Latest / The Woman at the Well Ministries Podcast / 311 | Troubled But Not In Despair - Finding Peace in the Midst of Life's Storms

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311 | Troubled But Not In Despair - Finding Peace in the Midst of Life's Storms · The Woman at the Well Ministries Podcast

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  Music.
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  Hello, friends, and welcome back to another podcast of Woman at the Well Ministries,
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  where we believe that all of us have to come to Jesus like the woman at the
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  well in John chapter four.
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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,
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  we invite you to sit down with us as we look to the scriptures to learn more
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  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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  The Bible is clear that this world is not our home, and no one knows that better than a Christian.
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  Those who are living in the will of God simply don't belong in this sinful, wicked world.
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  Scripture reveals that we are just pilgrims passing through.
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  We aren't at home here, but we certainly do dwell here.
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  As pilgrims and strangers on this earth, we face all the same things that every other person faces.
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  We have troubles, tribulations, trials, disappointments, and heartache.
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  But unlike those who do not know Jesus, we don't face them alone,
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  and they should never take us down.
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  Join us in this podcast of Women at the Well Ministries as Kim takes us on a
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  journey through the scriptures, revealing the key to leaning on God so that
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  we may be troubled but never in despair.
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  Hello and thank you for joining us in this podcast of Woman at the Well Ministries.
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  You know, it's kind of interesting how life just goes on regardless of your
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  disappointments, regardless of your heartaches.
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  You can have something devastating happen to you and the newspaper will come the next morning.
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  You can have something that just stops you in your tracks, but everyone else
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  seems to be moving and traffic is still going and people are still showing up for work.
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  You can feel like the world is spinning backwards, but as you look,
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  those around you are moving forward.
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  And it's an interesting fact of life. World does keep moving regardless of what
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  is happening in your world.
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  But sometimes we lose track of how we need to continue to be moving forward.
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  Even in the midst of our greatest storms.
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  When he said, be still and know that I am God in Psalms 46.10,
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  he wasn't asking us to retreat. retreat, he wasn't advocating for us to give up.
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  No, when he said, be still, he gave us an active command.
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  We were still moving forward because we were moving forward in the direction of Jesus.
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  We were aligning our heart and our mind with what God would have us to know,
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  what God would have us to hear what God would have us to see,
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  and especially about what God would have us to do.
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  So don't get hung up when people say to you, be still and know that I'm God,
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  and you think, well, I'm a person who does things.
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  I'm a person that is active. I need to be involved.
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  Well, there is nothing more active than being still, because for most of us,
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  that's not a normal reaction.
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  For most of us, that's not a comfortable place to be in.
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  But when we submit our heart and our minds and our life and our entire being
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  to the Lord, we have to just let things happen through the course that God wants them to have happen.
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  And we must sit still in his presence. We must seek his face.
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  We must obey his his voice.
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  And for a Christian, that can be difficult. It's difficult even more so for
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  someone who doesn't know the Lord.
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  But it's interesting to me, there are so many Christians who have lost their
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  purpose, such as we see in 2 Corinthians 4.3,
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  when he says, If our gospel be hid,
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  it is hid to them that are lost.
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  Let's try that one more time. But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost.
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  Now, that's a very logical, concrete statement.
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  Because if you know the Lord and you know the gospel, it's not lost to you.
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  Whether or not your friends or your family or your co-workers or your surroundings
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  are serving the Lord or not, you have that inside of your being.
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  But if you're hiding it in your life,
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  then those around you who don't know Jesus,
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  who have not been washed in the blood, who are not following the commandments
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  of the Lord, they're not seeing anything different in you than they are themselves.
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  And so the gospel is hid.
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  The transforming power of the Lord inside of us is diminished and decreased,
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  not because of him, but because we're not allowing his power to work in us like
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  we are told to do in Ephesians 3.20.
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  See, we can do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think according
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  to the power that works in us.
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  And the only way the power can work in us is if we allow it to flow freely through us.
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  And if you think about a system, an irrigation system.
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  And it may be 500 feet long, and if something goes wrong in the first 50 or
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  60 feet that begins to constrict the system,
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  then the amount of water that comes out at the end of 500 feet is greatly reduced.
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  Now, it may be coming into that hose full force, but what happens with the hose...
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  Dictates what happens with the flow. And as Christians, the full force of the
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  Holy Spirit is within us.
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  And the full force of the Holy Spirit is empowering us to do that which God has called us to do.
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  But if we constrict the flow by doing it our way or by placing doubt out where there should be faith,
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  then the amount of power that flows through us is reduced and diminished,
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  though full power was available to us.
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  And you say, well, what does that have to do with hiding the gospel?
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  I'm telling you, when you respond like the world, you've hidden the gospel.
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  When you have not gotten your temper under subjection to the Holy Spirit and
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  in accordance with the word of God,
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  then you've hidden your gospel.
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  You have the Holy Spirit dwelling in you.
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  And 1 John 4 says that greater is he that is in you than he that is in in the world.
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  He is explaining to us in the first part of that verse.
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  He says, you are of God, little children. We are his family. We are his children.
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  He is instructing us and he's protecting us and he's loving for us and he's caring for us.
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  And he says, listen, I've overcome them and I'm inside of you.
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  Therefore, you can overcome anything and everything that is in your life.
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  But you must open up yourselves so that the power of the Holy Spirit can flow freely through you.
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  So if you're not getting done what you want to get done in the name of Jesus,
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  take a close look at yourself.
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  Are you occluding the flow? Are you restricting his presence?
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  Are you cramming the world in and leaving no room for Jesus?
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  Listen, as a born-again child of God, you should react differently to things
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  as opposed to those who do not have him.
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  He is inside of you, teaching you, directing you, leading you, guiding you.
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  And listen, the world is full of problems.
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  But we are told in 2 Corinthians 4, 8, and 9 this, we are troubled on every
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  side, yet not distressed.
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  We are perplexed, but not in despair.
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  Persecuted, but not forsaken. Cast down, but not destroyed.
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  The scripture tells us we're going to face some difficult times.
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  We are not immune to heartache just because we are born again Christians seeking
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  the will of God and living in his obedience.
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  But we do have the promise that he'll never leave us nor forsake us.
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  We find this in Hebrews 13, 5. he's telling us let your conversation be without
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  covetousness and be content with such things as you have for he has said I will
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  never leave thee nor forsake thee and many of us are sitting around and we're
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  not just coveting material things we are coveting the peace of other people,
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  and we don't like it because they're like why is God blessing them we're like
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  why are they so happy how come they don't have problems listen that's baloney they've got problems.
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  They've got issues they've got struggles but they're not they're not distressed,
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  they're confused perhaps sometimes and trying to figure out ways to handle situations
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  but they're not perplexed because they know that the battle belongs to the lord
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  and it's not theirs they are forsaken.
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  No, no.
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  They are persecuted, but not forsaken.
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  Jesus loves me, this I know, because he never leaves my side.
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  We are pressured and hedged in in every way possible.
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  Being a Christian doesn't keep you from that, but you're never going to be crushed.
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  You're not going to be destroyed.
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  If you recall, when Satan went to Jesus to ask what could be done.
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  To Job. God said, you can do anything you want to, you just can't take his life or his soul.
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  We're going to have trouble. We're going to have problems. We're going to have issues.
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  Our heart is going to break and our heart is going to hurt. But how are you
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  handling that? Are you handling that?
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  Or have you just crawled up in the lap of Jesus and said, listen,
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  you said to call unto you and you would answer me and show me great and mighty
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  things, which thou knowest not.
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  I want you to think about a trial or a problem that you've walked through and.
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  Ask that was too big for you.
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  And what was your first response?
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  Was it to run? Was it to complain? Was it to say no?
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  There used to be a person in my life all the time, and regardless of what you
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  asked them, it was always no.
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  They would fiddle around for a little while and, And, you know,
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  then they come around and you might get a yes, but their default was no.
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  As a Christian, our default needs to be yes.
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  Yes, I can do it because of the strength of Jesus Christ in me.
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  Yes, I'm going to make it through because he's going to supply my every need.
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  Yes, I'm going to have what I need in the battle.
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  And I'm going to have someone with me fighting with me because he'll never leave me nor forsake me.
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  Yes, he's going to make a way for me because he's going to be my lamp and he's going to be my light.
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  Yes, he is going to deliver me because he is a God who delivers.
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  Yes, he's going to redeem me because he's the great redeemer.
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  Yes, he's going to heal me because he's promised that he would heal the righteous.
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  But then we're fit right in the center of this. You're in the midst of your storm.
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  You can't see the end.
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  You don't see the deliverance. You're struggling to feel the redemption.
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  You're not even sure you can physically and tangibly locate the provision.
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  It is the people of the world, the people of the flesh, who are looking for
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  the physical, tangible evidence of help.
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  It is the people of the world and the flesh who are looking for redemption before
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  they fully go through the situation.
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  The people of the world are looking for healing on their terms, in their way.
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  But Jesus said, Trust me and lean not into your own understanding.
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  In all your ways acknowledge me, and I will direct your paths.
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  Jesus said, you're the light of the world, a candle to be put on a candlestick
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  so all the world could see.
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  And so let your light shine before men that they may see your good works and
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  glorify your Father which is in heaven.
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  Yeah, you're going to have trouble, but you're not going to be distressed.
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  You're going to be perplexed, but not despair.
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  You're going to be persecuted, but not forsaken. and you're going to be cast
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  down, but you're never going to be destroyed because greater is he that is in
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  us than he that is in the world.
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  We can be unsure of finding our way out. We don't know how it's going to be,
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  but we've got to be sure of who's in there with us.
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  We need to know who the fourth man in the fire is.
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  We need to believe he'll shut the mouths of lions.
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  We gotta know he'll make a way where there is no
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  way because he is the way and he's never left us so if he never leaves us you've
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  got a way out you've got a way of escape because he is with you and he is the
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  way he's also the life and i want you to fully realize that his life isn't a sad.
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  Despairing, negative event. But he said he came that you might have life and
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  have it more abundantly in John 10.10.
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  His life breathes freshness into us.
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  His life brings peace in the midst of chaos.
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  His life brings his loving touch.
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  That secures our heart and our mind through faith in him, that regardless of
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  the circumstances, there's joy unspeakable and a peace that passes understanding.
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  Friend, we can't look like the world. We're going to be pursued and persecuted
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  and hard-driven at whatever's going on, but you're never going to be deserted
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  and you're never going to stand alone. long.
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  You may be struck down to the ground, but you're never going to be struck out and destroyed.
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  You may have two strikes on you, but the third one's not taking you out.
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  Friends, you know what our problem is? We're hiding the gospel to ourselves.
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  We're not living in the abundance of our faith, in the power of his presence.
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  We're playing a game but we're not understanding that it's not a game you can't
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  just pick up Christianity,
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  like you can do a pick up baseball game you can't just choose to participate
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  as a member of the family of God on Sundays,
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  and occupying a seat doesn't make you a member of the family Emily.
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  There are no bench warmers in the family of God. He's got a job for all of us to do.
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  And it all starts with displaying the gospel in our lives for all to see.
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  In James chapter 4 and verse 8, he says, If you draw nigh to God, he will draw nigh to you.
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  And he then tells us to cleanse our hands and don't be double-minded. intended.
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  In fact, he tells us other places in the New Testament that he'll spew you out
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  of his mouth if you are lukewarm.
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  You got to choose you this day, we are told.
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  Listen, friends, he's telling us to purify our hearts and to draw close to him,
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  and he'll draw close to us.
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  In the midst of the storm, you really got to hold on to Romans 8,
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  28, realizing that all things work together for the good to them that love the
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  Lord, to them that are called according to his purpose.
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  You can't be a part-time Christian because
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  that makes you a full-time unsaved sinner
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  you got to believe and when
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  you believe all things are possible when the devil comes knocking at your door
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  listen to the knock we're told in revelations 320 where he's standing on your
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  heart's door asking you to come into him and he will fellowship with you be
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  careful what you're listening to to.
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  Be careful what you subject your eyes to and yourself to.
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  Live the life God is asking you to live so that as you are walking through this
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  world, circumstances are not dictating your mood, your attitude, or your actions.
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  But that choice you made a long time ago to believe in Jesus Christ is your
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  Savior, to allow him to wash away your sins.
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  You place him as King of your heart and Lord of your life.
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  And regardless of the circumstances, that should never change.
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  Even in the moments of heartache, in the moments of trouble,
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  in the times of tribulation, you should have joy, unspeakable, and full of glory.
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  You should remember Romans 8, 38 and 39, which says, For I am persuaded that
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  neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present,
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  nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature,
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  shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
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  You cannot be separated from your Lord and your Savior, because greater love
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  hath no man than this, that a man would lay down his life for his friends.
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  Listen, he hasn't brought you this far to drop you now.
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  He provided for you a provision for your greatest need.
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  And though you may think you're in the midst of an unbelievable storm,
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  and you may be, it will never compare to the need you had for salvation.
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  And friend, he met that before you were even born, and you were on his mind
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  as he was paying your sin debt.
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  So whatever it is you're are going through right now, he's got it.
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  Mark 9 23 says, if thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.
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  Friend, in the midst of great heartache and uncertainty, you can be sure-footed
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  and joyful as you shore up your faith.
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  You make sure that you are clean, that there's nothing obstructing the flow
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  of his power in your life.
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  And you submit under the mighty hand of God that he may exalt you in due time.
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  And when that person who's hurt you comes into your path, you'll be able to
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  love them and move past that.
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  When heartache comes your way, you will find the joy of the Lord to sustain you.
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  When you are surprised, you will be fully confident that he isn't.
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  And when you can't figure out where to put your next step.
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  Follow, the one who cannot fail, because you know him, you love him,
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  and he dwells inside of you.
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  And as such, you may be in trouble, but you won't be despaired.
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  You may be persecuted, but you're not forsaken.
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  And they may try to push you down, but he won't keep you down,
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  because greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world.
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  Lift up your head for your redemption draweth nigh.
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  Remember you are loved. Jesus loves you.
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  Music.
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  Thank you for joining us in today's podcast you
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  can visit the show notes for 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 you can find our app by searching for
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  Woman at the Well Ministries in your app store or through our website at watwm.org.
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  We're on Facebook at facebook.com slash watwm.
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  If you visit our website, you'll be able to subscribe to Bible Bits,
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  a daily devotion written by Kim and delivered Monday through Friday by text message.
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  Woman at the Well Ministries is a nonprofit organization dedicated to serving our Heavenly Father.
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  And it is through your loving and generous support that our ministry continues to bless others.
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  To learn how to partner with Women at the Well Ministries, please visit our website.
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  Thank you to the gospel group Fudge Creek for letting us use their hit song, Happy Girl.
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  We greatly appreciate your prayers. We are praying daily for our listeners.
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  Remember that God loves you. You are God.
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  Music.