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Speaker 1: Life Audio.

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Speaker 2: Welcome to the Crosswalk Devotional. We're glad to have you

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Speaker 2: listening with us. Today's topic is how seeking God's guidance

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Speaker 2: and following it will help you thrive. We'll return with

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Speaker 2: the devotional after a brief message from our sponsors. God

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Speaker 2: Will Guide You Back to Life, written and read by

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Speaker 2: Whitney Hopler. The Lord will guide you always. He will

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Speaker 2: satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen

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Speaker 2: your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like

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Speaker 2: a spring whose waters never fail. Isaiah 58 11 NIV

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Speaker 2: Walking along the boardwalk at the Bira Marsh in Cuyahoga

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Speaker 2: Valley National Park, I was amazed at how this thriving

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Speaker 2: wetland had come back to life. For decades, the site

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Speaker 2: was a junkyard filled with old cars. In the 1980s,

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Speaker 2: inspired by a shared desire to care for God's creation,

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Speaker 2: community volunteers and park staff came together to haul away

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Speaker 2: tons of trash and clean up the landscape. Then beavers,

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Speaker 2: reintroduced to the area, built a dam across a nearby canal,

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Speaker 2: which naturally flooded the land that had been a marsh

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Speaker 2: years ago. Dormant seeds that had been waiting for water

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Speaker 2: activated and started growing into marsh plants again. What was

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Speaker 2: once a damaged dump transformed into a thriving wetland filled

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Speaker 2: with water lilies, birds, turtles, beavers, river otters, and more.

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Speaker 2: The Beaver Marsh is a wonderful reminder that no matter

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Speaker 2: how damaged something appears, it can be restored when people

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Speaker 2: follow God's guidance to take good care of it. Just

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Speaker 2: like the land at the Beaver Marsh was dry before

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Speaker 2: it was restored physically, you might feel dry spiritually right now,

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Speaker 2: finding it hard to find God. Spiritual dryness can feel

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Speaker 2: like walking through a sun-scorched land, like Isaiah 58, 11 describes.

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Speaker 2: You can become stressed and exhausted, just like you would

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Speaker 2: if you were physically walking through a dry desert without water.

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Speaker 2: But if you seek God with all your heart, you'll

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Speaker 2: find him, and you'll be blessed by being able to

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Speaker 2: perceive God's guidance. This verse promises that God will satisfy

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Speaker 2: your needs and strengthen you. In the process, you'll be

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Speaker 2: like a well-watered garden, just like the beaver marsh is thriving.

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Speaker 2: Since God gives you living water spiritually, you can rely

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Speaker 2: on Him for whatever you need to thrive. You can

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Speaker 2: start thriving when you stop trying to solve your problems

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Speaker 2: on your own and instead invite God to show you

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Speaker 2: the way to solutions. To find God's guidance, you need

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Speaker 2: to prioritize talking to God in prayer and listening to

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Speaker 2: God in meditation. You can just pray something simple like, God,

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Speaker 2: please help me know what to do today. But talking

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Speaker 2: to God is only half of the conversation. When you

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Speaker 2: meditate on God's messages to you in the Bible and

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Speaker 2: listen for God speaking to you through His Holy Spirit,

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Speaker 2: you can find the guidance you need. Then, when you

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Speaker 2: put that guidance into action and follow where God guides you,

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Speaker 2: you'll see restoration happen in your life. Whenever you do

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Speaker 2: what God asks, even by taking a few small steps

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Speaker 2: in the direction where God is leading you, you'll experience

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Speaker 2: God's answers to your prayers. As you follow God's guidance

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Speaker 2: day by day, your life will start to bloom like

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Speaker 2: a well-watered garden. A garden with plenty of water stays

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Speaker 2: green and growing even on hot days. Following God helps

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Speaker 2: you make good choices, saves you from getting lost on

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Speaker 2: wrong paths, and helps you thrive in every part of

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Speaker 2: your life. God also promises that you'll become like a

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Speaker 2: freshwater spring that never runs out. All the hope and

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Speaker 2: peace God gives you will flow through your life like

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Speaker 2: a spring and spill over into the lives of your

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Speaker 2: friends and family. When you listen to God and follow

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Speaker 2: His guidance, you can step out of spiritual dryness and

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Speaker 2: come back to life spiritually through renewal and revival. Intersecting

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Speaker 2: Faith and Life As you consider how seeking and following

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Speaker 2: God's guidance will help you thrive, reflect on these questions.

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Speaker 2: What areas of your life currently feel sun-scorched, and how

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Speaker 2: can you seek God's help to bring those situations back

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Speaker 2: to life with His living water? How do you feel

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Speaker 2: most connected to God's guidance day by day? What is

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Speaker 2: a recent piece of wisdom from God that you feel

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Speaker 2: called to act on right now? What makes it challenging

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Speaker 2: to follow God's guidance instead of relying on your own plans?

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Speaker 2: And what helps you trust God as He leads you?

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Speaker 2: What changes do you notice in yourself when you choose

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Speaker 2: to seek and follow God's guidance? Further reading Psalm 23,

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Speaker 2: 2-3 Jeremiah 17, 7-8 Psalm 32, 8 Proverbs 3, 5-6

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Speaker 2: Psalm 32, 8 Thanks for listening to today's devotional. If

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Speaker 2: you liked what you heard today.

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Speaker 1: We want to make sure you know about our sister podcast,

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Speaker 1: with God. If you're looking to grow in prayer or

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Speaker 1: start your day with your heart focused on the right things,

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