Latest / The Woman at the Well Ministries Podcast / 598 | The Lord is Good: Finding Joy in Psalm 100

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598 | The Lord is Good: Finding Joy in Psalm 100 · The Woman at the Well Ministries Podcast

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  Hello, friends, and welcome back to the Woman at the Well Ministries podcast
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  with Kimberly Miller, where we believe that every man, woman,
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  boy, and girl must come to Jesus just like the woman at the well in John chapter 4.
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  Our highest priority is helping you experience the reality of God in your everyday life.
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  Whether you're listening in our app, on your favorite podcast platform,
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  are on our website at watwm.org.
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  We invite you to sit down with us as we open the scriptures to learn more about
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  who God is and to strengthen your daily walk with Jesus Christ.
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  The Lord is good. We know what that means for us.
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  We're told in James 1.17 that every good and perfect gift cometh down from the Father of lights.
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  He loves us and gives us the things we need. But what does it mean in reference
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  to how we should behave towards God?
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  Come join us in this broadcast of Woman at the Well Ministries as Kim walks
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  us through Psalm 100 and discusses the impact that the Lord's goodness has on us.
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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 what a pleasure it is to spend the next few moments with you.
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  We're in Psalms chapter 100, and we're going to look at the entire Psalm because.
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  What an amazing concept it is. The Lord is good.
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  The Lord is good. I can talk to you, and saved and saint alike would speak to
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  me about the goodness of God.
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  They would tell me the things that God has done for them.
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  And there is no way if we started today and went to the end of time,
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  even if time should last for hundreds of years, could we exhaust the goodness of God.
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  If every corn stalk was a quill and the ocean was filled with ink, as the songwriter said,
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  we could never write the goodness of love of God.
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  And exhausted. The oceans would dry up and the corn stalks would run out.
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  But God's love and his goodness would never cease.
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  Now, if that doesn't bring joy to your heart, nothing will.
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  If that doesn't bring peace to your troubled mind, nothing will.
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  You see, the Lord said, that I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.
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  The Lord said that I have come and I have walked among men and I was tempted
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  like as ye are yet without sin.
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  Then he turned around and he said, Come boldly to the throne of God.
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  You see, God understands.
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  And I leave this thought with you as we begin to go through the scriptures in Psalms chapter 100.
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  And the thought I want to keep in your mind is, have you really ever thought.
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  About the reality that God has provided an escape for you for every single thing that happens.
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  He said, you'll never be tempted wherever I haven't provided an escape for you.
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  And the Lord has already thought of all the things that you could face,
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  has already mounted an attack for victory for you.
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  Because he said in 1 John 4, 4 that be of good cheer, little children, for I've overcome them.
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  Because greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world.
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  Always we begin to look at the goodness of God. We cannot help but focus on
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  the fact that he thought of it before it happened.
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  It's a popular saying among a culture today, been there, done that, got the t-shirt.
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  I submit to you that he said been there thought about it.
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  Provided the way and have the scars you see he proved how much he loved us and
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  even if you don't believe in Jesus Christ,
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  and God forbid that anyone listening to this does
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  not understand who he is and we pray
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  that by the end of this lesson if you are a person who has not come to the saving
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  knowledge of Jesus Christ that something said or done or something read within
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  your hearing would draw you to that place of repentance so that you could enter
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  in a personal relationship with the God of the universe.
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  But if you look outside and you see that another day has dawned,
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  or you look outside and you begin to see the transition between the light of
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  day and the blackness of night, and you contemplate on the fact that that is so controlled.
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  That there's a 24-hour cyclic period, and every single day follows that path.
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  If you begin to think about the fact that you are breathing individuals of a
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  substance that you cannot see, you cannot smell, and you cannot taste,
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  yet you breathe it all the time.
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  And I don't have to prove to you oxygen.
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  You see it in yourself as you begin to watch it breathe in, and you exhale out
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  that carbon dioxide that exchanges.
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  And it's so interesting to me that
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  no one within the sound of my voice would ever
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  argue me that you're breathing oxygen yet
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  you can't see it at all but i
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  submit to you that the god of the universe who created you knew you were going
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  to need it and before you even had any understanding about the little o2 molecule
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  and all the bonds that take place and the entire process of breaking down oxygen
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  and providing what you need in order to breathe in your lungs,
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  exchanging it out and giving carbon monoxide, then guess what?
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  That carbon dioxide is what nature needs.
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  He thought about that. I've created life and they need oxygen. They need to breathe.
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  And something's going to happen with that byproduct.
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  So I need to make it useful because guess what? Nothing in the kingdom of God is ever wasted.
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  So as you suck the oxygen in that those wonderful plants produce through photosynthesis,
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  and you shove out the carbon dioxide.
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  All you're doing is proving that God is good and that he thought about you well
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  before you ever needed him to.
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  Friends, I also want to tell you that one day on a rugged cross of Calvary,
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  God thought about you before you were even born.
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  He says in your father, in your mother's womb, he thought about you.
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  Calls you by name, and he knew that you would grow up and you would no longer
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  be protected in your mother's womb.
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  You'd no longer be protected by being under the age of accountability because
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  you didn't understand there was a God.
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  Because he said, I'm going to make sure everybody who sees me knows who I am
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  and I'm going to make sure everybody sees me.
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  So if you look in Romans chapter 1, I was reminded just today how he said, nature proves who I am.
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  But nature also proves how good he is and how much he loves you.
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  He paints a beautiful picture for you every morning.
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  Just in case you missed it, he paints it again in the evening.
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  He sends you flowers every day. He provides even the most basic of needs that
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  you don't even understand and I don't even understand.
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  I spouted out to you the whole photosynthesis cycle I spouted out to you about oxygen.
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  It happens to be a lot of my formal
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  training, but do I really understand oxygen? No. Have I seen it? No.
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  Do I believe it's there? Yes. And I'm glad it is.
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  But I submit to you that are talking to me, none of you are going to argue to
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  me that I breathe oxygen and emit carbon dioxide.
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  But you very same people, when I look at you and say, God is good,
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  and he loves you, and he's merciful, and you need to repent.
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  Are gonna say there is no such thing as a God, I cannot see him.
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  God has made sure you could see, but the devil has deceived you. But God is good.
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  And I want you to see that he's good. I want you to see how he's provided.
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  I want you to see how he's made a way.
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  I want you to see how he thought of all the things that you would need before you ever asked.
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  And I want you to know, he even realized there'd be times in a Christian's life
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  they'd be unable to pray the way that they would need to.
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  And so in John chapter 17, we see the beautiful provision of Jesus Christ praying for his children.
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  Tells us in the scriptures that the Holy Spirit makes moanings and groanings on our behalf.
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  I don't know about you, but I'm glad he does.
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  And I'm so glad that he knows what I'm going to face. See, he can pray for me. about tomorrow.
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  Because he's already there. And he knows what I'm going to face.
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  And he can talk to God the Father and say, Kim needs more grace tomorrow.
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  And I don't have to worry about whether his prayers are answered or not.
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  I don't have to worry about whether his prayers are heard or not.
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  Because the psalmist David said in Psalm 66, 18, that if you hold iniquity in
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  your heart, God will not hear you.
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  That's what keeps God from hearing your prayers, to have no worries.
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  There's no iniquity in the heart of Jesus Christ.
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  Praise be to God. He has a heart, and it's filled with love for me and love for you.
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  Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands. Serve the Lord with gladness.
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  Come before his presence with singing.
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  Know ye that the Lord, he is God. It is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves.
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  We are his people and the sheep of his pasture.
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  Enter into his gates with thanksgiving and into his courts with praise.
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  Be thankful unto him and bless his name. For the Lord is good.
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  His mercy is everlasting.
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  His truth endureth to all generations.
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  Oh bless his holy name doesn't that just stir something up within you for the lord he is god,
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  and he is good because he is good there are some things that we should be doing
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  first of all he says make a joyful noise unto the lord friends the god of the universe loves you.
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  John 3.16 said, For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son,
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  that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life.
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  God saw that you had a sin debt that you could not pay, and he sent his Son
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  to be your substitute, to pay a sin debt. He didn't know.
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  If that isn't love, I don't know what it is. The Bible tells us in 1 John that God is love.
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  God loves you. We love him because he first loved us.
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  And he says that he gives grace and more grace.
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  He says his grace is sufficient for your every need and for all of your sins.
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  God is good. How can you not be joyous?
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  Circumstances in your life may not seem to merit joy, but that's because you're confused.
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  Happiness is the things that happen around you, the circumstances in which you
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  find yourself. But joy comes from within.
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  If you look at joy, it says, J-O-Y, Jesus first, others second, and yourself last.
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  And when you begin to walk down this road of life that he has gifted us with
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  the privilege of doing it,
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  then you are absolutely assured that if you put Jesus Christ first and you begin
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  to live your life that you might show the grace and the mercy and the forgiveness
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  and the love of Christ to others.
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  You'll have joy unspeakable and full of glory and a peace that passeth all understanding.
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  For the Lord is good. Make a joyful noise.
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  Serve the Lord with gladness.
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  Psalmist David, he knew what it was all about.
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  You see, God loves a cheerful giver.
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  And so often we see pastors and evangelists and teachers and the like love to
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  give that verse out and ask you then, as they pass the plate,
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  they remind you that God loves a cheerful giver.
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  And there's no doubt about it. God loves a cheerful giver, and he's dictated
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  that we need to give money to others to help others. Make it.
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  Showed us that we need to give our tithes. Let me tell you something else.
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  He says God loves a cheerful giver. And it isn't just when it comes to pulling
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  out your wallet or your checkbook.
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  It's giving of yourself. It's serving.
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  God loves a cheerful giver. And he says to serve the Lord with gladness.
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  And I want to just ask you this. Just for a moment.
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  Let's say that your phone is getting ready to ring in just a second.
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  And the job of a lifetime is waiting on the other end And whatever it is,
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  you think is so fantastic and so wonderful And if you just could have the privilege
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  of having this job Then your life would be complete.
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  Let's think about that for a second. And you would think, what a privilege that
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  the company boss called to ask you to serve in that capacity.
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  Some of us, and we should love our pastors and esteem them. They're men of God
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  or women of God or they're people of God.
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  But my friends, when they call us and ask us to serve in the church,
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  we should be happy to serve in the church, not because we're thrilled they ask
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  us, us, but because you have an opportunity to serve the living God.
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  Now, my friends, you've had a phone call. It's in your heart's door.
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  And you've had a visit, and it was in your heart's door.
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  Revelations 3.18 and through 20 talks about it.
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  And the Lord has knocked on your heart, and he said, hey, I want to sup with you.
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  And if you'll just open up your heart, then I'll come and I'll sup with you.
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  And he's standing and he's knocking and he said I have a job for you Go ye into
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  all the world And teach the good news I have a job for you Be the light of the world.
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  I have a job description. Ye are my witnesses.
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  And I'm the God of the universe, and you can have constant access to me 24 hours
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  a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, and I'm still working on Christmas.
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  Because I am Christmas.
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  And I'm still available on Easter because it wasn't the Easter Bunny that made Easter possible.
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  It was when they came to the tomb and said, he's not
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  here he's risen you can
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  access me anytime the god of the universe says but you must come through jesus
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  my son because he says in john chapter 14 and verse 6 i am the way the truth
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  and the life and no man cometh unto the father but by me but he says to you,
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  take up my cross and follow
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  me there isn't a more noble calling you could receive there isn't a greater
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  job you could have because my friend the god of the universe is all-powerful
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  all-knowing and he has decided to allow you to be part of his plan does he need you.
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  He doesn't need you. He just loves you so much. He wants to let you in on the deal.
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  He just loves you so much. He wants to let you have the privilege to show him
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  how much you love him, to give back a little of yourself, to be able to be part of his wonderful plan,
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  because God shares.
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  Remember, he gave his son, his only son, that you might live.
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  For the lord he is good
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  come before his presence with singing that's a
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  natural overflowing of being joyful and
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  oh if you're sad even if your heart hasn't
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  quite reached the place where it is in the presence of god and needs to just
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  sing because it's joyful you begin to sing the praises of god and he inhabits
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  those praises and no matter how bad your circumstances are even when happiness seems far away,
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  the joy of God will swell up inside of you that it bubbles over and happiness
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  comes out the other side.
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  Friends, Jesus said, come into his court with sinking.
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  Know ye that the Lord, he is God and the Lord is good.
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  And he says, he made us.
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  He has a plan for us, Jeremiah 29, 11 says, to prosper us, to give us a hope in the future.
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  He says the footsteps of a
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  righteous man are guided by the lord
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  and he says that we are his people i'm
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  so glad i'm a part of the family of god washed in his blood born of his spirit
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  join heirs with jesus christ i can call him father i'm his kinfolk and oh how
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  i hope if you ever meet me and I have the privilege,
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  of seeing you face to face that you can look at me and say she has her father's
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  hands she has her father's heart.
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  She has mannerisms like her daddy. Because, see, I want you to see him in me. Because we're kinfolk.
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  I'm his people. And I'm the sheep of his pasture.
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  And he says he is the good shepherd. And I hope we have that lesson someday
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  soon, out of John chapter 10, I think it is.
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  He's the shepherd. And I'm the sheep. And I know his voice.
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  And praise be to God he doesn't keep it from me.
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  For the Lord is good. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving and into his courts with praise.
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  Be thankful unto him for the Lord is good.
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  Oh, haven't you seen how we just discussed the things of God that are so wonderful,
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  the things of God that are so good?
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  How could you not bless his holy name? Because you see, the Lord is good and he's not temporary.
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  The Lord is good, and he's not fragile. The Lord is good, and he's not far away.
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  He's as close as the hand you hold.
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  He's as close as the heart you offer up to him.
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  Oh, he could have dwelled anywhere.
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  He could have come and stayed in the most beautiful things of his creation.
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  But let me just tell you something.
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  I don't have a split personality, and I don't suffer from multiple personality disorder.
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  But when you see me, it isn't just me.
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  The God of the universe lives inside of me. I'm never alone.
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  And he said he'd put the Holy Spirit in me because, you know what? He loves me so much.
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  He just can't stand to be away from me.
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  Bless his holy name for the Lord. Hey, my friend. He is good.
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  Thank you for joining us for today's podcast. You can find quotes and scripture
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  references from this episode in the show notes.
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  We pray today's message has been a blessing.
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  If it has, please consider leaving 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 Women 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 delivered
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  Monday through Friday by text message, and the Bible Bit Podcast.
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  Thank you for your prayers and support. Remember, Jesus loves you. You are loved.