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Speaker 1: Life audio. We can't deeply love what we don't truly know.

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Speaker 1: So what does it look like for us to truly

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Speaker 1: know and to truly love God? Let's talk about it. Hello. Hello, Hello,

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Speaker 1: ladies and gents, and welcome to this week's episode of

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Speaker 1: The Bottom Beloved Podcast. As always, it's two girl, Kirby Kelly,

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Speaker 1: and I'm super excited for today's episode because we're going

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Speaker 1: to be talking about something that I actually preached on

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Speaker 1: earlier this year. And as I was just sitting down

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Speaker 1: and thinking about, Okay, what do I want to talk about?

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Speaker 1: I was reminded of this message of what it looks

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Speaker 1: like to love God with all of ourselves, our entire being,

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Speaker 1: the head and the heart. Because I think when it

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Speaker 1: comes to the Christian walk, some of us have a

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Speaker 1: lean when it comes to how we relate to God,

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Speaker 1: how we pursue our relationship with Him, where some of

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Speaker 1: us are more head Christians, some of us are more

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Speaker 1: heart Christians. And I'm going to dive into all of

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Speaker 1: that here in a second. But if you are tuning

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Speaker 1: in and this is your first time listening, Hi, Hello,

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Speaker 1: my name is Kirby Kelly. I'm glad you are here.

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Speaker 1: Feel free, to follow. Feel free to leave a review

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Speaker 1: if you like this episode after you listen to it.

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Speaker 1: I post episodes here every single week. Sometimes I have guests,

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Speaker 1: sometimes it's just me. I also have an email bought

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Speaker 1: and Beloved at gmail dot com where you can submit

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Speaker 1: your requests, whether it is scripture you want me to

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Speaker 1: dive into, or a topic, or maybe you're going through

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Speaker 1: something and you're like Kirby, I need some sound biblical

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Speaker 1: wisdom and advice. What does scripture say about this thing?

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Speaker 1: You can email me at botonbeloved at gmail dot com

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Speaker 1: and that'll just help me to know where you the

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Speaker 1: listener are at and how I can just best pour

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Speaker 1: into you. Serve you speak life into your life as

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Speaker 1: you tune into these episodes, So feel free to email

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Speaker 1: me at botonbeloved at gmail dot com and I will

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Speaker 1: put all kinds of stuff in the description below as

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Speaker 1: well if you need a fresh reminder of all of that.

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Speaker 1: But let's dive into today's topic, shall we. Have you

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Speaker 1: ever felt like, Okay, I love God, but I don't

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Speaker 1: always feel close to him. I have definitely been there,

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Speaker 1: Like you believe in him, you care about him, you

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Speaker 1: want to follow him, but sometimes your relationship with him

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Speaker 1: feels dull or dry or distant, or maybe like a

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Speaker 1: routine versus this thing that you are excited about, this

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Speaker 1: relationship that feels vibrant. And it's not because you don't care, right,

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Speaker 1: I think that a lot of us do care. We care.

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Speaker 1: We want our relationship with God to thrive. Maybe you're

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Speaker 1: not even actively living a life of sin or running

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Speaker 1: from him. If anything, you want to feel closer, but

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Speaker 1: maybe you just don't know how to get there. If

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Speaker 1: that is you today in this episode is for you,

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Speaker 1: because I think for some of us, the gap isn't

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Speaker 1: necessarily desire. We have that desire to be in close

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Speaker 1: relationship with a thriving relationship with Him, but the thing

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Speaker 1: that we are lacking might be depth. The thing that

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Speaker 1: we might be lacking is depth and not desire. I've

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Speaker 1: already said it, but you can't deeply love what you

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Speaker 1: don't deeply and truly know. And when it comes to

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Speaker 1: the Lord, that is something that is super important is

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Speaker 1: that if we're going to have this relationship that is thriving,

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Speaker 1: there needs to be a knowledge of who he is,

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Speaker 1: and there needs to be a love for who he is.

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Speaker 1: There needs to be this fear and reverence for who

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Speaker 1: he is and recognition of who he is, but also

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Speaker 1: this deep intimacy and connection with Him. We need both.

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Speaker 1: And you know, the primary way that we come to

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Speaker 1: know God and love God deeply is through the Word

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Speaker 1: of God. But if we're being honest some of us today,

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Speaker 1: that is where we get stuck. We get stuck when

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Speaker 1: it comes to the Word of God because maybe unintent

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Speaker 1: in our life growing up, we had to choose between

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Speaker 1: two types of faith. Now hear me out. We have

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Speaker 1: the heart Christians and we have the head Christians. Maybe

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Speaker 1: depending on the denomination you grew up in, or the

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Speaker 1: environment that you grew up in, or the church culture

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Speaker 1: that you grew up in, whatever, you kind of have

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Speaker 1: a lean towards one or the other. You have the

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Speaker 1: heart Christians, right, the ones who love worship, they love

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Speaker 1: the emotional connection, they love feeling close to God. And

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Speaker 1: then you have the head Christians, right, the ones who

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Speaker 1: love theology, deep study, doctrine, understanding. And sometimes those two

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Speaker 1: groups don't always get along, which seems kind of weird, right, Like,

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Speaker 1: maybe it's because one feels too emotional, Like the head

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Speaker 1: Christians will look at the heart Christians and it's like, no,

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Speaker 1: you are just you were just purely basing your relationship

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Speaker 1: with God off of feelings and emotion, and that's wrong.

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Speaker 1: And so it's like the heart gets completely shut off.

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Speaker 1: But then we have the heart Christians looking at the

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Speaker 1: head Christians and it's like this is too intellectual, like

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Speaker 1: you are just about you know, the words. It almost

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Speaker 1: seems like pharasitical where it's like they get turned off

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Speaker 1: and away from the head Christians. So sometimes these two

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Speaker 1: groups don't get along, and maybe you've found yourself thinking that,

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Speaker 1: you know, I'm just not a theology person. I'm not

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Speaker 1: going to seminary anyway, so like, why is it important

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Speaker 1: for me to study the Bible? Like I just want

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Speaker 1: to love Jesus. I don't want to get into all

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Speaker 1: of that deep stuff. Maybe that's what you believe right now,

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Speaker 1: or maybe there's this tension of Okay, you know, I

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Speaker 1: don't want an emotional, hype driven faith. I want something

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Speaker 1: that is rooted in truth. I don't want to be

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Speaker 1: driven by feelings like these experiential Christians. And because of

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Speaker 1: that you shut out the heart, right But here's the tension.

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Speaker 1: Some of us heart Christians avoid the head and others

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Speaker 1: of us just completely hide from it, and then we

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Speaker 1: also have this distrust of the heart from the people

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Speaker 1: who are belonging to this head Christian camp. Does this

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Speaker 1: make sense? I hope it does. But God's not asking

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Speaker 1: us to choose between truth and love, to choose between

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Speaker 1: the head and the heart. No. God designed us for

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Speaker 1: our faith to be built on both, our relationship with

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Speaker 1: Him to be built on both. And I'm sure that

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Speaker 1: if we took an honest look at ourselves, maybe you

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Speaker 1: do hold both head and heart, but you have a

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Speaker 1: lean towards one or the other based off of experiences,

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Speaker 1: based off of denominational differences, based off of I don't know,

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Speaker 1: maybe even a bad experience that you had with a

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Speaker 1: certain church group or leader, or I don't know, just

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Speaker 1: based off of TikTok theology that you've listened to, where

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Speaker 1: it's like, oh, I'm going to completely shut out this thing.

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Speaker 1: But what is the Bible? What does scripture actually teach

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Speaker 1: us and say about pursuing the Life Lord with all

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Speaker 1: of our heart, all of our soul, all of our mind,

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Speaker 1: all of our strength. Right the head and the heart.

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Speaker 1: We need both. I want to gently challenge you today

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Speaker 1: in the area in which you do have a lean

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Speaker 1: because you head. Christians need some heart when it comes

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Speaker 1: to the Word of God and relationship with God. And

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Speaker 1: you heart. Christians need some head when it comes to

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Speaker 1: the Word of God. You know what I mean. Like

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Speaker 1: Jesus does not want the two to be separated, to

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Speaker 1: be in opposition against one another, to be exclusive. In

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Speaker 1: Luke chapter ten, verse twenty seven, I have it pulled

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Speaker 1: up right here, it says Jesus. This is what he

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Speaker 1: specifically says. He answered, love the Lord your God, with

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Speaker 1: all of your heart and all of your soul, with

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Speaker 1: all of your strength, and with all of your mind,

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Speaker 1: and love your neighbor as yourself. So we are not

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Speaker 1: just to love God with our heart, our feelings, and

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Speaker 1: our passion. Right, we are not just to love God

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Speaker 1: exclusively only with our mind our understanding, or we are

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Speaker 1: to love Him with our whole self the head and

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Speaker 1: the heart. God is not asking you to choose between

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Speaker 1: intimacy and intellect. He is commanding both. In this verse.

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Speaker 1: He wants the head and he wants the heart. He

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Speaker 1: wants both from us sons and daughters who know him

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Speaker 1: deeply and love him deeply. So I have three things

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Speaker 1: that I want to dive into today, and the first

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Speaker 1: one is intentional understanding. If we are going to be

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Speaker 1: men and women who love God with both our head

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Speaker 1: and our heart, it starts here. We have to become

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Speaker 1: people who are intentional to understand the Word of God. Okay,

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Speaker 1: we need intentional understanding because if we want to love

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Speaker 1: God deeply, we have to know him rightly. We need

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Speaker 1: to know Him for who he truly is. And if

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Speaker 1: we're honest, some of us today don't necessarily struggle when

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Speaker 1: it comes to having access to a Bible. We actually

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Speaker 1: struggle with engaging with it. And maybe that's because of

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Speaker 1: a lack of motivation, but for some of us, it's

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Speaker 1: a lack of understanding. How do I study scripture? How

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Speaker 1: do I make sense of what it is that I'm reading?

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Speaker 1: Because as much as this is the Word of God

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Speaker 1: that is perfect and unchanging, it is a historical document.

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Speaker 1: It does have testimonies, it does have a prophetic language,

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Speaker 1: messianic prophecy, apocalyptic language right like laws, genealogies like There's

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Speaker 1: so much that is compiled in the Word of God,

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Speaker 1: and we need to understand the literary context as much

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Speaker 1: as the historical context, and the spiritual context and application

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Speaker 1: of it to our life. We have Bibles on our shelves,

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Speaker 1: we have apps on our phones, we have podcasts that

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Speaker 1: specifically are about diving into the Word of God. But

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Speaker 1: some of us still have that disconnect because there's a

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Speaker 1: difference between reading scripture and actually understanding scripture, taking the

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Speaker 1: time to formulate a good theology that actually honors the

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Speaker 1: text and what God is communic through his word. I

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Speaker 1: think some of us have been taught how to read

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Speaker 1: the Bible, but not necessarily how to study it. And

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Speaker 1: because of that, when it comes to sitting down in

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Speaker 1: our quiet times, we skim, we rush, We look for

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Speaker 1: something quick to encourage us in the season that we

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Speaker 1: are in. But the Word of God was never meant

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Speaker 1: to be skimmed. It was meant to be studied. It

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Speaker 1: was meant to be fully known because it reveals the

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Speaker 1: heart of God, the character of God. It gives language

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Speaker 1: to the voice of God, so we can actually discern

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Speaker 1: the spirit of God when he is ministering and speaking

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Speaker 1: to us. This is what Paul writes in two Timothy

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Speaker 1: two fifteen. He writes, do your best to present yourself

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Speaker 1: to God as one approved a worker who does not

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Speaker 1: need to be ashamed, and who correctly handles the word

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Speaker 1: of truth. When we rightly handle the word, that means

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Speaker 1: that we don't just care about what it says, we

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Speaker 1: actually we actually apply it rightly to our life, contextually

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Speaker 1: to our life. This is where contact matters. Because the

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Speaker 1: Bible just wasn't written to us, It was written for us,

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Speaker 1: right like there are some things in scripture that are

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Speaker 1: specific to different situations, a specific time, a specific group

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Speaker 1: of people, but we can still glean from that proper

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Speaker 1: application for our here and now today. Right this is

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Speaker 1: this is proper hermeneutics. What did it mean then and there?

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Speaker 1: But also what does it mean here and now for

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Speaker 1: us as believers today, for our own life, for how

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Speaker 1: we relate to people, how we relate to God, knowing

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Speaker 1: who he is. As much as we can pull out

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Speaker 1: truths from the Word of God and apply it to

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Speaker 1: our life to see how it relates to us. There's

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Speaker 1: a bigger purpose to the Bible. It's about God revealing

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Speaker 1: himself and understanding how He reveals himself throughout all of time,

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Speaker 1: knowing him more versus just knowing more about us. That's

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Speaker 1: the point of Scripture. Some of us treat it like

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Speaker 1: a self help book where it's just about me, me, Me.

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Speaker 1: But when we actually read the Word of God to

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Speaker 1: know more of who he is, that is where the

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Speaker 1: inWORD transformation begins to take place in our own lives

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Speaker 1: as we relate to God and have an understanding for

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Speaker 1: who he is. So if we want to understand it rightly,

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Speaker 1: the Word of God, we have to slow down enough

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Speaker 1: and begin to ask good questions, Questions like who wrote this?

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Speaker 1: Questions like why were they writing this? What was happening

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Speaker 1: during that time culturally and historically? What does this reveal

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Speaker 1: about God? What does this reveal about humanity? Because here

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Speaker 1: is what I have found to be true. Lazy reading

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Speaker 1: leads to shallow knowing, but intentional understanding leads to a

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Speaker 1: deep love, deeper loving. I want to encourage you in

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Speaker 1: this today because I know that it can be intimidating

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Speaker 1: to pick up scripture and to actually try and dive

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Speaker 1: deeper and X of eight what is underneath the text,

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Speaker 1: the layers that are underneath the text. I get it.

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Speaker 1: You know. I have a master's in theology, and I

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Speaker 1: find a lot of joy in studying scripture and the

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Speaker 1: big words and all of those things, the hard books,

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Speaker 1: the difficult verses. I love all that, and it can

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Speaker 1: be really easy to dismiss ourselves and think, well, I

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Speaker 1: can't go that deep. Or you know, my pastor on

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Speaker 1: a Sunday knows all this stuff, but I never will.

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Speaker 1: Like that's just not gonna be me. I don't even

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Speaker 1: know where to begin. But diving deep into the Word

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Speaker 1: of God and studying his word isn't just for the

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Speaker 1: super saints, like the Holier than Thou Christians, the super

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Speaker 1: spiritual people. The seminary students know like the Word of

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Speaker 1: God has been made accessible to all people because Christ

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Speaker 1: has made himself accessible to all people. Right He is

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Speaker 1: the Word become flesh, and he wants us to be

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Speaker 1: in relationship with him and to know him. And that

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Speaker 1: includes his written word, which testifies to his nature and

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Speaker 1: his character and who he has been and who he

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Speaker 1: will be for all of time. Like it's for the

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Speaker 1: everyday believer. The Word of God is for the follower

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Speaker 1: of Christ who loves God, who wants to know him

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Speaker 1: more intimately. But we need to just have the correct

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Speaker 1: approach when it comes to reading the Word of God,

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Speaker 1: and some of us need tools, we need commentaries, we

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Speaker 1: need different resources that help to provide the context that

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Speaker 1: we need to understand what it is that we are reading.

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Speaker 1: You don't need a theology degree to know God's word.

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Speaker 1: You need a willing heart and a curious mind. Those

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Speaker 1: are two things that will just absolutely enhance your understanding

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Speaker 1: and take your pursuit of Him to such a more

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Speaker 1: intentional level if you just lean into the curiosity and

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Speaker 1: the wonder when it comes to reading the Word of God.

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Speaker 1: You know, why is this command given? Why is this

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Speaker 1: word being used? Like? Just the question of why can

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Speaker 1: open up so many doors to knowing more of who

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Speaker 1: God is. And I love it. You know, God, He's

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Speaker 1: not hiding himself from you. He is inviting you to

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Speaker 1: seek him, to seek him. And that's beautiful, that pursuit

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Speaker 1: of coming closer, come nearer to me. I want you

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Speaker 1: to know who I am, not just through a loud,

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Speaker 1: booming voice, but through an intimate whisper. But we have

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Speaker 1: to be willing to press in and do the seeking.

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Speaker 1: He wants us to slow down, to ask why, to

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Speaker 1: dig a little deeper about what it is that we

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Speaker 1: are reading. He wants us to embrace the pause and

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Speaker 1: pondering because it leads to a greater pursuit. And that's

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Speaker 1: what it means to love Him with our mind. It

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Speaker 1: leads us to seek him and know him more. Two

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Speaker 1: Peter three eighteen says this. It says, but grow in

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Speaker 1: the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

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Speaker 1: To him be glory, both now and forever. Amen. But

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Speaker 1: here's the thing. Understanding and growing to love God with

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Speaker 1: our mind isn't the only goal. We are also to

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Speaker 1: know him intimately, to have an encounter with him intimately,

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Speaker 1: to love him with our head as much as the heart.

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Speaker 1: Because we can understand scripture but still miss God. That's

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Speaker 1: exactly what happened to the Pharisees. And I'll talk about

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Speaker 1: that in a second. But the second thing I want

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Speaker 1: to dive into is this intimate encounter. Right. The Bible

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Speaker 1: is not just a book to analyze. If we limit

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Speaker 1: it to just that, it will only be just that.

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Speaker 1: But it is the living word of God in which

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Speaker 1: He reveals himself, in which we can encounter him. It

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Speaker 1: is a place to encounter God. Every time we open

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Speaker 1: up the Bible, we're not just reading words on a page.

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Speaker 1: It shouldn't just be limited to that. We should be

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Speaker 1: stepping into this opportunity to actually meet and encounter the

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Speaker 1: living God, and if we're not careful, we can miss that.

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Speaker 1: That was something that when I was in getting my degree,

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Speaker 1: specifically my master's in theology, that I was very wary

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Speaker 1: of careful about was that I didn't want this to

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Speaker 1: just be limited to some intellectual pursuit where the end

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Speaker 1: goal is just to get the degree, Like, yeah, that's great,

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Speaker 1: and I was working towards the degree, but the real

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Speaker 1: goal was to know God deeper, to know God more,

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Speaker 1: to actually encounter Him and experience him, and walk out

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Speaker 1: of this more equipped in my relationship with God and

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Speaker 1: my ability to communicate and help people to understand the

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Speaker 1: word of God. And Jesus actually addresses this about being

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Speaker 1: careful when it comes to limiting our knowledge of Him

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Speaker 1: to only be knowledge and not lead to a deeper

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Speaker 1: experience and relationship with Him. In John five thirty nine

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Speaker 1: through forty, he says, you study the scriptures diligently. He's

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Speaker 1: speaking to the Pharisees. You study the scriptures diligently because

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Speaker 1: you think that in them you have eternal life. These

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Speaker 1: are the very scriptures that testify about me. Yet you

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Speaker 1: refuse to come to me to have life. So he's

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Speaker 1: speaking to the people who knew scripture like the best.

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Speaker 1: They memorized the first five books of the Bible, the

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Speaker 1: penitu like, do you want to memorize Deuteronomy, numbers Leviticus,

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Speaker 1: please do so. But these people, like they were super

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Speaker 1: religious in the sense that they were doing all the

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Speaker 1: things that they needed to to uphold this religious standard,

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Speaker 1: but they lacked heart. They had the first five books

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Speaker 1: of the Old Testament memorized, they recognized, you know, they

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Speaker 1: knew the word of God, yet they didn't recognize the

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Speaker 1: word of God standing in front of them. You know

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Speaker 1: what I mean, because Jesus, like I said, is the

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Speaker 1: Word become flesh. That is who he is testified as being.

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Speaker 1: The Pharisees were all head and no heart. They studied

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Speaker 1: God's word, they memorized it, they built their lives around it,

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Speaker 1: and yet they missed God himself walking among them. They

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Speaker 1: missed it, which means that it is possible to know

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Speaker 1: the Bible and we'll miss out on God. And I

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Speaker 1: think that should be a warning for some of us today,

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Speaker 1: for those of us who lean more towards the heads

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Speaker 1: side than the heart side. Who have this love for

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Speaker 1: learning and studying and going deeper. That's a gift. That

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Speaker 1: is good, that's me, that's me. But if we are

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Speaker 1: not careful, our Bible reading can just become about gathering

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Speaker 1: information versus growing and intimacy. We can start treating God

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Speaker 1: more like a subject to study versus a savior that

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Speaker 1: we are called to love. We need to seek him

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Speaker 1: and love him with all of our hearts, not just

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Speaker 1: know him with all of our minds. In Jeremiah twenty

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Speaker 1: nine thirteen, it says you will seek me and find me.

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Speaker 1: What when you seek me with all your heart, with

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Speaker 1: all your heart. And for those of you who lean

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Speaker 1: more towards the heart's side and you love connection, worship

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Speaker 1: and feeling close to God, that is also a gift.

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Speaker 1: But if we are not grounded in truth are relatedationship

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Speaker 1: with God can start to feel inconsistent because feelings do

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Speaker 1: come and go. So here's the invitation. Don't just read

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Speaker 1: the word, respond to the God who is revealed in it.

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Speaker 1: Pause while you read. Pray as you go, say God,

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Speaker 1: show me who you are. Help me to understand your heart.

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Speaker 1: Because we're not just reading for the sake of knowledge.

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Speaker 1: We also need to read for the sake of nearness.

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Speaker 1: Your head helps you understand what is true, but your

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Speaker 1: heart helps you to respond to who is true, and

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Speaker 1: that's Christ. And when the two come together, something begins

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Speaker 1: to shift within us. Because when we understand, when understanding

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Speaker 1: and intimacy meet, our lives cannot stay the same. It

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Speaker 1: leads to an integrated transformation. And that's my final point

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Speaker 1: that I want to dive into, is that God's word

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Speaker 1: was never meant to just inform you. It's meant to

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Speaker 1: transform you. I said earlier. Some of us will just

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Speaker 1: read the Bible hoping that we will get something out

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Speaker 1: of it for what we are specifically going through today.

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Speaker 1: Or we treat it like this self help guide and

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Speaker 1: there's a lot of self help in it. But the

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Speaker 1: purpose of it is to know God more, and in

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Speaker 1: doing so we become transformed, conformed to His image. Because

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Speaker 1: when you begin to know God rightly and love him deeply,

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Speaker 1: you start to live differently. You just do now. One

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Speaker 1: of my favorite chapters in all of Scripture is Romans twelve.

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Speaker 1: I have probably said that like twenty million times on

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Speaker 1: this podcast, but I love Romans twelve. And if you've

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Speaker 1: never studied it, you need to go study it because

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Speaker 1: it's basically like how to be a Christian one oh one.

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Speaker 1: It's great, But this is what Romans chapter twelve, verse

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Speaker 1: two says. It says, do not conform to the pattern

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Speaker 1: of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of

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Speaker 1: your mind. Then you will be able to test and

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Speaker 1: approve what God's will is, his good, pleasing and perfect will.

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Speaker 1: And in the same vein, I want to also read

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Speaker 1: what James one twenty two says. It says, do not

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Speaker 1: merely listen to the world the word and so deceive yourselves.

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Speaker 1: Do what it says. So why do I bring up

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Speaker 1: these two verses? This is where it all comes together. Okay,

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Speaker 1: because head knowledge without heart connection will lead to pride.

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Speaker 1: Head knowledge or without heart connection can lead to pride,

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Speaker 1: but a heart without truth leads to instability. When your

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Speaker 1: head and your heart come together, you get actual, full

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Speaker 1: transformation and relationship with God. Truth fills your mind, love

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Speaker 1: stirs your heart, and together it will transform your life.

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Speaker 1: You will think differently, respond differently, speak differently, live differently,

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Speaker 1: love God and people differently. Not because you are just

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Speaker 1: trying harder, but because you're actually being changed from the

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Speaker 1: inside out. That's what the word of God does. That

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Speaker 1: is what God does. So when you open your Bible,

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Speaker 1: the question shouldn't just be oh, like, what did I read?

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Speaker 1: It should be what is God showing me? And what

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Speaker 1: is He inviting me to do about it? Maybe it's

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Speaker 1: forgiving somebody, Maybe it is letting go of control, or

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Speaker 1: trusting him in a really hard season, or hoping for

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Speaker 1: something new and promising. Because when the word of God

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Speaker 1: is truly received, it doesn't just sit with you. It

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Speaker 1: actually shapes you. It transforms your life. And this is

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Speaker 1: where the word of God becomes sweet. Right, not because

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Speaker 1: it's always easy, but because it changes you. It changes you.

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Speaker 1: You might be wondering, okay, Kirby, like how can a

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Speaker 1: book like Leviticus change me? How can I get to

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Speaker 1: know God in places like the genealogies the history books?

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Speaker 1: Like are those places really like sweeter than honey? Right?

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Speaker 1: Your word is sweeter than honey, Because if we're honest,

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Speaker 1: those are the parts of the Bible that we tend

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Speaker 1: to skim or skip or just read, so we can

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Speaker 1: say that we read the whole Bible, you know what

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Speaker 1: I mean, like checking it off of your yearly Bible

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Speaker 1: reading plan and you're like, I'm just trying to get

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Speaker 1: through this, Like I don't really want to linger here.

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Speaker 1: But I've found something. As I've read and approached even

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Speaker 1: the hardest passages of Scripture with the goal of knowing

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Speaker 1: God and loving God, I have discovered that there is sweet,

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Speaker 1: sweet honey hidden in the places that we often overlook.

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Speaker 1: Not because this passages suddenly become easier, no, but I

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Speaker 1: started looking for Him and his purposes in his word.

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Speaker 1: Why did you put this here? And when you start

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Speaker 1: looking for God in the Word of God, You're gonna

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Speaker 1: find him. You're gonna find him in Leviticus, You're gonna

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Speaker 1: find him in the history books, You're gonna find him

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Speaker 1: in the genealogies. Like how Leviticus isn't just a book

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Speaker 1: of laws and rules and rituals. Like, yes, it is

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Speaker 1: those things, but really it's a revelation of how God

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Speaker 1: dignifies those who are least in society and how he

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Speaker 1: is desiring to commune with his people even in the

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Speaker 1: reality of their sin. And it recognizes that we serve

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Speaker 1: a God who doesn't ignore sin, but he also doesn't

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Speaker 1: abandon sinners. He makes a way for them to abide

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Speaker 1: with him. And it's beautiful when you understand that context

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Speaker 1: reading Leviticus, it just it changes how you read Leviticus.

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Speaker 1: Or like with the genealogies, it's not just a list

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Speaker 1: of hard to pronounce names, even though a lot of

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Speaker 1: those names are very hard to renounce. Okay, It's evidence

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Speaker 1: of a faithful God who sees individuals, who remembers generations,

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Speaker 1: who keeps his promises across time and uses those that

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Speaker 1: we would count as insignificant, and he said, no, I

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Speaker 1: want to include you in my story, and that he's

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Speaker 1: weaving together the brokenness of many people's stories through these

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Speaker 1: ordinary lives to bring about something extraordinary leading to Christ.

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Speaker 1: Or the historical books, let's talk about that, you know,

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Speaker 1: the historical books reveal that even in seasons of wandering

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Speaker 1: and wilderness, that those seasons aren't wasted. That even the

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Speaker 1: people who who rebelled against God and lived in ruin,

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Speaker 1: when they finally repented and were in relationship with God,

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Speaker 1: these stories that tell the history of God's people also

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00:26:26,520 --> 00:26:30,159
Speaker 1: testify to how God was shaping his people to return

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Speaker 1: back to him and how he was faithful time and

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Speaker 1: time again. Right, it's a picture of his patience and

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Speaker 1: his presence. That remains true even for us today. That

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Speaker 1: is why the Psalmist can say in Psalm one nineteen

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Speaker 1: one oh three, how sweet your word is to my taste,

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Speaker 1: sweeter than honey in my mouth. The word becomes sweet.

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Speaker 1: The word of God becomes sweet when it is understood

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Speaker 1: with our mind, experienced with our heart, and lived out

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Speaker 1: in our life. It is sweeter than honey. So I

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Speaker 1: just want to encourage you today, if you've been walking

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Speaker 1: with the Lord for a while, or if you're new

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00:27:08,000 --> 00:27:11,600
Speaker 1: to a relationship with God, when it comes to engaging

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Speaker 1: with him and knowing Him with your head and your heart,

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Speaker 1: that you don't have to settle. You don't have to

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Speaker 1: settle for a shallow relationship with a deep God. There

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Speaker 1: is so much more of him, to know, more of him,

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Speaker 1: to love, more of him, to experience, and for many

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Speaker 1: of us that will begin in the pursuit of His word. So,

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Speaker 1: if you haven't read your Bible today or maybe in

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00:27:40,400 --> 00:27:43,159
Speaker 1: a long time, or maybe you are well versed in

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00:27:43,160 --> 00:27:44,399
Speaker 1: the Word of God and you read it all the

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Speaker 1: time and you're just on fire in this season and

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00:27:47,359 --> 00:27:49,359
Speaker 1: you just can't get enough of it. My encouragement to

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Speaker 1: any of you and all of you, in whatever stage

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00:27:51,680 --> 00:27:55,359
Speaker 1: and phase of life you are in. Keep reading, pick

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00:27:55,600 --> 00:27:58,320
Speaker 1: it up, shake off the dust, blow off the dust

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00:27:58,359 --> 00:28:03,160
Speaker 1: from your Bible. Get get a trustworthy commentary like get

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00:28:03,280 --> 00:28:05,600
Speaker 1: maybe a program that works for you, so you can

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00:28:05,680 --> 00:28:08,440
Speaker 1: study and know and read the Word of God and

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00:28:09,000 --> 00:28:12,000
Speaker 1: fall in love not only with his word but with

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Speaker 1: Him because it reveals his heart and his nature, and

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00:28:15,320 --> 00:28:18,560
Speaker 1: it transforms and changes your life. I hope that this

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Speaker 1: episode encouraged you to get in the Word of God,

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Speaker 1: because the whole point of life is to know Him

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Speaker 1: and to love him, to be in relationship with him,

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Speaker 1: and that requires spirit and truth, heart and head to

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Speaker 1: know him and love him holy and fully. All Right,

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Speaker 1: I love you guys. Thanks for tuning into this week's episode.

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Speaker 1: As you know, I put out episodes every single week.

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Speaker 1: Like I said at the very beginning of this episode,

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Speaker 1: if you have any questions, if you're like Kirby, this

498
00:28:51,680 --> 00:28:54,040
Speaker 1: is great. Now I'm reading the Bible more. I feel

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00:28:54,080 --> 00:28:57,000
Speaker 1: so encouraged, but I have some questions. I want to

500
00:28:57,040 --> 00:28:59,120
Speaker 1: know more about these things. I'm actually going through this

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00:28:59,240 --> 00:29:01,560
Speaker 1: situation in my life life, Like where should I read

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00:29:01,600 --> 00:29:04,360
Speaker 1: in scripture? I don't know, let me know down below,

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00:29:04,720 --> 00:29:06,800
Speaker 1: like if you're watching on YouTube, or email me at

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00:29:06,840 --> 00:29:09,800
Speaker 1: Botondbeloved at gmail dot com if there's anything specific that

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00:29:09,880 --> 00:29:13,320
Speaker 1: you want me to do or talk about, or even

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00:29:13,360 --> 00:29:15,680
Speaker 1: guests that you want me to have on my podcast.

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00:29:15,760 --> 00:29:19,040
Speaker 1: I love having people on who are experts in whatever

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00:29:19,080 --> 00:29:21,160
Speaker 1: field they are experts in, whether that is through their

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00:29:21,200 --> 00:29:24,240
Speaker 1: own studies or their own experiences hello, head and heart,

510
00:29:24,680 --> 00:29:27,600
Speaker 1: and to have super engaging conversations. So if you know

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00:29:27,680 --> 00:29:29,920
Speaker 1: somebody that would be great to have on here, you

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00:29:30,040 --> 00:29:32,080
Speaker 1: let me know because I would love to have them on.

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Speaker 1: But until next week, I love you, I'll see you later.

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Speaker 1: Read your Bible. Bye. For more life giving, faith based

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00:29:40,360 --> 00:29:44,000
Speaker 1: podcasts just like this one, check out lifeaudio dot com,

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Speaker 1: a proud partner of the botan Beloved podcast