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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 centered 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 his short word from my sponsors,

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Speaker 1: you will reflect on Tonight's scripture, John chapter three. Tonight's

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Speaker 1: Scripture reflection is written by Greg Granchamp and is read

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Speaker 1: by Carrie Iiberger. John chapter three. Now there was a pharisee,

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Speaker 1: a man named Nicodemus, who was a member of the

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Speaker 1: Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said, Brabi,

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Speaker 1: we know that you are a teacher who has come

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Speaker 1: from God, for no one could perform the signs you

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Speaker 1: were doing if God were not with him. Jesus replied,

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Speaker 1: very truly, I tell you, no one can see the

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Speaker 1: Kingdom of God unless they are born again. How can

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Speaker 1: someone be born when they are old, Nicodemus asked, surely

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Speaker 1: they cannot enter a second time into their mother's womb

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Speaker 1: be born. Jesus answered, very truly, I tell you no

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Speaker 1: one can enter the Kingdom of God unless they are

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Speaker 1: born of water and the spirit flesh gives birth to flesh.

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Speaker 1: But the spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not

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Speaker 1: be surprised at my saying you must be born again.

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Speaker 1: The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear it sound,

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Speaker 1: but you cannot tell where it comes from or where

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Speaker 1: it is going. So it is with every one born

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Speaker 1: of the spirit. How can the spoina Gademus asked, you

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Speaker 1: are Israel's teacher? Said Jesus, and do you not understand

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Speaker 1: these things? Very truly, I tell you, we speak of

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Speaker 1: what we know, and we testify to what we have seen.

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Speaker 1: But still you people do not accept our testimony. I

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Speaker 1: have spoken to you earthly things, and you do not believe.

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Speaker 1: How then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things.

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Speaker 1: No one has ever gone into heaven except the one

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Speaker 1: who came from heaven, the Son of Man. Just as

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Speaker 1: Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the

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Speaker 1: Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who

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Speaker 1: believes may have eternal life in him. For God so

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Speaker 1: loved the world that he gave his one and only son,

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Speaker 1: that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have

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Speaker 1: eternal life. For God did not send his son into

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Speaker 1: the world to condemn the world, but to save the

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Speaker 1: world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned,

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Speaker 1: but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they

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Speaker 1: have not believed in the name of God's one and

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Speaker 1: only son. This is the verdict. Blight has come into

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Speaker 1: the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because

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Speaker 1: their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the

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Speaker 1: light and will not come into the light for fear

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Speaker 1: that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by

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Speaker 1: the truth comes into the light, so that it may

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Speaker 1: be seen plainly that what they have done has been

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Speaker 1: done in the side of God. After this, Jesus and

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Speaker 1: his disciples went out into the Jiudean countryside, where he

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Speaker 1: spent some time with them and baptized. Now John also

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Speaker 1: was baptizing at Anon near Salem, because there is plenty

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Speaker 1: of water and people were coming and being baptized. This

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Speaker 1: was before John was put in prison. An argument developed

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Speaker 1: between some of John's disciples and a certain Jew over

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Speaker 1: the matter of ceremonial washing. They came to John and

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Speaker 1: said to him, Rabbi, that man who was with you

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Speaker 1: on the other side of the Jordan, the one you

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Speaker 1: testified about look, he is baptizing, and everyone is going

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Speaker 1: to him. To this, John replied, a person can receive

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Speaker 1: only what is given them from heaven. You yourselves can

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Speaker 1: testify that I said, I am not the Messiah, but

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Speaker 1: I am sent ahead of him. The bride belongs to

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Speaker 1: the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and

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Speaker 1: listens for him, and is full of joy when he

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Speaker 1: hears the bridegroom's voice that joy is mine, and it

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Speaker 1: is now complete. He must become greater. I must become less.

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Speaker 1: The one who comes from above is above all. The

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Speaker 1: one who is from the earth belongs to the earth

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Speaker 1: and speaks as one from the earth. The one who

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Speaker 1: comes from heaven is above all. He testifies to what

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Speaker 1: he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony.

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Speaker 1: Whoever has accepted it has certified that God is truthful.

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Speaker 1: For the one whom God has sent speaks the words

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Speaker 1: of God. For God gives the spirit with out limit.

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Speaker 1: The Father loves the son and has placed everything in

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Speaker 1: his hands. Whoever believes and the sun has eternal life,

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Speaker 1: But whoever rejects the sun will not see life. For

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Speaker 1: God's wrath remains on them. It is one of the

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Speaker 1: great mysteries of the Gospel message that when we receive

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Speaker 1: Christ into our hearts, we are born of the spirit

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Speaker 1: and we become a new creation. The Holy Spirit of

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Speaker 1: our Savior now dwells within us. We are born again

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Speaker 1: of the spirit. Like in Nicodemus, we ask ourselves, how

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Speaker 1: is this possible? As Jesus has said, nothing is impossible.

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Speaker 1: With God, he loves us. He loves you enough that

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Speaker 1: he sent his one and only son, so that we

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Speaker 1: who believe in him will never perish, but have eternal life.

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Speaker 1: Given that he loves us that much, he wants to

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Speaker 1: make sure he walks with us, leading us, guiding us,

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Speaker 1: protecting us, so that we are never left alone again.

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Speaker 1: Before Christ, we were simply born of the flesh, and

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Speaker 1: now now we are born of the spirit and will

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Speaker 1: forever be changed. This does not mean that we feel

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Speaker 1: the change instantly, although some do. But if we focus

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Speaker 1: on the new life within us, if we pay attention

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Speaker 1: to the feeling that life within us, we will find

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Speaker 1: our lives changed and all for the better. In June one,

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Speaker 1: verse thirty, Paul encourages us to pray in the spirit.

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Speaker 1: It means praying with more than just formalized words. It

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Speaker 1: means turning aside ourselves to pray with the mind of

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Speaker 1: the Spirit. It is about relying on the Spirit to

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Speaker 1: guide us, to empower our prayers, allowing him to intercede

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Speaker 1: when we don't have the words. It means feeling our

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Speaker 1: prayers with our whole heart and not just uttering words

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Speaker 1: asking for personal blessings. Praying in the spirit. Living with

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Speaker 1: the Spirit requires honesty and openness. We must be willing

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Speaker 1: to be led by the Spirit in everything we do.

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Speaker 1: You God has given us a new life. We are

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Speaker 1: a new person. The old is gone. Sure go catch

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Speaker 1: glimpses of the old once in a while, but after

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Speaker 1: a while you'll look back and embrace what you have become.

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Speaker 1: In God's light. Father, I choose your spirit in my life.

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Speaker 1: I surrender everything to you Lord, all my faults, all

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Speaker 1: my weaknesses, all my sins. Father, I choose to live

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Speaker 1: by the fruit of your spirit, love, joy, peace, patience, guidance, goodness, faithfulness,

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Speaker 1: gentleness and self control. It is no longer I who live, Father,

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Speaker 1: but Christ who lives in me through His Spirit. Amen.

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Speaker 2: Thank you for listening to your nightly scripture. If tonight's

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Speaker 2: episode blessed you. Be sure to follow the show on

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Speaker 2: you are. Your nightly scripture is a production of life

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Speaker 2: audio and sale media. Thank you and we'll see you tomorrow.

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Speaker 1: Night