May 21 – Plans, Promises, and Peace

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Welcome to Bible Chat, where we
have devotional conversations

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rooted in scripture and relevant
for.

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Today, May 21st, plans,
promises, and peace.

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Have you ever had a plan you
were genuinely excited about

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completely fall apart?
You mapped everything out, you

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did your part, you thought you
had it figured out, and then

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life went a completely different
direction.

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Maybe it was a friendship that
didn’t work out the way you

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hoped, or a goal you worked
towards that didn’t come

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through.
That feeling of watching your

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carefully built plan unravel is
one of the most unsettling

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things we experience.
Proverbs chapter 16, verse 9

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speaks right into that moment.
The heart of man plans his way,

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but the Lord establishes his
steps.

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There’s something both humbling
and deeply comforting about that

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verse.
Humbling because it reminds us

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we are not the ones ultimately
in control.

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Comforting because it means the
one who is in control actually

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knows where you’re going, even
when you don’t.

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Your detours are not surprises
to God.

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Your setbacks are not
miscalculations on His end.

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He is establishing your steps,
even the ones that feel like

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they’re going backward.
Psalm 57, verse 11 breaks out

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into worship in the middle of
everything.

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Be exalted.
Oh, God above the heavens, let

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your glory be over all the
earth.

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And here’s what’s worth
noticing.

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The psalmist wrote this from a
place of real danger and

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uncertainty.
He wasn’t sitting comfortably

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when he penned these words.
He was in the middle of

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difficulty, choosing to lift God
higher than his circumstances.

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That’s a powerful posture.
When your plans fall apart, the

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natural instinct is to panic, to
scramble, to try to regain

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control.
But the psalmist shows us a

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different response.
Exalt God.

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Put Him above the chaos.
Let His glory be bigger in your

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mind than your current problem.
That’s not denial, that’s faith.

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And then Second Corinthians
chapter 13, verse 5 brings in a

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different kind of challenge, an
inward one.

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Examine yourselves to see
whether you are in the faith

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test yourselves.
Or do you not realize this about

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yourselves, that Jesus Christ is
in you?

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This verse invites you to stop
for a moment and actually check

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in, not just with your
circumstances, but with your

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soul.
Are you genuinely walking in

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faith, or have you been going
through the motions?

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Is your relationship with God
something real and alive, or has

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it become background noise in
your busy life?

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That’s not meant to be a guilt
trip.

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It’s actually an invitation to
something better.

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Because if Jesus Christ is truly
in you, and He is, if you’ve

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placed your faith in Him, then
you have access to a peace and a

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steadiness that doesn’t depend
on your plans working out.

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You have a foundation that
doesn’t shift when life does.

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So here’s the honest question
for today.

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Are you trusting God with your
actual plans, or are you just

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hoping He blesses the ones
you’ve already decided on?

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There’s a difference.
One is partnership, the other is

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using God as a good luck charm.
Real trust looks like holding

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your goals and dreams with open
hands, bringing them to God,

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doing your faithful best and
releasing the outcome to Him,

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knowing His version of your
story is better than the one

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you’d write yourself.
The peace that comes from that

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kind of trust is not passive.
It’s not giving up or not

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caring.
It’s an active, daily choice to

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believe that God’s plan, even
when you can’t see it, is good,

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and that makes all the
difference.

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Let’s pray.
Heavenly Father, thank You for

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guiding my steps even when my
plans go sideways.

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Help me to hold my dreams and
goals with open hands, trusting

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that your direction is better
than my own.

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When I’m tempted to panic or
control everything, remind me to

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lift You above my circumstances
and rest in the fact that You

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are establishing my path.
And God help me to be honest

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when I examine my own heart to
not just go through the motions,

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but to walk with you in real
living faith in Jesus name,

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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
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in Jesus Christ.

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dedicates every space and rhythm

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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 Verse 9
World English Bible A man’s

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heart plans his course, but
Yahweh directs his steps.

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Psalm Chapter 57 World English
Bible Be merciful to me, God, be

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merciful to me, for my soul
takes refuge in you.

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Yes, in the shadow of your
wings.

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I will take refuge until
disaster has passed.

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I cry out to God Most High, to
God who accomplishes my requests

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for me.
He will send from heaven and

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save me.
He rebukes the one who is

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pursuing me.
God will send out His loving

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kindness and His truth.
My soul is among lions.

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I lie among those who are set on
fire, even the sons of men whose

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teeth are Spears and arrows and
their tongue a sharp sword.

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Be exalted, God above the
heavens.

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Let your glory be above all the
earth.

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They have prepared a net for my
steps.

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My soul is bowed down.
They dig a pit before me.

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They fall into the middle of it
themselves.

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My heart is steadfast, God, my
heart is steadfast.

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I will sing, Yes, I will sing
praises.

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Wake up my glory.
Wake up lewd and harp.

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I will wake up the dawn.
I will give thanks to you, Lord,

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among the peoples.
I will sing praises to you among

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the nations, for your great
loving kindness reaches to the

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heavens, and Your truth to the
skies.

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Be exalted God above the
heavens.

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Let your glory be over all the
earth.

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Second Corinthians chapters 12
to 13 World English Bible.

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It is doubtless not profitable
for me to boast, for I will come

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to visions and revelations of
the Lord.

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I know a man in Christ 14 years
ago, whether in the body I don’t

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know, or whether out of the body
I don’t know.

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God knows such a one caught up
into the 3rd heaven.

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I know such a man, whether in
the body or outside of the body

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I don’t know.
God knows how he was caught up

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into Paradise and heard
unspeakable words which it is

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not lawful for a man to utter.
On behalf of such a one I will

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boast, but on my own behalf I
will not boast except in my

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weaknesses.
For if I would desire to boast,

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I will not be foolish, for I
will speak the truth, but I

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refrain, so that no man may
think more of me than that which

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he sees in me or hears from me.
By reason of the exceeding

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greatness of the revelations
that I should not be exalted

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excessively, a thorn in the
flesh was given to me, a

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messenger of Satan to torment
me, that I should not be exalted

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excessively.
Concerning this thing I beg the

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Lord three times that it might
depart from me.

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He has said to me, My grace is
sufficient for you, for my power

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is made perfect in weakness.
Most gladly, therefore, I will

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rather glory in my weaknesses,
that the power of Christ may

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rest on me.
Therefore I take pleasure in

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weaknesses, in injuries, in
necessities, in persecutions,

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and in distresses for Christ’s
sake.

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For when I am weak, then am I
strong.

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I have become foolish in
boasting.

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You compelled me, for I ought to
have been commended by you.

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For I am in no way inferior to
the very best apostles, though I

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am nothing truly.
The signs of an apostle were

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worked among you in all
perseverance, in signs and

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wonders and mighty works.
For what is there in which you

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were made inferior to the rest
of the assemblies, Unless it is

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that I myself was not a burden
to you?

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Forgive me this wrong.
Behold, this is the third time I

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am ready to come to you, and I
will not be a burden to you.

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For I seek not your possessions,
but you.

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For the children ought not to
save up for the parents, but the

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parents for the children I will
most gladly spend and be spent

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for your souls.
If I love you more abundantly am

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I loved the less.
Even so, I myself didn’t burden

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you, but being crafty, I caught
you with deception.

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Did I take advantage of you by
any one of those whom I have

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sent to you?
I exhorted Titus, and I sent the

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brother with him.
Did Titus take any advantage of

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you?
Didn’t we walk in the same

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spirit?
Didn’t we walk in the same steps

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again?
Do you think that we are

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excusing ourselves to you in the
sight of God?

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We speak in Christ.
But all things, beloved, are for

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your edifying.
For I am afraid that by any

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means, when I come, I might find
you not the way I want to, and

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that I might be found by you, as
you don’t desire that by any

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means.
There would be strife, jealousy,

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outbursts of anger, factions,
slander, whisperings, proud

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thoughts or riots, that again,
when I come, my God would humble

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me before you, and I would mourn
for many of those who have

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sinned before now and not
repented of the uncleanness,

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sexual immorality, and
lustfulness which they

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committed.
This is the third time I am

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coming to you.
At the mouth of two or three

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witnesses shall every word be
established.

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I have said beforehand, and I do
say beforehand, as when I was

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present the second time.
So now being absent, I write to

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those who have sinned before
now, and to all the rest, that

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if I come again, I will not
spare, seeing that you seek a

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proof of Christ, who speaks in
me, Who toward you is not weak,

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but is powerful in you.
For He was crucified through

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weakness, yet he lives through
the power of God, For we also

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are weak in Him, but we will
live with him through the power

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of God toward you.
Examine your own selves, whether

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you are in the faith, test your
own selves or don’t you know

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about your own selves, that
Jesus Christ is in you, unless

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indeed you are disqualified.
But I hope that you will know

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that we aren’t disqualified.
Now I pray to God that you do no

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evil, not that we may appear
approved, but that you may do

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that which is honorable, though
we are as reprobate.

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For we can do nothing against
the truth, but for the truth.

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For we rejoice when we are weak
and you are strong.

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We also pray for this.
You’re becoming perfect for this

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’cause I write these things
while absent, that I may not

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deal sharply when present,
according to the authority which

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the Lord gave me for building up
and not for tearing down.

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Finally, brothers, rejoice.
Be perfected, be comforted, be

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of the same mind, Live in peace,
and the God of love and peace

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will be with you.
Greet one another with a holy

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kiss.
All the Saints greet you.

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The grace of the Lord Jesus
Christ, God’s love, and the

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fellowship of the Holy Spirit be
with you all.

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Amen.
Thanks for.

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Joining us on Bible Chat, where
scripture meets everyday life.

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00:12:09,960 –> 00:12:13,520
If today’s devotional encouraged
you, share it with a friend and

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00:12:13,520 –> 00:12:16,320
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.

219
00:12:21,320 –> 00:12:22,480
Daily with Jesus.