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Speaker 1: Life Audio. Thank you for listening to your daily prayer,

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Speaker 1: where we help you find the words you need to

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Speaker 1: connect to your Father in Heaven. No matter what's happening

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Speaker 1: in your life today, you can trust that God wants

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Speaker 1: to hear from you. Right after this short word from

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Speaker 1: our sponsors, we'll pray through today's prayer to prepare our

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Speaker 1: hearts for Easter. A Prayer to Prepare Our Hearts for Easter,

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Speaker 1: written by Lynette Kittle, read by Lea Gerard. But Christ

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Speaker 1: has indeed been raised from the dead, the first fruits

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Speaker 1: of those who have fallen asleep one Corinthians, fifteen twenty.

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Speaker 1: Each Easter Sunday, we rejoice in the resurrection of Jesus

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Speaker 1: from death to life. We recognize that his resurrection isn't

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Speaker 1: just a miracle for him, it's a miracle for us too.

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Speaker 1: Because he rose from the grave, we will also rise.

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Speaker 1: Too often, though, we miss the hope his resurrection and

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Speaker 1: the celebration of Easter bring into our lives. We focus

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Speaker 1: so much on Jesus rising from the dead that we

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Speaker 1: forget to rejoice in what it means for us in

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Speaker 1: our eternal futures. Jesus, the first to rise from the grave,

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Speaker 1: freed from sin and death to live forevermore. Is the

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Speaker 1: first in history to be raised to life in a

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Speaker 1: glorified body, as the apostle Paul explained in Philippians three

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Speaker 1: twenty through twenty one. But our citizenship is in heaven,

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Speaker 1: and we eagerly await a savior from there, the Lord

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Speaker 1: Jesus Christ, who by the power that enables him to

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Speaker 1: bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies

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Speaker 1: so that they will be like his glorious body. In

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Speaker 1: Bible days, believers set aside the first fruits of their

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Speaker 1: harvest as an offering to God. This act symbolized and

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Speaker 1: consecrated the entire harvest to come. Although scripture records others

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Speaker 1: being raised from the dead before Jesus, Colossians one eighteen

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Speaker 1: describes him as the beginning and the first born from

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Speaker 1: among the dead. Those raised before him eventually died again,

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Speaker 1: but Jesus lives forever, never to die again. Colossians one

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Speaker 1: eighteen says, and he is the head of the body

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Speaker 1: the church. He is the beginning and the first born

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Speaker 1: from among the dead, so that in everything he might

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Speaker 1: have the supremacy. Paul explains to us in Romans six nine.

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Speaker 1: For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead,

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Speaker 1: he cannot die again. Death no longer has mastery over him.

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Speaker 1: Because Jesus now lives in his glorified body, he is

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Speaker 1: the promise of our own glorified bodies to come. Through

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Speaker 1: his life death and resurrection comes the promise of a

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Speaker 1: harvest of living souls who will also be raised from

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Speaker 1: death to life. Jesus is the first born from the dead,

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Speaker 1: the son of God who rose victorious from the grave,

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Speaker 1: overcoming and destroying death, breaking its power and conquering it forever.

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Speaker 1: The apostle John wrote in Revelation one to five, and

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Speaker 1: from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the first

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Speaker 1: born from the dead, and the ruler of the kings

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Speaker 1: of the earth, to him who loves us and has

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Speaker 1: freed us from our sins by his blood. Matthew twenty

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Speaker 1: seven fifty through fifty three describes Jesus defeating death once

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Speaker 1: and for all, as well as the extraordinary events that

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Speaker 1: took place at his crucifixion and resurrection. And when Jesus

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Speaker 1: had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave

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Speaker 1: up his spirit. At that moment, the curtain of the

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Speaker 1: temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The

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Speaker 1: earth shook, the rocks split, and the tombs broke open.

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Speaker 1: The bodies of many holy people who had died were

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Speaker 1: raised to life. They came out of the tombs after

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Speaker 1: Jesus's resurrection and went into the Holy City and appeared

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Speaker 1: to many people. Although they would physically die again, they

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Speaker 1: would live forevermore. As First Corinthians fifteen fifty four explains it,

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Speaker 1: when the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and

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Speaker 1: the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written

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Speaker 1: will come true. Death has and swallowed up in victory.

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Speaker 1: He said it himself in John eleven twenty five. Jesus said,

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Speaker 1: to her eye and the resurrection and the life, the

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Speaker 1: one who believes in me will live even though they die.

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Speaker 1: Let's pray, dear Father, prepare our hearts for Easter to

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Speaker 1: celebrate the risen Jesus, alive and glorified from the grave,

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Speaker 1: victorious over sin and death, living forevermore, and giving us

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Speaker 1: the promise of eternal life with you. Thank you that

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Speaker 1: because Jesus conquered death, we will rise too to live

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Speaker 1: with you eternally. Fill our hearts Lord with joy as

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Speaker 1: we worship you for your unfailing love and for making

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Speaker 1: a way through Jesus to redeem us as your own,

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Speaker 1: giving us life everlasting, embolden us to share this good

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Speaker 1: news with those who do not know you, so that

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Speaker 1: they might too, never die and be alive in Christ

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Speaker 1: in Jesus' name. Amen. Your Daily Prayer is a production

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Speaker 1: of Life Audio and Salem Media. If you liked what

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Speaker 1: you heard today, be sure to follow our sister show

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Speaker 1: your nightly prayer. You can find your nightly prayer at

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Speaker 1: following your daily prayer and your nightly prayer, you can

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Speaker 1: be sure that your day begins and ends centered on

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Speaker 1: the Word of God and prayer