May 29 – Guard Your Heart, Guard Your Words

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Welcome to Bible Chat, where we
have devotional conversations

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rooted in Scripture and relevant
for today.

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May 29th Guard your heart.
Guard your words.

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Have you ever watched a small
spark turn into something much

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bigger than anyone intended?
A comment that seemed harmless,

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A rumor passed along without
thinking, A heated reply in a

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group chat, and suddenly
something is burning that wasn’t

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there before.
Words have that kind of power.

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They travel fast, and they leave
marks that are hard to undo.

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Proverbs chapter 16, verses 27
to 30 describes this vividly.

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A worthless person’s speech is
like a scorching fire.

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Perversity is planned.
Evil is brought to pass through

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careless or malicious words.
The imagery is intense, but if

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you’ve ever been on the
receiving end of damaging words

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or watched a friendship get
destroyed by gossip, you know

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the description is accurate.
Words are not neutral.

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They carry weight, direction,
and consequence.

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But here’s the thing.
Proverbs isn’t just talking

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about obviously cruel people.
The warning runs wider than

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that.
It’s talking about anyone who

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speaks without thinking, who
passes along something damaging

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without considering the cost,
who uses their words to

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manipulate or wound.
That can be any of us on a bad

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day, which is why this passage
calls us to guard something

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deeper than just our mouths.
Psalm 61 verse 5 brings in a

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stabilizing truth for you, O
God, have heard my vows.

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You have given me the heritage.
Of those who fear your name,

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David is reminding himself and
us that he belongs to God.

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He has a heritage, a place, a
standing with the Lord.

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And when your identity is secure
in that, when you know who you

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belong to and who you are,
you’re less likely to speak from

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a place of insecurity, fear, or
bitterness.

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A lot of damaging words come
from a wounded place inside us.

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We lash out because we’re
hurting.

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We gossip because we want to
feel better by comparison.

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We say sharp things because we
feel powerless.

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But when you know God hears you,
when you bring your struggles to

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Him, instead of venting them
sideways onto other people,

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something shifts.
Ephesians chapter 4, verse 31 is

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direct and practical.
Let all bitterness and wrath and

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anger and clamor and slander be
put away from you, along with

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all malice.
All of it.

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Not just the obvious stuff, but
the quiet resentment, the

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passive aggression, the subtle
digs disguised as jokes put it

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away.
And the verse following, which

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asks you to be kind, tender
hearted, and forgiving toward

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one another, makes clear that
this isn’t just about what you

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stop doing.
It’s about what you start doing

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instead.
Your heart is the source.

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Whatever is filling it is what
will eventually spill out

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through your words, your tone,
your reactions.

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If you’ve been carrying
frustration, fear, jealousy, or

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unresolved hurt, it will find
its way into your mouth at some

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point.
That’s not a condemnation.

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It’s just how human beings work.
Which is why the real work isn’t

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just about watching your words.
It’s about tending your heart,

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bringing what’s there, all of
it, to God, who can actually

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deal with it rather than just
suppress it.

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Today, before you send the
message, before you join the

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conversation, before you speak
into a tense moment, pause.

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Check what’s driving the words.
And if what you find there isn’t

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something you’d be comfortable
bringing before God, maybe

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that’s the thing to address
first.

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Let’s pray.
Heavenly Father, thank You for

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being my refuge and the one who
truly hears me.

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Help me to bring my
frustrations, my hurts, and my

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anxieties to You before they
spill out sideways and damage

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the people I care about.
Guard my heart, Lord, because I

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know my words.
Follow my heart where there is

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bitterness or resentment or
anger inside me.

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Bring Your healing and help me
to replace all of that with

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kindness, patience and grace.
Words that build up rather than

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tear down, that spread life
rather than damage.

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In Jesus name, Amen.
What if the battles hitting your

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family are not random and your
home can become a place where

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darkness loses every right to
stay?

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The Secured Home is a powerful
six book prayer series for

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believers who want to guard
their households with biblical

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authority, peace and confidence
in Jesus Christ.

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Book 1, Guarded Thresholds,
fortifies every doorway, room,

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and entry point with prayerful
protection.

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Book 2, Cleansed Rooms, helps
reclaim spaces marked by fear,

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unrest, and spiritual
defilement.

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Book 3, Closed Breaches, exposes
hidden access points and severs

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every agreement with darkness.
Book 4, Broken Assignments,

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confronts oppression, torment,
and attacks against your family.

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Book 5, Consecrated Walls,
dedicates every space and rhythm

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of the home to God.
Book 6, Abiding Peace, shows how

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to maintain spiritual order,
rest, and holy presence every

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day.
Order now on Amazon or visit

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prayerscripts.org.
Now I invite you to spend time

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with God in today’s three-year
Bible reading plan.

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Proverbs Chapter 16 Verses 27 to
30 World English Bible A

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worthless man devises mischief.
His speech is like a scorching

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fire.
A perverse man stirs up strife.

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A whisperer separates close
friends.

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A man of violence entices his
neighbor and leads him in a way

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that is not good.
One who winks his eyes to plot

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perversities.
One who compresses his lips is

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bent on evil.
Psalm Chapter 61 World English

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Bible Hear my cry God, listen to
my prayer from the end of the

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earth.
I will call to you when my heart

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is overwhelmed.
Lead me to the rock that is

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higher than I.
For you have been a refuge for

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me, a strong tower from the
enemy.

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I will dwell in your tent
forever.

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I will take refuge in the
shelter of your wings.

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For you, God, have heard my
vows.

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You have given me the heritage
of.

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Those who fear your name, you
will prolong the King’s life.

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His years will be for
generations.

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He shall be enthroned in God’s
presence forever.

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Appoint your loving kindness and
truth that they may preserve him

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so.
I will sing praise to your name

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forever, that I may fulfill my
vows daily.

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Ephesians chapter 4 World
English Bible.

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I therefore, the prisoner in the
Lord, beg you to walk worthily

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of the calling with which you
were called, with all lowliness

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and humility, with patience,
bearing with one another in

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love, being eager to keep the
unity of the Spirit in the bond

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of peace.
There is one body and one

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Spirit, even as you also were
called in one hope of your

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calling, 1 Lord, 1 faith, one
baptism, one God and Father of

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all, who is over all and through
all, and in us all.

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But to each one of us the grace
was given according to the

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measure of the gift of Christ.
Therefore he says, when He

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ascended on high, He led
captivity captive and gave gifts

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to people.
Now this he ascended.

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What is it but that He also
first descended into the lower

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parts of the earth?
He who descended is the one who

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also ascended far above all the
heavens, that He might fill all

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things.
He gave some to be apostles, and

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some prophets, and some
evangelists, and some shepherds

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and teachers, for the perfecting
of the Saints.

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To the work of serving.
To the building up of the body

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of Christ, until we all attain
to the unity of the faith and of

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the knowledge of the Son of God.
To a full grown man.

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To the measure of the stature of
the fullness of Christ, that we

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may no longer be children tossed
back and forth, and carried

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about with every wind of
doctrine by the trickery of men

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in craftiness after the Wiles of
error.

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But speaking truth in love, we
may grow up in all things into

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Him who is the Head Christ, from
whom all the body being fitted

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and knit together, through that
which every joint supplies

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according to the working and
measure of each individual part,

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makes the body increase to the
building up of itself in love.

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This I say therefore, and
testify in the Lord, that you no

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longer walk as the rest of the
Gentiles also walk, in the

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futility of their mind being
darkened in their understanding,

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alienated from the life of God,
because of the ignorance that is

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in them, because of the
hardening of their hearts, They,

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having become callous, gave
themselves up to lust, to work

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all uncleanness with greediness.
But you didn’t learn Christ that

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way, if indeed you heard Him and
were taught in Him, even as

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truth is in Jesus.
That you put away as concerning

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your former way of life the old
man that grows corrupt after the

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lusts of deceit, and that you be
renewed in the spirit of your

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mind, and put on the new man who
in the likeness of God has been

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created in righteousness and
holiness of truth, Therefore

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putting away falsehood, speak
truth, each one with his

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neighbor, for we are members of
one another.

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Be angry and don’t sin.
Don’t let the sun go down on

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your wrath, and don’t give place
to the devil.

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Let him who stole steal no more,
but rather let him labor,

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producing with his hands
something that is good, that he

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may have something to give to
him who has need.

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Let no corrupt speech proceed
out of your mouth, but only what

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is good for building others up,
as the need may be, that it may

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give grace to those who hear.
Don’t grieve the Holy Spirit of

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God, in whom you were sealed for
the day of redemption.

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Let all bitterness, wrath,
anger, outcry and slander be put

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away from you with all malice,
and be kind to one another,

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tender hearted, forgiving each
other, just as God also in

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Christ forgave you.
Thanks for joining us on Bible

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Chat, where Scripture meets
everyday life.

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If today’s devotional encouraged
you, share it with a friend and

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be sure to follow the podcast so
you won’t miss the next

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conversation.
Until next time, stay rooted in

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truth, anchored in hope, and
walking daily with.

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Jesus.