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Speaker 1: Life Audio.

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Speaker 2: You're listening to every Day Prayers with Million Praying Moms,

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Speaker 2: helping you pray God's word for your family in the

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Speaker 2: areas that you need at most. I'm your host, Nicolette Bell.

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Speaker 2: Here we believe.

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Speaker 1: Prayer isn't a last resort.

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Speaker 2: It's our first and best response in parenting, and every

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Speaker 2: day we come together to partner with God for the

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Speaker 2: hearts of our children. Today's devotion is written and read

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Speaker 2: by me, written originally for the Everyday Prayers podcast. Today,

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Speaker 2: I'm sharing an encouragement in prayer for Jesus to meet

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Speaker 2: us as we are going from the encounter on the

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Speaker 2: walk to amaze. I hope it will encourage you wherever

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Speaker 2: you are on your way this day. To learn more

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Speaker 2: about the Million Praying Mom's ministry, visit Millionprayingmoms dot com.

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Speaker 1: You can find a link in our show.

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Speaker 2: After a brief word from our sponsors, will pray together

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Speaker 2: for our children. Luke twenty four thirteen through seventeen. That

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Speaker 2: very day, two of them were going to a village

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Speaker 2: named Emmaeus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and they were

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Speaker 2: talking with each other about all these things that had happened.

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Speaker 2: While they were talking and discussing together. Jesus himself drew

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Speaker 2: near and went with them, but their eyes were kept

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Speaker 2: from recognize him, and he said to them, what is

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Speaker 2: this conversation that you were holding with each other as

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Speaker 2: you walk? And they stood still, looking sad. Recently I

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Speaker 2: was teaching on this passage in my local church. It's

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Speaker 2: a familiar story to many of us, and we can

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Speaker 2: often skim over it and miss some of its treasures.

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Speaker 2: As I slowed down to really study the passage, I

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Speaker 2: noticed several things that I hadn't noticed before when I

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Speaker 2: read it. The first thing that I noticed was that

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Speaker 2: Jesus met ordinary people on an ordinary road. This is

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Speaker 2: the only time that these two disciples are mentioned in scripture.

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Speaker 2: One is given a name, Cleopus, and one is not.

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Speaker 2: We kind of just assume that the second traveler is

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Speaker 2: a male, but the scripture really doesn't lay that out.

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Speaker 2: One theory that scholars have is this could be a

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Speaker 2: Cleopus and his wife that maybe are named in one

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Speaker 2: of the other gospels as Clopus and his wife, But

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Speaker 2: we're just really not sure about that. We don't know

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Speaker 2: who these people are, but we know that they're seemingly

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Speaker 2: not super important. We hear about them in this encounter,

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Speaker 2: and then we don't hear about them again. They also

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Speaker 2: were headed a bit in the wrong direction. Many would

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Speaker 2: say they were headed away from the center of action.

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Speaker 2: All of the big events and happenings were taking place

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Speaker 2: in Jerusalem, and they were headed in to an unnamed

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Speaker 2: or a really unimportant town right outside of Jerusalem, about

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Speaker 2: seven miles a three hour journey outside of Jerusalem. We're

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Speaker 2: not particularly sure exactly where a Mais is. Scholars have

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Speaker 2: an idea of some different villages that could have been

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Speaker 2: a Mais but we don't know for sure the exact

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Speaker 2: location of this town. We can kind of guess that

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Speaker 2: it was a smaller town from some of the things

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Speaker 2: that we know about it, and so it may seem

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Speaker 2: that they were headed out of the action and into

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Speaker 2: the country on this journey. The other thing that really

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Speaker 2: kind of stumps me is that Jesus had forty days

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Speaker 2: between his resurrection and his ascension, and the fact that

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Speaker 2: he would use a full day with these two seemingly

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Speaker 2: unimportant guys headed to a seemingly unimportant town is really

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Speaker 2: incredible to me. He could have gone straight to the

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Speaker 2: temple and showing the religious leaders hello I'm back, or

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Speaker 2: he could have gone to Pilot to show himself off

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Speaker 2: to the people in power.

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Speaker 1: That executed him.

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Speaker 2: Instead, he showed up to two of his disciples that

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Speaker 2: were in the outer fringes not mentioned anywhere before this point,

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Speaker 2: but had believed and put their hope in him, and

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Speaker 2: were now confused and disappointed. They said, but we had

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Speaker 2: hoped that he was the one, is what they told

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Speaker 2: them when they were telling him about themselves. He shows

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Speaker 2: up where they are and he gives them just what

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Speaker 2: they need. Another thing that really stood out to me

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Speaker 2: in this encounter was verse fifteen that reads while they

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Speaker 2: were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and

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Speaker 2: went with them. What struck me about this passage is

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Speaker 2: that Jesus met them on their way or as they

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Speaker 2: were going. The message transl puts it like this, in

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Speaker 2: the middle of their talk and questions, Jesus came up

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Speaker 2: and walked along with them. Jesus meets these disciples on

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Speaker 2: their way, and this detail means so much to me

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Speaker 2: as a Jesus follower. Jesus met them where they were

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Speaker 2: as they were going. These disciples had to feel defeated

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Speaker 2: and lost after the Crucifixion had taken place. They had

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Speaker 2: put their hope and trust in Jesus for what Now

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Speaker 2: it was all over, and they were walking in the

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Speaker 2: opposite direction. We don't know if they were walking home.

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Speaker 2: The text doesn't actually say this. It's a likely conclusion,

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Speaker 2: and so a lot of people make that conclusion, but

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Speaker 2: the text really doesn't tell us this. We don't know

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Speaker 2: why they were headed to Amas. In our own lives,

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Speaker 2: I feel like we can so often get paralyzed by

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Speaker 2: fear of not knowing what's next or not doing something right,

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Speaker 2: and we can get stuck. We're often tempted to wait

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Speaker 2: for God to lay out exactly our next steps. And

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Speaker 2: what I love about this passage and this particular detail,

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Speaker 2: is that these disciples were moving, they were on their way,

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Speaker 2: they were headed in a direction, and Jesus showed up. Now,

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Speaker 2: if we kept reading, we would see that their direction

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Speaker 2: gets after Jesus shows up and reveals the scriptures to them,

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Speaker 2: they change direction and they head back into Jerusalem with

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Speaker 2: the other disciples. But I think what's key here is

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Speaker 2: that Jesus shows up where they are, where they are headed,

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Speaker 2: and he guides and directs them along the path There's

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Speaker 2: so much we could get into. At this passage, they

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Speaker 2: don't recognize him, and then they do, and then he disappears.

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Speaker 2: He vanishes from their sight once they do recognize him.

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Speaker 2: There's so many different points and conclusions that we could

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Speaker 2: draw together because it's so so rich. But today I

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Speaker 2: want us to focus on and be reminded that just

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Speaker 2: as Jesus walked with these disciples on the road to Emmaeus,

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Speaker 2: as we are going. As we are on our way,

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Speaker 2: the Holy Spirit walks alongside us.

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Speaker 1: As our guide.

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Speaker 2: The Spirit walks with us and helps us to understand

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Speaker 2: the scriptures and the things of God. Jesus tells his

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Speaker 2: disciples before his crucifixion in John sixteen seven that it's

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Speaker 2: better for them that he goes away, for he will

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Speaker 2: send a helper. It's hard for me to imagine what's

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Speaker 2: better than having Jesus next to me explaining the scriptures

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Speaker 2: to me, but Jesus promises his disciples, I'm sending you

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Speaker 2: something better. Jesus tells us that the Holy Spirit will

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Speaker 2: bring to remembrance the things that I have spoken to you,

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Speaker 2: and will guide you into all truths John fifteen and

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Speaker 2: John seventeen. Here these disciples respond after they figure out

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Speaker 2: who Jesus is. Didn't our hearts just burn within us

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Speaker 2: as he opened up the.

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Speaker 1: Scriptures to us.

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Speaker 2: This is a reference to the Holy Spirit. This burning

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Speaker 2: within us, this warmth, this motion is the Holy Spirit

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Speaker 2: at work within us. So, friend, wherever you find yourself today,

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Speaker 2: don't be paralyzed by fear. Know that when we take

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Speaker 2: steps of faith, Jesus meets us as we're going, and

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Speaker 2: he allows his Holy Spirit to move and work in

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Speaker 2: our hearts. If we allow him to work in our hearts,

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Speaker 2: we will be guided on the ways in the past

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Speaker 2: of truth. Let's pray together. Father, we thank you that

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Speaker 2: you meet us ordinary people on our ordinary roads, that

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Speaker 2: you show up in the places we are going, to

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Speaker 2: lead us and guide us through your Holy Spirit. Help

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Speaker 2: us to recognize where you are working in our lives

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Speaker 2: and to follow wherever you are leading. Help me to

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Speaker 2: teach my children to walk by faith, not by sight. Father,

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Speaker 2: help my children to step out in faith even when

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Speaker 2: the exact path isn't clear, And help me to cheer

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Speaker 2: them on and to trust them to you in Jesus' name. Amen.

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Speaker 2: May is the month to celebrate moms, and we've updated

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Speaker 2: our mom shop just in time with some of our

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Speaker 2: favorite resources. Be sure to check out our updated shop

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Speaker 2: at Million Prayingmoms dot com, forward slash shop, or click

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Speaker 2: shop from our homepage. Until next time, friends, the Lord

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Speaker 2: bless you and keep you. Make his face shine upon you,

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Speaker 2: and be gracious to you. May the Lord look with

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Speaker 2: favor on you and give you peace.