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611 | Ready to Give the Right Answer · The Woman at the Well Ministries Podcast

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  Hello, friends, and welcome back to the Woman at the Well Ministries podcast.
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  With Kimberly Miller, where we believe that every man, woman,
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  boy, and girl must come to Jesus just like the woman at the well in John chapter 4.
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  Our highest priority is helping you experience the reality of God in your everyday life.
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  Whether you're listening in our app, on your favorite podcast platform,
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  are on our website at watwm.org.
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  We invite you to sit down with us as we open the scriptures to learn more about
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  who God is and to strengthen your daily walk with Jesus Christ.
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  How many times have you been questioned about your faith, or asked what you
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  believe, or had someone inquire why you believe what you do?
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  Our words can be a powerful witness to others, and in those times we need to
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  know exactly what to say.
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  Colossians 4.6 says, Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt,
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  that you may know how you ought to answer every man.
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  Join Kim in this program of Woman at the Well Ministries as she discusses what
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  the scriptures say about the answers that we give.
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  Hello, and thank you for joining us. We're speaking about, I think,
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  an important lesson today, and it's out of the book of Colossians chapter 4,
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  as Erica spoke about just a few moments ago.
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  And we're talking about how we should answer people and the importance of that answer.
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  In the book of James, we're told that the tongue is unruly and it's hard to
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  control, and we know from our own lives that there is power in that tongue.
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  We know that you can absolutely destroy a person with your words or you can
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  watch a defeated person completely become encouraged and you can watch them
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  build themselves up and you can build them up with just the things that you say.
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  People know how you feel about them with some of the things that you say.
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  Now actions still speak louder than words and I can lie to you with my words
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  and have a hard time lying to you with my actions,
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  but I can also do an enormous amount of damage with my words,
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  whether I want to do that or not.
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  And that's what we want to talk about is that power of your words.
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  There are two sides to the power of words.
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  The one side is the one I just spoke about, how
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  it is powerful enough to destroy lives and
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  confidence and the other side of the
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  power of words is how it is amazing tool
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  that we can witness to others about jesus christ using that tool there is no
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  question in the mind of any christian that we are called upon by god to be a
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  witness he says in matthew chapter 5 that we are the light of the world he tells
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  us to go ye into all the world and preach and teach the gospel,
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  He explains to us that we should be the salt of the earth.
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  He explains in multiple places throughout his scriptures that he is allowing
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  the child of God to be part of his plan for spreading his gospel.
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  And as we look at Colossians chapter 4 and verse 6, we see these words.
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  Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how
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  you ought to answer every man.
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  Now, what I'd like to do is just take a little look at what this verse means
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  and implies and speaks to the Christian.
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  First of all, he says that we need to be consistent with grace.
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  Grace is unmerited favor. That means when we speak, our words should be words
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  that uplift, that exhort, that encourage,
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  that are not ones that provoke people to anger, that aren't ones that set somebody
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  on fire, that are not ones that destroy.
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  Our words should take into consideration the love that God has for us,
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  the forgiveness that God has given us, and the love that we're trying to give to the other person.
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  You see, it's going to be very difficult for you to witness to someone who doesn't
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  have any faith in your Christian walk or in you.
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  You're not the one that's saving them, but you're the one that's trying to introduce
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  them to the God of the universe that has made a change in your life.
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  And if they can't see that change, then they're going to have a hard time wanting
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  anything that you have to say.
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  So the first thing we need to do is look at the consistency of our speech.
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  Because so many times, one day we're nice, the next day we're not.
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  One day we're grumpy, the next day we're not.
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  God is not like that to us. He's long-suffering, and His grace is amazing, and it's consistent.
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  So the first thing we need to do is realize that how we speak makes a difference.
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  And that what we're saying is couched in how we say it.
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  There are many ways to say the same thing most of the time.
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  And the words you choose to use have an impact on someone else.
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  If you choose to use soft words
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  and you choose to use things that
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  are easier on the person and
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  allows them to feel good about what you're saying even if you're admonishing
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  them then those words are going to have a greater impact and be more powerful
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  for a positive outcome than if you choose the quickest sharpest harshest words to say the same thing,
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  then there are those people who can say hello and it
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  sounds harsh we need to be careful about how we are speaking the terms we use
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  the words we choose and the tone that we deliver it with and then he says though
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  we need to be seasoned with salt salt is what gives something flavor,
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  Salt is what sets something apart.
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  Salt is something that gives it a distinction. We shouldn't blend in with the crowd.
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  Our speech shouldn't be what is just necessarily politically correct.
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  Our speech shouldn't just be what someone wants to hear to tickle their ears.
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  Our speech should be based on the word of God.
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  Our speech should be standing for what is true. Our speech should be delivering the truth of God.
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  Those are the things that we need to have in our speech.
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  And then as we see that we need to have that saw, he says, We need to do this
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  so that we may know how we ought to answer every man.
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  People ask you many questions about your life. They may ask you why you believe what you believe.
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  If someone would come up to you right now and ask you why you believe what you
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  believe, do you have an answer?
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  Can you find in the scriptures his words that back up what you think about how
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  one should live, about how one should behave?
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  If someone was to ask you right now this very
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  moment how can i meet this man called jesus that
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  you love and you know can you walk through
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  the scriptures and explain that to
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  them it's incredibly important that you
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  be able to do that because you need to know how
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  to answer every man and you can do that
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  through the grace of god and through the knowledge of his
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  word that will enable you to stand and through the holy spirit
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  that brings to remembrance all those things that you have need of
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  when you have need of them but unless you've been
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  in the word studying to show yourself approved unto god a
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  workman that needeth not to be ashamed rightly dividing the
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  word of truth then you don't have anything for him
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  to bring to remembrance to your mind if we
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  want to know how we are to deal with people we want to know how we
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  are to answer people then it's imperative that
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  we have studied the word of god and that we have
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  the truth in us to give it out and that we give it with grace but yet we stand
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  separate and peculiar and away from the world that we look like the christians
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  that god has called us to be how many times have you been asked to defend.
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  A belief that you have based on the word of God. And you didn't know how to bring that out.
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  Perhaps you were afraid of offending the people in your audience.
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  Perhaps you were afraid that you didn't quite have it right.
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  Perhaps you were afraid that for whatever reason, you didn't seem to be a person
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  who would be an authority in that.
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  God didn't say that you wouldn't be called to that situation.
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  What god said was when you get in that situation you need to know how to answer
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  every man and always do it with
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  grace don't condemn them that's my job don't judge them i am the judge.
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  And you need to do it without worrying
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  about whether you're politically correct whether worrying
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  about whether that's going to offend the person to the point that they don't support
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  you anymore whether you might lose your friend i
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  don't know about you but i know that most christians
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  that i know and myself included have lost friends that
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  they love dearly because of a stance they made on
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  the word of god because they couldn't condone the
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  sin that that person they loved was committing and
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  they loved that person but that person said listen if you're
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  not going to condone this and you're not going to participate in this
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  i don't want anything to do with you and they walked out of
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  their life did that still hurt yes did
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  it cause them pain and grief yes but this
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  word says that we are to stand
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  on what we know to be true and it's that truth that will
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  make us free that's all that we can rely upon is
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  the word of god that is the backbone of our
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  walk that is the strength of who we
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  are because the bible says that the word was made flesh and dwelt and walked
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  among men jesus christ is embodied in the word of god and that's what gives
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  us strength and he is truth and his truth is the only thing that will last and
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  is the only stability that we have on which we can build.
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  And we need to understand his word that we might be able to answer every man
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  according to that, which is the scriptures would say.
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  Someone ever questioned your faith?
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  Someone ever asked you why it is that you go to the denomination that you are?
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  That is a most interesting question.
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  A large percentage of people sitting in the same denomination that you are sitting
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  there because that's where their parents were.
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  And that's the only church they know.
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  And that's fantastic if you've searched out the scriptures and seen that that
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  doctrine is what God would have a person to adhere to.
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  But if you're going to a church that doesn't preach the word of God,
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  that doesn't have the holy scriptures as the basis of every message,
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  then you can't stay there just because that's where mom and dad and grandma go.
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  You have to make your decisions based on the word of God, and you have to know
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  exactly how to answer each person with every question that comes into your life
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  according to the scriptures.
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  Not according to some self-help book, not according to some magazine,
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  not according to what the congregation wants to hear, not according to any of
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  those things. You need to answer according to the Word of God.
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  And he says that you must have your speech always embodied with grace and sprinkled
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  with salt so that you can be the truth that opens up the light that disperses the darkness.
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  Be careful what you say, because your speech is powerful, and it can either
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  be a tool of the devil or a tool in God's hands.
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  Thank you for joining us for today's podcast. You can find quotes and scripture
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  references from this episode in the show notes.
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  We pray today's message has been a blessing.
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  If it has, please consider leaving a rating or review on your podcast platform.
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  Your feedback helps others discover the truth of God's word.
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  You can connect with Woman at the Well Ministries through our app at watwm.org
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  and on Facebook and Instagram.
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  While you're there, learn more about Bible Bits, Kim's daily devotional delivered
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  Monday through Friday by text message and the Bible Bit Podcast.
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  Thank you for your prayers and support.
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  Remember, Jesus loves you.