May 17 – Life Made for a Purpose

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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 17th, life made for a
purpose.

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There are moments when life just
feels random, like things happen

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to you without reason, without
order, without anyone really

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steering the ship.
A friendship ends out of

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nowhere, a plan falls apart.
You work hard and it doesn’t

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seem to make a difference.
And in those moments, it’s

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tempting to wonder, does any of
this actually mean anything?

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Does my life have a point?
Proverbs chapter 16, verse 4

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speaks into that exact question.
The Lord has made everything for

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its purpose, even the wicked for
the day of trouble.

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That’s a striking verse because
it doesn’t just say the good

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things have purpose.
It says everything does, even

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the difficult things, even the
things that don’t make sense to

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you right now.
God is not improvising.

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He is not scrambling to fix a
story that went sideways.

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He is sovereignly,
intentionally, purposefully

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working in all of it.
That doesn’t make hard things

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easy, but it does mean they’re
not meaningless.

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Psalm 55, verse 23.
Add something deeply personal to

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that truth.
Cast your burden on the Lord,

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and He will sustain you.
He will never permit the

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righteous to be moved.
The word cast is active.

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It’s deliberate.
It’s not a passive hope that

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maybe God will notice your
burden.

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It’s an intentional handing
over.

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You pick up what’s weighing you
down and you throw it on to him.

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And the promise is that he will
sustain you.

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He will hold you up.
He will not let you be

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permanently shaken.
This is such a relevant word for

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where a lot of young people find
themselves anxious about the

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future, exhausted by pressures
that never seem to let up,

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hurting over things they don’t
have words for.

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God is saying you don’t have to
carry that alone, give it to me

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and I will keep you standing.
Then Second Corinthians chapter

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5, verse 18 unfolds your calling
in the most beautiful way.

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All this is from God, who
through Christ reconciled us to

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Himself and gave us the ministry
of reconciliation.

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You have been given a ministry,
a purpose, not just a general

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sense of meaning, but a specific
calling to be someone who brings

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God’s love and restoration into
broken spaces.

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Your school, your home, your
friend group, your community.

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These are your mission field.
Think about what that means

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practically.
The friend who’s going through

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something hard and needs someone
to just show up.

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The classmate who feels like an
outsider.

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The family member who’s been
difficult to love lately.

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Those are not inconveniences in
your story.

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There are opportunities to live
out the very reason God placed

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you where you are.
And here’s the thing about your

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struggles.
They don’t disqualify you from

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that mission.
They actually prepare you for

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it.
Because the people around you

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don’t need someone who has it
all together.

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They need someone who has walked
through hard things and still

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chose to trust God.
Someone who can say, I’ve been

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there and here’s what got me
through.

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Your life has meaning.
Your pain has purpose, and God

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wants to use both to make a
difference in the world around

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you.
Let’s pray.

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Heavenly Father, thank you for
the reminder that nothing in my

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life is wasted, Not the good
parts and not the hard parts.

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Help me to cast my burdens onto
You instead of carrying them

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alone, and to trust that You are
sustaining me even when I can’t

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feel it.
Show me how to walk in the

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calling You’ve given me, to be a
messenger of Your love and

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reconciliation in every space I
occupy.

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Use my life, all of it for your
purpose, 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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six book prayer series for
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, Guarded Thresholds,

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fortifies every doorway, room,
and entry point with prayerful

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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 Verse 4

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World English Bible Yahweh has
made everything for its own end,

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yes, even the wicked for the day
of evil.

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Psalm Chapter 55 World English
Bible Listen to my prayer God,

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don’t hide yourself from my
supplication.

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Attend to me and answer me.
I am restless in my complaint

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and moan because of the voice of
the enemy, because of the

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oppression of the wicked, for
they bring suffering on me in

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anger.
They hold a grudge against me.

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My heart is severely pained
within me.

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The terrors of death have fallen
on me.

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Fearfulness and trembling have
come on me.

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Horror has overwhelmed me.
I said, Oh, that I had wings

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like a dove.
Then I would fly away and be at

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rest.
Behold, then I would wander far

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off.
I would lodge in the wilderness.

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I would hurry to a shelter from
the stormy wind and storm.

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Confuse them, Lord, and confound
their language, for I have seen

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violence and strife in the city.
Day and night they prowl around

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on its walls.
Malice and abuse are also within

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her.
Destructive forces are within

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her.
Threats and lies don’t depart

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from her streets.
For it was not an enemy who

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insulted me then I could have
endured it.

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Neither was it he who hated me,
who raised himself up against

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me.
Then I would have hidden myself

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from him.
But it was you, a man like me,

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my companion and my familiar
friend.

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We took sweet fellowship
together.

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We walked in God’s house with
company.

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Let death come suddenly on them.
Let them go down alive into

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Sheol, for wickedness is among
them in their dwelling.

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As for me, I will call on God.
Yahweh will save me evening,

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morning, and at noon.
I will cry out in distress.

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He will hear my voice.
He has redeemed my soul in peace

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from the battle that was against
me.

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Although there are many who
oppose me, God who is enthroned

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forever will hear and answer
them.

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They never change who don’t fear
God.

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He raises his hands against his
friends.

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He has violated his covenant.
His mouth was smooth as butter,

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but his heart was war.
His words were softer than oil,

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yet they were drawn swords.
Cast your burden on Yahweh, and

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He will sustain you.
He will never allow the

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righteous to be moved, but you.
God will bring them down into

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the pit of destruction.
Bloodthirsty and deceitful men

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shall not live out half their
days.

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But I will trust in you.
Second Corinthians Chapter 5

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World English Bible.
For we know that if the earthly

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House of our tent is dissolved,
we have a building from God, a

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house not made with hands
eternal in the heavens.

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For most certainly in this we
groan, longing to be clothed

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with our habitation, which is
from heaven, if indeed being

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clothed, we will not be found
naked.

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For indeed we who are in this
tent do groan, being burdened,

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not that we desire to be
unclothed, but that we desire to

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be clothed, that what is mortal
may be swallowed up by life.

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Now he who made us for this very
thing is God, who also gave to

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us the down payment of the
Spirit.

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Therefore we are always
confident and know that while we

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are at home in the body, we are
absent from the Lord.

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For we walk by faith, not by
sight.

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We are courageous, I say, and
are willing rather to be absent

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from the body, and to be at home
with the Lord.

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Therefore also we make it our
aim, whether at home or absent,

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to be well pleasing to Him.
For we must all be revealed

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before the judgment seat of
Christ, that each one may

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receive the things in the body
according to what he has done,

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whether good or bad.
Knowing therefore the fear of

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the Lord, we persuade men, but
we are revealed to God.

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And I hope that we are revealed
also in your consciences.

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For we are not commending
ourselves to you again, but

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speak as giving you occasion of
boasting on our behalf, that you

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may have something to answer
those who boast in appearance

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and not in heart.
For if we are beside ourselves,

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it is for God, or if we are of
sober mind, it is for you.

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For the love of Christ
constrains us, because we judge

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thus that one died for all.
Therefore all died.

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He died for all, that those who
live should no longer live to

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themselves, but to Him who for
their sakes died and rose again.

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Therefore we know no one after
the flesh from now on.

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Even though we have known Christ
after the flesh, yet now we know

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Him, so no more.
Therefore, if anyone is in

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Christ, He is a new creation.
The old things have passed away.

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Behold, all things have become
new, but all things are of God,

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who reconciled us to Himself
through Jesus Christ, and gave

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to us the ministry of
reconciliation, namely, that God

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was in Christ reconciling the
world to Himself, not reckoning

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to them their trespasses, and
having committed to us the word

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of reconciliation.
We are therefore ambassadors on

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behalf of Christ, as though God
were entreating by us.

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We beg you on behalf of Christ,
be reconciled to God for him who

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knew no sin, He made to be sin
on our behalf, so that in him we

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might become the righteousness
of God.

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Thanks.
For joining us on Bible Chat,

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where Scripture meets everyday
life, if today’s devotional

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encouraged you.
Share it.

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With a friend and be sure to
follow the podcast so you won’t

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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.

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With Jesus.