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Speaker 1: Life Audio. Alle Thank you for listening to your Daily

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

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

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Speaker 1: I'm your host, Jennifer Slattery, and acting this short word

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Speaker 1: from our sponsors, we'll dive into today's Bible verses Judges three,

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Speaker 1: one and two. Today's Bible verses are Judges three one

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Speaker 1: and two. These are the nations The Lord left to

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Speaker 1: test all those Israelites who had not experienced any of

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Speaker 1: the wars in Canaan. He did this only to teach

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Speaker 1: warfare to the descendants of the Israelites who had not

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Speaker 1: had previous battle experience. Do you ever fear that God

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Speaker 1: is upset with you or disappointed in you, Maybe even

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Speaker 1: that He's withholding something from you because of something you

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Speaker 1: did in the past, whether that was years or minutes ago.

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Speaker 1: I recently received an email from a sweet woman going

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Speaker 1: through a painful season, made even more excruciating because of

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Speaker 1: her fear. She aches to hear from God to receive

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Speaker 1: his perfect guidance for her complex situation, but can't sense

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Speaker 1: his presence or his voice. Buried in guilt and regret

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Speaker 1: from a previous decision, she fears he's withdrawn his care.

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Speaker 1: While I empathize with her pain, I disagree with her

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Speaker 1: conclusion because of passages like today's. Notice what Judges three

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Speaker 1: tells us after generations of rebellion, God left certain nations

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Speaker 1: in the land to test Israel and to teach a

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Speaker 1: new generation warfare. In other words, even after his people

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Speaker 1: repeatedly rejected him, he remained invested in their future. That

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Speaker 1: doesn't mean he shielded them from the consequences of their actions.

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Speaker 1: If you caught my other discussions on this biblical period,

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Speaker 1: you may remember that the Lord refused to do for

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Speaker 1: them what he'd commanded them to do themselves, namely, drive

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Speaker 1: the Canaanites from the land. The after effect was profound,

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Speaker 1: surrounding people groups invaded their towns, raided their resources, and

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Speaker 1: oppressed God's children. In Judges two fifteen, the NASB describes

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Speaker 1: their circumstances as causing quote severe distress in the original Hebrew,

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Speaker 1: this indicates the situation where you can barely breathe and

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Speaker 1: can't see a way out. You feel trapped and helpless,

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Speaker 1: your predicament hopeless. My empathy for ancient Israel's anguish is

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Speaker 1: tempered by the severity of their rebellion, they didn't really

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Speaker 1: ignore God's guidance. On occasion. Scripture tells us they adopted

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Speaker 1: the religious practices of the surrounding nations, including temple prostitution

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Speaker 1: and child sacrifice. Consider how many innocent, vulnerable women and

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Speaker 1: children suffered from other people's attempts to please and appease

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Speaker 1: their so called gods. Human lives damaged and destroyed for

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Speaker 1: man made deities carved in wooter stone. Can you imagine

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Speaker 1: how much worse the culture might have become had the

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Speaker 1: Lord blessed such behavior through unconditional provision and protection. Obviously,

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Speaker 1: that wouldn't be just or loving, and so he removed

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Speaker 1: his shield and allowed the nations they mimic to invade, conquer,

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Speaker 1: and depress. But even then he showed grace. He used

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Speaker 1: Israel's circumstances their consequences for their good. According to Judges three,

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Speaker 1: those same nations that swooped in to oppressed ancient Israel

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Speaker 1: served another purpose as well. God used them to prepare

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Speaker 1: an inexperienced generation for future battles. Pause to consider what

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Speaker 1: this reveals regarding the heart and character of God. Despite

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Speaker 1: Ancient Israel's rejection displayed after generations of his overwhelming faithfulness,

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Speaker 1: he still sought their good. He remained focused not on

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Speaker 1: their failures but their future. He used the nations they

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Speaker 1: feared to prepare them for challenges ahead. He remained their

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Speaker 1: attentive father and used a strong arm when necessary for

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Speaker 1: their well being, but never with malice and always with love.

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Speaker 1: That's grace, favor they didn't deserve and for sure couldn't earn.

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Speaker 1: Now I invite you to once again consider my opening questions.

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Speaker 1: Do you ever fear that God is upset with you

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Speaker 1: or disappointed in you, maybe even that he's withholding something

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Speaker 1: from you because of something you did in the past,

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Speaker 1: whether that was years or minutes ago. If so, how

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Speaker 1: does today's passage speak to those fears? For me? It

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Speaker 1: shatters them with the assurance that God is always for me,

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Speaker 1: even when I'm at my worst. He's for you as well,

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Speaker 1: my friend. If you struggle in this area and to

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Speaker 1: live anchored in God's inexhaustible grace, I encourage you to

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Speaker 1: read Judges chapter one through three, paying attention to God's

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Speaker 1: response to his people's abhorrent actions, and then pop over

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Speaker 1: to the New Testament to John nineteen to read how

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Speaker 1: Christ responds to your sin and mine, and then thank

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Speaker 1: him for his incomprehensible and never ending love. Let's pray,

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Speaker 1: Holy Father, Sometimes it is really hard to understand your grace,

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Speaker 1: to understand your love, your perfect, inexhaustible grace and love,

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Speaker 1: to understand your faithfulness towards us. Even when we stray,

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Speaker 1: when we reject you, when we rebel, you remain loving

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Speaker 1: in all you do. You are the God of mercy,

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Speaker 1: of truth, of faithfulness. You always keep your promises, and

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Speaker 1: you remain focused on us, your children. We are so

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Speaker 1: grateful for your heart, for your care, for the gift

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Speaker 1: of your son. Help us to fully receive your mercy

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Speaker 1: and grace, Help us to fully receive your love. Teach

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Speaker 1: us to know you more. And may our understanding of

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Speaker 1: your grace and your love increase our trust and our

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Speaker 1: desire to follow however you lead. We love you and

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Speaker 1: we praise you. And it's in the name of your son,

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Speaker 1: our Savior, Jesus Christ, that we pray Amen.