Latest / The Woman at the Well Ministries Podcast / 653 | The Lord’s Strength

Transcript

653 | The Lord’s Strength · The Woman at the Well Ministries Podcast

• 0:06
  Hello, friends, and welcome back to the Woman at the Well Ministries podcast.
• 0:10
  With Kimberly Miller, where we believe that every man, woman,
• 0:14
  boy, and girl must come to Jesus, just like the woman at the well in John chapter 4.
• 0:20
  Our highest priority is helping you experience the reality of God in your everyday life.
• 0:26
  Whether you're listening in our app, on your favorite podcast platform,
• 0:30
  or on our website at watwm.org,
• 0:34
  we invite you to sit down with us as we open the scriptures to learn more about
• 0:39
  who God is and to strengthen your daily walk.
• 1:03
  Are you strong in the Lord? Does your strength come from God or from yourself?
• 1:07
  His strength will never fail, or yours always will.
• 1:11
  Join us in this broadcast of Woman at the Well Ministries as we talk about finding
• 1:15
  our strength in the Lord. Hello!
• 1:19
  Have you ever thought about what it means to be strong in the Lord?
• 1:23
  So many of us like to say that we are and even very experienced,
• 1:28
  very mature Christians can find themselves weak in the Lord.
• 1:33
  It's real important that we remember that song that we learned many of us when
• 1:38
  we were just mere children in Bible school that says, He is strong, but I am weak.
• 1:44
  We need to remember that Jesus loves me. These are the things that make us strong in the Lord.
• 1:51
  We see in the scriptures that he said, design the sincere meat of the word, as opposed to the milk.
• 1:59
  We see that when we're babes in Christ, we just do the superficial stuff.
• 2:04
  We sort of just look at the things because we're not able to cut our teeth on the deep truths of God.
• 2:09
  But this verse tells us in Ephesians 6.10 that we are to be strong in the Lord
• 2:15
  and in the power of his might.
• 2:18
  I can't help but be reminded of the verse in ephesians chapter 3 and verse 20
• 2:23
  this is now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think.
• 2:30
  According to the power that worketh in us so often what it is is we have not
• 2:36
  availed our lives for christ to use,
• 2:40
  we have not taken the time to do what he said in second timothy 2 15 when he
• 2:45
  said study to show thyself approved a workman unto god that needeth not to be
• 2:49
  ashamed rightly dividing the word of truth,
• 2:52
  in all honesty if you're standing in front of an audience of people and they
• 2:57
  begin to talk about the truths of god i ask you this question are you lost,
• 3:04
  when they talk about his word and his promises do the very promises of god seem
• 3:11
  so far off to you or are you so familiar with the scriptures
• 3:15
  that general conversations about the truths of god strike a chord in your heart
• 3:20
  and you're excited and you're exhilarated and it motivates you to move forward,
• 3:25
  when the devil comes at you and we are told he will he says be sober be vigilant
• 3:29
  because your adversary the devil walketh about as a roaring lion seeking whom
• 3:35
  he may devour are you defenseless.
• 3:38
  My friend you need not be because you see the victory is already won on that
• 3:43
  cross of calvary when he was
• 3:46
  put to death for your sins and my sins and by the power of the resurrection
• 3:50
  of jesus christ he defeated hell death and the grave,
• 3:54
  and in first john we are told in the fourth chapter that greater is he that
• 3:59
  is in you than he that is in the world so why is it my friend that when the devil just blows.
• 4:08
  We're knocked down it isn't because he's stronger than god,
• 4:12
  it isn't because he's stronger than the god that dwells in you
• 4:15
  it's because you haven't allowed god to have free reign of your heart and free
• 4:21
  reign of your life and you haven't been eating the word of god which is the
• 4:26
  bread of life and you haven't equipped yourself
• 4:29
  with what he has in his holy word to enable you to defeat the devil on every
• 4:35
  turn he says resist the devil and he will flee from you,
• 4:38
  when the devil took jesus up to the mountain,
• 4:41
  and he began to show him all of the things that he could have if he would just
• 4:45
  follow the devil it was jesus who defeated the devil by quoting scripture.
• 4:52
  Oh my friend the psalmist david said hide his word in your heart that you might
• 4:57
  not sin against god you see my friend, the devil's going to come after you.
• 5:02
  But sin hath no more dominion over you, according to Romans 6.
• 5:06
  And through the power of the Lord God working in you, when you've opened your heart and your mind,
• 5:12
  yes, your mind, when you've filled it with the truth and the goodness of God,
• 5:17
  and you've tasted the mercy and the grace of Jesus Christ in your life, then you're strong.
• 5:23
  When the devil throws something at your way, you're not knocked down with his blow.
• 5:28
  It is completely shielded by the blood of jesus christ and you began to defeat the devil
• 5:35
  by walking in the truths of god and speaking back to the devil the things that
• 5:39
  god has equipped you to do and the power of god is in you so strong that you can't even think.
• 5:46
  And exhaust your capabilities through Jesus Christ.
• 5:51
  In Philippians chapter 4 and verse 13, he says, I can do all things through
• 5:56
  Christ which strengtheneth me.
• 5:58
  If your strength is in Jesus Christ and his righteousness, and he has imputed
• 6:05
  his righteousness into you because you have given him your heart and he is your savior,
• 6:12
  then my dear friend every step you take in this world following jesus christ
• 6:17
  standing in the center of his will you will have all that you need to get it done you won't faint.
• 6:26
  And be weary in well-doing because you'll be drawing on the strength of god and when other people
• 6:32
  would falter and fail at the job that god has asked you to do you'll be going
• 6:38
  strong remember little david when he stood against the giant
• 6:42
  Goliath he said this battle is not mine it belongs to the Lord and through the
• 6:46
  power and the strength of Jesus Christ inside of him this little red-haired boy
• 6:51
  with a slingshot and a stone took the giant down,
• 6:55
  be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might ingest him into your life
• 7:01
  invite him into your days allow him to order your footsteps and my dear friend
• 7:07
  you can stand against the wiles of the devil,
• 7:10
  because he has no power over you he's no match for jesus but you see so often,
• 7:18
  we allow the devil to have free reign in our life we allow the devil to do what he so desires.
• 7:25
  But we just don't give jesus the day of time the dime of day we won't spend time in his word,
• 7:32
  that's the trick of the devil he says you just don't have time and so you get
• 7:36
  the church on sunday mornings half,
• 7:38
  tattered and and torn in your mind and and and all these horrible things have
• 7:43
  taken place and you barely got there on time you're half dressed half begged half-minded,
• 7:48
  and then you leave church just about the same way because you thought about
• 7:52
  all the other things you're going to do.
• 7:53
  You don't even spend your worship time worshiping him.
• 7:57
  You sort of just go through the motions.
• 8:00
  But you see, the Lord said, I'm knocking at your heart's door in Revelations
• 8:05
  3.20. And he said, I want to spend time with you.
• 8:08
  And I want to sup with you.
• 8:10
  And you see, it's during those quiet moments of prayer that we gain the strength.
• 8:16
  To fight our daily battles.
• 8:19
  It tells us in 1 Thessalonians that we're to pray without ceasing.
• 8:23
  That's an attitude of prayer. That's a heart that is listening and looking for God.
• 8:28
  That's a heart that is strong in his word who is
• 8:32
  absolutely outfitted their life with the promises of god then clothed with his
• 8:37
  righteousness walking in the center of his will and slaying the devil on every
• 8:41
  turn not because they're doing it in their strength
• 8:44
  in their power but because they're doing it through the power of jesus christ that flows through them,
• 8:51
  they're not relying on their own strength.
• 8:53
  They're not relying on their own capabilities.
• 8:57
  They're relying on the capabilities of Jesus Christ who has free reign in their
• 9:01
  life. Nothing is going to stop him.
• 9:03
  Nothing is greater than him. All things are under his feet.
• 9:07
  The problem that you have isn't bigger than God. The problem that you have is
• 9:11
  not insignificant to God.
• 9:13
  The problem that you have has been filtered through his nail scarred hands.
• 9:17
  It's been molded and it's been
• 9:19
  modified and it's been absolutely directed to say that it can get to you
• 9:25
  and he has said you can have this problem because this is what i'm going to choose
• 9:29
  to allow you to have but i have equipped you to overcome because greater is
• 9:34
  he that is in you than he that is in the world i have equipped you to allow
• 9:37
  my glory to shine through you and i will be exalted through your response and
• 9:42
  your reaction in this situation.
• 9:44
  Because you love me and you trust me and you're saying that will be done lord
• 9:49
  and not mine and you're allowing his power.
• 9:53
  To flow through you.
• 9:56
  My friend, do you know what it means to be strong in the Lord?
• 10:02
  That is a faith that cannot fail. That's believing that God said that all things
• 10:09
  work together for the good to them that love the Lord and for the good to them
• 10:13
  that are called according to his purpose in Romans 8.28.
• 10:17
  That's believing that in Romans 8.38 that nothing shall separate you from the love of God.
• 10:23
  That's believing that exactly where you are is where God wants you to be.
• 10:29
  That's loving God out of righteousness and not because of your circumstances
• 10:34
  that's all about being absolutely excited to be used of God in whatever way he should choose
• 10:41
  it's like the Hebrew children when they said if he delivers me that's fine but
• 10:46
  even if he doesn't deliver me from this fiery furnace I'm going to trust him
• 10:51
  anyway you see God is not a puppet on a string He is God in the good times.
• 10:56
  He's God in the bad times. And if you are strong in the Lord,
• 10:59
  you absolutely understand that all things are under his control.
• 11:05
  And you're just excited to be the person that God is mindful of and who he visits,
• 11:13
  according to Psalms 8.4.
• 11:15
  Being strong in the Lord means knowing him personally.
• 11:19
  You must know who he is. And you must believe that he is a rewarder of them
• 11:23
  that diligently seek him.
• 11:25
  You must have a personal relationship with him in order to be strong in him.
• 11:30
  You must know him as personal savior. And he said, whosoever shall call upon
• 11:33
  the name of the Lord shall be saved.
• 11:36
  He said that we were all sinners and that everyone had to be born again and
• 11:41
  that he loved us so much that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth
• 11:46
  in him should not perish but have everlasting life.
• 11:49
  The first step to strengthen God,
• 11:53
  and in Jesus Christ is having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
• 11:57
  The second step is having a personal walk with him.
• 12:00
  And he said, I am knocking on your heart's door and I want to sup with you.
• 12:03
  My dear friend, he came that you might have life and have it more abundantly.
• 12:08
  And the word became flesh and it dwelled among us.
• 12:11
  My dear friends, this is your opportunity to be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might.
• 12:18
  Because then, my dear friend, this walk on earth is just a journey and your
• 12:23
  life is but a vapor and there are better things yet to come.
• 12:30
  Thank you for joining us for today's podcast. You can find quotes and scripture
• 12:35
  references from this episode in the show notes.
• 12:38
  We pray today's message has been a blessing. If it has, please consider leaving
• 12:42
  a rating or review on your podcast platform.
• 12:46
  Your feedback helps others discover the truth of God's word.
• 12:50
  You can connect with Women at the Well Ministries through our app at watwm.org
• 12:56
  and on Facebook and Instagram.
• 12:58
  While you're there, learn more about Bible Bits. Kim's daily devotional delivered
• 13:02
  Monday through Friday by text message and the Bible bit podcast.
• 13:07
  Thank you for your prayers and support.