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Speaker 1: Life Audio.

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Speaker 2: Well, Hey there, friends, I'm Jody Nisnick and welcome to

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Speaker 2: our lent series. LYND is a season that helps us

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Speaker 2: prepare our hearts for Easter. This year, we're reflecting on

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Speaker 2: the I Am statements of Jesus. When Jesus uses this phrase,

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Speaker 2: he is hearkening back to Exodus, where God reveals himself

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Speaker 2: as the I Am. And when Jesus uses this phrase,

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Speaker 2: he is declaring he is God and revealing something about

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Speaker 2: his character. My prayer is that these moments of reflection

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Speaker 2: and prayer will help you slow down and draw closer

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Speaker 2: to the heart of Jesus. Will get started after a

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Speaker 2: brief word from our sponsors. Before we begin our meditation,

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Speaker 2: I want to invite you to head into the show notes,

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Speaker 2: where you will find a link to download the free

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Speaker 2: I Am Companion journal that I've made for this series.

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Speaker 2: It has each scripture that we are meditating on, all

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Speaker 2: of the reflection prompts, and it gives you space to

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Speaker 2: take notes on your prayers and meditation time. I do

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Speaker 2: hope you'll take advantage of this free resource. Also, for

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Speaker 2: the season of LND, I will release a brief guided

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Speaker 2: prayer every Wednesday to help us prayer fleet reset our

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Speaker 2: focus on Jesus. You'll find that right here in this

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Speaker 2: feed each Wednesday. Well, with that, let's get started. The

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Speaker 2: first thing I want to invite you to do is

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Speaker 2: start with some deep in and out breaths. And so

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Speaker 2: wherever you are, just take a deep, cleansing in breath

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Speaker 2: and now slowly exhale. Do that again. We do this

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Speaker 2: little practice before our meditations because it helps us just

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Speaker 2: settle in.

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Speaker 1: A lot of.

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Speaker 2: Times we are moving around dealing with so many things

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Speaker 2: coming from another place. So no matter what you have

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Speaker 2: come from, just settling in with a few deep breaths.

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Speaker 2: Let's your body know this is exactly where I am

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Speaker 2: supposed to be. And so as you continue taking those

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Speaker 2: deep in and out breaths, let me pray for our time.

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Speaker 2: Gracious Lord, thank you for the gift of breath. And

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Speaker 2: as we breathe deeply, may we know your presence with us?

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Speaker 2: And as we are exhaling, would you take all the

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Speaker 2: cares and worries and would you hold them for us?

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Speaker 1: Lord?

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Speaker 2: We ask that you would guide and lead us in

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Speaker 2: this time, that you would help us see you as

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Speaker 2: the light who leads us, because you are the light

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Speaker 2: of the world. Lord, we need that light desperately. We

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Speaker 2: need it in our own lives, and we do need

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Speaker 2: it in this world. So would you guide and lead

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Speaker 2: and also comfort us with these words and this truth.

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Speaker 2: Today we ask this in the name of Jesus.

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Speaker 1: Amen. Last week we meet.

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Speaker 2: Meditated on Jesus when he said I am the Bread

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Speaker 2: of life, and we ask God to help us see

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Speaker 2: where we are in need. Reflecting on how Jesus meets

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Speaker 2: our deepest needs, where he is the true bread of

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Speaker 2: life for us, today we moved to Jesus's next I

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Speaker 2: am statement, where he says I am the light of

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Speaker 2: the world. Jesus made this particular statement during something called

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Speaker 2: the Feast of Tabernacles, which was a feast to remember

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Speaker 2: and celebrate how God provided for and guided his people

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Speaker 2: while they were in the wilderness. One of the ways

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Speaker 2: that God guided them was by being a pillar of

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Speaker 2: fire for them to follow.

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Speaker 1: It was a pillar of light.

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Speaker 2: So the original hearers would have immediately understood why Jesus

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Speaker 2: was using this phrase and what he was indicating. He

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Speaker 2: was saying, he is God, and now he is our

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Speaker 2: light to follow. But he is no longer a light

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Speaker 2: that shines down from above, but one that is shining

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Speaker 2: with and among us today. Our reading is one verse,

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Speaker 2: so it's shorter than normal, and the reason we aren't

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Speaker 2: adding more is that as soon as Jesus makes this

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Speaker 2: statement about who he is, the Pharisees jump in and

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Speaker 2: they want to start debating him. Well, that's important for

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Speaker 2: our understanding of the narrative flow of Jesus's life and

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Speaker 2: how he's being received. It does distract us from where

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Speaker 2: we're going today, sitting in the truth of Jesus being

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Speaker 2: the light of the world. Since our passage is shorter

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Speaker 2: than normal, we're going to reflect on it a few

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Speaker 2: different ways. One time considering and praying about our own lives,

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Speaker 2: and a second time considering and praying about our world.

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Speaker 2: I'll guide you each step of the way. For now, though,

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Speaker 2: just listen to Jesus's words so you can get grounded

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Speaker 2: in this verse. Our reading is from John chapter eight,

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Speaker 2: verse twelve. I'm reading for the New Living Translation. Jesus

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Speaker 2: spoke to the people once more and said, I am

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Speaker 2: the light of the world. If you follow me, you

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Speaker 2: won't have to walk in the darkness, because you will

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Speaker 2: have the light that leads to life. For this set

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Speaker 2: of readings. We will consider how this matters for our

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Speaker 2: lives right now. Take a moment to ask God, are

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Speaker 2: there any areas in my life that feel like they

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Speaker 2: are in the shadows or the dark? Now, as you listen,

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Speaker 2: holding whatever the Lord revealed to you, ask him to

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Speaker 2: help you notice what he has for you. In the reading,

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Speaker 2: Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, I

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Speaker 2: am the light of the world. If you follow me,

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Speaker 2: you won't have to walk in darkness because you will

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Speaker 2: have the light that leads to life. Take a moment

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Speaker 2: to reflect on the word or phrase you noticed and

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Speaker 2: ask God, how does this apply to my life right now,

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Speaker 2: especially in the area you helped me notice a moment ago.

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Speaker 2: As I read a third time, notice again what you

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Speaker 2: noticed in the second reading, and ask God to help

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Speaker 2: you know how He is inviting you to take a

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Speaker 2: step forward with him. There may be a sin to confess,

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Speaker 2: a truth to remember, a step of trust to take,

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Speaker 2: or something else. Jesus spoke to the people once more

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Speaker 2: and said, I am the life of the world. If

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Speaker 2: you follow me, you won't have to walk in darkness

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Speaker 2: because you will have the light that leads to life.

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Speaker 2: Take a moment to have a conversation with God, being

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Speaker 2: open and honest about any fear, hesitation, or resistance you

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Speaker 2: may feel toward what He is revealing to you, and

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Speaker 2: allow him to speak back and love. And now we

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Speaker 2: shift to focus on our world. Before we begin, ask

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Speaker 2: the Lord to help you identify something from our current

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Speaker 2: world events that is weighing on your heart because it

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Speaker 2: feels like the darkness is winning. And now, holding that

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Speaker 2: in mind, hear these words of Jesus again. Jesus spoke

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Speaker 2: to the people once more and said, I am the

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Speaker 2: Light of the world. If you follow me, you won't

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Speaker 2: have to walk in darkness, because you will have the

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Speaker 2: light that leads to life. Take some time to reflect

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Speaker 2: on what you noticed in this passage and ask God,

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Speaker 2: how does this speak truth into what has happened in

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Speaker 2: our world right now? And now as I read again,

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Speaker 2: notice what you noticed in the second reading, and ask

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Speaker 2: God to help you know how He is inviting you

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Speaker 2: to take a step forward with him. There may be

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Speaker 2: a sin to confess, a truth to remember, or a

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Speaker 2: step of trust you are invited to take, or maybe

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Speaker 2: something else.

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Speaker 1: Jesus spoke to the people.

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Speaker 2: Once more and said, I am the Light of the world.

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Speaker 2: If you follow me, you won't have to walk in

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Speaker 2: darkness because you will have the light that leads to life.

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Speaker 2: Take some time to talk to God about what he

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Speaker 2: is showing you again, and be honest and allow him

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Speaker 2: to speak back with words of love and hope.

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Speaker 3: Amy.

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Speaker 2: Now, as we move into the final reading, rest in

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Speaker 2: the truth of God's goodness and love for you and

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Speaker 2: our world. Rest and the truth that Jesus is the

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Speaker 2: true light of the world, and light always overcomes darkness.

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Speaker 2: Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, I

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Speaker 2: am the light of the world. If you follow me,

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Speaker 2: you won't have to walk in darkness because you will

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Speaker 2: have the light that leads to life. Lord, thank you

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Speaker 2: that you are the light for our lives, the light

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Speaker 2: for our world. And it does feel like there is

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Speaker 2: a lot of darkness right now. There are a lot

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Speaker 2: of things that are very confusing in our lives and

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Speaker 2: in this world, places where we wonder, are you still there?

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Speaker 1: Do you care?

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Speaker 2: Is evil finally winning? And so Lord, we ask that

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Speaker 2: this truth would just penetrate our heart and remind us

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Speaker 2: you are the light and light always overcomes darkness and

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Speaker 2: evil does not win. Lord, remind us we know the

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Speaker 2: rest of this story. Help us trust you and help

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Speaker 2: us know how you are in fighting us to walk

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Speaker 2: in the light, to be light for others. Lord, give

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Speaker 2: us grace, give us courage, guide and lead us.

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Speaker 1: We ask in the name of Jesus the Light. Amen.

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Speaker 2: Well, friends, if you are new to the So Much

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Speaker 2: More podcast or if you're new to the season of LINT,

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Speaker 2: I want to invite you, head into the show notes

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Speaker 2: and grab the free I am Meditation journal. I unpack

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Speaker 2: a little bit more about what LINT is and why

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Speaker 2: Christians have been practicing it for a very long time.

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Speaker 2: You'll also see in the notes my partner Life Audio,

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Speaker 2: and I encourage you to check them out at lifeaudio

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Speaker 2: dot com. Finally, if you are enjoying these meditations, one

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Speaker 2: of the greatest things you can do for me is

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Speaker 2: either share these with a friend or follow on Apple

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Speaker 2: Podcasts and Spotify and if.

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Speaker 1: You're able, leave a review.

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Speaker 2: All of those things they just go a really long

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Speaker 2: way and spreading the word and helping get these meditations

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Speaker 2: into the hands of those who might need them. As always,

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Speaker 2: my friend, thanks for joining me on So Much More,

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Speaker 2: because we really do believe Jesus has so much more

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Speaker 2: to say to us, and this is one way we

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Speaker 2: are creating space to listen