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Speaker 1: Life Audio. For more resources to help you in your

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Speaker 1: walk with Christ, please visit us at Bible Study Headquarters

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Speaker 1: dot com. You're listening to daily devotions with Pastor John.

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Speaker 1: I'm John Stangey, and today's devotion is inspired by Acts

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Speaker 1: Chapter twenty, verses thirty one and thirty two, which says, therefore,

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Speaker 1: be alert, remembering that for three years I did not

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Speaker 1: cease night or day to admonish everyone with tears. And

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Speaker 1: now I commend you to God and to the word

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Speaker 1: of His grace, which is able to build you up

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Speaker 1: and to give you the inheritance among all those who

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Speaker 1: are sanctified. The apostle Paul, who is quoted in this passage,

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Speaker 1: was looking forward to his inheritance in God's kingdom, and

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Speaker 1: on top of that, he was happy to work with

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Speaker 1: his retirement plan in mind. Empowered by the Holy Spirit,

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Speaker 1: he was making investments that would be counted in his

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Speaker 1: favor for all eternity. Scripture teaches that every believer has

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Speaker 1: an inheritance in heaven, and that in addition to that,

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Speaker 1: the Lord has rewards in store for believers as a

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Speaker 1: bonus that compliments everything else He's given us. At times,

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Speaker 1: we're tempted to work for the things of this world

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Speaker 1: as if they're the best of what there is. But

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Speaker 1: why do you suppose God tells us about an inheritance

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Speaker 1: that he has in store for those who are in Christ.

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Speaker 1: In part, it may be an attempt to keep us

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Speaker 1: looking forward in faith to things that we cannot yet

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Speaker 1: see and motivate us to take our discipleships seriously. I

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Speaker 1: think it's also part of the Lord's plan to develop

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Speaker 1: appreciative hearts within us. A thankful heart is a sacrificial heart.

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Speaker 1: A thankful heart is a gift heart. Let's pray, Lord,

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Speaker 1: we thank you for your word, and we thank you

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Speaker 1: for the privilege that it is to be able to

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Speaker 1: look at this portion of scripture from the Book of

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Speaker 1: Acts together. And Lord, we're grateful for the things that

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Speaker 1: are revealed to us here through the Apostle Paul's words.

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Speaker 1: We realize that we have an inheritance in your kingdom,

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Speaker 1: and you tell us that you have good things in

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Speaker 1: store for your children. But you also make it clear

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Speaker 1: that the rewards you have in store are different. Some

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Speaker 1: of us will receive certain things that others will not receive.

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Speaker 1: And it's interesting to think about that because we know

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Speaker 1: that all believers will be in your presence in heaven,

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Speaker 1: and in a sense, that seems like enough. But then

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Speaker 1: you also make these comments in your word about these

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Speaker 1: additional rewards, And when I read about these things, I

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Speaker 1: can't help but wonder why you choose to reward us

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Speaker 1: like that. I'm assuming, Lord, that you're trying to encourage

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Speaker 1: us and trying to motivate us, because I do feel encouraged,

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Speaker 1: and I do feel motivated by these things. But in

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Speaker 1: a bigger picture, Lord, it's just evidence to me, over

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Speaker 1: and over again of just how gracious you are toward

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Speaker 1: your children. You give us gifts that we don't deserve,

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Speaker 1: and you keep piling them on. You bless us in

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Speaker 1: ways that are beyond our understanding, And we know Lord

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Speaker 1: that you delight to do this because you keep doing it.

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Speaker 1: You do this sort of thing for us now, but

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Speaker 1: you promise that you'll be doing it in an even

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Speaker 1: bigger way once we're in our glorified state in your

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Speaker 1: presence forever. So we're grateful to read about these things

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Speaker 1: and learn about these things, and we're fascinated that you

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Speaker 1: would choose to bless us like you do. But we're

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Speaker 1: grateful for it all and we thank you for being

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Speaker 1: such a wonderful father to us. As we walk throughout

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Speaker 1: this day, we pray that we would use this day

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Speaker 1: and every day to bring glory and honor to your name.

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Speaker 1: And again we thank you for your many blessings. We

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Speaker 1: pray this all in Jesus' name. Amen,