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Speaker 1: Welcome to Abides Daily Christian Meditations. I'm Tyler Boss. Today's

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Speaker 1: meditation is brought to you by our partners at Life Audio.

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Speaker 1: If you go to lifeaudio dot com you will find

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Speaker 1: have full access to our meditations commercial free. Just text

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Speaker 1: abide to two two four three three for twenty five

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Speaker 1: percent off. Now receive his piece as we meditate and

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Speaker 1: abide in Christ.

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Speaker 2: Welcome to this Abide Meditation. I'm Bonnie Curry. How would

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Speaker 2: you describe your relationships those with your friends, your family members?

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Speaker 2: Are they merely convenient, perhaps even superficial, or are they

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Speaker 2: growing in strength and depth? Take a deep, relaxing breath

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Speaker 2: as you prepare to meditate on God's love. Strong relationships

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Speaker 2: are a fabric of life. That's how God designed it.

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Speaker 2: God doesn't want us flying solo through life storms. Instead,

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Speaker 2: God wants us to build up one another and to

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Speaker 2: encourage one another. He wants our relationships to be grounded

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Speaker 2: in Him and to grow stronger day by day. This

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Speaker 2: is how the writer of Ecclesiastes four to twelve. Put it,

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Speaker 2: and though a man might prevail against one who is alone,

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Speaker 2: two will withstand him. A threefold cord is not quickly broken.

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Speaker 2: Let's think about that. A one stranded rope is weak

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Speaker 2: and is limited in its use. But when that single

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Speaker 2: strand is woven together with other strands, it becomes immeasurably stronger.

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Speaker 2: The same is true in life. Relationships bring joy, laughter, encouragement,

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Speaker 2: and security. How can you strengthen your relationships this week?

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Speaker 2: Relationships are a hallmark of scripture. Ruth and Naomi, Jonathan

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Speaker 2: and David, Paul and Timothy, Jesus and his disciples. Life

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Speaker 2: can be challenging, but God provided a way to make

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Speaker 2: it easier. He gave us his peace and love. He

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Speaker 2: also gave us friends and family. Let's pray, Father, thank

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Speaker 2: you for your love, thank you for your joy and peace.

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Speaker 2: I want to have relationships that will encourage me in

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Speaker 2: my spiritual walk, and I want to be used by

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Speaker 2: you to encourage others. I want a relationship that is strong,

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Speaker 2: like a triple braided chord. Grant me wisdom to know

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Speaker 2: how to deepen the relationships. I have place new friends

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Speaker 2: in my life. Thank you for always being my perfect friend.

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Speaker 2: In Jesus' name. Amen, take another deep, relaxing breath, inhaling

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Speaker 2: through your nose. Hold it there for a moment. Now

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Speaker 2: exhale through your mouth. Hand all your troubles to God.

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Speaker 2: Focus only on his perfect peace. Take a few moments

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Speaker 2: now to search your heart. What do you need to

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Speaker 2: confess to God? Whatever it is, God's arms are open wide,

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Speaker 2: ready to forgive. He never gives up on you. Confess

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Speaker 2: your sin to him now. Our desire for relationships is

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Speaker 2: grounded in the triune God of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

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Speaker 2: From eternity past, God has been in community. It's mysterious,

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Speaker 2: but it's a picture of God's plan for us. Listen now,

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Speaker 2: as I read from Ecclesiastes four, verse twelve from the

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Speaker 2: New International Version, though one may be overpowered, two can

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Speaker 2: defend themselves. A chord of three strands is not quickly broken.

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Speaker 2: As I read that again, listen for a specific word

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Speaker 2: or phrase. Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves.

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Speaker 2: A chord of three strands is not quickly broken. What

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Speaker 2: stood out? Meditate on God's word for the next few moments.

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Speaker 2: Many Bible commentators believe the third chord in this three

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Speaker 2: chorded strand represents God, the most essential element in any relationship.

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Speaker 2: Without God and the fruit of the Spirit, the love,

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Speaker 2: the patience, and the kindness that is modeled perfectly by Christ,

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Speaker 2: a relationship can easily crumb. How many relationships in your

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Speaker 2: life are grounded in Christ? Pray for more Christian friends

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Speaker 2: in your circle. Listen now as I read Ecclesiastes four

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Speaker 2: to twelve in the New Living Translation. These words were

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Speaker 2: written thousands of years ago for you. A person standing

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Speaker 2: alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand

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Speaker 2: back to back and conquer. Three are even better. For

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Speaker 2: a triple braided chord is not easily broken. Think back

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Speaker 2: to a time in your life when someone helped you

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Speaker 2: during a time of crisis, or when you helped someone else.

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Speaker 2: That's what the writer of Ecclesiastes references in verse ten.

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Speaker 2: If one person falls, the other can reach out and help.

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Speaker 2: But someone who falls alone is in real trouble. Who

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Speaker 2: can you reach out to and help? This week? Think

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Speaker 2: about the relationships in your life. Which ones would you

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Speaker 2: consider shallow and deep? My friend, God wants our relationships

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Speaker 2: to be like a flower. Planted in rich soil, growing

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Speaker 2: stronger each day. Listen now as I read Ecclesiastes four

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Speaker 2: to twelve in the English Standard version. And though a

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Speaker 2: man might prevail against one who is alone, two will

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Speaker 2: withstand him. A threefold court is not quickly broken. Jesus

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Speaker 2: is the perfect model for our relationships. He found his

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Speaker 2: ultimate peace in his father, but he found earthly companionship

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Speaker 2: with his disciples, and within that circle of friends he

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Speaker 2: was closest to three disciples, Peter, James and John. What

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Speaker 2: can you learn from Jesus' model of relationships? Perhaps this

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Speaker 2: subject hits you hard. Maybe your circle of close Christian

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Speaker 2: friends is small. If so, then ask God right now

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Speaker 2: for wisdom on how you can strengthen your relationships. Look

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Speaker 2: for opportunities to make new friends. Maybe you can take

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Speaker 2: the first step for the next few moments, open your

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Speaker 2: heart to God. God wants your talents to be shared

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Speaker 2: with those around you. He wants you to encourage others

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Speaker 2: and to be encouraged by them. How would your life

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Speaker 2: be different if you had stronger relationships? As we close,

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Speaker 2: listen again to Ecclesiastes four nine to twelve, accept it

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Speaker 2: as God's promise to you, Two are better than one

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Speaker 2: because they have a good reward for their toil. For

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Speaker 2: if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But

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Speaker 2: woe to him who is alone when he falls and

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Speaker 2: has not another to lift him up again. If two

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Speaker 2: lie together, they keep warm, But how can one keep

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Speaker 2: warm alone? And though a man might prevail against one

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Speaker 2: who is alone, two will withstand him. A threefold chord

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Speaker 2: is not quickly broken. Please pray with me, dear Father,

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Speaker 2: You are holy, You are righteous. You are the perfect

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Speaker 2: model of friendship. Thank you for loving me before I

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Speaker 2: loved you. Father. I want to deepen my relationships with others.

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Speaker 2: I want relationship ships that are stronger than a chord

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Speaker 2: of three strands. I want them to be built on you.

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Speaker 2: Walk with me in this chapter of my life. Grant

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Speaker 2: me wisdom and patience. In Jesus' name, I pray Amen.

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Speaker 2: God is a friend who will never leave you. This week,

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Speaker 2: follow his guidance as you deepen your relationships, and until

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Speaker 2: next time, may you abide in Christ