Latest / The Woman at the Well Ministries Podcast / 456 | He Brings Us Out, to Bring Us In

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456 | He Brings Us Out, to Bring Us In · 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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  God always has a plan for our lives, and God's plan is so much better than anything we could imagine.
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  We may think we have it all figured out, but He is the one who really has it figured out.
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  This truth is one that we need to hold tightly to and pass on to those around us.
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  This truth is one that can build our faith, and it's one that we must be prepared
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  to share with those God places in our lives.
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  Join us in this episode of the Woman at the Whale Ministries podcast as Erica
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  Close teaches from Deuteronomy chapter 6, focusing on verse 23.
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  And he brought us out from thence that he might bring us in to give us the land
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  which he swear unto our fathers.
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  Well, thank you all so much for joining us in this podcast. I am so excited
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  to hop into Deuteronomy chapter 6.
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  If you've been spending the past few Wednesdays with us, you know that we've
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  been looking at the book of Deuteronomy, both to understand what it says and
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  what it teaches us, but at the same time,
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  also to show us how it applies to our lives and how the lessons that the Lord
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  had for the Israelites are lessons that still hold true for us today.
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  So today we are in Deuteronomy chapter 6, and I'm going to open up reading the
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  whole chapter in Deuteronomy 6, verses 1 through 25.
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  Now these are the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments which the Lord
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  your God commanded to teach you, that you might do them in the land whither you go to possess it.
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  That thou mightest fear the Lord thy God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments,
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  which I command thee, thou and thy son, and thy son's son, all the days of thy
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  life, that thy days may be prolonged.
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  Hear, O Israel, and observe to do it, that it may be well with thee,
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  and that ye may mightily increase, as the Lord God of thy fathers has promised
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  thee, in the land that floweth with milk and honey.
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  Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord, And thou shalt love the Lord thy
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  God with all thine heart and with all thy soul and with all thy might.
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  And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart.
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  And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them
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  when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way,
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  and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
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  And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets
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  between thine eyes. and thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house and on thy gates.
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  And it shall be, when the Lord thy God shall have brought thee into the land
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  which he sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham,
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  to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give thee great and goodly cities which thou buildest
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  not, and houses full of all good things which thou fillest not,
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  and wells dig which thou diggest not.
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  Vineyards and olive trees, which thou plantedest not, when thou shalt have eaten and be full.
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  Then beware, lest thou forget the Lord which brought thee out of the land of
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  Egypt from the house of bondage.
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  Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God and serve him, and shalt swear by his name.
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  You shall not go after other gods of the gods of the people which are around
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  you. For the Lord thy God is a jealous God among you, lest the anger of the
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  Lord thy God be kindled against thee and destroy thee from off the face of the earth.
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  You shall not tempt the Lord your God as you tempted him in Massa.
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  You shall diligently keep the commandments of the Lord your God and his testimonies
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  and his statutes, which he hath commanded thee.
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  And thou shalt do that which is right and good in the sight of the Lord,
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  that it may be well with thee and that thou Thou mayest go in and possess the
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  good land which the Lord swear unto thy fathers,
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  to cast out all thine enemies from before thee, as the Lord hath spoken.
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  And when thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, What mean testimonies
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  and the statutes and the judgments which the Lord our God hath commanded you?
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  Then thou shalt say unto thy son.
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  We were Pharaoh's bondsmen in Egypt, and the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand.
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  And the Lord showed signs and wonders great and sore upon Egypt.
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  Upon Pharaoh, and upon all his household before our eyes.
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  And he brought us out from thence that he might bring us in to give us the land
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  which he sware unto our fathers.
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  And the Lord commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God
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  for our good always, that he might preserve us alive as it is at this day.
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  And it shall be our righteousness if we observe to do all these commandments
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  before the Lord our God as he hath commanded us.
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  When we're in chapter 6 of Deuteronomy, we get to move from all of the nitty-gritty
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  details of God's laws and his commandments, and we get to see God's purpose for his law.
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  In the last chapter of Deuteronomy, we read about how God loves us so much that
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  he wants the very best for us.
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  And he gave us and he gave the Israelites the commandments to pave our paths
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  in such a way that in walking in them, we can receive the blessings that God has for us.
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  Now, when we open up chapter six of Deuteronomy, we open with a very familiar
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  reiteration of God's purpose for his people and for us, his children.
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  God gave the law to his people that by following it, they might attain the land
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  that God had set before them, that they might live long and prosperous lives,
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  and that they might see the increase that the Lord desires for them.
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  The holiness that comes with following God's commands yields great results.
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  It would yield great results for the Israelites, and it yields great results
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  and great rewards for us.
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  As we move along in chapter 6, we come across another of God's purposes for
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  his laws and his commandments.
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  They're to be transferred to the next generation.
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  Now, God isn't just speaking about children here, but to all of those that follow us in the faith.
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  If you're a pastor, you have to transfer God's commandments to your congregation.
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  If you're a teacher, you transfer his commandments to your students.
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  If you're a follower of Christ, you're transferring his commandments to those
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  who are younger in the faith. And as parents, you're transferring that understanding
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  to your children and to your grandchildren.
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  God's commandments are anything but stagnant, and yes, they still apply to us today.
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  God has a purpose for his word, and it's to be written upon our hearts.
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  We've read about how when we know God's commandments, we are to teach them diligently
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  to those that are in our lives.
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  Let's take a look at verse 7 for a moment. And thou shalt teach them diligently
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  unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house,
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  and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down,
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  and when thou risest up. That's Deuteronomy 6, 7.
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  Teaching about God's commandments and God's word is to be by example.
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  And if we read anything in that verse, we read that it's supposed to be a constant in our lives.
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  Each and every moment in our life is
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  what we could call a teaching moment someone is always watching and waiting
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  to see how the child of god is going to react in any given situation it's our
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  job to harness these moments and display the love of god and the teaching of god in all that we do,
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  As we keep moving through Deuteronomy chapter 6, we see another key principle.
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  That's for all believers.
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  When the Lord is in a situation, it will succeed beyond our wildest imaginations
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  and exceed what we deserve.
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  If you go back to verses 10 and 11, you'll see that the Lord was bringing the
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  Israelites in a land filled with houses that they did not build,
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  filled with things that they did not acquire,
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  wells which they did not dig, and vineyards and fields which they did not plant.
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  The Lord had prepared for them a blessing, the promised land,
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  which far exceeded anything they could ever imagine.
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  And when the Israelites arrived in the promised land, they would be walking
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  into a life completely and perfectly prepared for them. What a blessing that is.
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  We can do the same. When we can walk in such a way that the Lord can bless us,
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  we will be blessed far beyond what we can ever expect.
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  As we continue to read in this chapter about God's amazing blessings,
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  we're met with a really strong admonition, something that we really need to listen to.
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  And that is this specific commandment.
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  Don't forget his blessings.
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  God's blessings are meant to be cherished, held, and pondered.
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  Remember how Mary pondered these things in her heart?
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  We read that in Luke 2.19, when she was told the future blessings of Jesus, right?
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  She held onto those things.
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  She pondered them in her heart.
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  Just like that, we need to hold on to the blessings of God.
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  The world around us is going to have us focus on negative circumstances all
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  around us, but our job as believers is to focus on God and what he's done for us and who he is.
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  As we continue to move on in chapter 6, we come to the place where we're reminded
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  that God is a jealous God and that there can be no other gods in our lives that come ahead of him.
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  We're to fear and serve God and keep our focus on him, forsaking the things
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  of the world that those around us run after.
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  God is a jealous God and he's not going to be put in second place.
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  Galatians 5-7 reminds us that we will reap what we sow.
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  There are dreadful consequences for putting the world ahead of God.
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  Just like seeking the world will lead to our destruction, seeking God puts us
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  in the place where we can be blessed.
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  Keeping his commandments and doing that which is right and good in the sight
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  of the Lord is going to lead us to that place of blessing.
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  We can look at 1 Peter 3.15 to bring us into the next portion of Deuteronomy
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  6, where we read, Be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh
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  you a reason of the hope that is in you.
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  When we live God-pleasing lives and keep the blessings of God firmly held in
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  our memory, we'll always be ready to give an answer about God.
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  Verse 20 of chapter 6 talks about being able to answer for the purposes of God's commandments.
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  When asked, we need to tell people about the times that we've been blessed and
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  the things that God has done in our lives. Being ready to give an answer means
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  to have the praises of God always on the tip of your tongue.
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  As this chapter closes, I want us to focus on a really special verse.
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  As we read about the Lord bringing the Israelites out of Egypt,
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  we come across this verse.
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  And he brought us out from thence that he might bring us in to give us the land
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  which he swear unto our fathers.
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  Listen to that one more time. He brought us out from thence that he might bring us in.
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  So often we don't understand why things happen in our lives.
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  Sometimes it seems that God just removes things from our lives and doesn't replace
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  them. But that's not true.
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  Yes, God moves circumstances around in our lives, but he always provides for us.
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  Often he moves us out of one circumstance to bring us into another.
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  When the Israelites were a mere few days out of Egypt in the desert, they wanted to go back.
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  Things were hard in the desert, and because they refused to see the hand of
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  God, they wanted to be in slavery over in the desert on their way to the promised land.
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  They were blinded to the future blessings by the difficulty of the present.
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  We have to remember that God's purposes might not always be clear to us,
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  but they are always good.
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  We read in Isaiah, For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.
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  For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your
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  ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
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  God gives us his commandments and makes his will clear to us that by following
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  it, things may be well with us and that we might be preserved from the pain of this world.
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  Now, we all know that we still will have pain in our lives, but that pain has a purpose.
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  Remember, and 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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  That's Romans 8, 28.
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  Can you see God's plan at work in your life? He is working. You know that, right?
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  Sometimes it might seem like nothing makes sense and you can't see how the puzzle
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  pieces of your life are fitting together.
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  But God promises us that indeed, those puzzle pieces do fit together.
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  Let's go back to that verse from Romans again. And we know that all things work
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  together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
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  The Israelites struggled in the desert. They couldn't see the promised land
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  and didn't have the faith in God to understand that it really was coming.
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  Even the evidence of his hand in their lives, their release from Egypt,
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  their passing through the Red Sea, the pillars of cloud and fire that they were
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  given to follow, that wasn't enough for them to believe.
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  But God's hand was clearly and literally visible,
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  but they still couldn't hold on to tightly enough all of the promises that God
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  had for them in the land to come that flowed with milk and honey.
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  In our lives, we may not have the pillars of fire or the burning bushes,
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  but that doesn't mean we can't see the hand of God in our lives.
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  Each and every day we can be assured that he is working and that the events
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  of our lives fit together in his perfect plan.
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  Now we need to be following him and pursuing him so that we're on the right
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  track because those detours that
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  result from our disobedience can cause us problems, avoidable problems,
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  but can cause us problems.
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  God's plan for us, God's perfect plan for us is perfect no matter how elusive it may seem.
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  When you have days, perhaps it's even today, that your life just doesn't make
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  sense, pray and ask the Lord to bring you clarity.
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  Though you may not be able to
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  see the end of the journey, ask God for the directions to the next step.
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  Listen closely within your heart and be assured that God will answer you.
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  In Jeremiah 33.3, God promises us that if we call into him, he will show us
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  great and mighty things which we can't even imagine.
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  Ask God to show you today the great and mighty things that he has for your life.
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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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  We greatly appreciate your prayers. We are praying daily for our listeners.
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  Remember that God loves you. You are loved.
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  Music.