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Speaker 1: Life Audio Thank you for listening to Your Nightly Scripture,

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Speaker 1: a Calming Scripture Center devotional podcast designed to help you

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Speaker 1: end each day with God's Word in your mind and

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Speaker 1: on your heart. Right after this short word from our sponsors,

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Speaker 1: we'll reflect on tonight's scripture, Romans chapter 1. Tonight's scripture

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Speaker 1: reflection is written by Greg Grandchamp and read by Carrie Eichbruder.

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Speaker 1: Romans chapter 1 Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called

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Speaker 1: to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel

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Speaker 1: of God, the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets

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Speaker 1: in the holy scriptures regarding his son, who as to

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Speaker 1: his earthly life was a descendant of David. and who

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Speaker 1: through the Spirit of holiness was appointed the Son of

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Speaker 1: God in power by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus

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Speaker 1: Christ our Lord. Through him we received grace and apostleship

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Speaker 1: to call all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes

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Speaker 1: from faith for his name's sake. And you also are

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Speaker 1: among those Gentiles who are called to belong to Jesus Christ,

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Speaker 1: to all in Rome who are loved by God and

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Speaker 1: called to be his holy people. Grace and peace to

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Speaker 1: you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. First,

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Speaker 1: I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you,

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Speaker 1: because your faith is being reported all over the world. God,

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Speaker 1: whom I serve in my spirit in preaching the gospel

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Speaker 1: of his Son, is my witness how constantly I remember

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Speaker 1: you in my prayers at all times. And I pray

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Speaker 1: that now at last, by God's will, the way may

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Speaker 1: be open for me to come to you. I long

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Speaker 1: to see you so that I may impart to you

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Speaker 1: some spiritual gift to make you strong. That is, that

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Speaker 1: you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith.

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Speaker 1: I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters,

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Speaker 1: that I planned many times to come to you, but

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Speaker 1: have been prevented from doing so until now in order

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Speaker 1: that I might have a harvest among you, just as

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Speaker 1: I have had among the other Gentiles. I am obligated

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Speaker 1: both to Greeks and non-Greeks both to the wise and

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Speaker 1: the foolish. That is why I am so eager to

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Speaker 1: preach the gospel, also to you who are in Rome.

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Speaker 1: For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it

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Speaker 1: is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone

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Speaker 1: who believes, first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.

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Speaker 1: For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed,

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Speaker 1: a righteousness that is by faith from first to last.

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Speaker 1: Just as it is written, the righteous will live by faith.

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Speaker 1: the wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against

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Speaker 1: all the godlessness and wickedness of people who suppress the

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Speaker 1: truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about

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Speaker 1: God is plain to them, because God has made it

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Speaker 1: plain to them. For since the creation of the world,

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Speaker 1: God's invisible qualities, his eternal power and divine nature, have

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Speaker 1: been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made,

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Speaker 1: so that people are without excuse. For although they knew God,

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Speaker 1: They neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him,

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Speaker 1: but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.

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Speaker 1: Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and

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Speaker 1: exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made

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Speaker 1: to look like a mortal human being and birds and

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Speaker 1: animals and reptiles. Therefore, God gave them over in their

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Speaker 1: sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the

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Speaker 1: degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the

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Speaker 1: truth about God for a lie and worshipped and served

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Speaker 1: created things rather than the Creator, who is forever praised. Amen.

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Speaker 1: Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts.

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Speaker 1: Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones.

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Speaker 1: In the same way, the men also abandoned natural relations

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Speaker 1: with women and were inflamed with lust for one another.

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Speaker 1: Men committed shameful acts with other men and received in

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Speaker 1: themselves the due penalty for their error. Furthermore, just as

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Speaker 1: they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge

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Speaker 1: of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind,

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Speaker 1: so that they do what ought not to be done.

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Speaker 1: They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed,

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Speaker 1: and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit,

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Speaker 1: and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant, and boastful.

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Speaker 1: They invent ways of doing evil. They disobey their parents.

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Speaker 1: They have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy.

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Speaker 1: Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do

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Speaker 1: such things deserve death, they not only continue to do

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Speaker 1: these very things, but also approve of those who practice them.

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Speaker 1: Many Christians seem to find the cross of Christ much

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Speaker 1: easier to grasp than the Holy Spirit of Christ dwelling

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Speaker 1: within us. Oh sure, you say you have faith in Christ,

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Speaker 1: but living that out in your everyday life can be

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Speaker 1: a challenge. We can certainly explain Christ's sacrifice for us,

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Speaker 1: but we struggle to explain the Holy Spirit within us.

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Speaker 1: As you look at your life, do you wonder how

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Speaker 1: you could still be living the way you do How

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Speaker 1: can you have the Holy Spirit within you when you

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Speaker 1: still feel jealousy, anger, or lack of compassion? How about

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Speaker 1: the occasional lies? Or maybe you feel a bit too

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Speaker 1: focused on what the world offers. Then add in all

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Speaker 1: of your worries, kids, jobs, finances, diagnoses, and more. And somehow,

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Speaker 1: it doesn't feel like the Holy Spirit is at work

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Speaker 1: in you, right? Sometimes you question both yourself and God.

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Speaker 1: How can God still love me when I live this way? Well,

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Speaker 1: Paul tells us to have faith, and our faith will

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Speaker 1: overcome all of those things. Like when you travel, you

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Speaker 1: can't fly the plane. Instead, you must trust the pilot.

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Speaker 1: God is so much more. In Romans 1, we learn

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Speaker 1: all people face judgment for sin. But first and foremost,

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Speaker 1: Paul declares that the gospel is the power of God

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Speaker 1: that brings salvation to everyone who believes. And through the gospel,

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Speaker 1: God's righteousness is revealed by faith from first to last.

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Speaker 1: Faith allows us to replace God's judgment with peace and

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Speaker 1: a gateway to his grace. Salvation is not earned by

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Speaker 1: anything you could possibly do or not do. Salvation is

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Speaker 1: through trust in Jesus, through faith in him. When you

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Speaker 1: truly grasp this, You can then be still and know

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Speaker 1: that He is God. You can stop your striving, end

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Speaker 1: your fear, and begin trusting God's promises. Yet faith is

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Speaker 1: not just for salvation, but for the way we live.

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Speaker 1: Paul quotes Habakkuk and tells us, The righteous will live

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Speaker 1: by faith. Through Christ, you are righteous. It means knowing

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Speaker 1: the gospel, trusting Christ, and walking in the Spirit. guided

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Speaker 1: by God's truth rather than our fears, our worries of failure,

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Speaker 1: or of God's wrath. Father, please help me to live

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Speaker 1: as you would have me live with the foundation of

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Speaker 1: faith in Jesus. Help me to trust in the righteousness

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Speaker 1: of Christ rather than my own strength and my own actions.

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Speaker 1: Help me to live my life by the fruit of

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Speaker 1: His Spirit with compassion, mercy, grace, and forgiveness. Amen. How

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Speaker 1: did tonight's scripture speak to you? Share your thoughts in

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Speaker 1: the Your Nightly Scripture Forum discussion.

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Speaker 2: Thank you for listening to Your Nightly Scripture. Tonight's scripture

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Speaker 2: was read from the New International Version by Biblica. Be

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Speaker 2: sure to follow our sister show, Your Daily Bible Verse,

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Speaker 2: on Apple or Spotify. By following Your Daily Bible Verse

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Speaker 2: and Your Nightly Scripture, you can be sure that your

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Speaker 2: day begins and ends centered on the Word of God.

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Speaker 1: Thank you.