Latest / The Woman at the Well Ministries Podcast / 329 | God Gives Grace and Glory
Transcript
- 0:00Music.
- 0:07Hello, friends, and welcome back to another podcast of Woman at the Well Ministries,
- 0:11where we believe that all of us have to come to Jesus like the woman at the
- 0:16well in John chapter four.
- 0:18Our highest priority is making God real in your life.
- 0:21Whether you are listening in our app, in your favorite podcasting app,
- 0:25or on our website at watwm.org,
- 0:28we invite you to sit down with us as we look to the scriptures to learn more
- 0:33about God and to strengthen your daily walk with Jesus Christ.
- 0:38Living her life for Christ, she's a happy girl.
- 0:38Music.
- 0:48She's a happy girl.
- 1:02Have you ever allowed your thoughts to wander in the scripture,
- 1:06thinking about the goodness of God?
- 1:08There are multitudes of scriptures that inform us about God's goodness.
- 1:12Today, we are going to focus on one such verse, Psalm 8411, which gives us insight
- 1:19into God's character and his goodness.
- 1:21Here's what God says in Psalms 84 11. For the Lord God is a sun and shield.
- 1:27The Lord will give grace and glory.
- 1:30No good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.
- 1:34Join Kim in this podcast of Women at the Well Ministries as she takes us on
- 1:38a journey through the scriptures, gleaning the truths found in Psalms 84 11.
- 1:43Join us as we learn that God is our sun and our shield.
- 1:47He gives grace and glory to sinful, flawed, and many times disobedient people.
- 1:53And he doesn't withhold any good thing from those who follow him and are devoted to him.
- 1:59Hello, and thank you for joining us in this podcast of Woman at the Well Ministries.
- 2:03It thrills my soul when I just take time to wander through the scriptures and see the goodness of God.
- 2:11It really motivates me and inspires me when I sit and I think about the goodness of God.
- 2:19And so for the next few moments, we're going to just spend some time in God's
- 2:23holy word and just think about the goodness.
- 2:27Of God. And we're going to take our text and spend our focus on Psalms 84 11,
- 2:34which Erica read in your hearing, but I'm going to read for you again right now.
- 2:38And Psalms 84 11 says, For the Lord God is a sun and shield.
- 2:42The Lord will give grace and glory. No good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.
- 2:51I love knowing that the Lord loves me.
- 2:55And we know that from Genesis to Revelations, because he wrote us the greatest
- 3:00love letter that has ever been written.
- 3:03And every page of it is focused on convincing us the truth of his love for us.
- 3:11And in Romans chapter 8, verses 38 and 39, we are given the fact that nothing
- 3:18will separate us from the love of God.
- 3:21And I love that because I am a flawed, sometimes disobedient,
- 3:27sinful by omission and commission person.
- 3:33But his grace is so complete and his love is so deep and his mercy so unending.
- 3:41That he gave us, 1 John 1, 9, that says, if we confess our sins,
- 3:46he's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
- 3:52And when I begin to think about the depths of the meaning of Psalms 84,
- 3:5911, about what it means to serve a good God, it thrills my soul.
- 4:06And the blessings of this verse are many fold.
- 4:12And as we begin to look at it, the first thing we see is that the Lord God is a sun and a shield.
- 4:21When we think of the Lord being a sun, I believe we should think of the terms warmth and light.
- 4:29He warms our hearts because he creates in us a new heart, a clean heart,
- 4:36a soft heart, a pliable heart, heart filled with his righteousness,
- 4:43a heart purposed to do his will, and a heart that is centered on love,
- 4:50his love for us and the love he commands us and gives us to distribute to those around us.
- 4:59When I think of a shield, I think of protection, and God is the ultimate protector.
- 5:05And if you find yourself wondering if that is true or not,
- 5:11then I want you to think about the fact that he provided for you a need you
- 5:17had when you weren't even here to know you had the need.
- 5:22He provided for you that same need when he knew that you would fail him.
- 5:29That you may reject him, that you may deny him.
- 5:35Yes, Jesus is so good and he's so loving that before you were ever born, you were on his mind.
- 5:46And when he went to the cross of Calvary, God giving his only son to shed his
- 5:54blood and give his life for sinful,
- 5:57flawed man, saying, you were on his mind.
- 6:02Because every drop of blood he shed, he shed for you and me to wash away our sins.
- 6:09Because there was no other way that we could come to know Jesus as Savior.
- 6:15There was no other way that we could make heaven our eternal home.
- 6:20And without the remission, without the shedding of blood, there was no remission of sin.
- 6:27And not just any blood was going to make it. Plenty of people died before him
- 6:31and plenty of people died after him.
- 6:34But it required the sinless, perfect blood to wash away a wicked sin.
- 6:41And all sin is the same, so all sin is wicked. It required the Lamb of God to
- 6:48be the propitiation for our sins.
- 6:51Nobody else could do that.
- 6:54And when he shed his blood, he did it willingly.
- 6:57And if you think he didn't know what he was getting himself signed up for,
- 7:02I take you back to the Garden of Gethsemane, when drops of sweat were as blood,
- 7:09as he asked his father, is there another way?
- 7:15There was no other way because in John chapter 14 and verse 6, we are told,
- 7:21Jesus says, I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no man cometh unto the Father but by me.
- 7:31See, all of those individuals who have been duped by the devil,
- 7:37led astray by knowledge, and have tried to find another way other than through
- 7:46the shedding of the blood of Jesus Christ,
- 7:49other than placing their trust and belief in him,
- 7:54they are sadly mistaken.
- 7:57And what lies for them is an eternity in hell. See, so many people seem to not
- 8:03grasp the understanding that everyone's going to have an eternity.
- 8:09Eternity either you will have an eternity with
- 8:13Jesus Christ in heaven or you
- 8:16will have an eternity in hell separated from
- 8:20the love of God separated from Jesus Christ and in a place you were never meant
- 8:25to be because it was created for the devil and his angels but make no mistake
- 8:31you are going to live in eternity the question is where and the invitation's been clear here.
- 8:39He said, behold, I stand at the door and knock, and if any man open up the door,
- 8:43I will come in and suppin to him in Revelations 3.20.
- 8:48He said, whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved in Romans 10.13.
- 8:54He tells us that he wishes that none should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
- 9:00He wants to save you, and he wants to be your son and your shield.
- 9:07And in Psalms 84 11, he tells us that he's our son and our shield.
- 9:14Now, you may be thinking, well, if he's my shield that keeps all events and
- 9:20obstacles from happening to me, why am I having problems?
- 9:26Because he doesn't keep all events and obstacles from happening to you.
- 9:33He manages them and keeps them within their boundaries.
- 9:36He's in control of every event in your life, both the good and the bad,
- 9:40even the ones we cause ourselves.
- 9:44The scripture tells us that man is born of a woman and a few days full of trouble.
- 9:51The scripture tells us when Jesus says, be of good cheer for I have overcome the world.
- 9:59Friend, trouble will come. He says, you'll have trouble in this world.
- 10:03I have had trouble in this world, but I've overcome the world.
- 10:07And he said, pick up your cross daily and follow me. A cross.
- 10:14Is a horrible thing. Death on the cross by suffocation is incredibly painful and horrific.
- 10:23And I've already explained in your hearing how Christ did that willingly,
- 10:29how he laid down his life that you might go free so that you could spend eternity
- 10:34in heaven, in a place where there is no sorrow, in a place where eye hath not
- 10:39seen and ear hath not heard what lies in store for those who love the Lord,
- 10:43in a place where the streets are gold, the walls are of jasper.
- 10:48There are many mansions that he goes to prepare specifically for those who believe.
- 10:53And if he goes to prepare, he'll come again and call you unto himself.
- 11:00Friends, he's a shield. It's God who manages all the concerns of his children.
- 11:06I bring to your attention Job.
- 11:10Job was tested and tried like no man I've ever known.
- 11:15The devil got permission to do that, and the word that came back to him was Job.
- 11:22He can take it. But here's what was said to the devil.
- 11:27You can do anything you want to him, but you can't take his life.
- 11:31I also want to submit to you there was an end.
- 11:34And see, God knew that he could trust Job to hold the course, to bring him glory,
- 11:45to honor him, to never turn back because Job loved God.
- 11:52And I want you to see that God shielded Job because he didn't let Job lose his life.
- 12:01He took him to the brink of breaking, but Job didn't break.
- 12:08And during all of the trial and all of the tribulation and all of the troubles,
- 12:14God was managing what was going to happen to Job.
- 12:18And let me tell you, you simply can't outgive God.
- 12:22In the process of Satan trying to sift his soul, Job found who his true friends were.
- 12:32Job understood how good God was, and he clung to the power of a God he knew.
- 12:41I've often wondered in my life, how would I fare if God said to Satan, and sift her.
- 12:53You can do anything you want to her because I know Kimmy won't bend.
- 12:58I know Kimmy won't give in.
- 13:01Could he say that about me?
- 13:03There have been times in my life I thought just that was happening.
- 13:09The devil was attacking.
- 13:12Problems were rising. It was getting deep in the water and dark in the day.
- 13:19But God was holding me because he's my shield.
- 13:24And you know what? He's my light. So he gave me understanding and he gave meaning
- 13:29to all the events in my life.
- 13:32And I want you to see the same thing is true with Job.
- 13:35And when God said it was enough enough, and he stayed the course Job did.
- 13:43It was God that shut down the devil on behalf of Job, and it was God that restored
- 13:52him to far more than he ever lost, and it was God who proved who he was,
- 13:58but Job proved he loved the Lord.
- 14:01But don't ever think that God had turned his back on Job.
- 14:06He was still Job's shield.
- 14:10So often we worry about things that can't touch the soul. And we worry about our comfortableness.
- 14:18We worry about our desires and our wants.
- 14:23When true glory and true joy is found in what God wants.
- 14:30In delighting in God and what he has for us, we have what I refer to as selective trust.
- 14:38Trust, when God is not asking us to see beyond a storm,
- 14:43when God is not asking us to see an availed situation where we don't know the
- 14:49results and we don't exactly know the step after the next one,
- 14:54then our trust gets shaky.
- 14:56But in a situation like Job's, where he's going through tribulation and trouble
- 15:01and trials, all he needed was God to be the son so he could see the light to take the next step.
- 15:08Psalmist David also tells us that he's a light unto our feet and a lamp unto
- 15:12our paths. We only need to see where to lay the foot down.
- 15:17We don't have to see what's around the foot. When you trust like Job,
- 15:22when you follow like Abraham, when you believe like Noah, these people were just like me and you.
- 15:31But are we like them? Do we have selective trust? Or do we believe the shield
- 15:37is active and it's working, even when we feel some heat?
- 15:42I want to remind you, the three Hebrew children were not spared from the fire.
- 15:49They were just brought through the fire unharmed. Did you hear that?
- 15:55Were brought through the fire unharmed. But they went through the fire.
- 16:01I bet they were sweating.
- 16:03I imagine they felt the heat, but they didn't feel the fire.
- 16:08And I bring to your attention that before King Nebuchadnezzar threw them into
- 16:13the fiery furnace, the response was, my God will deliver me.
- 16:19And if he doesn't deliver me from you, he will deliver me.
- 16:23See, what they were saying was, I trust him enough to know that whatever he
- 16:28does is not only right, it's what's best for me.
- 16:31See, I'm reminded of Jeremiah 29, 11. It says, I know the plans I have for you
- 16:36to prosper you and to give you a hope and an expected end.
- 16:43Everything that is happening in your life, every trial, every tribulation,
- 16:48and every piece of stress that has fallen in your path.
- 16:53All must align with the expected end he has for you.
- 17:00Sometimes things come into our lives because we've stepped off the path that
- 17:06would take us to the expected end God has created for us.
- 17:10And we're going to jump ahead just for a second, just so you stay with me.
- 17:14He says no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly so your
- 17:19heart and your mind and your intent is to do the will of god your name is written
- 17:25in the lamb's book of life and you love him but you are stepping left or right
- 17:29of the center of the will sometimes,
- 17:33the obstacle is to do a course correction.
- 17:37Steal what you need to get to the expected end.
- 17:42Sometimes you get the health diagnosis you don't want.
- 17:47You've eaten well. You've exercised.
- 17:51Your body's well within what it should be.
- 17:55You've worked for God. You've lived for God.
- 17:59There you are, staring down a scary diagnosis. noses.
- 18:06And you must wonder, you would think, where's the shield?
- 18:11It's there, for you're still here. And if the devil had his way,
- 18:17those are the people he'd wipe out in one swing.
- 18:21But the shield says no.
- 18:24And you know, when Jesus went to the garden of Gethsemane, he said,
- 18:27is there another way? And the Lord said, no.
- 18:31It is perhaps that trial that somebody else needs to see, to believe.
- 18:42It would surprise me if not everyone who's within the sound of my voice hasn't
- 18:47at somebody sometimes said, I would do anything just to have one soul saved.
- 18:53Would you because you might be
- 18:56doing it right now see it's God who
- 18:59manages all things concerning his children and a person who trusts God completely
- 19:05submits to the will of God and allows him to use them even when the bad things
- 19:10come because it's that person it's the modern Modern-day Job,
- 19:16it's the current Noah who's in the ark of safety under the shield and behind the shield of God.
- 19:27Their life to him and says, Lord, use me to bring you honor and glory.
- 19:33The fact that he's our shield, it means much. Let's take a look at Isaiah 43,
- 19:392, which happens to be a lifelong favorite of mine.
- 19:44But it has held me, it has sustained me, it has motivated me,
- 19:50and it has inspired me over the last few months.
- 19:56It goes like this.
- 19:58When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee.
- 20:04And through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee.
- 20:07When thou walkest through the fire, thou shall not be burned.
- 20:15Neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.
- 20:20We live in a world where the prince of the power of the air is Satan.
- 20:25We live in a world who does not want God to be honored.
- 20:31And we, you, are claiming the name of Jesus when you are walking in the ways of God.
- 20:37When your light is so bright that you can be seen when you step inside a room, regardless of its size.
- 20:47You have a target on your back from the devil that's bigger than the state of Texas.
- 20:53But he's our shield. We don't get burnt. We don't drown.
- 21:00And those who place their trust in God, they don't give up.
- 21:04Because our shield, it can't be penetrated.
- 21:09It's uncompromising. And it's never ending.
- 21:13There are times in this life that we have to employ Psalms 46.10 like never before.
- 21:19We have to be still and know that he is God.
- 21:22See, the devil wants you busy. The devil wants you flying here and there.
- 21:27He wants you too tired to think clearly.
- 21:31He wants your mind scattered from one bad thing to the next.
- 21:35He does not want you to know that he is God.
- 21:38God, but it is in the still moments and in moments like we're having right now
- 21:45when we recognize who God really is, when we see the goodness of God.
- 21:53The devil will do everything he can, everything he can, to keep you from taking that moment.
- 22:01But in 1 Corinthians 15, 57, we are told, we have the victory through Christ Jesus. Hallelujah.
- 22:11Not only do we have the victory, we have his grace and we have glory.
- 22:16Because not only did it bring salvation to every believer, as we are told in
- 22:21Titus 2, 11, but his grace also is sufficient for our every need.
- 22:27If you don't have an obstacle, if you don't have a trial, if you don't have
- 22:33a tribulation, how in the world are you ever going to understand the goodness
- 22:38of God's grace that is so much the character of God?
- 22:42If you want to know the character of God, you've got to partake in the sufferings
- 22:47of his son and of him, for you'll never fully understand.
- 22:52Who God is, until he's clearly God in your heart.
- 22:58And fleshly folks have a hard time seeing that unless we need him completely.
- 23:08Acts 20.32 says that the grace of God builds us up and gives us the inheritance of who God is.
- 23:18We are placed in God's protective and loving care where the counsel and promises
- 23:22of God and his unmerited favor of his grace builds us up.
- 23:27That's what he tells us in Acts chapter 20 and verse 32.
- 23:30It doesn't just build us up, but it gives us our rightful inheritance among
- 23:36those who are set apart for God's purpose.
- 23:40People that run the race, but one gets the prize, the one who's prepared,
- 23:46the one who has set apart their life, training for that very race,
- 23:53living for that very race, sacrificing for that race.
- 24:01Friends, life is a race, but Jesus is the prize, and he's no respecter of persons,
- 24:08and he says whosoever shall call upon him shall be saved.
- 24:13Friends, sacrifice.
- 24:17Be set apart because there's an inheritance coming for all who've set apart for God's purpose.
- 24:25Every believer is saved by the grace of God and set apart for his service.
- 24:31Those who submit themselves under the mighty hand of God they'll be exalted
- 24:38in due time don't forget Job God gives grace and glory to all who believe oh friend don't lose hope,
- 24:49just because the heat is on and you can't see past the step you're standing
- 24:54on Oh, joy comes in the morning.
- 24:58Let God work out all the things he has for you with his time. Don't get ahead of him.
- 25:07Don't lag behind him, but walk with him.
- 25:12Let him set the pace. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he will direct your paths.
- 25:18Be not wise in your own eyes. us. Depart from evil.
- 25:22Serve him. If you want big things from God, make big room for him.
- 25:29Shove out the world.
- 25:32Carefully put the right voices around you.
- 25:37Listen for the sweet, still voice of the Holy Spirit as you're being still.
- 25:43He's your son and he's your shield. and no good thing will he withhold from
- 25:49them that walk uprightly.
- 25:51You can't out give him.
- 25:55You walk in his ways and know the blessings of God. James 1 17 says every good
- 26:00and every perfect gift is from above and cometh down from the Father of lights,
- 26:07with whom there is no variableness,
- 26:11neither shadow of turning.
- 26:13He's the same yesterday, today, and forevermore. And what he did for Noah,
- 26:18what he did for Job, what he did for Abraham, he will do for you.
- 26:24Honest? Will you do for him what they did for him?
- 26:28Have you set yourself apart and given God room in your life?
- 26:34Are you okay with whatever he says, understanding that he has never left you?
- 26:40He's never dropped you, and he's never lost a battle.
- 26:44Remember, David would not take the armor of the the world because the armor
- 26:49of the world didn't fit David.
- 26:52The problem is the armor of the world fits too many people who call themselves
- 26:57Christians because they're not set apart,
- 27:00because they haven't sacrificed for the Lord, because they're not sold out to
- 27:04him, because they're not willing to partake in the sufferings of Christ for the glory of God.
- 27:10God, he's our son, so he lights the way, and he's our shield, so he protects.
- 27:20That's not just in the good times. That's for all times.
- 27:25He wants to bless you, and he's not going to withhold any good thing from you.
- 27:31Now, you're going to tell me there's a lot of things you want to have that you don't have.
- 27:35The Bible doesn't say that you get everything thing you want.
- 27:37He tells us that all that we need and all that we get is good for us.
- 27:43And any good thing he gives us, that thing you think you may want,
- 27:48maybe it's something that would distract you from serving God.
- 27:53That need you think you have, maybe it would prove to draw you away from the Lord.
- 28:01That problem you have that you desperately want rid of, that you don't want
- 28:08to have to face, that you think you would just be okay to know God the way you know him,
- 28:16that's probably the very thing that he's going to use to bring him glory and new honor.
- 28:23It's the the very thing that's going to move you into a place with him that
- 28:29the world will never understand,
- 28:31your friends will never see, but you'll have a fire in you from the Holy Spirit,
- 28:38that'll blaze a trail that all will see him. He's a shield.
- 28:45He's the sun that lights the way. if you don't believe he's your shield in the bad times,
- 28:52doesn't really do you any good to know that he isn't a good God is a jealous
- 28:57God and if you want to do powerful things,
- 29:01and know things that other people don't because he says call unto me and I will
- 29:06answer thee show thee mighty things which thou knowest not.
- 29:12Able to ask and receive and seek and find and knock and it be opened unto you,
- 29:17then you got to be willing to walk with him.
- 29:21And I submit to you, he left the splendor of heaven for you and me.
- 29:27He didn't bring one piece of jasper wall. He didn't bring a piece of gold.
- 29:32He didn't bring 10,000 angels to praise him day and night.
- 29:36He came as a little babe in a manger to humble people.
- 29:41And his journey for 33 years on this earth was anything but easy.
- 29:48Many times he was persecuted. Many times he was mocked.
- 29:54He didn't have a place to call his own. He had no camper, no mansion,
- 29:59no home, no boat, no car, probably not even a fishing pole, certainly not one like I have.
- 30:05He didn't have conveniences.
- 30:08He was betrayed by the one he loved, denied by Peter, who he loved dearly.
- 30:15Then he gave his life.
- 30:19And you think that which he's requiring of you now is difficult called when he's your shield?
- 30:29I think not. I think not.
- 30:34I think our fleshly mind thinks that. I think our worldly desires feels that.
- 30:40But our spirit knows. He's more than enough. He's the good shepherd.
- 30:46And the sheep know his voice.
- 30:49And he's holding you. He went after the one.
- 30:54Don't make him chase you down. Stay in his fold.
- 30:59Be content with knowing the truth. Be keenly aware that God is with you always.
- 31:05And so you have all you need. Because when you have Jesus, you have it all.
- 31:13It's time we got real about our relationship with God. It isn't about It's not
- 31:17about our gain. It's about his glory.
- 31:21You simply can't outgive him. So if you fully sell out to Jesus,
- 31:28you're going to have the abundant life he promises in John 10.10.
- 31:32But you're going to have trials and tribulations.
- 31:34But he's your shield. It isn't about what we can see.
- 31:39No, it's not about what we can see. It's about what we can't see.
- 31:44For we walk by faith and not by sight if we can see it beyond the light of the
- 31:52step we aren't walking by faith we have to trust and obey,
- 31:58for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus,
- 32:03but to trust and obey when we walk with the Lord.
- 32:10Music.
- 32:58But to trust and obey.
- 33:05Remember you are loved. Jesus loves you.
- 33:09Music.
- 33:17Thank you for joining us in today's podcast.
- 33:20You can visit the show notes for quotes from today's podcast and scripture references.
- 33:25We pray today has been a blessing and we encourage you to To reach out to us
- 33:28through our app, our website, or our Facebook page.
- 33:32You can find our app by searching for Woman at the Well Ministries in your app
- 33:36store or through our website at watwm.org.
- 33:39We're on Facebook at facebook.com slash watwm.
- 33:44If you visit our website, you'll be able to subscribe to Bible Bits,
- 33:48a daily devotion written by Kim and delivered Monday through Friday by text message.
- 33:53Woman at the Well Ministries is a non-profit organization dedicated to serving our Heavenly Father.
- 33:58And it is through your loving and generous support that our ministry continues to bless others.
- 34:03To learn how to partner with Women at the Well Ministries, please visit our website.
- 34:08Thank you to the gospel group Fudge Creek for letting us use their hit song, Happy Girl.
- 34:13We greatly appreciate your prayers. We are praying daily for our listeners.
- 34:18Remember that God loves you.
- 34:20Music.