Latest / The Woman at the Well Ministries Podcast / 575 | Conversations - Do you truly value Jesus?

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575 | Conversations - Do you truly value Jesus? · The Woman at the Well Ministries Podcast

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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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  In this conversation of the Woman at the Well Ministries podcast,
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  join Kimmy Miller and Erica Close in a conversation as we walk with Jesus.
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  In today's conversation, we're talking about what life looks like when it's
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  fully sold out on the value of Jesus.
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  Well, thank you for joining us, everyone. My name is Erica Close,
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  and I am here with Kim Miller.
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  Hello. Thank you all for joining us. We appreciate you being here.
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  And we're excited because today we are going to dig a little deeper into some
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  of the things that we talked about in Monday's podcast.
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  So if you listened on Monday, it was episode 574, and it was called, What Do You Value Most?
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  And in that message, Kim brought out this idea of Jesus as a treasure.
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  And she came out of Matthew chapter 13, verses 44 through 52.
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  And we invite you to go back and take a look at that passage of Scripture.
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  But it basically was a passage that included three parables about Jesus as the treasure.
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  And so we're going to dig a little deeper into that today about what it really
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  looks like when our lives are fully sold out on the value of Jesus.
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  And I think that most of us would never want to say.
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  That we don't find value in Jesus. Well, I don't think anyone listening to this
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  podcast or pretty much anyone's going to say that, period.
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  But I think lives speak loudly about it.
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  Absolutely, absolutely. So much more to our lives speak to the truth of who
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  we believe Jesus is than the things that we say.
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  Absolutely. I think we reflect it much more than we speak it.
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  But I wanted to start out today talking about this idea of Jesus as a treasure.
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  You made a statement in the podcast on Monday that all good things in our lives are Him. Amen.
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  And I love that idea of all the good things in our lives are from Him,
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  are inhabited by Him, come to us because of the decision we've made for Him.
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  All the good things we can trace back to Him.
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  Scripture tells us that every good and perfect gift cometh down from the Father
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  of lights with whom there is no turning or variableness.
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  Every good thing. Every good thing. Comes from Him.
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  And I think that one of the ways that we can best recognize the things that
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  He does in our lives is by having the eyes to see and to trace back how everything we have is from Him.
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  I believe the Holy Spirit works inside of us, and I think that's one of the
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  ways that He teaches us to have His eyes, is that the discernment of the Spirit explains that,
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  this is of God. And I think if we lend ourselves to the Holy Spirit,
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  He's going to really help us.
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  Growing up as a kid, we had things that we called God sightings.
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  And at the end of the day, we would ask, where did you see God today?
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  And, you know, at the time, I don't think I understood what was happening.
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  But the reality of it is, is it made us consciously aware of God's presence
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  in our life, and it became this thing where you were seeking to see him and see him work. And,
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  It really is a practice that will help you value him because he's present everywhere.
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  He never leaves us or forsakes us. And he makes himself known.
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  That was one of the things I really loved about that passage of scripture in
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  Matthew 13, 44 through 52.
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  And it was like 50 or 51 where Jesus asked the disciples, do you understand?
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  He wants us to know. so he
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  makes himself visible to those who
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  are looking for him and as we
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  see him we recognize the value you know you made you made a statement in the
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  podcast on monday where you said you're not going to seek the kingdom of god
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  unless you think it's valuable and i think you know again none of us would say it's not valuable.
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  But in all the times that we choose to not see, seek the kingdom of God,
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  we're saying it's not valuable.
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  It's not what I need right now. Well, you know, me and my time management, I do.
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  You know, you know how many years I taught time management and time management
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  is simply event management and time are, it's just events.
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  And the reality of it is, is we spend our time on what matters most to us.
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  And so as we prioritize events, that's what we end up doing.
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  So if you're looking at someone's life and you never see Jesus in that,
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  there's no reason for you to think Jesus has a place in their life and you definitely
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  don't think it's their priority.
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  And that's what happens is he gets scooted over to the edge put on a shelf because
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  he's a gentleman he's there all the time he's making himself visible but he's
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  not going to hit you over the head and say look at me.
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  Because he's a jealous God, and he told you not to have any gods before him.
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  And so he wants you to look at him because you're seeking him,
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  because you want him, because you love him.
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  Amen. Amen. So let's talk about that idea of seeking him and wanting him.
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  In that passage of Scripture, in Matthew 13, 44 through 52, there were two parables.
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  One where a treasure is found in a field, and you talked about the gospel being
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  the field, and then one where the treasure was found in the sea as the pearl of great price.
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  And so when we talked about this idea of the gospel as the field,
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  I loved that imagery, and I love that you talked about how we needed to dig into the gospel, right?
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  That we needed to dig into that field.
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  And we're told that directly in 2 Timothy 2.15, where he says,
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  The study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be
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  ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
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  God wants us not only to understand his word and to hide his word in his heart,
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  as the psalmist David tells us, but he wants us to know how to use it and when to use it.
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  It's one thing to know what the word of God says. It's another thing to know
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  when I'm deep in the valley of despair and I feel like there's no hope within
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  me or around me to be able to pull a verse out and know that that verse at that
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  time, he's never going to leave me or forsake me.
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  He's going to supply all of my needs according to his riches and glory.
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  Through his strength, I can do all things. That's three. Bam, bam, bam.
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  And now I'm using his word to dig myself out of a hole because his word is truth.
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  And you can't dig yourself out of that hole if you don't know his word.
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  And you can't know his word unless you regularly dig into it.
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  And if it matters to you, you will.
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  If it does not, you won't. Ouch.
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  And whatever you're thinking about that is one you need to reflect on.
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  Because John 1.14 says, the word was made flesh and dwell among us.
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  So if the word of God isn't in your life on a daily routine,
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  you're saying literally, I have no need to spend time with you.
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  You know, that really takes us into the next thing that we're going to talk
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  about is this idea of Jesus as the pearl of great price.
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  And you talked about this idea that there are things in our lives that we have
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  to forsake to protect our relationship with God, to protect that pearl of great price.
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  And there are so many things that we have to forsake and to not go after.
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  That's it. It can't take up your time. Right, right.
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  And there are so many things that we value, but if we value him more,
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  it's not that hard to forsake them, right?
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  Forsaking is hard when the thing you're forsaking is what you value more than the alternative.
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  And I think that the big problem with Christians today forsaking the things
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  of the world is that they haven't bought in to who Jesus is.
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  They don't have a full understanding that he promised to give us life and that
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  we would have it more abundantly.
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  And he said he had a plan for us to prosper us and give us a hope.
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  And he knows what that requires he knows the cost of the oil in the alabaster box yes,
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  and he is only trying to get you to follow him because that's where true joy
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  true peace true love really is the rest of it is a fake imitation,
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  And the devil has, because we're fleshly people and we're enticed by the devil.
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  I mean, there's pleasure in sin for a season. That's scripture.
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  What happens is, like Eve, we linger.
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  Then our mind becomes associated and into that stuff.
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  These desires suddenly become actions. And the next thing you know,
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  we are far apart from where God is.
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  And so he doesn't attract us.
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  But he's still where he is. and he's still waiting for you to take one step
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  back like the prodigal son.
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  There's a reason why he wrote, abstain from all appearance of evil.
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  Because if you're not even remotely close to it, it's not going to get on you.
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  It's not going to get in you. So get out of it.
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  And if we value him above all, it's not that hard to get out of it.
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  And what happens is the devil teaches us this thing in our head, valuing...
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  Giving into the flesh is a
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  momentary higher fix yeah
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  and i think but there's such permanency in the
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  love and joy and peace of god it is fun to be a christian
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  yes and i remember everything about it and i don't have some crazy headache
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  or hangover i don't have to lie my way out of something i did i don't lose all
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  my money it's when you are in your right mind the other world thinks doesn't make sense.
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  And he's clear. You can't be a friend of the world. You've got to abstain.
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  That's the giving up.
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  That's the denying yourself. Right. Denying yourself, denying your desire to be,
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  you know, maybe liked by others in the world. Or just not be ridiculed.
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  Right, respected by others in the world. I'd like to go one day not being made
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  fun of. I would like that.
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  Exactly, exactly, right? But it says we're going to be a peculiar people.
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  And I've got that down. Right, yes, you do. Zealous of good works.
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  And, you know, if we're forsaking all these things of the world,
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  it's going to draw us into an exclusive relationship.
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  You talked in the podcast and you said, our relationship with God requires exclusivity.
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  And you really quickly moved on after that and just talked about this idea of lordship.
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  I have a, I can never hear the word lordship without remembering a conversation
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  about lordship in college.
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  This is a little bit of a random story, but going to a, I was going, it was in college.
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  I was on my way in the 13 passenger van with a bunch of girls.
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  And we were going to a conference, like a Christian conference.
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  And we were driving down the road. At that point, we were driving through Connecticut.
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  And we were talking about lordship, at which point a sign popped up because
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  there's a town in Connecticut named lordship.
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  And we joked because somebody said lordship. And somebody else said, yes, lordship.
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  We're talking about lordship. And then the person's like, no,
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  lordship is on the sign. And we said the word lordship so many times.
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  And I've never forgotten that. But I think about it often.
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  Because what must it be like to truly live in this place where he's the Lord,
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  right? I want to live in lordship.
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  I think if we can talk to Abraham, I think he can tell us. Abraham was.
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  The story of Abraham and Isaac, at that phase of Abraham's life,
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  God was Lord. Absolutely.
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  It's this place of perfect submission and this place of just absolute following.
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  I believe that the woman with the oil in the alabaster box, which is Mary,
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  Lazarus's sister, in that phase of life, he was her Lord.
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  Absolutely. Absolutely. And those
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  are two just examples. There's so many examples that we can think about.
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  Or Daniel when he wouldn't bow and bend, the three Hebrew children. Yes.
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  And look, every one of those come with amazing rewards. Yes. Like incredible.
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  And an amazing presence of God that walked with them.
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  Always. Always and through all those things. I'm convinced. Yes.
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  That one of the reasons people do not value the kingdom,
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  do not value Jesus the way the merchant who bought the pearl of great price
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  or the man who bought the land with the treasure is because they just don't know him.
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  They just don't know him.
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  And it's like any other relationship, Erica. You have to get to know them.
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  And how do you get to know people? You talk to them. You hang out with them.
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  You ask questions. and you spend time with them.
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  And, you know, we weren't fast friends. We lived multiple states apart, but we spoke often.
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  And look what God has done with it. That was His plan.
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  But relationships require attention. They also require purpose and priority.
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  And if we don't make Jesus our priority, don't
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  expect him to be your bosom buddy yes you
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  talked about how you know you don't
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  think that people value him because
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  they don't really know him and that just brings us to the last thing you really
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  talked about in the podcast on monday which is that what he's given you right
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  meaning the relationship that we have with him it's our job to give it out how could you not,
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  I mean the woman at the well goes running come see a man who told me all things
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  ever I did is not this to Christ in John 4 29 she couldn't hold it in.
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  She was forever changed. And 2 Corinthians 5, 17 tells us that old things are
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  passed away. Behold, all things are become new.
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  You're changed for the better. I mean, there's joy.
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  And that's the thing is I wish I knew how to articulate and make people understand,
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  is the sacrifice is not grievous when you love him.
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  He says, if you love me, you'll keep my commandments.
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  And they're not grievous. They're joyful.
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  You love it. You're in a place that is amazing.
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  And you have that life filled with all the good things, right?
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  We started out talking about how all the good things in our lives are him, right?
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  The return on investment is so much greater than what the world would give us, right?
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  Where are you going to invest? Are you going to dig deep and invest, you know, and seek him?
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  Or are you digging into the things of the world?
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  One will get you a return, right, with eternal reward.
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  The other just gets you more dug into the world.
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  The flesh is all about counterfeit, temporary. Yeah.
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  You know, you need more. Nothing is every enough.
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  But with Jesus, he's more than enough.
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  And you don't have to work for it. All you have to just receive it.
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  You got to work in your flesh. You got to work in your flesh for joy.
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  Well, you do. And I think you talked about how he is more than enough.
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  And I think something, too, that resonates with me, and I think it will resonate
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  with our listeners, is that in him.
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  I am enough. You're complete. Right. That hole that the world can't fill is completely satisfied.
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  That's exactly what happened to the woman at the well. She was satisfied for once in her life.
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  Forever. So it's not hard to forsake all the other stuff. No.
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  Because you're not trying to be something that you're not.
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  You're not trying to continually better yourself. You're not trying to look
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  better or, you know, flaunt something because you are who you are because you are who you are in him.
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  And I think that's why there's a repentance that's necessary,
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  because repenting is turning away from.
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  And if you keep your eyes in the world, I mean, we know what happened to the,
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  you know, Lot's wife. Yes. She kept looking back and it cost her.
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  Yes. But if you turn away from, the things of the world will grow strangely
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  dim in the light of his glory and his grace. It's true.
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  Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so.
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  And that's not going away. It's not. And he is a treasure more valuable than
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  anything else that we could ever imagine.
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  He is the pearl of great price.
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  We hope that you remember that you are loved.
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  Jesus loves you. 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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  website. Thank you to the Gospel Group Fudge Creek for letting us use their hit song, Happy Girl.
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