Latest / The Woman at the Well Ministries Podcast / 279 | Conversation - Walking to Easter - Sunday

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279 | Conversation - Walking to Easter - Sunday · The Woman at the Well Ministries Podcast

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  Music.
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  Hello, friends, and welcome back to another podcast of Woman at the Well Ministries,
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  where we believe that all of us have to come to Jesus like the woman at the
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  well in John chapter four.
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  Our highest priority is making God real in your life.
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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,
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  we invite you to sit down with us as we look to the scriptures to learn more
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  about God and to strengthen Your daily walk with Jesus Christ.
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  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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  In this episode of the Woman at the Well Ministries podcast,
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  join Kim Miller and Erica Close in a conversation as we walk with Jesus.
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  In today's conversation, we're finding ourselves after Easter, Easter,
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  but today we're continuing a series of conversations about the Holy Week and
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  about the week leading up to Jesus' death and resurrection.
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  So join us as we look at these events and their message for our lives.
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  Well, thank you so much for joining us in this podcast of Women of the Well
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  Ministries. My name's Erica Close. I'm here with Kim Miller.
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  Hello, and what a pleasure it is to spend the next few moments with you.
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  And we've made it Sunday! Sunday, Resurrection Sunday is here.
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  And so it is our time that we're having together where we are celebrating Easter
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  Sunday, which is the first day of the week, the day of the resurrection,
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  following the horror of Jesus' arrest and betrayal, following the brutality
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  of his torture and trials.
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  Climaxing in his crucifixion and death, following the silence and stillness.
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  Of the cold, lifeless tomb. Sunday brought the spiritual equivalent of a nuclear
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  explosion because Jesus rose from the dead.
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  He's alive. He's alive.
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  We're going to read today Matthew 28, 2 through 4.
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  And behold, there was a great earthquake, for the angel of the Lord descended
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  from heaven and came and rolled back the stone from the door and sat upon it.
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  His countenance was like lightning and his raiment white as snow.
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  And for fear of him, the keepers did shake and became as dead men.
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  It is so exciting to be able to talk about Easter Sunday and to be able to talk
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  about the culmination of all of Holy Week.
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  And we've been talking about all of these days of Holy Week now for seven weeks,
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  for seven weeks of conversations.
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  And it's so exciting to just finally be here to talk about this.
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  So many of us know the account of Easter. We know that Jesus arose on the very first day of the week.
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  And what's amazing is on the very first day of the very first week,
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  God commanded light to shine out of darkness.
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  And on Easter Sunday, he did the same thing, right?
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  When he commanded the light of the world, Jesus, to shine out of the darkness of the the grave.
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  We read about the angel of the Lord coming down from heaven.
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  We read about the angel being bright and being light.
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  So when Jesus' father forsook him and couldn't look at him because all of our sins were upon him.
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  The angels withdrew from him. He was alone. He was away from the Father.
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  And as we have Easter Sunday, what we see is all of that is coming back.
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  All of his honor and all of his glory comes back to him at that moment.
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  Because light dispels darkness.
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  And surely you remember that hymn, up from the grave he arose with a mighty triumph for his foes.
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  And we spent so much time in our last podcast talking about Saturday,
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  when his foes were doing all that they could to ensure that they would triumph.
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  But that day, light dispelled darkness, and he arose.
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  Christ arose. Never have we seen anything in history,
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  and never will we see anything in the future that can even slightly compare
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  to this phenomenon of the truth that Jesus was crucified,
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  he died, was buried, and on resurrection morning, he arose.
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  The light of the world.
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  When God spoke light into existence, it was amazing. But then he brought light
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  to touch down on the earth, and he rose it from the darkness of sin,
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  hell, death, and the grave.
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  And we have that relationship with Jesus Christ.
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  We are servants of the Most High God.
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  He is our friend, our Savior, our Comforter, our Deliverer, our Redeemer,
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  our Prayer Partner in John 17. this same power that rose Jesus from the grave.
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  Lives in each of us. And Ephesians 3.20 says that we can do amazing things according
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  to the power that worketh in us.
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  We have all the power. We just don't let him work. I love that.
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  We have all the power. We have all of Jesus.
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  You know, when I think about this account of the angel coming,
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  right, going to the tomb and rolling back the stone, You know,
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  when Jesus was on the cross, he talked about how it is finished,
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  right? The work was done.
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  His work was done, but he, in his death, finished and paid the payment in full.
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  You know, when we think about this, it's not that all of a sudden Jesus arose
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  from the dead and busted the stone, right, and broke out of prison.
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  Prison it was that god knew the
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  payment had been completely made and he sent
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  the angel to roll back the stone like when if you or i were to ever get thrown
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  in prison if we were going to get out somebody would come and let us out right
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  they would open the cell door so this angel comes and rolls away the stone dispatched
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  by god himself just like jesus said it was finished god said said,
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  payment in full, right?
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  The payment was done.
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  And he's still rolling the stone away today, the stone that blocks us from joy,
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  the stone that blocks us from being who he has intended us to be,
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  the stone that blocks us from living the abundant life he has promised us in John 10.10.
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  God is rolling the stone away through Jesus, his son, who come that we might
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  have life and have it more more abundantly.
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  Jesus was delivered from his death, right?
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  Having paid for all of our sins and for our offenses.
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  And he was raised again to completely justify us with the Father.
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  So the stone that was our sins, the stone that held him in the grave,
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  the stone that blocked him from getting out was rolled away from the grave,
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  showing that heaven had spoken,
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  that payment was made in full, and that the work of Jesus was done.
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  The angel that was sent didn't raise Jesus from the dead, but he signified that
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  heaven was pleased, that God was pleased, and that Jesus himself was victorious.
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  And he's still the door. He says, I am the door, and no man cometh to the Father but through me.
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  He is still rolling the stone away and giving us free access to God the Father
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  through Jesus the Son if we just have a personal relationship with him.
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  If we believe and place our faith in him, He is the open door for all possibility,
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  for all opportunity, for all blessing, for all favor, for all anointing.
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  Jesus is the open door.
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  Amen. Amen. Full access. All stones rolled away.
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  All right. So we're going to read now in John chapter 20, and we're going to read through verse 18.
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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 sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre.
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  Then she runneth, and cometh to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple whom
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  Jesus loved, and saith unto them, They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulchre,
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  and we know not where they have laid him.
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  Peter therefore went forth, and that other disciple, and came to the sepulchre.
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  So they ran both together, and the other disciple did outrun Peter,
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  and came first to the sepulchre. And he, stooping down and looking in,
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  saw the linen cloths lying, yet went he not in.
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  Then come a Simon Peter following him, and went into the sepulcher,
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  and seeth the linen cloths lie.
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  And the napkin that was about his head, not lying with the linen cloths,
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  but wrapped together in a place by itself.
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  Then went in also that other disciple, which came first to the sepulcher, and he saw and believed.
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  For as yet they knew not the scripture, that he must rise again from the the dead.
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  Then the disciples went away unto their own home. But Mary stood without at the sepulcher weeping.
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  And as she wept and she stooped down and looked into the sepulcher and see as
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  two angels in white sitting, the one at the head and the other at the feet where
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  the body of Jesus had lain.
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  And when they say unto her, woman, why weepest thou?
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  She saith unto them, because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him.
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  And when she had thus said, she turned herself back and saw Jesus standing and
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  knew not that it was Jesus.
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  Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? Whom seekest thou?
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  She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou hast borne
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  him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away.
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  Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself and and saith unto him,
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  Rabboni, which is to say, Master.
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  Jesus saith unto her, 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 ascend unto my Father,
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  and your Father, and to my God, and your God.
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  Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord,
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  and that he had spoken these things unto her.
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  Oh, I have so much that I want to say.
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  I love how it ends. And she told him that she had seen the Lord.
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  When you have seen the Lord, everything changes.
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  And that's why the scripture says that old things are passed away and all things become new.
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  When you have seen the Lord, you are transformed and never the same.
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  But as we begin to unpack this passage in John chapter 20, I want you to think
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  about some things that we can just see quickly.
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  First of all, I'm not sure whether Peter and the other disciple would have gone
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  into the tomb had they been there alone.
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  We are strengthened by our brothers and sisters in Christ. We are uplifted and encouraged.
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  We can sometimes find the motivation and the inspiration to do that which we
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  know that we're supposed to do when we have others who are serving Christ and
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  speaking of their testimony and living faithfully with us and around us and in front of us.
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  Don't underestimate the value of having Christian friends. Amen.
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  I also want you to see this picture of them stooping down and looking in for Christ.
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  If we want to know who Christ is and find the knowledge of Christ, we've got to stoop down.
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  That means we have to humble ourselves and submit our lives and our hearts and
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  our minds to the Word of God and look in it.
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  We've got to look through the Scriptures to learn of Him.
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  We have to realize that we don't know it all, that we're not the most powerful
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  and that we aren't capable of taking care of ourselves. but instead we need to lean on Jesus.
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  We need to place our faith fully in him.
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  When you really love Christ, you're going to follow him and you're going to
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  have a strong determination and a purpose in your heart that nothing can detour you.
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  Those two disciples Disciples were seeking Jesus,
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  and they were going to literally do whatever it took to see what was inside.
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  That tomb because they wanted to see Jesus.
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  And when you really love him, you're going to cleave to him.
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  And this woman comes to the tomb to weep, to grieve, to sit at the grave,
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  because she wasn't going to leave him and desert him, anything to be close to him.
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  And I don't know, those of you listening to me, if you've lost a loved one,
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  you know that for a while you go to that cemetery frequently.
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  You know they're not there. You know they're in heaven. but somehow you just want to be there.
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  You want to somehow be what you think is closer to them.
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  When you love someone, death doesn't take the love away.
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  And so there she was waiting.
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  When you really love him and you are seeking a relationship with him,
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  a friendship with Jesus, Jesus, you're going to be constantly searching for knowledge of him.
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  And the scripture tells us in Matthew 7, 7, if we ask, we shall receive.
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  If we seek, we shall find. And if we knock, it'll be open unto us.
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  In 2 Timothy 2, 15, we're told to study to show thyself approved unto God,
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  a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. Ruth.
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  My love for him keeps me in the word of God. Your love for him is going to give
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  you a desire to know him better, to understand his character,
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  to be aware of how he reacts and responds,
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  to be familiar with his promises, to know the character that he asked you to
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  exhibit as a follower of Christ.
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  You're going to continually want to seek to know him more, and he tells us that
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  if we will draw nigh unto him, he will draw nigh unto us.
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  You can't outgive him.
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  He will gladly embrace you and feel you.
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  And teach you who he is. God, through his son Jesus,
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  will manifest himself to you if you are seeking him and if you are expecting to find him.
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  Mary longs to see the dead body of Christ and complains of that loss,
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  and then behold, she sees him alive.
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  She was seeking him. Now, she was was seeking a dead body because she had lost
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  that sense of he was going to be alive.
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  And he stands in front of her. You can't out give him. He will reward your diligence.
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  He will reward your study. He will give you knowledge. He will give you understanding.
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  He will answer your prayers if you were following after him. And he did just that.
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  She didn't recognize him. She thought he was the gardener, but she was looking
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  and seeking Jesus, and she found him, just like Matthew 7, 7 says.
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  He will do more for us than we will ever ask or think.
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  As we're told in Ephesians 3, 20, Christ makes himself known to his people through the word of God.
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  When we apply his word to our our hearts.
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  We are acquainted with him. We are associated with him.
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  We become part of his family.
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  And we need to communicate this knowledge, this relationship,
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  this friendship with those that are around us.
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  He says that we are to share the gospel.
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  We don't want to keep our knowledge to ourselves. We want everybody to know
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  Jesus the way we know him.
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  If you knew him like I knew him, oh, how much he longs for us to know him fully,
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  to trust him completely.
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  We can share the joy of the disciples because he's alive. He's alive in us.
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  Our sins are all forgiven.
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  He paid the sin debt we owed that we couldn't pay, that he didn't know, but only he could pay.
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  He has swung open wide the gates of heaven, and he is the open door.
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  And he says that whosoever shall call upon him shall be saved.
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  Praise the Lord. He's alive and asking for us to come unto him.
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  And because he lives, we can live today and tomorrow.
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  And because he lives, we can face tomorrow.
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  And we know one thing for sure, that eye hath not seen and ear hath not heard
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  what lies in store for them that love him.
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  One day, one day, we're going to go to that mansion he talks about in John chapter
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  14, that he's prepared for us, that where he is, we may be also.
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  And we're going to live with him forever and ever. Resurrection Sunday proves he's alive.
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  I think that as we come to the end of this series on Holy Week,
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  culminating in the greatest day, Resurrection Sunday.
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  It just makes me feel thankful.
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  And to that end, we're going to look at Ephesians chapter 1,
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  verses 15 through 23, which is Paul's prayer.
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  He says, Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus,
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  and love unto all the saints,
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  cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers,
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  that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you
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  the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him.
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  Eyes of your understanding being enlightened that you may know
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  what is the hope of his calling and what
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  the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints and what is the exceeding
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  greatness of his power to usward who believe according to the working of his
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  mighty power which he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead and
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  set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,
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  far above all principality and power and might and dominion,
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  and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come.
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  And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all
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  things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him that filleth all in all.
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  That is a prayer of absolute thanksgiving by Paul for the people of Ephesus,
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  but how much is it also a prayer for us that we would be filled with the knowledge
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  of Christ and our eyes would be opened and that we would understand the exceeding
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  greatness of his power that is to those of us who believe.
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  As we conclude this series of looking at Holy Week, it's our prayer that God
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  would richly bless you as you live in that amazing truth that Jesus is alive.
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  He is the only Savior. He is the risen Lord, and soon he will return as King of Kings.
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  Remember that you are loved. Jesus loves you.
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  Music.
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  You.
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  Thank you for joining us in today's podcast.
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  You can visit the show notes for quotes from 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 by searching for Woman at the Well Ministries in your
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  app store or through our website at watwm.org.
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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 nonprofit organization dedicated to serving our Heavenly Father.
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  And it is through your loving and generous support that our ministry continues to bless others.
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  To learn how to partner with Women 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.
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  Music.