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Speaker 1: Life Audio. Hello, 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, Shaka Heinz, and after this short word

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Speaker 1: from our sponsor, will dive into today's Bible verses in

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Speaker 1: Acts nineteen, verses fifteen and sixteen. Today's Bible verses are

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Speaker 1: Acts nineteen, verses fifteen and sixteen. But one time, when

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Speaker 1: they tried it, the evil spirit replied, I know Jesus

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Speaker 1: and I know Paul, but who are you? Then the

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Speaker 1: man with the evil spirit leaped on them, overpowered them,

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Speaker 1: and attacked them with such violence that they fled from

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Speaker 1: the house naked and battered. I bet I have your

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Speaker 1: attention now understanding the meaning of this scripture is powerful

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Speaker 1: and convicting, deeply convicting. In ancient times, there was a

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Speaker 1: known practice. It was a known practice for people to

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Speaker 1: deal with demonic oppression and the casting out of evil spirits.

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Speaker 1: Magic and astrology were commonplace practices in Ephesis, where this

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Speaker 1: situation occurred. Both Jews and Gentiles attempted to deal with

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Speaker 1: and exercise evil spirits what many in the Western world

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Speaker 1: now see as mystical or even fictional, the Bible shared

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Speaker 1: as historical fact. Paul spent three years preaching in Ephesus,

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Speaker 1: and the Book of Acts tells us that even some

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Speaker 1: articles of clothing that touched hip were taken to the

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Speaker 1: sick and they were healed and delivered from demonic oppression. Now,

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Speaker 1: a practitioner of exorcism might invoke any name they deemed

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Speaker 1: imbued with spiritual power. Adding Jesus's name to the it

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Speaker 1: makes sense in that context. The Bible tells us that

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Speaker 1: some Jews caught on too Paul's successes and began invoking

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Speaker 1: the name of Jesus. That's what's happening in this situation.

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Speaker 1: They would say, in the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches,

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Speaker 1: I command you to come out. Now, seven sons of

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Speaker 1: Siva decided to use the name of Jesus in this way,

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Speaker 1: and the scripture says, then one time they tried it,

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Speaker 1: the spirit replied, now I know Jesus and I know Paul,

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Speaker 1: but who are you? And then the evil spirit jumped

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Speaker 1: on him, beat up the man, and they fled the

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Speaker 1: house naked. Now, why didn't the application of Jesus's name

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Speaker 1: simply drive out the demonic influence. When Jesus sent out

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Speaker 1: his seventy disciples and Luke ten, they returned with amazing

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Speaker 1: reports that even the demons submitted in the name of Jesus.

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Speaker 1: Jesus noted their excitement and told them, don't rejoice that

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Speaker 1: the spirit submit to you, but rejoice that your names

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Speaker 1: are written in heaven. Now, Jesus decided piples were those

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Speaker 1: who knew Jesus. They were an intimate relationship with King Jesus.

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Speaker 1: They'd followed him, obeyed him, and believed in him. Their

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Speaker 1: names were written in heaven. They not only knew him,

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Speaker 1: but they also were known by him. And when they

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Speaker 1: encountered a broken situation, they carried with them the authority

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Speaker 1: of King Jesus. But when they returned to Jesus, bursting

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Speaker 1: with excitement because of the wonders they'd taken part in,

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Speaker 1: Jesus made sure to remind them, don't get caught up

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Speaker 1: in the miraculous experience, but remember whose household you belonged to.

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Speaker 1: The Intimacy with God was far superior to mere miracles,

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Speaker 1: and without the proper perspective, it would have been easy

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Speaker 1: for Jesus's disciples to begin using Jesus's name as simply

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Speaker 1: a means to an end, as the sons of Siva did. Now.

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Speaker 1: Instead of respect for the personhood, kingship, and majesty of Jesus,

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Speaker 1: the sons of Ceva wanted to use him like one

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Speaker 1: might use toilet paper to clean up a mess. You've

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Speaker 1: got a demon, invothe the name of Jesus and you

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Speaker 1: have an insecure that'll be ninety nine to ninety nine. Please.

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Speaker 1: Instead of the miracle they sought, the evil spirit let

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Speaker 1: them know, and know uncertain terms that he knew who

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Speaker 1: Jesus was, and he even knew of Paul. But who

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Speaker 1: in the world did these foolish men think they were

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Speaker 1: to challenge a demon without intimate relationship and carrying with

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Speaker 1: them the authority of the living Christ. For their troubles,

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Speaker 1: they were soundly beaten. As followers of Jesus, we often

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Speaker 1: fall into the same kind of trap that even the

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Speaker 1: seventies sent by Jesus had to look out for. We

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Speaker 1: begin to use Jesus as a means to an end.

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Speaker 1: Instead of seeking to know our Lord, we seek him

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Speaker 1: to meet our needs. I need a job. Apply little

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Speaker 1: prayer time twice daily until you see results. My kid

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Speaker 1: misbehaves at a few family devotionals until you see improvement

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Speaker 1: in their behavior towards you. Feeling some guilt, rub a

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Speaker 1: little Jesus on it until the feeling lifts. Now for me, seriously,

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Speaker 1: this hit home when Jesus called me into a situation

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Speaker 1: to love people well out of the gifting He's given me.

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Speaker 1: Jesus himself ordained it and gave me the tools I

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Speaker 1: needed to accomplish it, and it felt good to serve

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Speaker 1: in that space. By during a prayer time, God revealed

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Speaker 1: that I'd begun to shift in my attitude and do

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Speaker 1: this very Jesus ordain. Jesus equipped thing more and more

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Speaker 1: for the feeling, and less and less for Jesus. I

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Speaker 1: can start at enterprise with a heart to please Jesus,

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Speaker 1: but if I'm not careful, it can work and become

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Speaker 1: more and more about pleasing myself. The sons of Siva

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Speaker 1: were called out by the evil one. They knew the

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Speaker 1: name Jesus, but they didn't know Jesus. It's so crucial

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Speaker 1: that we modern disciples of Jesus check our hearts and

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Speaker 1: make sure that we've got the proper perspective, even or

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Speaker 1: especially when we're trying to serve him. We don't want

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Speaker 1: to get this right because Jesus might get mad at us,

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Speaker 1: or because we might lose our salvation. That's simply not

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Speaker 1: the case. Jesus wants everyone who is wearying burden to

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Speaker 1: come to him so he can give rest. He asks

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Speaker 1: us to cast our anxiety on him because he cares

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Speaker 1: for us. He's the one who created us, knows us,

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Speaker 1: and wants us. We are already deeply loved by God. Now.

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Speaker 1: We didn't need to get this right because God created

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Speaker 1: us for an intimate relationship with him, and he doesn't

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Speaker 1: want us to miss out when we skip over him

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Speaker 1: to get to his works. We don't diminish who God is,

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Speaker 1: but we miss out on having the joyful, abundant walk

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Speaker 1: with God that he offers us. Remember that He is

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Speaker 1: the prize. Knowing God is the miracle. Let's pray, Father, God,

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Speaker 1: you love us so deeply, and you don't want us

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Speaker 1: to get distracted by even the grand miracles that you

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Speaker 1: might do in our lives. You don't want us to

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Speaker 1: get distracted from the greater prize, which is walking an

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Speaker 1: intimate relationship with the father who created us. Lord, would

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Speaker 1: you give us hearts, to seek you, and to quietly,

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Speaker 1: to sit before you, and to check ourselves from time

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Speaker 1: to time, asking you about our motivations, because it's really

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Speaker 1: hard for us to know ourselves, Lord, but you know

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Speaker 1: us so intimately, you love us so well, and we

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Speaker 1: can just trust your assessment. So, Father, I pray for

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Speaker 1: everyone listening to my voice, would you help us to

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Speaker 1: seek the giver and not just the gift, because Father,

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Speaker 1: you are the miracle that we all desire deep in

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Speaker 1: our hearts. We love you, Lord, and we ask these

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Speaker 1: things in Jesus's nay Amen