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Speaker 1: Life Audio.

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Speaker 2: Welcome to the Crosswalk devotional. We are so glad to

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Speaker 2: have you listening with us here today. Today's topic is

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Speaker 2: about the power of the Holy Spirit. We will return

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Speaker 2: after a brief message from our sponsor, No Power, written

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Speaker 2: by Melinda I. Cooper, read by Rochelle Alberti Bible reading.

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Speaker 2: May the God of Hope fill you with all joy

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Speaker 2: and peace as you trust in Him, so that you

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Speaker 2: may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit,

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Speaker 2: Romans fifteen thirteen NIV. Living in Middle Tennessee for the

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Speaker 2: pasty plus years I can attest, we rarely see much snow.

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Speaker 2: Schools often closed if the forecast calls for anything frozen,

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Speaker 2: including flurries. But we've had a few serious winter storms

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Speaker 2: and they almost always involve ice. In January of twenty

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Speaker 2: twenty six, one of those storms came through our area.

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Speaker 2: We did our best to prepare in case the power

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Speaker 2: went out. We'd stocked up on bread, bottles of water,

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Speaker 2: and snacks. My husband brought a generator home from Burke

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Speaker 2: to help keep our refrigerator running, and a small space heater. Thankfully,

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Speaker 2: we had a wood burning fireplace, so we figured at

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Speaker 2: least we'd keep warm snow started turning into sleet on

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Speaker 2: Saturday and eventually turned to freezing rain. Temperatures plummeted, tree

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Speaker 2: branches snapped under the weight of accumulating ice falling on

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Speaker 2: power lines. The sky flashed when a transformer blew with

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Speaker 2: a loud pop. Sunday early in the morning, we lost power,

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Speaker 2: and so did our our neighbors. We tried to stay

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Speaker 2: warm using the space heater in fireplace, but our house

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Speaker 2: grew frigid. It was uncomfortable, to say the least. We

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Speaker 2: barely slept the first night, even though we were using

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Speaker 2: nearly every blanket we could find. It didn't take long

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Speaker 2: for reality to sink in. The power could be out

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Speaker 2: for days or a week. Our neighbors texted the next

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Speaker 2: afternoon that they were heading to Kentucky to stay in

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Speaker 2: a hotel. The storm wasn't nearly as bad there. We

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Speaker 2: did the same, taking our dog with us. Getting inside

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Speaker 2: a warm hotel room with a nice, soft bed was

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Speaker 2: a sweet relief. The lights worked, the television worked, and

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Speaker 2: a hot shower was minutes away. It didn't take long

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Speaker 2: to get nice and comfortable. When we received notice that

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Speaker 2: power had been restored to our area, a couple of

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Speaker 2: days later, we made our way back home. The drive

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Speaker 2: revealed a lot of damage. Even though the thick ice

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Speaker 2: covering trees and grass glistened in the sun sunlight, it

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Speaker 2: was beautiful in a terrible way. The storm mostly left

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Speaker 2: a trail of destruction, with down trees, telephone poles, and

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Speaker 2: broken tree branches in this wake. The storm and loss

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Speaker 2: of power over the next several days and a couple

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Speaker 2: of weeks for some caused a lot of problems, and sadly,

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Speaker 2: some folks didn't survive. We came home to a mess.

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Speaker 2: Electric cords were draped everywhere from hooking things up to

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Speaker 2: the generator, and blankets were piled up. It was freezing

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Speaker 2: inside the house. The heat was on, but it took

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Speaker 2: a long time for the house to warm back up. Honestly,

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Speaker 2: seeing the mess reminded me how much we really need

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Speaker 2: power in our homes. We rely on it heavily for

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Speaker 2: day to day life. It runs the stove, h VAC unit, refrigerator, freezer,

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Speaker 2: water heater, washer and dryer, lighting appliances, in television, almost everything.

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Speaker 2: Even with our great efforts to prepare for a lack

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Speaker 2: of power during the storm, it was still terrible our

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Speaker 2: hole quickly became uncomfortable. Without electricity, it seemed we could

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Speaker 2: do nothing. We need power. Standing amidst the mess, it

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Speaker 2: hit me spiritually, we need the Holy Spirit at every

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Speaker 2: moment of our lives. We can't do anything good without him.

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Speaker 2: We'd be uncomfortable, cold, and powerless. Intersecting faith in life

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Speaker 2: as a saved person, I'm deeply thankful for what Jesus

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Speaker 2: did for me. I'm still in love with him after

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Speaker 2: many years as a Christian. But to be honest, I'm

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Speaker 2: just beside myself that God also gave us the indwelling,

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Speaker 2: powerful Holy Spirit to help us in life. He does

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Speaker 2: so many things for us, including reveals. Jesus convicts us

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Speaker 2: of sin, teaches us, reminds us, encourages us, protects us,

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Speaker 2: guides us, warns us, gives us hope and spiritual gifts,

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Speaker 2: tells us the truth, helps us pray, never leaves or

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Speaker 2: forsakes us. When a storm of life comes, whether it

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Speaker 2: is financial struggle, divorce, or the death of a loved one,

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Speaker 2: we may be brought to our knees. The powerful Holy

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Speaker 2: Spirit is with us in these hardships. He is our

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Speaker 2: shelter when these storms blow through those difficult times show

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Speaker 2: us just how much we need Him and rely on

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Speaker 2: his power. They draw us into deeper, more trust to

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Speaker 2: relationship with our beloved Father. Father, Thank you for giving

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Speaker 2: us the powerful Holy Spirit to lead us through our lives,

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Speaker 2: helping us to grow closer to You and more like

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Speaker 2: Jesus in his name, aim It.

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Speaker 1: Thanks for listening to today's devotional. If you liked what

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Speaker 1: you heard today, we want to make sure you know

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