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Speaker 1: Life Audio. Hello, and thank you for listening to your

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

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

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Speaker 1: I'm your host, Jessica Finrokel, and after this short word

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Speaker 1: from our sponsor, we'll dive into today's Bible verse, John

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Speaker 1: chapter one, verse five. Today's Bible verses John chapter one,

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Speaker 1: verse five. The light shines in the darkness, and the

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Speaker 1: darkness has not overcome it. Have you ever had one

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Speaker 1: of those Aha moments? One of my biggest struggles used

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Speaker 1: to be math class. My frustration would to the point

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Speaker 1: of tears, and then ah, sweet relief. Understanding came. Not

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Speaker 1: enough that math became my favorite subject, but just enough

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Speaker 1: to help me pass the test. Other AHA moments take

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Speaker 1: place when an abstract idea becomes concrete. Suddenly, the muddled

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Speaker 1: thoughts clarify, like a drop of soap in a pot

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Speaker 1: of greasy water. What was once confusing is no longer

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Speaker 1: and we scoff at our previous lack of understanding. This

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Speaker 1: type of understanding is what John writes about in John

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Speaker 1: chapter one, verse five. It's the kind of revelation that

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Speaker 1: beats back confusion and darkness and it's found in the

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Speaker 1: person of Jesus Christ. In the previous verses, John introduces

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Speaker 1: the Word as Jesus our Messiah, and in verse five

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Speaker 1: John describes what the word Jesus does for humanity. In

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Speaker 1: the scriptures, light often represents God's truth, holiness, and goodness,

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Speaker 1: and in the person of Jesus Christ, he brings truth

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Speaker 1: and revelation into a world obscured by spiritual darkness. His

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Speaker 1: mission is to reveal God's character and offer mankind the

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Speaker 1: pathway to live in relationship with God, and God, being

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Speaker 1: rich in mercy, because of his love for us, sent

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Speaker 1: Jesus to show us the way to his heart. Jesus

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Speaker 1: the Light illuminates humanity's understanding and exposes and dispels the

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Speaker 1: sin that dominates the world. When John writes of darkness,

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Speaker 1: he's using biblical imagery to signify disorder, emptiness, evil, and sin.

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Speaker 1: Darkness represents fallen humanity in mankind's choice to follow their

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Speaker 1: own way, and in so doing they alienate themselves from God,

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Speaker 1: which brings judgment upon them. Darkness actively opposes the life

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Speaker 1: Jesus Christ brings. However, the light shining in the darkness

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Speaker 1: is Jesus's mission to redeem the world from hopelessness, wrath,

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Speaker 1: and spiritual death. The Book of John is the last

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Speaker 1: of the four Gospels Matthew, Mark, and luc are called

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Speaker 1: the Synoptic Gospels and center on Jesus's ministry in the

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Speaker 1: Galilee region. John centers his gospel on what Jesus said

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Speaker 1: and did in Jerusalem. He highlights seven signs and seven

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Speaker 1: i am statements. John focuses on who Jesus is so

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Speaker 1: that we might believe. One biblical scholar stated that today's

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Speaker 1: verse John Chapter one, verse five sums up the whole book.

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Speaker 1: The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has

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Speaker 1: not overcome it. That phrase did not overcome it is

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Speaker 1: another way to translate the phrase did not comprehend it,

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Speaker 1: which is how the King James version interpreted. The Greek

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Speaker 1: term comprehend however, is not an easy word to translate

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Speaker 1: from Greek. It carries with it the idea that darkness

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Speaker 1: can never take hold of the light to possess it.

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Speaker 1: Darkness cannot quench the light. Darkness cannot understand the light. Unfortunately,

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Speaker 1: human nature is drawn toward and prefers to remain in

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Speaker 1: spiritual darkness. We don't like to have our internal darknesses exposed.

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Speaker 1: Yet later in chapter three, John writes that even though

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Speaker 1: light came, people loved darkness instead. And yet we need

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Speaker 1: Jesus to shine his light in our hearts so we

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Speaker 1: can experience total freedom, mercy, and grace. Jesus came to

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Speaker 1: light the way. Light is used as a metaphor to

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Speaker 1: mean the saving truth embodied in the person of Jesus

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Speaker 1: and his life given for ma. The world seems overcome

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Speaker 1: by darkness, Yet Jesus is our light. Darkness cannot and

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Speaker 1: will not have the final say. Today, step into the

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Speaker 1: light and know the mercy of God because he longs

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Speaker 1: to be in relationship with you. Let's pray, Heavenly Father,

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Speaker 1: thank you that you make away when there seems to

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Speaker 1: be no way. Lord, that even when the world seems

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Speaker 1: to grow increasingly dark, your light shines bright. Lord. Let

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Speaker 1: us not shy away from having the corners of our heart,

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Speaker 1: of the things that we still hold dear, from our

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Speaker 1: old ways of living, our old habits and old thought patterns. Lord,

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Speaker 1: let us not be afraid to bring them out into

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Speaker 1: the light, because that's where we find healing. That's where

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Speaker 1: we experience your mercy and your grace, Oh God, you

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Speaker 1: are so tender hearted towards us. Your heart overflows with

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Speaker 1: mercy toward us. Who are we to deny ourselves that

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Speaker 1: by staying in the dark. Lord, We step into your

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Speaker 1: light and we say praise God, Thank you Jesus for

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Speaker 1: what you've done. Thank you for cleaning us up and

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Speaker 1: making us whole and new, and helping us to walk

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Speaker 1: in your light in Jesus' name, Amen,