Latest / The Woman at the Well Ministries Podcast / 631 | Acknowledging God’s Presence

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631 | Acknowledging God’s Presence · The Woman at the Well Ministries Podcast

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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. Whether you are listening
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  in our app, in your favorite podcasting app, 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 your daily walk with Jesus Christ.
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  In this episode of the Woman at the Well Ministries podcast,
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  join Kim Miller and Erica Close in a conversation as we walk with Jesus.
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  In today's conversation, we're chatting about what life looks like when we honestly
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  acknowledge God's presence.
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  Amen. Hallelujah. Amen. Like, I was just going to sort of start there.
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  So I'm Erica, and I'm here with Kim, And we're excited that you have taken the
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  time to spend a little bit of time with us.
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  I can tell you, I'm just going to say, you know, we're actually having a really
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  exciting day as we sit here and record this, you know, in the life of a podcast, right?
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  The thing that excites us the most maybe is when we hear from listeners,
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  when they reach out to us through our Facebook or through email or,
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  you know, send us a message, something like that.
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  We love that. And if you're listening, we would love to hear from you because
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  that gives us a lot of joy.
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  But, you know, as a podcaster, all you really get to see are downloads, right?
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  You know, people are downloading and, you know, the downloads mean listens.
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  And sometimes, you know, our podcast downloads are very predictable, right?
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  We put out a podcast Monday, Wednesday, Friday. So Monday, Wednesday,
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  Friday are our bigger days and all the other days tend to be a little bit lower
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  downloads because we're not necessarily putting out new content that day.
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  But on the day that we're recording this, I happened to check and we had a really, just a really neat day.
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  It was a higher day, definitely not our highest day, but those downloads were
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  spread out all over the world.
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  And from two girls that are sitting and recording this in Milton, West Virginia,
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  It really is incredibly exciting for us to see that God is using us all over
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  the world. And answering the prayer to expand our territory.
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  Absolutely. I've been praying the prayer of Jabez for over a decade,
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  and God is just so good. He really is.
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  He really is. We have almost our own version of the prayer of Jabez that we
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  pray. And bless me, Lord.
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  Lord, bless me, Lord, bless me, Lord.
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  Enlarge my coastline, I pray. Keep your hand of protection upon me.
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  Keep me from doing evil and keep the evil of others from hurting me.
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  Amen. We encourage you to look up the prayer of Jabez.
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  But when we pray it, that is definitely how we pray it. But it's a great way
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  to pray that and to pray that with each other. And what a prayer,
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  right? Enlarge our coastline.
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  This is an exciting day, but it's an exciting day because, as I said in the
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  intro, we're talking about what our lives look like when we honestly acknowledge God's presence.
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  And if you're listening to this, it's coming out on a Wednesday,
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  and we invite you to go back and listen to Monday's message.
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  Monday's message was number 630, and it was called, He is with You.
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  And it was just an absolutely wonderful podcast. It came, Kim's message came
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  out of Isaiah 43, 2, which is just a phenomenal passage, phenomenal verse.
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  It's got so much in it. It's kind of amazing that it's like a single verse.
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  But we just encourage you to go back and listen to that. And commit it to your
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  heart, your mind, your soul, your life. It's daily bread.
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  That verse is daily bread. Daily bread. Why don't we go ahead and read it,
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  and then we'll go on. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee.
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  And through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee.
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  When thou walkest through the fire, thou shall not be burned,
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  neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. Amen. Amen. What a promise.
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  What a promise we find in that verse.
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  And if you get to go back and listen to that podcast from Monday,
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  you'll notice that in that podcast, Kim, you talked a whole bunch about living
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  a life that honestly acknowledges God's presence.
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  And I've been thinking about that a lot lately it has definitely been something that
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  my study has drawn me to it is something that I know that your study has drawn
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  you to it is the in his presence is the the title of your latest bible bit book
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  we invite you all to to check that out but.
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  Honestly acknowledging that God is there.
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  This verse says that he will be with us. That means he is with us throughout everything.
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  All of our experiences. All of our experiences. Good, bad, and ugly.
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  Good, bad, and ugly. And throughout every day and throughout every night,
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  24 hours a day, seven days a week.
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  And he's already there. He's already there.
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  And I hope you don't mind that I tell people this, but I happened to come upon
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  Kim praying earlier today.
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  And I heard her say to the Lord, thank you for always meeting me when I come to you.
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  You always have something to tell me. And it was such an acknowledgement of his presence.
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  It was such a blessing for me to hear that.
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  It's always such a blessing to come upon someone when they're praying.
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  But what a statement. Thank you for always being there and always being ready.
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  And I think that so often we don't acknowledge the fact that every time we go
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  to him, he's there waiting.
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  He's already been there.
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  It's not like we knock and he comes and answers the door.
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  We start talking and he's already been there waiting to tell us something.
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  And I think that so often we don't acknowledge that.
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  It's a faith problem. It is a faith problem. I believe it's Hebrews 11,
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  6 that says, without faith.
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  It is impossible to please him, and you must believe that he is.
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  And I think sometimes we come to prayer either out of sheer desperation or some sort of obligation.
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  Both may have its moments, especially desperation.
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  But when you believe, truly believe,
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  and you know that He is there, and you feel His presence around you,
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  the natural response, is gratitude.
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  And when people are not in the will of God, clearly they're not thankful because
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  they're wasting away the blood of Jesus Christ.
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  But when you believe, and it says you gotta, without faith this is impossible,
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  please not, and you must believe that He is.
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  The believing that He is is knowing who he is.
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  And when you know who he is, it's gonna knock your socks off that he's always there.
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  So if there's a problem with acknowledging him, I check my faith.
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  You know, I think that the phrase that you just made where you talked about,
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  wasting away the blood of Jesus Christ is probably one of the most convicting
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  statements that you've ever made.
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  And I think we do it daily. The cost of our forgiveness is beyond our comprehension.
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  But a grateful heart that knows who He is knows enough to know we didn't deserve it.
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  And he saved us to give us the victory. So every moment that we live in defeat, we've wasted the blood.
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  Every time that we succumb to the world's persecution and pressure,
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  to the devil's minions' words and lies and rumors and hurtful things that temper down our faiths,
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  that knock us off our feet because we've got our eyes off of him.
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  Every time we do that, we're stepping over the blood of Jesus and saying we're
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  not living for what he died for.
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  He died that I would be free.
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  He died that I would have life and have it more abundantly.
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  Oh, how I pray I learn to not waste what He did for me,
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  When I plan this podcast I plan to have us have a conversation about what our
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  days look like throughout the day morning, through the day, evening,
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  when we acknowledge God in our lives honestly acknowledge Him,
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  but I'd like to talk about what our lives look like throughout the day when
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  we're living in that freedom.
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  When we're living the abundant life that He has given us,
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  and when we're not living in defeat, I think what— We are more than conquerors,
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  through Him that loved us. And I think that.
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  We need to really sit there for a minute in,
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  acknowledging Him and who He is and what He has done for us is also acknowledging
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  that we are more than conquerors.
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  We don't often make the connection between who he is and who that makes us.
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  Because if we understood who that makes us, our morning throughout the day and
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  our evening would look so different.
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  I often visualize it. But, you know, like when you get in a car,
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  I don't know about you, but I don't even think about it.
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  I mean, I have my seatbelt on and I don't notice it. I mean,
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  that is such, it's an action. You open the door, you sit down,
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  you reach for your seatbelt to the point that it's innate. It's your default.
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  I believe that's how he has commanded us to live.
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  I believe it's what he means in Colossians 3.3 when he says we are hidden in him.
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  I believe we wake up in the morning and we buckle up with the Holy Spirit.
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  It's in us. We don't have to get the Holy Spirit every day, but we acknowledge
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  it when we reach and put it over.
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  Yeah. And unlike the seatbelt that feels the same and doesn't really feel like
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  anything after 50 years of putting it on, every morning when I put on the Holy Spirit.
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  It's like a warm hug on a hot day. You feel it.
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  And that's what it means to acknowledge Him. And then the world sees the manifestation
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  of that, your works. Throughout your day.
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  You know, James says, that's how it works. Faith is dead.
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  We're told in Ephesians that, you know, we're not saved through our works.
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  We're saved through faith, and it's a gift.
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  But I have to say, I ascribe really strongly to James. and you just so eloquently
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  said it, Jesus in us creates a difference.
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  We are a new creature in Christ Jesus. Old things are a past way and all things
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  have become new. But it's more than that.
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  Who we are is shaped because of who is in us and how much we give ourselves over to him.
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  I want to talk about that concept of being more than conquerors for a few minutes
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  and what that looks like as we go throughout our day.
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  I'm thinking, as Erica...
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  Is more than a conqueror, gets in the car, buckles up, drives to work,
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  goes into an office, spends all day with people.
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  I think what's important is that we're clarifying here, I am more than a conqueror.
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  Not that I'm going to go out and conquer anyone, but that the power of the devil.
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  Has no power over me because of the work that God has done.
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  He's defeated. So I can walk around in absolute victory over sin,
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  death, hell, and the grave.
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  In every circumstance, we have a position of victory because of who he is.
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  And I think so often we get caught up and we think that he created us to go to work.
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  He did, but not to the job that's paying you to the one that has eternal benefits.
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  I think you're probably way too young to remember this. And maybe some of the
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  people on our listening to our podcast are better. When I was a young girl,
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  it had this blow up thing and it had sand on the bottom.
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  And you could knock that thing over how many times. Oh, yeah,
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  yeah, yeah. I had one of those. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And it would pop back up.
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  There was no possible way. It was like a big Weeble, right? Right.
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  Weebles wobble, but they don't fall down. But this was a big thing.
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  It was inflatable. Like, it was like a beach ball, only it wasn't a ball.
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  It was yours like a clown face. Yes, mine was. Yes, that's what I had.
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  But you could lay on it.
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  But as soon as you got off, that thing popped up. It popped back up.
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  That's what it means to walk in the power of God.
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  You're not going to stay down. That's what he meant in Isaiah 43, too.
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  He says, when thou passest through, when thou walkest through,
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  they're not going to overthrow thee. They're not going to overtake thee.
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  It's not going to destroy your soul.
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  And your joy isn't dependent on your circumstances. So keep on walking. I won.
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  Hey, I read the back of the book.
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  We all did. Absolutely. Everybody who's claimed Jesus as Savior has won.
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  Hell does not hold us or acclaim on us.
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  And sin has no dominion over us. That's what walking in the power of God means. Amen.
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  As you were talking, I was thinking just this image of, you know,
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  walking in as a conqueror to the work that he has called us to. too.
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  And it made me think, in my mind as a conqueror, I was seeing like a set of
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  armor, right? And I was thinking about the armor of God and kind of going all the way down that road.
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  But I was thinking, we walk in as a conqueror. And when we often think of a
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  conqueror in like a military sense or something like that, we often think about,
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  sort of the firepower that they have behind them, right?
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  Do they have, what's their weapon, right? Is it, is it, do they have a tank?
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  Do they have a cannon? Do they have a bomber? Do they have guns?
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  Do they have machine guns? You know, what, what, what's the fire power behind that conqueror?
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  But what I walk to each day with is God himself sitting there ready and talking
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  to me and giving me everything I need.
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  I mean, this happens to me a lot. I think one of my most common prayers throughout
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  the day, specifically when I'm at work, like in my place of employment, kind of work is,
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  Lord, give me the words here. Mine is, Lord, shut my mouth and speak.
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  But that's the difference between me and you. I'm asking you to shut my mouth and speak through me.
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  And you're just asking for his words because you don't have to do the first part.
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  But I work in a very much a service type agency. And I live a life that really
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  is about helping people.
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  And I want to be the best helper I can be.
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  I want to communicate what I need to communicate the most clearly and I want
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  to do it with kindness and love at all times and in all ways.
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  And I, Erica, am not going to be able to do that.
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  But Erica, hidden in Christ with the firepower of God with me, can.
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  I can conquer what I cannot do. Amen. Because of what He can do.
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  He will supply all your needs, and He gives you the strength to do what you need to do.
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  You know, before we start to wind down this podcast, I have to say something,
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  to encourage all of us to walk in that position, the position of victory.
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  There is a difference in how the number one seed walks on the court that is
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  playing the unseeded player.
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  She's making a tennis reference here, folks. The unseeded player is going to
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  come on in big intimidation, head kind of bent down, whatever.
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  And I'm telling you what, the number one seed is walking on like Goliath.
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  In their fanciest outfit. And they can't even imagine that they would lose. Thank you.
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  The odds are they won't, but there's a great possibility they could if they
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  had a bad game or they got hurt. There is no guarantee.
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  But me, as a child of God, the victory's won. It's already done.
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  All I have to do is claim it in the center of his will and watch him do his thing.
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  So you walk on in victory knowing you're going to walk off in victory.
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  Amen. Hallelujah. When this last thing is done, not just when he takes me to heaven.
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  But when this situation becomes history, it will read that I was the victor,
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  not because of who I am, but because of whose I am.
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  So today is the day we've all got to start not looking at the storm,
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  but start telling the storm how big our God is, and you're defeated.
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  Tuck it and go home.
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  I've already won. Amen. Amen. Hallelujah. Amen. I hope I'm sitting here encouraged.
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  I am so incredibly thankful for what we have heard today. I'm so incredibly
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  thankful for Isaiah 43 too. I'm so incredibly thankful for the promises.
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  I'm hanging on when thou passest through.
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  I am certain that if all of you just stopped and thought for a moment,
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  you can point out something in your life that God has walked you through.
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  And you had a front row seat for a miracle. Exactly.
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  Didn't cost you a thing. And something that had some faith. That's right.
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  And your faith walked you through something that had a beginning and something that had an end.
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  Hallelujah. And you were with the Lord all the way through.
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  We can't forget what he has done in our life.
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  Because what he has done in our life, he will do again.
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  In the same way we go through and we look at all the things that have happened
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  in the accounts in God's holy scripture, he's no respecter of persons and those
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  things that happened for them will happen for us.
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  The promises are there. Promises are not just for Old Testament people.
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  Amen. Amen. Those promises are for us. Oh.
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  Our kind and most gracious, our heavenly Father, Lord, I thank you.
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  We thank you, Lord, for who you are.
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  We thank you, Lord, that you have conquered sin.
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  We thank you, Lord, that you love us enough that you sent your Son.
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  We thank you, Jesus, that you sacrificed your life to pay a sin debt we could
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  not pay, a sin debt you did not owe.
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  Lord, I pray that you would have all of us, each of us here and all those that
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  are listening, to remember the phrase that we don't want to waste away the blood of Jesus Christ.
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  I ask, Lord, that you would keep us all mindful of your sacrifice and mindful
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  of what we have because of that sacrifice.
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  Lord, we thank you that we are more than conquerors.
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  We thank you that we walk into our day with you at our side.
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  Lord, I pray that you would grow and deepen the faith of all those that are
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  listening, deepen the faith of all of those of us here.
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  Lord, we love you. We praise you. We thank you. In your name we pray.
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  All God's people said, Amen.
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  Remember, you are loved. Jesus loves you.
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  Thank you for joining us for today's podcast. You can find quotes and scripture
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  reference from this episode in the show notes.
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  We pray today's message has been a blessing. If it has, please consider leaving
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  a rating or review on your podcast platform.
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  Your feedback helps others discover the truth of God's word.
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  You can connect with Woman at the Well Ministries through our app at watwm.org
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  and on Facebook and Instagram.
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  While you're there, learn more about Bible Bits, Kim's Daily Devotional,
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  delivered Monday through Friday by text message, and the Bible Bit Podcast.
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  Thank you for your prayers and support.