Latest / The Woman at the Well Ministries Podcast / 455 | If You Don’t Have Jesus as Your Savior, You Have Lost It All

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455 | If You Don’t Have Jesus as Your Savior, You Have Lost It All · The Woman at the Well Ministries Podcast

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God is in control.
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She's a happy girl. Hello, friends, and welcome back to another podcast of Woman
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at the Well Ministries, where we believe that all of us have to come to Jesus
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like the woman at the well in John chapter 4.
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Our highest priority is making God real in your life.
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Whether you are listening in our app, in your favorite podcasting app,
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or on our website at watwm.org, we invite you to sit down with us as we look
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to the scriptures to learn more about God and to strengthen your daily walk with Jesus Christ.
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Living her life for Christ She's a happy girl.
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Music.
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She's a happy girl.
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Many strive to have lots of material things—homes, boats, toys, and the like.
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Others work tirelessly to make a name for themselves and have the most prestigious
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job and be revered by society.
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But the truth remains that only the things we do for Christ will last.
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All that we have done, or ever will do, won't bring the lasting happiness that
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a relationship with Jesus brings.
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My friend, Scripture brings our life into perspective in Mark 8,
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36, which says, For what shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul?
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Join us in this podcast of Woman at the Well Ministries as Kim takes us on a
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journey through the Scriptures, revealing the importance of focusing on a personal
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relationship with Jesus.
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Hello, and thank you for joining us in this podcast of Woman at the Well Ministries.
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What incredibly convicting words are spoken to us in Mark 8, 36, when he says,
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For what shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul?
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Now, you might be thinking, well, I'm a Christian. I can turn this podcast off.
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There's nothing going to be said in it for me. But I would encourage you to
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stick with it. because God has spoken to my heart about our intents,
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our purposes, and our intentions.
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Yes, if you know Jesus as your Savior, you have committed to follow him.
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But we all know that there are levels of commitment.
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We know there are phases of allegiance. And as we look at this passage in Mark
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chapter 8, beginning in verse 35, we begin to see.
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A conviction in our hearts and our minds to really determine and reflect what
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is it that's most important to us.
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First and foremost, if you don't have Jesus as your Savior, you've lost it all.
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There's nothing in this world worth losing your salvation for.
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And you have everything in the next world to gain by knowing who Jesus is.
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But let's take a look at what Scripture says about how we live our lives.
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Because you can say a lot of things, but what really backs up your words is
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the way you live your life.
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You know what's most important to you because that's the thing you will not forsake.
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That's the thing that you will move heaven and earth to do. That's the thing
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that's always on your mind. That's the thing that's always on your lips.
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And Scripture says it needs to be Him.
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We are told that we are to have no other gods before Him.
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Most of us have grown up in vacation Bible school and Sunday schools,
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and as children, that's one of the first things they teach us are the Ten Commandments.
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And thou shalt have no other God before me is a fundamental piece of the Ten Commandments.
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And none of us, I think, set out in our lives to really put something in front of the Lord.
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But those boats, those campers,
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those golf clubs, that game, that skill, it requires a lot of you to maintain,
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to build, to overcome, and to master.
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It's very interesting how we talk
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about mastering a game or mastering a
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sport or mastering a hobby and if
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we're not very careful those very things will master
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us because they take all of our time
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there is nothing wrong with being a golfer there's
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nothing wrong with being a fisherman there's nothing wrong with being a quilter
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there's nothing wrong with being a tennis player there's nothing wrong with
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having nice things that god has blessed you with but when you begin to forsake
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God and his house of worship and his word and your time and prayer and meditation,
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when you begin to forsake those because you are out enjoying the blessings and
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the gifts that he's given you,
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then you have a skewed view of how you are to live your life.
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There's also the truth that to pay for all of those things, we have to work a lot.
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And sometimes we're working weekends when we should be at church and we're working
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wednesday nights when we could be at church or we're working some various sundry
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time when there are other opportunities and i understand you have to work,
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But sometimes we have too many things, and it causes us to work too much.
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Sometimes it's because we have forgotten Proverbs 3, 5, and 6,
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which says to trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine
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own understanding, and in all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
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Sometimes we are working to amass money in our bank account so that we feel like we have security.
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Now i am in no way telling you
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not to be smart with your
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money to not plan to save to
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be frugal to to give your money to the lord and spend it exactly like he says
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that's what i'm telling you to do but what i want you to understand is it's
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not the money in the bank that is going to give you the security that's going
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to pay for your food that's going to give you your clothing,
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It's the Lord of Lords and the King of Kings who's allowed you to have that
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money in the bank, who's given you the skill sets to earn it.
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Your goodness in life, your prosperity, your needs, they're all provided to you by Jesus.
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He tells us that in Philippians 4.13 when he says that he shall supply all of
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our needs according to his riches and glory.
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And he tells us in 19 that he will give us the strength to do all that we can
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according to his strength that he gives us.
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We can do all things through Christ Jesus, which strengthens us.
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Our very sustenance and our very existence is predicated on Jesus Christ,
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and our heart and our mind must understand that.
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And I'm afraid that over time, our love for the Lord has reduced.
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We wouldn't say that.
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But do you remember when you were on fire? When it was new to you?
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And you couldn't get enough of him, that's how he expects us to live every day.
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In Revelation chapter 3 and verse 20, he says, behold, I stand at the door and knock.
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And if any man will open the door, I will enter in with him and I will sup with
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him. He wants to spend the day with you.
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So let's look at Mark 8, 35 through 38 and see what Scripture is bringing to
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our forefront so that we can reflect how it is we live our lives.
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It says, for whosoever will save his life shall lose it.
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But whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospels, the same shall save it.
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For what shall a prophet a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his
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own soul or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul.
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Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous
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and sinful generation of him also shall the son of man be ashamed when he cometh
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in the glory of his father with the holy angels.
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This question in Mark 8, 37 is crucial.
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Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
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What are you trading your relationship with Jesus for?
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A few extra hours of sleep on a Sunday morning?
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A life so jam-packed with going here and there and yondering about and watching
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kids in sports and doing the social events of the day to where you get to the
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evening and you realize, I haven't even prayed.
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See, that concept of fitting God in is not what he's called us to do.
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He said to put nothing in front of him.
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Before our feet hit the floor, our heart and mind should be centered and focused on Jesus.
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Our day should be planned by Him. So we need to ask Him what you have for me today.
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Many of us have busy days and busy lives, and we use calendars, and I am that girl.
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But I plan with the understanding that God has the master pin of my schedule for the day.
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And I ask the Lord to lead me.
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And if things come up because I have plans, I know how to fit those in somewhere else in my life.
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But what I've learned is every day is a precious gift from God.
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And Jeremiah 29, 11 says that he has a plan for me to prosper me and give me a hope. It's a good plan.
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So if he has a plan for me, I need to follow it.
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And how am I going to follow his plan if I don't ask him to reveal it to me?
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Now, there are some universal global truths that all of us have been called to follow.
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That is to follow Jesus, to take up our cross and deny ourselves.
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To love our neighbor as ourselves, to not forsake the assembling of ourselves
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in godly places, to praise the Lord with our whole heart, mind,
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and soul, to love Him above all else.
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But each and every day, God has a plan for the over 7 billion people that live
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in this world, and I want to be where God is asking me to be.
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I want to be in the center of that plan.
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I don't want to exchange my desires for heavenly misses.
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I don't want my desires to keep me from heavenly blessings.
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No, I want my will to line up with his will. I want my desires to be what he would have them to be.
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I want my life to reflect his presence in it.
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And it's not going to reflect his presence in
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it if he's not in it in matthew chapter 5 and verse 16 it says to let your light
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so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your father
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which is in heaven god is my source he is my help he is my entire being i need,
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to be in constant communication with him and he said he would never leave me nor forsake me,
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So what in your life is getting in the way of you reading Scripture daily?
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What in your life is impinging on your prayer life?
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What are you putting more important to spend your time on instead of investing
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your time for earthly gain and heavenly reward?
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The earthly gain of a relationship with Jesus Christ far outweighs what money
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can buy, what fame can give you.
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See, the peace that God gives through a relationship with him,
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the world didn't give it, so the world can't take it away.
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So at the very premise of Mark 8, 36, where he says, for what shall it profit
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a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul,
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is the very premise we see in John 3, 7,
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which he said, Marvel not that I said unto thee,
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ye must be born again.
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This is not an option. It's not plan A, but plan B is okay.
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There is a heaven to gain and a hell to shun. You will either spend eternity
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in heaven or eternity in hell.
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You will spend eternity. You will live forever.
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The question is where? And only those whose name is found written in the book
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of life will live eternally in heaven with Jesus.
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The scripture tells us that we are to love him with our whole heart,
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our whole mind, all of our strength, and all of our soul.
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We are to love him with every part of our being.
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And when we do this, we know the blessings of God, the goodness of God,
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the comfort of God, the peace of God, and the assurance that we have a home
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not made with hands eternal into the heavens.
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But I want you to turn with me, please, to the book of Luke and the 18th chapter.
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And we're going to begin reading in verse 16.
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Here is an
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example of someone who could not give
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up his self-reliance and he could not understand that exchanging his wealth
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how frail it was how limited it was he would not exchange that for eternal life,
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because he would not exchange his dependence upon himself,
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his self-sufficiency, and what he could do for himself to believe and trust
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in God who cannot fail. He wouldn't do it.
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So it reads like this, but Jesus called them unto him and said,
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suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not,
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for of such is the kingdom of God.
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Now why would God...
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Want us to come to him as a child.
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Because children believe, and they act upon their belief.
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They're not tainted with the what ifs and maybe something's better.
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They believe and they act upon it, and they're honest and they're pure.
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They're born into this world sinners, but they just don't have a jaded,
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tainted thing. And when they believe something, they believe.
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My nephew was a very young child and he had
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a problem with his toe and he asked me one night before he went to bed he was
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about three or four he asked me if i would pray for his toe that the lord would
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heal it so i prayed and he prayed and he went to sleep and the next morning
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when i come in to get him up,
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he said, let's look at my toe. It'll be healed.
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And when I pulled back the cover and his toe wasn't completely healed, he was devastated.
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I wasn't. I understood it might take time.
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But you know why I understood that? Because my face wasn't so that it would happen overnight.
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But Sam's face never waned, even though it didn't happen that night,
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and it didn't happen the next night.
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After a day or two, it happened, and he was thanking the Lord.
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That's the kind of face I'm talking about that children have.
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I didn't expect that to happen the next day, because I have knowledge that it
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takes time and all this stuff.
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But the Bible says nothing is impossible to him that believes.
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We keep God from doing amazing things and Jesus that they want to do because
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we simply won't let them.
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Because we don't have faith as a mustard seed to say to that mountain bee,
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you move yonder and watch it move.
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I love the Lord with all of my heart.
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I believe he is my savior.
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I believe I'm the apple of his eye. I believe he cares for me.
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But I have way too much education and worldly living experience to say to Mount
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Everest, move and believe it's going to move. I can't do that.
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But I do believe that if I could, it would.
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So he says to come as a child because a child believes exactly what they say God says.
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And he says in verse 17, Verily I say unto you, whosoever shall not receive
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the kingdom of God, as a little child shall not, and in no wise enter therein.
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You've got to believe with your whole being. No doubt.
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You don't have to. You can't add your worldly knowledge, your academic knowledge,
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your intelligence. You've got nothing in it except believing in the one that cannot fail.
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And so a certain ruler asked him, saying, Good master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?
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And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? None is good, save one that is God.
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There is only one who is perfect.
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Thou knowest the commandments. Do not commit adultery. Do not kill. Do not steal.
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Do not bear false witness.
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Honor thy father and thy mother. And he said, all of these I have kept from
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my youth up. Look at the works.
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This rich young ruler is pretty proud of himself.
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But see, Ephesians 2.8.9 says, For by grace are you saved through faith,
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and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works,
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lest any man should boast.
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The rich young ruler has a history of good works.
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But God has already said your good works will not make you good,
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because your good works are as filthy rags, we were told in Isaiah.
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And so he's saying there's only one good, and that's God. God is the only one who is pure.
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God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, the triune God, they're it.
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I don't care how good you think you are. You haven't made it through your life
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minutes without needing Christ and his help and the Holy Spirit and Jesus to
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prosper you, to help you, to give you.
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In fact, it is they who give you life to begin with.
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But this rich young ruler, he can't figure that out.
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22 says, Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him,
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Yet lackest thou one thing.
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You've done all this stuff.
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Sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor.
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Thou shalt have treasure in heaven, and come, follow me.
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And when he heard this, the rich young ruler, he was very sorrowful, for he was very rich.
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What God is saying to this rich young ruler is you can't depend on you. You can't be your God.
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You can't be what you are trusting in.
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There's only one good, and you have to trust in me to supply your needs.
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You have to trust in me to be your savior.
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You have to trust yourself and follow me.
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You can't trust in your own works. You can't trust in your own riches.
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You can't trust in your own decisions.
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You can't trust in yourself.
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This was what the rich young ruler lacked.
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And he had amassed so much. He liked the comfort of his life.
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He had placed his faith in his things.
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His assurance and security was in his wealth.
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24 says, And when Jesus saw that he was very sorrowful, he said,
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How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God.
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For it is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye than for a rich man
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to enter into the kingdom of God.
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And they that heard it said, Who can be saved?
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And he said, The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.
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Do you see what he's telling us?
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What he's telling us is we have to believe and be all in like a child.
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And that there's only one perfect, good God.
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And Jesus, his son, paid the sacrifice. And you've got to deny yourself and
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realize your sinful, frail nature and place it all in him.
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It's not saying that it's wrong to have money. It's not saying that it's wrong
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to have blessings. It's not saying it's wrong to have wealth.
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It's saying to place your faith in anything other than Jesus Christ is going to lead you to hell.
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It's saying to forsake Jesus for your wealth and for the things that you like.
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That's going to send you to hell because you are rejecting him.
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You must believe in him as a child, believes, all in, fully trusting and relying fully on him.
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Then you will be saved. That's what he's telling us.
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And Peter said, Lo, we have left all and followed thee.
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Here's what he says to those who leave it all.
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Verily I say unto you, there is no man that hath left house,
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or parents, or brethren, or wife, or children for the kingdom of God's sake,
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who shall not receive manifold more in this present time and in the world to
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come, life everlasting.
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You simply can't outgive God.
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The things which are impossible with us, with men, they're possible with the
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Lord. He opens doors. You're anointed with favor.
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He closes doors that you're not supposed to follow.
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God watches over those who believe in him.
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And he makes it pretty clear.
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For what shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul?
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In John chapter 3 and verses 16 through 18, Jesus makes it plain.
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He says, for God so loved the world.
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And you're part of that world.
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And Romans 10, 13 says, whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
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For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son,
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that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
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God has sent no person to hell. It's a choice. Yes, every occupant of hell has
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willingly and knowingly made.
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They have chosen to reject Jesus.
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They've chosen to depend upon themselves. They've neglected to put their trust
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in Jesus, and they find their eternity in hell.
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Verse 17 says, For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world,
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but that the world through him might be saved. Jesus is our one and only Savior.
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He that believeth on him is not condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned
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already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
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Friends, this is the condemnation, that light, which is Jesus,
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that light is come into the world
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and men love darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil.
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Friends, I don't know how you woke up this morning on fire, I hope for Jesus,
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asking him, what trail can we blaze today, buckling up with the Holy Spirit
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and walking on this adventure we call life in the center of God's will.
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But if you didn't, I'll leave you these words of encouragement from Jeremiah 29, 13.
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And ye shall seek me and find me when ye shall search for me with all your heart.
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He isn't lost, but we are.
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But those of us who have claimed him as Savior, we have him as our Lord, our Master, and our God.
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And our footsteps are ordered and ordained by him.
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His angels take charge over these that we don't even dash our foot upon a stone.
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His love is unending.
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His grace is amazing. And His mercy is magnificent.
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Whatever is going on in your life, He's the answer. And His grace is sufficient for you.
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For what shall profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own
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soul? if you don't have Jesus as your Savior, you have lost it all.
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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 can visit the show notes for
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quotes from today's podcast and scripture references.
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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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Remember that God loves you.
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Music.