, anchored in hope, and walking daily with.
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  Jesus.