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630 | He Is With You · The Woman at the Well Ministries Podcast

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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 well in John chapter 4.
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  Our highest priority is making God real in your life. Whether you are listening
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  in our app, in your favorite podcasting app, 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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  God's presence is with us always, especially through the storms and troubles of this life.
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  As a child of God, everything you experience is experienced with Him.
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  When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee.
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  And through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee. When thou walkest through
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  the fire, thou shalt not be burned.
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  Neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. Isaiah 43.2,
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  Join Kim Miller of Woman at the Well Ministries as she takes us on a journey
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  through the scriptures, revealing the peace and encouragement the child of God
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  knows because of God's abiding presence.
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  Hello, and thank you for joining us in this podcast of Woman at the Well Ministries.
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  I appreciate you taking the time to be with me in the Word, and I'm not sure
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  there's any passage of scripture that is more comforting to me.
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  And one that I go to more often than Isaiah 43 too.
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  There is something absolutely extraordinarily amazing about knowing that he is with us.
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  He is the Lord, my God.
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  And it is a relationship like none other, but yet as real as all others.
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  He is standing at your heart's door, knocking on it and asking you to let him in.
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  And he just doesn't want to be a spectator. He wants to be actively involved in your life.
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  He wants you to seek his presence.
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  And he is so absolutely in love with you that he is right there all the time.
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  Hebrews 13.5 says that he will never leave us or forsake us.
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  And here we see in Isaiah 43.2, he is with us.
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  And his presence makes a difference. But I submit to you, it only makes a difference if we let it.
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  You can have corrective lenses for your eyes.
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  But unless you use them, they do not assist you.
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  And God is a gentleman, and he's on the ready, and he's willing, and he's capable.
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  And he invites us in Matthew 7, 7, to ask, and ye shall receive,
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  seek, and ye shall find, knock, and it shall be opened unto you.
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  But unless we do those things, unless we lay our faith in him and our problems at his feet,
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  we'll never know the peace and comfort, the joy and the grace that having a
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  close relationship built on faith in him affords each of us.
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  He tells us that without faith, it is impossible to please him.
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  And you must believe that he is, that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
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  I think too often we slide across that part of that verse where he says you must believe that he is.
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  And as we spend the next few moments together, I want you to realize not only
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  that he is, but he is with us.
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  There's something special about that.
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  Because not only does he experience whatever it is that we are experiencing
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  with us, but he also takes us through it.
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  He protects, provides, and prepares for all of us.
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  To be able to withstand, navigate, defeat, and rise above anything the enemy
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  of this world or the world has to throw at us.
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  Here we read in Isaiah 43 to these words.
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  When thou passest through the waters, I will be with you.
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  And through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee.
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  When thou walkest through the fire, thou shall not be burned.
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  Neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.
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  Everybody's got troubles. You hear me say it all the time. If you're not in
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  the midst of a problem, you've just come out of a problem, or unfortunately,
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  you're getting ready to go in one.
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  Because we're told in Job 14, verse 1, that man is born of a woman in a few days full of trouble.
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  So when we begin to think about how is it that we can be victorious in this life,
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  as we are pilgrims and strangers looking for a city whose builder and maker
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  is God, We have a personal relationship with him if we choose to believe.
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  Mark 9.23 says that all things are possible to him that believeth.
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  As we begin to look at the comforting words in Isaiah 43.2 that reminds us that
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  regardless of the situation, regardless of the circumstances, that he is with us.
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  And because of his presence with us, we have all of his power unleashed upon us.
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  And through him and through his power, nothing this world has.
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  Is a formidable foe or can't compare. So why is it that perhaps this message
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  finds you downtrodden, downhearted, worried, confused?
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  It isn't because he isn't there.
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  It's because you choose to acknowledge his presence and unleash him in your situation.
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  Jesus loves me, this I know The Bible tells me so And perhaps no greater place Than Isaiah 43, 2,
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  The water and the rivers They represent our troubles Our chaoses Our circumstances
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  The issues that hurt our feelings The people that try to take us down These are the things that
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  God says When you go through them And listen, he says when thou passest through
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  them he doesn't say when they happen he doesn't say when they
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  get in your life and he also doesn't say if they come he says very plainly when thou passest through,
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  the problem with many of us is when troubles and problems and issues and negative
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  circumstances has come our way what we do is we just dwell on the problem.
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  Perhaps we need to change our focus from the problem to the problem solver.
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  Perhaps we need to change our focus from our self-centeredness and the,
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  weakness and lack of capacity that we as mere human beings have,
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  and we need to concentrate and invoke the power of the Holy Spirit in us that
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  we have dwelling in us that is greater than anything or anyone this world has to offer.
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  Perhaps we should read Isaiah 43 too with the understanding that,
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  as my sister used to say, this too shall pass.
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  Because he says when thou passest through.
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  And then the rivers that he again says we will pass through,
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  and then he says they won't overflow thee.
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  These circumstances that you are facing, these problems, these issues,
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  the things that are causing your heart to tremble and perhaps even break,
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  he promises that none of those will overtake us or sweep us away.
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  We don't even have to lose our footing, because he holds us in the palm of his hand.
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  And his eyes are watching to and fro, he loves me, this I know.
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  And because of his presence, I'm the winner.
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  If you are a child of God and you are walking in his ways, and my friend,
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  if you have placed your faith in a God that cannot fail, the one true living
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  God who sent his son to die on the cross of Calvary, he
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  is in your midst.
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  He is with you.
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  You are carrying him everywhere you go.
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  And perhaps for some of you, that's a solemn thought.
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  Because perhaps you're bringing God into places that's contrary to where He says you should be.
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  And therefore, contrary to where He should be.
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  We are all to go where they are and bring them to where He is.
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  But we're not to hang out in the places where sin and death abounds.
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  We're to be a light in the darkness, and a light dispels darkness.
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  It does not interact with it.
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  So today, rear your shoulders back.
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  Lift your head high. You are the child of the Most High God,
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  and He has promised that none of your problems are going to take you down if
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  you choose to give them to Him.
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  As we continue to read in Isaiah 43, 2, He says, When thou walkest through the fire.
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  This world gets a little hot. Situations in your life get a little heated.
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  There is suffering and intense testing and persecution.
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  The fire in Isaiah 43, 2, it's what?
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  It's representing this intense suffering, testing, and persecution.
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  The troubles, the problems, the things the devil, snares, temptations, trials.
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  But he says, when you walk through them, you're not going to get burned.
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  You're not even going to smell like smoke.
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  I'm going to take care of you. See, the situations in our lives won't destroy our soul or take us down.
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  Because greater is he that is in us than he that is in the world.
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  Thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through the Lord Jesus Christ,
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  We're told in 1 Corinthians 15.57.
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  Friends, God doesn't always remove the negative situations or experiences,
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  but he does always walk through them with us.
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  And more importantly, giving us the victory when we allow him to fight our battles.
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  If you don't believe me, If you're struggling to reflect in your own life and
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  see the truthful evidence of
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  God's presence and His hand of protection and provision and preparation,
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  I take you back to Exodus 14-15.
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  And God parts the Red Sea so that the Israelites are delivered from the Egyptians,
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  and they walk on dry land.
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  And when the last one of them has crossed the Red Sea, and the Egyptians start to chase after them,
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  God releases the wall of water And he destroys.
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  The enemy that was chasing his people God was walking literally through the waters.
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  With the Israelites And when you walk with him The problem doesn't even stick
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  to you They walked on dry ground Perhaps that account doesn't quite sell you.
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  Maybe your faith is so far down that you need one more amazing miracle of the
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  tons and hundreds that he produces in his word. Perhaps my favorite.
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  Is when he's the fourth man in the fire. Most of us are very familiar with Daniel chapter 3.
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  Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, they will not bow.
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  In fact, their faith is so strong that they speak to Nebuchadnezzar,
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  and they say, even if he doesn't deliver me, he's still my God,
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  and I still believe, and I will not bow, and I will not bend.
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  Nothing could shake their faith.
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  And so they throw the three Hebrew children into the fiery furnace.
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  And you know, but it's worth repeating.
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  The people who threw them in, they lost their lives just from the heat.
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  But when Nebuchadnezzar looks inside the furnace, he asks the crowd,
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  did I not put three Hebrew children into the fiery furnace?
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  And they answer, yes.
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  And he says, but I see four men walking in the fire and the fourth is likened to the son of God.
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  You may be in the fire, but you're not alone and you have supreme fire insurance,
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  because the smoke won't get to you because his protective nail scarred hands don't just hold you,
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  they shield you and he wraps you in the Holy Spirit and it's like Teflon.
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  Whatever the world throws at you, it skids off.
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  Only unlike Teflon, it doesn't wear out. You can't outgive him.
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  You can't sin so far that he won't reach down and pick up a repentant heart.
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  No sin is too big, no sin is too small. The love of God covers them all.
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  But you must believe, and you must believe in who He is.
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  But you're living below your privileges if you're not living with peace and
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  grace and mercy and love, joy and peace, because He's in the midst.
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  And that's who He is. God is love. And all of those things are love.
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  God will go through the waters and the fire with his children,
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  and he will surely give us the victory over our trials and our problems. Do you believe that?
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  The battle isn't yours. David proved that with Goliath. And in 1 Samuel 17, 47, he says that.
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  Don't be the victim, because you don't have to.
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  In 1 Peter 5, 8, we are told that the devil walketh about like a roaring lion,
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  seeking whom he may devour.
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  We are warned of the cunningness and the power in this world of the devil,
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  and very much aware that his power is nothing compared to the Lord's.
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  But he gives him rule over this world until you ask God for his presence and intervention.
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  And too many of you have forgotten that the battle belongs to the lord and you
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  surely have forgotten that the battle's already been won on the cross of calvary,
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  he shed his blood to wash away your sins
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  and if you believe in him because of his power over hell death in the grave
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  when he rose on the third day and his sinless perfect blood is the payment and the ransom for our sin
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  some of you forgotten that he won the battle that day,
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  and all things are under his feet.
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  So as you face that battle this morning or this evening or this afternoon or
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  tomorrow or whatever day it appears in your life, you need to face it with the attitude that.
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  Of his power in you. Ephesians 3.20 says, Now unto him that is able to do exceeding
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  abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us.
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  You need to fight every battle in the position of victory.
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  And my friend, that position is in the center of God's will,
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  covered by his hands with a front row view of the victory he will hand to you,
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  because he is victorious.
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  Too many of you are walking around down hard and unsaid. You're walking around as if you are defeated.
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  2 Corinthians 4, 7 through 9 reminds us of how we should live our lives and
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  how we shouldn't be walking around looking like we've been baptized face forward in pickle juice,
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  but we should be walking around with the joy of the Lord, with the light of
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  the Lord, with the love of the Lord, with the happiness that the world didn't
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  give so it can't take away, with a joy that's contagious,
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  with a life that other people want to have because they see the love and the peace and the joy
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  that you have regardless of your circumstances.
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  Friend, your life is defined by being a child of God, of the child of the Most High God.
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  It's not defined by your circumstances. God is for you, and He is with you,
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  and the Lord is on my side.
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  I will not fear. What can man do unto me?
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  The psalmist David declares in Psalm 118.6.
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  But in 2 Corinthians 4, 7 through 9, we read this, but we have this treasure
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  in earthen vessels that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us.
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  Friends, we cannot navigate this world alone.
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  We are no match for the devil and his minions.
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  But the devil and his minions have no chance against God in me.
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  And they have no chance against a shield of faith that is wrapped around the truth of who God is.
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  And a life that is willing to invite him to pour his power in me so that I can
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  walk victoriously in the center of God's will.
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  We are troubled on every side and yet not distressed.
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  We are perplexed but not in despair, persecuted but not forsaken,
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  cast down but not destroyed. How is this?
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  We ask ourselves when Paul is telling us this is how the child of God should
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  be navigating the troubles and woes of this world.
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  How is this? It's because we believe when thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee.
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  And through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee.
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  When thou walkest through the fire, thou shall not be burned,
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  neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.
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  My God is with me.
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  Troubles are given, but he's protecting, providing, and preparing the way for
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  me, according to John 14, 6.
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  God is with me. God knows the plans he has for me, according to Jeremiah 29, 11.
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  He has prepared you and me for everything that comes into our life,
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  and he will continue to do so, but he doesn't just prepare us.
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  He prepares us to be more than conquerors, more than conquerors.
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  In Romans 8, 30, 70, he says, nay, in all these things, we are more than conquerors
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  through Christ, through him that loved us.
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  The very things that are attacking you, troubles, hardship, persecutions, people.
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  God uses those things to work for your ultimate good and God's glory.
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  He tells us in Romans 8, 28, that we know that all things work together for
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  the good to them that love the Lord, to them that are called according to his purpose.
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  He's with you. And if God is with you, who can be against you?
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  We just heard that in Psalm 118.6. Friend, Jesus loves me, this I know.
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  The battle's not yours, it belongs to him. So don't play the victim.
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  Don't live below your privileges, but be hidden in him, as we're told in Colossians 3.3.
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  He's in your midst, and you are in him.
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  And praise be to God. Your identity and your joy are not defined or dictated
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  by your earthly circumstances.
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  Your life is identified and defined as a child of the Most High God.
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  He is with you. Invoke His presence and His power today. Remember you are loved.
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  Jesus loves you.
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  Thank you for joining us for today's podcast. You can find quotes and scripture
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  references from this episode in the show notes.
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  We pray today's message has been a blessing. If it has, please consider leaving
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  a rating or review on your podcast platform.
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  Your feedback helps others discover the truth of God's Word.
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  You can connect with Women at the Well Ministries through our app at watwm.org
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  and on Facebook and Instagram.
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  While you're there, learn more about Bible Bits, Kim's daily devotional delivered
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  Monday through Friday by text message and the Bible Bit Podcast.