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We gather here today with open hearts and minds to grow in faith and truth.
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In every word we find the pages of the word, alive and full of grace, inspiring faith with him as we seek his face, Bible.
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Bites, Bible bites, in starting faith one bite at a time with every verse we find
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our way to live our lives in his light and shine.
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Welcome to Bible Bites, the podcast where we work to inspire faith one bite at a time.
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I'm your host, Randy Black.
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One of the more striking moments in Jesus' ministry is the withering of the fig tree on the road from Bethany.
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This event, recorded in both the Gospels of Matthew and Mark, teaches profound lessons on faith.
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Spiritual fruitfulness and the power of prayer.
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Through these scriptures, we're going to explore the significance of this event, its meaning for believers, and how we can apply its lessons.
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in our daily walk with Christ.
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As we do each week before we dive into the scripture, let's open up with a word of prayer
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Heavenly Father, we come before you with open hearts, seeking wisdom and understanding.
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As we study your word, reveal to us the deep truths within this, the lesson of the withered fig tree.
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Help us to to grow in faith, to bear good fruit, and to trust in the power of prayer
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May your Spirit guide us to apply these lessons in our own lives.
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In the name of your Son Jesus, we pray.
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Amen.
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Matthew chapter twenty-one, verses eighteen through twenty-two.
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Now in the morning when he was returning to the city, he became hungry.
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And seeing a lone fig tree by the road, he came to it and found nothing on it except leaves alone.
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And he said to it,
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No longer shall there ever be fruit from you.
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And at once the fig tree withered.
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Seeing this, the disciples were amazed and asked, How did the fig tree wither all at once?
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And Jesus answered and said to them, Truly I say to you, if you have
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have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, Be taken up and thrown into the sea, it will happen.
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And whatever you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.
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Mark 11, verses 12-14.
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On the next day when they had left Bethany, he became hungry.
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Seeing from a distance a fig tree and leaf, he went to see.
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see if perhaps he would find anything on it.
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And when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs.
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And he said to it, May no one ever eat fruit from you again.
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And his disciples were listening.
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Jesus' act of cursing the fig tree seems unusual at first glance, especially since Mark notes that it was not the season for figs.
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However, fig trees in that region typically produce early edible buds before the full fruit develops.
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The presence of leaves suggested the tree might have these buds
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But upon closer inspection, it was barren.
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This serves as a powerful metaphor for spiritual barrenness, outward signs of vitality, but lacking true fruitfulness
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The immediate withering of the tree in Matthew's account highlights the authority and power of Jesus' words.
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The disciples' amazement at this event prompted Jesus to teach about faith and prayer
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The lesson is not merely about the fig tree, but about spiritual integrity and trust in God's power.
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Jesus connects this event to faith.
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illustrating that genuine faith, when exercised without doubt, can accomplish miraculous things
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Additionally, this incident occurred as Jesus was on his way to cleanse the temple, which was another demonstration of judgment against hypocrisy
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Just as the fig tree had the appearance of fruitfulness but was barren, the religious leaders of Israel displayed outward piety yet lacked true devotion to God.
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This event serves as a warning against empty religion and a call to genuine faith and obedience.
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Moreover, Jesus' words on prayer emphasize the importance of believing in God's power.
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True faith in God is not just about avoiding judgment, but about actively trusting Him to work through our lives.
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Jesus assures his disciples that faith-filled prayer has the ability to bring about change, provided it is aligned with God's will.
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We have some key takeaways from these pieces of scripture.
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The first is that spiritual fruitfulness matters.
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God desires that his people bear spiritual fruit, not just maintain an outward appearance of faith.
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The fig tree had leaves, but no fruit, symbolizing those who appear religious but lack true devotion.
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As believers, we must examine our hearts to ensure we are actively living out our faith.
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This means producing the fruits of the Spirit, engaging in good works, and growing in our relationship with Christ.
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A life that only appears godly, but lacks spiritual depth is ultimately unproductive
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Our next takeaway is that faith has power.
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Jesus uses this moment to teach that faith, when genuine and unwavering, can accomplish great things
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The power of faith is not in the believer alone, but in God, who responds to a heart that truly trusts him.
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When we face challenges, doubts can creep in
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But Jesus reminds us that faith should be steadfast.
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Just as he spoke with authority and saw results, we too can rely on God's power when we pray and step out in faith
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A life lived in faith will witness the mighty hand of God at work.
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Our third takeaway deals with the idea of judgment on hypocrisy
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The barren fig tree serves as a warning against religious hypocrisy.
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It is possible to look the part, attending church, praying, quoting scripture.
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While still lacking a true relationship with God, Jesus confronted the religious leaders of his time for this very reason
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God is not interested in mere rituals, but in hearts that genuinely seek Him.
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We must ask ourselves whether our faith is merely external, or if it flows from a transformed and surrendered heart.
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Our last takeaway is that prayer requires belief.
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Jesus assures his disciples that whatever they ask in faith, believing, they will receive
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This does not mean that God grants every request without discernment, but rather that he honors prayers rooted in faith and aligned with his will.
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Our prayers should be filled with confidence in God's power and wisdom.
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Doubt weakens our prayers, but trusting God strengthens our relationship with Him and deepens our understanding of His will.
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When we pray with faith, we acknowledge God's sovereignty and ability to act in ways beyond our understanding
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As we reflect on these two passages, we must ask ourselves: are we bearing spiritual fruit in our lives?
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It's easy to focus on outward religious practices, attending church, reading scripture, praying, but our hearts, if they are not aligned with Christ, we risk becoming like the barren fig tree.
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Jesus' emphasis on faith challenges us to examine the strength of our trust in God.
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Do we truly believe that he can work in our lives?
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Or do we allow doubt to hinder our prayers?
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Faith is not about manipulating outcomes, but about trusting God fully and surrendering to His will.
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Additionally, these passages encourage us to be mindful of hypocrisy.
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Are we presenting ourselves as faithful believers while neglecting the deeper work of the Spirit within us?
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God desires authenticity and obedience, not mere outward expressions of religion.
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And finally, the lesson we have here on prayer reminds us to approach God with confidence.
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Prayer is not just a ritual, it is a powerful connection with our Creator.
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Jesus assures us that when we pray with true faith, God will respond according to his perfect plan.
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Let's close out our study of the Scripture with a word of prayer.
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Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word and the lessons we have learned from it today.
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Help us to be spiritually fruitful, living lives that reflect true devotion to you.
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Strengthen our faith so that we may trust in your power without doubt.
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Guard our hearts against hypocrisy and lead us to authentic worship and obedience
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May our prayers be filled with confidence, knowing that you hear us and answer according to your will.
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In Jesus' name we pray.
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Amen.
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If you have a prayer request, please reach out to us here on the show that we can uh share that with the audience in hopes that we can all raise those requests up to the Lord.
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Um, you can do that by going to our website.
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There's a prayer request form there.
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On our website, you can use.
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You can also send it to us in a Boostigram.
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Um
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But we have some requests to lift up this week, and we also have a praise report that I want to share.
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Uh first off, I want to continue to remember my parents.
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My dad has finished up his cancer treatments.
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We're in a process of waiting to see where it goes.
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But I still want to remember them and everything that they've gone through with this and also that we can hopefully get them back into church each week serving and worshiping together with others for the Lord.
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Uh I want to lift up the the Scarberry family um gentleman who I was very close with uh growing up named Chris.
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Um Chris's father, who I also became close with, lost his
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Uh Chris lost his father this week.
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He and his mother, Nellie.
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Uh Irvin was a great man, was an educator for over forty years in our local school system.
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Uh was a deacon in several differ in uh in in a church.
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He actually was a deacon in the church my father pastored at one time
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Um, but a good Christian man um was an inspiration for so many people.
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Uh a gentleman that even when we weren't attending church and stuff with him, when I would see him
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uh run into him at a school for some reason uh or another he'd always you know check on me to see how I was doing and tell me he was proud of what I'd done in becoming an educator when I was in the classroom and stuff.
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So we want to remember their family and his
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They recently lost uh Irvin's sister as well.
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So we want to continue to remember them as a whole family that, you know, that they can be touched and and and blessed.
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um by the Lord and and comforted as they go through this time.
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And most importantly, that if anyone in the family isn't worshiping uh uh weekly, isn't isn't a Christian, isn't saved, they can
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they can find that path back in their life and and use it to lead them in the right way.
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I want to continue to remember uh close friends, Greg and Kim.
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Kim with her treatment for the her the what she's dealing with and in her illness.
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as well as Greg and everything going on with him and the potential of the of cancer with him.
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Uh continue to remember my dad's cousin who worked for him, Kevin, as he goes through all the the process of everything he's going through with
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uh his toe being amputated and all that and the recovery he's going through.
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And continue to remember me, um, still adjusting with the medicine.
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Having some side effects.
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They're not bad, but they are a little annoying at times, but still working my way through this whole process.
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Uh in a praise report, I had the chance to stop and speak with Tim Kalekka, who we've been
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uh requesting prayer for him.
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I want to continue to request prayer for him.
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Had a chance to stop and speak with him on Thursday this week.
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Um and see how he's doing.
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They've made some changes in his medication as his wife had told me.
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Uh but he's doing well.
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He's still very much
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Praising the Lord for everything that's going on, that he knows that it's it's God and God's hands that are taking care of him through this and helping to heal him.
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So uh very, very happy to see that and hear that from him.
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But also very, you know, still want to continue to remember him in prayer as we go through this.
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So let's before we close out the show and
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talk about um our our episode for next week.
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Uh let's let's close out uh w with a prayer for these requests.
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Heavenly Father, we thank you again for this chance, this amazing opportunity to share your word with others and to learn from it.
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We lift up these requests to you
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My mom and dad, the Scarberry family, Greg and Kim, Kevin, myself, Tim, uh, and Tim's wife as she helps him through this.
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Uh we know that you know what these requests are and what the needs are.
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And we want to lift up those unspoken requests that people in our audience may have that they haven't had the chance to share with us.
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You hold the answers to these.
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And whatever answers you provide will be within your will.
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And we trust that you're going to guide these things in the right direction in the way that best fits with your will.
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It's in your name we keep working each week, producing the episodes, to share your word with the world in hopes that it guides someone and helps them as they go through this process in life of serving you.
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But more importantly, that they might take it and share it with someone else who hears it and starts to look at things and they feel that stirring in their heart and they come to know your son Jesus as their Savior.
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And they then can spend eternity in heaven with all of us who are saved, and with you, and with your son.
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To the name of your son, Jesus, that we pray.
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Amen.
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Our next episode will be Miracle 36 out of 37 in our series as we've started the show over the last 35 weeks.
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We want to take a look at this miracle next week as we prepare to move in a new direction after we hit our 37th miracle in the series.
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And we'll talk about that later on when we get there.
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But miracle number 36 in the series is when Jesus heals a servant's severed ear while he is being arrested.
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And you can find that in the Gospel of Luke, that is chapter 22, verses 50 and 51.
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So join us on the next episode of Bible Bites, the podcast where we work to inspire faith.
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One bite at a time.
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Bible bites.
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Bible bites.
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Instarring fake one bite at a time.
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Every verse we find our way To live our lives in his life and shine
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Bubble bites, bubble bites, inspiring faith one bite at a time