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509 | We Must Live In the Light · The Woman at the Well Ministries Podcast

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  God is in control.
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  She's a happy girl. Hello, friends, and welcome back to another podcast of Woman
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  at the Well Ministries, where we believe that all of us have to come to Jesus
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  like the woman at the well in John chapter 4.
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  Our highest priority is making God real in your life.
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  Whether you are listening in our app, in your favorite podcasting app,
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  or on our website at watwm.org, we invite you to sit down with us as we look
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  to the scriptures to learn more about God and to strengthen your daily walk with Jesus Christ.
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  Living her life for Christ She's a happy girl.
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  Music.
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  She's a happy girl.
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  Jesus is light and lives within the heart of every believer.
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  Therefore, his light should shine through us.
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  Join us in this podcast of Woman at the Well Ministries as Kim takes us on a
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  journey through the scriptures, teaching us to be the light in this dark world.
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  Hello, and thank you for joining us in this podcast of Woman at the Well Ministries.
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  It's not a new subject for any of us.
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  We are commanded multiple times
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  in various different ways in the scripture that we're to be the light.
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  We're to be the light in this world.
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  Our job is to spread the gospel, and he is the gospel,
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  and he is light, and he is in us, and therefore we should shine his light to others.
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  1 John 1, 6-7 says this, If we say that we have fellowship with him and walk
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  in darkness, we lie and do not the truth.
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  But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with
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  another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, his son, cleanses us from all sin.
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  If we have fellowship with him, we don't walk in darkness.
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  We walk in light because fellowshipping with him means being close to him it
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  means following him it means loving him it means walking in obedience to his commands and,
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  That's the light that is in us.
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  And when that happens, it says we have fellowship one with another.
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  Scripture says that you'll know that you are my disciples because you have love one for another.
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  The love of Jesus Christ is attracted to the light of him in others.
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  Your light is attracted to other believers' light because you're part of his family.
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  United around His principles, His commandments.
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  We are fellow servants of the Most High God, and our life reflects His light that is in us.
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  In fact, we are told that when we become saved, in 1 Corinthians 5.17,
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  that, behold, all things become new, and old things are passed away.
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  And we are new creatures in Christ Jesus, created in him to do good works.
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  We no longer serve flesh and darkness because the light of life is in us,
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  and we are his, and he is ours,
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  and we look different, we walk different, and we act different,
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  and our heart and our life is centered and purposed upon walking in his light.
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  Today's text is a little different than most. It's going to be spread across
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  three different verses.
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  And each of these verses are going to help us have a better understanding of
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  light and darkness and our role as ambassadors for Christ and children of the
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  Most High God to spread his light to others.
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  But before we get to those verses, I think it's incredibly important for us
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  to understand what we mean by light and what we mean by darkness.
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  The Oxford Dictionary defines light as this, the natural agent that stimulates
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  sight and makes things visible.
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  That is the definition of light, and that is the demonstration of Christ in our life.
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  He stimulates and motivates and inspires us so that we see him and he becomes
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  visible to us through eyes of faith,
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  he is visible to the believer.
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  We see his hand upon creation. We see his hand upon our lives. We see his miracles.
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  We have his presence with us because he'll never leave us or forsake us.
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  He is supplying our every need, and he gives us the strength to do what he calls us to do.
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  And each and every one of those things is because of his faith that he gives us.
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  His faith inspires us through our faith to do what he asks us to do.
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  We watch him fulfill our needs. We watch Him take care of everything that we need.
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  And in doing so, our faith increases.
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  And if we ask Him for faith, He gives it to us.
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  Jesus inspires and motivates. He stimulates our ability to see Him and makes
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  Himself visible through the faith He gives us.
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  Darkness is the partial or
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  total absence of light i
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  want you to see that partial or
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  total absence of light darkness is
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  defined by the absence of light light is not defined by darkness but darkness
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  is defined by the absence of light everything in this world is under the feet of Jesus.
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  He is the light of the world, and around him all things revolve.
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  And his light defines life. It defines our way.
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  It defines the course of this world. And he makes all things visible through faith.
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  It's his light shining in our hearts that convicts us of our sins,
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  that shows us the darkness.
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  And it's his light that draws us to him. And he said that he would draw all men unto him.
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  If we would just draw close to him, he would draw close to us.
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  I want you to see that light is the natural agent.
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  It's Jesus himself that stimulates our eyes to see him through eyes of faith
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  and makes himself visible in our day-to-day lives, in the miracles we see,
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  in the provisions that he gives.
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  And as we begin to see him as the light and realize we need to walk in the light,
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  it is there that we find the importance of the following verses.
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  These two verses, John chapter 14 and verse 6 and John 8, 12,
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  are the fundamental verses for our message.
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  John 14, 6 says this, Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life.
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  No man cometh unto the Father but by me.
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  He is the way, and he is the light.
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  So if he's the way and he's the light, then when we walk with him,
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  as we read earlier in 1 John 1, we are walking in the light.
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  When we are following his commandments, when we are obeying his word,
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  when we are taking up our cross and following after him, we are in the way of Jesus.
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  And it is in that moment in time, when we are in the ways of Jesus,
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  that our light is going to shine, and it's going to make visible to the world who God is.
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  It's going to illuminate His presence, because they'll see Him through us.
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  They'll want what we have, even though they don't understand what it is,
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  because the love of God in us will draw them to us.
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  As we walk in his ways and we are exhibiting the fruit of the Spirit,
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  then they'll want to be around us.
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  And our light can shine into their light.
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  It can shine into their path and make their path light as he becomes their God and their Savior.
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  We are not to go around condemning. That's not our job.
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  We're not to shun those who don't know Jesus. That's not our job.
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  We are not to participate in the activities that they are participating in because
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  we don't have fellowship.
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  With the ways of the devil. But our light needs to shine on them and show them who Jesus is.
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  Show them the way that they might enjoy a relationship with Jesus Christ.
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  Because light makes visible the things that can't be seen in the dark.
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  And he's the way. And we don't have life, the abundant life he promises in John
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  10.10, until we are walking in the way.
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  Our life will have meaning and truth and purpose when we allow ourselves to
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  shine the light that's in us to those around us.
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  In john 8 12 he says
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  then spake jesus unto them saying i am the
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  light of the world he that followeth me
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  shall not walk in darkness but shall
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  have the light of life it matters how you live your actions reflect the truth
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  of your heart and if you are following jesus if he's the Lord of your life and King of your heart,
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  your heart will exhibit truth.
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  And he is truth. So your ways, your conversations, your ideas,
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  your thoughts, they will predominantly be of him.
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  People will not have to ask you if you are a person of faith.
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  They will recognize it from the way you live your life.
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  People won't have to ask you if you love Jesus.
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  They'll see it by the transformation of your speech, the purpose in your days,
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  and most generally, the topics of your conversations.
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  You'll be bringing Jesus up in every conversation. You won't be able to help it. It'll just happen.
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  People who walk with the Lord and spend lots of time in Scripture,
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  my parents were like this.
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  We referred to it as god speak half their sentence would be regular words and
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  the other half would be king james so it was pretty easy to see when they were
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  god speaking because king james sounds a little different.
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  But no one had to wonder if they'd been in the Word.
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  Because somehow, someway, there was always a teaching moment,
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  a lesson to be learned that was always founded in the Word of God.
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  People know if you're a student of the Word, and it's not because you walk around saying it.
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  It's because your normal conversations reveal it see we want our lives to reveal jesus.
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  It's been said and i think it was mother theresa that we are to spread the gospel
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  and if you have to use words our lives are a living testimony of the change
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  jesus christ makes in our heart and mind.
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  And so, I am the light of the world, and those that follow me shall not walk
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  in darkness is the natural consequence of walking in the way,
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  the truth, and the life that Jesus is.
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  This is not a difficult task to understand.
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  Jesus tells us what to do.
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  He then equips us to do it. So why is it we don't do it?
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  Because some of us are looking back a little too much at the world.
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  The devil is clever.
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  In fact, Scripture says he walketh about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.
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  So he says, be sober, be vigilant, because you're adversary.
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  The devil is our adversary.
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  And he's a formidable foe but he's no match for Jesus that is in you because
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  greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world friends.
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  Told in Ephesians 6 that we wrestle not with flesh and blood,
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  but against principalities and the powers and the darkness of this world.
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  But we are fully equipped with the entire armor of God to win this battle.
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  To have the victory that we have in Christ Jesus because we're more than conquerors.
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  But something happens to some of us.
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  We get our minds divided.
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  Many of us will claim that we are multitaskers. Science will prove you wrong,
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  and that science will say you may be able to do a couple, three things at a
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  time, but you cannot do both of them at their fullest potential.
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  While doing them simultaneously.
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  That's neither here nor there and nothing for us to debate.
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  But here's a truth, and it's not to debate either.
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  It's found in Matthew 6, 24. You cannot serve two masters.
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  Every verse that we have read in your hearing has proven that you cannot be
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  both in the light and darkness at the same time.
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  I remind you that even the worldly scientific definition of light and darkness tells you that.
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  Because it says darkness is the partial or total absence of light.
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  So you can't do both and be light. You can't have a little bit of light and
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  a little bit of darkness.
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  It's not possible.
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  In Matthew 6, 24, he says, no man can serve two masters, for either he will
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  hate the one and love the other, or he will hold to the one and despise the other.
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  You cannot serve God and mammon.
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  You cannot serve two masters.
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  You can't serve God and the world.
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  This word mammon is translated as anything that you trust more than the lord
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  money possessions fame status anything that you value more than god.
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  Becomes your little god and we push out the one true living god the light of
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  the world the way the truth and the life and we live in partial darkness which
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  is darkness I don't know.
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  Because we choose flesh over faith.
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  We choose the world over God.
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  We choose ungodliness instead of godliness.
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  And it's usually not done purposely or all one big decision.
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  Sometimes it just eats at us little by little by little.
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  Time is a powerful force.
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  In my previous work as a biologist, we would study streams year after year, decade after decade.
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  And we would document them by photos and maps and drawings.
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  And it was so fascinating to see
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  a small stream that we're looking at that looks
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  like it's barely moving and 10
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  years later it has a completely different morphology what was straight at one
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  time now has a curve what was wide at one time is now narrow and more often
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  than not what was narrow,
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  has eroded through time and made a bigger space.
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  The continual, steady, consistent movement of water eroded and broke down rocks
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  and soil and created a whole new path.
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  And it was fascinating to me because every time I would see this happen,
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  I would think about how the devil works.
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  He consistently and persistently, if we lend ourselves to him,
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  will erode and break down and try to create a new path for us.
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  But Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no man shall come
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  unto the Father but by me.
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  And he said that you can't have fellowship with darkness, that you have to walk in the light.
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  And he said that he was the light.
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  You can't serve two masters. You either love the one and hate the other.
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  You can't do it. When you don't love the Lord thy God with all thy heart,
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  with all thy mind, with all thy soul, and with all thy strength,
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  you do not love him as he requires.
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  Little by little, when we don't pray without ceasing,
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  when we're not studying the word of God, little by little, we find ourselves
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  less godly and more ungodly.
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  When we miss a Bible reading, it may convict us the first time,
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  little less the second time, but very quickly we're not convicted about it at all.
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  When we've missed an appointment of prayer time with the Lord,
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  it gets easier and easier each time we don't show up for it.
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  And one that all of us can surely relate to.
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  Even when we miss church for some legit reasons in a row because of sickness
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  or whatever, man is quick to get out of the habit.
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  Time is powerful. The flip side of this is time spent in the word makes us strong.
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  Memorizing God's word and putting it in our heart helps us not sin against him.
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  It increases our faith. It makes us more powerful.
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  It helps us stand.
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  When you do all else, just stand to be still and know that he is God.
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  You can't serve two masters.
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  You can't place anything above or value it more than God.
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  Not your family, not your career,
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  not your children, not your hobbies,
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  not your fame, not your fortune james 4
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  4 says ye adulterers and adulteresses know ye not that the friendship of the
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  world is enmity with god whosoever therefore shall be a friend of the world
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  is the enemy of god it is dangerous to stick your toe in the waters of the world
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  it'll suck you in like a vacuum.
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  Want to go to your friends and co-workers who are not Christians and bring them
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  to where you are in Christ Jesus.
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  You want to be steady in your faith as they waver and as the waves and the problems
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  and the storms of this life beat them to death.
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  You are standing strong in the power of the Lord, in your faith in him,
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  and you're living in the light as he is the light, and you are strengthened,
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  and you're not lost and you're not walking blindly.
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  You are following faithfully because you know you're God and you trust in him.
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  Adulterers and adulteresses, you know that when we are hanging out with the
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  world, when we are letting the world get on us, we're not being faithful to the one true living God.
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  We are the bride of Christ and he bought us with a price, the price of his life.
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  Don't be too time in Jesus.
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  He's eternal. His blessings are supernal. And he gives us an abundant life.
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  And you want to live in the light.
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  Because we are children of God and ambassadors of the Most High God.
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  In the book of Matthew, in chapter 5, verses 14 through 16, he says this,
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  You are the light of the world.
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  A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. neither do men light a candle and
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  put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick, and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.
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  Let your light so shine before men that you may see your good works and glorify
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  your Father, which is in heaven.
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  You're the light of the world.
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  He's allowing us to be part of his story, to tell others who he is,
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  and we're to be called out from the world.
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  Matthew 16, 21, it says, Then said Jesus unto his disciples,
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  If any man will come after me, let him deny himself.
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  That means deny his flesh, deny the worldliness around him, and to take up the
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  cross of Jesus Christ. You can't outgive him and follow him.
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  And I love it. It says his cross.
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  The cross that I bear is not the same cross that you bear.
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  And the cross that I'm bearing is preparation and equipping me for the people
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  he's going to put in my life so they can see what God has brought me through.
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  And he's preparing you and he's equipping you for the things that the people
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  in your life are going to go through so that your face will light the way,
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  so that your light will shine on their path, so that you will make him visible,
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  that you will inspire them and motivate them to see him in all things and in all ways.
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  2 Corinthians 6.17 says, Wherefore, come out from among them, and be ye separate.
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  Sayeth the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive it.
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  Come out from among them.
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  Friends, all of us know the difference between darkness and light.
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  And the true definition has shown us that a little bit of darkness,
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  just partial darkness, just a partial absence of light is darkness.
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  And scripture has borne that out, that God said you can't love two masters and
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  you can't walk in darkness without.
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  The light. We are called to be the light.
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  In Titus 2, 11 through 14, he says,
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  for the grace of God that bring us salvation has appeared to all men,
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  teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly,
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  righteously, and godly in this present world, looking for that blessed hope.
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  The glorious appearing of the Lord, our great God and our Savior,
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  Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity
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  and purify unto himself a peculiar people zealous of good works.
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  The grace of God is an unmerited favor and a blessing.
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  And we're to put away all of our immoral desires.
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  We're to live upright, godly lives with a purpose to reflect a spiritual relationship
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  that is mature and sure and sheds light for others to see.
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  As we confidently wait, expecting the fulfillment of our hope,
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  who is Jesus Christ, who's coming back to redeem his people.
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  He purchases our freedom with his own blood to purify us so that we would be peculiarly his own.
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  A people who are eager and enthusiastic about living a life that is good and filled with good works.
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  That's the way.
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  That's the truth of how we're to live.
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  And it gives us the abundant life that he has promised.
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  We have been called to be the light, and he's given us the roadmap,
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  the Bible, because he says, thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.
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  We need to be the light because he is the light, and he lives in us.
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  Therefore, we must be the light. Remember, you are loved. Jesus loves you.
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  Thank you for joining us in today's podcast. You can visit the show notes for
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  quotes from today's podcast and scripture references.
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  We pray today has been a blessing, and we encourage you to reach out to us through
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  our app, our website, or our Facebook page.
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  And it is through your loving and generous support That
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  how to partner with Women at the Well Ministries Please visit our website Thank
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  you to the Gospel Group Fudge Creek For letting us use their hit song Happy
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  Girl We greatly appreciate your prayers We are praying daily for our listeners
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  Remember that God loves you You are loved.
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  Music.