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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 what 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, Carol McCracken, and after a short word

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

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Speaker 1: one ten. Today's Bible versus Galatians one ten. For am

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Speaker 1: I now seeking the approval of man or of God?

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Speaker 1: Or am I trying to please Man? If I were

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Speaker 1: still trying to please me and I would not be

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Speaker 1: a servant of Christ. I want to take you into

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Speaker 1: a moment I had recently, because maybe you've had one

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Speaker 1: just like it. I was on duty as a worship

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Speaker 1: at my local church. First service went well, I got

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Speaker 1: good feedback, everything felt smooth, steady. But second service I stumbled.

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Speaker 1: I missed cues on platform. Nothing catastrophic. Most of the

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Speaker 1: congregation probably didn't even notice, but my team did. My

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Speaker 1: best friend was in the soundroom, and she later told

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Speaker 1: me one of the team members asked what's wrong with her?

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Speaker 1: And that was enough. One of her newer team members

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Speaker 1: actually sang beautifully, but she missed her cue, and instead

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Speaker 1: of just letting it go and moving on. I made

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Speaker 1: a bad call. I tried to pull it back in

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Speaker 1: and it just didn't land well. After service, the team

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Speaker 1: teased me a little, nothing harsh. One guy even offered

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Speaker 1: some constructive feedback, and he's the kind of person who

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Speaker 1: can take it as well as give it. It was

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Speaker 1: all fine, really, except it wasn't fine in me because

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Speaker 1: later that night I couldn't let it go. I woke

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Speaker 1: up in the middle of the night replaying it over

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Speaker 1: and over what I should have done and what I

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Speaker 1: shouldn't have done. What they must be thinking. I had

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Speaker 1: already prayed about it, I had already given it to God,

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Speaker 1: and then I took it right back. Have you ever

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Speaker 1: done that where you know it's not rational, but you

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Speaker 1: still can't seem to let it go. And underneath it

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Speaker 1: all is this uncomfortable question. Why do I feel like

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Speaker 1: I have to prove myself? And that's why this verse

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Speaker 1: matters so much. Galatians one ten again says, for am

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Speaker 1: I now seeking the approval of Man or of God?

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Speaker 1: Or am I trying to please Man? If I were

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Speaker 1: still trying to please Man, I would not be a

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Speaker 1: servant of Christ. Now. The apostle Paul writes this the

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Speaker 1: very beginning of Galatians, and that matters because this letter's

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Speaker 1: different from many of Paul's others. It isn't open with

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Speaker 1: long encouragement or affirmation. He gets right to the issue.

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Speaker 1: The churches in Galatia were being influenced by teachers who

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Speaker 1: were subtly changing the gospel, adding requirements, blending grace with performance,

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Speaker 1: and Paul's reminding us of something essential. We don't earn

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Speaker 1: God's acceptance of us, and we don't have to prove

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Speaker 1: ourselves for God to love us. He already does so.

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Speaker 1: When Paul asks, am I now seeking the approval of

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Speaker 1: Man or of God? The word now was important. He's

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Speaker 1: pointing back to who he used to be before he

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Speaker 1: met the living Jesus in a blinding light on his

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Speaker 1: way to Damascus. Before Paul was known for pursuing approval.

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Speaker 1: He was driven and deeply committed to earning status within

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Speaker 1: religious circles. He was in those circles successful beginning as

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Speaker 1: a little boy. This was his goal, and he was

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Speaker 1: raised to be a pharisee, which was to keep the

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Speaker 1: religious law as perfectly as possible. But after meeting Jesus,

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Speaker 1: everything changed. Now he's saying I am no longer living

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Speaker 1: for human approval, and then he makes this statement, if

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Speaker 1: I were still trying to please man, would not be

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Speaker 1: a servant of Christ. That word servant is strong in Greek.

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Speaker 1: It's duos, a born servant, someone who has a master,

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Speaker 1: he or she must serve. Paul's drawing a big contrast

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Speaker 1: for us to notice. You can't be mastered by people's

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Speaker 1: opinions and fully surrendered to Christ at the same time,

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Speaker 1: one will always compete with the other. And that's exactly

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Speaker 1: what I felt lying in bed that night. It wasn't

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Speaker 1: just that I cared. It's that in the moment I

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Speaker 1: was letting people's perceived opinions master my peace, replaying, rehearsing,

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Speaker 1: trying to fix it. Not because the moment mattered that much,

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Speaker 1: but because I felt like I needed to make sure

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Speaker 1: I still measured up. Here's the deeper truth. When we

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Speaker 1: feel the need to prove our calling, it's often because

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Speaker 1: we haven't fully rested. In a gospel message, Paul is

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Speaker 1: trying to teach his readers because if our acceptance before

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Speaker 1: God is secure, you're fully given, not earned, then our

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Speaker 1: identity should flow from that security. Paul's entire argument and

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Speaker 1: Galatians is this. You don't start with grace and then

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Speaker 1: sustain yourself by performance. It's grace all the way through.

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Speaker 1: Grace is something we don't earn. It is freely given

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Speaker 1: to us, which means your worst moment doesn't disqualify you,

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Speaker 1: and your best moment doesn't validate you. God already has.

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Speaker 1: I wasn't lying in bed thinking that was a moment

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Speaker 1: I can learn from. I was lying there trying to

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Speaker 1: secure something, trying to make sure that moment didn't define me.

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Speaker 1: And that's what happens when approval becomes the goal. But

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Speaker 1: when Jesus is the goal, you can still grow, you

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Speaker 1: can still learn, you can still receive beefback, but you're

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Speaker 1: no longer shaken by it. So what does this look

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Speaker 1: like practically? First, notice what you're replaying. Those moments that

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Speaker 1: keep circling in your mind. They often reveal what you're seeking,

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Speaker 1: and that's approval instead of arresting an identity. Second, try

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Speaker 1: to go beneath the surface, Maybe ask what am I

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Speaker 1: afraid this says about me? That question will tell you

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Speaker 1: whether you're trying to prove something. Third, return to the

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Speaker 1: gospel that good news. Paul was trying to share with

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Speaker 1: his readers of that day and now with us that

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Speaker 1: he himself learned when Jesus changed his way of thinking

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Speaker 1: in that light that blinded Paul on his way to Damascus.

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Speaker 1: Remind yourself, I am already accepted. I am already secure

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Speaker 1: in Christ. And here's the takeaway I want you to

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Speaker 1: hold on to today. You don't have to prove when

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Speaker 1: God has already established. If he called you, you're called.

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Speaker 1: Jesus has invited you in that call to follow him

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Speaker 1: and become less self directed, even on the off days,

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Speaker 1: even when you miscues, even when you wish you could

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Speaker 1: read you the moment, God isn't asking you to perform

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Speaker 1: your calling. This is what Jesus pointed out to Paul

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Speaker 1: in a big way, and it changed Paul's whole direction

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Speaker 1: in life. God is inviting you to rest in that call,

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Speaker 1: and to me, that's a very big difference. And when

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Speaker 1: you do actually rest in it, you'll find that the

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Speaker 1: need to prove begins to lose its grip. In peace

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Speaker 1: finally has room to stay. Will you pray with me,

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Speaker 1: dear Lord in heaven. We know you love us, but

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Speaker 1: sometimes we still act like we've got to prove ourselves

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Speaker 1: to you. Help us, Lord, to understand that we already

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Speaker 1: have your love. We're in a broken world, and we

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Speaker 1: keep competing and we keep trying to perform, and Lord,

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Speaker 1: it's almost as if we feel like we've got to

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Speaker 1: earn it each and every day your approval. But Lord,

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Speaker 1: let us rise above that, Let us lean on you.

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Speaker 1: Let us be secure in your love. And Lord, if

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Speaker 1: anybody's like me, help us not to snatch it back,

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Speaker 1: or if we've got to snatch it back, let us

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Speaker 1: give it back. Because you are the only security that

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Speaker 1: anyone needs. And we can never be separated from you.

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Speaker 1: And we do not have to perform because you created

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Speaker 1: us and you love us, and your precious name, we

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Speaker 1: pray Ahmed