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356 | He is With Us: Embracing God's Promises · 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 in 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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  It is a fact that we will have problems in this world, but it is also a fact
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  that we do not face these problems alone.
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  Jesus said he would never leave us or forsake us, and he said we would pass through them unharmed.
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  Join us in this podcast of Woman at the Well Ministries as Kim takes us on a
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  journey through the scriptures, revealing the truth that God is with us and he is protecting us.
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  One of my absolute favorite verses in the Bible is found in Isaiah 43,
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  2, and it reads like this.
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  When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee.
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  And through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee.
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  When thou walkest through the fire, thou shall not be burned,
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  Neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. Let's pray.
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  Our kind and most gracious to heavenly Father, Lord, we thank you for this absolute
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  privilege to sit in your presence and allow you to just unfold your holy scriptures
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  so that we understand what they mean for us,
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  so that we can grasp the eternal promises,
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  so that we can know how to live in this present world.
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  And Lord, I ask that you would open every heart and every mind,
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  that you would fill it with your presence, that you would allow us to see you
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  in ways that we've never seen you before.
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  And Lord, that after we spent this moment of time in your scriptures.
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  That we would walk away more for you than we've ever been before.
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  In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
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  We see in scripture a truth in Job 14.1, and it reads, man that is born of a
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  woman is of a few days and full of trouble.
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  We really know that if you're not in a problem, you've just come out of a problem
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  or you're getting ready to go in a problem because this world is full of problems.
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  In fact, in John 16, 33, he said, these things I have spoken unto you,
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  that in me you might have peace.
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  In the world you shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer.
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  I have overcome the world.
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  And I want you to know that knowing that there's problems should not be a depressing
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  piece piece of information,
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  because we have so much to ensure that we are going to overcome those problems.
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  We have such protection in Jesus Christ himself.
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  We have the promise that he supplies our every need. We have the promise that he gives us strength.
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  We have the promise that he never sleeps or somers, and he's always watching over us.
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  We have the promise that he'll never leave us or forsake us.
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  And we have this scripture in Isaiah 43 that tells us when you pass through
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  the waters, he's going to be with us.
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  And when you pass through the rivers, see, he uses the word pass through.
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  Then he uses the word through the rivers. They're not going to overflow you.
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  And See, the problem is we get our eyes fixated on the problem.
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  We become so focused on the situation, the problem, the storm,
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  that we completely forget that it is but a blip on our radar.
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  We are going through it because that's what he says.
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  He explains, as I said previously, we're going to have problems,
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  but he says, be of good cheer.
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  I've overcome the world. He tells us in 1 John 4, 4 that greater is he that
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  is in us than he that is in the world.
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  He tells us in Romans 8, 37 that we are victorious and we are more than conquerors
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  through Jesus Christ who loves us.
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  Friends, this problem, this situation that you have that is causing you sleepless
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  nights, that's causing you to be stressed and that is stealing killing and robbing your joy.
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  Don't let it. We know that that is the strategy of the devil.
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  We're told in John 10, 10, that the thief cometh to steal, kill, and destroy.
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  But then he says, but I have come that you might have life and have it more abundantly.
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  In 1 Peter 5, 8, he says that the devil walketh about as a roaring lion,
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  seeking whom he may devour.
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  Be vigilant, be sober, because you're your adversary.
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  In Ephesians 6, beginning in verse 13, we are told to put on the whole armor of God.
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  Then we might be able to stand against the wiles, the strategy of the devil.
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  Friends, we are equipped if we but stand.
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  Take what God has for us to have. If we'll just receive his gifts, then we absolutely,
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  positively have what we need, not only to be victorious and to be more than
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  a conqueror, not just victorious,
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  not just a conqueror, but more than a conqueror.
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  That means we're not just barely skating by with the victory.
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  We're not just barely getting the victory.
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  We are slam dunking the victory because of who he is and whose we are.
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  And so as we begin to look at this passage, I really want you to see that the
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  entire premise of the passage is you're going to have a problem,
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  but you're going to get through this problem because he's with you.
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  See, we know what the psalmist David knew when he said in 1 Samuel 17,
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  47, the battle's not mine, it belongs to the Lord.
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  See, we understand that Scripture tells us the devil's no match for the God that lives within us.
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  So why is it that we walk around sad and depressed and distressed?
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  It's because we're not seeing God for who God is, and we're not taking God at his word.
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  See, in Isaiah 43, 2, it is a sure fact that you're going to have a problem,
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  but you're going to pass through it.
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  And not only are you going to pass through it, he says that when you pass through
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  it, he'll be with you and that the rivers will not overflow thee.
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  See, I believe when we look at this passage and he says that when you pass through
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  the waters, I'll be with you.
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  Waters are a picture of a deep surrounding of kind of like a deep hole that
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  you're in with all your problems swirling around you.
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  But when we think of the waters, we think about it being still and calm and
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  we're just deep. And he says, hey, look, you're going to get through this.
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  It's not going to take you down because I'm with you and you're not going to
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  hit rock bottom with me because the Lord is in the top.
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  The Lord goes where you are and he reaches you and he brings you up to where he is.
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  And he walks on the mountains. He walks on the valleys.
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  He walks the dark hills so that you and I know the way.
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  And I believe when he says through the rivers, rivers are something that's raging.
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  It's moving. It's forceful. It's powerful.
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  There There is no greater force on earth than moving water.
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  And what he's telling us in Isaiah 43 too is this, that when you go through
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  the raging water, the raging river.
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  When the forces are coming against you, when the power seems to be coming at you.
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  You're not going to be overtaken because I am your God and I am with you and
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  I am there to help you, to show you the way.
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  In fact, we're invited in Hebrews 4, 14 through 16 that reads like this.
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  He says, seeing then that we have a great high priest that has passed into the
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  heavens, Jesus, the son of God, let us hold fast our profession.
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  For we have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the filling of our
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  infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are yet without sin.
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  Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy
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  and find grace to help in time of need.
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  We are being invited in our biggest storms, in the place of chaos and tribulation
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  and stress to stop, as we are told in Psalms 46.10,
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  to be still and know that he is God,
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  to stop depending on ourselves,
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  to stop doing it our way and in our own strength, but instead to trust in the
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  Lord with all of our heart, to lean not into to our own understanding,
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  but in all our ways, acknowledge him and he will direct our paths.
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  And we are told in Isaiah 43, 2, that he will direct our paths through the problem
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  and that when we're done.
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  Even when thou walkest through the fire, thou shall not be burned,
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  neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. You're not going to be harmed.
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  You're going to be different. What God allows you to go through is for his glory and your good.
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  But there's not going to be a remnant of that problem because you've passed through it.
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  If you think of yourselves as being in a vehicle on a road where you're going through a tunnel,
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  While you're in the tunnel, it's dark. But if you keep your eyes forward and
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  it's daylight outside, you can see the light.
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  And as you continue to move through the tunnel, you get closer and closer to the light.
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  And when you're in the light, the tunnel no more has effect on you.
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  I believe that's exactly what he's saying in Isaiah 43 too, when he says you
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  pass through the waters, when you pass through the rivers, when you walk through
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  the fire. I believe what he's saying is this.
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  You may have darkness around you, but keep your eyes on the light.
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  And Jesus is the light. He will fight your battles. He will give you what you need to get it done.
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  He will supply the strength you need.
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  He's sitting there asking you to come boldly to the throne of grace,
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  that you may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
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  If it matters to the you, the child of God, you can be sure that it matters to the master.
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  The devil's telling you all kinds of things, but in Isaiah 42.
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  43, 2, he's telling us, you're going to pass through the problem because I'm going to be with you.
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  In Isaiah 43, 3, he says, for I am the Lord thy God.
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  Friends, you have the upper hand against the devil in all ways,
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  in all things and at all times, because greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world.
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  Jesus loves you. He's never lost a battle, and he's not going to start with yours.
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  But the devil steals your joy because he gets you worrying about the problem
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  instead of praising the solution.
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  He gets you stuck on all the feelings and emotions of the tribulation and the
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  problems instead of worshiping the glory of the one true living God who's holding you,
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  who has you, who has promised that you could abide under the shadow of the most high God,
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  that you could dwell in the presence of him, in the presence of Almighty.
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  In Psalms 91, beginning in verse 1, he says this.
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  Under his wings shalt thou trust. His truth shall be thy shield and buckler.
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  And listen to this in verse 5.
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  Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night, nor for the arrow that flyeth by day.
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  We skip down to verse 9, and he says, Because thou hast made the Lord,
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  which is my refuge, even the Most High, thy habitation.
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  There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague.
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  From Genesis to Revelations, we are given the greatest love letter ever written.
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  And from Genesis to Revelations, we see the demonstration of his love.
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  We see his ever-present help.
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  We learn of him being a refuge.
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  We know that he has prepared a place for us, not made with hands he turned onto the heavens.
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  We know that he has prepared a way of escape from our sin so that we could live eternally with him.
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  But do you know he's made a way of escape through this problem?
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  Because Isaiah 43, 2 says, when thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee.
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  And through the rivers, They shall not overflow thee.
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  And when thou walkest through the fire, thou shall not be burned.
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  Neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.
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  The truths that we've spoken about over the last few moments should give you peace.
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  And John 14, 27 says, Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you,
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  not as the world giveth, give I unto you.
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  Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
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  The world didn't give it to you, so don't let the world take it away from you.
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  Jesus loves you, this I know, for the Bible.
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  Tells me so. The situation, the problem, the tribulation that you're going through,
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  it's not too big or too little for your God in whom you can take refuge.
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  But you must employ your faith. And remember, without faith,
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  it is impossible to please him.
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  And you must believe that he is, that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
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  Yes, you're going to have problems. That's a fact.
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  But it's also a fact. You don't face those problems alone if you are a child.
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  Of God because he never leaves you. He never forsakes you.
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  And he has promised you will pass through with him unharmed and not feeling a negative effect.
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  But instead, he will be glorified and you will be honored because God is with us.
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  And because he is with us, we can do all things through him who strengthens us.
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  That problem you're facing is giving you a front row seat to see the miracle
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  of God, to bask in his presence, to take him at his word, and to know him for
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  who he is. Remember, you are loved.
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  Jesus loves you.
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  Music.
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  You. 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 searching for Woman at the Well Ministries in your app
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  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 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. You.
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  Music.