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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, Shaka Heinz, and after this short word

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Speaker 1: from our sponsor, will dive into today's Bible verses and

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Speaker 1: Philippians one, verses twelve and thirteen. Today's Bible verses are

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Speaker 1: Philippians one, twelve and thirteen. Now, I want you to know,

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Speaker 1: brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has

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Speaker 1: actually served to advance the Gospel. As a result, it

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Speaker 1: has become clear throughout the whole Palace guard and to

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Speaker 1: everyone else, that I am in chains for Christ. From scripture,

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Speaker 1: we know that Paul was imprisoned often, and it's generally

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Speaker 1: understood that this was one of his imprisonments. Enrolled, he

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Speaker 1: writes a letter to the church in Philippi, which, according

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Speaker 1: to Acts sixteen, he helped found during his second missionary journey. Now,

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Speaker 1: Philippi was a Roman colony, and because of this they'd

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Speaker 1: endured persecution and hardships, but still they had been financially

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Speaker 1: generous toward Paul during his imprisonment. So Paul, he writes

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Speaker 1: this letter to thank them, to inform them about Epaphroditis,

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Speaker 1: who delivered their gift to Paul, and to tell him

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Speaker 1: that Epaphroditis had recovered from his severe illness. And he

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Speaker 1: also wanted to encourage them to live lives worthy of Jesus.

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Speaker 1: Paul says, now I want you to know, brothers and sisters,

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Speaker 1: that what has happened to me has actually served to

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Speaker 1: advance the gospel. What has happened has served to advance

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Speaker 1: the gospel. Write this down in light of our mission

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Speaker 1: to advance the gospel, or in other words, to bring

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Speaker 1: the message of forgiveness, freedom, and life to the full

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Speaker 1: with the indwelling Holy Spirit to everyone we can. This

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Speaker 1: statement is central to how followers of Jesus should think

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Speaker 1: about every hardship. Every single hardship has the potential to

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Speaker 1: advance the gospel. Now, I got it, the honest I

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Speaker 1: am not super excited to be recording this podcast today.

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Speaker 1: My heart is heavy. Honestly, these last two days, I'm

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Speaker 1: tempted to hide in my bed and gorge myself on

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Speaker 1: sweet and salty snacks. Two days ago, one of our

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Speaker 1: twelve year old dogs suffered heart failure and died. As

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Speaker 1: my son desperately performed chest compressions on him in our kitchen.

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Speaker 1: It was traumatic. I was snatched to a time seven

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Speaker 1: years earlier, to the bedroom of our eleven year old,

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Speaker 1: four days shy of his twelfth birthday, as I watched

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Speaker 1: paramedics work desperately to restore his heartbeat. So today I'm

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Speaker 1: recording from a place of fresh grief. But my friends,

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Speaker 1: I have a five year old son looking to me

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Speaker 1: to make sense of the great sadness he's experiencing for

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Speaker 1: the first time in his life. Yesterday, I watched as

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Speaker 1: he began to grasp the permanence of the loss of

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Speaker 1: our dog, Oloft. It was seriously heartbreaking to see. As

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Speaker 1: I laid next to him in bed and prayed, I

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Speaker 1: pointed him though to the faithful God who is always

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Speaker 1: with us. As I hugged him close while he cried,

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Speaker 1: I conveyed to him the comfort of Jesus as he

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Speaker 1: holds us in our greatest sorrows. As I answered what

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Speaker 1: questions I could about life and death, I shared with

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Speaker 1: him some truth I knew from the Bible about our

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Speaker 1: lives and our deaths. As I continue to walk the

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Speaker 1: line where faith meets sorrow, I model what it looks

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Speaker 1: like to mourn and process with God as our faithful friend.

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Speaker 1: This horrible thing that has happened has served to advance

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Speaker 1: the gospel. For Paul, his imprisonment advanced the gospel, he

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Speaker 1: says in verse thirteen. As a result, it has become

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Speaker 1: clear throughout the whole Palace Guard and to everyone else,

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Speaker 1: that I am in Chaine for Christ. Because of his hardship,

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Speaker 1: everyone in the Palace Guard knew Paul was in prison

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Speaker 1: for his faith in Jesus. The good news of freedom

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Speaker 1: in Christ was made available to everyone around Paul because

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Speaker 1: of what he was going through. Friend, what hardships are

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Speaker 1: you walking through right now? But lost, disappointment, grief, illness, failure.

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Speaker 1: Don't miss this. Even in your pain, God can use

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Speaker 1: your story to bring hope to others and glory to himself.

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Speaker 1: Paul's imprisonment pointed people to Jesus. Your hardship can too.

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Speaker 1: Suffering is wasted that advances the gospel of freedom in Christ.

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Speaker 1: But this kind of perspective Paul has, it can't be

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Speaker 1: had without the help of Jesus Christ himself. If you've

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Speaker 1: never put your faith in Jesus, today can be the

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Speaker 1: day he offers forgiveness, freedom and comfort in every sorrow,

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Speaker 1: and I invite you to pray with me, and if

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Speaker 1: you do, be sure to share your decision with someone

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Speaker 1: and connect with the local church. If you're already walking

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Speaker 1: with Jesus but feeling overwhelmed, ask him how he wants

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Speaker 1: to use your situation. Turn a scripture. Philippians is a

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Speaker 1: great book to read, and then actively connect to your

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Speaker 1: local church community. Let's pray. Father Paul shows us that

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Speaker 1: it is possible to face extreme adversity in such a

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Speaker 1: way that even our greatest difficulties an opportunity to make

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Speaker 1: the Gospel of Jesus known to others. There's some listening

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Speaker 1: right now who are ready to accept the truth that

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Speaker 1: Jesus came to the world as a baby, lived a

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Speaker 1: sinless life as a man, and allowed himself to be

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Speaker 1: crucified in order to take on their sin and punishment,

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Speaker 1: and then was resurrected on the third day. I ask

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Speaker 1: you to accept their profession of faith as they make

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Speaker 1: Jesus their lord and surrender their lives to his authority.

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Speaker 1: Lead them Lord in their next steps. Now, there are

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Speaker 1: others listening, Father, who are suffering in very real, very

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Speaker 1: painful ways, and they can't see how their situation could

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Speaker 1: possibly glorify you and advance the gospel. Father, would you

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Speaker 1: help them to see their situation through the eyes of faith.

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Speaker 1: Would you give them ears to hear, where they might

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Speaker 1: shine the light of truth into the dark places around them. God,

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Speaker 1: we ask for your help to glorify you in all

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Speaker 1: that we do and say we love you, King Jesus,

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Speaker 1: and we ask these things in your name. Amen.