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April 24, 2025 Daily Reading- Read the Bible in 1 Year
5 Plays7 minutes ago
Thank you for joining me as we learn about the connection between Passover, First Fruits, and Shavuot (Pentecost) today. As part of understanding and observing the festivals that God has appointed for us to observe we count the Omer today and then we will have our daily Bible reading session!
Here is the link for a downloadable devotional if you would like to count the Omer for yourself. It has been put out by the Messianic Congregation Shoresh David in Florida: https://www.shoreshdavid.org/download/counting-the-omer-booklet/
Today we will begin reading the book of Ecclesiastes, written by King Solomon. Today's reading will cover chapters 1-3. We will read about King Solomon searching for happiness and learning through his pursuit to find happiness the best thing to do to be happy is to enjoy work! Can you believe it? WORK is the key to being happy! That is so contrary to the world's view of the pursuit of happiness! Being happy in our work is God's gift to us! So how do we be happy in our work? In our discussion today we will talk about reading the book Living Fearless, written by Jamie Winship. This book talks about exchanging the lies that the enemy tells us about who we are for the truth of who God says He made us to be. Doing this will help us BE who God made us to be so that we can BE who we are in EVERYTHING that we do, which will then allow us to look at the work we do with a whole new perspective and allow us to be happy in the work that we do because will realize the unique value that we were created to bring into the work we do! Voila! We are happy in our work and thus happy in our day, looking forward to the work we will do today, rather than dreading it! It is God's gift to us!
You can find more information on Identity Exchange here: https://www.identityexchange.com/ If you click on the link for books, you will find his book, Living Fearless, on Amazon.
If you would like to join me LIVE for the daily reading you can register to attend on my site, here: https://www.inthefamilywaycoaching.com/schedule
Registration for the live event is a tiered pricing event, so you are not required to pay to attend, only if you feel led. If you feel led to support this event with either a paid live registration or a monthly membership then I will give back to YOU by sending you a printed copy of the monthly calendar on sugar cane paper along with a set of stickers for the month to keep track of your daily commitment to read the Bible with me every day.
Monthly memberships to support this event can be purchased on my site, here: https://www.inthefamilywaycoaching.com/offering_packages
Please note, while this FREE online event is a family friendly event and the Bible we are using is suitable for ages 7 and up, you must be 18 or older to support this event by purchasing any monthly membership or by registering for the live event, whether registration for the live event is done with or without supporting the event with a paid registration.
If you enjoyed today's reading and feel like God has lit YOUR light today, please click the LIGHT button (it looks like a HEART or LIKE button) and consider subscribing to or following my channel, if you have not done so already.
If you know someone who might be interested in reading the Bible with me this year please SHARE today's reading with them! It's never too late to join in! Let's help this event grow and together we can spread the word about reading God's Word!
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Transcript
Introduction and Purpose
00:00:03
Speaker
Hello everybody! Today is Thursday. It's April 24th, 2025 and you're here with Robin at In The Family Way Coaching.
Bible Reading Progress
00:00:12
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We are here for our daily Bible reading.
00:00:14
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We are going through the Bible this year and we are reading the Day by Day Kids Bible written by Karen Henley.
00:00:24
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And if you are keeping track with your calendar, It's time to get that out and get that sticker ready or however you are marking it off because you're about to hear the Bible today.
00:00:37
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We are almost done. One, two, three, four, five, six more days and we will be done with this month. I just can't believe how fast this year is flying by for me. and wonder if you're having the same experience this year.
Counting the Omer
00:00:51
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We are also here for our daily counting of the Omer in obedience to God's commandment to do so in that time after Passover and before Shavuot or Pentecost.
00:01:04
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So if you would like to join with me in ah counting the Omer, just repeat after me.
00:01:12
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Blessed are you, o Lord our God, King of the universe, who has set us apart by your commandments and has commanded us to count the Omer.
00:01:29
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Today is the fourth day of the second week and day 11. I have counted the Omer.
00:01:40
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Thank you for joining me as we count the Omer. There are 50 days in all, in case you are wondering how many days we will be counting. So today we counted day 11, and so we still have quite a bit to go.
00:01:54
Speaker
Thank you so much for joining me here today. Whether you are following along on your favorite podcasting apps such as Apple Music or Amazon Music, Pandora so or Spotify, or whether you're watching by video on Spotify or YouTube or YouTube Music.
00:02:11
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ah That would be the audio portion only on YouTube Music. However you are here or even on my site, I do have every day's ah audio and video posted on the website.
00:02:22
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In case you don't know the website, it is www.inthefamily.org. waycoaching.com and if you click on that tab for read the bible in one year you will see a subcategory menu appear below it and then you can choose april or march however whichever month you want to listen to for audio readings or just the regular readings which are on video So I'm glad we're here
Introduction to Ecclesiastes
00:02:51
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today.
00:02:51
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We are going to be starting the book of Ecclesiastes today. And ah I did not know this ahead of time, but Ecclesiastes was written by King Solomon. And that's why Ecclesiastes is where it is at our time in the Bible, because Karen Henley's Day by Day Kids Bible is written in chronological form in storybook format.
00:03:13
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So we have one continuous story that tells us the big story from Genesis to Revelation. So in the books of the Bible, some events may be repeated or recorded in more than one book of the Bible.
00:03:27
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And so what Karen Henley has done is consolidated all of the events and placed them in timeline so that we have one continuous story. And it's so much easier to understand God's big story that way.
00:03:40
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Isn't it wonderful what what project God gave Karen Henley to work on? And she did such a beautiful job on it. I am really enjoying it. And I am so thankful that I will know the big story after we finish this year.
Themes of Ecclesiastes 1-3
00:03:56
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So let's go ahead and get started with our reading today. As I mentioned, Ecclesiastes is written by King Solomon. So today's ah reading will cover Ecclesiastes chapters one, two, and three.
00:04:14
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The first section for chapter one is entitled, Nothing New.
00:04:20
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These are the words of the teacher, Solomon the King. Nothing, nothing, the teacher says. It's good for nothing. What good is all the work people do?
00:04:35
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People live, people die, but the earth stays forever. The sun comes up, the sun goes down, then it comes up again.
00:04:48
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The wind blows south and then north. It keeps going around and around. All the rivers rush to the sea, but the sea never fills up.
00:05:03
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And water keeps filling the rivers. All of it makes me more tired than I can say. Everything that's been done will be done again. There's nothing new in the world.
00:05:18
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Can anybody say this is new? it was already here a long time ago. It was here before we lived. I am the teacher.
00:05:30
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I was the king of God's people. I worked hard to study and find out things. And I saw what a hard time people have. I saw everything they do.
00:05:42
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It seems like they're doing it for nothing. It's like chasing the wind. Things that are bent can't be made flat again. You can't count something that's not there.
00:05:57
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I thought about it. See, have grown wise, wiser than any king before me. So I worked hard to understand what it means to be wise.
00:06:11
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I also tried to understand how fools think, but I learned that this was like chasing the wind too. When you're wise, you see many sad things. The more you know, the more sadness you see.
00:06:28
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Chapter Two, Chasing the Wind. So I said, I'll look for things that make me feel good. But that ended up being good for nothing.
00:06:38
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I said, laughing is silly. What good does it do to try to make yourself feel good? I tried cheering myself up with wine. I tried thinking like a fool, but I couldn't.
00:06:52
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I wanted to find out what's really good to do. So I started doing things. I built houses for myself. I planted fields and fruit trees.
00:07:06
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I planted gardens and parks. I made pools of water for watering new trees. I bought slaves to work for me. I got lots of cows and sheep.
00:07:18
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I got silver and gold. I got land and singers. I got women to love me. I became greater than anyone who ever lived.
00:07:29
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I got whatever I wanted. was happy doing all that work, and that was the good that came from my work. When it was done, looked at it all.
00:07:42
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I had worked hard to get it. But it was not good for anything. It was like chasing the wind. I really hadn't gotten anything.
00:07:55
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So I thought about being wise. I thought about being a fool. Being wise is better than being a fool. The wise men can see and understand.
00:08:08
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The fool can't. It seems like a fool walks in the dark. I thought, I know what will happen to the fool. The same thing will happen to me.
00:08:21
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So what good is being wise? I thought, this is no good. People won't remember the fool, but they won't remember the wise person either.
00:08:34
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The wise person will die just like the fool will. I hated the things I had worked to get. I knew I'd just have to leave them behind. The next king will get them.
00:08:46
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And who knows, maybe he will be wise and maybe he will be a fool. Maybe he will, but he will be in charge of everything I worked for. It's too bad.
00:08:58
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What do people get for all their work? They get hurt. They get sad.
00:09:07
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Even at night, their minds can't rest. The best thing to do is to eat and drink. Be happy in your work. This comes from God.
00:09:19
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If you don't have God, how can you enjoy anything?
00:09:26
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Chapter three, a time for everything. There's a time for everything. There's a season for everything people do. A time to be born and a time to die.
00:09:40
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ah time to plant and a time to pull plants up. A time to kill and a time to heal. time to break and a time to build.
00:09:54
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ah time to cry and a time to laugh. A time to throw stones and a time to gather them. A time to hug and a time not to hug.
00:10:07
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A time to hunt and a time to give up the hunt. A time to keep things and a time to throw things away. ah time to tear and a time to mend.
00:10:23
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A time to be quiet and a time to talk. A time to love and a time to hate. A time for war and a time for peace.
00:10:38
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I saw what God did. He made everything beautiful in its own time. He let us think about things that last forever. Even then, we can't know the beginning or the end.
00:10:53
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I know the best thing we can do. We'll be happy as long as we can. We'll eat and drink and be happy in our work.
00:11:05
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That's God's gift to us. I know everything God does will last forever and nobody can add anything to it. Nobody can take anything away from it.
00:11:17
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God planned it this way. He did it so people will look up to him and wonder. So I saw that the best thing is to enjoy work.
00:11:30
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Nobody can tell what will happen after that.
00:11:34
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And that's the end of our reading today.
Reflecting on Solomon's Wisdom
00:11:40
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Solomon asked for wisdom when he first became king. And God was amazed at his answer and said, you did not ask me for riches. You didn't ask me to kill your enemies.
00:11:55
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He said, so I will make you wise and I will make you the wisest person who has ever lived and who ever will live. And with that wisdom comes a great deal of burden and responsibility we see.
00:12:09
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And he was very rich because God said he would also make him very rich. And so Solomon bought everything he wanted to buy. he did everything he wanted to do.
00:12:22
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and those things in and of themselves did not make him happy. Let's learn from the wisest person God put on the earth, not to go chasing after things because they won't make us happy.
00:12:38
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What makes us happy is doing the work that God created us to do.
00:12:46
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And that must be why one of my big goals in life I have such a draw to is that I want people to know who they are, who God created them to be, because you were made to do something.
00:13:01
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You are uniquely you and you have been given gifts to do things in a way that nobody else will think about doing them. Same thing with me.
00:13:12
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And when we learn who we are in God, this is actually taught in Ephesians 1, 2. I mean, 1 also, not 1 and 2. This is taught in Ephesians 1 to be who we are in Christ, to be who we were made made to be.
00:13:29
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And then when we know who we are, then we do that work that God has given us and then everything he gives us to do, when we do it, we will be doing it with his purpose.
00:13:41
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There's a wonderful book that God has led me to and it's called Living ah Fearless.
Recommendation: 'Living Fearless'
00:13:48
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And it's written by Jamie Winship and he didn't invent this concept. It was taught to him.
00:13:54
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But the enemy tries to tell us lies. about who we are. He tells us, I'm not successful. I have no purpose. I don't have any special gifts.
00:14:04
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He tells me I'm a failure. He tells me I'm not good at anything. But when we exchange those lies and we take those lies and we take them to God and we say, i think I am this, I am this.
00:14:17
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In grammar, it it is similar to math. When we say one plus one is two, we are saying that they are the same. One and one are the same as two.
00:14:30
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And that's the same as when we say, bad. am ah i am unforgivable. I am unlovable.
00:14:42
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We are making a mathematical equation saying that this is who we are. And we don't think of it that way, but that's exactly what we're doing. And even if we don't realize it, our mind does.
00:14:56
Speaker
And so we tell ourselves that this is who we are. If you take those things to God, I highly recommend the book Living Fearless. And it will help you learn ah how to be who you are. And it's all about, it's very simple.
00:15:12
Speaker
It just goes, it just gives more detail about it. But all you have to do is go to God with confession and say, not I'm sorry, because we've talked about the fact that confession is not simply saying, I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
00:15:24
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It's to tell the truth. So when you tell God, i am bad. i am unforgivable. I am unlovable. Exchange that truth.
00:15:35
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exchange that lie rather for the truth that God gives us. And what that does is that allows you to be who you are so that once you realize he will give you a new name.
00:15:48
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And then once you have that name, you be that I am loved. I am forgiven. And what happens is we end up acting like what we believe. So if we feel rejected,
00:16:05
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We will be rejected. We will act rejected. And I did this and I realized that I was feeling rejected, for instance. And once God told me i am accepted, then it gave me freedom to be accepted.
00:16:22
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And so now I don't worry about being rejected. Every once in a while those thoughts might come when I experience something with somebody and God quickly snaps that back and reminds me, uh-uh, you are not rejected.
00:16:34
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You are accepted. God accepts me. My identity is not in what other people give me. You're a bad person. No, that's the accuser saying that.
00:16:47
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So what does that have to do with today?
Identity in God
00:16:50
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The work that we do is to be who we are. So when I am accepted, then I behave accepted and everything that I am doing, it it affects my whole outlook, my whole behavior.
00:17:04
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And then everything that you do that God gives you for your work, whatever job you're doing, you will behave accepted. And just watch how even, doesn't seem like accepted is a job, but it really does. it it is who you are. And you are accepted too, by the way.
00:17:25
Speaker
And then when we do the work that God has given us, it's not just the good works that he has set up, it's everything that he has given us to do to be. Everything in our life, we are meant to be who he made us to be.
00:17:38
Speaker
The enemy knows this, and so he wants to take this from us. He wants to give us lies. And when we exchange those lies for the truth, then we are ready to do the work that God has given us to do. It puts us in a whole other light of doing what we were made to do.
00:17:55
Speaker
and I've spoken in the beginning and in other times that God works everything into good and that we are right where we are meant to be. And when things happen, they are not bad. They are simply the things that must happen then in order to move us to where we need to be.
00:18:14
Speaker
So there's nothing bad happening. Even when people seem to treat us badly, we need to be who we are and do what we were meant to do and just trust in God that he is with us and he is taking us through everything and guiding us along by hand to take us to where we need to be.
00:18:33
Speaker
Just like he did Ruth and and and Naomi so that Ruth could marry Boaz. Then The work that we do, we are open to do the work that he gave us and to enjoy it instead of thinking that, oh, this is what I have to do. I'm doing this because I have to do it and this is where I am.
00:18:56
Speaker
Once you realize that you are doing things uniquely the way God made you to be, then the work you are doing will take on much more meaning and much more importance because you are bringing something to the world, you, in everything that you
Conclusion and Encouragement
00:19:16
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do.
00:19:16
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So enjoy the work that God has given you to do, knowing that you are free to do it the way God made you to be. And as King Solomon says, i saw that the best thing is to enjoy work That's the best thing.
00:19:35
Speaker
When you are free to be you, then you are free to enjoy the work that you do every day. and it won't seem like work. And that's what I love. And that's what I've been wanting to bring to people with my In The Family Way coaching.
00:19:50
Speaker
Aside from just reading the Bible every day, this is part of it. I want everybody to learn to be who God made them to be. so that they can enjoy the work that God has given us to do.
00:20:03
Speaker
Because the wisest man on earth has figured out that that is the best way to be happy. Don't we all want to be happy? i know I do.
00:20:14
Speaker
I love to be happy. And you can't find your happiness in watching comedy movies. Those are fun things. But they are temporary and fleeting. Like Solomon said, they don't last.
00:20:26
Speaker
What does last? the joy and the peace that we get from being who we are. And we're going to be taking who we are into our transformation when we eventually go up into heaven and when we are living in the spirit.
00:20:41
Speaker
God is growing us. He is growing you. I'm going to put a link ah for that book. I don't get anything from from the book, sales. i don't have an affiliate link or anything.
00:20:53
Speaker
That's simply for you. And I don't have a copy sitting here with me. I have one in the other room. I should have brought one in with me so I could show you. But it's called Living Fearless by Jamie Winship. And I encourage everybody here who doesn't already know about that book to read it so that you can learn who you are.
00:21:12
Speaker
and exchange every time that enemy tells you a lie, because it's not just one and done. He will continue to tell you lies throughout your whole life. And every time he tells you a lie, take that lie, confess it to God, and listen for the truth that he gives you, and then be it.
00:21:32
Speaker
That's the way to true happiness. Well, thank you very much for joining me today. I hope that you feel that God has lit your light today. and especially in reading these amazing things from King Solomon who had everything money could buy and found that the true happiness comes from doing the work that God gave us to do, has lit your light.
00:21:55
Speaker
If so, please click that light button so that we can encourage others to listen to these messages that God has set out there for us in his word. And together we can spread the word about reading God's word.
00:22:09
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Have a great rest of your day. I hope you enjoy the work that God has given you today. And I will be with you here again to tomorrow.