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Speaker 1: Life Audio. Hello, and thank you for listening to your

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Speaker 1: Daily Bible Verse, the podcast that examines one verse each

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Speaker 1: day to learn more about God and his will for us.

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Speaker 1: I'm your host, Jessica ven Rocole, and after this short

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Speaker 1: word from our sponsor, we'll dive into today's Bible verse

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Speaker 1: Luke chapter eight, verse fifteen. Today's Bible verses Luke chapter eight,

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Speaker 1: verse fifteen. But the seed on good soil stands for

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Speaker 1: those with a noble and good heart who hears the word,

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Speaker 1: retains it, and by persevering, produces a crop. In the spring,

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Speaker 1: farmers prep their equipment for planting season, and they have

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Speaker 1: firsthand experience with something met any of us struggle to accept.

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Speaker 1: Growth takes time. The farmer plants the seeds and then waits.

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Speaker 1: A week or two passes, and it looks like nothing

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Speaker 1: is happening. But a wise farmer knows better. He doesn't

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Speaker 1: dig up the seed every morning to check on its progress.

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Speaker 1: He doesn't despair because he can't see green shoots yet. Instead,

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Speaker 1: he trusts the process. He trusts that the soil and

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Speaker 1: warm sun will work together to germinate the seed. Jesus

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Speaker 1: uses a similar picture to describe people who hear God's

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Speaker 1: word and hold fast to it, which sometimes looks like

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Speaker 1: quiet perseverance. It's choosing to trust that God's word is

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Speaker 1: producing spiritual growth beneath the serface, even when we can't

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Speaker 1: yet see the results. Today's verse comes from Jesus's greater

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Speaker 1: explanation of the parable of the four soils. The seed

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Speaker 1: is the word of God, the sower is the one

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Speaker 1: who shares the gospel. And the soil represent sense the

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Speaker 1: different ways people respond to God's word. The soil along

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Speaker 1: the path is hard packed, so the seed cannot take

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Speaker 1: root and is quickly snatched away. The rocky soil receives

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Speaker 1: God's word with joy, but it lacks depth, so the

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Speaker 1: word doesn't establish strong roots. The thorny soil hears and

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Speaker 1: receives God's word, but worldly cares choke it, making it unfruitful.

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Speaker 1: Good soil represents those who hold on to God's word

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Speaker 1: and then keeps it. You see, we keep God's word

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Speaker 1: when we put it into practice, as soon as God

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Speaker 1: shows us how to apply it to our heart. Keeping

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Speaker 1: God's word means we remain true to Christ even when

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Speaker 1: temptations come or worldly cares sweep over us. Responding with

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Speaker 1: good soil means choosing to stay connected to Jesus. Our

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Speaker 1: relationship with him is not passive or static. We are

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Speaker 1: either growing or we're declining. In this verse, Jesus is

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Speaker 1: warning us to be on guard to protect our passion

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Speaker 1: for God's word and his purposes in our lives. Psalm

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Speaker 1: Chapter one, verses one through three echoes Jesus's words, saying,

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Speaker 1: blessed is the one who does not walk in step

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Speaker 1: with the wicked, or stand in the way that sinners take,

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Speaker 1: or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight

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Speaker 1: is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates

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Speaker 1: on his law day and night. That person is like

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Speaker 1: a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its

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Speaker 1: fruit in season, and whose lief does not wither. Whatever

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Speaker 1: they do prospers. You see, bearing fruit is incredibly important

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Speaker 1: to our walk with God. It reveals how God's word

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Speaker 1: has been applied to our lives and how it transforms

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Speaker 1: us from the inside out. The word of God must

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Speaker 1: be understood before it can bear fruit, and one of

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Speaker 1: Satan's chief work is to keep people in darkness regarding

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Speaker 1: their understanding of the Gospel. He seems to believe in

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Speaker 1: the power of God's word more than many followers of Jesus,

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Speaker 1: so he works tirelessly to distract us. A heart of

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Speaker 1: rocky soil is really a heart which lacks faith without repentance.

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Speaker 1: Rocky soil leads to action without spiritual depth and zeal

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Speaker 1: without communion with God. It's blown about by temptations and

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Speaker 1: cannot withstand storms. Then there's the word of God planeted

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Speaker 1: in thorny soil. It grows up, but the cares of

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Speaker 1: this life prevents it from bearing fruit. A good and

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Speaker 1: noble heart receives the word of God and keeps it

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Speaker 1: so it can bear fruit with patience. With God's help,

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Speaker 1: we can cultivate the soil of our hearts so that

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Speaker 1: the good word of God can have the best benefit

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Speaker 1: in our lives. Jesus shared the meaning of this parable

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Speaker 1: with the disciples that they would know that though few

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Speaker 1: people may respond, God really really is in control, and

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Speaker 1: the harvest will certainly come. And we benefit from this

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Speaker 1: passage in Luke when we recognize the four types of

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Speaker 1: soil in our own lives. You know, sometimes we allow

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Speaker 1: no room for God's word in our hearts. At other

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Speaker 1: times we feel enthusiastic about God's word, but then the

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Speaker 1: excitement quickly fades, and then sometimes we allow the cares

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Speaker 1: of this world to threaten and choke it out. But finally,

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Speaker 1: there are places in our lives where we are bearing fruit.

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Speaker 1: And because we can easily have these different types of

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Speaker 1: soil in our own hearts, we need to ask the

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Speaker 1: Holy Spirit to cultivate all the areas of our hearts.

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Speaker 1: If we have good soil, then it's easier to keep

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Speaker 1: firm possession of God's words so that we bear fruit consistently.

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Speaker 1: So today I'm going to invite you to take this

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Speaker 1: action step today, ask yourself, what kind of soil am I?

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Speaker 1: And how can I prepare my heart to be the

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Speaker 1: right kind of soil. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you

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Speaker 1: so much that you desire us and we desire you. God.

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Speaker 1: I asked that you would show us where the place

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Speaker 1: is in our heart where the soil of our heart

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Speaker 1: is really hard, and show us where maybe there's this

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Speaker 1: area where we know but we are not bearing fruit.

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Speaker 1: And then Lord, encourage us and point out the areas

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Speaker 1: where we are bearing fruit. Lord, we give our lives

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Speaker 1: to you, We give our hearts to you, and Lord,

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Speaker 1: we trust you, and we ask you today to cultivate

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Speaker 1: the soil of our heart, so that when we hear

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Speaker 1: your word, we receive it, and we keep it, and

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Speaker 1: we bear fruit in Jesus' name. Amen,