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Speaker 1: Life Audio. Welcome to the Crosswalk devotional. We are so

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Speaker 1: glad that have you been listening with us here today.

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Speaker 1: Today's topic is hope. We will return after a brief

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Speaker 1: message from our sponsor Pupe. Wrapped in swaddling clothes written

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Speaker 1: by Peyton Garland read by Rochelle Alberti Bible reading, and

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Speaker 1: she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped

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Speaker 1: him in cloths and placed even a manger because there

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Speaker 1: was no guest room available for them. Luke two twenty

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Speaker 1: seven NIV. Outside experiencing Christ's salvation. I haven't felt God's

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Speaker 1: presence so loudly, so beautifully as the night after I

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Speaker 1: had my first son. My little guide didn't have to

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Speaker 1: stay in the hospital nursery, so he spent his first

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Speaker 1: night with me. Exhausted from the previous nights, midnight contractions

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Speaker 1: coupled without five in the morning birth. I welcomed the quiet,

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Speaker 1: dark hush that finally fell over the hospital floors. I

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Speaker 1: recalled the soft yellow light the nurses left on in

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Speaker 1: my room through the night and has shone directly over

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Speaker 1: my baby. Despite the new mysteries and fears naturally coupled

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Speaker 1: with motherhood, Like Hagar I felt seeing no and embraced

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Speaker 1: Genesis sixteen. The presence of the Almighty was undeniable. I

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Speaker 1: imagine that Mary felt much the same as the Star

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Speaker 1: of Bethlehem peers through a world filled with darkness and

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Speaker 1: cast its beautiful warmth over her and Hope wrapped in

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Speaker 1: swaddling club, she had little choice but to accept the

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Speaker 1: kindness and favor God had placed on her. Through such

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Speaker 1: a tiny, splendid creature, Hope for Mary's people was now tangible.

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Speaker 1: If you have ever read the best selling sci fi

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Speaker 1: series The Hunger Games or watched its film adaptations, you

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Speaker 1: recall one of the trilogy's most famous quotes, Hope is

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Speaker 1: the only thing stronger than fear. Though quoted by the

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Speaker 1: villainous President Snow, I agree with his assessment. Pope has

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Speaker 1: this utter earthly ability to squelch our greatest fears, Yet

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Speaker 1: Hope rarely screams to be seen. Pope is often humble,

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Speaker 1: just like catmus Everdeen, a poor young girl from the

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Speaker 1: outcast district who was willing to sacrifice her wife to

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Speaker 1: become hope for a nation of oppressed people. Hope wants

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Speaker 1: you to seek it out to affirm the worth you've

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Speaker 1: placed upon it. It's not that hope is dictatorial. Rather,

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Speaker 1: hope recognizes that without your willingness to seek it and

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Speaker 1: embrace it, it will never truly live beside you. You

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Speaker 1: won't experience its fullness without placing personal faith in His power.

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Speaker 1: Is that not what the Nativity scene reminds us? Humble beginnings,

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Speaker 1: faith that seems scientifically impossible and socially fatal. The shepherds

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Speaker 1: were greeted by a host of angels and told to

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Speaker 1: meet a newborn baby who would singe their souls. The

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Speaker 1: wise men, likely sorcerers, felt the holy calling of a

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Speaker 1: god they weren't intimate with, Yet they spend months, likely years,

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Speaker 1: pursuing a star. Most scholars believe that the wise men

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Speaker 1: didn't reach Christ until he was two years old. This

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Speaker 1: great pursuit didn't leave the shepherds or wise men to

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Speaker 1: a king in a royal garb. They didn't discover tro

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Speaker 1: of treasure. There wasn't any earthly reward they gained from

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Speaker 1: this blind trust. Instead, they met a young boy born

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Speaker 1: to lowly Jews, but they were radically bettered forever. In fact,

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Speaker 1: scripture confers that the wise men pledge their souls to

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Speaker 1: Christ worshiping him and protecting him from King Herod. Herod

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Speaker 1: sent the wise men to Bethlehem and said, go and

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Speaker 1: search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him,

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Speaker 1: report to me, so that I too may go and

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Speaker 1: worship him. After they had heard the king, they went

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Speaker 1: on their way, and the star they had seen when

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Speaker 1: it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over

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Speaker 1: the place where the child was. When they saw the star,

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Speaker 1: they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw

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Speaker 1: the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down

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Speaker 1: and worshiped him. They opened their treasures and presented him

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Speaker 1: with gifts of gold. Frankinson's and merh and Heaven been

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Speaker 1: warned in a dream not to go back to Hair,

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Speaker 1: they return to the country by another route. We are

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Speaker 1: granted the same opportunity to pursue hope, even if we

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Speaker 1: aren't promised worldly possessions of fame. Pope doesn't need a

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Speaker 1: bonus package or special add ons to fill our hearts

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Speaker 1: with love and light that brings us joy, no matter

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Speaker 1: our lot in life. Pope only needs a baby wrapped

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Speaker 1: in swaddling clothes, a baby committed to experiencing sacrificial death

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Speaker 1: then shedding grave clothes for mankind to know eternal peace.

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Speaker 1: What a beautiful reason to celebrate the true meaning and

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Speaker 1: hope of this Christmas season. Intersecting faith in life as

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Speaker 1: Christmas approaches, take a few moments as a family to

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Speaker 1: discuss the importance of the Nativity scene and consider age

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Speaker 1: appropriate crafts and devotions centered on its significance. Further reading

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Speaker 1: Matthew Too, Who Is Really Coming to Tim? The Crosswalk

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Speaker 1: Devotional is a production of Life Audio and Salem Media.

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Speaker 1: If you liked what you heard today, please take a

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Speaker 1: the show. For more faith filled inspirational podcasts, visit us

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Speaker 1: at lifeaudio dot com.