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Speaker 1: Life Audio. Well, Hey there, friends, I'm Jody Nisnick and

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Speaker 1: welcome to our Lent series. LND is a season that

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Speaker 1: helps us prepare our hearts for Easter. This year, we're

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Speaker 1: reflecting on the I Am statements of Jesus. When Jesus

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Speaker 1: uses this phrase, he is hearkening back to Exodus, where

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Speaker 1: God reveals himself as the I Am. And when Jesus

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Speaker 1: uses this phrase, he is declaring he is God and

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Speaker 1: revealing something about his character. My prayer is that these

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Speaker 1: moments of reflection and prayer will help you slow down

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Speaker 1: and draw closer to the heart of Jesus. Will get

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Speaker 1: started after a brief word from our sponsors. Before we

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Speaker 1: begin our meditation, I want to invite you to head

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Speaker 1: into the show notes, where you will find a link

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Speaker 1: to download the free I Am Companion journal that I've

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Speaker 1: made for this series. It has each scripture that we

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Speaker 1: are meditating on, all of the reflection prompts, and it

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Speaker 1: gives you space to take notes on your prayers and

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Speaker 1: meditation time. I do hope you'll take advantage of this

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Speaker 1: free resource. Also, for the season of LND, I will

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Speaker 1: release a brief guided prayer every Wednesday to help us

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Speaker 1: prayer fleet reset our focus on Jesus. You'll find that

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Speaker 1: right here in this feed each Wednesday. Well, with that,

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Speaker 1: let's get started. I want to invite you to begin

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Speaker 1: as we always do, and that is with a few

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Speaker 1: deep in and out breaths. Go ahead and take a

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Speaker 1: deep breath in and now slowly exhale. Let's do that again.

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Speaker 1: As you're breathing in, notice that God is present with

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Speaker 1: you right here, right now, no matter where you are.

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Speaker 1: And as you are slowly exhaling, just notice, is there

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Speaker 1: anything that is weighing on you today? Ask God to

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Speaker 1: hold it. He will keep taking those deep in and

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Speaker 1: out breaths, and let me pray for our time. Gracious

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Speaker 1: Lord Jesus, thank you so much that you are present

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Speaker 1: right here right now. We pray that your spirit would

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Speaker 1: speak directly to us in a way that we can

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Speaker 1: hear it. That you would help all the distractions to

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Speaker 1: fade to the background, and that you would help us

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Speaker 1: know what we need to notice in your word, that

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Speaker 1: you would encourage us, that you would help us know

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Speaker 1: more of who you are as the vine and us

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Speaker 1: as the branches. So Lord, we ask that you would

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Speaker 1: do your work right now through your word and through

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Speaker 1: this time for our good and for your glory. We

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Speaker 1: ask this in the name of Jesus. Amen. Well, up

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Speaker 1: to this point, we've been taking the I Am statements

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Speaker 1: of Jesus in order, but we are going to move

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Speaker 1: out of order for the sixth meditation because the sixth

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Speaker 1: I Am statement that Jesus makes is I am the

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Speaker 1: Resurrection and the Life. And I thought it would be

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Speaker 1: good for us to save that to the day right

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Speaker 1: after Easter, when we've been more fully reflecting on what

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Speaker 1: the resurrection means for us. So today we are doing

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Speaker 1: the I am statement. I am the vine and you

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Speaker 1: are the branches. This is one of my favorite passages.

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Speaker 1: It is rich and it is deep, and it just

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Speaker 1: seems to take on new meaning each time I sit

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Speaker 1: with it. Jesus says he is the vine, and the

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Speaker 1: Father is the gardener, the gardener that tends and cares

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Speaker 1: for and prunes the vine. I used to find this

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Speaker 1: language of cutting and pruning well a little unsettling, because

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Speaker 1: that sounds painful. But as I've walked with Jesus, I've

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Speaker 1: come to trust that we do have a very good Father,

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Speaker 1: and any pruning he di in our life is not

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Speaker 1: to be punitive or to be harsh, or to cause

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Speaker 1: unnecessary pain. The pruning he allows is always for our

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Speaker 1: good and to produce more fruit in our life. God

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Speaker 1: desires our lives to be abundantly fruitful. And as we

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Speaker 1: reflected earlier in Lent, Jesus has come so that we

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Speaker 1: would have an abundant life. And when you picture a

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Speaker 1: fruitful vine weighed down with fruit, that looks like an

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Speaker 1: abundant vine, doesn't it well? I think fruitfulness is abundance,

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Speaker 1: and that means it's exactly where Jesus wants us to be.

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Speaker 1: It's exactly where we want to be. So with that,

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Speaker 1: as you listen this first time, just allow these words

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Speaker 1: of Jesus to settle into your heart so you know

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Speaker 1: where the passage is going. Our reading today is John fifteen,

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Speaker 1: verses one and two and verses four and five to

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Speaker 1: Damn reading from the New International Version. I am the

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Speaker 1: true vine, and my father is the gardener. He cuts

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Speaker 1: off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while

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Speaker 1: every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that

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Speaker 1: it will be even more fruitful. Remain in me as

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Speaker 1: I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit

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Speaker 1: by itself. It must remain in the vine. Neither can

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Speaker 1: you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am

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Speaker 1: the vine. You are the branches. If you remain in

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Speaker 1: me and I in you, you will bear much fruit.

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Speaker 1: Apart from me, you can do nothing. Take a moment

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Speaker 1: to picture a vine, strong, rooted, grounded, healthy. This is

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Speaker 1: what Jesus is stating. He is like this vine. He

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Speaker 1: is the source of life and growth. And now picture

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Speaker 1: the branches on that vine. How do they depend on

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Speaker 1: the vine? And now, holding this in mind, as I

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Speaker 1: read a second time, ask the Lord to guide you

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Speaker 1: to a word or a phrase in the passage. As always,

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Speaker 1: try not to overthink this process. Just see is there

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Speaker 1: something that grabs my attention above the other words or phrases.

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Speaker 1: Maybe if you're a visual person, it feels like something

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Speaker 1: shimmers to you. Whatever it is, hold onto it and

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Speaker 1: I'll give you space to reflect on it after the reading.

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Speaker 1: I am the true vine, and my father is the gardener.

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Speaker 1: He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit,

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Speaker 1: while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so

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Speaker 1: that it will be even more fruitful. Remain in me,

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Speaker 1: as I also remain in you. No branch can bear

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Speaker 1: fruit by itself, it must remain in the vine. Neither

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Speaker 1: can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I

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Speaker 1: am the vine. You are the branches. If you remain

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Speaker 1: in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit.

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Speaker 1: Apart from me, you can do nothing. Take a moment

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Speaker 1: to reflect on the word or phrase that you noticed,

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Speaker 1: and ask God, how does this connect to my life?

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Speaker 1: Right now? As I read a third time, notice again

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Speaker 1: what you noticed in the second reading, and ask God

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Speaker 1: to help you know how He is inviting you to

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Speaker 1: take a step forward with him. There may be a

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Speaker 1: specific way Jesus is inviting you to abide, or a

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Speaker 1: place in your life where you since God may be

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Speaker 1: wanting to lovingly prune, or perhaps something else. I am

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Speaker 1: the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He

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Speaker 1: cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit,

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Speaker 1: while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so

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Speaker 1: that it will be even more fruitful. Remain in me,

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Speaker 1: as I also remain in you. No branch can bear

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Speaker 1: fruit by itself. It must remain in the vine. Neither

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Speaker 1: can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I

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Speaker 1: am the vine. You are the branches. If you remain

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Speaker 1: in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit.

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Speaker 1: Apart from me, you can do nothing. Take some time

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Speaker 1: to have a conversation with God. Be open and honest

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Speaker 1: about any fears, hesitations, or resistance you feel toward what

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Speaker 1: He is revealing to you. And allow Jesus to speak

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Speaker 1: back to you in love, reminding you that he is

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Speaker 1: the vine and he wants you to have a fruitful

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Speaker 1: and abundant life.

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Speaker 2: No boh, blue blue blue, blue, blue blue.

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Speaker 1: Now, as we move to the final reading, rest in

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Speaker 1: the truth of God's goodness and love for you. Rest

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Speaker 1: in the truth that Jesus is the true vine. He

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Speaker 1: is the source of life and fruitfulness. Rest in the

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Speaker 1: truth that if He is doing pruning work in your life,

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Speaker 1: it is out of deep love and care for you.

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Speaker 1: For our final reading, I'm going to read from the

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Speaker 1: Message translation. Allow these words, especially how this version describes

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Speaker 1: abiding to comfort, encourage and challenge you. I am the

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Speaker 1: real vine, and my father is the farmer. He cuts

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Speaker 1: off every branch of me that doesn't bear grapes, and

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Speaker 1: every branch that is grape bearing he prunes back so

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Speaker 1: it will bear even more. Live in me. Make your

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Speaker 1: home in me. Just as I do in you. In

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Speaker 1: the same way that a branch can't bear grapes by itself,

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Speaker 1: but only by being joined to the vine. You can't

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Speaker 1: bear fruit unless you are joined with me. I am

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Speaker 1: the vine. You are the branches. When you're joined with

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Speaker 1: me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic,

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Speaker 1: the harvest is sure to be abundant. Lord Jesus, thank

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Speaker 1: you for your word. Thank you for the truth in

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Speaker 1: your word. Thank you that you are the vine, that

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Speaker 1: we are the branches, and that we cannot bear fruit

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Speaker 1: apart from you as the source. It's so relieving in

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Speaker 1: many ways. We don't have to seek out what fruit

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Speaker 1: we should bear. We just need to stay connected to you,

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Speaker 1: and you will bear the fruit through us. So, Lord,

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Speaker 1: we ask that you would help us do that, help

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Speaker 1: us abide in you, to make our home in you. Lord.

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Speaker 1: If there are places that we need to make adjustments,

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Speaker 1: or if there are things that you want to prune

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Speaker 1: out of our life, would you help us be willing

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Speaker 1: to the work you need to do. Lord, Thank you

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Speaker 1: for whatever it is that you revealed through your word

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Speaker 1: to us today. Would you help that to sink deep

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Speaker 1: into our heart and soul and help us to carry

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Speaker 1: it forward as we continue moving through this Linton season,

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Speaker 1: knowing that you are God, You are the Vine, and

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Speaker 1: so we pray this in Jesus' name, are true Vine. Amen. Well, friends,

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Speaker 1: if you are new to the So Much More podcast

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Speaker 1: or if you're new to the season of LINT, I

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Speaker 1: want to invite you head into the show notes and

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Speaker 1: grab the free I am Meditation journal. I unpack a

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Speaker 1: little bit more about what LNT is and why Christians

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Speaker 1: have been practicing it for a very long time. You'll

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Speaker 1: also see in the notes my partner Life Audio, and

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Speaker 1: I encourage you to check them out at lifeaudio dot com. Finally,

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Speaker 1: if you are enjoying these meditations, one of the greatest

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Speaker 1: things you can do for me is either share these

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Speaker 1: with a friend or follow on Apple Podcasts and Spotify

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Speaker 1: and if you're able, leave a review. All of those things,

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Speaker 1: they just go a really long way and spreading the

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Speaker 1: word and helping get these meditations into the hands of

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Speaker 1: those who might need them. As always, my friend, thanks

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Speaker 1: for joining me on So Much More, because we really

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Speaker 1: do believe Jesus has so much more to say to us,

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Speaker 1: and this is one way we are creating space to

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Speaker 1: listen