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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 Studyheadquarters dot com.

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Speaker 1: You're listening to daily devotions with Pastor John. I'm John Stangey,

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Speaker 1: and today's devotion is inspired by Hebrews Chapter twelve, verse one,

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Speaker 1: which says, Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great

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Speaker 1: a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every

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Speaker 1: weight and sin which clings so closely, and let us

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Speaker 1: run with endurance the race that is before us. Through

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Speaker 1: faith in Jesus Christ, we have been set free from

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Speaker 1: slavery to sin. We are no longer bound to the

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Speaker 1: sin that once held us in its scripts. We are

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Speaker 1: no longer forced to do its bidding or obey its directives.

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Speaker 1: Jesus has removed those binding chains from us and has

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Speaker 1: granted us true liberty in Him. But that doesn't mean

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Speaker 1: sin won't be a struggle for us. During the course

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Speaker 1: of our earthly lives, we are frequently tempted to go

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Speaker 1: right back to the very sin we've already been freed from.

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Speaker 1: Knowing that this is the case, God's word invites us

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Speaker 1: to embrace a better option. Instead of allowing the sin

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Speaker 1: that tempts us to weigh us down and cling to us.

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Speaker 1: We're invited to lay it aside. In other words, we're

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Speaker 1: invited to leave it behind and not invite it to

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Speaker 1: go on the journey of faith that Christ has us

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Speaker 1: walking on. The things that tempt us might have been

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Speaker 1: welcomed companions during previous seasons of our lives, but they

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Speaker 1: aren't welcomed to be part of this segment of our journey. Rather,

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Speaker 1: in Christ, we have been granted the liberty, grace, and

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Speaker 1: endurance we need to run the race He has set

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Speaker 1: before us without being held back by our former masters.

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Speaker 1: Let's pray, Lord, we thank you for your word, and

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Speaker 1: we thank you for the privilege that it is to

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Speaker 1: be able to look at this portion of scripture from

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Speaker 1: the Book of Hebrews today. And Lord, you tell us

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Speaker 1: in this portion of your word that we're surrounded by

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Speaker 1: the testimonies of believers who have walked the walk that

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Speaker 1: we're trying to walk the walk of faith. And as

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Speaker 1: we go on this journey, you tell us that it's

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Speaker 1: your desire that we not be weighed down with unhealthy things,

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Speaker 1: burdens that were not meant to carry, and sin which

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Speaker 1: we once embraced and it clinged to us. These are

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Speaker 1: things that you call us to lay down at your feet,

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Speaker 1: and you invite us to walk the walk of faith

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Speaker 1: unencumbered by unhealthy things. In fact, Lord, in your word,

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Speaker 1: you tell us to run with endurance, because you're giving

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Speaker 1: us the power to go about our lives in such

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Speaker 1: a way that we aren't tethered to the things that

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Speaker 1: were bringing us down. Lord, we're grateful that you're doing

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Speaker 1: this for us, and we're grateful for the new life

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Speaker 1: that you have given us as a gift through your

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Speaker 1: son Jesus Christ. Lord, you know we're tempted to sin

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Speaker 1: in so many ways. You know that there are areas

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Speaker 1: of sin that at one season of our lives we embraced.

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Speaker 1: But we don't want to go back to that. We

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Speaker 1: want to live the new life you've given us, and

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Speaker 1: we want to live it well. We want to live

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Speaker 1: it for your glory, and we don't want to rely

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Speaker 1: on the things of this world to try and give

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Speaker 1: us some false sense of peace or some false sense

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Speaker 1: of satisfaction. So thank you, Lord for freeing us from

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Speaker 1: the chains that once tied us down, and thank you

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Speaker 1: for setting us free to run this race with endurance

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Speaker 1: through your son Jesus Christ. We're grateful for all of

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Speaker 1: these things, and we pray this all in Jesus's name. Amen,