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Speaker 1: And the Lord God formed man of the dust of

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Speaker 1: the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life,

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Speaker 1: and man became a living soul Genesis two seven. Dear

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Speaker 1: Heavenly Father, like Adam and Eve, I realize that I

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Speaker 1: too get to make the decision to live together with

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Speaker 1: you and divine unity. To day, help me to make

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Speaker 1: the right choices so that I can continue to thrive

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Speaker 1: in this beautiful garden called life. I will celebrate the

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Speaker 1: fact that you have created the perfect life partner for

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Speaker 1: me that will allow me to enjoy your many blessings

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Speaker 1: and to experience the love and joy that comes with companionship.

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Speaker 1: I declare that life flows through me because you breathed

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Speaker 1: your breath into my body. I declare that I can

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Speaker 1: live in vulnerability and transparency because in your presence is

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Speaker 1: no shame or guilt. Thank you for forming me and

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Speaker 1: sculpting me out of the dust of the earth. When

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Speaker 1: life gets a little dirty and even messy at times,

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Speaker 1: I will calm my soul because through to day's reading

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Speaker 1: in Genesis two five to twenty four, I see you

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Speaker 1: created amazing things out of dirt. In Jesus name, Amen,

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Speaker 1: thank you for praying with me to day. Continue listening

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Speaker 1: for an incredible Bible story brought to you by Bible

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Speaker 1: in a Year dot.

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Speaker 2: Com Adam and Eves. Previously. In our story, we witness

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Speaker 2: the creation of the universe. Out of chaos and nothingness.

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Speaker 2: God made everything. He spoke light and life into existence.

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Speaker 2: The glory of the skies, the galaxies, and the creatures

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Speaker 2: of the Earth were made by God and declared to

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Speaker 2: be good. Now we will learn more about the creation

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Speaker 2: of man and woman, made in the image of God,

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Speaker 2: inspired by the Book of Genesis.

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Speaker 3: I'm so glad you've joined us on the Bible in

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Speaker 3: a Year podcast today, But before we get to today's episode,

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Speaker 3: I want you to know that I would absolutely love

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Speaker 3: to send you my daily devotional that will give you

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Speaker 3: fresh encouragement every single morning and day from the moment

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Speaker 3: we wake up to the moment our head finally hits

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Speaker 3: the pillow. There are thousands of things demanding our attention.

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Speaker 3: But it's in the midst of all this crush and

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Speaker 3: hustle and bustle that you and I need peace and

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Speaker 3: truth in God's Word. That's why I want to help

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Speaker 3: you spend time each day growing in God's life giving

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Speaker 3: life changing word by sending you my friend read daily

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Speaker 3: email devotional PowerPoint Today. So visit jagraham dot org to

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Speaker 3: sign up for your PowerPoint Today devotional. That's Jagraham dot

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Speaker 3: org Jack Graham dot org. In our previous episode, we

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Speaker 3: heard about the grand unfolding of God's act of creation,

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Speaker 3: night and day, Earth, sky and seas, animals, plants, moon

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Speaker 3: and stars, and humanity. Today we take a microscope to

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Speaker 3: the pinnacle of God's creation, Man and woman, his image bearers.

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Speaker 3: This is the story of the very first humans. As

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Speaker 3: you listen today, pay close attention to how God creates man,

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Speaker 3: how he stands apart from the rest of creation. Notice

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Speaker 3: the great care God takes not only informing man, but

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Speaker 3: in providing for him in every imaginable way, including a

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Speaker 3: suitable companion, one that was perfectly made for him. This

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Speaker 3: isn't just the dawn of humanity, but the dawn of marriage.

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Speaker 3: Listen for what this passage teaches about the design of

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Speaker 3: marriage and the designer of marriage. Finally, you'll encounter a

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Speaker 3: choice in today's story, a choice that God gives because

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Speaker 3: He is not interested in forced worship, compulsory obedience, or

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Speaker 3: artificial superficial love. This story reveals God's heart to you,

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Speaker 3: his care for you, his love for you. It's a

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Speaker 3: story about his desire for you to be fulfilled by

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Speaker 3: him and in him, and for you to choose a

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Speaker 3: relationship of trust with him. So come with me, and

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Speaker 3: let's take a look in Eden at the story of

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Speaker 3: Adam and Eve and the perfect garden God gave them.

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Speaker 2: The world was new, and its refreshing mist was covering

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Speaker 2: the land. Streams and rivers flowed from the ground, giving

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Speaker 2: life to all plans and living creatures. The quiet and

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Speaker 2: new earth, God was at work personally and intricately. God

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Speaker 2: formed a man from the dust, as a potter does

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Speaker 2: with clay. Then he breathed life into him. God named

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Speaker 2: him and knew him. His name was Adam. God made

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Speaker 2: a dwelling place for Adam in a garden called Eden.

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Speaker 2: He placed Adam there, and it was filled with every

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Speaker 2: tree that is pleasant and good for food. In this garden,

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Speaker 2: man's relationship with God began, and with that relationship a

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Speaker 2: choice of free will. There were two trees in the garden.

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Speaker 2: One was the tree of life, the other was the

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Speaker 2: tree of knowledge of good and evil. God commissioned Adam saying,

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Speaker 2: you may eat of every tree of the garden, but

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Speaker 2: not of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,

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Speaker 2: for if you do, you shall surely die. This would

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Speaker 2: be Adam's choice, for God does not desire relationship without

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Speaker 2: free will. Adam was with God in Paradise. He dwelt

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Speaker 2: in the garden that was filled with all things good.

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Speaker 2: Yet there was one thing that was not good. God said,

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Speaker 2: it is not good that man should be alone. So

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Speaker 2: the Lord caused Adam to fall into a deep sleep. God,

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Speaker 2: like a silent surgeon, took a rib from Adam's side.

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Speaker 2: From this rib, he formed a woman and breathed life

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Speaker 2: into her. At this moment, Adam's loneliness was quieted, and

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Speaker 2: his soul and body were satisfied with her. Adam then

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Speaker 2: sang to her, and the two were married before God

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Speaker 2: to this day, This is why a man will leave

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Speaker 2: his family and become united with his wife. They were

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Speaker 2: naked and without shame, for there was no evil to

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Speaker 2: corrupt the purity of their unity. They made love, ate

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Speaker 2: the food in the garden and cared for the earth

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Speaker 2: and its animals. God was in the garden with them,

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Speaker 2: and it was still good. Yet there still remained a

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Speaker 2: choice to stray, a choice that would alter the course

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Speaker 2: of all creation.

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Speaker 3: The dawn of man. This was a different work of creation.

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Speaker 3: For all other created things, God merely spoke and things

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Speaker 3: that were not suddenly were. But for humanity it was different.

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Speaker 3: God took his own hands in the very dirt he

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Speaker 3: had created and formed man in the image of his

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Speaker 3: triune cell. But he didn't stop there. He didn't just

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Speaker 3: fashion Man with his hands. He breathed his very breath,

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Speaker 3: his breath of life, into Adam. Then God created a

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Speaker 3: special place, a garden, for Adam. Did you notice the

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Speaker 3: nature of God's relationship with Adam. This was not a

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Speaker 3: created being without true choice, without freedom. God created a

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Speaker 3: true relationship with Adam. And so he gave mankind a

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Speaker 3: choice two trees, one full of good in life, the

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Speaker 3: other of the past, to broken relationship and an untimely death.

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Speaker 3: And it was in this garden that God and Man

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Speaker 3: were to live in communion, knowing each other intimately. I

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Speaker 3: imagine this garden as the very best of the very

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Speaker 3: best in a perfect creation. This was the most perfect

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Speaker 3: place imaginable, where every single need Adam had was met,

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Speaker 3: every need except one companionship and community. Our trying. God

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Speaker 3: knew that to truly reflect his nature, this man would

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Speaker 3: need to, as he does with the Son and the Spirit,

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Speaker 3: live in community. Up to this point God has said

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Speaker 3: everything was good, But looking at the lone man, he

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Speaker 3: said it was not good. God created all the animals

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Speaker 3: and brought them to Adam, who named each one of them.

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Speaker 3: But none were a fitting match. You see, they were

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Speaker 3: not part of Adam's own flesh. They were distinctly different.

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Speaker 3: That simply would not do. So. Once again God set

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Speaker 3: to work in creating with his own hands. Genesis two

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Speaker 3: twenty two and twenty three records the moment when God

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Speaker 3: gave Adam this beautiful gift of a companion. It says,

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Speaker 3: and the Lord God fashioned into a woman the rib

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Speaker 3: which he had taken from the man, and brought her

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Speaker 3: to the man. Then the man said, at last, this

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Speaker 3: is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh.

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Speaker 3: She shall be called woman because she was taken out

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Speaker 3: of man. God gave Adam a helper, a perfect pair

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Speaker 3: to be with him for mutual satisfaction. Eve was created

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Speaker 3: from man, and together they lived in a perfect place,

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Speaker 3: at least for now. But let's not get ahead of ourselves.

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Speaker 3: Today's story tells us something very important about our need

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Speaker 3: for community and companionship. You see, whether you are married

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Speaker 3: or not, God has created you to be in communion

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Speaker 3: with others. It is not good to be alone. As

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Speaker 3: God's image bearer, just like Adam and Eve, you are

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Speaker 3: made to live in community, in unity with others, just

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Speaker 3: as God himself exists in unity. And the highest expression

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Speaker 3: of this unity is seen nowhere better than in the

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Speaker 3: marriage relationship created by God right there in the Garden

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Speaker 3: of Eden. Likewise, this story shows you that God has

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Speaker 3: given you a choice. Like Adam and Eve, you have

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Speaker 3: before you the choice to follow God or follow your

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Speaker 3: own desires. It is a choice between life eternal and

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Speaker 3: death eternal, and it's the most important choice you will

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Speaker 3: ever make. Dear Heavenly Father, just as you provided for

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Speaker 3: Adam's every need, you continue to do so for us today.

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Speaker 3: You have created us for community with others and with yourself,

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Speaker 3: and we thank you for that. Oh Lord, help us

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Speaker 3: to choose you and your ways, God, the way of

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Speaker 3: life everlasting in Jesus Christ. Amen. Thank you for listening

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Speaker 3: to today's Bible in a Year podcast. I'm Jack Graham

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Speaker 3: from Dallas, Texas. And before we go, I want you

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Speaker 3: to know that I would love to send you my

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Speaker 3: daily devotional to give you fresh encouragement every single day.

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Speaker 3: So visit Jack Graham dot org to sign up for

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Speaker 3: your PowerPoint Today devotional that's Jack Graham dot org