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299 | You Must Follow Through · The Woman at the Well Ministries Podcast

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  Too many people who say they are Christians are living like the world.
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  If we live like the world, what do we have to offer them?
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  If we talk like the world, go to the same fleshly places as the world,
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  watch the same wicked movies, and have the same filthy habits as the world,
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  what distinguishes us from the world?
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  We are to be different. If your actions are not distinguishable from the world,
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  then how can you be the light we are commanded to be in Matthew 5,
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  14-16? When you place your faith in Jesus, He does His part.
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  He saves you, like we read in John 3.16, but so many Christians leave it at
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  that. They have no follow-through with their faith.
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  Join us in this podcast of Women at the Well Ministries as Kim takes us on a
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  journey through the Scriptures, helping us to know the importance of our faith
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  follow-through and how to learn how to develop a faith-filled follow-through with Jesus.
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  Hello, and thank you for joining us in this podcast of Women at the Well Ministries.
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  This message is a tough message for all of us.
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  This concept of following through after we've been saved is the one that we often hear.
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  But the truth of the matter is, throughout Scripture, we have been given the
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  charge to be godly, holy people.
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  Today, we're going to take a look at Leviticus 19.2, which says,
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  And congregation of the children of Israel and say unto them,
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  ye shall be holy for I the Lord your God am I look at that passage of Scripture, that verse.
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  I'm always taken aback by how straightforward it is.
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  I'm your God. I'm holy.
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  I saved you.
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  I dwell in you in the form of the Holy Spirit, so be holy.
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  And I wonder to myself, why would God have to tell us that?
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  God sent his only begotten son, Jesus, who was sinless, spotless lamb of God,
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  who willingly laid down his life and shed his blood to wash away our sins,
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  to pay his sin debt he didn't owe.
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  He was tempted like as we are, but yet without sin.
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  He is the only way to heaven. John 14, 6 says, and it's Jesus speaking,
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  I am the way, the truth, and the life.
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  And no man cometh unto the Father but by me.
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  How is it that we would have to be taught, commanded to be holy, Holy, when his price,
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  when his sinless, precious blood was necessary to wash us clean.
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  Now, I get it. We live in the world. And the dust of the world gets on us,
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  just like if you walk down a dusty road and you may have taken a shower that morning.
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  When you get done off that dusty road, you're dirty.
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  But you walk in the shower and it cleans you out.
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  But your insides are the same as they were before you went into the shower.
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  This is how Jesus is. He cleans us from the inside out.
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  And some of the dust of the world might get on us. But if we confess our sins,
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  he's faithful and just to forgive
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  us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness in 1 John 1.9.
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  But yet in Leviticus 19.2, he says to be holy for I'm your God and I'm holy.
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  It's because he knows we're fleshly people and we live in the flesh and our
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  flesh does not want to be holy, but his blood was shed for you to be holy.
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  You have to be holy. And too many people who say they're Christians,
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  they're living like the world. That's not holy, people.
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  If we live like the world, what are we offering the world in regards to who Jesus is?
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  If we're doing the same things they're doing, why would they want anything that we have?
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  If you're not going to church, why would they want to go to church?
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  You say you love Jesus, but yeah, you don't go.
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  If you're living an honest, godly life, they're not going to want that because
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  they're going to see in times of trouble, you've got help.
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  You have a community of faith in your church and in your brothers and sisters
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  in Christ who are reaching out to help you when you have a need.
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  And most of the time, it doesn't have to be a dire need.
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  They're there for you because the love of Christ exudes from his children.
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  That's what people want to see. They want to see a difference.
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  They know what they've got.
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  And if you can't give them something that seems more enticing,
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  that seems better than what they've got, why are they going to seek it?
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  And I'm not talking about bike raffles at church or donuts in the morning or
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  coffee in between breaks.
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  I'm not talking about opportunities to come and just fellowship.
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  I'm talking about holiness.
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  I'm talking about a life that is sold out to Jesus.
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  So when you're doing all these opportunities of fellowship, you look different
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  because the Holy Spirit is shining in you.
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  In Matthew chapter 5, verses 14 and through 16, he says this,
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  You are the light of the world.
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  A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid.
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  Neither do men light a candle and put under a bushel.
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  But on a candlestick and he giveth light unto all that are in the house and
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  here's your charge let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works,
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  glorify your father which is in heaven.
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  Is your life glorifying God? Is your light shining into a deep, dark world?
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  Friends, it's got to be. Because faith without works is dead,
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  we're told in James 2.20.
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  You can't work your way into heaven. We understand that from Ephesians 2.8 and 9.
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  But once you get a glimpse of what personal relationship with Jesus is,
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  you're not going to be able to remain quiet or idle for Jesus.
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  Jesus, you're going to have to have follow-through.
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  See, we learn in James 2.18 that he says, Yea, a man may say,
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  Thou hast faith, and I have works.
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  Show me thy faith without thy works, and I will show thee my faith by my works.
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  There's follow-through when you have a true commitment to Jesus Christ.
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  In James 2.22, he says, Seest thou how faith wrought with his works,
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  and by works was faith made perfect?
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  When you love Jesus, when you get a full understanding that you were born in
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  this world deserving hell, and when you understand hell isn't a party with all your drunken friends,
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  hell isn't what you say you're going through in this life when you've had a
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  bad day, and you say, well, everybody I know is going to be there. It'll be fine.
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  No, no, no, no. No, just because they're there doesn't mean you're going to have any time with them.
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  It's not like that. You are isolated. Most importantly, you're isolated from
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  Jesus Christ. There is no light.
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  You are agonizing and you are in torment and you are in pain and you are gnashing
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  and wailing of teeth and there is
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  heat and fire and no one can give you an accurate picture of what hell is.
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  But I can also tell you that you are choosing to go there.
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  God has never sent anyone to hell. If you go to hell, it's because you rejected Jesus Christ.
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  He said he wishes that none should perish and that all should come to the repentance.
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  Every person born in this world has an opportunity to be saved,
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  he said, whosoever should call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
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  Friends, don't let the devil deceive you. It's not one big dark party in hell.
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  It is torment, gnashing of teeth, wailing, painful.
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  And when you get a glimpse of that, your worst horror movie that you may have
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  allowed yourself to see can't depict it you've never been afraid like you're
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  going to be afraid there because you're without Jesus so you're without hope,
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  rich man who found himself in hell, wanted to send information back to his brothers
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  and his family, anybody he could, even his enemies, that hell is a place you don't want to be.
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  But yet, we who have received the forgiveness for our sins, the pardon for our sins,
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  who have escaped ever having to be anywhere near hell have to be told to be
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  holy for your God is holy?
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  We're also told to be salt in this world in Matthew 5.13.
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  He says, you're the salt of the earth, but if the salt hath lost its savor,
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  wherewithal shall it be salted?
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  This henceforth good for nothing but to be cast out and to be trodden under foot of men.
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  If you've lost your influence, If you've lost your zing that makes you different.
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  If you're not a peculiar people, zealous of good works, as we're told to be.
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  If you're not striving for the prize of the high calling of Christ.
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  You're not living the witness he's asking you to live.
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  You don't have follow through.
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  When you place your faith in Jesus, he does his part.
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  But many so-called Christians, they just leave it at that. They have no follow-through with their faith.
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  Follow-through is essential in nearly all things, and it is absolutely certainly
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  essential in being a faithful servant of God.
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  Let's look at the importance of follow-through for a moment.
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  In tennis, follow-through is what moves the ball forward in the direction you want it to go.
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  It's also what gives your shot not power.
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  Without it, you're essentially just making contact and you're going to have
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  little to no forward motion.
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  You're not going to have any real control over the direction and you're going
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  to have little to no power.
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  The life of a believer is very similar. If you only have contact with Jesus
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  and no follow through with your life, you're going to be powerless.
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  You're going to have no direction in your life.
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  You're going to have no forward movement in your spiritual growth.
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  Jesus says he'll never leave us nor forsake us.
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  And he wants to move you forward and he wants you to grow forward in him.
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  But the only way that you can do that is if you allow yourself to stay in the
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  motion of the swing and follow all the way through so that when you make contact with him, you get in,
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  buckle up, brace up, find a purpose,
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  get yourself inspired, motivate.
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  You do everything you can to draw closer and you don't want a moment without
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  him and you don't want to breathe without him first telling you how and what and when.
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  And you don't make any plans, you just want to hang out with Jesus all day long.
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  That's follow-through. Follow-through is not making contact and stopping,
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  because then you're like the salt that's lost its savor, and you're no good for nothing.
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  But when you make contact with Jesus, and you just slide into that swing rotation
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  and that follow-through, and you allow him to be directing you.
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  You allow his power to flow through you. You allow him to move you forward in
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  the direction that he wants you to go.
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  When you do that, you're going to have an impactful life for Jesus.
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  Other people are going to be impacted by your power.
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  Other people are going to follow you as you follow through.
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  You're going to find purpose. You're going to find peace.
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  You're going to find joy. There is no peace in making contact with a ball and
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  watching it dribble six inches in front of your foot.
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  It's not a pleasant proposition, but there's joy when you hit that ball down
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  the line at 72 miles an hour within three inches of a space.
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  And you've followed through and there's topspin buzzing off
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  of that and it hits and it just bounces away from that opponent because you
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  made contact with the ball and you stayed with the follow-through and the ball
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  went where the follow-through demanded and directed and it was to the end you were expecting.
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  Jesus, when he swings with your life and you are coupled inside the center of
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  his follow-through and he makes
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  contact with you and you just go with the flow of the follow-through,
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  you're going to get more than you expected because eye hath not seen and ear
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  hath not heard what lies in store for them who love the Lord.
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  Friend, there's no love like Jesus' love.
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  There's no joy like the love and the joy that Jesus gives you.
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  See, our attitude changes. Our entire life changes.
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  Once we truly believe in Jesus and place our faith in him, we walk in the newness
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  of life that's talked about in Romans 6.4. We are in the follow-through.
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  We have follow-through that demonstrates life-changing power of Jesus Christ in our lives.
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  We're growing in Christ. We're moving forward in his grace, his goodness, his mercy, and his love.
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  And that's because we didn't just make contact and stop.
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  We make contact, buckled in, and let his direction, his power,
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  his plan move us forward.
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  Because 1 John 1 says that if we confess our sins, he'll forgive us.
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  But Jeremiah 29, 11 says, he has a plan for you to prosper you to give you a
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  hope and an expected end.
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  That follow through is gonna take us to a place not made with hands eternal into the heavens.
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  And I have not seen an ear, have not heard what lies in store for them that love him.
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  But it's gonna give us a peace that passes understanding here.
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  It's gonna give us a joy unspeakable here. We're gonna find ourselves an uncommon
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  favor as we ride through the follow-through of Jesus' swing.
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  See, he has a plan. The follow-through represents just staying with the plan.
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  Do you want to know something even more amazing?
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  Going to give you everything you need to stay in that plan. He's going to supply
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  your strength. He's going to supply your power. He's going to supply your needs.
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  In fact, we're told that he gives us everything we need for godliness.
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  You know, what he required in Leviticus 19.2?
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  Holiness. If you do more than make contact and stop,
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  but you got to follow through, you'll live a holy life that is pleasing and acceptable to the Lord,
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  which Romans 12 tells us is our reasonable service.
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  See, the Apostle Paul understood if you understood what Jesus saved you from,
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  you're going to have absolutely no problem living for him.
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  But I wonder about those who don't have the fruits of the Spirit that come to
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  those who have a personal relationship with Jesus.
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  You may say to me or to anyone else that you have a personal relationship with
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  Jesus, but I promise you, you know whether you do or not.
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  It's not that important whether I do or not, but it's pretty important to those
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  around you who don't know him because they're counting on you to show him to
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  them, whether you know it or not.
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  Follow-through is your reasonable service. Follow-through gets you uncommon favor.
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  Follow-through is the breath of the Holy Spirit in your life.
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  Follow-through is joy unspeakable and full of glory.
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  So today, place your faith in Jesus and allow him to create in you a new heart.
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  Cry out to God and ask him to do that.
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  Be doers of the word and not hearers only as we are instructed in james 1 22
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  follow through with jesus how you live life how you live your life matters not
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  only to you but to others as well,
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  whereas the body without the spirit is dead so faith without works is dead also
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  be a strong light for Jesus today and every day.
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  Live a distinguished life for Christ. It's the least you can do and the best life possible.
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  Follow through and experience the grace, the mercy, the joy,
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  and the blessings that only God can give. Remember you are loved.
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  Jesus loves you.