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Speaker 1: Welcome to the Crosswalk Devotional. We're glad to have you

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Speaker 1: listening with us. Today's topic is on the importance of

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Speaker 1: keeping our souls aligned with and empowered by our faithful God.

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Speaker 1: We'll return with the devotional after a brief message from

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Speaker 1: our sponsors. Guarding Our Hearts Against Self-Sabotaging Behaviors, written and

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Speaker 1: read by Jennifer Slattery. They took their daughters in marriage

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Speaker 1: and gave their own daughters to their sons and served

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Speaker 1: their gods. The Israelites did evil in the eyes of

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Speaker 1: the Lord. They forgot the Lord their God and served

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Speaker 1: the Baals and Asherahs. Judges 3, verses 6 to 7.

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Speaker 1: Sometimes I have little control over the things that make

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Speaker 1: me most anxious or cause me pain and regret. but

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Speaker 1: I've also created or intensified issues because I ignored the

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Speaker 1: Lord's gentle conviction, his leading, or didn't take the time

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Speaker 1: to seek his guidance. I might have shared in previous

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Speaker 1: devotions how Christ empowered me to show grace to an

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Speaker 1: angry and explosive teenager we fostered, but I don't believe

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Speaker 1: I've yet shared all the times when I, the so-called

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Speaker 1: adult in the room, reacted poorly to the youth's trauma response.

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Speaker 2: Or got sucked into an argument that brought immediate regret.

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Speaker 2: Because I didn't heed Christ's warning or invitation before the

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Speaker 2: conflict attend to my soul. Thankfully, the Lord always responds

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Speaker 2: to my failings with grace. But that doesn't negate the

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Speaker 2: damage I caused from living with my spiritual eyes and

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Speaker 2: ears closed. Ancient Israel's history reveals the same pattern. the

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Speaker 2: Lord had well prepared them for this season long before

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Speaker 2: the fallout hit. This occurred decades after he liberated his

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Speaker 2: people from Egyptian oppression, faithfully led them through the Middle

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Speaker 2: Eastern wilderness and into the land he'd long promised them.

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Speaker 2: This occurred decades after he liberated his people from Egyptian oppression,

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Speaker 2: faithfully led them through the wilderness and into the land

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Speaker 2: he'd long promised them. But shortly before they stepped into Canaan,

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Speaker 2: God reminded them of all the ways he'd cared for

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Speaker 2: them in the past and presented them.

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Speaker 1: With what seems like an easy choice. If they remained

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Speaker 1: true to him, things would go well. If they rebelled

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Speaker 1: against him, they'd experience hardship rather than the covenantal blessings

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Speaker 1: laid out in Deuteronomy chapters 28 to 30. He invited

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Speaker 1: them to choose life. Instead, they chose death. by doing

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Speaker 1: one of the very things he warned them against. They

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Speaker 1: united their souls in marriage. With the wicked people groups,

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Speaker 1: the Israelites failed, partially in fear and partially from greed,

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Speaker 1: to drive from the land. They chose death, likely believing

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Speaker 1: they were choosing life, relationships, connection, family, and likely peace

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Speaker 1: with the militant people groups surrounding them. In the moment,

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Speaker 1: their actions probably seemed inconsequential. Maybe they believed their faith

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Speaker 1: was strong enough to withstand compromise. Or perhaps they thought

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Speaker 1: the men and women they married offered something the Lord.

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Speaker 2: Could not or would not. Security, belonging, acceptance, and peace. Regardless,

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Speaker 2: it's safe to say they didn't realize or consider where

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Speaker 2: their actions might lead and the intense pain they and

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Speaker 2: their families, children included, would endure. although their journey toward

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Speaker 2: rebellion didn't begin with their wedding. Our sinful behaviors rarely

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Speaker 2: emerge in isolation. Most often, one compromise leads to another,

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Speaker 2: then another, until we find ourselves frighteningly far from God,

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Speaker 2: our source of godliness and self-control. Notice the progression Scripture records. First,

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Speaker 2: the people failed to obey God's command to drive the

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Speaker 2: people from the land. Then, They built their homes among

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Speaker 2: them and slowly but steadily began to assimilate with their

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Speaker 2: culture until eventually they and the Canaanites became essentially indistinguishable.

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Speaker 2: Although they called themselves God's chosen people, they lived as

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Speaker 2: his enemies. As verse 7 states, they forgot, as in rejected,

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Speaker 2: the Lord and turned instead to a religion rooted in

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Speaker 2: demonic deception, intersecting life and faith. We humans haven't changed

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Speaker 2: much in generations since. We're still prone to wonder from

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Speaker 2: the Lord and to downplay the seriousness of our choices.

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Speaker 2: I suspect this stems from our inability to understand and

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Speaker 2: trust Christ's heart. It's easy to question the benefits of

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Speaker 2: obedience when we're not convinced that he truly has our

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Speaker 2: best in mind. In the spiritual void this creates, following

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Speaker 2: our wisdom and desires is seems not only reasonable, but

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Speaker 2: like the best.

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Speaker 1: Course of action. The best antidote for sin, then, is

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Speaker 1: cultivating a deeper connection with the Lord and allowing Him

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Speaker 1: to meet those needs we might otherwise try to satisfy

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Speaker 1: in self-destructive ways. He alone knows what most makes us

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Speaker 1: feel alive, has the power to provide us with peace

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Speaker 1: and joy, and the desire to do so. He's already

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Speaker 1: chosen us, and daily invites us to choose him in return.

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Speaker 1: And so my question is, will we?

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Speaker 2: Thanks for listening to today's devotional.

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Speaker 1: If you liked what you heard today, we want to

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Speaker 1: make sure you know about our sister podcast, Your Daily Prayer.

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Speaker 1: looking to grow in prayer or start your day with

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Speaker 1: your heart focused on the right things, search for Your

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