1 00:00:32,025 --> 00:00:36,305 Speaker 1: Hey friends, Jennifer Slattery here thanking you for a wonderful year. 2 00:00:36,625 --> 00:00:39,745 Speaker 1: Your support means the world to us. I also wanted 3 00:00:39,784 --> 00:00:41,425 Speaker 1: to let you know that my team and I will 4 00:00:41,465 --> 00:00:44,104 Speaker 1: be taking a two week break in January to regroup 5 00:00:44,144 --> 00:00:47,705 Speaker 1: and refuel spiritually. During that time, will we air some 6 00:00:47,784 --> 00:00:51,385 Speaker 1: of our most popular episodes if you've already listened to them. 7 00:00:51,545 --> 00:00:55,505 Speaker 1: Perhaps consider this an opportunity to prayerfully reflect on the 8 00:00:55,585 --> 00:00:59,785 Speaker 1: truce anew. May you encounter the Lord in a personal 9 00:01:00,025 --> 00:01:09,305 Speaker 1: and fulfilling way each time you listen God Bless Life Audio. 10 00:01:15,225 --> 00:01:18,145 Speaker 2: Hello, thank you for listening to your Daily Bible Verse, 11 00:01:18,505 --> 00:01:22,145 Speaker 2: the podcast that examines one verse each day to learn 12 00:01:22,185 --> 00:01:25,465 Speaker 2: more about God and his will for us. I'm your host, 13 00:01:25,585 --> 00:01:28,425 Speaker 2: Jennifer Slattery, and after this shirt word from our sponsor, 14 00:01:28,545 --> 00:01:32,825 Speaker 2: we'll dive into today's Bible verse, Tewond Corinthians by I'm seventeen. 15 00:01:43,745 --> 00:01:48,145 Speaker 2: Today's Bible verse is Tewod Corinthians five seventeen. Therefore, if 16 00:01:48,145 --> 00:01:52,624 Speaker 2: anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come, the 17 00:01:52,665 --> 00:01:56,825 Speaker 2: old has gone, the New is here. Early in my 18 00:01:56,905 --> 00:02:00,545 Speaker 2: therapy journey, my new found self awareness left me feeling 19 00:02:00,945 --> 00:02:03,985 Speaker 2: defeated as I talked to some of my greatest challenges 20 00:02:04,145 --> 00:02:08,585 Speaker 2: and most difficult relationships. I became increasingly alert to areas 21 00:02:08,705 --> 00:02:14,265 Speaker 2: of dysfunction within me that contributed to my stress and anxiety. 22 00:02:15,145 --> 00:02:18,705 Speaker 2: But then, one day, while fighting my inner critics condemning messages, 23 00:02:19,105 --> 00:02:22,984 Speaker 2: God spoke comfort to my soul through Today's Verse, reminding 24 00:02:23,025 --> 00:02:26,425 Speaker 2: me that I'm a new creation. I'm no longer the 25 00:02:26,465 --> 00:02:30,185 Speaker 2: sin enslave, defeated and self sabotaging woman I once was. 26 00:02:31,505 --> 00:02:35,864 Speaker 2: I need to learn to live in my new identity. 27 00:02:36,544 --> 00:02:39,665 Speaker 2: Today's Verse was originally written by a first century evangelist 28 00:02:39,785 --> 00:02:42,425 Speaker 2: named Paul to a group of christ followers living in 29 00:02:42,424 --> 00:02:47,304 Speaker 2: ancient Koran, a city known for its pervasive idolatry and immorality. 30 00:02:47,625 --> 00:02:51,625 Speaker 2: The culture was so depraved the city's name became a 31 00:02:51,625 --> 00:02:56,625 Speaker 2: slur to state someone was Parnthianized, meant they were extremely 32 00:02:57,185 --> 00:03:01,825 Speaker 2: sexually promiscuous. I'm not surprised by this, considering the highly 33 00:03:02,144 --> 00:03:07,184 Speaker 2: diverse commercial hub's dominant deity Aphrodite. According to one source, 34 00:03:07,225 --> 00:03:11,505 Speaker 2: I read, as many as one thousand temple prostitutes served 35 00:03:11,544 --> 00:03:15,905 Speaker 2: this so called goddess of love and life. Additional sources 36 00:03:15,945 --> 00:03:20,584 Speaker 2: suggest the culture had infected those past influences that had 37 00:03:20,625 --> 00:03:24,105 Speaker 2: become ingrained in the people, many of whom had spent 38 00:03:24,264 --> 00:03:28,665 Speaker 2: decades following the ungodly and self destructing patterns upon which 39 00:03:28,704 --> 00:03:33,385 Speaker 2: they'd been raised had not yet been eliminated. To put 40 00:03:33,424 --> 00:03:37,825 Speaker 2: it simply, these men and women had issues, some of 41 00:03:37,825 --> 00:03:40,505 Speaker 2: which made them hostile to Paul and his ministry and 42 00:03:40,545 --> 00:03:44,505 Speaker 2: therefore the work of God in their lives. They'd accepted 43 00:03:44,785 --> 00:03:49,625 Speaker 2: Christ's forgiveness and had received his transformative and empowering grace, 44 00:03:49,745 --> 00:03:53,785 Speaker 2: but they hadn't yet learned to live in their new reality. 45 00:03:54,065 --> 00:03:56,785 Speaker 2: It appears part of them still found the Gospel and 46 00:03:56,945 --> 00:04:01,464 Speaker 2: the type of life it promotes foolish to challenge matters 47 00:04:01,465 --> 00:04:05,505 Speaker 2: heretical teachers had infiltrated their church, were actively working to 48 00:04:05,625 --> 00:04:09,505 Speaker 2: discredit Paul in his message, and were perverting the truth 49 00:04:09,745 --> 00:04:13,345 Speaker 2: of the Gospel. In Poe's letter, he reminded them that 50 00:04:13,385 --> 00:04:16,745 Speaker 2: God's ways are much different than our worlds, and therefore 51 00:04:16,785 --> 00:04:20,185 Speaker 2: the men and women in Korn's reality, prior to their 52 00:04:20,465 --> 00:04:24,905 Speaker 2: conversion developing spiritual maturity and the mind of Christ. As 53 00:04:24,905 --> 00:04:29,464 Speaker 2: Scripture states, all believers possess required allowing the Lord to 54 00:04:29,545 --> 00:04:33,705 Speaker 2: transform their thinking by steadily on and progressively replacing the 55 00:04:33,745 --> 00:04:37,945 Speaker 2: lies they'd absorbed with truth. This probably involved significant healing 56 00:04:37,945 --> 00:04:41,225 Speaker 2: as well, to defuse their defense mechanisms that compelled them 57 00:04:41,305 --> 00:04:44,905 Speaker 2: to power up and cling to insufficient ways of finding 58 00:04:45,025 --> 00:04:47,945 Speaker 2: value in a sense of belonging, like feigning strength and 59 00:04:48,025 --> 00:04:52,385 Speaker 2: aligning themselves with charismatic leaders. Years ago, during a particularly 60 00:04:52,385 --> 00:04:56,865 Speaker 2: stressful season in which I was not handling my stress well, 61 00:04:56,945 --> 00:04:59,825 Speaker 2: I asked a pastor, why, if my old nature had 62 00:04:59,825 --> 00:05:04,425 Speaker 2: been crucified with Christ, did I still battle unhealthy behaviors. 63 00:05:05,224 --> 00:05:09,425 Speaker 2: His response echoed what I later learned from science related 64 00:05:09,425 --> 00:05:12,665 Speaker 2: to the brain. I needed to unlearn the patterns that 65 00:05:12,745 --> 00:05:16,385 Speaker 2: over the years had created ruts, channels, or more specifically, 66 00:05:16,425 --> 00:05:20,344 Speaker 2: neural pathways in my brain. I also needed to heal 67 00:05:20,425 --> 00:05:23,664 Speaker 2: from the soul wounds that fueled the inner lies that 68 00:05:23,784 --> 00:05:27,665 Speaker 2: kept me stuck again. I needed to learn to first 69 00:05:27,745 --> 00:05:31,505 Speaker 2: recognize who I now was in Christ, and, by His 70 00:05:31,625 --> 00:05:34,985 Speaker 2: power and grace at work within me, learn to live 71 00:05:35,185 --> 00:05:38,385 Speaker 2: in that new identity. Not to imply this has been 72 00:05:38,545 --> 00:05:43,425 Speaker 2: a linear progression in a then B scenario. In my life, 73 00:05:43,464 --> 00:05:47,585 Speaker 2: spiritual growth has looked more like an upward spiral of 74 00:05:47,665 --> 00:05:52,705 Speaker 2: continual growth, sel, awareness, healing, and transformation. I suspect that's 75 00:05:52,705 --> 00:05:55,705 Speaker 2: true for all of us. I don't know what that 76 00:05:55,784 --> 00:05:57,945 Speaker 2: journey will look like for you. I don't know what 77 00:05:58,145 --> 00:06:01,945 Speaker 2: areas in your soul most feel stuck, and what behavioral 78 00:06:02,105 --> 00:06:05,904 Speaker 2: patterns you most long to change. But I do know 79 00:06:06,265 --> 00:06:09,305 Speaker 2: that God is with you in your struggle, and he 80 00:06:09,344 --> 00:06:12,864 Speaker 2: doesn't condemn you for it. Instead, he moves toward you 81 00:06:13,185 --> 00:06:18,585 Speaker 2: in love, gently, tenderly, drawing you close and nudging you 82 00:06:18,705 --> 00:06:22,705 Speaker 2: one step closer to the life he planned for you. 83 00:06:23,305 --> 00:06:28,825 Speaker 2: Let's pray, Holy Father, thank you for your constant grace 84 00:06:29,344 --> 00:06:32,984 Speaker 2: showered upon us. Thank you for the forgiveness that we 85 00:06:33,105 --> 00:06:36,344 Speaker 2: have received through your son, a forgiveness that doesn't just 86 00:06:36,464 --> 00:06:41,185 Speaker 2: absolve us of our past, but also takes into account 87 00:06:41,665 --> 00:06:46,424 Speaker 2: our future sins. You recognize our struggles. You know we 88 00:06:46,545 --> 00:06:50,145 Speaker 2: long to please you, but we fall into these ruts. 89 00:06:50,545 --> 00:06:55,464 Speaker 2: Help us to pursue you more faithfully, change our brains, 90 00:06:55,904 --> 00:06:59,745 Speaker 2: ignite our souls, give us a hunger for you and 91 00:06:59,825 --> 00:07:04,705 Speaker 2: the things of you. Fill us with your spirit. Thank 92 00:07:04,745 --> 00:07:07,585 Speaker 2: you that we are new. We are no longer the 93 00:07:07,625 --> 00:07:11,505 Speaker 2: men and women we used to be. By your grace, 94 00:07:11,705 --> 00:07:17,385 Speaker 2: each day, we are becoming people who beautifully reflect your heart. 95 00:07:17,945 --> 00:07:23,265 Speaker 2: Increase our excitement to live as your representatives, and remove 96 00:07:23,265 --> 00:07:25,865 Speaker 2: everything within us that gets in your way. 97 00:07:26,265 --> 00:07:27,505 Speaker 1: And it is in the name of 98 00:07:27,665 --> 00:07:32,305 Speaker 2: Your son, our victorious savior, Jesus Christ, that we pray 99 00:07:32,345 --> 00:07:32,705 Speaker 2: Amen