Latest / The Woman at the Well Ministries Podcast / 560 | A Peace that Passes Understanding – Part 5 - Finding Faith in the Midst of Storms

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560 | A Peace that Passes Understanding – Part 5 - Finding Faith in the Midst of Storms · The Woman at the Well Ministries Podcast

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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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  Welcome back to our series on a peace that passes all understanding.
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  In this series on peace, we are taking an in-depth look at unwavering,
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  unstoppable faith in God, on living with no worries or doubts,
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  on possessing a faith that motivates and moves us, and having a following faith
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  that draws us closer to Him.
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  Come join us in this broadcast of Woman at the Well Ministries,
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  as Kim continues this study on the peace of God.
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  Hello, and thank you as we join our last lesson on this series of The Peace of God.
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  Our anchor verse for this entire series has been Philippians 4, 6, and 7.
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  He says, Be careful for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication,
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  with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God.
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  And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts
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  and minds through Christ As we have moved from that anchor verse,
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  we have spoken about unwavering,
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  unstoppable faith in a God that cannot fail. We spoke about no worries.
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  And we've spoken about things that would cause us to be able to move mountains
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  in our lives by having the amount of faith that God would give to us that we
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  might believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.
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  In this final lesson that we're beginning right now to speak about concerning
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  a peace that passeth all understanding, we're going to talk about a peace that
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  will motivate us and that will move us to work for Jesus Christ.
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  And we get that by drawing closer to him.
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  In James chapter 4 and verse 8, the Lord tells us that if we draw nigh unto
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  God, he will draw nigh unto us.
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  He says to cleanse ye hands, ye sinners, and purify your hearts, ye double-minded.
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  Draw nigh unto God. When we get close to God,
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  the world falls off because the
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  world has no part in the holiness of God
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  and God said that we are to be holy for I am
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  holy you see faith is believing in God and when we believe in God we take his
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  commandments and we apply them to our lives and we walk in his ways and we walk
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  in the way he asked us to do we draw close to him because he is the way the
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  truth and the life and no man cometh unto the Father.
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  You see, the closer we get to God, the less this world has for us.
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  The more we spend our time building up earthly possessions and putting our focus
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  and our priorities on earthly things, the less close we are to God because our
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  attachments are down here instead of there.
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  And he tells us in Colossians 3, 2, that we are to set our affections on things
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  above and not on things of the earth.
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  He tells us to not lay up our treasures on earth, but to lay them up in heaven
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  where rust and moth cannot corrupt.
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  You see, faith is what motivates us and moves us. If we really believe in God
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  and we believe him to be who he is and we believe him to say that he rewards
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  them that diligently seek him, it's going to cause us to move towards him.
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  And our love for God will motivate us. My friends, it's easy to see that his
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  love for us motivated him.
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  For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever
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  believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life.
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  Faith motivates. You see, because God believed that we were worth his son.
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  When you believe in God, you draw close to him and it moves us and it motivates us.
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  If you would please look at James chapter 2 and verse 18.
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  James says, yea, a man may say thou hast faith and I have works.
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  Show me thy faith without thy works. I will show thee my faith by my works.
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  Now we know for a fact that works will not get us into heaven.
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  We get into heaven by and only by the blood of Jesus Christ being applied into
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  our heart as we believe in him.
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  Not just a head knowledge, but a heart belief in Jesus Christ that he is the
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  way, the truth, and the life.
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  You see, Ephesians 2, 89 says, for by grace, that's the grace of Jesus Christ.
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  For by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves.
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  It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.
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  It has nothing to do about me. It's all about Jesus Christ.
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  He came to seek and to save those which were lost. All of us are lost.
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  He came to seek and save each and every one of us in the entire world,
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  any person who's ever been born or ever will be.
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  I wasn't isolated and singled out by God and said I was going to save Kim.
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  No, he came to save us all. But he did say, I have a plan for her.
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  Just as he said, I have a plan for you. and you see he saved us unto good works
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  we are his workmanship created in christ jesus unto good works he tells us in
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  the book of ephesians chapter 2.
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  He created us for a purpose we are the light of
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  the world and if in matthew chapter 5 verses 14 through 16
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  and that we are not to lie we are to let
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  our light shine so before men that it
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  may glorify our father which is in heaven we're not to put our light under a
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  bushel he said go ye into all the world and preach and teach the gospel the
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  lord has appointed us his ambassadors and why,
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  so that we can tell others and why would
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  you want to because remember for the grace of
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  god has appeared unto all men teaching us that denying ungodliness and
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  worldly lusts that we should live righteously and soberly in this
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  present world looking for that blessed hope and the
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  glorious appearing of our lord and savior jesus christ i've
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  got a story to tell because he saved me from where i
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  am but he's gonna take me to a home not made with hands eternal to the heavens
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  he says let not your heart be troubled you believe in god believe also in me
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  in my father's house are many mansions and if it were not so i would have told
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  you i've gone to prepare a place for you that where i am you may be also oh
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  hallelujah to the lamb of god.
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  That brings peace to my heart. He didn't only just determine how to create me
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  and determine a path for me to walk. He's got my eternity settled.
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  And he's got it all taken care of. You talk about a 401k plan.
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  My future's set and it's out of this world.
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  And it isn't dependent on me. It isn't dependent on you.
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  It's on him and I can believe in it and I can trust it because he's Jesus Christ,
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  the son of the most high God.
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  And he's king of kings and lord of lords and he's my friend
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  and greater love hath no man than this
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  that a man lay down his life for his friend you better
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  believe it'll cause me to work because i'm looking for that
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  second appearing of my great god and
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  savior jesus christ of course it's going to motivate me
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  because he dwells inside of me teaching me
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  and he's teaching me to deny
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  ungodliness and worldly lust until they're righteously and soberly
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  in this present world he's teaching me to walk in
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  his ways he's teaching me that the things of
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  this world will grow strangely dim in the face of his presence he's teaching
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  me that all things work together for the good to them that love the lord to
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  them that are called according to his purpose he's teaching me that he's got
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  ideas and plans that are specifically mine.
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  Give me a hope and a future.
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  He teaches me that I'm the apple of his eye and that I can hide under his wings,
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  and that all things are under his feet.
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  And I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me and that he'll supply
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  all of my needs according to his riches.
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  Now that's a peace that passes understanding. But it's that personal relationship
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  with Jesus Christ that gives me faith.
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  And it's that faith that gives me peace. oh
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  how i love him and loving jesus
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  lets me know who he is you see he's
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  a friend that sticketh closer than a brother and i
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  don't have to worry about him telling me that i can't come
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  see him or calling before i show up because he's already there when the disciples
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  were in the boat and the storm was raging round about them he was already there
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  he has the remedy for all of your ailments,
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  physical mental emotional financial whatever they might be he's already there
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  he says i know the needs that you have before you even ask me and he says call
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  unto me and i will answer thee and show the great and mighty things which thou knowest not.
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  He said, come boldly to the throne of God that you may obtain help in time of trouble.
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  He said, cast all your care on me because I care for you. Isn't that slick?
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  Cast all your care on me because I care for you. He says, we love him because he first loved us.
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  And he says, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son.
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  He said, if you drink of my water, you'll never thirst again because I'll satisfy your soul.
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  Nothing else. can satisfy your soul. Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
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  Oh, precious is the blood. Oh, precious is Jesus.
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  He loves us so much. You see, that motivates us.
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  It motivates us to move, to act, to live, to be what he'd have us to be.
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  In James chapter 2, drop down to verse 20,
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  he says, but thou wilt thou know oh
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  vain man that faith without works is death
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  oh abraham well he
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  had faith abraham believed god and it was imputed unto him for righteousness
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  and he was called the friend of god jesus says that you are my friends if you
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  keep my commandments and greater love has no man than this that a man would
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  lay down his life for his friends,
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  I believe Paul and Silas knew who he was.
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  I believe they'd walked and talked with him and they knew what he could do.
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  And I believe they'd seen him in action. And I believe that their faith was complete.
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  For you see, their life, in the midst of the storm and the trouble, it wrote a story.
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  It wrote a story, and that story is this.
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  Oh, how I love Jesus.
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  Oh
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  First love me they
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  were facing incredible incredible obstacles
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  you see they were going about doing what god asked him to do and there was a
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  certain lady who was able to see into the future and she was gaining all kinds
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  of money for these gentlemen not paul and silas,
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  And this soothsayer came to Paul and Silas, and they healed her in the mighty name of Jesus Christ.
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  And through the power and blood of Jesus Christ, which worked in them,
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  they were able to cast out the demons, which allowed this lady to be a soothsayer.
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  And this soothsayer was now freed from the bondage of sin, just like you and me.
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  When we come to know Jesus as personal Savior, the bondage of sin is broken. And we are free indeed.
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  When whom the Lord sets free is free indeed.
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  And my dear friend, this lady no longer could see into the future because she
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  no longer had the demons.
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  And these people who had owned her and was using her and abusing her could no
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  longer get any money from her. And it really made them mad.
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  So verse 23 of chapter 16 of the book of Acts says this.
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  And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison,
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  charging the jailer to keep them safely.
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  They just beat the devil right out of them and threw him in jail. And what was the crime?
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  Doing the works of Jesus, who, having received such a charge,
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  thrust him into the inner prison and made their feet fast in the stocks.
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  And let me tell you, they were in a prison. no doubt
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  it was cold and it was damp and they were
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  in there for doing the right thing now i scarce say
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  most of us wouldn't be very excited about being in jail even
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  if we deserve to be in there because we've done the wrong thing but i
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  don't know very many people who being thrown
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  into prison for doing the work
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  of the lord would have been doing what paul and silas did well midnight
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  came and at midnight paul and
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  silas prayed and they sang praises unto god and the prisoners heard them and
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  suddenly there was a great earthquake so that the foundations of the prison
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  were shaken and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone's bands were
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  loosed now let me just tell you paul and silas they were in prison.
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  They were in prison for doing the work of the Lord. But their faith motivated them.
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  They were singing praises unto
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  the Most High God, even though their circumstances did not warrant it.
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  And it didn't change their faith inside, but their faith motivated them.
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  For you see, they realized that the people around them didn't know God.
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  And they realized that they had a wonderful opportunity to show Jesus to them.
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  And so these boys, they weren't all upset about what was going on in their life.
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  They were all absolutely jazzed up about what was going on inside of them.
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  They had a relationship with Jesus Christ.
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  My friends, we have the Holy Spirit inside of us. Paul and Silas didn't.
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  Because at that point, the Holy Spirit didn't come to dwell until Jesus went
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  away to prepare their place, not made with hands eternal into the heavens.
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  But my friends, the Holy Spirit lives inside of me. And I have Jesus inside of me.
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  And I have Jesus in the Word of God that was made manifest as the Word was made flesh.
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  And i still don't have what these boys
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  had you see in the midst of their trauma in the midst of their struggle they
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  had a faith that motivated them and moved them they were singing praises an
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  earthquake takes place and all of their shackles are gone hey they were free
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  by worldly standards the world had just let loose.
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  The keeper of the prison awakening out of his sleep and seeing the prison doors
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  open he drew out his sword and would have killed himself supposing that the prisoners had been flat,
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  that's what the world would have thought the world would have got the devil out of dodge,
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  they didn't belong there they hadn't done anything but you see they
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  were commissioned to be there the god of
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  the universe had seen to it that they were there and he
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  had protected them and their soul was at peace because
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  they had a peace that passeth all understanding a joy
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  unspeakable and full of glory they were careful
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  for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication with
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  thanksgiving they were making their requests made known unto god and when the
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  sky split open and when the storm and the earthquake and whatever all happened
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  that day happened and the ground began to shake oh paul and silas they were
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  free their commission hadn't changed god had placed them there.
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  Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Hey, do thyself no harm,
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  for we are all here. You see, they answered to a different call.
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  The world didn't dictate where they were going to be. God did.
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  Then they called for a light and sprang in and came trembling and fell down
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  before Paul and Silas and brought them out and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?
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  In the midst of the storm, they're singing, they're praising.
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  They're living for God. Was bringing another man unto salvation.
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  Look what he said. It says, And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
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  and thou shalt be saved in thy house. It's a personal thing,
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  and the house wasn't getting saved because they were, because he was.
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  But they knew that the life of the Philippian jeller was going to make such
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  an impact on them that they would want what he had,
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  and they would come to know Jesus as Savior because they had just seen that
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  the impact they had had on this Philippian jeller was in such a point that he wanted what they had.
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  And they hadn't said anything to him about do you want to
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  be saved they had lived it in front of him they hadn't said anything about the
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  transforming power of jesus christ they'd lived it in front of them because
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  they had a peace that passed all understanding because their faith motivated
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  them and it moved them they were so close to god that they could ignore their circumstances,
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  some of you need to really listen
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  to what god said when he said be
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  content whatever state you're in your joy is
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  from within it's not from circumstances and you have a marvelous opportunity
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  right now in that place that you're in to sing the praises of god and at midnight
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  let the world see who they are and i mean the midnight of your storm it's darkest
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  at midnight folks it's darkest at midnight.
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  And in the midst of the darkest time in your life, it's time to sing his praises.
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  And God will show up because he inhabits the praise of his people.
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  When my mother was in the hospital in her last few days here on earth,
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  there was pain that I can't describe to you.
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  And many of you have been there, so you know what I'm talking about.
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  And I was seeking God with everything I had. And I was praying from the very
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  depths of my soul, as was my family. friends.
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  But one night, on the wee hours of the night time, getting close to crossing
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  into the next day, I just began to sing.
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  And I heard just seconds later, a sister began to sing with me.
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  Just a few moments later, my other sister joined in, and shortly thereafter,
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  Erica was singing, and we were singing the praises of God.
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  We sang every Southern gospel song I think we'd ever heard in our lifetime.
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  I think we sang it better than we could have ever sung it in our whole lives.
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  For it was coming from the heart and the door was shut and we just lost the
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  rest of the world and his grace just poured upon us and our hearts were just overjoyed.
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  And we weren't careful about the things of this world and we weren't careful
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  about the circumstances that we were seeing. And for, you know,
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  we had been transformed and translated to a place not made with hands in our hearts.
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  And as he began to put that bomb of Gilead upon us and our burdens are lifted
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  at Calvary, we begin to see that God was God. And we sang about who he was.
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  And we began to feel it in our heart. And we sang about that place not made
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  with hands eternal into heavens.
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  And our lives were changed at that very moment because what was downtrodden
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  and saddened, where we were looking at the circumstances were lifted up in the
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  presence of Jesus Christ and.
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  Be careful for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving
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  let your requests be made known unto god and the peace of god that passeth all
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  understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through christ,
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  Thank you for joining us in today's podcast. You can visit the show notes for
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  quotes from today's podcast and scripture references.
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  Thank you to the Gospel Group Fudge Creek for letting us use their hit song, Happy Girl.
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  Remember that God loves you. You are loved.