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471 | The God of Second Chances · The Woman at the Well Ministries Podcast

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  God is in control.
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  She's a happy girl. Hello, friends, and welcome back to another podcast of Woman
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  at the Well Ministries, where we believe that all of us have to come to Jesus
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  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, we invite you to sit down with us as we look
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  to the scriptures to learn more 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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  Have you ever needed a second chance? Of course you have. We all have.
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  And isn't it incredible to know that we serve a God who offers them freely?
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  Deuteronomy chapter 10 overflows with mercy, reminding us that even in our failure,
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  God doesn't give up on us.
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  He calls us back to himself, not for punishment, but for restoration.
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  In this chapter, we see the heart of God, a God who generously gives His commandments
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  again, who provides for His people, who calls us to love, obey,
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  and to serve Him with all we are.
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  And when we walk in that obedience, we find blessing, not because we earned
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  it, but because He is good.
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  Join us for this episode of the Women at the Well Ministries podcast as Erica
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  Close teaches from Deuteronomy chapter 10, focusing on verse 1.
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  At that time, the Lord said unto me, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto
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  the first, and come up unto me into the mount, and make thee an ark of wood.
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  Let's explore together the mercy of a God who writes new beginnings and calls
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  us back into fellowship with him.
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  Well, thank you all so much for joining us in this episode of the Woman of the
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  Well Ministries podcast.
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  Join with me as we jump right into Deuteronomy chapter 10.
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  At that time the Lord said unto me, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the
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  first, and come up unto me into the mount, and make thee an ark of wood.
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  And I will write on the tables the words that were in the first tables,
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  which thou breakest, and thou shalt put them in the ark.
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  And an ark I made of shittim wood, and hewed two tables of stone like unto the
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  first, and went up into the mount, having the two tables in my hand.
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  And he wrote on the tables, according to the first writing, the Ten Commandments,
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  which the Lord spake unto you in the mount out of the midst of the fire in the
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  day of the assembly, and the Lord gave them unto me.
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  And I turned myself and came down from the mount and put the tables in the ark
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  which I had made, and there they be, as the Lord commanded me.
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  And the children of Israel took their journey from Beiroth of the children of Jachin to Mazra.
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  There Aaron died, and he was buried,
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  and Eleazar his son ministered in the priest's office in his stead.
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  From thence they journeyed unto Gadgoda, and from Gadgoda to Dothbath,
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  a land of rivers of waters.
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  At that time the Lord separated the tribe of Levi to bear the ark of the covenant
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  of the Lord, to stand before the Lord to minister unto him, and to bless in his name unto this day.
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  Wherefore, Levi hath no part nor inheritance with his brethren.
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  The Lord is his inheritance, according as the Lord thy God promised him.
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  And I stayed in the mount, according to the first time, forty days and forty nights.
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  And the Lord hearkened unto me at that time also, and the Lord would not destroy thee.
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  And the Lord said unto me, Arise, take thy journey before the people,
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  that they may go in and possess the land, which I swear unto their fathers to give unto them.
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  And now, Israel, what does the Lord thy God require of thee?
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  But to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him,
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  and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul,
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  to keep the commandments of the Lord in his statutes,
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  which I command thee this day for thy good.
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  Behold, the heaven and the heaven of heavens is the Lord's thy God,
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  the earth also with all that
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  therein is only the lord had
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  a delight in thy fathers to love them and he chose their seed after them even
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  you above all people as it is this day circumcise therefore the foreskin of
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  your heart and be no more stiff-necked for the lord your god is a god of gods,
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  and the Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty and a terrible,
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  which regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward.
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  Execute the judgment of the fatherless and the widow, and loveth the stranger,
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  and giving him food and raiment.
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  Love ye therefore the stranger, for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.
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  Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, him shalt thou serve, and to him shalt thou
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  cleave and swear by his name.
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  He is thy praise, and he is thy God, that hath done for thee these great and
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  terrible things which thine eyes have seen.
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  Thy fathers went down into Egypt with threescore and ten persons,
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  and now the Lord thy God hath made thee as the stars of heaven for multitude.
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  The love and the mercy of God just oozes out of this chapter.
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  Chapter 10 walks us through the mercy of God, the provision of God,
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  God's longing for our obedience, and God's worthiness of our praise.
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  What a chapter this is.
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  The God of second chances is revealed in the first and second verses of chapter 10.
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  Moses recounts that the Lord has him come back up the mountain to hew two tablets
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  of stone like unto the first to replace those that were broken over the sin of the Israelites.
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  But God doesn't just replace the tablets. He commands Moses to build an ark
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  to protect the tablets, an ark of safety.
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  God both writes and protects His law, knowing that it both reveals sin,
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  but also points to the coming of His Son.
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  He gives the Israelites a second chance at obedience, a second chance to get it right.
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  The Levites of the tribe of Levi were a tribe separated out to carry and care
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  for the Ark of the Covenant, to minister unto the Lord, and to act as priests before the Lord.
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  To the Levites was entrusted God's holy word, and the responsibility of conveying
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  that word to the hearts and to the minds of the Israelites.
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  What an awesome responsibility that was.
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  Yet with that responsibility came a great inheritance.
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  While the Levites were given no actual property in the promised land,
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  they were given the Lord himself as their inheritance.
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  With a gift of a second chance, the Israelites were also given a reminder of
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  just who it is they're following and who it is that loves them.
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  What does this great loving God require of them?
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  Moses reiterates to them the common theme of obedience that we read in all of Deuteronomy.
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  To fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him,
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  and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul,
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  to keep the commandments of the Lord and his statutes,
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  which I command thee this day for thy good.
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  God requires obedience, love, and service.
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  Which with lives live for him, they might be in a place where he can bless them.
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  This life of obedience, love, and service is characterized by the knowledge
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  of the special place for the Israelites in God's own heart.
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  The Israelites were asked to circumcise their hearts of pride that they might follow the Lord.
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  They were to love the stranger, where they were once strangers in Egypt.
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  The life of love, servants, and obedience is a life that is cleaved to the Lord,
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  set apart for him and his purposes.
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  The only way the Israelites were going to cross into the promised land was to seek this very life.
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  Unless we wonder exactly where this life was going to lead the Israelites,
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  this chapter closes with a glimpse of the blessings of obedience.
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  God's goodness and God's greatness, which is worthy of our praise,
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  is magnified in his people.
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  While only 70 souls went down to Egypt, a multitude left Egypt for the promised land.
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  With obedience comes blessing, And with service comes growth.
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  With God's love comes the abundant life.
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  Has the Lord ever given you a second chance? I'm sure he has.
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  From the time we were young to the times of adulthood, our lives are lives of second chances.
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  Often the Lord gives us an opportunity to learn the lessons he has for us over
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  and over again until they're learned.
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  This God of second chances was the same God that called Moses back up the mountain
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  with a second set of stone tablets.
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  Since Moses' people had disobeyed, you might think the Lord was calling Moses
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  back up there for a talking to.
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  But no, he was calling Moses up there for a gift, a new set of stone tablets,
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  and another 40 days of fellowship with him.
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  None of us would ever be able to stand before the presence of the Almighty Father
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  without a second chance. the second chance provided by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
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  That second chance is given us again and again as we come to the Father daily
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  for the forgiveness of our sins.
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  He promises us in 1 John 1, 9 that if we confess our sins, he is faithful and
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  just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
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  That's a God of second chances, who loves you so very much.
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  Remember, you are loved. Jesus loves you.
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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. We pray today has been
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  a blessing and we encourage you to reach out to us through our app,
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  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
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  message. Women at the Well Ministries is a non-profit organization dedicated.
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  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 are loved.
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  Music.