May 18 – Choosing the Right Path

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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 18th Choosing the right path
Let’s be honest about something.

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There are moments when the wrong
choice is really tempting.

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Not because it’s obviously
terrible, but because it seems

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easier, more satisfying in the
moment, or like it’ll make

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people like you more.
Maybe it’s going along with

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something that doesn’t sit right
with your conscience.

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Maybe it’s letting pride win in
an argument when you know you

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should back down.
Maybe it’s cutting a corner just

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to get ahead.
And in the moment, you can

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usually talk yourself into it.
We’re good at that.

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Proverbs chapter 16, verses 5
and 6 address that directly.

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Everyone who is arrogant in
heart is an abomination to the

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Lord.
Be assured he will not go

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unpunished.
By steadfast love and

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faithfulness, iniquity is atoned
for, and by the fear of the Lord

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one turns away from evil.
There’s a lot in those two

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verses.
Pride, not just loudmouth

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arrogance, but the quiet kind,
the kind that puts your own

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judgment above gods, has real
consequences.

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But look at the other side of
that coin.

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Steadfast love and faithfulness
are the path away from

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destruction and the fear of the
Lord.

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That humble recognition of who
God is is what actually turns us

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in the right direction.
This is so important for

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navigating the choices you face
every day.

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Pride whispers you know better,
do what feels good.

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You deserve this.
But humility says God, I want to

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honor you more than I want to
satisfy myself right now.

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That’s not always an easy prayer
to mean, but it’s a powerful

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one. 2nd Corinthians chapter 6,
verses 11 and 12 show us Paul’s

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heart laid completely open.
Our heart is wide open.

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You are not restricted by us,
but you are restricted in your

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own affections.
Paul is essentially saying we’re

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not the ones holding you back.
The limitation is inside you.

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Your own closed off heart is
what’s keeping you from the

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fullness of what God has for you
that’s worth sitting with.

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How often do we blame
circumstances, other people, or

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bad luck for where we are, when
really what needs to change is

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our willingness to let God in
completely?

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And then Second Corinthians
Chapter 7 verse 9 introduces A

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distinction that is genuinely
life changing.

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I rejoice not that you were
grieved, but that your grief led

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to repentance.
For you felt a godly sorrow so

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that you were not overwhelmed by
it.

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There is a difference between
godly sorrow and guilt.

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Guilt says I’m terrible, I’m a
failure, I’ll never get this

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right.
It spirals inward and leads to

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shame.
Godly sorrow says, I got this

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wrong and I want to make it
right.

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It turns outward toward God,
toward change, toward growth.

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One crushes you, the other frees
you when you mess up.

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And you will, because we all do.
The question isn’t whether you

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feel bad, it’s what direction
that feeling takes you.

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Does it drive you toward God or
away from Him?

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Does it motivate change or just
produce more shame?

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God’s love is bigger than your
worst choice.

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His grace covers what humility
brings to Him.

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And every moment of genuine
repentance is actually a step

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forward, not just a moment of
failure.

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The right path isn’t the path
where you never fall.

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It’s the path where you keep
getting back up and turning back

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toward Him.
Let’s pray.

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Heavenly Father, thank you for
your steadfast love that is

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bigger than my pride and my
mistakes.

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Help me to stay humble, to
choose your way over my own,

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even when it’s hard, where I’ve
been holding back, keeping my

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heart closed, or justifying
choices I know aren’t right.

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Soften me.
Teach me the difference between

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guilt, that paralysis, and godly
sorrow that brings real change.

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I want to walk the right path,
not because I’m perfect, but

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because I trust You in Jesus
name, Amen.

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What if the battles hitting your
family are not random and your

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home can become a place where
darkness loses every right to

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stay?
The Secured Home is a powerful

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believers who want to guard

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their households with biblical
authority, peace and confidence

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in Jesus Christ.
Book 1.

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Guarded Thresholds fortifies
every doorway, room, and entry

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point with prayerful protection.
Book 2, Cleansed Rooms, helps

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reclaim spaces marked by fear,
unrest, and spiritual

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defilement.
Book 3, Closed Breaches, exposes

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hidden access points and severs
every agreement with darkness.

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Book 4, Broken Assignments,
confronts oppression, torment,

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and attacks against your family.
Book 5, Consecrated Walls,

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dedicates every space and rhythm
of the home to God.

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Book 6, Abiding Peace, shows how
to maintain spiritual order,

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rest, and holy presence every
day.

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Order now on Amazon or visit
prayerscripts.org.

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Now I invite you to spend time
with God in today’s three-year

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Bible reading plan.
Proverbs chapter 16 verses 5 to

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6 World English Bible.
Everyone who is proud in heart

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is an abomination to Yahweh.
They shall certainly not be

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unpunished by mercy and truth.
Iniquity is atoned for by the

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fear of Yahweh.
Men depart from evil.

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Second Corinthians chapters six
to seven world English Bible

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working together.
We entreat also that you do not

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receive the grace of God in
vain.

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For he says, at an acceptable
time, I listen to you in a day

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of salvation.
I helped you.

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Behold, now is the acceptable
time.

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Behold, now is the day of
salvation.

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We give no occasion of stumbling
in anything that our service may

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not be blamed, but in everything
commending ourselves as servants

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of God.
In great endurance.

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In afflictions, in hardships, in
distresses, in beatings, in

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imprisonments, in riots, in
laborers, in watchings, in

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fastings, in pureness, in
knowledge, in perseverance, in

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kindness, in the Holy Spirit, in
sincere love, in the word of

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truth, in the power of God.
By the armor of righteousness on

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the right hand and on the left.
By glory and dishonor, by evil

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report and good report, as
deceivers and yet true, as

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unknown and yet well known, as
dying.

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And behold, we live as punished
and not killed, as sorrowful,

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yet always rejoicing, as poor,
yet making many rich, as having

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nothing and yet possessing all
things.

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Our mouth is open to you,
Corinthians.

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Our heart is enlarged.
You are not restricted by us,

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but you are restricted by your
own affections.

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Now in return I speak as to my
children.

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You also open your hearts.
Don’t be unequally yoked with

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unbelievers.
For what fellowship do

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righteousness and iniquity have?
Or what fellowship does light

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have with darkness?
What agreement does Christ have

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with Belial?
Or what portion does a believer

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have with an unbeliever?
What agreement does a temple of

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God have with idols?
For you are a temple of the

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living God.
Even as God said, I will dwell

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in them and walk in them.
I will be their God, and they

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will be my people.
Therefore come out from among

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them and be separate, says the
Lord.

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Touch no unclean thing.
I will receive you.

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I will be to you a father, You
will be to me sons and

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daughters, says the Lord
Almighty.

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Having therefore these promises,
beloved, let’s cleanse ourselves

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from all defilement of flesh and
spirit, perfecting holiness in

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the fear of God.
Open your hearts to us.

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We wronged no one.
We corrupted no one.

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We took advantage of no one.
I say this not to condemn you,

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for I have said before that you
are in our hearts to die

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together and live together.
Great is my boldness of speech

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toward you.
Great is my boasting on your

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behalf.
I am filled with comfort.

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I overflow with joy in all our
affliction, for even when we had

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come into Macedonia our flesh
had no relief, but we were

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afflicted on every side.
Fightings were outside, fear was

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inside.
Nevertheless, He who comforts

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the lowly God comforted us by
the coming of Titus, and not by

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His coming only, but also by the
comfort with which He was

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comforted in you, while He told
us of your longing, your

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mourning, and your zeal for me,
so that I rejoiced still more.

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For though I grieved you with my
letter, I do not regret it,

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though I did regret it.
For I see that my letter made

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you grieve, though just for a
while.

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I now rejoice, not that you were
grieved, but that you were

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grieved to repentance.
For you were grieved in a godly

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way, that you might suffer loss
by us in nothing.

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For godly sorrow produces
repentance to salvation, which

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brings no regret, but the sorrow
of the world produces death.

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For behold this same thing, that
you were grieved in a godly way.

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What earnest carrot worked in
you?

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Yes, what defense, indignation,
fear, longing, zeal and

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vengeance in everything you
demonstrated yourselves to be

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pure in the matter.
So although I wrote to you, I

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wrote not for his ’cause that
did the wrong, nor for his

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’cause that suffered the wrong,
but that your earnest care for

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us might be revealed in you.
In the sight of God, therefore,

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we have been comforted in our
comfort.

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We rejoice the more exceedingly
for the joy of Titus, because

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his Spirit has been refreshed by
you all.

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For if in anything I have
boasted to him on your behalf, I

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was not disappointed.
But as we spoke all things to

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you in truth, so our glorying
also, which I made before Titus,

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was found to be truth.
His affection is more abundantly

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toward you, while he remembers
all of your obedience.

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How with fear and trembling you
received him.

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I rejoice that in everything I
am confident concerning you.

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Thanks for joining us on Bible
Chat, where Scripture meets

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everyday life.
If today’s devotional

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encouraged.
You share.

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It with a friend and be sure to
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miss the next conversation.
Until next time, stay rooted in

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truth, anchored in hope, and
walking daily with.

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Jesus.