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Speaker 1: Life Audio Thank you for listening to your daily Bible verse.

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Speaker 1: The podcast that examines one verse each day to learn

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Speaker 1: more about God and His will for our lives. I'm

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Speaker 1: your host, Kyle Norman. After a brief message from one

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Speaker 1: of our sponsors, we will continue with today's verse. Life

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Speaker 1: Audio Today's verse can be found in Deuteronomy 8.11. Be

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Speaker 1: careful that you do not forget the Lord your God,

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Speaker 1: failing to observe His commands, His laws, and His decrees.

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Speaker 1: I felt a great deal of pride when I published

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Speaker 1: my first book. I remember looking at the cover thinking,

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Speaker 1: I can't believe I accomplished what I dreamed about for

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Speaker 1: so long. I can't believe I actually did this. And

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Speaker 1: now that I'm on the cusp of launching my second book,

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Speaker 1: these feelings are coming back. Now, obviously, it's a good

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Speaker 1: thing to have dreams and aspirations and to accomplish our goals.

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Speaker 1: God's created us with talents, and God wants us to

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Speaker 1: use our talents to the best of our ability. And

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Speaker 1: it's okay to feel good and happy, dare I say

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Speaker 1: even prideful, when we achieve what we set out to achieve.

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Speaker 1: but there's a subtle temptation that lurks whenever we achieve

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Speaker 1: our goals. In the book of Deuteronomy, Israel is on

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Speaker 1: the cusp of crossing the Jordan and entering the land

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Speaker 1: that they have wanted to see for so long. This

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Speaker 1: was the land that God had promised, and this was

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Speaker 1: the land that God was bringing them to. But before

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Speaker 1: they cross the Jordan, Moses says to the people, be careful. See,

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Speaker 1: God knew that that for Israel, having everything that they wanted,

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Speaker 1: realizing all that they had worked for, that could create

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Speaker 1: a danger for their spiritual lives. See, during the Exodus,

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Speaker 1: it was hard for Israel to forget God. God journeyed

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Speaker 1: with them by fire by night and cloud by day.

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Speaker 1: God did miracles all around them, crossing the Red Sea,

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Speaker 1: water from the rock, successive battles against bigger and angrier armies.

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Speaker 1: So as they journeyed through the wilderness, it was easy

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Speaker 1: for Israel to see their need for God and to

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Speaker 1: live from that reality. And that's often the case, isn't it?

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Speaker 1: If we enter a time of need or a time

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Speaker 1: of struggle, our need for God's help becomes more pronounced.

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Speaker 1: This is why we sometimes find it easier to pray

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Speaker 1: when things are going wrong than when things are going right.

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Speaker 1: So what happens if we don't see that need anymore?

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Speaker 1: What if we cross the river of our dreams and

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Speaker 1: everything starts going right in our life? Well, the temptation

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Speaker 1: is to push God away, to have God just slide

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Speaker 1: into the background of our lives. So Moses says to

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Speaker 1: the people, be careful that you do not forget God. Otherwise,

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Speaker 1: when you eat and are satisfied, and you build fine

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Speaker 1: houses and live in them, when your herds and your

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Speaker 1: flocks grow large and your silver and gold increases, then

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Speaker 1: your heart will become proud and you will forget the

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Speaker 1: Lord your God. The biggest danger for Israel's spiritual life

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Speaker 1: was idolatry, supplanting God's place in favor of idols of

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Speaker 1: any type, silver or gold. And so we might think, well,

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Speaker 1: what are the idols today? And yes, we might turn

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Speaker 1: to idols of technology or consumerism, but the biggest idol

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Speaker 1: of our day is ourselves. When it comes to our

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Speaker 1: spiritual lives, who often do we place first? Moses tells

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Speaker 1: the people that the temptation in the promised land was

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Speaker 1: for them to push God to the side and say

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Speaker 1: in their heart that my power and my strength has

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Speaker 1: produced this wealth for me. But was that Israel's history?

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Speaker 1: Was the 40-year slog through the desert a 40-year testimony

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Speaker 1: of amazing self-mastery, political prowess, and self-accomplishment? No! The Exodus

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Speaker 1: was a place of need. It was where they cried

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Speaker 1: out to God for help, and God provided because God

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Speaker 1: is faithful. And so the task for Israel in the

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Speaker 1: Promised Land was to carry that sense of need with them,

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Speaker 1: that spirit of reliance. They were to live from that

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Speaker 1: spirit even in the promised land. Now, yes, they would

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Speaker 1: be living in the land of abundance where riches and

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Speaker 1: produce and houses and everything was held out for them,

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Speaker 1: but they were still a people who fundamentally needed God

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Speaker 1: in their lives. So, Moses says, don't forget that. Now,

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Speaker 1: remembering God is more than simply acknowledging God's presence. Moses says,

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Speaker 1: be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God,

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Speaker 1: failing to observe his command, his laws, and his decrees.

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Speaker 1: Israel spent 40 years learning what it meant to be

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Speaker 1: the people of God, what it meant to live in

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Speaker 1: reliance upon God, daring to believe that God was leading

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Speaker 1: them to that place of salvation. And all the ways

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Speaker 1: that they were to live out their faithful life in

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Speaker 1: the desert, all the ways that they were to follow

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Speaker 1: the commands of God, all of the ways that they

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Speaker 1: were to testify to God's saving actions to neighbors and

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Speaker 1: family and future generations, none of that stopped simply because

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Speaker 1: they crossed the river. In fact, the entire journey of

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Speaker 1: the Exodus was a preparation for how they were to

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Speaker 1: live in the promised land. And number one on that

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Speaker 1: list was not forgetting the Lord their God and not

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Speaker 1: forgetting who they were as God's people. So, as you

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Speaker 1: go about your day today, don't forget the Lord your God.

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Speaker 1: Don't forget the work that God has done in your life,

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Speaker 1: in good times and in times of struggle. Don't forget

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Speaker 1: the miracles that have occurred or the coincidences that you

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Speaker 1: have experienced in your life, stuff that your own had

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Speaker 1: no say in. And then, recognizing all of these things,

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Speaker 1: give thanks. and give God glory. Amen.