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332 | A Recipe for Success · The Woman at the Well Ministries Podcast

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  Music.
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  Hello, friends, and welcome back to another podcast of Woman at the Well Ministries,
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  where we believe that all of us have to come to Jesus like the woman at the
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  well in John chapter four.
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  Our highest priority is making God real in your life.
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  Whether you are listening in our app, in your favorite podcasting app,
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  or on our website at watwm.org,
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  we invite you to sit down with us as we look to the scriptures to learn more
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  about God and to strengthen in your daily walk with Jesus Christ.
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  Living her life for Christ. She's a happy girl.
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  Music.
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  She's a happy girl.
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  Are you looking for a sure recipe for success?
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  If your answer is yes, then join us in this podcast of Women at the Well Ministries
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  as Kim takes us on a journey through the scriptures, looking at what God says
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  about obtaining success.
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  Today, as we search the scriptures, we are going to look at God's promise to
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  bless those who take refuge in him.
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  Psalm 34.8 says, O taste and see that the Lord is good.
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  Blessed is the man that trusteth in him. This is not only a promise that God
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  gives us, but also a recipe for success in this life and in the next.
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  Join Kim as she takes us on a journey examining God's promise to bless those who trust him.
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  Hello, and thank you for joining us in this podcast of Woman at The Well Ministries.
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  I'm so excited that you have chosen to spend the next few moments with us as
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  we walk through Psalms 34.8, which says, Oh, taste and see, the Lord is good.
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  Blessed is the man that trusteth in him.
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  It's an amazing thing for me. You know, most of us who cook,
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  after a little while, we don't use recipes or certainly don't adhere to them
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  as closely as we did when we were first making a certain dish.
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  We grow confident in what we're doing and we'll make some alterations.
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  But when we first start to make something that we've never made before and we
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  really want it to taste good because
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  it's what we're expecting and looking for to get out of the recipe,
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  then we follow the recipe step by step by step.
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  In fact, we usually study the
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  recipe. We make sure that we're prepared so that we can use the recipe.
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  And we do all of this so that when we come to eat that which we have made,
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  we're not disappointed and it is the best it can be.
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  And it's always interesting to me that we don't take that approach with the Christian life.
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  We don't prepare so that we can be the best Christian that we could be. We don't,
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  follow the recipe from Genesis to Revelation step by step so that it will produce.
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  The abundant life that God promises in John 10.10.
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  And we don't get to know what it is we're trying to do or the one who is creating
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  us so that we could do the purpose he has for us.
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  We don't spend time soaking in the word with him.
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  And I dare say that those of you who are cooks have spent a lot of time with that favorite recipe.
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  You spent a lot of time with that favorite dish that you wanted to learn how
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  to make until one day you confidently could make it, perhaps without even pulling out the recipe.
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  And this, my friend, is the analogy I want to give to you that we see in Psalms 34.8.
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  What we see is that when we are intimately embracing the Word of God,
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  when we know Jesus for who He is and the character of God,
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  when we understand what He's asking of us and how He enables us and supplies
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  our every need and holds our right hand and gives us a firm foundation and leads us.
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  If only we acknowledge him, he directs us.
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  And when we get in that place where we have submitted ourselves to him and allow
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  the Lord to take control of our life and be king of our hearts,
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  when we've gotten to that place,
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  then we confidently walk in him and he blesses us.
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  See, the reality of it is that every person will live for eternity,
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  but not every person will spend eternity in heaven.
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  In fact, the scriptures say that the bowels of hell are enlarging every day.
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  That means that people are going to hell.
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  But yet he tells us that he wishes that none should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
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  He tells us that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
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  He says, for by grace are we saved, through faith and that not of ourselves.
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  It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.
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  He says, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son,
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  that whoso believeth in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.
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  Heaven is ours for the choosing. Choose you this day whom you will serve.
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  Yet people will not spend eternity in heaven.
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  However, they will spend an eternity.
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  Those who've put their trust in God and have believed in his son,
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  Jesus, they're going to never perish, and they will spend an eternity in heaven with Jesus.
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  They will be forever with the one who died for them.
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  But those who have not placed their faith in
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  Jesus and have not believed in the only begotten son of God which
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  is Jesus they're going to spend their eternity in hell
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  because they did not believe in the only name Jesus and the only begotten son
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  so they were condemned already because it is through and by him that we obtain
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  salvation for our sins and all of us are sinners in need of a Savior,
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  but he is the way and he's the only way.
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  So why is it that even those of us who profess him as Savior somehow seem to
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  have missed the recipe for success?
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  Well, just in case that might be you, here's what Psalms 34 8 says again.
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  He says, oh, taste and see that the Lord is good.
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  So as we begin to peel back the layers of what God is telling us,
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  we can see from the very beginning we must trust in God.
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  And by doing so, we will be blessed.
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  First and foremost, when we trust in God and his son Jesus, we are blessed with eternal life.
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  And we are saved from the wrath of sin. For whosoever shall call upon the name
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  of the Lord shall be saved, according to Romans 10, 13. But his blessings don't
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  just stop with eternal life and the salvation from sin.
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  The blessings continue in countless ways. In fact, in Psalm 68,
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  19, he says, Blessed be the Lord who daily loadeth us with benefits,
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  even the God of our salvation.
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  Day by day, the God of our salvation bears our burdens and he carries us.
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  Day after day, God shows us his kindness.
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  He rescues us and he gives us his unmerited favor.
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  His grace he bestows upon each and every one of us.
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  The blessings of God are too numerous to count, too great to explain, and are never-ending.
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  God's blessings, they show up in so many different ways. And they're marvelous,
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  and they're amazing, and they're incredible.
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  They're often unexpected, but his blessings are always amazingly wonderful.
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  God loves us, and he says that no good thing does he withhold from them who walk uprightly.
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  The Lord wishes and wants to give you good things, just like your earthly father,
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  wants to give you good things.
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  How much more does your heavenly father, who loves you more than you can imagine,
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  who cares for you even when you can't hardly love yourself.
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  He sees beyond your faults, he sees your needs, and he looks at what your potential
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  would be if you would only trust and obey.
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  God blesses every believer and unbeliever because it rains on the just and the unjust.
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  Those who do not believe in Jesus Christ but are experiencing the breath of
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  life, that's a blessing.
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  That's one more moment in time that they can come to know him as Savior.
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  They also experience the beautiful sunrises and sunsets, the amazing ocean,
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  the incredible beauty of nature, the amazing miracle of birth,
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  the warmth of the sun, God blesses us all.
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  But the blessings of the believer are not confined to this world.
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  They are literally also out of this world.
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  Because those who have given their life to Jesus Christ and have claimed him
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  as Savior, they're going to continue in eternity with him.
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  But those who have not, they're going to be separated forever from him.
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  See, this verse in Psalms 34, 8 says, See, this means that we are going to do
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  more than just kind of look at it.
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  We're going to literally get to know it.
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  We're going to be familiar with who God is.
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  We're going to allow him to have presence in our life.
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  See, God blesses those who put their trust in him with eternal life in heaven,
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  we're told in John 14, 1 through 3.
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  And he really wants you to think about that because he reveals in Psalm 68,
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  19 that he stamps this verse with the word Selah, which says to pause for a
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  moment and think about this truth.
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  Blessed be the Lord who daily loadeth us with his benefits, even the God of our salvation, Selah.
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  God has given us a recipe for success,
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  and he enables us to live when we trust in him and follow his commandments in
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  such a way that we are able to
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  know the blessings of God and to live the abundant life that he promises.
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  And he wants us to think about that.
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  The Lord loves you.
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  God loves you so much he sent his son. His son loves you so much that he gave his life for you.
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  You are loved.
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  So pause for a moment and reflect upon God's blessings in your life.
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  This should be more than enough to motivate you to follow after him,
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  to love him with your whole heart, soul, mind, and entire being.
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  As we begin to look at what it means in Psalms 34, 8, to taste and see that
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  the Lord is good, we could get confused a little bit.
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  But as we look deeper, this command informs us that God is just saying,
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  don't just look and observe at the goodness of God.
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  Don't just look at what he's doing for others, but embrace him.
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  Embrace his goodness for yourself.
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  If you think about this for a moment, when you go to a buffet and you see all
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  the wonderfully prepared food, it kind of can make your mouth water and you
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  can can almost be confused.
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  What will I eat? Which one of these am I really going to eat?
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  Because I have a limited capacity in my stomach and there's such vast greatness around me.
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  And you're fully aware that all that food in front of you is amazing.
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  But until you try it, until you taste it for yourself, you don't know of its sweetness. goodness.
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  You haven't experienced how satisfying it is.
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  You're unaware of the amazing joy that eating it's going to give you.
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  You only know what it looks like and the potential it has, but the minute you
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  take it and you taste it, you know all there is to know about it.
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  You are experiencing the goodness.
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  This is what I'm talking about, about tasting and seeing that the Lord is good.
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  Don't live on somebody else's blessings.
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  Don't sit on the outside and watch somebody else's relationship with Jesus Christ
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  and their embracing of who God is in their life.
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  Don't rest on somebody else's faith. It doesn't work.
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  You have to get in and taste and see that the Lord is good.
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  You've got to experience it because when you really have a personal relationship
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  with him and you begin to hear him and read about him and know him and experience
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  his presence in your life,
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  you are no longer wondering about it, but you are experiencing the goodness.
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  You aren't just a spectator seeing what everyone else is enjoying.
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  You are enjoying the benefits of a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
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  You're now actually partaking of it yourself. self. You're embracing it,
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  and you are personally experiencing the goodness of God.
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  Truthfully, you've experienced the goodness of God, whether you've acknowledged
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  it or not, but when you begin to acknowledge it, you can dive deeper.
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  You can have a stronger understanding, and the blessings things become so valuable
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  to you because they're expressions of his love, his watch care, his grace, his mercy.
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  So don't settle for watching the goodness unfold in other people's lives.
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  Embrace Jesus, trust in him, and know for yourself the goodness of God.
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  It's important, my friend, that you taste and see that he is good and that you begin to trust.
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  And the more you trust, the more you believe.
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  And Mark 9, 23 says, if thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.
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  My friend, you may be sitting on a front row seat to watch the glory and goodness
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  of God unfold in front of you.
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  Maybe you need a miracle maybe you
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  need to see him reveal himself
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  to you in a particular special way it's your faith in him that unlocks heaven's
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  door and all of the resources of heaven become part of your arsenal because
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  he's wrapped you according to ephesians 6 in the armor of god he's blessed
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  you abundantly, according to what we read in Psalm 68 and 19.
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  He has given you all that you need.
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  You have to trust. We are promised a relationship with Jesus Christ if we trust in him. He will bless us.
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  What does it mean to trust in God? It means to have a firm belief in God's reliability.
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  Confidence, and a belief in he is the truth and all that he asks of you is correct and right.
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  It's having an unwavering confidence in his ability and his strength trusting
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  in god means you have enough faith in god to not waver true faith is not dependent
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  upon your circumstances,
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  it is an understanding and a knowledge of who god is so he's god in the good
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  times he's god God in the bad times and he's God in every time in between.
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  He's God when you understand and he's God when you don't, because when you understand,
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  you're not exercising faith.
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  But when you don't understand, faith comes into play.
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  And without faith, it is impossible to please him.
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  And you must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
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  Taste and see See that the Lord is good.
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  Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding.
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  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
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  Be not wise in thine own eyes. Fear the Lord, and depart from evil.
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  A life of faith is a life of holiness, holiness, and a life of holiness is a life that God can bless.
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  Is asking you to taste and see that he is good.
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  He's asking you to step out on faith and trust in him, to know who he is,
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  to know that he is who he says he is,
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  and to fully rely upon the fact that he will do what he says he will do.
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  Today's the day that you stop having a religious smorgasbord Lord,
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  where you can't make up your mind who you're going to trust or what you're going to do,
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  where you come to church and you watch others be blessed and you watch other
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  people experience joy in the Lord that you're not.
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  Today is the day that changes for you if you will trust in him.
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  Salvation isn't about religion. Salvation is about God's grace that you believe
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  enough to receive for your salvation because he was a sinless, spotless lamb of God.
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  Salvation isn't about your works. It's about his finished works on the cross of Calvary.
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  Salvation is about faith. It's about believing in him.
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  It's about knowing that you can trust him and then doing it.
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  Taste and see that the Lord is good. He will never fail you.
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  You'll never regret doing it.
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  And it is the decision in your life that will follow you through eternity.
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  Today is the day. Now is the accepted time for the Lord to save you.
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  Remember you are loved, Jesus. Loves you.
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  Music.
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  Thank you for joining us in today's podcast. You can visit the show notes for
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  quotes from today's podcast and scripture references.
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  We pray today has been a blessing and we encourage you to reach out to us through
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  our app, our website, or our Facebook page.
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  You can find our app by searching for a woman at the well ministries in your
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  app store or through our website at watwm.org.
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  We're on Facebook at facebook.com slash watwm.
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  If you visit our website, you'll be able to subscribe to Bible Bits,
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  a daily devotion written by Kim and delivered Monday through Friday by text message.
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  Woman at the Well Ministries is a nonprofit organization dedicated to serving our Heavenly Father.
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  And it is through your loving and generous support that our ministry continues to bless others.
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  To learn how to partner with Woman at the Well Ministries, please visit our website.
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  Thank you to the gospel group Fudge Creek for letting us use their hit song, Happy Girl.
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  We greatly appreciate your prayers. We are praying daily for our listeners.
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  Remember that God loves you. You are God.
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  Music.