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

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

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

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Speaker 1: I'm your host, Jennifer Slattery, and after this short word

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Speaker 1: from our sponsor, we'll dive into today's Bible verse, John

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Speaker 1: seven five. Today's Bible verses John seven five for even

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Speaker 1: his own brothers did not believe in him. Before I

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Speaker 1: launch into today's verse, I wanted to thank you for

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Speaker 1: your faithful support. Because of each of you, your episode downloads,

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Speaker 1: when you share episodes with family and friends and stick

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Speaker 1: with us throughout the seasons, and our various series, we

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Speaker 1: recently reached and encouraging milestone six million downloads, So again,

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Speaker 1: thank you. That is all your support and God's grace

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Speaker 1: to share his truth across the globe, and we're so

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Speaker 1: grateful we get to play a part in that. And

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Speaker 1: now to John seven to five. Have you ever since

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Speaker 1: God asking you to do something and those closest to

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Speaker 1: you not only misunderstood but even questioned your motives. Maybe

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Speaker 1: He invited you to make certain parenting choices, to change careers,

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Speaker 1: launch a ministry, or pursue a challenging dream. When our

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Speaker 1: daughter was young, I often felt criticized for how my

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Speaker 1: husband and I felt the Lord leading us in how

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Speaker 1: we raised her. When she was first born and we

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Speaker 1: shared with family how we felt God inviting me to

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Speaker 1: stay home, some told me that's a cop out, which

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Speaker 1: seemed to imply they deemed me lazy. Later, when my

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Speaker 1: husband's job occupied an inordinate amount of time away and

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Speaker 1: enduring long workdays and frequent out of town trips, we

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Speaker 1: decided to homeschool to maximize our time as a family,

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Speaker 1: and some accused us of overly sheltering her. And when

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Speaker 1: I finally yielded to my calling as a faith based communicator,

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Speaker 1: some interpreted my obedience as fantasy chasing. I suspect most,

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Speaker 1: if not all Christ followers experience these types of reactions

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Speaker 1: at some point in their journey. I suspect you have

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Speaker 1: probably encountered some of these reactions. And while I understand

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Speaker 1: how such commentary can sting and even exasperate our insecurities

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Speaker 1: and fear of rejection, I gently suggest that we can't

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Speaker 1: expect those who don't know God and his ways to

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Speaker 1: understand our obedience, and sometimes His followers misunderstand how He

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Speaker 1: uniquely leads us as well, in part because he rarely

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Speaker 1: tells others his will for us. Recognizing this enables us

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Speaker 1: to spend less time defending ourselves or trying to convince

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Speaker 1: others of the validity of our choices, so that we

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Speaker 1: can instead focus on what God is asking of us

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Speaker 1: in each moment. As you consider some of the decisions

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Speaker 1: for which others have most questioned you, does it easier

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Speaker 1: anxiety to know that Jesus, God in human flesh, encountered

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Speaker 1: similar reactions from his family, those who likely heard about

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Speaker 1: the circumstances involving his birth, the supernatural role in his conception,

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Speaker 1: King Herod's attempts to slaughter him to protect the throne.

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Speaker 1: The wise men who traveled from the east, likely modern

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Speaker 1: day Iran, to worship the King of the Jews. They

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Speaker 1: also must have heard about the events surrounding the birth

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Speaker 1: of their relative, John the Baptist and his ministry to

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Speaker 1: prepare people's hearts for the Messiah for Jesus, and they

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Speaker 1: also must have witnessed at least some of the miracles

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Speaker 1: he'd performed. By the time we reached John seven, the

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Speaker 1: chapter in which we find today's verse, Jesus's verbal command

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Speaker 1: had healed a terminally ill child, he'd cast out a

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Speaker 1: demon from a possessed man at the synagogue in Capernaum.

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Speaker 1: His popularity and reputation had already grown to the point that,

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Speaker 1: according to Matthew Chapter eight, verses sixteen and seventeen, quote,

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Speaker 1: when evening came, many who were demon possessed were brought

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Speaker 1: to him, and he drove out the spirits with the

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Speaker 1: word and healed all the sick end quote. Despite all that,

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Speaker 1: today's verse tells us that even his own brothers did

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Speaker 1: not believe in him, apparently in part because they assumed

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Speaker 1: he wanted to become famous. In other words, they assigned

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Speaker 1: selfish intent to his holy, loving and compassionate actions. Again,

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Speaker 1: have you been there? Have you ever experienced judgment for

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Speaker 1: the very ways you tried to show others care or

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Speaker 1: live aligned with Christ? If so, consider the example Jesus

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Speaker 1: set regarding how to respond to such treatment. First, he

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Speaker 1: didn't fixate on the rejection or allow other people opinions

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Speaker 1: to dictate his actions or detract from his ministry. He

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Speaker 1: also didn't take it personal, notice what Scripture states in

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Speaker 1: John chapter two, verses twenty four and twenty five. But

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Speaker 1: Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew

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Speaker 1: all people. He did not need any testimony about mankind,

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Speaker 1: for he knew what was in each person. In other words,

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Speaker 1: he understood each of their hearts and the reason some

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Speaker 1: individuals refused his offer of eternal life. He understood their

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Speaker 1: reactions were a statement on them, their lack of faith,

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Speaker 1: fear of light, and refusal to consider to accept truth.

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Speaker 1: But notice he didn't close off his heart to them.

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Speaker 1: He always left the relationship door open, inviting people to

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Speaker 1: consider his words and respond to the Holy Spirit's prompting,

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Speaker 1: as his brothers later did. James, in fact, became a

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Speaker 1: prominent leader in the first century church, and finally, Jesus

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Speaker 1: regularly connected with his father, gaining comfort, strength, and support

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Speaker 1: through that relationship, thereby demonstrating how we can live with

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Speaker 1: faith filled obedience when others misunderstand us and our choices.

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Speaker 1: Maybe following these same steps can help reduce any anxiety, frustration,

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Speaker 1: or bitterness standing from criticism you've received for how you're

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Speaker 1: following Christ. Let me restate those now. One acknowledge the

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Speaker 1: pain other people's rejection and criticism causes, but don't ruminate

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Speaker 1: on it. And in fact, I'm going to invite you

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Speaker 1: to check out in April a podcast episode I did

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Speaker 1: with Kelly Kirby on her podcast Bought and Beloved on

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Speaker 1: ruminating and overthinking. Make sure to check that out. If

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Speaker 1: you want to know more, you can visit me on

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Speaker 1: my website and I'll let you know when that drops.

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Speaker 1: So again, we want to express our emotions. We don't

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Speaker 1: want to ruminate. Instead, we want to intentionally and repeatedly

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Speaker 1: shift focus on too Christ and whatever he's calling you

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Speaker 1: to do. Second, refuse the safe practice. Refuse to own

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Speaker 1: other people's opinions or poor behavior. You're not responsible for

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Speaker 1: their actions or reactions. The only thing you were responsible

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Speaker 1: for is your obedience. Three, guard your heart from bitterness

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Speaker 1: and anything else that hinders your relationship with Christ and

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Speaker 1: your ability to reflect His love and grace. And four

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Speaker 1: and finally, regularly connect with the Lord, sitting in his

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Speaker 1: presence and allowing him to comfort, heal, and strengthen your

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Speaker 1: soul so that you can live with godly confidence, less

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Speaker 1: conflict and anxiety, and more peace. Lisp pray, Lord Jesus,

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Speaker 1: thank you for the example you set. Thank you for

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Speaker 1: the strength that you offer us through the Holy Spirit.

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Speaker 1: Thank you that you saw us, that you entered into

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Speaker 1: our mess, you saw our despair. You took our weaknesses,

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Speaker 1: our sins, our feelings, You took it all upon yourself.

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Speaker 1: We died on the cross to break the power of

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Speaker 1: sin and fear and brokenness in our lives, and you

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Speaker 1: rose again victorious, and we thank you for that. We

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Speaker 1: have everything we need in you to walk with confidence.

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Speaker 1: Help us to hear the unique calling you've placed on

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Speaker 1: our lives, help us to obey. Give us strength when

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Speaker 1: others criticize, or misunderstand or misjudge us. When we're hurting,

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Speaker 1: may we turn to you. May we get your perspective

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Speaker 1: over the situation, and may we seek comfort and relief

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Speaker 1: and strength in you. When we begin to feel our

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Speaker 1: body tightening, our guts clenching, maybe our limbs feeling heavy,

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Speaker 1: are temperature rising, may we recognize those signals as opportunities

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Speaker 1: to connect with you, as signals that we need you

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Speaker 1: in that moment, and help us to pause, even if

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Speaker 1: for just a moment, to take a deep breath and

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Speaker 1: to rest in your presence. And as we do, will

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Speaker 1: you decrease our anxiety? Will you decrease our stress? Will

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Speaker 1: you elevate our peace and our joy, and will you

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Speaker 1: bring clarity to our confusion. Lord Jesus, we love you,

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Speaker 1: and we are so grateful for you, for all you've done,

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Speaker 1: for all we have in you, and for all that's ahead.

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Speaker 1: Because of the hope we have in you. We know

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Speaker 1: you are constantly bringing us to increased freedom, increased joy,

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Speaker 1: increase flourishing life. And it is in your name, Lord

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Speaker 1: Jesus our Savior, that we pray in ment