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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 Luke Chapter twenty, verses

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Speaker 1: one and two, which says, one day, as Jesus was

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Speaker 1: teaching the people in the temple and preaching the Gospel,

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Speaker 1: the chief priests and the scribes with the elders came

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Speaker 1: up and said to him, tell us by what authority

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Speaker 1: you do these things? Or who it is that gave

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Speaker 1: you this authority? The religious leaders question Christ's authority. When

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Speaker 1: we read the Gospels, the religious leaders of that era

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Speaker 1: tend to be presented in an unfavorable light. Because of that,

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Speaker 1: we tend to write them off and dismiss their actions.

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Speaker 1: But sometimes, as uncomfortable as it may be, it can

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Speaker 1: be helpful to study their words and deeds with the

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Speaker 1: goal of asking if those same things are present in

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Speaker 1: our lives as well. Have you ever questioned Christ's authority?

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Speaker 1: I'm not just speaking about the season of your life

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Speaker 1: before you came to faith in him. I'm also speaking

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Speaker 1: about the season of your life that you're currently in

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Speaker 1: the midst of Is there anything Christ has ever said

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Speaker 1: that makes you uncomfortable? Have you ever sense that He

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Speaker 1: was asking anything of you that you felt hesitant to

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Speaker 1: respond to? Is there a false belief that you still

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Speaker 1: cling to because you're trying to soothe your heart with it?

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Speaker 1: Is there a pattern of behavior in your life that

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Speaker 1: Christ has already revealed to you that he is eager

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Speaker 1: to transform. We may not question Christ's authority outright, but

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Speaker 1: it's entirely possible that we struggle with covertly elevating ourselves

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Speaker 1: as a higher authority in our lives than him. What

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Speaker 1: will it take for that pattern to change? 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 Gospel of

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Speaker 1: Luke today. And Lord, as we look at this portion

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Speaker 1: of scripture and we can see that the religious leaders

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Speaker 1: questioned your authority, we pray that we would learn from this. Lord.

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Speaker 1: I imagine that there are times in our lives where

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Speaker 1: we've done the same exact thing, maybe not in the

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Speaker 1: same way, but we've certainly done it. Anytime we've elevated

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Speaker 1: our own authority over yours, or anytime we've honored our

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Speaker 1: own preferences above yours, we've essentially questioned your authority. But Lord,

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Speaker 1: you know best. You know what's right, you know what's good,

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Speaker 1: you know what's beneficial for us, And when you counsel

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Speaker 1: us to go about life in such a way as

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Speaker 1: to honor you, you're doing so so that we will

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Speaker 1: experience a better life and a better experience and a

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Speaker 1: better outcome. Lord, we confess to you that at times

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Speaker 1: we put our preferences above your decrees. We confess to

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Speaker 1: you that at times we rationalize not listening to the

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Speaker 1: scriptures that you've given to us. And we confess to you, Lord,

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Speaker 1: that we have the hearts of rebels that need to

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Speaker 1: be transformed. We need you to take our rebel hearts

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Speaker 1: and soften them and bring us unto yourself. We're grateful

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Speaker 1: that you're willing to do so, and we're grateful for

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Speaker 1: the fact that as our faith matures, we learn more

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Speaker 1: and more about what it means to elevate you as

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Speaker 1: the ultimate authority in our lives. But in the areas

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Speaker 1: where we're still struggling to acknowledge your authority, we pray

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Speaker 1: that you would ultimately soften our hearts and break down

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Speaker 1: our resistance, and create within us a desire to put

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Speaker 1: you first in all things. Thank you, Lord for this

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Speaker 1: reminder from your word today. Pray this all in Jesus' name. Amen,