Latest / The Woman at the Well Ministries Podcast / 434 | Seek Jesus: Lessons from the Innkeeper and Mary Magdalene

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434 | Seek Jesus: Lessons from the Innkeeper and Mary Magdalene · The Woman at the Well Ministries Podcast

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God is in control.
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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 her life for Christ She's a happy girl.
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Music.
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She's a happy girl.
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Scripture tells us to seek Jesus first, and everything else we need will be given to us.
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However, few of us live with that kind of purpose or passion.
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Join us in this podcast from Woman at the Well Ministries as Kim takes us on
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a journey through the Scriptures, revealing the lessons learned from the life
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of the innkeeper, found in Luke 2, and Mary Magdalene, found in John 20.
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Here we learn the value of making room for Jesus and seeking Him as Mary Magdalene did.
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Come, follow Kim as she reminds us to seek Jesus first.
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Hello, and thank you for joining us in this podcast of Woman at the Well Ministries.
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So often we read through the story of the account of the birth of Jesus Christ,
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and we pass right over a very incredibly important verse.
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In luke chapter 2 in verse
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7 we see that it says because there
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was no room for them in the end and we often read in john chapter 20 the account
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of mary magdalene coming to the to the tomb and and the tomb is empty and he's
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not there and we get very involved in all that that means for us,
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but we often pass the importance that Mary Magdalene, very early in the morning.
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Was seeking Jesus.
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And when we think of these two opposing thoughts, where the innkeeper didn't have room for Jesus,
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but Mary Magdalene didn't want him out of her sight,
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then what we find as we reflect upon ourselves is we are most likely somewhere
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in that continuum between not making room for Jesus in our life and can't stand the thoughts.
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Of Him not being our first priority. Well, praise be to God in Hebrews chapter
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13 and verse 5, we are told that He never leaves us or forsakes us.
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So we know that He is with us. In John chapter 14 and verse 26,
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we are told that He sends the Comforter to dwell inside of us.
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And for every believer, He is teaching and He is comforting and He's leading and He is guiding.
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But it still brings us to the fact that we are either like the innkeeper and
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choosing to not make room for Jesus,
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or we're like Mary Magdalene seeking his presence all around us.
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And so as we spend the next few minutes together, I want us to really think
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about what place do we give Jesus in our life?
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How important is his presence to us? Let's pray.
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Our kind and most gracious dear Heavenly Father, Lord, we thank you for this
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opportunity to come before you.
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Lord, we invite you into this message, and we ask that you would just remove me from it.
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Lord, we ask that you would let your presence be known to each and every one
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of us, and that you would reveal to our hearts exactly what you would have us
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to hear from these words.
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Lord, I pray that you would give us the courage to submit our mind and our lives
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to you, that you could exalt us in due time.
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Lord, speak to us, we pray in Jesus' name.
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Amen. I'm going to take you back now to Luke chapter 2, because I promise you
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that had he not been born, he could not have been crucified,
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buried, and resurrected.
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So let's go to the beginning. Here we go. It says, And it came to pass in those
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days that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed.
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And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria,
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and all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.
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And Joseph also went up from Galilee out of the city of Nazareth into Judea,
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into the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David,
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to be taxed with Mary, his espoused wife, being great with child.
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And so it was that while they were there, the days were accomplished that she
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should be delivered and pay close attention.
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And she brought forth her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes
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and laid him in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn.
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Now, if you do stop and think about the fact that they were not able to give Jesus a room in the inn,
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you don't really stop and really understand the magnitude of what has happened.
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The magnitude is that every other person in that establishment is counted greater than Jesus.
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Now, they got there earlier, so maybe in your logical mind, you're like,
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it's a first-come, first-served basis.
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But this is the King of kings and the Lord of lords.
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We all know that Jesus deserved the best of the best because he is the best.
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And so as you begin to think just a little bit longer, you begin to think,
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well, the innkeeper could have booted somebody out.
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He didn't have to keep the reservation for a late arrival.
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He could have found a place for Jesus.
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And then you begin to think even more clearly and more intimately about the
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situation, and you think, well, there's no one in that establishment that is at all equal to Jesus.
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So if anybody had a room, it should be Jesus.
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And then as you continue to think, you might even quickly think,
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whoa, what a mistake that innkeeper made.
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You might even say to yourself, what kind of man would turn away Jesus?
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You might even say, what kind of man would turn around a little baby and his family?
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And so then you begin to conjure up these negative thoughts about the innkeeper.
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The innkeeper was approached to make room for Jesus, and the innkeeper said, no.
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Now, I submit to you that each and every one of us are approached by the Holy
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Spirit every day who is leading us and wooing us and guiding us to make room for Jesus,
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to make room for him with Bible study.
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We're told in 2 Timothy 2.15 that we are to study to show ourselves approved
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unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
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We are told to know the word of God so that we understand what it means.
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We are told to be able to use it in appropriate ways so it gives us the direction,
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the comfort, the information that we need to live the abundant life that he's promised us.
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He's given us everything that we need for godliness.
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That's what he tells us in Peter.
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Friends, we are the innkeeper.
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If you are a born again child of God, you have invited Jesus into your heart
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and he lives in your heart.
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But you have to acknowledge him.
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If you've never received Jesus as Savior, you are exactly like the innkeeper,
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and you're saying, I don't have any room, and I don't have any place for you.
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The Bible says, for the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life.
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Friends, we have to follow the Word of God.
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And no matter what we call our neglect, no matter what we call our priorities,
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The truth remains that if we are like the innkeeper and we do not make a place
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in our life for Jesus Christ to dwell and be with us,
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then we too are disregarding who God is and missing an incredible opportunity.
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We are the innkeeper.
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But are we going to respond as the innkeeper? Are we going to make no room for him, make no place?
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He says in Matthew 5, 16, to let your light so shine before men that they may
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see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
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Our job is to make room for Jesus. We're the light of the world.
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And we need to let him shine outside of us.
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We are to keep his commandments. And to those that love the Lord,
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they're not grievous, they're not difficult, they're not an obligation, they're not a burden.
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I'm afraid that if we're truthful with ourselves.
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That we are really like the innkeeper. We place every other thing in front of us.
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All the other things in the day come before Jesus.
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Our hobbies, our family, our work, our desires, our flesh, we just lay them
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out in front of him, and whatever's left is what we give him.
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No, in Matthew 6, 33, he says this,
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but seek ye first the kingdom of
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god and his righteousness and all
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these things shall be added unto you when god is placed first in your life when
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jesus is the king of your heart and the lord of your life then everything falls
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into place according to that beautiful plan he has for us to prosper us and to give us a hope,
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as he tells us in Jeremiah 29 11.
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And in John 10 10, he explains to us that he came that we might have life and
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have it more abundantly.
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But unless we seek him first, we're not going to ever live up to the potential
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of the blessings that God has preordained for us to have.
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Jesus wishes that none should perish and that all should come to repentance.
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And as a result of that, he is expecting and he is asking, and he stands according
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to Revelation 3.20, and he knocks on your heart's door,
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asking you to invite him in and sup with him and walk with him so that he would
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have a constant relationship with you.
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He wants to fellowship with you. And unlike the innkeeper, you've got to say, Lord, I put you first.
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Lord, you are my top priority. Lord, I love you above all else.
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Lord, I love you with my whole heart, my mind, my strength, and my soul.
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Lord, there is none better than you. There is none greater than you.
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There is none that loves me like you do. There is nothing that I put in front of you.
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And we must live what he says in Exodus 20 when he says, Have no other gods before me.
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God must be your all in all.
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And if not, you're like the innkeeper.
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Remember, partial disobedience isn't a thing, because disobedience in any form is disobedience.
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So you can't have partial obedience.
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If you're not obeying fully, then you are fully disobedient.
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The innkeeper had no idea the ramifications and what he had done when he simply
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said, there's no room for you in the inn.
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You have the word of God.
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You live on this side of the cross.
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You know the ramifications of not making a place for Jesus in your life.
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You know that he said, whosoever's name is not found written in the land's book of life will go to hell.
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You know that he said, marvel not that I say unto thee, you must be born again.
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You know that he said, follow me and I will make you fishers of men.
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You know that he said that you have to obey his commandments.
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If you love me, keep my commandments.
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And to receive Jesus as your savior, you have to love him. There's no question that he loves you.
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Scriptures clear all over it. He left the splendor of heaven,
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all of its glory, all of his kingdom to come to earth to dwell among men as a man.
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He didn't bring one piece of gold to take care of himself.
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He didn't bring a piece of the jasper wall to care for himself.
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He didn't bring a legion of angels to watch over him.
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No, he left it all to come here, to pay it all so that you could go there.
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The innkeeper didn't understand, but you're without excuse.
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Even nature shows you there is a God. And Scripture tells you there's a heaven
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to gain and a hell to shun.
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So first and foremost, you've got to receive him. And to really receive him
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means you make room for him.
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It means you have given him place in your life.
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Now let's turn in your Bibles to John chapter 20 and see someone who made much room for Jesus.
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We're going to read a lengthy portion of this scripture, and I want you to hang with me.
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And I want you to allow every word of the account in John 20 to penetrate deep within your heart.
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The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark,
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unto the sepulcher and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulcher.
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Now Jesus had been crucified. He'd been buried in a borrowed tomb.
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And she had come to take care of him. She was still seeking Jesus.
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She wanted to be where Jesus was at.
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And she inconvenienced herself. She comes very early in the morning.
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Before the sun has even risen, Mary Magdalene is going to be where she thinks Jesus is.
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Verse 2 says, Then she runneth and cometh to Simon Peter.
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And to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and saith unto them,
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They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulcher, and we know not where they have laid him.
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She's beside herself. She has come to be in the presence where Jesus is, and he's not there.
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And she's going and she's telling the disciples exactly that the stone is rolled away.
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Jesus isn't there. I can see the scene now. She is excited.
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She is passionate to find Jesus. She's completely at a loss at where he might be.
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She needs to be where Jesus is, and she is there early in the morning.
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She is sacrificing to be there because she cannot imagine being anywhere else.
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How many of us won't even riserly to be with him in prayer and worship and reading
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in the comfort of our own home?
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With the promise that he said, call unto me and I will answer thee and show
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thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not.
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With the invitation to come boldly to the throne of grace that you may find
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help in time of need in Hebrews 4.16.
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With the invitation in Matthew 7, 7, it 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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With the words of Scripture that invite us to come, to ask, to seek,
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to knock, to know, that he promises to be there with us.
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Call unto me, and I will answer thee.
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Yet we're not that excited to be in his presence.
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We're not seeking him early. We're not seeking him often. We are not living
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a life that enables us to be positioned in the center of God's will in his presence
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24 hours a day and seven days a week.
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Some of us are holding iniquity in our heart, and the psalmist David says if
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we have iniquity in our heart, he will not hear us because sin separates us.
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It does not separate us from the love of God.
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In Romans 8, 38 and 39, he plainly explains to us that nothing will separate us from the love of God.
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But we can choose to make no room for God.
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We can be like the innkeeper and make no place for God in our life.
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We get up in the morning and we head off to work. And then we go to our hobby.
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And then we take our kid to his ballgame. And then we go to shopping.
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And then we go out and make sure that we are working out.
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There's nothing wrong with all of those things. We need to be good parents if
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we have children, and we need to enable them to enjoy things of this world,
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but they need to know who God is, and God has to have a priority.
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So before you are running off to work, before you're sending them off to school,
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before you're rushing them off to the ball fields, set them down with the Word of God.
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Let them see what comes first. Matthew 6.33 says, Seek ye first the kingdom
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of God and his righteousness.
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The Bible says that we have to be holy because he is holy.
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And he tells us he gives us everything to make us holy. And the Holy Spirit
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is living to help us and to speak to us and to convict us and to enable us to live holy lives.
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But yet we don't make room or place for him in our lives. We can't know the
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promises of God if we've never heard or read the promises of God.
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So often I hear, I can't go to church on Sundays. That's the only day I have for my family.
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There's not a better place you could take your family.
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And maybe you need to reflect on your schedule. He's given us all 24 hours a day.
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And if we needed more, he would have given us more. But he says to put me first.
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I hear fairly frequently, well, you know, I've got to take care of my family,
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and I've got to take care of my mom, and I've got all these things going on,
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and my kids are going in this and that direction.
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I just didn't get to read my Bible today.
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Oh, friend, that's a twisted priority, because I guarantee you that if you do
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know the Lord, then something goes wrong with your child.
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That's the first place you're going to want to go. You're going to want to find
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time for him then. you're going to make a place for him in your day then to
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get him to try to help you and your children.
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That's not how it works. He's a loving, all-knowing God, and he wants to hear
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from you, and we are to pray,
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but he wants to hear from you, and he wants you to be in his presence more than
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just when you find convenient to put him there, or you have a trauma that lands you there.
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It needs to be a place that is comfortable, a place that is always on your mind.
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You need to have a fellowship with Jesus that is so normal that even in abnormal
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times, you're just doing the same thing you're doing every day.
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You're going to the Lord, and you're praying, and you're giving him your heart,
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and you're laying your problems before him, and you're showing him who he is
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in your life, and you just want to know more about him.
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The more you read, the more you want to read, the more you know,
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the more you want to know, the more you realize what God has done for you,
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the stronger your passion, the stronger your devotion, the more you want to
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be in his presence. This is Mary Magdalene.
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Peter therefore went forth, and the other disciple came to the sepulcher,
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and they ran both together, and the other disciple did outrun Peter,
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and came first to the sepulcher.
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And he, stooping down and looking in, saw the linen clothes lying, yet he went not in.
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Then come of Simon Peter following him, and went into the sepulcher.
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And he saw and believed.
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For as yet they knew not the scripture, that he must rise again from the dead.
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Then the disciples went away again and unto their own home.
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But let's pick up verse 11. Let's remember Mary Magdalene has gotten up early.
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She's wanting to be where Jesus is, and here's what happens.
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Because of her devotion.
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Because of her passion, because of the relationship, because she wanted to be
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where Jesus was at, look what she gets.
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But Mary stood without at the sepulcher, weeping. And she wept,
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and she stood down and looked into the sepulcher. She's still looking for Jesus.
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She wants to be where he is.
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She's crying because he's not there. And see, it's two angels in white sitting,
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the one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain.
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And they say unto her, Woman, why weepest thou?
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She saith unto them, Because they've taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him.
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Her love and her devotion is so pure and so strong that because she doesn't know where Jesus is,
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she is in angst and she is troubled and she wants to be in his presence.
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Think about how you would feel if you took a child to an amusement park.
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They're standing there holding your hand, and a few seconds later,
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you look down and they're nowhere to be seen.
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I feel like this is what Mary Magdalene's feeling like.
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She is going to do anything and everything possible to find her Lord,
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to be with him, because he matters to her, and that's all that matters to her.
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And when she had thus said she turned herself back and saw Jesus standing.
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Her faith, her love, her devotion, her dedication,
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the strength of her love that caused her to be inconvenienced,
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it is all getting ready to be rewarded.
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And she knew not that it was Jesus. Jesus saith unto her, Woman,
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why weepest thou whom thou seekest thou?
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She's supposing him to be the gardener, says unto him, Sir, if you have borne
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him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away.
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Her devotion is unmatched.
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It's unwavering. It didn't stop with his death on the cross.
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Mary wants to be in his presence. She's seeking him.
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And she's the first to see him After his resurrection, you understand she sought him early.
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She inconvenienced herself. She could not put anything in front of him and her
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desire to be in his presence.
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He was the most important thing. He was her priority.
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She was searching him. She was seeking him.
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She's rewarded by finding him. She is the first to see Jesus after the resurrection.
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And listen to what Jesus says.
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Mary, Mary, Mary,
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Mary. The Bible says that if you will seek me with your whole heart, you will find me.
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He says, seek me while I may be found.
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If you're alive and you're breathing and you're listening to this,
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there's time for you to find Jesus. He's not lost.
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But you got to make room for him. You can't be like the innkeeper.
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You got to make room for him like Mary Magdalene did.
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If you know the Lord. It's time that you made a place for him and made room
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for him in your life. It's more than just saying, I love the Lord.
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It's more than just saying, Lord, come save me. It's about having a personal,
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intimate relationship with Jesus Christ.
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It's about loving him with your whole heart, your whole mind,
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your whole soul, your entire being.
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It's about letting Jesus have his rightful place in your life and be first.
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And if you think that's a sacrifice, you're insane. Because if he's leading,
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you're going to get where you're supposed to go.
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You're going to be under the spout where the glory comes out.
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You're going to have all the blessings that God has intended for you to have.
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You're going to live the abundant life that God has created for you.
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You're going to have joy unspeakable and a peace that passes all understanding.
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He looked at her and said, Mary, she'd been rewarded for her diligence,
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her faith, and her purpose.
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He turned herself and saith unto him, Rabbani, which is to say, Master.
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Mary Magdalene never came to the tomb for praise,
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to scoop the rest of the world on the ascension of Jesus,
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to bring attention to herself, or to get anything from him.
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Mary Magdalene got up early in the morning. But she didn't just make room for
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Jesus. He was her top priority.
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She followed her heart to be in his presence.
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And we today have the abundant promise that if we call unto him and our life
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is in the center of his will, he will answer us.
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He will bless us. He will walk with us. He will commune with us.
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He's a friend that sticketh closer than a brother. He never leaves us or forsakes us.
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Jesus called her by name, which meant I see you, I know you, I love you.
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Jesus is no respecter of persons, and I believe from the top of my head to the
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bottom of my feet and every part of my being that he's calling your name.
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He wants to have that same relationship with you.
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When Jesus further discusses with the disciples and her, he tells them.
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This encounter that Mary Magdalene has with Jesus is life-changing.
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Explains he, Touch me not, for I am not yet ascended to my Father.
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But go to my brethren and say unto them, I ascended to my Father and your Father,
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and to my God and your God.
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Let them know. And Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen
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the Lord, and that he had spoken these things unto her.
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Mary Magdalene, a woman that many counted as unworthy.
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Jesus called her by name and sent her out, and she is the first to have seen
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the resurrected Savior.
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It doesn't matter what your past is. It matters what your present and future is.
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Jesus came to seek and to save those which were lost, and we are all lost.
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Jesus has come that we might have life and have it more abundantly.
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Jesus is knocking on your heart's door right now, asking you to make room for
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him, to place him as King of kings and Lord of lords, to seek him first.
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And when you do, you will see him. You will be blessed.
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Your heart will know him like no other. And he's commissioned you to take this
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peace I give you and tell everybody else who I am,
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what I've done, and that I love them, and that what I've done for you,
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I will do for them. Seek him.
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Seek him first and seek him always.
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You can't outgive God. Make room for Jesus.
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Stay in his presence. There is joy unspeakable and a life full of glory at the feet of Jesus.
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Remember you are loved. Jesus loves you.
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Music.
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Joining us in today's podcast. You can visit the show notes for quotes from
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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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We're on Facebook at facebook.com slash watwm.
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If you visit our website, you'll be able to subscribe to Bible Bits,
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a daily devotion written by Kim and delivered Monday through Friday by text message.
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Woman at the Well Ministries is a non-profit organization dedicated to serving
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our Heavenly Father, and it is through your loving and generous support that
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our ministry continues to bless others.
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To learn how to partner with Woman at the Well Ministries, please visit our website.
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Thank you to the Gospel Group Fudge Creek for letting us use their hit song, Happy Girl.
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We greatly appreciate your prayers. We are praying daily for our listeners.
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Remember that God loves you. You.
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Music.