Latest / The Woman at the Well Ministries Podcast / 574 | What do you value most?
Transcript
- 0:05She's a happy girl. Hello, friends, and welcome back to another podcast of Woman.
- 0:10At the Well Ministries, where we believe that all of us have to come to Jesus
- 0:15like the woman at the well in John chapter 4.
- 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.
- 1:03Jesus said, you shall not have any other gods before him.
- 1:07He is a jealous God. He loved us enough to give all he had and all that he was
- 1:13to redeem us and to save us.
- 1:16He paid a debt for us that he didn't owe, but we couldn't pay.
- 1:20He did this because he loves us and wants a personal relationship with us.
- 1:25What will you give for a personal relationship with Jesus?
- 1:29He gave it all because He loves us. What will your love compel you to give Him?
- 1:36Join Kim Miller of Woman at the Well Ministries as she takes us through Matthew 13,
- 1:4144-52, revealing that Scripture teaches we are to value Him above all else and
- 1:50withhold nothing from Him.
- 1:53Hello, and thank you for joining us in this podcast of Woman at the Well Ministries. Let us pray.
- 1:59Our kind and most gracious to Heavenly Father, Lord, we come to you with thankful
- 2:03hearts that you're a God that hears and answers prayer, that you're a God that
- 2:07loves us and cares for us and asks us to come boldly to the throne.
- 2:12So, Lord, as we walk through this passage of Scripture that you've given us
- 2:16to learn how you expect us to live,
- 2:20to remind us of what's most important in the real scheme of things,
- 2:25and to help us, Lord, to exalt you to your rightful place as King of our life and Lord of our life.
- 2:33Lord, I just ask that you would remove me from this message,
- 2:36that you would speak through these lips of clay, that hearts would be changed
- 2:42and lives would be turned towards you.
- 2:44Lord, we love you, we praise you, and we thank you. In Jesus' name.
- 2:48The message that I want to bring into your hearing is entitled, What...
- 2:53Do you value the most? And the reality of that is that that answer should always
- 3:02be your personal relationship with Jesus Christ,
- 3:05but it's not what it always is.
- 3:09Sometimes we get so busy with our life that God just gets pushed off. He gets moved.
- 3:19He gets placed on a shelf, we think about him.
- 3:25Things remind us of him, like when you walk by a shelf and see something,
- 3:29but it's not what is leading us or guiding us or directing us.
- 3:37And that is indicative of a life that is not putting him first.
- 3:42And we don't have to look far until we see how God says that's just not how
- 3:50you're supposed to live.
- 3:51He tells us in the Ten Commandments something that nearly all of us listening
- 3:56to this podcast has heard sometime in their life. And for most of us,
- 4:01it's been an abundant lesson, the Ten Commandments.
- 4:05And we know that he says that thou shalt have no other gods before me.
- 4:10We read in Scripture that he says, I am the Lord your God, a jealous God.
- 4:16Because he knows what he's done for you. He knows who he is,
- 4:22and therefore he wants those whom he has purchased with his blood,
- 4:26who he has created in his image, to seek him above all.
- 4:32And in Matthew 6, 33, he says, Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness,
- 4:38and all these things shall be added unto you.
- 4:40So if we get to the place in our life where we are seeking the Lord in all situations.
- 4:48For all things, trusting him completely and wholly with our entire being,
- 4:54our whole heart, and our whole life, then all the other things in our life are
- 4:59going to fall into place because his place has to be first.
- 5:05And it's an interesting thing. Sometimes when you're asked that question,
- 5:09you'll answer, oh, I love Jesus above all else.
- 5:13And I think sometimes you believe that.
- 5:16And for those of you who that is truly the truth, praise the Lord.
- 5:22But for all of this, there are seasons in our life or moments in our day or
- 5:28events that take place that at least for a moment, the faith begins to wane
- 5:33and he isn't the most important.
- 5:37Some of us, we shove him aside in great moments of stress and we begin to use our own intellect.
- 5:47We begin to try to think our way out. We begin to look and we use logic and
- 5:55we do all kinds of things within our skill set,
- 5:58within our purview, within our power, when we are always to go to Him.
- 6:08He knows the plan that He has for us to prosper us and to give us a hope.
- 6:11He remembers yesterday. He has orchestrated tomorrow, and He's present in today.
- 6:18And so he's the one with the data he's
- 6:23the one with the know-how and he's the one who has the capabilities he is the
- 6:29one we must submit ourselves scripture says to submit yourself under the mighty
- 6:34hand of god and he will exalt you in due time if you really want to navigate this life correctly.
- 6:42You've got to adhere to the teachings from Genesis through Revelations that
- 6:50gives us a picture of who God is, that shows us who Jesus is,
- 6:54that reveals to us what Jesus expects of us, who allows us in these scriptures to fully know Jesus.
- 7:03And if we know Jesus, we can know God, it says.
- 7:07But it's one thing to know it, and it's another thing to live it.
- 7:11And so for the next few minutes while we are together.
- 7:16I want to reveal to you what Scripture is teaching all of us,
- 7:22that we can't just talk about him being number one.
- 7:25We just can't talk about a relationship with Jesus Christ.
- 7:30But each of us has to personally develop and have a personal relationship with
- 7:37Jesus Christ, and it must be the most important thing in our lives. It can't be your spouse.
- 7:43It can't be your significant other. It can't be your children,
- 7:48your career, your hobby, your friendships, not even your calling.
- 7:56Your relationship with Jesus Christ has to be the most important possession you have.
- 8:09And if you're wondering just what is the most important thing in your life,
- 8:15take a moment to reflect.
- 8:17What is it that you protect the most?
- 8:20What is it that you would lay your life down to keep from having a loss in that area?
- 8:28What do you spend the most time doing?
- 8:32What relationship are you working
- 8:35the most on cultivating? Who are you trying to get to know the best.
- 8:41What's the first thing on your mind in the morning and the last thing on your mind at night?
- 8:46The answer to these questions will always reveal what truly is important to you.
- 8:53But Scripture is clear. He says, Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
- 9:00I want you to take a close look at Matthew 6, verse 21.
- 9:05And as we continue in this message,
- 9:08I want you to use this verse as a filter for every other thing that's coming
- 9:15out of my mouth that has been given to me by Jesus Christ to filter it through
- 9:21so that you can see it from this perspective.
- 9:24In Matthew 6, verse 21, he says, For where your treasure is,
- 9:29there will your heart be also.
- 9:32Jesus wants your whole life, including your heart and your mind.
- 9:37And what you treasure is going to possess your heart and you're mine.
- 9:44Please read with me Matthew chapter 13, verses 44 through 52.
- 9:52Again, the kingdom of heaven is likened to treasure hid in a field,
- 9:57the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth
- 10:02all that he hath, and buyeth that field.
- 10:05Again, the kingdom of heaven is likened to a merchant man, seeking a goodly
- 10:11pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it.
- 10:20Again, the kingdom of heaven is likened to a net that was cast into the sea
- 10:25and gathered of every kind,
- 10:27which when it was full, they drew to the shore and sat down and gathered the
- 10:32good into vessels, but cast the bad away.
- 10:35So shall it be at the end of the world. The angels shall come forth and sever
- 10:41the wicked from among the just and shall cast them into the furnace of fire.
- 10:46There shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
- 10:49Jesus saith unto them, Have you understood all these things?
- 10:57They say unto him, Yea, Lord. Then said he unto them,
- 11:01Therefore, every scribe which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven is likened
- 11:06to a man that is an householder,
- 11:08which bringeth forth out of his treasure things
- 11:12new and old we often hear
- 11:15these three parables the parable of the hidden treasure the parable of the pearl
- 11:21of great price and the parable of casting out the net preached in individual
- 11:26messages but when we look at these three parables and we stack them one up on top of the other,
- 11:33we see the picture of our life.
- 11:37And we are able to understand that God has a message to give to us.
- 11:43And when we don't receive that message, when we refuse to allow that message
- 11:49to be applied to our lives and to work in all that we are and all that we're
- 11:54doing and to be what leads us and directs us and guide us,
- 11:57when we are not putting Jesus Christ at the very center of our being and he
- 12:03is not the compass by which we are following and we are listening to other things
- 12:08when we don't do that there's a consequence.
- 12:11And that's the latter part of those verses. Just because you don't get it isn't
- 12:21a valid excuse to not live it.
- 12:25Because, you see, Jesus wants you to understand what he has to say all through
- 12:32the greatest love letter ever written from Genesis to Revelations.
- 12:36How do I know this? because he says in Matthew 13, verse 51,
- 12:43that I read into your hearing, he looks at the disciples and he says,
- 12:47have you understood all these things?
- 12:52He spoke in parables so that we would have a powerful picture and a powerful
- 12:58understanding of what God wants us to know.
- 13:02And he wants us to know it. He said, children, these things have I written unto
- 13:06you that ye may know and believe.
- 13:11It won't be a valid accepted excuse on the day of judgment when you say.
- 13:19Well, I didn't know that's what that meant.
- 13:23We are responsible for every bit of the word of God.
- 13:27And the Holy Spirit tells us that he'll teach us what it says.
- 13:33But one, we've got to be in it and studying like he tells us in 2 Timothy 2.15.
- 13:38And two, we need to ask the Holy Spirit to reveal it to us.
- 13:42And he wants you to know it so you can be sure he is going to tell it to you.
- 13:48So as we begin to look at this powerful passage of Scripture,
- 13:54I want you to realize that Jesus Christ is the true treasure.
- 14:00He's the treasure that the man finds in the field, and he is the treasure of
- 14:07great price that the merchant purchases.
- 14:12He's also the good, the treasure part that you get in the net.
- 14:20All things good are him.
- 14:24Jesus Christ is a treasure, and we must realize what a treasure he is.
- 14:33As children of God who've been bought with a price, created in his image,
- 14:38managed, provided for, cared for, loved for, directed, and protected.
- 14:45The kingdom of heaven has to be supreme.
- 14:49It has to be what we seek, as we spoke about in Matthew 6, 33.
- 14:53We have to seek it first, but you're not going to seek the kingdom of God if
- 14:57you have not bought in that it's valuable.
- 15:00In this first parable, we see a man who stumbles upon this treasure.
- 15:10He wasn't seeking the.
- 15:15But he finds it. In the parable of the pearl of great price,
- 15:21that man's seeking a pearl.
- 15:24He's looking for the best pearl he can find.
- 15:27But regardless of whether he stumbles on it like the woman at the well did,
- 15:33Jesus didn't stumble upon the woman at the well, but the woman at the well stumbled
- 15:38upon Jesus, she came to the well with an empty pot to gather water.
- 15:44And she left filled completely,
- 15:49not with water that would make her thirst again, but with life-giving,
- 15:55eternal water that would swell up within her and would satisfy her soul.
- 16:02And in John 4, verse 29, She leaves the well after her encounter with Jesus Christ.
- 16:09And she says, come see a man who told me all things ever I did.
- 16:13Is not this the Christ?
- 16:16She was so compelled by her meeting of Jesus Christ, by seeing who he was and
- 16:23understanding and receiving his free gift of redemption and salvation that she
- 16:28could not contain it within herself.
- 16:30She had to go and tell it.
- 16:34And that, my friend, is like the last verse.
- 16:39The householder that brings out of his treasure, new and old,
- 16:43who's instructed and reads and writes and tells people what it is that he knows.
- 16:52Those of us who have had an encounter with Jesus Christ and we've put our trust
- 16:58in him, we've got a story to tell.
- 17:01We've got the story to tell how he saved us, redeemed us, created in us a new
- 17:06creature where old things were passed away and all things have become new.
- 17:10How he leads us and directs us, how he hones us and molds us,
- 17:15how he's the potter and we're the clay.
- 17:18This man named Jesus.
- 17:21Though you may found him by accident, I promise you, you weren't an accident in his path.
- 17:28But regardless of whether you found him like the woman at the well,
- 17:32or whether you found him like the man who's buying the land because he stumbles upon treasure,
- 17:40and I need you to understand that in that culture, people didn't use banks and
- 17:45credit unions and fiduciary organizations.
- 17:49They buried their treasures in the ground.
- 17:52And if they died or became mentally incapacitated, that treasure would be forever
- 17:58there until someone else stumbled upon it and found it.
- 18:02But I want you to see how important the treasure was to the man.
- 18:07When he finds it, he goes and he sells everything he has for that treasure.
- 18:15And perhaps you're saying, welcome.
- 18:19Of course he did. He probably bought the land far less than what he was going
- 18:24to gain from the value of the treasure.
- 18:27I'll give you that. Perhaps that is true. But I want to tell you that his return
- 18:33on investment can't compare to yours.
- 18:37When you find the treasure of Jesus Christ and
- 18:41you seek a relationship with him and you
- 18:43learn of him and you walk with him and you love him
- 18:46and you allow him to create in you the person
- 18:49he has called you to be and you live the abundant
- 18:52life he has promised every believer who walk in his ways your return on investment
- 18:58isn't just out of this world it is a day-to-day meaningful valuable most precious
- 19:04relationship that allows you to navigate this world exactly as you were meant to be.
- 19:12So even if you're hung up on the fact that he gave everything he had to get more, believe it.
- 19:21Because all we can offer the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords is a fallible,
- 19:26frail, sinful, fleshly person.
- 19:31And he gives us a new heart.
- 19:35He changes the trajectory of our life and we are no longer sinfully bound and
- 19:41we're no longer glued to the effects of sin and the wages of sin or death,
- 19:47and sin no longer has dominion over us, but instead we have life eternal.
- 19:52We have joy unspeakable.
- 19:54We have a peace that passes understanding.
- 19:57We are given all that we need. He watches over us.
- 20:00He strengthens us. He carries us day to day through this world,
- 20:05and the best is yet to come because eye hath not seen and ear hath not heard
- 20:10what lies in store for them that love the Lord.
- 20:14This man who finds the treasure in the field recognizes its value.
- 20:22As such, he gives all he has for that one prize. What are you willing to give?
- 20:30What are you willing to give for a personal relationship with Jesus?
- 20:35The kingdom is invaluable.
- 20:37And in him there is an abundance of all that which is rich and useful.
- 20:44In Colossians 1, verse 19, he says this, For it has pleased the Father that
- 20:50all the divine fullness, the sum total of the divine perfection,
- 20:54powers, and attributes should dwell in him permanently.
- 20:59Everything that is good, everything that is rich, it belongs to him.
- 21:04In Colossians 2, 3, he says, In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
- 21:12When you find this treasure trove called Jesus, and you love him,
- 21:18and you allow him to lead you and be part of your life, you have everything that you need.
- 21:25You have wisdom, and you have knowledge, and righteousness, and peace,
- 21:30and grace, and mercy are in Christ Jesus.
- 21:33And if you have an interest in him, if he is taking up residency inside of you,
- 21:38all that he is, and all that he has is yours.
- 21:42In Ephesians chapter 3 verse 20, he says that you can do exceeding abundantly
- 21:47above all that we ask or think according to the power that is in us.
- 21:52My friend, the power that is in us is Jesus Christ, and it's the same power
- 21:58that spoke the world into existence. It's the same power that tells the waves when to stop.
- 22:03It is the most powerful force on earth and in the world and in the heavens,
- 22:10because all things are under his feet.
- 22:14He has dominion over everything.
- 22:18Jesus is the treasure, and the gospel is the field that the treasure is hidden.
- 22:26If you want to know about the treasure of Jesus Christ, you're going to have to look at the gospel.
- 22:36Read about his life. In Proverbs 2, beginning in verse 1 and reading through verse 5, he says this,
- 22:44My son, if thou would receive my words and hide my commandments with thee,
- 22:50so that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom and apply thine heart to understanding.
- 22:57Yea, if thou criest after knowledge and liftest up thy voice for understanding,
- 23:02if thou seekest her as silver and searchest for her as for hid treasures,
- 23:08then shalt thou understand the fear of God, for the Lord God giveth wisdom.
- 23:14Out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding. Let's just continue.
- 23:20He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous. He is a buckler to them that walk uprightly.
- 23:29When wisdom enters into thine heart, a knowledge is pleasant unto the soul.
- 23:34Jesus is the treasure that holds all the answers to life.
- 23:42And the gospel is the field where it's all at.
- 23:48That's like the man goes and he's digging into the ground and he finds the hidden treasure.
- 23:55We are not chasing a hidden treasure.
- 23:59He is in plain sight. He is in plain view.
- 24:02He is creating miracle after miracle, not only in this world, but in your life.
- 24:07He is making a way where there is no way. He's empowering you.
- 24:12He is displaying his power, his grace, his mercy, and his love to you moment
- 24:17by moment and day by day. He's in plain view.
- 24:20And the gospel is the field in which we can learn to have eyes that discern his hand,
- 24:27that we have a heart that hears his voice, that we have a life that is committed
- 24:33and purposed to following Jesus Christ because we understand that he is the treasurer.
- 24:40Where the treasure is, that's where your heart's going to be also.
- 24:44What do you value most?
- 24:47Are you willing to be like the
- 24:51man who digs the treasure up and sells all that he has to buy the land?
- 25:00Perhaps you're like the merchant who's seeking the pearl of great price.
- 25:06I have to believe that when the man buys the land, he continues to dig into it.
- 25:15When we receive the blood of Jesus Christ that washes our sins white as snow,
- 25:20there should be a desire and a motivation and an inspiration to continue to
- 25:25dig into the word, to get to know him better,
- 25:29to understand his promises.
- 25:32And that gospel is what we need to dig into.
- 25:37And the second parable, the parable of the pearl of great price,
- 25:41the pearl of great price is Jesus.
- 25:43And I want you to see that this man searches.
- 25:50And when he finds the one pearl, the one that's most valuable,
- 25:57the one that nothing else compares to, he sells all that he has to buy the one pearl.
- 26:10Friends, I believe what he's telling us is when you find Jesus.
- 26:15Everything in the world needs to pale in comparison, because it does.
- 26:21I believe what he's telling us is when you find the pearl of great price,
- 26:26that you forsake all things for that possession.
- 26:32In John chapter 10 and verse 28, he says that no man will pluck you out of his hands.
- 26:37No one's going to come and steal Jesus from your heart.
- 26:41But do you recognize him as the pearl of great price?
- 26:46Or are you fooling around and fiddling around with other things?
- 26:52What do you value the most?
- 26:55You value, you'll protect. As a child growing up, I played tennis.
- 27:01What I valued were my rackets when I was on the court.
- 27:06When the rain came, I used gut strings. Water on a gut string makes them useless.
- 27:15First drop of rain, I'm finding everything I can to cover those rackets because
- 27:23they were of great value to me.
- 27:24I couldn't win the match without a racket, and I couldn't play as well with
- 27:29someone else's or some other racket.
- 27:32So in order to get the outcome that my soul and heart wanted for that match,
- 27:38I had to protect those rackets.
- 27:43It was innate. I didn't think about it. No one had to tell me, hey, cover the rackets.
- 27:49It was immediate. it. It was my default response.
- 27:54Friends, however silly you may find that analogy, it's perfect.
- 27:59Because Jesus needs to be your default response.
- 28:05Your relationship with Jesus needs to be what you are most.
- 28:11Valuing. Your relationship with Jesus must be so valuable to you.
- 28:18It must be so treasured by your heart, your mind, your soul,
- 28:21and your body that you will protect it at all cost, that you are completely sold out to him,
- 28:29that none of the other things around you make any difference because you are
- 28:34going to protect your relationship.
- 28:36You're going to grow your relationship. You're going to develop that relationship.
- 28:42He's the one thing on your mind in the morning. He's the last thing on your mind at night.
- 28:47He has got invitations to be in your life all day long.
- 28:53In fact, your life is counting on his unending presence in your day.
- 29:02That's how the man with the pearl of great price felt.
- 29:08The merchant who found the pearl of great price had been seeking it.
- 29:17He's far more like Nicodemus.
- 29:22Nicodemus came to Jesus wanting to understand what it meant to be born again.
- 29:28And Jesus made it plain to him.
- 29:32Just like he says to the disciples, Have you understood all these things?
- 29:38Nicodemus did not stumble on the treasure of great price.
- 29:42He searched for it, and he found it.
- 29:47In Jeremiah 29, 13, it says, seek me while you shall find me.
- 29:51You will seek me with your whole heart.
- 29:55It's time that we sought the Lord with our whole heart, the man who had found
- 30:02the pearl of great price.
- 30:04He too went and sold all that he had to buy the pearl, the one pearl.
- 30:12Are you seeing the correlation to our lives and theirs?
- 30:19Scripture tells us repeatedly we are to deny ourself and pick up our cross and
- 30:24follow him daily, denying ourself, casting away everything else.
- 30:33In John 5, verse 39, he says, Search the scriptures, for in them you think you
- 30:38have eternal life, and they are they which testify of me.
- 30:43The treasure of great price is in the word of the gospel, both the New and the Old Testaments.
- 30:50It's not hidden or shut up.
- 30:55It's in an open field for all to search the scriptures and to dig into the world.
- 31:02Everybody has the ability to know God personally.
- 31:06And when you come to know him personally, and you forsake all others and cleave
- 31:11unto him and allow him to be Lord of your life,
- 31:17Everything else is going to fall into place.
- 31:22In Psalm 105, verse 3, it says, Glory ye in his holy name. Let the heart of
- 31:27them rejoice that seek the Lord.
- 31:30I want you to know something. That everyone in this passage of Scripture that we're reading.
- 31:40Joyfully, joyfully,
- 31:43sacrificed all they had. They sold everything he had, and he bought the land.
- 31:49The merchant sold everything he had, and he bought the pearl of great price.
- 31:54They forsook all other possessions, all other goals, all other ideas,
- 32:04and they became fully focused, 100% committed,
- 32:10fully trusting in that treasure.
- 32:14That's what he's asking us to do. Those who want a personal relationship with
- 32:19Jesus must be willing to give themselves to him.
- 32:24Jesus wants you. He wants to be your all in all.
- 32:30I want to submit to you that God saved you and he bought you with his precious
- 32:39blood, and he wants you to trust him fully.
- 32:43I bring to your mind Abraham and his son Isaac.
- 32:48Abraham was promised a son, promised that the seed of all would come from the seed of Abraham.
- 32:56And then God calls Abraham to sacrifice his son.
- 33:03So Abraham, being a man of God, fully trusting him, he does what he says,
- 33:09and he forsakes his logic.
- 33:11He denies his heart.
- 33:14But I want you to see Abraham never doubted his faith because Abraham was fully sold out to God.
- 33:26Everything else paled in comparison in Abraham's heart and mind.
- 33:32So when Abraham goes to the place that God told him to go, He looks at the people
- 33:40who had come with him, and he tells them to wait there, that he and the lad will return.
- 33:46Abraham didn't know how it was going to happen, but he believed that God was right.
- 33:52He believed in the promise that God had given him, and circumstances were not going to change that.
- 34:00Because like the merchant who gave it all for the pearl of great price,
- 34:06like the man who sold it all for the treasure.
- 34:12Abraham was fully sold out. And Abraham teaches us that that's what God wants.
- 34:20God never wanted Isaac.
- 34:22He didn't want him. He wanted Abraham. From the top of his head to the bottom
- 34:28of his feet, he wanted to be all in all in Abraham's heart and mind.
- 34:34And Abraham, who was referred to as the friend of God, proved that God had that position.
- 34:41And just as Abraham is fulfilling what he feels God is telling him to do,
- 34:47stops him, provides the lamb.
- 34:52And just as Abraham had promised, he and the lad went back.
- 34:56But Abraham was willing to do what God said to do. Abraham sold out to the Lord.
- 35:02The land owner sold out to the Lord.
- 35:08The merchant sold out to the Lord.
- 35:12Their treasure was what guided them. Both of the men find the treasure and the
- 35:20pearl of great price sacrificing with joy.
- 35:27Abraham joyfully embraced God's will for his life.
- 35:33You may find Jesus by stumbling upon him, or you may find Jesus by seeking him.
- 35:42But you're still going to find the same thing.
- 35:47And what are you willing to part with for a personal relationship with Jesus Christ?
- 35:54Abraham was willing to follow Jesus at all cost, to follow the voice of God.
- 36:02The merchant was willing to forsake everything for the pearl of great price.
- 36:09The man who bought the land and sold all that he had was willing to put it all for one treasure.
- 36:21You see, a relationship with Jesus Christ requires exclusivity. It's exclusive.
- 36:28It's monogamous.
- 36:31It's you don't have any other gods before me, according to Exodus 23.
- 36:35It's a total commitment.
- 36:38It's an all-in commitment to the lordship of God, where nothing else can be prioritized above it.
- 36:47That's what a true relationship with Jesus Christ is.
- 36:52And in Matthew 7, in verse 23, he says, Depart from me, I never knew you,
- 37:00you workers of iniquity.
- 37:03In the latter parable that I read in your hearing where they cast the net and
- 37:10they pull the net up and nobody knows what's in the net until the net is on the deck.
- 37:16And at that point, they keep the good and they toss the bad.
- 37:23I spent a lot of time in my life fishing on a pier and I watched these people
- 37:28cast these nets from minnows and they throw them out. When I throw them out, I don't get anything.
- 37:35They throw them out, and it'll be so heavy they can hardly pour them to shore.
- 37:40And when they get them to shore, they have a lot of different things. They have good fish.
- 37:48They have the minnows, the mullets that they want to use. They'll have some
- 37:52trash, and they'll have some shells.
- 37:56And that master fisherman will go through the net and they put the trash in the trash can.
- 38:06They keep the good fish. They toss the rest back.
- 38:12We don't know who around us knows Jesus as Savior.
- 38:18We can be shrewd inspectors, but we got to cast the net.
- 38:24We've been instructed. We know who Jesus is. We know what he said.
- 38:29Forsake everything and follow me.
- 38:31He asked them as he was recruiting his two disciples, leave family and follow me.
- 38:40Are you sold out to Jesus?
- 38:43What are you willing to give for that personal relationship?
- 38:46The answer has to be everything.
- 38:49You can't buy your salvation. For by grace are you saved through faith and that
- 38:53not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should
- 38:56boast. Ephesians 2.8.9.
- 38:59But James says, faith without works is dead. If you love me,
- 39:04you'll keep my commandments.
- 39:06This love of Jesus Christ that transforms us from a hell-bound sinner to a glorious
- 39:14saved saint with heaven as our home.
- 39:18This glorious transformation motivates us and inspires us and compels us to
- 39:25serve him, to tell others about him.
- 39:29See, salvation is worth sacrificing everything.
- 39:32True love for Christ brings joy. That's why the merchant could sell everything
- 39:38for the pearl of great price and be happy.
- 39:41That's why the man who finds the treasure in the land can sell everything he
- 39:45has for that treasure, because his treasure means more for him than anything
- 39:49else he owned, possessed, or ever could. And it changes them.
- 39:54Everything else just seems trivial.
- 39:58Some of you, you're not there. And James 4.4 has a stern warning for you.
- 40:07He says, Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of
- 40:12the world is enmity with God?
- 40:15Whosoever, therefore, will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.
- 40:21I'm afraid, like that net that is cast, and we get good and we get bad.
- 40:28There's going to be people we know and he's going to look and he's going to say depart from me,
- 40:35you workers of iniquity I never
- 40:38knew you and they're going to have all kinds of things to say like they prophesied
- 40:42in his name and they did all kinds of good stuff it's not about works it's the
- 40:47finished work of Calvary it's not about what you say it's not how good you God speak in church.
- 40:55It's not about agendas. It's not about lights. It's not about loud music.
- 40:59It's not about fancy preaching.
- 41:01It's not about walking away saying, oh, I've had a great time at church.
- 41:05He just made me feel so good. It's not what it's about.
- 41:09It's about understanding the pearl of great price.
- 41:13Cherishing it and protecting it and loving it and living for it and having a
- 41:21one-track mind and laser focus on Jesus and the Word,
- 41:27which is Jesus, because John 1.14 says, The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.
- 41:31Upon the Trinity, as the Holy Spirit dwells in our heart, speaking to us,
- 41:36is having open ears to the one voice you want to hear, shutting out all the ones around you.
- 41:43It's having the courage to swim upstream when the world is the stream.
- 41:50It's the courage to shut out the voices around you that are competing with him.
- 41:58Whether it's your hobby, your job, your pride, your intellect,
- 42:03your significant other, your dreams, your goals, your purposes. They all got to go.
- 42:11They're going to bow at the feet of Jesus, and he will create in you a new heart,
- 42:17new purposes, new goals, and a joy unspeakable and full of glory.
- 42:23What you don't understand is when you possess the pearl of great price,
- 42:28everything else doesn't compare.
- 42:32Everything else does wane in comparison.
- 42:36The pearl of great price is invaluable. and when you open up your hands to receive,
- 42:42his presence in your life you'll have joy unspeakable and full of glory,
- 42:49it's the devil lying to you.
- 42:53You from selling out to the Pearl of Great Price.
- 42:58It's the devil lying to you that has the wrong treasure for your heart.
- 43:05You see, when you really know the Pearl of Great Price, when you really receive
- 43:14him into your life, he's all you need and he's all you want.
- 43:20And when you seek him first, everything else just lines up.
- 43:26And the diagnosis no longer controls you. Your financial status no longer keeps you up.
- 43:35The rejection from those who you never believed would reject you.
- 43:40The betrayal from those you've served.
- 43:45You've worked so hard for, their control falls away because you hold the pearl of great price.
- 43:53And holding the pearl of great price fills you to overflowing.
- 43:59And just like the woman at the well, you're going to say, come see a man.
- 44:04It's not just the Christ.
- 44:07Our last point in these incredible parables Jesus speaks to us is that you can't hold it inside.
- 44:16What he's given you, you got to give out.
- 44:20True confession, I never studied for this.
- 44:26I never had a dream of being pastor or a teacher heard worldwide.
- 44:33I wanted to know him. And as I got to know him, I wanted the people I loved to know him.
- 44:40And as that became more and more important, he called for me to use my talents,
- 44:49the way he wanted them to be used.
- 44:53And since I had committed, since I was sold out, since he has all of me because
- 44:59he bought all of me, and he's a wonderful, wonderful pearl of great price.
- 45:05I was willing to give him me, and it's the best decision I've ever made,
- 45:11because no matter how big my dreams are, they're minuscule relative to his dreams
- 45:16for me and his dreams for you.
- 45:18His plans are beyond your imagination, because his thoughts are higher than
- 45:24your thoughts, and his ways are higher than our ways.
- 45:29Know that Jesus has given you these parables so that you would understand and
- 45:36so that you would let others understand.
- 45:38So cast your net far and wide and allow him to determine what's in the net.
- 45:46But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts and be ready always to give an answer
- 45:50to every man for the hope that is within you and live a life full of hope.
- 45:56Christ received that he might give so must we and then we shall have more you
- 46:04can't receive from the Lord if you're not in a place,
- 46:08where his blessings are flowing or if your hands are shut and you're happy with
- 46:14all that is and all that was it's a bright future out there,
- 46:19but only those who forsake all others,
- 46:23for the pearl of great price will know what it means to live the abundant life.
- 46:30Remember you are loved. Jesus loves you.
- 46:42Thank you for joining us in today's podcast. You can visit the show notes for
- 46:47quotes from today's podcast and scripture references.
- 46:50We pray today has been a blessing, and we encourage you to reach out to us through
- 46:54our app, our website, or our Facebook page.
- 46:57You can find our app by searching for Woman at the Well Ministries in your app
- 47:00store or through our website at watwm.org.
- 47:04We're on Facebook at facebook.com slash watwm. If you visit our website,
- 47:11you'll be able to subscribe to Bible Bits, a daily devotion written by Kim and
- 47:15delivered Monday through Friday by text message.
- 47:18Woman at the Well Ministries is a non-profit organization dedicated to serving our Heavenly Father.
- 47:23And it is through your loving and generous support that our ministry continues to bless others.
- 47:28To learn how to partner with Woman at the Well Ministries, please visit our website.
- 47:33Thank you to the Gospel Group Fledge Creek for letting us use their hit song, Happy Girl.
- 47:38We greatly appreciate your prayers. We are praying daily for our listeners.
- 47:43Remember that God loves you.