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Speaker 1: Let us pray, and Adam knew Eve his wife, and

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Speaker 1: she conceived and bare Cain and said, I have gotten

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Speaker 1: a man from the Lord. Genesis four one. Dear Lord.

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Speaker 1: Through to day's reading of Genesis four one through sixteen,

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Speaker 1: I now realize that even though life has its hard moments,

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Speaker 1: I can still choose to thank You that your presence

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Speaker 1: will never leave me. Because of this truth, I don't

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Speaker 1: have to allow jealousy to settle in my heart when

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Speaker 1: it appears that others are being blessed by you. Instead,

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Speaker 1: I will focus on the fact that as I keep

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Speaker 1: my heart right and serve you with gladness, nothing that

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Speaker 1: has been reserved for me will go to any one else.

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Speaker 1: Because what you have for me is for me. I

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Speaker 1: decree and declare that my seat has been reserved at

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Speaker 1: the table of success. I declare that nothing but joy

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Speaker 1: and happiness will come forth through me when I see

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Speaker 1: others succeed and win in life. Thank you God that

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Speaker 1: you've already covered my past emotions of jealousy and anger.

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Speaker 1: Thank You that hatred and resentment are not a part

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Speaker 1: of my story. Through the lives of Cain and Abel,

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Speaker 1: I will make sure that my sacrifice to you is

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Speaker 1: one of joy and wholeness of heart in Jesus name.

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Speaker 1: Listening to these daily prayers strengthens your relationship with God.

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Speaker 1: Continue hearing from the Lord by listening to today's Bible

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Speaker 1: in a Year, brought to you by Bible in a

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Speaker 1: Year dot com.

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Speaker 2: Cain and Abel. Before this story, we learned about the

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Speaker 2: fall of mankind. Adam and Eve lived with God shameless

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Speaker 2: and without sin, but because of their pride and desire

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Speaker 2: to be their own gods, they were deceived and turned

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Speaker 2: away from Him. Now they live in exile, still with God,

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Speaker 2: but no longer in an intimate relationship with him. Now

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Speaker 2: we will learn about how Adam and Eve start their

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Speaker 2: family outside of Paradise. They have their own children, but

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Speaker 2: the sinful nature of Adam and Eve has now been

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Speaker 2: given to their children, and what comes next is a

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Speaker 2: tragedy that has been repeated for all of human history.

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Speaker 2: Inspired by the Book of Genesis.

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Speaker 3: Hello, I'm pastor Jack Graham. With today's episode of the

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Speaker 3: Bible in a Year podcast. Today we pick up with

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Speaker 3: Adam and Eve outside the garden. This is life after

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Speaker 3: the curse. If yesterday's story was about doubt and pride,

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Speaker 3: today's theme is insincere worship of God, anger, bitterness, and

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Speaker 3: the passing down of sin nature to all future generations.

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Speaker 3: After Adam, Adam and Eve start a family, they have

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Speaker 3: two sons, Cain and Abel, names that have become infamous

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Speaker 3: for the devastating effects of sibling rivalry. Cain and his

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Speaker 3: brother Abel grew up knowing God. They were taught the

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Speaker 3: importance of sacrifices. Abel chose the best to offer to God,

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Speaker 3: while Cain brought offerings from a sense of obligation rather

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Speaker 3: than gratitude and praise. So God accepts one and rejects

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Speaker 3: the other. Cain was angry, bitter, and sin took hold

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Speaker 3: of his heart. The tragedy that ensued once again created

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Speaker 3: an irreparable rift in the family. The first human blood

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Speaker 3: that was shed on God's once perfect earth came from

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Speaker 3: the hands of one brother upon another. Sin was now

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Speaker 3: spreading through generations, and the cost was high, murder, banishment another.

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Speaker 3: And yet in the midst of it all, God's grace

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Speaker 3: and mercy once again shining through. Let's listen now to

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Speaker 3: the telling of this story from Genesis four, the story

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Speaker 3: of Cain and Abel.

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Speaker 2: Adam and Eve had been banished from Eden, and their

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Speaker 2: sin had made life hard, but the steadfast love of

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Speaker 2: God had not left them. Adam and Eve knew each

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Speaker 2: other intimately and became pregnant. First came Cain, Afterward came Abel.

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Speaker 2: Cain labored in the fields growing food for the family.

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Speaker 2: Abel tended to the live stock as a shepherd. Cain

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Speaker 2: and Abel are the first of us to grow up

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Speaker 2: in a world riddled with imperfection, sin, and distance from God.

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Speaker 2: Both children grew up in the New World, and it

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Speaker 2: was time for Cain and Able to bring sacrifices to God.

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Speaker 2: Cain brought some of the fruits of his labor, grains, vegetables,

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Speaker 2: and other vegetation. Abel brought the first born of his flock,

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Speaker 2: a lamb Abel brought the best of what he had.

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Speaker 2: Not only this, but Abel had to raise this little

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Speaker 2: sheep and kill it before God. This means that it

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Speaker 2: was not just a sacrifice of materials, but a sacrifice

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Speaker 2: of the heart. Because of this, God accepted Abel's offering.

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Speaker 2: God also rejected Cain's offering, knowing that it did not

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Speaker 2: come from any real love at all. Jealousy gripped Cain's heart.

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Speaker 2: Contempt towards God boiled up inside him. This is mankind's

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Speaker 2: first rumblings of true hatred. Cain's face gave away his

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Speaker 2: true feelings. God noticed this and asked, why are you

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Speaker 2: so angry, knowing full well what the issue was. If

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Speaker 2: you do well, will you not be accepted? God asked,

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Speaker 2: if you don't do well, you give more room for

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Speaker 2: hatred and sin to rule in your heart. Do not

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Speaker 2: let hate rule over you. You can overcome it. But Cain

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Speaker 2: didn't listen. His anger had already won him over. There

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Speaker 2: would be no stopping the sin he was about to commit.

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Speaker 2: Cain lured his brother into the fields.

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Speaker 4: Then at that moment, all the hatred, jealousy, and contempt

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Speaker 4: of Cain unleashed unto his brother. Flow after flow, Kin

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Speaker 4: unleashed his wrath and spited God by murdering his brother.

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Speaker 2: His hands stained red, dripping with the blood of his brother. God,

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Speaker 2: already knowing what Cain had done, asked him, Cain, where

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Speaker 2: is your brother? Cain replied, I do not know. Am

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Speaker 2: I my brother's keeper. God is the creator of life,

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Speaker 2: and Cain had taken an innocent one. This enraged God.

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Speaker 2: He cursed Cain, saying, what have you done? The voice

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Speaker 2: of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground.

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Speaker 2: And now you are cursed from the ground, which has

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Speaker 2: opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand.

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Speaker 2: When you work the ground, it shall no longer yield

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Speaker 2: to you its strength. You shall be a fugitive and

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Speaker 2: a wanderer on the earth. This punishment was fitting because

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Speaker 2: Cain had taken a life. God wanted his life to

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Speaker 2: be burdensome. It was more than Cain could bear. Fortunately

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Speaker 2: for him, God's mercy is still present in punishment. God said,

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Speaker 2: if anyone kills you, vengeance shall be taken on them sevenfold,

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Speaker 2: and he put a mark on Cain to keep anyone

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Speaker 2: from doing to him what he did to his brother.

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Speaker 2: Cain had shed innocent blood, and this was a pattern

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Speaker 2: mankind would continue in for a thousand generations after. Yet

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Speaker 2: God continues to show mercy, waiting to bless them and

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Speaker 2: safe them from their evil.

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Speaker 3: When jealousy and anger take root, they fester and grow.

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Speaker 3: That's what we see happening in today's story. Abel, who

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Speaker 3: really only plays a brief role, is lifted up as

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Speaker 3: the example of God honoring sacrifices and offerings. He gave

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Speaker 3: God the first of the best and God accepted that sacrifice. Cain,

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Speaker 3: whose heart was not in the right place full of

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Speaker 3: faith to begin with, brought God vegetables and grains, but

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Speaker 3: not his first fruits, not his best, and not in faith.

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Speaker 3: His motives were wrong, and he became angry when his

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Speaker 3: offering was rejected. Sin started to creep in through resentment

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Speaker 3: and anger, so God warned him of the danger of

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Speaker 3: letting sin in. He speaks to Cain in Genesis four,

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Speaker 3: verses seven and eight, saying, if you do well, will

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Speaker 3: your face not be cheerful? And if you do not

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Speaker 3: do well, sin is lurking at the door, and its

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Speaker 3: desire is for you, but you must master it. I

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Speaker 3: appreciate this passage providing a warning that's applicable to you

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Speaker 3: and me today. Sin is now loose in the world.

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Speaker 3: It lurks at our door. It desires us. In other words,

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Speaker 3: it wants to get in our heads and in our hearts,

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Speaker 3: into our lives. When sin is allowed to rule over us,

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Speaker 3: the outcome is never good and ultimately tragic. That's what

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Speaker 3: happened to Kane. Sin took hold of him, and he

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Speaker 3: directed his jealousy and anger at the one whose offering

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Speaker 3: was accepted to his own brother, whom he killed in

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Speaker 3: cold blood. Once again, we're reminded that sin always comes

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Speaker 3: with a price, as he did with Adam and Eve.

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Speaker 3: God questions Cain and his guilt is revealed. Cain is

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Speaker 3: cursed to wander in the earth. Sin. Separation is always, always,

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Speaker 3: always the sin. When we sin, there is always separation

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Speaker 3: that happens from God, which is the worst of all separations,

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Speaker 3: and then from others. But again, God, in his mercy,

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Speaker 3: does not abandon Cain or leave him without protection. God

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Speaker 3: marks him not as a sign of the curse, but

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Speaker 3: as a sign of God's hand of protection. God, thank

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Speaker 3: you for this story that shows us how sin can

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Speaker 3: take hold and rule our thoughts, leading us to commit

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Speaker 3: unthinkable acts. Help us, through your spirit to master the

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Speaker 3: sin that lurks at our doors. And thank you Lord

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Speaker 3: that even when we sin, even through the consequences of

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Speaker 3: our sin, your mercy and grace remain in Christ's name. Amen,

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Speaker 3: Thank you for listening to today's Bible in a Year podcast.

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Speaker 3: I'm pastor Jack Graham from Dallas, Texas. Download Theprey dot

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Speaker 3: Com app and make prayer a priority in your life.

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Speaker 3: If you enjoyed this podcast, Share it with someone you love.

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Speaker 3: By sharing this podcast, you can make a difference in

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Speaker 3: someone's life. And if you want more resources on how

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Speaker 3: to tap into God's power for successful Christian living, be

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Speaker 3: sure to visit Jack Graham dot org. God bless