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Speaker 1: Life Audio. Hello, and thank you for listening to your

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Speaker 1: Daily Bible Verse, the podcast that examines one verse each

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Speaker 1: day to learn more about God and his will for us.

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Speaker 1: I'm your host, Carol McCracken, and after a short word

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Speaker 1: from our sponsor, we'll dive into today's Bible Verse, Exodus

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Speaker 1: twenty eight. If you've ever wondered, is God actually trying

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Speaker 1: to tell me something? Or am I just overthinking patterns?

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Speaker 1: I keep noticing today's verses for you. Lately, I keep

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Speaker 1: running into the same themes rest seven boundaries. They showed

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Speaker 1: up inserments, conversations, books, podcasts, even casually in passing comments.

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Speaker 1: It stuck with me longer than I expected. Now. At

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Speaker 1: first I burst it off. I don't believe I have

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Speaker 1: to earn God's love. I don't live with that kind

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Speaker 1: of spiritual anxiety really. But if I'm honest, I do

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Speaker 1: have an issue with productivity. Not because I love being busy,

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Speaker 1: but because I love being done. I want everything handled,

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Speaker 1: wrapped up, cleared out, so my free time's uninterrupted. And

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Speaker 1: I don't want to be on call. I don't want

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Speaker 1: to last minute text or email or request. I want

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Speaker 1: the time to be completely mine. Then, during his staff meeting,

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Speaker 1: someone asked a general question about whether our congregation understands

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Speaker 1: healthy boundaries. I answered quickly without thinking no. A discerning

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Speaker 1: coworker gently asked, do you think that might be more

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Speaker 1: of a Carol problem? That question landed and it made

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Speaker 1: me ask a deeper one. Is the Holy Spirit inviting

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Speaker 1: me into some thing? Or am I just bumping up

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Speaker 1: against my own limits? Today's Bible verses that Exodus twenty

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Speaker 1: eight we mentioned at the start of the episode. Remember

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Speaker 1: the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Now, this verse

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Speaker 1: comes from the ten commandments spoken directly by God to

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Speaker 1: Israel after their deliverance from slavery. That matters for generations.

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Speaker 1: The Israelites lived under relentless production, meri quotas, no days off,

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Speaker 1: no control over their time. Their value was tied entirely

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Speaker 1: to output. So when God commands Sabbath, he's not just

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Speaker 1: establishing a rule, He's restoring identity. The Hebrew verb translated

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Speaker 1: remember is zakar. It doesn't mean to recall information, but

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Speaker 1: to actively bring something into lived obedience. And the word

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Speaker 1: holy is pronounced kadash. It means set apart, distinct, intentionally different.

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Speaker 1: Sabbath wasn't meant to be left over time. It was

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Speaker 1: meant to be protected time. God wasn't asking his people

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Speaker 1: to rest because they were tired, but because they were free.

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Speaker 1: And here's what I'm learning the hard way. My struggle

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Speaker 1: and about learning God earning rather God's love. It's about control.

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Speaker 1: I want to finish everything so nothing can interrupt me,

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Speaker 1: so no one can need me, so I can finally

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Speaker 1: relax on my terms. But Sabbath challenges that mindset. Sabbath says,

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Speaker 1: you're not the center of the universe. You're not indispensable.

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Speaker 1: You don't get to control every demand on your life.

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Speaker 1: And that's not a rebuke, it's a relief. True rest

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Speaker 1: isn't the absence of responsibility, it's the presence of trust.

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Speaker 1: When God calls us to Sabbath, he's inviting us to

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Speaker 1: stop managing the world for a moment, and remember that

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Speaker 1: he's still running it. If you're hearing repeated and retire

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Speaker 1: pations toward rest, that doesn't mean you're doing something wrong.

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Speaker 1: It may mean the Holy Spirit gently pointing out where

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Speaker 1: productivity is quietly replaced dependence. God isn't asking you to disappear,

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Speaker 1: He's asking you to loosen your grip and boundaries aren't

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Speaker 1: about pushing people away. They're about creating space where love, service,

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Speaker 1: and obedience can remain healthy. Here's a simple practice for today.

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Speaker 1: Ask yourself what am I protecting and what am I resisting?

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Speaker 1: Then maybe pray something like, Lord, help me recognize when

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Speaker 1: you're inviting me to rest, and give me the humility

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Speaker 1: to receive it. You don't have to earn rest, you're

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Speaker 1: invited into it. And sometimes the most spiritual thing you

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Speaker 1: can do is stop. Will you pray with me, Dear

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Speaker 1: Lord in Heaven. You're teaching me a lesson, and I

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Speaker 1: can't help but think you are teaching others the same lesson.

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Speaker 1: Thank you for getting my attention, Lord, and thank you

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Speaker 1: for your Holy Spirit that is so gentle that it

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Speaker 1: doesn't rebuke, that it points, and it points me towards you.

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Speaker 1: Your Holy Spirit quietly gets us to notice certain patterns,

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Speaker 1: and Lord, help me to be more aware of those patterns,

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Speaker 1: not necessarily doing anything wrong, but it does become a

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Speaker 1: trust issue. Lord, for all of those that seem to

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Speaker 1: think they're the center of the world, and maybe not directly,

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Speaker 1: I didn't think I was the center of the world,

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Speaker 1: simply acting like it. Help us to understand that we

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Speaker 1: are part of your creation and you are the creator.

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Speaker 1: Help us Lord to trust you more deeply, and thank

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Speaker 1: you again for the gentle reminders of your love and

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Speaker 1: your precious name. We pray Amen mm hm