Latest / The Woman at the Well Ministries Podcast / 488 | Christ, Our Eternal Strength

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488 | Christ, Our Eternal Strength · The Woman at the Well Ministries Podcast

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  Music.
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  She's a happy girl. Hello, friends, and welcome back to another podcast of Woman
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  at the Well Ministries, where we believe that all of us have to come to Jesus
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  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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  Are you tired and weary? The Bible not only tells us not to be weary in well-doing,
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  but shows us that our strength comes from God, whose strength never fails.
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  Philippians 4.13 tells us that we can do all things through Christ, which strengthens us.
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  And Romans 5.6 reveals to us that when we were at our weakest,
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  God was at his strongest.
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  Nothing in our lives will ever render us as helpless as the burden of sin.
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  Romans 5.6 tells us that for when we were yet without strength,
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  in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
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  So join us in this broadcast of Woman at the Well Ministries as Kim walks us
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  through the Holy Scriptures, revealing God's promise to be our strength.
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  Hello, and thank you for joining us in this broadcast of Woman at the Well Ministries.
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  And as always, it is a pleasure to spend the next few moments with you,
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  just looking at the treasures that God has for us in his holy word.
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  It is the only book that you can read, and each time you read it,
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  it comes alive in new and different ways.
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  It is the only book that is always right for whatever need you have in your
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  life. and I'm just so excited that you've chosen to spend the next few moments with us.
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  We're talking about Christ, our eternal strength.
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  And I know that each of you that I'm speaking to right now have found yourselves
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  in places where you just felt like you couldn't go on and you felt like you
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  just couldn't take another step.
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  And you were pretty sure that the task that lay before you, the path that was
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  laying in front of you was one you just could not go any further on.
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  But my friends, I have good news for you, because the Bible has given us promises.
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  That not only should encourage us and inspire us to continue on,
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  but shows us exactly how we can grasp what he has for us so that we have what we need for the journey.
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  Remember that in Jeremiah 29, 11, that the Lord says he has an expected end
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  for us and he knows the plans that he has for us.
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  You see, my friend, he has set us on a journey, created, handpicked,
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  and completely supplied for all of our needs.
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  You see, I'd like to submit before you this little scenario.
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  When as a family we get ready to go on vacation, my family may not be like yours,
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  but if it's a long road trip, we spend an inordinate amount of time making sure
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  we have enough snacks in the car.
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  And we make sure that there's enough drinks to drink. And we make sure that
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  they're strategically placed in the car so that we can reach them.
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  And we make sure that we have paper towels. And should we have something that
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  needs a knife to be peeled, we make sure we have a knife.
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  And if we have three or four people in the car, which we generally do when we
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  travel, we make sure we have something that each person likes.
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  And then some of us are hot-natured and some of us are extremely cold-natured,
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  so we make sure that we have a little blankie for those in the back who need
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  a little cover to keep themselves warm.
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  And then sometimes we'll make sure we have just the perfect pillow so that we
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  can just settle in for a nice ride.
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  And then some of us don't travel well, so we make sure there are little things
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  to keep them occupied and to play with and to read and to do whatever they can
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  in the car so that everything is fine.
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  And then we make sure, if there's any room left, that we have all the provisions
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  we're going to need for the weeks that we're going to go away on vacation.
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  And we make sure that we've got our clothes, and we generally go to a hot climate
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  or to the beach, so we make sure that we have suntan lotion,
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  and we check a list, and we make that list, and we check it and we go over and over.
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  And before we embark on that trip.
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  We have done everything we could to see to it that we have all that we need.
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  Friends, we're just mere mortal people setting out on a vacation.
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  How much more complete, efficient, abundantly adequate do you think God has
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  planned for the journey he created for you?
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  How much more do you think
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  his provisions are completely all
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  you need for that journey that he
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  has carved out for your life i can only supply a few bottles of water he is
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  the living water i can only have what i place in the car as i journey down unless
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  i stop and go out and get something and bring it in.
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  He is the great I am, so he has everything I need.
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  I can only get where I'm going if I have some sort of directions to get me there.
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  He is the way.
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  Friends, we know how much time we spend making our journey,
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  little adventure, our trip, as fun
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  and as filled with what
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  we expect as possible how much
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  more and how much better added
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  is he than we are how much
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  more time and how many more blessings and provisions does he have awaiting us
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  so my friend the next time that you embark upon one of life's journeys whether
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  it be the path of sickness the path of health,
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  the path of wealth or the path of poverty, whether it be a path that is going
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  through the valley or one climbing up the mountain or one standing on the mountain.
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  Take one moment of your time and reflect back at how much time you prepare for
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  one little week's vacation and then realize how much planning God has gone into
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  the journey of your life.
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  And then you truly can do what he says. The supplication and thanksgiving,
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  let your requests be made known unto God and the peace of God that passes all
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  understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
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  You see, what I'm telling you is, is that when we allow Christ to be our strength,
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  faith, then our journey goes smoother.
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  When we allow Christ to be the one in control, we get to the place we're supposed to get.
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  And when you're at your wit's end and you're without any strength left in you
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  and you feel like you can't go on, that's probably the very first time you've
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  been in the place you're supposed to be.
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  Because he says, when I am weak, then he is strong.
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  I will ask you, please, to turn to Romans chapter 5, beginning at verse 1 and including verse 6.
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  Therefore being justified by faith
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  we have peace with god through our lord jesus
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  christ by whom also we have access by
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  faith into this grace wherein we stand and
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  rejoice in hope of the glory of god and
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  not only so but we glory in tribulations also knowing
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  that tribulation worketh patience and patience experience and experience hope
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  and hope maketh not a shame because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts
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  by the Holy Ghost, which is given unto us.
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  But when we were yet without strength, in due time, Christ died for the ungodly.
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  Friends, Romans 3.23 says that we've all sinned and come short of the glory of God.
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  My friends, we were the ungodly. So let's get that straight.
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  Our works are as filthy rags, and nothing we do has any merit or any worth without Jesus Christ.
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  And all the works that we do in the flesh will burn as hay and stubble.
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  Only the things done for Christ will last.
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  As we begin to look at this passage of scripture, I want you to see that we are justified by faith.
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  I believe that one of the most precious words in all of God's Bible is the word justified.
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  I was but a small child when I had a minister explain to me that justified means
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  just as if I never sinned.
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  You see, when I stand before Jesus Christ, without him cleansing my heart and
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  saving my soul and wiping away my sins, I am unworthy to stand in front of him.
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  I have no right, no access, nothing to be face to face with the God of the universe.
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  But once I come to him through faith, you see, he says anything done without faith is sin.
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  And he says, but 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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  Well, when I have placed my faith in him, for by grace are you saved through
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  faith and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works,
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  lest any man should boast.
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  When I take him at his word and realize that he said, for God so loved the world
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  that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not
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  perish, but have everlasting life.
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  I can stand before him just as if I had never sinned, because when he sees me,
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  he sees the blood, and it's the shedding of his innocent blood upon me and my
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  heart when I come repentant to him at the throne of his mercy and grace that
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  allows me to be cleansed from all unrighteousness.
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  And through my face, he doesn't see a scarred, marred individual.
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  Individual, he sees his creation in his image.
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  And I believe he sees the reflection of his nail-scarred hands when he looks at me.
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  I believe his image is imprinted upon my heart.
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  And I believe when he sees me, all he sees is the potential of me when he's in me,
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  not the worthlessness of flesh
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  and bone as we begin to look we
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  see that we have a peace with God how
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  could you not feel a calming peace knowing what we just spoke of that because
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  of Jesus Christ's sacrificial death on the cross of Calvary because he loved
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  me before I could ever love him you,
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  He chose to bear my sin debt. He paid my sin debt.
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  The God of the universe, leaving the splendor of heaven, to walk and talk among
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  men, to deal with the yuckiness of this life,
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  to be tempted yet like as we are, yet without sin, to endure all of the temptations
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  and all of the struggles that we as a collective people will endure.
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  So that when we come boldly to the throne of God as we're invited to in Hebrews
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  4, we have confidence and know that not only is he capable of supplying our.
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  Need, but he fully understands what we need.
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  Because he's been there, done that, and got the scars to prove it.
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  He wears them in his body.
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  That's peaceful because I have the confidence of knowing that through Jesus
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  Christ, I have access to the Father. And that brings me peace.
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  And we have access by this faith into his grace.
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  I hope sometime that God gives me opportunity to teach lessons on grace.
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  Grace has been defined as unmerited favor and love of God. You see,
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  it's being in God's favor or one of his elect.
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  Do you realize that when you come to Jesus with a repentant heart and ask him
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  to be your Savior, that you are now born into the family of God?
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  And you talk about a crest, a family crest.
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  All the jewels and all the family crests in
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  this world cannot hold a light to the
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  glory of the crest of christ you
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  see those are nail scars in his
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  hands those are nail scars in his
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  feet that's a scar down his side
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  and he said i bear the marks of the body
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  i bear them in my body now
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  that's a family crest and i
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  am heir with jesus christ
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  he's my father and listen
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  closely i'm in his bloodline because his blood washed away my sins and flows
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  freely through my body in the form of the holy spirit who chose to dwell in my heart Tch.
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  To be my comforter, my personal teacher,
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  who prays for me when I can't pray for myself, who makes moanings and groanings
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  to Jesus, who is sitting as my advocate at the throne of God,
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  praying for me to have access to this because of faith.
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  You see, you begin to see that I'm walking in flesh and bone,
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  but my strength isn't in me.
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  My strength is in Jesus Christ, who in Philippians 4.13 said that I,
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  me, Kim Miller, could do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
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  And to bring it home so that you understand very clearly how good he is at supplying
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  your needs, as he says in 4.19 of Philippians, and how he can strengthen you.
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  Let's just take a small look at what you're listening to. a young lady in Milton,
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  West Virginia, who God said, teach what I put on your heart.
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  Speak the words that I give you boldly and without any kind of shame.
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  Just tell them what you and I chat about in the wee hours of the night.
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  Talk to them about what we talk
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  about when we're driving down the car let
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  them know what i said to you
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  about the things i have
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  for them there's no other
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  way i could have your ear right now other
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  than that god said i'll supply the
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  people you obey the call friends he
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  strengthens he strengthens at
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  this stage of my ministry i still work full-time
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  in another job i still live a life but i'm able through his strength and his
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  supplications and the supplies that he gives me to keep programs coming on the
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  air because all i do is trust and obey.
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  For there's no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey.
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  And the strength comes every single time. As we move a little further,
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  we see that he says, and not only so.
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  Excuse me, let's back up. He says, wherein we stand and rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.
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  We rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.
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  Where's your hope? My hope is in Jesus Christ and his righteousness.
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  I don't have a hope so salvation in that I hope I get to heaven.
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  I hope I've done it right. I hope I didn't get it wrong.
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  I have a hope that gives me inspiration and encouragement that motivates me,
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  that gives me peace and joy and comfort in knowing that I am looking for that
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  blessed hope and the appearing of Jesus Christ that he tells us in Titus 2.
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  Friends, it's real, and that realness gives me hope. We have a hope.
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  And then he says, and not only so, but we glory in tribulations also,
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  knowing the tribulation work with patience.
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  And patience experience and experience hope
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  he's done it before he'll do it again i've been
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  in the valley i know that he was there i needed him in the wee hours of the
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  night i needed him when i was at the end of my rope i've seen it happen i've
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  watched his hand of miracles i've seen him supply when no one else could see
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  i've watched things happen that only divine intervention can make.
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  So if he's done it before and he never changes, he's the same today,
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  yesterday, and forevermore.
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  Then I have the experience to know that when the rubber meets the road,
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  when things are getting absolutely difficult in my life, when I'm in the midst of the fiery furnace,
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  you can look and see that there's a fourth man in the fire, and it's likened
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  unto the Son of God, and he's holding my hand, and he's leading me forward,
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  and he's showing me the way, and he's covering me every step of the way.
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  Because just like the Hebrew children, when I pass through to the other side.
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  There'll be no smoke on me.
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  Friends, there'll be no touch of hell on me.
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  I won't spend a few days in hell to get myself cleaned up and then get to heaven.
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  That doctrine is so wrong. And there's so many people that are in hell today
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  believing that they were okay to do whatever they wanted to do because their religion taught them.
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  That if they would just hang on that
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  three days in hell and they'd be fine and they'd rise and they'd go again folks
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  hell is real it's real bad and it's
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  forever but you don't have to go there because it
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  was created for the devil and his angels not for you oh friends
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  when tribulations come you can
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  have hope because you're not alone he said
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  hey be of good cheer greater is you that is in greater is
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  he that is in you than he that is in the world he said hey i'll
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  never leave you nor forsake you he said hey come follow me get it he's in front
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  of you and he's better than any windshield you'll ever see he doesn't crack
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  he doesn't break and he never gets dirty there's never any gunk on him the gunk
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  on us we get a little dirty like peter and we have to come and be washed.
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  Oh, but when he's leading the way, talk about drafting.
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  If we could just sit so close to Jesus that we drafted through this world.
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  Oh, what a difference our lives would be.
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  And hope maketh not ashamed. When you believe in him and you know who he is
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  and you place all of your trust in him, you won't be ashamed.
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  You'll be like the Apostle Paul who says, I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ.
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  Because you'll realize that there's never been anything better.
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  There's never been anything stronger.
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  There's never been anything more fun. There's never been anything more reliable.
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  There's never been anything more faithful.
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  There's never been anything more valuable, more precious, more wonderful than
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  Jesus Christ and a personal relationship with him. And you'll want others to have it.
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  You won't be ashamed because that strength of Jesus Christ is pumping through your veins.
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  Oh, my friends, if we read a little further, look at this.
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  He says, And hope maketh not a shame, because the love of God is shed abroad
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  in her hearts by the Holy Ghost, which is given to us.
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  If that isn't love, he's so attached to me, Kimberly Miller,
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  that he couldn't stand to be away from me.
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  So you know what he did? he sent the holy spirit to dwell in my heart that i'd
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  never be alone and he would be my comforter,
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  and i would have straight access to the throne of god straight access to jesus
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  christ and then he put a big stamp on me you see i carry my father's last name
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  because i've never been married.
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  And my last name is Miller, and that was my daddy's. And everywhere that I went,
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  people could recognize that I was my daddy's because I had his name on me.
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  Listen to me. Listen to me.
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  I belong to the God of the universe because my daddy was mine because I was born into his family.
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  His blood runs through me in some form.
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  Leon Miller is non-mistakably my father because I look like him. I have his mannerisms.
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  You can tell who I am and whose I was.
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  Listen to me. The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts.
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  And when he sees me, he sees the blood. And there's no mistaking who I am.
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  And friends, the final part of this passage, when I had no strength and when
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  I have no strength now, Listen, Christ died and he was victorious.
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  And that same power that rose him up from the dead, I have straight access to.
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  And when I'm dead on my trespasses and sin, I was raised by him.
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  And friends, listen to me. When I am dead, dog tired.
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  If I'm in his strength, I have access to him. And guess what?
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  In due time, in due time, he died for me.
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  When I was without strength. So when I'm without strength, He prevails.
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  There is a strength, an eternal strength, and it's found in Jesus Christ.
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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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  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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  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 loved.
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  Music.