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373 | Throwback - No Greater Love · 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 well in John chapter 4.
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  Our highest priority is making God real in your life.
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  Whether you are listening in our app, in your favorite podcasting app,
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  or on our website at watwm.org,
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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 a 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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  God speaks in many ways and through many different people.
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  One important way that God speaks to you is through your godly friends.
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  One important way he uses you is by speaking through you to your friends.
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  Join us in this program, No Greater Love, As Kim Miller of Woman at the Well
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  Ministries takes us through 1 Samuel 14, verses 6-7, which say,
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  And Jonathan said to the young man that bare his armor,
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  Come, and let us go over unto the garrison of these uncircumcised.
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  It may be that the Lord will work
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  for us, for there is no restraint to the Lord to save by many or by few.
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  And his armor-bearer said unto him, do all
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  that is in thine heart turn thee behold i
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  am with thee according to thy heart hello and
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  welcome to this broadcast of woman at the well ministries perhaps one of the
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  greatest gifts that god gives us are blessings that he bestows upon us beyond
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  the gift of salvation that he gives each one of us who place our faith in him
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  is the gift of a godly friend a godly friend can pray for you when you're in trouble.
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  A godly friend can keep you accountable when the world may tug at you.
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  And a godly friend will stay in accordance with the scriptures that God has commanded us to follow.
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  And will be in one accord with you as you are zealous for good works.
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  And will be one accord with you when you speak to them about the things that
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  God has revealed to you in your heart.
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  They may not always understand perfectly what
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  it is that god has said to you but they'll understand perfectly that
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  god speaks to you through your prayers and through your study of his word and
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  through the companionship that you have with them and they will encourage you
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  and they will strengthen you and uphold you in this passage of scripture jonathan
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  is talking to his armor bear.
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  And if you are so fortunate as to have someone
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  in your life who comes alongside you and
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  assist you in doing the work that God has called you
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  to do you are one most blessed and I
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  have to praise the Lord for whom he has given
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  to me in my life to be able to do the ministry
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  work that I do and these girls work alongside
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  me and they enable me and they assist me in
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  doing the work of the lord that he's called me to do and are
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  such strong christians in their
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  own right and i i learned from them and i'm inspired
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  by them and i'm motivated by them and jonathan
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  had that same situation and the the bible clearly speaks here that his armor
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  bearer was there to assist him but i want you to look at this scripture jonathan
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  is desperate to save his life but he's also desperate to save the life of his armor bearer,
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  his friend, the person who's come alongside him, the person who is involved
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  in the work that he's doing.
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  And secondly, you see that he is very clear that God is able to save by many or by few.
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  What you also see is that he's just not certain that God is going to do it.
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  He knows where to turn but his
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  faith is just a little shady when it
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  comes to fully understanding that all
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  things work together for the good to them that love the lord are called according
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  to his purpose but one thing is certain he
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  says his armor bearer let us go
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  and he talks to the armor bearer
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  about the greatness of god and together
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  they set out to seek god the bible says that where two or three are gathered
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  together in his name he'll be in the midst and so when you have that godly friend
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  to pray with or that god godly friend to study with you are guaranteed his presence
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  is going to be right there.
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  And as he walks through your heart and the heart of that friend that's with you,
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  and he leaves his footprint in each one of your hearts, you're able to come
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  alongside each other in one accord and fully understand what God has for the
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  two of you to do the work or the three of you or whatever the case may be.
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  The Lord never meant for us to be alone. and
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  the lord showed us an example
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  that we're to follow and how we're to be a friend to others and
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  friendship was so important to him that that's
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  what he called himself to us he
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  says you are my friends if you keep my commandments
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  he could have referred to us as anything but
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  that bond of friendship is so special
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  that that's what god through his
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  son jesus relayed to us that
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  we who believe in christ and have accepted him as savior
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  and allow him to lead and guide and direct us
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  and we keep the commandments that are written from genesis to
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  revelations seeking his guidance seeking his
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  forgiveness asking for his help asking for
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  his assistance those of us who are
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  doing that are called the friends of god by jesus himself
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  abraham and all of his greatness was
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  referred to as the friend of god
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  there's lots of attributes that
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  a friend has and if you think about what god has
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  called us to do he's called us to go out and spread the gospel of christ to
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  spread god's love to be his hands extended to be his feet extended those are
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  the things that friends do friends help you when you're in trouble jesus saw.
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  Our need and he fulfilled it.
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  Jesus sacrificed all he had for the good
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  of those he loved and in this passage of scripture in first samuel what we see
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  is jonathan understands he's in a situation where he needs god's help and he's
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  with his friend and he's going to make sure that God helps him and God helps his friend.
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  He's taking care of his friend. He's protecting his friend.
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  And his friend says, do all that is in thine heart, turn thee,
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  behold, I am with thee according to thy heart.
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  These two individuals had spent enough time seeking God together,
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  talking about the goodness and the greatness of God that they knew they could trust one another.
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  That armor bearer knew that he could trust Jonathan to do the right thing and
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  to trust that Jonathan could hear and understand what the Lord said.
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  Do you have that kind of friend? There is no greater friend.
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  The Bible says that no greater love hath any man than this, that a man would
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  lay down his life for his friend.
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  There is a value in having godly friends,
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  not just ones you call your friend, but ones that you actually have a relationship
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  that is center and build upon God.
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  If you notice that Jonathan and the armor bearer here are completely centered
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  and focused on God, you need that in your friendships.
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  The world is a tough place. You won't have to look far at all to get somebody
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  to discourage you, to beat you down, to cause you problems, to stress you out.
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  You will have no limit to the number of people you could find to fill that bill.
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  But if you have one or two truly faithful friends whom you pray with and you
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  study with and you serve with,
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  whom you can talk to and they'll give you godly counsel, you are a person who
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  is much blessed and very rich in God's mercy and grace.
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  To be able to be in the presence with someone who you can trust,
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  understands the scriptures and are not twisting them for their own good,
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  but are reading them and allowing God to give them that information so that
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  they can apply it to their lives so that they can be more for the Lord.
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  And they're willing to stand in your face and tell you when you are transgressing
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  against what the scripture says. And they're willing to sit with you and tell
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  you what the scriptures say. and they're willing to pray with you.
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  They're not willing to let you slide by and live a mediocre life for Christ,
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  but they want you to do all you can so that you can be all you can so that you
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  can receive all the blessings he has for you.
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  That's a friend you can count on. That's a friend that'll stick by you even when you make a mistake.
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  That's a friend who's going to see the best in you even if you're not putting
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  that forth and are going to come alongside you and assist you.
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  It's a great thing to have the blessings that.
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  Of friendship. One of the greatest blessings of worshiping with like believers
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  in church is that we're able to come together with people who can be our friends,
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  who we know what they believe. We know what they understand.
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  We know that they're serving the one true living God that we're serving.
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  And we know that they want to serve him and that they want to be with him.
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  And so when you're out with them, you don't have to worry about them doing things
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  of the world. and you don't have to worry about them serving the devil.
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  You have a like-minded with him. There's a peace that passes understanding and
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  a joy unspeakable and full of glory when you're with him because you know that
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  the presence of them and you all together is going to be something that glorifies God.
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  And let me tell you, where two or three are gathered together in his name,
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  when he's in the midst, he's going to do some work.
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  You may think you're out to the ballgame and you're just there to watch the
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  game, But you just sit back and watch who God brings to the two or three or four or five of you.
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  You may think you're just out grocery shopping with your buddy and you're just
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  walking through the aisles talking about what the Lord showed you in the scriptures
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  today or testifying and witnessing about what God had just done for you.
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  That may be what you think you're doing. But somebody in the aisle next to you
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  may hear what you've just said to your friend that has glorified the Lord and
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  it may change their lives forever.
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  You see, we can't speak God's word and it go void. That's a promise.
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  And so when you have friends that you can God speak, you know,
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  talk to and half of your sentences are filled with scripture.
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  When you have that, you have an opportunity to do great things for the Lord.
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  You have an opportunity to be encouraged and empowered. But most importantly,
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  you've got somebody who not only has your back, they can reach the portals of
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  heaven and call all of heaven down to pray for you.
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  They can give you what you need by taking your needs and your burdens to the Lord.
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  They'll stand by you. They'll watch you cry.
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  They'll hold your hand and they'll love you all the same because they'll love
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  you with the love that God has given them for you because he's put you together.
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  And that is a bond that is strong.
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  A three-chord strand is not easily broken. And when you and your friends is
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  wound about by God and your focus is on that, that's life.
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  That's life abundantly. Oh, thank your friends today.
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  Thank the Lord today for the friends that he's given you that will stick by
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  you and will show you him with every thought, every word, and every deed.
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  Thank you, Jesus, for the friends you've given me.
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  Music.
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  Thank you for joining us in today's podcast. You can visit the show notes for
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  quotes from today's podcast and scripture references.
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  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. If you visit our website,
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  you'll be able to subscribe to Bible Bits, a daily devotion written by Kim and
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  delivered Monday through Friday by text message.
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  Woman at the Well Ministries is a non-profit 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, 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.