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Speaker 1: Life Audio. Well, Hey there, friends, I'm Jody Nisnick and

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Speaker 1: welcome to our lent series. Land is a season that

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Speaker 1: helps us prepare our hearts for Easter. This year, we're

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Speaker 1: reflecting on the I Am statements of Jesus. When Jesus

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Speaker 1: uses this phrase, he is hearkening back to Exodus, where

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Speaker 1: God reveals himself as the I Am. And when Jesus

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Speaker 1: uses this phrase, he is declaring he is God and

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Speaker 1: revealing something about his character. My prayer is that these

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Speaker 1: moments of reflection and prayer will help you slow down

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Speaker 1: and draw closer to the heart of Jesus. Will get

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Speaker 1: started after a brief word from our sponsors. Before we

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Speaker 1: begin our meditation, I want to invite you to head

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Speaker 1: into the show notes, where you will find a link

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Speaker 1: to download the free I Am Companion journal that I've

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Speaker 1: made for this series. It has each scripture that we

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Speaker 1: are meditating on, all of the reflection prompts, and it

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Speaker 1: gives you space to take notes on your prayers and

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Speaker 1: meditation time. I do hope you'll take advantage of this

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Speaker 1: free resource. Also, for the season of lynd I will

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Speaker 1: release a brief guided prayer every Wednesday to help us

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Speaker 1: prayer flee, reset our focus on Jesus. You'll find that

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Speaker 1: right here in this feed each Wednesday. Well, with that,

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Speaker 1: let's get started. I want to invite you to begin

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Speaker 1: as we always do, and that is with taking a

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Speaker 1: few deep in and out breaths. As you breathe deeply in,

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Speaker 1: notice God is present with you right this very moment.

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Speaker 1: And as you slowly exhale, just do a quick scan.

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Speaker 1: Is there anything weighing on you today? Ask God to

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Speaker 1: hold it. Take another deep breath in and out and

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Speaker 1: keep doing that. Well, I pray for you, Lord, Jesus,

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Speaker 1: Thank you for this space to be in your presence,

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Speaker 1: more aware of your presence with us. We pray that

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Speaker 1: you would guide and lead us in this time. Lord,

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Speaker 1: help us to know more of what it means for

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Speaker 1: you to be our good shepherd. Lord. We ask that

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Speaker 1: you would help your word to become alive and that

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Speaker 1: you would guide as to exactly what we need to

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Speaker 1: notice in it so that we can have the conversation

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Speaker 1: with you we need to have. We asked that you

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Speaker 1: would do this for our good and for your glory.

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Speaker 1: We pray this in the name of Jesus. Amen. Well,

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Speaker 1: this is the fourth I am statement of Jesus, and

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Speaker 1: it comes from the exact story that we were in

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Speaker 1: in our last meditation. As a reminder, Jesus was addressing

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Speaker 1: the Pharisees, but he was also speaking to the people

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Speaker 1: that were listening in who were confused about who they

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Speaker 1: could trust. He uses this imagery of a shepherd in sheep,

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Speaker 1: and in our last meditation we focused on him saying

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Speaker 1: I am the Gate, meaning he's the one who guards

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Speaker 1: and protects the sheep and leads them to life. And

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Speaker 1: now Jesus takes this imagery even further. He says, not

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Speaker 1: only am I the Gate, I am the good shepherd,

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Speaker 1: and as the good shepherd, he will lay down his

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Speaker 1: life or the sheep. This would have caught the listener's attention.

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Speaker 1: A shepherd would certainly protect his flock, but he didn't

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Speaker 1: really expect to die for them. Shepherding was difficult work,

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Speaker 1: but it was not usually life threatening. Jesus is, of

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Speaker 1: course pointing toward the cross, and he's revealing that he

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Speaker 1: is not just a good shepherd, he is the good shepherd,

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Speaker 1: and he will give everything, including his life, for us

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Speaker 1: his flock. In this passage, Jesus also calls out the

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Speaker 1: hired hand, which could be anyone who tries to lead

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Speaker 1: us but isn't doing it for the right reasons. Now,

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Speaker 1: with that context in mind, as I read these words

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Speaker 1: of Jesus, just listen so you know where the passage

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Speaker 1: is headed. Our reading today is John ten Verses eleven

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Speaker 1: through fifteen. In the new International version, I am the

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Speaker 1: good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for

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Speaker 1: his sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd and

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Speaker 1: does not own the sheep. So when he sees the

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Speaker 1: wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then

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Speaker 1: the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man

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Speaker 1: runs away because he is a hired hand and cares

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Speaker 1: nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I

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Speaker 1: know my sheep, and my sheep know me, just as

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Speaker 1: the Father knows me, and I know the Father, and

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Speaker 1: I laid down my life for the sheep. I do

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Speaker 1: want to make one more note about this passage. Jesus,

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Speaker 1: as I said, uses this term hired hand. Since he

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Speaker 1: is standing with the fair sees, it's likely he's referring

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Speaker 1: to them. However, for us, the hired hand could be

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Speaker 1: any person, thing, or maybe even a structure. In our

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Speaker 1: life like a government or an organization that we believe

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Speaker 1: will protect, provide, or care for us. So take a

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Speaker 1: moment to ask the Lord what might be serving as

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Speaker 1: hired hands in your life right now and now, Holding

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Speaker 1: that in mind as I read a second time, ask

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Speaker 1: the Lord to guide you to a word, a phrase,

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Speaker 1: maybe even an idea in this passage. As always, try

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Speaker 1: not to overthink this process. Just see is there something

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Speaker 1: that captures your attention or stands out to you more

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Speaker 1: than the other things. Hold on to that. I'll give

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Speaker 1: you space to reflect on it after the reading. I

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Speaker 1: am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his

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Speaker 1: life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the

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Speaker 1: shepherd and does not own the sheep, so when he

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Speaker 1: sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep runs away.

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Speaker 1: Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The

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Speaker 1: man runs away because he is a hired hand and

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Speaker 1: cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd.

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Speaker 1: I know my sheep, and my sheep know me, just

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Speaker 1: as the Father knows me, and I know the Father,

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Speaker 1: and I lay down my life for the sheep. Reflect

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Speaker 1: on what stood out to you in this passage and

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Speaker 1: ask God, how does this apply to my life? Right now?

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Speaker 1: As I read a third time, notice again what you

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Speaker 1: noticed in the second reading, and ask God to help

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Speaker 1: you know how He is inviting you to take a

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Speaker 1: step forward with him. There may be a promise to remember,

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Speaker 1: a step of trust to take, as thin to confess,

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Speaker 1: or something else. I am the good shepherd. The good

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Speaker 1: shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired

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Speaker 1: hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep.

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Speaker 1: So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the

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Speaker 1: sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock

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Speaker 1: and scatters it. The man runs away because he is

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Speaker 1: a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I

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Speaker 1: am the good shepherd. I know my sheep, and my

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Speaker 1: sheep know me, just as the Father knows me. And

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Speaker 1: I know the Father, and I laid down my life

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Speaker 1: for the sheep. Have a conversation with God. Be open

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Speaker 1: and honest about any fears, hesitations, or resistances you feel

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Speaker 1: toward what He is revealing to you, and allow him

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Speaker 1: space to speak back to you. In love. Bob and now,

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Speaker 1: as we move to the final reading, rest in the

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Speaker 1: truth of God's goodness and his love for you. Rest

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Speaker 1: in the truth that Jesus is your good shepherd, and

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Speaker 1: rest the truth that not only has he died for you,

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Speaker 1: but he will never leave you or forsake you. I

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Speaker 1: am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his

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Speaker 1: life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the

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Speaker 1: shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he

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Speaker 1: sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away.

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Speaker 1: Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The

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Speaker 1: man runs away because he is a hired hand and

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Speaker 1: cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd.

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Speaker 1: I know my sheep, and my sheep know me, just

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Speaker 1: as the Father knows me, and I know the Father,

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Speaker 1: and I lay down my life for the sheep. Lord,

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Speaker 1: thank you for your word. Thank you that you are

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Speaker 1: the good shepherd, that you will never leave us, never

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Speaker 1: forsake us, never run away or abandon us. That you

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Speaker 1: are so much more than a hired hand. You are

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Speaker 1: sure and steady, you are unmovable, and you lay down

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Speaker 1: your life for us. Thank you, Lord Lord. If there

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Speaker 1: are any things that we have been placing our trust

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Speaker 1: in that are beyond you or outside of you, would

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Speaker 1: you help us to lay those things down, knowing that

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Speaker 1: they will not hold up the way you do. As

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Speaker 1: our good Shepherd, thank you for whatever you have revealed

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Speaker 1: to us in this passage. Would you help that to

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Speaker 1: root deep into our soul and help us to carry

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Speaker 1: it forward today and this week? Thank you Lord. We

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Speaker 1: pray this in the name of Jesus, our good Shepherd. Amen. Well, friends,

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Speaker 1: if you are new to the So Much More podcast,

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Speaker 1: or if you're new to the season of LINT, I

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Speaker 1: want to invite you head into the show notes and

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Speaker 1: grab the free I am Meditation Journal. I unpack a

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Speaker 1: little bit more about what LINT is and why Christians

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Speaker 1: have been practicing it for a very long time. You'll

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Speaker 1: also see in the notes my partner Life Audio, and

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Speaker 1: I encourage you to check them out at lifeaudio dot com. Finally,

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Speaker 1: if you are enjoying these meditations, one of the greatest

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Speaker 1: things you can do for me is either share these

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Speaker 1: with a friend or follow on Apple Podcasts and Spotify,

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Speaker 1: and if you're able, leave a review. All of those

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Speaker 1: things they just go a really long way and spreading

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Speaker 1: the word and helping get these meditations into the hands

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Speaker 1: of those who might need them. As always, my friend,

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Speaker 1: thanks for joining me on so much more because we

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Speaker 1: really do believe Jesus has so much more to say

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Speaker 1: to us, and this is one way we are creating

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Speaker 1: space to listen.