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Speaker 1: Life Audio.

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Speaker 2: Welcome to the Crosswalk devotional. We're glad to have you

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Speaker 2: listening with us. Today's topic is about God's art for

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Speaker 2: the lonely. We'll return with the devotional after a brief

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Speaker 2: message from our sponsors. I no longer call you servants,

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Speaker 2: because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead,

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Speaker 2: I have called you friends. For everything that I learned

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Speaker 2: from my father, I have made known to you John

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Speaker 2: fifteen fifteen. Do you ever struggle building and maintaining friendships?

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Speaker 2: Do you long for a relationship that feels so safe

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Speaker 2: you can express your deepest neat, stubts, sins, and fears,

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Speaker 2: but also find yourself hiding those parts of you for

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Speaker 2: fear you'll be rejected and shamed. In our broken world,

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Speaker 2: filled with people who are as broken as we are,

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Speaker 2: it can be really hard to find those people able

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Speaker 2: to stay biased in our hardest times, and maybe even

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Speaker 2: when we act the ugliest, we all at times behave

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Speaker 2: in ways we wish we hadn't, and that sadly hurt

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Speaker 2: or frustrate others. We will never reach perfection this side

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Speaker 2: of heaven, but that doesn't mean we're destined to be alone.

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Speaker 2: If you grew up in an environment where your needs

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Speaker 2: for love, grace, and affection weren't met. You may have

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Speaker 2: come to believe that there's something inherently wrong with you,

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Speaker 2: something that of others knew or saw or experienced would

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Speaker 2: drive them away. And while I can't speak for the

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Speaker 2: people presently in your life, whether or not they have

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Speaker 2: the emotional and spiritual maturity to work through conflict, confusion,

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Speaker 2: and misunderstandings, who have the maturity to stay, I do

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Speaker 2: know one who sees all of you, loves you fully,

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Speaker 2: and has promised to never leave. Jesus is the friend

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Speaker 2: mentioned in Proverbs eight twenty four, who sticks closer than

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Speaker 2: a brother. When I consider his words in context in

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Speaker 2: John chapter fifteen, I'm struck by the timing with which

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Speaker 2: he spoke. This was on the night before his death,

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Speaker 2: during a solemn and deeply painful passover, in which he

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Speaker 2: told his disciples that they'd soon endure some of the

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Speaker 2: most difficult experiences of their lives, expulsion from their faith

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Speaker 2: community and all the support and comfort and connection that

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Speaker 2: came with that, slander and attack by those who viewed

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Speaker 2: their commitment to Jesus as blasphemous, ungodly and dangerous, and

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Speaker 2: potentially death, hard stuff times when they would desperately need

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Speaker 2: to know they weren't alone, and that someone saw them,

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Speaker 2: understood their pain, and walked with them in it. And yes,

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Speaker 2: they had each other, praise God, but that wasn't and

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Speaker 2: wouldn't be enough, no matter how strong their relationships were

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Speaker 2: with one another. They needed a perfect friend. They needed Jesus,

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Speaker 2: and he gave himself freely to the point of death.

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Speaker 2: But he didn't stay dead. He rose from the grave

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Speaker 2: as a powerful reminder that their hardship wouldn't last forever.

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Speaker 2: Glorious life, abundant and thriving life was coming. And in

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Speaker 2: the meantime, while they waited for their quote faith to

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Speaker 2: become sight, as Scripture puts it, Jesus waited fully present

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Speaker 2: with them, intersecting life and faith. Pause to reflect on

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Speaker 2: today's verse for a moment, and hear this as the

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Speaker 2: Lord speaking directly to you, I no longer call you servants,

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Speaker 2: because a servant doesn't know his master's business. Instead, I

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Speaker 2: have called you friends. For everything that I learned from

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Speaker 2: my father, I have made known to you. In other words,

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Speaker 2: Jesus says to you, I don't view you as a servant,

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Speaker 2: as someone whose only role is to listen and obey. Rather,

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Speaker 2: I see you as someone with whom I long to

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Speaker 2: grow closer, and I choose to reveal myself to you.

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Speaker 2: No secrets, no games, no power plays, nothing but loyal, tender,

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Speaker 2: steady and present love. He could have used numerous words,

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Speaker 2: and at times he does child one of his independent

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Speaker 2: and well care for sheep, his beloved. But here he

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Speaker 2: calls you friend. What might this reveal regarding his heart

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Speaker 2: for you, regarding his understanding of your deepest needs for

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Speaker 2: connection and acceptance? What does it reveal regarding how he

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Speaker 2: wants to meet you in your present season. To grasp

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Speaker 2: the depth of his message, perhaps consider the qualities you

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Speaker 2: long for in a perfect friend. Someone who's mentally present

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Speaker 2: and emotionally available in your pain. Someone who sees the

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Speaker 2: best in you even when you blow it, and who

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Speaker 2: always has your best in mind. No manipulation, strong arming, withdrawal, shaming,

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Speaker 2: criticizing or condemning. Someone who celebrates your wins and comforts

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Speaker 2: you in your losses. Most importantly, someone who remains that

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Speaker 2: my friend is who Jesus wants to be for you,

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Speaker 2: who Jesus is for you.

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Speaker 1: Thanks for listening to today's devotional. If you liked what

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Speaker 3: Hey listeners, it's Kelly from the Life Audio team with

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