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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, Jennifer Slattery, and after this short word

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Speaker 1: from our sponsors, we'll dive into today's Bible Verse Judges

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Speaker 1: one fifteen. Today's Bible versus Judges one fifteen. She replied,

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Speaker 1: do me a special favor. Since you have given me

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Speaker 1: land in the negative, give me also springs of water.

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Speaker 1: So Caleb gave her the upper and lower springs. One

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Speaker 1: of the most uncomfortable skills my friend wanted to develop

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Speaker 1: in her healing journey was the ability to ask for

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Speaker 1: what she needed. Initially doing selfish and on a deeper level, intrusive,

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Speaker 1: because at some point she began to see herself as

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Speaker 1: a burden. This distorted you created a pervasive tendency to

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Speaker 1: appease and please, to remain focused on what she thought

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Speaker 1: others wanted or needed, with little to no consideration for herself.

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Speaker 1: This often left her feeling unknown, unseen, and unvalued. Those

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Speaker 1: emotions only increased her desire to withdraw behind a socially

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Speaker 1: acceptable mask, which in turn increased her feelings of isolation

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Speaker 1: and insignificance, a devastating cycle that affected more than her

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Speaker 1: relationships with others, It also impacted how she interacted with God.

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Speaker 1: She knew intellectually that she had constant access to her

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Speaker 1: Father through her faith in Christ, but when she approached

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Speaker 1: him in prayer, she always felt like she was asking

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Speaker 1: for too much. Have you ever felt that way, as

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Speaker 1: if your concerns weren't important enough to warrant the Lord's time?

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Speaker 1: Or do you tend to approach him with the boldness

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Speaker 1: befitting his beloved and always welcome child, as Axa, Caleb's

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Speaker 1: daughter did in the text surrounding Today's first here's the context.

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Speaker 1: After forty years of wandering through the wilderness, the ancient

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Speaker 1: Israelites finally took possession of the land God had long

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Speaker 1: promised them well much of the land. According to chapter one,

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Speaker 1: the people failed to fully obey the Lord out of

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Speaker 1: greed and likely fear. By this point in the nation's history, Joshua,

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Speaker 1: the warrior who led them into Canaan and into their

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Speaker 1: first victorious battle, had died, and the people still needed

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Speaker 1: to take possession of much of the land, and so Caleb,

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Speaker 1: a man who'd shown high integrity in the past and

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Speaker 1: apparently rose to a position of leadership made not for

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Speaker 1: I don't much like. He pledged his daughter Axa in

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Speaker 1: marriage to whomever attacked and captured a key city located

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Speaker 1: in Judah's hill country. A warrior named O'Neil, who became

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Speaker 1: the nation's first judge or god appointed leader, conquered the

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Speaker 1: city and took Exces as his wife, and this is

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Speaker 1: in part what makes the rest of her story so intriguing.

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Speaker 1: Based on what we know regarding the ancient Near East,

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Speaker 1: women generally held far less social and legal authority than men,

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Speaker 1: and marriages were often arranged by fathers, as we see here.

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Speaker 1: Following this hand off, she boldly approached her dad with

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Speaker 1: a highly unusual request coming from a female during this

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Speaker 1: patriarchal period. Her father had given her and her husband

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Speaker 1: land in the Nagab, a gift, yes, but a challenging

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Speaker 1: one to enjoy because of how arid it was. She

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Speaker 1: and Offnaw needed water to use well the area they'd received.

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Speaker 1: Axa first asked her husband to speak with her father

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Speaker 1: about this. Scripture doesn't tell us exactly what happened next.

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Speaker 1: Maybe off now hesitated, maybe access simply decided this was

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Speaker 1: a conversation she needed to have herself. Whatever the reason,

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Speaker 1: she recognized her need and went straight to her Frid.

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Speaker 1: She approached him respectfully and with boldness, and he graciously

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Speaker 1: granted her request. In other words, she didn't hesitate to

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Speaker 1: lay her need before him, but she also wasn't entitled.

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Speaker 1: What a beautiful example this sets for us. God's beloved

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Speaker 1: children in Hebrews four, verse sixteen, were encouraged to approach

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Speaker 1: God's throne of grace with confidence, so that we may

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Speaker 1: receive mercy and find grace to help us in our

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Speaker 1: time of need, with confidence, knowing he'll receive us, listen

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Speaker 1: to us, and will provide all we need to experience

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Speaker 1: the thriving life Christ promised in John ten, verse ten.

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Speaker 1: We never annoy or frustrate our heavenly Father. He's never

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Speaker 1: too busy to hear our concerns. He wants us to

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Speaker 1: come to him with our needs and desires. Now that

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Speaker 1: doesn't mean he'll always give us what we ask for.

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Speaker 1: He's far too good to give us anything that would

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Speaker 1: hinder our growth intimacy with him and spiritual freedom. But

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Speaker 1: he does love to bless us, and in fact has

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Speaker 1: with abundant gifts, the most glorious of which is the

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Speaker 1: in dwelling Holy Spirit, often described in scripture as living water.

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Speaker 1: We need that living water, the Holy Spirit, to use

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Speaker 1: well all the gifts we received upon conversion, and really

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Speaker 1: to live well. Many scholars suggest that's the message conveyed

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Speaker 1: in today's passage, not that we must ask for the

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Speaker 1: Holy Spirit. If we've trusted in Christ for salvation, we

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Speaker 1: already possess Him and the perfect guidance he provides. But

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Speaker 1: we can seek a greater experience of His power within,

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Speaker 1: to live more dependent on Him and filled by him.

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Speaker 1: How often do you ask for that? For increased passion

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Speaker 1: for God and the things of Him. Those of you

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Speaker 1: who are as old as I am might remember Michael W.

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Speaker 1: Smith's song More Love, More Power, in which he asks

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Speaker 1: for more of God in his life. Those lyrics provide

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Speaker 1: a great prayer prompt. Maybe find that song on YouTube,

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Speaker 1: along with some time in which, if you can quiet

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Speaker 1: your soul, listen and sing along, seeking the very thing

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Speaker 1: your Father wants to give you, more of himself, God,

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Speaker 1: the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit,

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Speaker 1: and a greater ability to live led and empowered by Him.

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Speaker 1: Let's pray. Holy Father, we are so grateful for your love,

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Speaker 1: for your mercy and your grace. You have given us

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Speaker 1: so many beautiful gifts. You've given us salvation through your son.

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Speaker 1: You've given us the guidance of your Holy Spirit. You've

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Speaker 1: given us a restored relationship with you. You've given us purpose,

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Speaker 1: and you've adopted us into a global family. And I

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Speaker 1: could go on and on. Scripture is filled with all

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Speaker 1: the beautiful gifts that you have given us, your children,

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Speaker 1: through our faith in Jesus Christ. And we are grateful.

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Speaker 1: We know we cannot live this life apart from the

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Speaker 1: Holy Spirit. Another gift that you implanted in our souls.

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Speaker 1: Increase our love for you, God, the Father, God, the Son, God,

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Speaker 1: the Holy Spirit. Increase our passion for the things of You.

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Speaker 1: Help us to sense your presence, help us to live,

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Speaker 1: lad to live, empowered to live change. Jesus said in

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Speaker 1: John fifteen, verses one through five, that we cannot do

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Speaker 1: anything apart from him. And we know that is apart

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Speaker 1: from God, the Father, God, the Son, God the Holy Spirit.

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Speaker 1: For you three are one, and you three are constantly

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Speaker 1: working on our behalf. And we praise you for that.

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Speaker 1: We are so well supplied by your grace, by your power,

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Speaker 1: by your love, by your comfort, by your guidance, your provision,

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Speaker 1: everything we need. And so we are trusting in you

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Speaker 1: to supply all those needs. Lord, as we turn to you,

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Speaker 1: we are doing our part to turn to you, trusting

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Speaker 1: that you will do your part to empower, to lead,

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Speaker 1: to guide, and to fill. And it is in Jesus's name,

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Speaker 1: our safe Savior, your Son, that we pray Amen. M