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341 | Depending on God and Not Yourself · 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 podcast of Women at the Well Ministries, part three of our journey through
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  the scriptures discovering the hope that is found in the Bible,
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  we are going to learn the importance of depending on God and not ourselves.
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  We will learn the source of our strength, the futility of trusting in riches
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  and the wisdom of choosing an eternal inheritance.
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  Join us as Kim takes us on a journey through the Bible, revealing the hope the scriptures give.
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  Our foundational verse for our series on discovering hope through the scriptures
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  is Romans 15, 13, and it reads like this.
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  Now, the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing that you may
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  abound in hope through the power of the Holy Ghost. We have hope.
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  We as believers who have placed our trust in Jesus Christ as our Savior have
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  an unshakable, steadfast, sure hope that will never leave us or forsake us,
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  who's never been defeated, who's never lost a battle, and he's not going to
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  start with yours, who is above all things.
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  And he in our lives fills us with joy and peace as we trust in him.
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  As you look at this verse, it says that the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing.
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  There are times in our life when our
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  faith is weak and so this
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  art of believing this act of believing this purpose for believing is an ongoing
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  moment by moment minute by minute day by day week by week month by month year by year event.
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  We have moments of unbelief, but Jesus doesn't throw the clay away when that happens.
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  No, when we have that moment of doubt, he draws a little closer.
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  And if you draw closer to him, he'll draw closer to you.
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  And if you confess your sins, he's faithful and just to forgive you of those
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  sins and to cleanse you from all unrighteousness, according to 1 John 1.9.
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  He illustrated this truth through Peter.
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  Peter and the boys, some of them, were in the boat and a storm rose.
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  And Peter can look across the horizon and he sees what looks like God to him, looks like Jesus.
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  And he had walked with Jesus. He had talked with Jesus. He knew who Jesus was,
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  but he was having a moment in time, no doubt, where he was scared,
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  senseless, and he just wasn't sure.
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  And so he calls to this form on the water.
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  And I want to remind you that in Peter's deepest despair, God was already there.
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  So he calls to this form and he says, Lord, if that be you, bid me come.
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  Jesus says, come. So Jesus keeps his eyes fully fixated on Jesus.
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  He's trusting in him. He's believing in him. Jesus said, come,
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  and he got out of the boat.
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  He started walking toward Jesus.
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  And then Peter had what I refer to as a Kim Miller moment.
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  His faith got a little weak, and his logic became what he was listening to.
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  And Peter was not a dumb man.
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  He'd been in water and around water and made his living through fishing on the water.
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  So he knew that man could not walk on water.
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  He also was now no longer looking at Jesus, but he took his eyes off of Jesus.
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  He was looking left and right of Jesus. He was looking at the storm instead of the creator.
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  He was looking at the problem instead of the solution.
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  He was looking at trouble and all sorts of manner of irrelevant things in the presence of Jesus.
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  And so when he took his eyes off of Jesus, which was a form of symbolically
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  not trusting in him, when he stopped looking at Jesus and believing that Jesus
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  could do what he said he would do when he said, come,
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  Peter failed. He sunk.
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  But as he sinks, he quickly realizes that his help comes from Jesus,
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  and only it is Jesus who could save him.
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  So he lifts up his arms and he says, Lord, save me.
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  The scripture says immediately, Jesus reached down and picked him up and drew
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  him to himself, brought him safely to the boat.
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  What does this have to do with hope in the scriptures?
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  It's an account of our lives.
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  None of us probably are ever going to try to walk on water because we just don't
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  have enough faith to even believe that could be possible.
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  But this account in scripture
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  illustrates that when we trust in Jesus
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  when we keep our eyes on Jesus when
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  we keep ourselves in the word where we discover the hope of Jesus and we discover
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  that Jesus is our hope we can do impossible things when we follow Christ we
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  can live in the joy and the protection and the peace that comes from him but
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  we also see that it's a moment by moment choice.
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  Because while he's walking on the water, he's trusting. When he sinks, he's not.
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  But he quickly trusts again, and he's brought to safety.
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  Peter's account of his life in this moment should give us all hope.
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  Because there are times my faith is weak.
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  It matters who you put around you. And now I know this.
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  It was four friends who brought the paralytic to Jesus and put him through the roof.
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  Because of their faith in who Jesus was to get their friend to him, he was healed.
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  Sometimes in our lives, our eyes get distorted and we are not seeing clearly
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  and we are not in the Word of God and we're not reading and digesting and living
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  what it says momentarily.
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  But our hearts are convicted because the Holy Spirit's telling us you got to get yourself right.
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  But sometimes it's the faith of those around us that helps us see who Jesus is. as we're seeking.
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  He's demonstrating himself through the life of others.
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  Sometimes we're the recipient of that, and sometimes we're one of the four friends
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  who's distributing the goodness of God in our lives.
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  But regardless, it is through that instant, constant trust, that constant choice
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  to do what God asks us to do, because our hope is in him all the day long.
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  The only hope we can have is in Christ Jesus.
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  Proverbs 11.1 talks about something.
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  Sometimes we think that the wicked are prospering, and I want you to know that
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  there's a false hope in the wicked.
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  They believe that they are doing just fine, but when Jesus calls them home,
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  they'll know differently, and their lives are generally not good.
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  In Proverbs 11, verse 1, he says, a false balance is an abomination to the Lord,
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  but a just weight is his delight.
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  That means people who are cheating, people who are scraping the right and correctness
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  and stuff, and are using people and treating them poorly, that's not what God wants.
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  See, you can't cut corners to get ahead.
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  You can't cheat a little or spread a rumor to get ahead or try to destroy someone
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  else to build yourself up.
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  You must live a life of integrity because hoping in God is the source of your strength.
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  We can never forget Psalms 25, 5, which says, lead me in thy truth and teach me.
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  Philippians 4 explains that we can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth us.
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  Philippians 4.19 tells us that he'll supply all of our needs according to his riches and glory.
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  Our strength has to come from God. Our hope must be in God.
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  Our faith must be in Jesus Christ for a personal relationship.
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  And when we know Jesus, we can know God. And when Jesus is the center of our
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  life and we are following his commandments and listening to the Holy Spirit
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  that he puts inside of us, then we will have the abundant life he promises.
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  God has to be the source of your strength. You can't be trying to make it on
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  your own and like these false who have hope in things that aren't true,
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  the wicked who devise mischief and things that need not be done.
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  When we look at what happens in Proverbs 11 to the one who was dishonest,
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  we see in verse 7 that when a wicked man dieth, his expectations shall perish,
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  and the hope of the unjust men perish.
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  There is no hope in the wicked, and they will be eternally condemned to hell
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  because of their unbelief in Jesus Christ.
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  Hope that is placed in powerful people or in your wealth or your bank account.
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  Or your skill set, it simply cannot survive.
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  It can't be sustained. sustained scripture tells us that we are to lay up our
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  treasures in heaven where moth and rust cannot destroy that only the things
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  we do for christ will last that in the purification furnace,
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  all the things done for ourself and worldly fame and worldly gain will burn
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  like hay and stubble but only that which was done for christ.
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  Will last. Let's take a look at Psalms 62 and what it says about trusting in your riches.
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  In Psalms 62 verse 10, he says, trust not in oppression and become not vain in robbery.
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  If riches increase, set not your heart upon them.
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  There is nothing in the world that can buy your salvation.
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  It's 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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  Only the precious sinless blood of Jesus can give you security forever.
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  Not only forever in this world, but for eternity.
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  Your wealth, your status, your material gains, they're very poor measures of
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  the quality of your life.
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  Because only when you are a born-again Christian in right fellowship with Jesus
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  Christ can you have a life filled with peace and joy and the abundant,
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  overflowing blessings of God that he promises in John 10.10.
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  See, God isn't impressed by your social standing, your tax bracket,
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  your education, your strengths.
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  None of those things, because they're all things he's given you.
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  Every blessing that you have is a gift from God.
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  In Psalm 62, too, he says, he only is my rock and my salvation.
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  He is my defense. I shall not be greatly moved.
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  Nothing can get us when we are in the cleft of the rock of Jesus Christ.
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  Christ, verse 6 says, he only is my rock and my salvation. He is my defense.
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  I shall not be moved.
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  Same concept said twice in the same chapter. We work for things in this earth and we save.
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  Many of us are very conscious of our retirement and sometimes people are so
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  fixated on it that they're looking at it daily and they're moving their 401ks
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  and they're doing this and that and they have this angst.
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  There is no angst for what God gives you. He gives you rest and comfort for
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  our absolute deepest needs.
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  In verse 8 of Psalm 62, he says, trust in him at all times.
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  Ye people, pour out your heart before him. God is a refuge for us.
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  Whatever happens in your retirement, do what God says.
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  Save as he says save, but don't worry about it. He gave it to you to begin with.
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  He's going to sustain it, and he'll certainly supply all of your needs one way or the other.
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  Trust in him at all times.
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  Wait on him. Psalm 62 5, he says, my soul, wait thou only upon God,
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  for my expectation is from him.
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  There are two essential truths about God that I want you to understand.
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  One, he has all power. In Psalm 62 11, he says, God has spoken once,
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  why have I heard this, that power belongeth to the Lord.
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  And two, he has an unfailing love.
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  O Lord, belongeth mercy. It And in Romans 8, 38 and 39,
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  he tells us that his love will never fail.
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  That you cannot be separated from the love of God.
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  When you look at who God is from the standpoint of what the scripture says,
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  which is truth, then you have a hope that is found wholly and solely in him.
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  In 1 Timothy 6, verses 5 and 6, he says this.
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  Let's look at verse 3.
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  If any man teach otherwise and consent not to wholesome words,
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  even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness,
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  he is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words,
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  whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, and evil surmisings.
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  Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth,
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  supposing that gain is godliness.
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  From such, withdraw yourself. But godliness with contentment is great gain.
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  What he's telling us in this passage is choose Jesus.
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  Choose the way of the Lord. Set your affection upon things above and not things
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  of the earth, like we're told in Colossians 3.2.
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  We are to love God above all else. We are to trust him for all of our needs.
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  We are to trust him and follow where he says go.
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  We are to do what he says do. We are to know that whatever God has given us
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  has been sifted through nail-scarred hands,
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  that he loves us, that he wants what's best for us, and that he promised that
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  he would give us the abundant life if we would follow.
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  It's not about materialism that fades, the stolen, that requires a lot of your time.
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  A lot of material goods is a distraction that the devil uses.
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  You You've got to keep it up. You've got to maintain it. You feel like you've got to use it.
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  You can have so much stuff that you can't use anything you have.
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  And when that happens, the devil has you.
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  You're just snared because you're just spinning around, trying to get your money's
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  worth out of everything that you own.
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  And you've neglected your most prized,
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  precious possession, which is your salvation and the holy word of God.
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  It's not a popular belief among many people that a written Word of God in a
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  bound book is a great treasure.
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  It's my most prized possession.
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  I want to hold him because I feel like I'm holding his hands when I hold the Word of God.
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  I want to hold it to my chest when I'm in my most distressed state because I
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  feel like he's hugging me. I want to open it up and rub my hands on it as I read what he has to say.
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  As I assimilate his words into my heart, as I hear the Holy Spirit teach me
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  and guide me and lead me, I want to carry it with me so that the people around
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  me know that I'm protected.
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  You know, there's nothing wrong, I'm sure, about looking on your phone,
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  looking up the Word of God, but it'll never be a substitute for me for the handheld,
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  bound pages of Scripture.
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  Because when I'm holding the word of God, that word of God is nothing but the
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  word of God, which is all I need.
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  But when you look it up on your phone, that's where you watch Facebook.
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  That's where you do your banking. That's where you pay your bills.
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  Could be for some of you where you read and watch things you shouldn't.
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  And when you pick up your phone, I highly think you hardly doubt that you're
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  thinking, I'm walking around with the word of God.
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  I'm walking around with Jesus. Jesus, no, you're thinking that that is what
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  is helping you to manage and navigate your life.
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  When I walk around with a Bible, I really know what's navigating my life, and I'm sure of it.
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  The Apostle Paul talks about the false hope of money and the true hope of God.
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  Spiritual gain is found in a life of godliness and contentment.
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  If you read 1 Timothy 6, 3 through 19, you're going to find that the pursuit
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  of money leads people into all kinds of temptations and away from faith.
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  But the pursuit of righteousness leads to eternal life.
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  Let me read in your hearing 1 Timothy 6, 9 through 12.
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  But they that will be rich fall into temptation and are snared into many foolish
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  and hurtful lusts, which drown men in their destruction and perdition.
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  For the love of money is the root of all evil, which while some coveted after,
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  they have erred from the faith and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
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  But thou, O man of God, flee these things and follow after righteousness,
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  godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.
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  Fight the good fight of faith. Lay hold on eternal life.
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  Where thou art also called and
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  has professed a good profession before many
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  witnesses it's tried and true holding on
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  to the lord see wealth brings with it temptation to trust in financial resources
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  etc it's not wrong to be wealthy but don't pursue it above all else and be content
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  with whatever god has given you because that's true wealth you're wealthy and
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  good deeds generous and willing to share.
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  God has a plan for you. It's to prosper you and to give you a hope.
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  It's not measured by worldliness.
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  In 1 Timothy 6.18, he says that they do good that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute.
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  Be generous with what you have. You can't outgive God.
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  Willing to communicate that which you know. Be a witness. Be a testimony.
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  And when your hope is placed in God, you're able to focus on laying up eternal treasure.
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  Treasure this my friend is truly the good life in first timothy 619 he says
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  this laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to
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  come that they may lay hold on eternal life,
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  He says to Timothy, O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust.
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  Avoiding profane and vain babblings and oppositions of science falsely so called,
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  which some professing have erred concerning the faith. Grace be with thee.
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  What he's telling him is this.
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  Don't just be arguing the word of God. Paul is saying, Timothy,
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  don't try to prove the word of God.
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  The Word of God is truth, and everything else should be proved according to what the Bible says.
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  And if you know and believe in Him, and you're discovering the hope that is
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  found in the Scriptures by studying it and understanding it and looking at it,
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  then you will know the truth.
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  And John 8, 36 says, the truth will set you free. I want to center and focus
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  your mind on these things.
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  God is a refuge for us, and he cares for us, and he's the only person to put your hope and trust in.
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  My question to you is this.
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  Where are you placing your hope? Are you trusting in your own wealth,
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  the stock market, your skill set, your knowledge to meet your needs?
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  And whose hands are are you really placing your future?
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  There's only one set that is worthy.
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  There's only one set of hands who can complete that task and is up for that
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  job, and they belong to Jesus Christ.
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  I've put my hope in Jesus Christ and nothing less, and I've read the back of the book.
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  Those who put their trust in Jesus Christ, they win. For they have a home not
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  made with hands, eternal into the heavens.
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  And in my Father's house are many mansions, and if it were not so, I would have told you.
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  I go to prepare a place for you, that where I am, you may be also.
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  And if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself.
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  It is my prayer and the prayer of Woman at the Well Ministries that you've made
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  your calling and election sure,
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  and you've placed your trust and your hope in the one true living God.
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  And you've accepted Jesus Christ and his payment for sin with his sinless perfect blood.
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  And you have believed unto righteousness because you've placed your faith in
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  him. Remember, you are loved.
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  Jesus loves you.
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  Music.
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  You for joining us in today's podcast. You can visit the show notes for quotes
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  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 searching for A Woman at the Well Ministries in your
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  app store or through our website at watwm.org.
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  We're on Facebook at facebook.com slash watwm.
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  If you visit our website, you'll be able to subscribe to Bible Bits,
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  a daily devotion written by Kim and delivered Monday through Friday by text message.
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  Woman at the Well Ministries is a 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 Woman at the Well Ministries, please visit our website.
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  Thank you to the gospel group Fudge Creek for letting us use their hit song,
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  Happy Girl. We greatly appreciate your prayers.
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  We are praying daily for our listeners.
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  Remember that God loves you. You are loved.
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  Music.