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Speaker 1: Welcome to the Crosswalk Devotional.

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Speaker 2: We're glad to have you listening with us.

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Speaker 1: Today's topic is how God's love empowers you to win

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Speaker 1: spiritual battles. We'll return with the devotional after a brief

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Speaker 1: message from our sponsors. God's Love Empowers You to Win

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Speaker 1: Spiritual Battles Written and Read by Whitney Hopler For I

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Speaker 1: am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,

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Speaker 1: neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither

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Speaker 1: height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will

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Speaker 1: be able to separate us from the love of God

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Speaker 1: that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8, 38-39

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Speaker 1: NIV I remember visiting my mom in the hospital and

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Speaker 1: bringing her a magazine. It was opened to an article

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Speaker 1: about God's angels when her nurse noticed it sitting beside

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Speaker 1: her bed. That led to a conversation I've never forgotten.

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Speaker 1: He told me that several years earlier, while he was

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Speaker 1: in rehab for alcohol addiction— he had gone through intense

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Speaker 1: spiritual battles. During seasons when he spent a long time praying,

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Speaker 1: God sometimes allowed him to see something that's usually invisible.

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Speaker 1: The nurse said he could actually see both holy angels

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Speaker 1: and fallen angels around him as battles between good and

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Speaker 1: evil were taking place. It was scary to witness spiritual

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Speaker 1: warfare that's usually unseen, but he also said it filled

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Speaker 1: him with hope because every time he prayed for help,

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Speaker 1: God responded with love by sending holy angels to fight

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Speaker 1: on his behalf. Looking back, the nurse was convinced that

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Speaker 1: because God never stopped loving him, he was able to

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Speaker 1: win those spiritual battles. The nurse praised God for lovingly

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Speaker 1: empowering him with everything he needed to.

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Speaker 2: Break free from alcohol addiction.

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Speaker 1: Whether or not you ever see angels and demons with

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Speaker 1: your physical eyes, The Bible makes it clear that spiritual

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Speaker 1: battles are real.

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Speaker 2: Every day you face temptations, discouragement, fear.

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Speaker 1: Lies, and attacks that try to pull you away from God.

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Speaker 1: Sometimes the battles are obvious. At other times, they happen

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Speaker 1: quietly in your thoughts, your.

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Speaker 2: Emotions, or the choices you make.

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Speaker 1: The good news is that you never have to fight

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Speaker 1: these battles by yourself. Romans 8 says, 38-39 promises that

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Speaker 1: nothing can separate you from God's love. Even demons and

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Speaker 1: the most intense spiritual battles you go through. There is

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Speaker 1: absolutely nothing in all creation that is stronger than the

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Speaker 1: love God has for you through Jesus Christ. When you

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Speaker 1: know that God's love is constantly there for you, you

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Speaker 1: no longer have to live in fear. Evil wants you

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Speaker 1: to believe that you're alone, forgotten, or beyond hope. But

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Speaker 1: those are lies. God's word tells you that God's love

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Speaker 1: is much stronger than every spiritual attack on you. Love

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Speaker 1: is at the core of who God is. Since God

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Speaker 1: loves you completely, he does much more than just watch

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Speaker 1: you struggle from a distance. God comes close to you

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Speaker 1: and strengthens you in all the ways you need strength

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Speaker 1: so you can win your spiritual battles. The nurse I

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Speaker 1: met told me that God's loving care gave him the

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Speaker 1: strength to keep choosing the next best step as he

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Speaker 1: fought spiritual battles. Over time, God's love empowered him to

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Speaker 1: win the entire war he faced with addiction. What battles

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Speaker 1: are you fighting right now? Maybe you're fighting anxiety, bitterness, temptation, loneliness, shame,

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Speaker 1: or some other enemy. Maybe you're praying for a loved

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Speaker 1: one who seems far from God.

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Speaker 2: Don't give up.

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Speaker 1: The God who loves you is still at work, even.

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Speaker 2: When you can't see what he's doing.

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Speaker 1: Because you're loved by an all-powerful God, you can keep

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Speaker 1: fighting with courage and confidence, and you can expect to

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Speaker 1: win every single one of your spiritual battles. So choose

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Speaker 1: to rest in God's powerful love for you. Bring every

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Speaker 1: fear that worries you to God in prayer. Remind yourself

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Speaker 1: of God's powerful promises to you. Keep trusting God to

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Speaker 1: guide you through your battles one step.

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Speaker 2: At a time.

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Speaker 1: No matter how challenging the spiritual warfare in your life becomes,

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Speaker 1: nothing can separate you from God's love. Remembering that reality

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Speaker 1: will give you the strength to overcome every spiritual battle

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Speaker 1: in your life. Intersecting Faith in Life As you consider

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Speaker 1: how God's love empowers you to win spiritual battles, Reflect

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Speaker 1: on these questions. What spiritual battle are you facing right

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Speaker 1: now that you need to rely on God's strength to fight?

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Speaker 1: How does knowing that nothing can separate you from God's

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Speaker 1: love give you hope? What lives have evil attacks tried

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Speaker 1: to make you believe? And what truths from God's word

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Speaker 1: can help you fight those lies? In what areas of

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Speaker 1: your life do you need to rely more on God's

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Speaker 1: strength instead of your own? How can you encourage someone

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Speaker 1: else this week with the reminder that God's love never

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Speaker 1: lets them go? Further reading, Ephesians 6, 10-12 1 John 4,

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Speaker 1: 4 James 4, 7 Psalm 34, 7 2 Corinthians 10,

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Speaker 1: 3-4 Thanks for listening.

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Speaker 2: To today's devotional.

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Speaker 3: If you liked what you heard today, We want to

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Speaker 3: make sure you know about our sister podcast, Your Daily Prayer.

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Speaker 3: When you follow Your Daily Prayer in your favorite podcast app,

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Speaker 3: so your days begin in conversation with God. If you're

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Speaker 3: looking to grow in prayer or start your day with

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Speaker 3: your heart focused on the right things, search for Your

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Speaker 3: Daily Prayer in your favorite podcast app and be sure

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