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discerning the spirits, ears of the heart, following Jesus, God's love, listening, Oswald Chambers, sheep, shepherd, The Good Shepherd
My Sheep Hear My Voice
(Photo by Susanne Schuberth)
If we have ever been in love, we know that hearing the voice of the one whom we love can make our heart flutter with anticipation. Well, one might object here that this is a common human experience, however, does it apply to our experience of hearing God just the same? Jesus said,
“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” (Jn 10:27 ESV)
This is a promise, a statement that assures us that His sheep can discern His voice from others. Jesus “knows” them, i.e., He loves them, and we might assume as well that their love causes them to follow Him eventually. Although there might be many voices every day that talk to us without interruptions, there must be something special about the voice of the One who created us. In order to illustrate what I just tried to explain, I will share my latest “sheep experience” with you. 😉
Yesterday I decided to take a prayer walk before preparing dinner. Since I have struggled with fighting a cold for some days, I left my bike in the basement with a heavy heart since I would have rather made a cycle tour under the clear blue sky. Nonetheless, finding myself about a half hour later on the biker bridge (walkers are allowed too, of course), I had to grin about myself, once again, for I truly tend to forget while walking time and again that I have no “wheels under my feet”, so to speak. Completely lost in contemplation and in my own thoughts, I sometimes realize that I am walking on a biking trail which is meanwhile more familiar to me than hiking trails are. 🙂 Be that as it may, as I saw that there was a flock of sheep beneath the bridge, I wanted to take some pics with my cell phone. Alas, the sun stood very low in the west and it was not possible to take good pics from there. The shepherd saw me standing on the bridge and told me what to do. Actually, he is a very friendly man. Even last week as I had come very close to his sheep on a hill at the Rhine-Main-Danube Channel where they, the sheep, had finally chased me away from one of my prayer benches, their shepherd gave me some good advice as I was biking uphill which is partly very steep. Since I did not cycle with a mountain bike, I eventually would have to realize that my city bike, out of the blue, would rear up like a horse so that I lost control and balance as only my back wheel had touched the ground. 😛 Oh boy, I was even mad at God that He didn’t warn me before… But maybe, He did, though, yet my ears had been stuffed on that very day.
Anyway, yesterday as I was walking around the provisional fence that surrounded the flock, I was disappointed that those lovely sheep decided to only show me their wooly bottom. Talking to them did not help either. Quite the contrary! From whichever side I approached them, no sheepy face wanted to posh up the pics I took. As I had almost given up on it, one sheep suddenly turned around and looked me right in the eyes. It stood completely still and listened to my voice while the others kept feeding on the grass and weeds. Wow!! That was an amazing experience! Only one of those many sheep that finally listened to me… 🙄
In closing, I want to share a quote from Oswald Chambers with you which deals with the danger of knowing a lot versus knowing, i.e. loving, the One who created knowledge of any kind. If we are used to only “know” in our minds, but not with our hearts, we might miss the chance to encounter the Living God, even today.
It is possible to know all about doctrine and yet not know Jesus. The soul is in danger when knowledge of doctrine outsteps intimate touch with Jesus. Why was Mary weeping? Doctrine was no more to Mary than the grass under her feet. Any Pharisee could have made a fool of Mary doctrinally, but one thing they could not ridicule out of her was the fact that Jesus had cast seven demons out of her; yet His blessings were nothing in comparison to Himself. Mary “saw Jesus standing and knew not that it was Jesus”; immediately she heard the voice, she knew she had a past history with the One who spoke. “Master”!
http://utmost.org/classic/does-he-know-me-classic/
[Bold emphasis mine]
Entering the Promised Land 
Susanne, this was wonderful. It touched my heart. Jesus wants intimacy with His sheep, not book smarts about him and people who truly KNEW Him. You have demonstrated your heart relationship with Him in the way you write about Him. It is always a heart felt blessing to read your blogs. 🐻
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Mmmhhh…… ❤
Thank you sooo much, Michael! Your comment, likewise, has touched my very heart. I am glad that you have been blessed by my wooly-sheepy experiences. 🐱
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Susanne, I found a quote from T. Austin-Sparks that I thought went along with your article and quote from O.C. It is amazing how the understanding of a man who walked the walk cuts through the religious fog…
“The anointing you received from Christ lives in you.” (1 John 2:27 GW)
When will the Lord’s people, who have the Scriptures and who know the Scriptures so well in the letter, when will they come to realize and to recognize that if truly they have been crucified with Christ, if they have died in His death and have been raised together with Him and have received the Spirit, they have Light in their dwelling? “The anointing which ye received of Him abideth in you, and ye need not that any one teach you, but… His anointing teacheth you concerning all things” (1 John 2:27). When will believers, when will Christians, come to realize that? Why must Christians who have the knowledge of the Scriptures in the letter, run about here and there to seek advice from others on matters which vitally affect their own spiritual knowledge? I do not mean that it is wrong to get counsel, wrong to know what other children of God of experience think or feel about matters. But if we are going to build our position upon their conclusions, we are in great danger. The final authority and arbiter in all matters is the Spirit of God, the Spirit of the anointing.
We may get help from one another, but I do hope that you are not going to build your position upon what I say now because I say it. Do not do that. I do not want you to do it. I do not ask you to do it. What I say is: listen, take note; and then go to your final authority Who is in you if you are a child of God, and ask Him to corroborate the truth or to show otherwise. That is your right, your birthright, the birthright of every child of God: to be in the light of the indwelling Spirit of Light, the Spirit of God.
By T. Austin-Sparks from: The Anointing: Light Within Our Dwellings
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Yes, that is a very fitting quote, Michael. Just yesterday before I had read what you shared on here, I saw the freeing perspective of “His anointing teacheth you concerning all things” (1 John 2:27).
It is not only so that we do not need to run to and fro in order to get counsel from other Christians and that we need to know what they think about religious stuff and doctrines, His anointing fills us so much that we can trust in His continued leading as for ALL things that occur in our everyday life.
Whenever a decision has to be made, whenever someone tells us something of which we do not know how to judge it, and whenever we think we must plan something, HIS counsel comes from our inside, even immediately. There is no need for ANY other teacher in our life than HIM, although confirmation through our brothers and sisters is a great blessing too.
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Yes Sue this is a very appropriate post–just yesterday in our little gathering one lady says that Jesus must have the preeminence in our relationship with the Godhead and I let it be known about my dissatisfaction that the bible always seems to get the center of attention in our gatherings–so they all started to attack me and tell me how important the bible is–one lady said to me–well I do not know how to tell the difference between His voice and all the others–I said to her–well you have to know Him as a being and not just study about Him from a book–I mean when you marry a person you do not marry a book–then I gave them the example of lets say a young girl of 16 or 18 who is a virgin and decides she wants to get pregnant and have a baby so she goes out and buys a book that truthfully explains to her how to get pregnant and have a baby–she reads it–she studies it–she memorizes it–and she believes it—will she get pregnant? No she will not–she will have to have a sexual experience with a male and then she can get pregnant and have a new creation inside of her and bear his fruit—well they continued to attack me and I simply said I did not want to talk about the issue anylonger—your post was a great uplift.
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Oh boy, I imagine that was a very frustrating experience for you yesterday, dear Ken!!
But I do love your sense of humor as you said,
“I mean when you marry a person you do not marry a book.”
Ha! That is sooo very true! ⭐
I am glad you were helped through my post. You have always been a blessing to me with your insightful responses, my brother!
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I just love that picture of that sheep staring at you–he seems very interested in you and looks like he wants to listen to you or say something to you
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Thank you, Kenneth. 🙂
In fact, I was just trying to remember what I told him…. maybe, it was something like, “You are a good sheep, I love you very much…” or something like that. I often speak with animals that way (a bit freaky, I know XD ). But most of the times, they do not answer in German, nor did I ever hear them speak in English. But my heart hears them, though… 😉
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Well, Susanne, He DID say that His sheep hear His voice and I bet that this one sheep heard Him speaking through you! 🙂
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Hahaha, you’re funny, Michael! XD
But I do hope you are right since, as you might know, I love animals that much! ❤
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Ken and Susanne, This was a great illustration of what is wrong with most Christian relationships which are more centered around a book, or church doctrines than the One who wrote it, the living Christ, as a love letter to us all!
I also have a true to life illustration that seems to go right over the heads of those in love with the book when I share it, but not over the heads of those as yourselves who Love HIM.
When I was in the Navy, 7000 miles from my wife to be, I was in the waters off of Vietnam and she was back in the states. Anyway she wrote to me every day for those nine months. I read those letters over and over waiting for the next bundle of them to come through with our “lumpy” mail service that was NOT every day. As time went on I bundled those letters in groups of 20 or so and saved them and brought them home with me. But you know what? Once I had her in my arms, I never read one of those letters again. Why should I? I had the REAL THING there living with me from then on!
This is what is wrong with those who worship the book. Jesus put it this way to the Bible scholars of 2000 years ago…
“You search the scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness to me; yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.” (John 5:39-40 RSVA)
I am soooo glad that I have Him in a very real and personal way as my husband whom I love and don’t have to rely on His love letters only any longer, aren’t you?
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Wow I need to get those church ladies turned on to you and Sue
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Those ladies are welcome on here, any time, Ken. Just started praying for them… ❤
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Yes, I am relieved about not needing His love letters as I did in past before I got to know God that close. There is a season for everything, it seems to me, since I remember that I had several times where I really “devoured” the Bible as if I had never read it before. That was back then as the real depth of Scripture flashed up to me, each time on a deeper level. That was a wonderful experience as well and I do not want to miss it. However, nothing compares to being loved by God as Scripture confirms, “Knowledge puffs us, love builds up” (1 Cor 8:1).
Thanks for sharing your “living testimony” about your and Dorothy’s love for one another so openly on here, Michael. Great illustration! ⭐
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You are welcome, Susanne. Isn’t it funny how God was speaking to me through real life circumstances about what He wanted, even before I fell in love with Jesus in 1970?
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Yes, our funny God uses EVERYTHING outside of us to point us to the truth we finally find inside ourselves, in our spirit.
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Susanne, as I read your reply again about when the depths of the Bible really “flashed up to you” as you “devoured the scriptures”… I also had this experience, but my hunger for what is written in its pages centered on and was empowered by my love for Jesus in my new found First Love experience with Him. I HAD TO know more about Him and I could hear His voice intimately as I read that book. SO YES!!! God uses the scriptures not as an end unto themselves, but rather to point us to Christ and reinforce our love relationship WITH Jesus. It is a sad thing when we start reading and studying the Bible to just get Bible knowledge for whatever reason, instead of it being part of His intimate drawing of our hearts to Him alone as a love letter and not a mere legal document.
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Michael – can i give an AAAAMEN!!! jn12:They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. “Sir,” they said, “we would like to SEE Jesus.” We are supposed to be witnesses of Jesus, allowing Jesus to manifest through our life so people can see Him. Jesus said if you have seen me you have seen the Father.Like you said people are tired of hearing about Him they want to see Him. ~ wayne
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Now you get an AAAAAMEN, too, dear Wayne. 🙂 Seeing Him is waaay more thrilling than always only hearing about Him through second-(third-fourth-)hand experiences.
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Many people through the years have declared Him through the spoken word as if they knew Him personally. But, to watch their lives and to hear their much speaking, (which always felt like a club over ones head); I could not see any evidence of Christ in them. Christ was non existent in them, though their words spoke much of Him.
I am in agreement with Wayne: I am tired of hearing about Him, I now long to see Him, to touch Him, to hear His voice and none other!
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So true, dear Susie. ❤ They spoke/taught/preached “as if they knew Him personally.” Indeed, our lives should display our walk with God. If not, well, then there seems to be something missing, still…
I do hope that your longing for more of Him might be fulfilled ASAP!
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Wayne, Great point, my brother. I love how the KJV that quotes these Greeks you speak of here as saying, “Sir, WE WOULD SEE JESUS!” They did not want to see Philip or any of the apostles, or the rest of the “five fold” for that matter! They only wanted to See the ONE who is the Author AND THE FINISHER OF OUR FAITH! No man, no matter how high his calling is in the kingdom of God can take the place of what our “ONE Mediator between God and man” can do, that is for sure!
I think that as we become ONE as Jesus and the Father are ONE (see John 17:21) we become like salt in a horses oats. This gives scope to me in what Jesus was saying, “You are the salt of the earth…”. The saying goes, “You might be able to lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink”… that is unless you put salt in the oats he eats first… THEN he will drink and drink. Because of Christ in us, out or our innermost being flows LIVING WATERS, not dead letters. We become those LIVING LETTERS to be read of all men. Praise His wonderful Name for HIS LIFE in us! It is ALL about Jesus, always, and never about us. Amen!
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God’s voice has been directional in my life, and unexpected. I am so grateful for His voice. Many times I enjoy His presence, even though I don’t hear His voice, I may have a peace, a joy, or an awe of Him.
Years ago, I had 2 Mormon missionaries come to my house. They began their presentation with the question, ” Would you believe that God spoke to Joseph Smith? I responded with, ” God has spoken to me”. They immediately wanted to hear what I had to say. I warned them that they were following a false prophet. I don’t remember if I shared anything that God has spoken to me, as the words were so personal, that I have basically not shared them, but walked in them. However, the Holy Spirit was with us. I believe that the young men were hungry for God, and that they left with gospel seed sown.
My prayer is that we hear His voice, and continually know His fellowship.
Susanne, thank you for this precious post. You create a hunger to walk with Him and you together.
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Oh, dear Pat, your words have deeply touched my heart!!! Thank you very much for saying THIS! 🙂
You are so welcome to everything I can offer, which is not that much but a little writing. I am so glad to hear that God put a hunger in your heart for more of Him.
Your testimony regarding those 2 Mormon missionaries made me smile since my hubby and I had a very similar experience in 1995 and we also felt that God had done something in their hearts. They are always so friendly and kind, those young men, so eager to share their gospel. God wants to save everyone and I am sure He did an amazing thing through you back then, my dear sister. 🙂
I am grateful to God to have come to know YOU and I am happy to walk with you, even only virtually as it seems, but in the Spirit we are already together – FOREVER! ❤
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We are bombarded by noise and information from all sides. TV, phone, radio, and new devices I can’t even name. But His voice is all important. Despite the din, we must always listen for that.
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So true, Anna! And so difficult to get away when our days are full with what we must do. Sometimes I really need to break away from my everyday duties in order to find a more silent place where my heart and mind can calm down and thus, finally, are more receptive to hearing HIS voice than to all the other “noisy” ones around me.
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My break away place is in the barn where I live, yep, I live in a barn out in the country. It is here where the world cannot reach me or see me. It is here that I find much solitude and quiet, something that my soul has needed; and it is here where I drink deeply the peace and quiet.
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It must be wonderful to live there, Susie. I was so glad to hear that you experience peace and quiet. 🙂
May God continue to bless you, my dear sister! ❤
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Actually, it is just a humble abode, nothing fancy; an old relic of a barn surrounded by dilapidated turkey brooder houses ( it use to be a turkey ranch). But, the surrounding area is Almond Orchards and Sweet Potatoes, so there are pleasantries around us.
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Mmmhhhh… the surrounding area is surely beautiful, dear Susie! ❤
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Your additional thoughts on this were very helpful, Michael. Indeed, our language(s) can easily fail us. Thank you for sharing your implications with us on here.
God bless you, too.
Susanne
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Susanne, I might add that it is a true challenge to know one another after the spirit in them over the internet alone, but with God all things are possible for time and space are only found as limitations when we know one another after the flesh alone. I am glad that you found what I wrote helpful.
Michael 🐻
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Yes, Michael, it is truly a challenge, but we both know that for God ALL things are possible and since God is Spirit, we may know one another after the spirit without even meeting physically. We have not met Jesus physically, either, and we know Him, or rather, are being known by Him as well. This experience is certainly not something human beings could ever achieve on their own; it must be given by God.
Susanne 🐱
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Yes, knowing Him and one another after the Spirit is where any REAL communication happens, for sure, and it is truly a gift from our Father! 🐻
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Yuppers, brotha. 🐱
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In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God; all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. (John 1:1-3 RSVA)
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Your comment made me smile, Michael. You know why? 😉
Before I posted my reply above, I had added exactly this verse and a reference to my own encounter with our Creator, Jesus Christ, as described in “My Testimony” (https://enteringthepromisedland.wordpress.com/2014/06/13/my-testimony/). But then God nudged me to delete it. Now I know why… 🙂
Thanks a bunch for confirmation, once again, my dear brother. 🐱
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I thought it strange that you had not included this most obvious reference to Christ being in creation. I guess Daddy wanted to make room for me in this thread as well. 🐻
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Although I cannot tell you what God really had in mind, 😉 that might have been part of his intentions too since God wants to see Christ’s Body built up through many members, not only through one of them. And I am glad you weighed in here, Michael. 🐱
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What you just did at His leading is very important. Jesus always included other people in the conversation often by asking questions that He knew the answer to! As when he said to the disciples “Who do men say that I am?” He Open an opportunity for Peter to hear the father speaking to him and for Peter to be affirmed that He could hear the Father’s voice.
Bless you, my dear sister! 🐻
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Thanks a lot, Michael, for saying this!
Great insights of yours here, my brother. 🐱
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Yes and amen, Michael. Excellent exposition! There is nothing that could be added here.
I am glad you mentioned Thomas who suddenly saw God in Jesus although our Lord was not yet risen and God had not yet sent the Holy Spirit from Heaven. God’s ways are truly not ours…
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Thank you, dear Susanne. You are a blessing to us all. Aren’t you glad that God’s ways and His thoughts are not our ways and thoughts? I love a god that is outside the box of human intellect and refuses to be put in one. I just love His surprises when they happen and His Spirit of revelation that He shares with us! 🐻
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You’re very welcome, dear Michael.
Often times I was mad at God because His ways and thoughts were not mine. But the closer He draws me toward Himself, the more I see He is truly love and does not want to withhold anything which is good from His children. He even delights in answering our prayers. Alas, we need a long time until we know how and what to pray for. But one day, we will be amazed when we realize that God hears ALL our prayers. What a lovely God and sweet Lord in Jesus we have. 🐱
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Susanne, If I can dare add one more comment onto this Looooong thread… Regardless of my last comment on here, your honesty has made me get in contact with something that has been bothering me. I must admit that I would like to see God do my will once in a while and do it in my timing. I have one thing I have been praying for for some time and He seems to be taking His own sweet time in answering it. Maybe I am not honest enough to admit that I am “mad at God” as you have, but I AM frustrated with His ways and timing to be honest. Then there is this thing called AGE. HEY GOD! I AM SEVENTY YEARS OLD HERE! I don’t have a lot of time left to see you answer this prayer. But then again, maybe He IS answering it, but just not in the way I wanted.
Susanne, you wrote, “But one day, we will be amazed when we realize that God hears ALL our prayers.” God help me to accept HIS will in HIS timing and LIKE His surprise in the way He answers my prayer. 🐻
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I am glad you added particularly this comment, Michael, and I highly appreciate your honesty.
God cannot help but being drawn to a heart that admits its true (hopeless) condition. I have to also admit that I have had the tendency to always try hard to NOT admit that I cannot change anything about my behavior without God’s help. From hence, no wonder that God must lead us into situations that get us exasperated with ourselves. Frustration, anger, wrath, hatred and more – these are negative feelings we do not only have toward our neighbors, we also have to get aware of basically not being able to love THIS God who behaves so differently from what we want Him to be. No human being loves God and no one desires Him unless He gave them a new heart that has been enabled to do so.
Indeed, it is a long process and I can only imagine your frustrations regarding your age and your hopes and dreams, seeing that God still has His own schedule. But, Michael, I have faith that this “one thing” will be fulfilled, though. Maybe, my words are of little help for you now. However, I keep praying what you wrote about in your last sentence above. Dear brother, God hears our prayers, especially those that ask for being transformed into the image of His Son, which is according to His will.
Love,
Susanne 🐱
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Thank you, Susanne, for you wise and kind reply. Of coarse you are right. You inspire me to get honest with God, for you are so open about your own heart.
God bless you always! 🐻
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You’re very welcome, Michael. I am happy you were inspired! 🙂
May God bless you immensely!!! 🐱
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