Latest / The Woman at the Well Ministries Podcast / 559 | A Peace that Passes Understanding – Part 4 - Living with Unwavering Faith

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559 | A Peace that Passes Understanding – Part 4 - Living with Unwavering Faith · The Woman at the Well Ministries Podcast

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  She's a happy girl. Hello, friends, and welcome back to another podcast of Woman.
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  At the Well Ministries, where we believe that all of us have to come to Jesus
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  like the woman at the well in John chapter 4.
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  Our highest priority is making God real in your life.
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  Whether you are listening in our app, in your favorite podcasting app,
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  or on our website at watwm.org, we invite you to sit down with us as we look
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  to the scriptures to learn more about God and to strengthen your daily walk with Jesus Christ.
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  Welcome back to our series on a peace that passes all understanding.
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  In this series on peace, we are taking an in-depth look at unwavering,
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  unstoppable faith in God, on living with no worries or doubts,
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  living as we possess a faith that motivates us and moves us,
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  and a following faith that draws us closer to Him.
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  Come join us in this broadcast of Woman at the Well Ministries,
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  as Kim continues this study on the peace of God.
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  Hello, and thank you for joining us in this broadcast of Woman at the Well Ministries.
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  And there's just such a gift in the peace of God.
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  There's just such a gift in knowing that you can close your eyes and lay your
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  head on your pillow at night and have no worries and no fears.
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  But for many of us, that is some sort of pipe dream.
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  And that is some sort of fantasy because we don't live a life that is so wrapped
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  up in the presence of God, that we feel a peace that passeth understanding.
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  And many times it's because of circumstances in our lives.
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  And we spend so much time...
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  Looking at the circumstances, and we forget about the God of the circumstances.
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  There's a popular song many years ago, and it says, the same God on the mountain
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  is the same God in the valley.
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  But for us, we tend to look at him differently, and we tend to address him differently,
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  and our attitude towards God changes with the seasons or with the circumstances.
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  My friend, this ought not be. If you would, please, I'd like for you to turn
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  to Mark chapter 11 and beginning in verse 22, he says, And Jesus answering,
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  saith unto him, Have faith in God.
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  Just exactly what is this faith in God?
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  Faith in God produces a peace that passeth all understanding.
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  Our anchor verse for this series of messages that we've been giving over the
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  last few is found in Philippians 4, 6 and 7.
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  He says, Be careful for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication,
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  with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God.
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  And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts
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  and minds through Christ Jesus.
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  He says that without faith it is impossible to please him.
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  And you must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
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  What does it mean to have faith? faith in God.
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  Faith is when you really are comfortable with God.
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  When you know him so well that you know that what he does is right.
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  Faith is believing what he says.
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  In Romans chapter 8 and verse 28, the Lord says this to us.
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  He says, for we know that all things work together for good to them that love
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  God, to them who are called according to his purpose.
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  God cannot lie. And what he says must be true.
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  And he said all things.
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  And he said, be careful for nothing.
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  And in Mark chapter 11 and verse 22, he said, have faith in God.
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  That means all the time. You see, he wrote from Genesis to Revelations,
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  incredible truths and promises that you and I might be able to believe who he is.
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  He says, I write these things, little children, that you may know.
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  Know and he says i write these things that my joy may be full in you he wants you to believe in him,
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  so he shows you all these things in his word let's just take a few starting in the very beginning,
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  he said that he created all things and that he created us in his image that
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  he breathed life into a pile of dirt.
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  And created you and me. And then there was the flood.
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  One like we've never seen or heard tell of before in our lives.
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  And he desperately wanted the creation which he created in his image to follow after him.
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  And so this man named Noah, who had faith in God. Do you realize that Noah built an ark?
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  Because God told him it was going to rain. And until that time that the flood
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  came, it had never rained.
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  The earth was watered with dew
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  he was building an ark for
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  an event that had never taken place and he
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  was preaching time and time and time again to a lost and dying world who would
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  not receive his message of hope and grace and mercy but he continued that's
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  faith in action and god placed him in an ark of safety,
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  shut up all the walls.
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  And there he rode in perfect peace till the storm ceased.
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  And then there's Abraham. Abraham, he loved God.
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  Abraham was called the friend of God.
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  And Abraham had a son named Isaac, and he and his wife had prayed many a years,
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  and Isaac was a gift from God to him in his older age.
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  A miracle in his self.
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  Abraham took his son at the commandment of God, fully intending on sacrificing
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  his only beloved son to fulfill what God required of him.
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  You see, but Abraham knew far before it had ever been written that all things
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  were together for the good of them that loved the Lord.
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  And I believe that Abraham in his heart of hearts was fully prepared to sacrifice his son, Isaac.
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  But I believe that Abraham knew that God would provide a lamb because Abraham had faith in God.
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  You and I know Jesus Christ is the lamb of God and that Jesus sacrificially
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  gave himself to die on the cross of Calvary that we might go to heaven.
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  And that Jesus Christ is the only way.
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  And that God did sacrifice his only begotten son because he loves us.
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  For he said for god so loved the world jesus had
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  faith in god for you see he went to the garden of gethsemane and he prayed and
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  sweat fell off of him like big drops of blood and he said father not my will
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  but thy will be done if there be any other way let this cap let this cup pass from me,
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  but jesus was the way and there was no other way and he wasn't shirking his
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  duty what he was saying was.
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  I know what's going to happen to me. I know what it requires of me.
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  And Lord, I believe in you. You just tell me this is what it is and I will follow.
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  And then there's Joseph.
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  An angel of the Lord come and told Joseph, Mary's with child of the Holy Ghost.
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  Joseph didn't throw her away. He protected her and he took care of her.
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  Aren't you glad that Jesus doesn't throw the mold away? He's the potter and we're the clay.
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  And when I get a crack in me or a break in me or some flower of imperfection,
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  he just puts a little more pressure, remolds the clay, and starts again.
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  Joseph had faith. What about Peter?
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  Peter had faith. He saw what he
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  thought might have been God walking on the water. He thought it was Jesus.
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  He wasn't really sure, so he questioned.
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  But he was interested enough to find out. Some of you within the sound of my
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  voice are just not interested enough to find out.
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  So he sees Jesus walking on the water. And he says, hey, Jesus,
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  if that be you, bid me come.
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  Jesus has come. You know what? Jesus is saying, come to you too.
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  He's saying, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father
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  but by me. He's saying, I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth
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  in me, though he were dead, yet shall he ever live.
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  And as long as Peter was placing his faith in Jesus, he was walking on water.
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  And suddenly Peter saw the storm around him, and suddenly it dawned on him,
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  hey, I'm not an amphibious creature.
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  I can't walk on water. I'm not a fish. Boom.
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  Logic dispersed his faith, and down he went.
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  You see, eyes of faith don't get to see the end. It knows it in its heart.
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  Had faith because as soon as he went down he
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  raised his arms up and he said save me and immediately
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  jesus reached his hands down and saved peter
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  because if we confess our sins he's faithful and
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  just to forgive us our sins and it cleanses from all unrighteousness peter
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  had faith do you have faith do you
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  really mark chapter 11 verses 23
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  and 24 he says for verily i say
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  unto you that whosoever shall say unto
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  this mountain be thou removed and
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  be thou cast into the sea and shall not
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  doubt in his heart but shall
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  believe that those things which he says shall come to pass he
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  shall have whatsoever he sayeth therefore i
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  say unto you what things soever you desire when you pray
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  believe that ye receive them and ye
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  shall have them if you would please just turn a
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  couple pages back to mark 9 23 mark
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  9 23 says jesus said unto him if
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  thou canst believe all things are possible to him that believeth you see the
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  mountains in our lives crumble at the foot of faith.
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  You see, you don't need dynamite and bulldozers and earth movers to move the mountains in our life.
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  You need the power of prayer, the most powerful force on earth.
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  For it knows no boundaries because all things are possible to him that believeth.
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  If you believe whatsoever you desire, you'll receive.
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  Problem, then, doesn't lie within the capabilities of prayer.
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  It doesn't lie within the abilities of Christ.
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  It's belief, which is faith.
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  You see, faith unlocks heaven's door.
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  Because faith is what pleases God. Because faith is what says, I believe.
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  Faith is what says, you are God. And I'm so glad I have a personal relationship with you.
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  Faith is what allows us to apply the amazing attributes of Christ to him. That he's glorious.
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  That he's king of kings and lord of lords. That he's miraculous,
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  omniscient, omnipotent, all-knowing, all-loving, all-caring.
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  That he loves us unconditionally. It's faith that allows us to believe.
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  And when we bow our heads in prayer, that's the outward appearance of an inward faith.
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  For you see, when the chips are down and the rubber meets the road,
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  where I go for help is what I believe in.
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  I'm not going to try something I don't think will work.
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  And I'm going to try what I think will work best first.
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  It moves mountains you remember
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  god said i am the i am and maybe your faith needs to be employed on some mountains
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  in your life maybe you have financial difficulties they're not too big for god
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  but they may require some changes you may have to turn your checkbook over to god,
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  and you may have to turn your habits over to god for he said you'll have no
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  other gods before me and whatever it is that you're placing your faith in that's
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  your little god and perhaps,
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  the real problem in your belief is you just don't want
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  to do it it's not that you don't know who
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  god is that you just don't particularly care
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  for some of his rules or his ways well there's a problem with that he's gone
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  and he's right and he says that you have to love him with your all all of your
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  heart your soul your mind and you have to have faith that all that he does is
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  correct and all that he does is right.
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  Is belief in action faith will move mountains in your life but you got to believe
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  as a child i used to have this conversation with my dad fairly frequently my
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  mom was sick when i was growing up,
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  and she would go to the hospital from time to time and
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  sometimes she would stay for extended periods of
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  time and i was young one particular time i
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  remember i was in third grade and my
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  mom had been in the hospital for a long time she ultimately had been
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  in the hospital three months in a row that year and
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  i had prayed many a night for her
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  that god would heal her and i missed her and i was young and i couldn't go
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  up to see her and i wanted her to come home and so i prayed for a long time
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  and for a kid sometimes a day or two seems like eternity and i went in to sit
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  down with my dad who i found praying and i tapped him on the shoulder and i
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  said you know i said i think you can stop.
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  Said to me what do you mean Kimmy and I
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  said you know I've been praying for a long time now when mommy's still
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  in the hospital I I think God's tired of hearing what I've got to say and my
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  daddy said oh he's never tired he never sleeps he never slumbers and he spoke
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  some about Matthew 7 7 about asking you shall receive seek and you shall find
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  knock and it shall be opened unto you,
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  and he talked about casting all my care upon him because he cared for me,
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  and he talked about how i could come to the throne of god and find help in time of trouble,
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  and he spoke about how i could ask anything and god would do it and i said but
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  i said but daddy it's it's not working for me my daddy sit me down on top of
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  the counter and he looked me square in the eyes.
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  And he says it always works.
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  And then he taught me a lesson about all things working together for the good
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  to them that love the Lord and that are called according to his purpose.
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  And he spoke to me and he said, Kimmy, the problem isn't that you don't believe God.
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  You don't believe he's right. And you don't believe in his power.
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  And I said to him, but I I believe in God. I love God. I'm praying to God. I know God can do this.
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  I'm just not sure he will.
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  And I learned that day that it takes more than a knowledge of who he is,
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  more than a knowledge of what he can do.
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  It takes a belief in him.
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  And that belief in him means that whatever he does is right because you can
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  trust him and you can place your life in him and you can understand who he is
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  and you know that he is right.
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  And as a kid, I believed about his power. I believed about what he could do.
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  I believed he was God. I knew all the things that made God, God,
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  but I didn't believe in him at that moment enough to believe that he was right.
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  Faith believes it's not
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  enough to know you've got to believe and
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  those mountains in your life have been
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  handpicked for you to climb and he has just the right amount of strength and
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  just the right amount of resources to get you through but unless you really
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  believe in him you're going to fret and you're going to panic and those mountains
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  are going to be bigger than you are.
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  I've never climbed an earthly mountain in my life that I know of.
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  I've walked up a few wooded trails that maybe were ended up going up a mountain,
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  but I've never really climbed a mountain.
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  But I am a mountain climber through and by the blood of Jesus Christ and in
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  his grace and in his mercy.
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  For he said, be careful for nothing but in everything by
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  prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let
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  your request be made known unto God and the peace of God that passeth all
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  understanding so keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus
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  and I believe in him and I have faith in God that says I can say to that mountain
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  be you moved and it will be cast out because you see God will bulldoze the mountain
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  so that it doesn't have an effect on me I might have to climb it.
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  To deal with it there's a mountain won't be
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  a mountain to me because it won't be a barrier and that's what mountains are
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  they stand between you and something else nothing's
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  going to stand between me and my god because i love my god and he said my grace
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  is sufficient for thee and he said i am more than conquerors through christ
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  who strengtheneth me and he said the greater is he that is in me than he that
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  is in the world my friends today please understand that god is in the mountain and moving business.
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  You may have to go up it and you may have to go around it, but he moves it from
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  being an obstacle in your life. Shall we pray?
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  Our kind and most gracious to your heavenly father, Lord, we just thank you
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  for this and other opportunity to come before you.
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  We thank you for your grace and your mercy and your love. And we just ask that
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  you would just increase our faith.
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  Lord, help us to not worry. Help us to not be upset about the things that happen
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  in our life, but to just seize you and seize the opportunity,
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  Lord, to come before you and know exactly who you are.
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  Lord, we love you, and we thank you, and we praise you. Lord,
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  we ask that you would just help us to have faith, to know that regardless of
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  what's happening around us, you're still God, and to know that you're always
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  God and that you are always right.
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  All these saints, we ask in the most precious and holy name we pray,
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  and all of God's people said, Amen.
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  Joining us in today's podcast. You can visit the show notes for quotes from
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  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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  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 non-profit organization dedicated to serving
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  our Heavenly Father, and it is through your loving and generous support that
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  our ministry continues to bless others.
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  Thank you to the Gospel Group Fudge Creek for letting us use their hit song,
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  Happy Girl. We greatly appreciate your prayers.
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  We are praying daily for our listeners. Remember that God loves you, you, you, you.