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Speaker 1: Life Audio. Hello, thank you for listening to your Daily

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Speaker 1: Bible Verse, the podcast that examines one verse each day

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Speaker 1: to learn more about God and his will for us.

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Speaker 1: I'm your host, joy A Williamson. After this short word

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Speaker 1: from our sponsor, will dive into today's Bible verse, Isaiah

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Speaker 1: chapter forty two, verse sixteen. Today's Bible verse is Isaiah

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Speaker 1: chapter forty two, verse sixteen, and it says I will

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Speaker 1: lead blind Israel down a new path, guiding them along

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Speaker 1: and un familiar way. I will brighten the darkness before

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Speaker 1: them and smooth out the road ahead of them. Yes,

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Speaker 1: I will indeed do these things. I will not forsake them. Well,

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Speaker 1: dear listener. I love a sense of routine, and for

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Speaker 1: me that means getting up early for some quiet time

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Speaker 1: with the Lord, and that's usually followed by a physical exercise,

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Speaker 1: some workout that I'll do and then that's all before

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Speaker 1: starting my work day. But there are seasons of life

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Speaker 1: when my routine is disrupted. It happens as life demands

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Speaker 1: or unexpected event takes me down an unfamiliar path. And

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Speaker 1: if you're facing something that's unfamiliar, well you also know

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Speaker 1: it often comes with a good amount of uncertainty, but

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Speaker 1: today's Bible verse offers us some guidance. In Isaiah chapter

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Speaker 1: forty two sixteen, we see this verse nestled in a

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Speaker 1: passage where God declared judgment over the Israelites who served

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Speaker 1: false gods. They were spiritually blind, Scripture describes them and

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Speaker 1: unable to see or sense God's truth. But in his

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Speaker 1: mercy and his great love, God also declared Israel's hope.

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Speaker 1: Bible scholar Matthew Henry offers a helpful explanation for Israel's

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Speaker 1: hope and our hope too. And he said, for those

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Speaker 1: quite at a loss, who don't know what to do

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Speaker 1: with themselves, God will lead by a way that they

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Speaker 1: know not. He will show them the way to life

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Speaker 1: and happiness by Jesus Christ, who is the way, and

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Speaker 1: will conduct and carry them on in that way which

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Speaker 1: before they were strangers to it. End of quote. Well,

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Speaker 1: in essence, Isaiah forty two and sixteen points to God

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Speaker 1: leading a lost Israel to Christ salvation. Now, for the

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Speaker 1: is Israelites back in Isaiah chapter forty two, this was

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Speaker 1: a prophetic promise. Christ was yet to come and dwell

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Speaker 1: among them. He was yet to die for humanity's sins

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Speaker 1: and rise from the dead. But today we can be

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Speaker 1: certain Jesus Christ has come and finished everything required for

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Speaker 1: our salvation. And yet we can still have uncertainty as

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Speaker 1: we encounter a new situation, just like those occasional disruptions

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Speaker 1: in my daily routine. You may be adjusting to how

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Speaker 1: a new situation perplexes you or how it excites you.

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Speaker 1: Perhaps it's a recent move, or a radical change in

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Speaker 1: your resources or your health. Maybe it's a new job,

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Speaker 1: a new relationship, or even a new task. Well, whatever

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Speaker 1: our unfamiliar looks like, our faithful God can lead us

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Speaker 1: through it. He knows the courage and the clarifying moments

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Speaker 1: that we need. Now. For Israel, he promised to brighten

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Speaker 1: the darkness before them and smooth out the road ahead

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Speaker 1: of them. And that is certainly an encouragement to us,

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Speaker 1: because as I consider what looks dill or discouraging in

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Speaker 1: my own life, I find it helpful to trust the

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Speaker 1: light God puts before me. Now, this may be a

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Speaker 1: scripture I keep encountering, or the same wise advice I

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Speaker 1: keep hearing. I also prayerfully seek God about aligning my

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Speaker 1: perspective with his. Then the rough road before me becomes

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Speaker 1: a growth place within me, bringing me closer to Christ.

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Speaker 1: It's so, dear listener, how are you sensing God and

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Speaker 1: the unfamiliar places of your life? I encourage you to

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Speaker 1: look for the light of His truth. Expect Him to

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Speaker 1: reveal if there is anything that needs to change in you,

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Speaker 1: even as He smooths out the road before you. Because

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Speaker 1: in today's Bible verse, God also offered Israel this reassurance.

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Speaker 1: He said, yes, I will indeed do these things. I

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Speaker 1: will not forsake them, and God will not forsake us either.

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Speaker 1: Therefore we can be encouraged because in the unfamiliar places

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Speaker 1: of our lives, God desires to make us more familiar

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Speaker 1: with who He is. I invite you to pray with

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Speaker 1: me even now. Dear God, there are times when I'm

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Speaker 1: at a loss and I don't know what to do,

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Speaker 1: and there may be a listener that feels that way today.

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Speaker 1: But you know exactly what we need. Lord, Give us

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Speaker 1: strength to make the tough choices, give us wisdom to

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Speaker 1: make the right choices. Align our heart with your will,

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Speaker 1: and may we each flourish in the growth places even

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Speaker 1: as you smooth out the road that is before us.

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Speaker 1: And this is our prayer in Jesus' name. Amen,