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Speaker 1: And Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and

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Speaker 1: bear Caine, and said, I have gotten a man from

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Speaker 1: the Lord. Genesis four one. Dear Lord. Through today's reading

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Speaker 1: of Genesis four one through sixteen, I now realize that

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Speaker 1: even though life has its hard moments, I can still

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Speaker 1: choose to thank you that your presence will never leave me.

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Speaker 1: Because of this truth, I don't have to allow jealousy

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Speaker 1: to settle in my heart when it appears that others

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Speaker 1: are being blessed by you. Instead, I will focus on

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Speaker 1: the fact that as I keep my heart right and

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Speaker 1: serve you with gladness, nothing that has been reserved for

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Speaker 1: me will go to any one else. Because what you

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Speaker 1: have for me is for me. I decree and declare

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Speaker 1: that my seat has been reserved at the table of success.

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Speaker 1: I declare that nothing but joy and happiness will come

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Speaker 1: forth through me when I see others succeed and win

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Speaker 1: and life. Thank you God that you've already covered my

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Speaker 1: past emotions of jealousy and anger. Thank you that hatred

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Speaker 1: and resentment are not a part of my story. Through

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Speaker 1: the lives of Cain and Abel, I will make sure

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Speaker 1: that my sacrifice to you is one of joy, and

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Speaker 1: wholeness of heart in Jesus Name. Amen. Listening to these

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Speaker 1: daily prayers strengthens your relationship with God. Continue hearing from

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Speaker 1: the Lord by listening to today's Bible in a Year,

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

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Speaker 1: Cain and Abel. Before this story, we learned about the

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Speaker 1: fall of mankind. Adam and Eve lived with God shameless

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Speaker 1: and without sin, but because of their pride and desire

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Speaker 1: to be their own gods, they were deceived and turned

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Speaker 1: away from Him. Now they live in exile, still with God,

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Speaker 1: but no longer in an intimate relationship with him. Now

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Speaker 1: we will learn about how Adam and Eve start their

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Speaker 1: family outside of Paradise. They have their own children, but

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Speaker 1: the sinful nature of Adam and Eve has now been

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Speaker 1: given to their children, and what comes next is a

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Speaker 1: tragedy that has been repeated for all of human history.

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Speaker 1: Inspired by the Book of Genesis, Hello, I'm pastor Jack

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Speaker 1: Graham with today's episode of the Bible in a Year podcast.

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Speaker 1: Today we pick up with Adam and Eve outside the garden.

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Speaker 1: This is life after the curse. If yesterday's story was

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Speaker 1: about doubt and pride, today's theme is insincere worship of God, anger, bitterness,

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Speaker 1: and the passing down of sin nature to all future generations.

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Speaker 1: After Adam, Adam and Eve start a family. They have

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Speaker 1: two sons, Cain and Abel, names that have become infamous

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Speaker 1: for the devastating effects of sibling rivalry. Caine and his

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Speaker 1: brother Abel grew up knowing God. They were taught the

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Speaker 1: importance of sacrifices. Abel chose the best to offer to God,

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Speaker 1: while Cain brought offerings from a sense of obligation rather

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Speaker 1: than gratitude and praise. So God accepts one and rejects

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Speaker 1: the other. Kine was angry, bitter, and sin took hold

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Speaker 1: of his heart. The tragedy that ensued once again created

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Speaker 1: an irreparable rift in the family. The first human blood

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Speaker 1: that was shed on God's once perfect earth came from

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Speaker 1: the hands of one brother upon another. Sin was now

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Speaker 1: spreading through generations, and the cost was high, murder, banishment,

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Speaker 1: another curse. And yet in the midst of that all

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Speaker 1: God's grace and mercy once again shining through. Let's listen

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Speaker 1: now to the telling of this story from Genesis. For

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Speaker 1: the story of Cain and Abel. Adam and Eve had

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Speaker 1: been banished from Eden and their sin had made life hard,

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Speaker 1: but the steadfast love of God had not left them.

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Speaker 1: Adam and Eve knew each other intimately and became pregnant.

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Speaker 1: First came Kin, Afterward came Abel. Cain labored in the

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Speaker 1: fields growing food for the family. Abel tended to the

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Speaker 1: live stock as a shepherd. Cain and Abel are the

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Speaker 1: first of us to grow up in a world riddled

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Speaker 1: with imperfection, sin, and distance from God. Both children grew

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Speaker 1: up in the New world, and it was time for

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Speaker 1: Cain and Able to bring sacrifices to God. Cain brought

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Speaker 1: some of the fruits of his labor, grains, vegetables, and

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Speaker 1: other vegetation. Abel brought the first born of his flock,

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Speaker 1: a lamb Abel brought the best of what he had.

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Speaker 1: Not only this, but Abel had to raise this little

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Speaker 1: sheep and kill it before God. This means that it

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Speaker 1: was not just a sacrifice of materials, but a sacrifice

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Speaker 1: of the heart. Because of this, God accepted Abel's offering.

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Speaker 1: God also rejected Caine's offering, knowing that it did not

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Speaker 1: come from any real love at all. Jealousy gripped Caine's heart.

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Speaker 1: Contempt towards God boiled up inside him. This is mankind's

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Speaker 1: first rumblings of true hatred. Caine's face gave away his

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Speaker 1: true feelings. God noticed this and asked, why are you

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Speaker 1: so angry, knowing full well what the issue was. If

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Speaker 1: you do well, will you not be accepted? God asked,

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Speaker 1: if you don't do well, you give more room for

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Speaker 1: hatred and sin to rule in your heart. Do not

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Speaker 1: let hate rule over you. You can overcome it. But

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Speaker 1: Kane didn't listen. His anger had already won him over.

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Speaker 1: There would be no stopping the sin he was about

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Speaker 1: to commit. Kane lured his brother into the fields. Then

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Speaker 1: at that moment, all the hatred, jealousy, and contempt of

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Speaker 1: kin unleashed unto his brother. Flow after flow, Kane unleashed

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Speaker 1: his wrath and spited God by murdering his brother. His

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Speaker 1: hands stained red, dripping with the blood of his brother. God,

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Speaker 1: already knowing what Kane had done, asked him, Kane, where

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Speaker 1: is your brother? Kane replied, I do not know. Am

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Speaker 1: I my brother's keeper. God is the creator of life,

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Speaker 1: and Kane had taken an innocent one. This enraged God.

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Speaker 1: He cursed Kane, saying, what have you done? The voice

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Speaker 1: of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground.

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Speaker 1: And now you are cursed from the ground, which has

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Speaker 1: opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand.

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Speaker 1: When you work the ground, it shall no longer yield

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Speaker 1: to you its strength. You shall be a fugitive and

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Speaker 1: a wanderer on the earth. This punishment was fitting because

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Speaker 1: Cain had taken a life. God wanted his life to

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Speaker 1: be burdensome. It was more than Cain could bear. Fortunately

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Speaker 1: for him, God's mercy is still present in punishment. God said,

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Speaker 1: if anyone kills you, vengeance shall be taken on them sevenfold,

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Speaker 1: and he put a mark on Kine to keep anyone

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Speaker 1: from doing to him what he did to his brother.

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Speaker 1: Cain had shed innocent blood, and this was a pattern

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Speaker 1: mankind would continue in for a thousand generations after. Yet

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Speaker 1: God continues to show mercy, waiting to bless them and

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Speaker 1: save them from their evil. When jealousy and anger take root,

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Speaker 1: they fester and grow. That's what we see happening in

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Speaker 1: today's story. Abel, who really only plays a brief role,

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Speaker 1: is lifted up as the example of God honoring sacrifices

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Speaker 1: and offerings. He gave God the first and the best,

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Speaker 1: and God accepted that sacrifice. Kane, whose heart was not

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Speaker 1: in the right place full of faith to begin with,

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Speaker 1: brought God vegetables and grains, but not his first fruits,

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Speaker 1: not his best, and not in faith. His motives were wrong,

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Speaker 1: and he became angry when his offering was rejected. Sin

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Speaker 1: started to creep in through resentment and anger, so God

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Speaker 1: warned him of the danger of letting sin in. He

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Speaker 1: speaks to Kane in Genesis four, verses seven and eight, saying,

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Speaker 1: if you do well, will your face not be cheerful?

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Speaker 1: And if you do not do well, sin is lurking

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Speaker 1: at the door, and its desire is for you, but

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Speaker 1: you must master it. I appreciate this passage providing a

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Speaker 1: warning that's applicable to you and me today. Sin is

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Speaker 1: now loose in the world. It lurks at our door.

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Speaker 1: It desires us. In other words, it wants to get

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Speaker 1: in our heads and in our hearts, into our lives.

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Speaker 1: When sin is allowed to rule over us, the outcome

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Speaker 1: is never good and ultimately tragic. That's what happened to Kane.

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Speaker 1: Sin took hold of him, and he directed his jealousy

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Speaker 1: and anger at the one whose offering was accepted. To

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Speaker 1: his own brother, whom he killed in cold blood. Once again,

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Speaker 1: we are reminded that sin always comes with a price,

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Speaker 1: as he did with Adam and Eve. God questions Kane

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Speaker 1: and his guilt is revealed. Kane is cursed to wander

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Speaker 1: in the earth. Sin separation. It's always, always, always the

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Speaker 1: sin when we sin. There is always separation that happens

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Speaker 1: from God, which is the worst of all separations, and

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Speaker 1: then from others. But again, God, in his mercy, does

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Speaker 1: not abandon Kan or leave him without protection. God marks

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Speaker 1: him not as a sign of the curse, but as

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Speaker 1: a sign of God's hand of protection. God, thank you

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Speaker 1: for this story that shows us how sin can take

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Speaker 1: hold and rule our thoughts, leading us to commit unthinkable acts.

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Speaker 1: Help us, through your spirit to master the sin that

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Speaker 1: lurks at our doors. And thank you Lord that even

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Speaker 1: when we sin, even through the consequences of our sin,

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Speaker 1: your mercy and grace remain in Christ's name. Amen, Thank

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Speaker 1: you for listening to today's Bible in a Year podcast.

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Speaker 1: I'm Pastor Jack Graham from Dallas, Texas. Download the Prey

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Speaker 1: dot Com app and make prayer a priority in your life.

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Speaker 1: If you enjoyed this podcast, share it with someone you love.

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Speaker 1: By share this podcast, you can make a difference in

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Speaker 1: someone's life. And if you want more resources on how

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Speaker 1: to tap into God's power for successful Christian living, be

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Speaker 1: sure to visit Jack Graham dot org. God bless This

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