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380 | What have you done to know Jesus? · 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 well in John chapter 4.
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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, we invite you to sit down with us as we look
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  to the scriptures to learn more about God and to strengthen your daily walk with Jesus Christ.
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  Living a 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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  In Luke 19, 1-10, we read the story of Zacchaeus, who sought to see the Lord.
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  This passage reminds us that when we see Jesus, we will be rewarded by finding Him.
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  Join Kim Miller in this podcast of Woman at the Well Ministries as she guides
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  us through Scripture, exploring the blessings of seeking and knowing Jesus.
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  I want to come out of Luke chapter 19, beginning in verse 1 and going through verse 10.
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  It's a familiar passage for many of us, and it's one that many of us learned
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  in Sunday school or vacation Bible school or some other youth class that you were in.
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  And we know a song. We're going to talk about Zacchaeus, and he was a wee little man.
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  And he says, And Jesus entered and passed through Jericho.
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  And behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus, which was the chief among the publicans, and he was rich.
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  And he sought to see Jesus, who he was, and could not for the press,
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  because he was of little stature.
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  And he ran before, and he climbed up in a sycamore tree to see him,
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  for he was to pass that way.
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  And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up, and he saw him,
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  and said unto him, Zacchaeus?
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  Make haste and come down for today I must abide at thy house.
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  And he made haste and he came down and received him joyfully.
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  And when they saw it, they all murmured saying that he was gone to be a guest
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  with a man that is a sinner.
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  And Zacchaeus stood and said unto the Lord, behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor.
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  And if I have taken anything from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold.
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  And Jesus said unto him, this day is salvation come to this house for so much
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  as he also is a son of Abraham, for the son of man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.
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  I love this account of Jesus and Zacchaeus.
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  I love that Zacchaeus went out of his way because he wanted to see Jesus.
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  He wanted to look upon Jesus.
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  And Zacchaeus, he did extraordinary thing to see Jesus.
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  He climbed up in a sycamore tree so he could be above the crowd because he wanted to see Jesus.
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  And that act of going out of his way shows us that when you make an effort to experience jesus,
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  then you're going to be rewarded. Because the rest of the account shows us that
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  Jesus not only acknowledged Zacchaeus,
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  but Jesus went home with Zacchaeus, and he sits in Zacchaeus' home.
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  And not only that, he rewards Zacchaeus' experience because he gives Zacchaeus
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  salvation. because when Zacchaeus was seeking the Lord, he found him.
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  In Matthew 7, 7, he says, Ask, and ye shall receive.
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  Seek, and ye shall find. And knock, and it shall be opened unto you.
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  Zacchaeus was not a passive bystander who heard second, third,
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  fourth, fifth hand about who Jesus was.
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  No, he knew of Jesus. and he went to see Jesus and he did whatever it took to see him and to know him.
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  And before we move further into this passage of scripture, I want you to think
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  about what you do to know Jesus.
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  He has given us the greatest love letter ever written from Genesis to Revelations.
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  And in that love letter he tells us
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  if we know him we can fully know god he tells
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  us what his characteristics are he tells us
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  what his motives are he tells us his purpose he gives us a a map for how we're
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  to live our life he speaks to us about the holy spirit and how to have the holy
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  spirit in our life and that we are to listen to the holy spirit as it teaches
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  us and leads us and guides us.
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  He tells us how we are to live.
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  We can fully know the Lord, but so many of us never crack open his word.
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  In 2 Timothy 2.15, he says, to study this, show thyself approved unto God,
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  a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
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  Now, I believe that this rightly dividing the word of truth means that we need
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  to know what it says and understand what it says and understand what it means in its context.
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  But I also believe that it means that we are to know how to use it and when
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  to apply it and what verses fit what situation so that no matter where we find ourselves,
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  as the psalmist David said, it's a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path.
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  He illuminates our life with the light of his word.
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  We have to hide it. he tells us in john chapter 14 that the holy spirit that
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  dwells in us will bring to remembrance those things that we have need of when
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  we have need of it but you can't remember what you never knew.
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  So you have to study it and know it and understand it.
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  And as we read the word of God and we understand that John chapter 1 and verse
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  14 said that the word was made flesh and dwelt among us,
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  that we are reading him, that we have him unfolding before our very eyes and
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  infiltrating our heart through our mind and our eyes as we read his word and we meditate on it.
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  Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.
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  And Zacchaeus, he had a thirsting and a hungering for the Lord because he put
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  himself in harm's way. He could have fallen out of the tree.
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  It took effort and energy to get up that tree.
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  Not to mention, I believe you'll find that though he was a rich tax collector, he was ridiculed.
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  He was made fun of.
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  He was certainly hated. and so
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  putting himself in this tree for the
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  whole world to see was just giving more fodder
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  to those who wanted to say bad things
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  and to hurt him but see nothing mattered to
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  Zacchaeus except seeing Jesus so I
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  wonder what excuse will we
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  have this Sunday for not showing up
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  at church now for some of us we're going
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  to have legitimate reasons we're sick we're disabled
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  we can't get there but for a lot of us it's going to simply be i don't feel
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  like it it's not what i want to do today because we don't have a hungering and
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  thirst to hear what god is going to say to us when we gather and assemble ourselves
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  together with godly people.
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  You got to find a church that you believe in what's being done and said,
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  that the Holy Spirit's running rampant through the church, that there's freedom
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  to experience what God has for you.
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  And then you're going to want to be there and you're going to climb in your
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  seat, which is a whole lot easier than climbing in a sycamore tree.
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  But Zacchaeus shows us that when you experience Jesus, after having put forth.
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  An effort, he's going to reward you.
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  As we move through this, we begin to see that he says to Zacchaeus,
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  make haste and come down, for today I must abide at thy house.
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  But look what he says in verse 6, and
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  he made haste and came down
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  and received him joyfully when jesus
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  calls you do you
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  joyfully receive him or are you just a little concerned about what he's going
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  to ask you to do when jesus calls you do you make haste and immediately and
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  quickly go to meet with him to hear the amazing words that he has to say the life-changing,
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  words that he's going to give you are you quickly in his presence when he calls your name,
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  Do you realize he calls you by name?
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  Zacchaeus was called by name. He was above the crowd in the sycamore tree,
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  but Jesus saw him because Jesus is always looking.
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  Jesus is always watching.
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  Jesus is always near.
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  And we have the opportunity to be in his presence, but we have to choose Jesus. us.
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  We have to choose to be in his presence.
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  Jesus called Zacchaeus by name.
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  Do you know how wonderful that is? I want to read a verse in your hearing,
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  actually two verses in your hearing, out of Isaiah 49 verses 15 and 16.
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  He says, Can a woman forget her suckling
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  child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb?
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  Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee.
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  Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands.
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  Thy walls are continually before me.
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  Our image is engraven in the hands of Almighty God, who loves us,
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  who cares for us, who will never forget us.
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  And Hebrews 13, 5 says, will never leave us or forsake us.
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  Do you understand Jesus loves me? This I know.
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  I also want you to see that he calls to Zacchaeus by name. He tells him to come down in his presence.
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  See, Jesus invites Zacchaeus to be with him.
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  And daily, moment by moment, he's inviting you to be with him.
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  Now, Zacchaeus, he takes full advantage of this amazing opportunity to be present
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  with the Lord, and he makes haste, and he joyfully receives him.
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  Can you say the same?
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  Jesus welcomes those who want to see him.
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  Jesus says in Jeremiah 29, 13, he says, And ye shall seek me and find me,
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  when ye shall search for me with all your heart.
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  It's a common phrase. People say, I found Jesus.
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  Jesus was never lost.
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  Jesus has always been right where he is. And he says, if you take one step towards
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  him, if you draw nigh to him, he'll draw nigh to you.
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  Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.
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  We look at Luke 19 verses 1 through 10, and we get a perfect picture of when
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  you want Jesus in your presence, he's already there.
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  And he has plans for you.
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  Zacchaeus, he needed Jesus.
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  And if you look at verse 9, it says, And Jesus said unto him,
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  This day is salvation come to this house.
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  This day, because Zacchaeus sought the Lord, found the Lord.
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  And when you preach Jesus, sinners are changed. in the presence of Jesus, everything changes.
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  Jesus loves me. This I know, for the Bible tells me so.
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  It's an amazing thing to know that Jesus, regardless of what circumstances you've
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  lived in, regardless of mistakes you've made or things you haven't done.
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  He loves you and he wishes that none should perish but that all should come to repentance.
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  Jesus called Zacchaeus by name. Zacchaeus made effort to be in the presence
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  of the Lord and the Lord rewarded that effort.
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  Zacchaeus had a need and Jesus met it.
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  Now, the last question I have for you regarding this account in Luke 19, 1 through 10,
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  is if Jesus wanted to come to your house today and you were escorting him into that front door,
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  what things would you wish you had put up?
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  Or would you keep him on the porch and say, hang out here for a minute,
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  Jesus, I really need to do a couple of things. and you'd go try to find a Bible
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  and you'd blow some dust off and put it somewhere where he would see it.
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  Or perhaps you would need to put away some of the substances in your house because
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  they're not conducive to a holy life.
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  Or maybe there's some books you would have to get rid of or some DVDs or some
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  albums or some CDs or you might need to clear your Spotify list.
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  And then you'd let Jesus in. I've got news for you.
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  Jesus already sees and knows all of that. And like the woman at the well, he will cleanse you.
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  But first you have to employ 1 John 1, 9 that says, if we confess our sins,
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  he's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
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  Jesus loves me. This I know.
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  My friend, I am praying. that Luke 19.10, 1-10, reminds you of how much Jesus
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  wants to be in your presence.
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  I hope it inspires you to take advantage of every opportunity you have to learn
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  more of Him, to know more of Him, to be with Him.
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  I pray that this time, in Luke 19.1-10, allows you to hear him when he calls your name.
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  You know, there's a lot of truth in the stories we learn as a kid when they
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  are accounts of scripture.
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  Zacchaeus was a wee little man, and a wee little man was he.
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  He climbed up in a sycamore tree for the Lord he wanted to see.
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  Zacchaeus, he got to see the Lord. Because the Lord said, Zacchaeus,
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  come down from that tree.
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  For I'm coming to your house today. Oh, make room for him in your heart and
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  make your house a sanctuary.
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  Where the Holy Spirit feels free, where holiness is part of your life,
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  and where Jesus is the light for all the world to see.
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  Friends, Jesus loves me. This I know.
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  For the Bible tells me so. 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 Woman at the Well Ministries in your app
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  store or through our website at watwm.org.
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  you'll be able to subscribe to Bible Bits, a daily devotion written by Kim and
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  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.
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  Music.