Latest / The Woman at the Well Ministries Podcast / 592 | The Greater Blessing - Part 2

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592 | The Greater Blessing - Part 2 · The Woman at the Well Ministries Podcast

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  Hello, friends, and welcome back to the Woman at the Well Ministries podcast
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  with Kimberly Miller, where we believe that every man, woman,
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  boy, and girl must come to Jesus just like the woman at the well in John chapter 4.
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  Our highest priority is helping you experience the reality of God in your everyday life.
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  Whether you're listening in our app, on your favorite podcast platform,
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  are on our website at watwm.org.
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  We invite you to sit down with us as we open the scriptures to learn more about
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  who God is and to strengthen your daily walk with Jesus Christ.
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  Those who wait upon the Lord receive the greater blessing.
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  Isaiah 40 verse 31 says, But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength.
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  They shall mount up with wings as eagles.
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  They shall run and not be weary, and they shall walk and not faint.
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  Life's circumstances will try to push you ahead of God, and perhaps even your
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  own tendencies will try to move you in front of the plans that God has for you.
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  But join us in this broadcast of Woman at the Well Ministries as Kim continues
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  on a journey through the scriptures to discover the reward for waiting on God
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  and allowing Him to have His perfect way in your life.
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  Hello, and thank you for joining us in this broadcast of Woman at the Well Ministries.
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  This is the second part of a multiple-part series on John 11, Waiting on the Lord.
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  When we wait upon the Lord we receive the
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  greater blessing because we get the plan
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  that he has for us and we're in the center of his
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  will so he's able to bless us and we've been
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  looking at John chapter 11 and we started in
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  the very beginning and we established that there
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  was a personal relationship between Lazarus and
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  Martha and Mary and Jesus we looked at how Christ delayed his coming and he
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  did that intentionally and we see that whenever there was a problem that came
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  mary and martha's way their first response was to come to jesus.
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  And we see that we know that there was healing that had taken place before.
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  And we know that Mary and Martha had witnessed it and seen it and no doubt talked
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  to Jesus about it multiple times.
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  But no one at that point had been raised from the dead.
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  So Mary and Martha, had they gotten their way, would have received a miracle.
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  They would have been excited and they would have loved what they've gotten.
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  But it would have been far less than what God had planned for them when he did
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  it his way because the greater blessing came from them waiting because by waiting until Lazarus was dead,
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  then he raised him from the dead a miracle that had never taken place before
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  a miracle that was far greater than the healing and so as we're looking at this
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  passage of scripture in John chapter 11,
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  what we're wanting to do is make sure that we see that God has a perfect plan
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  for our lives, like he tells us in Jeremiah 29 11,
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  and to make sure that we are patiently letting God work in us and through us.
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  We want to make sure that we're not stepping ahead of God, that we're not impeding
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  his plans, that we're not an obstacle in his mission in our lives.
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  And as we begin to look at john chapter 11 and we're picking up at verse 15 we can see that.
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  God showed us fully the importance of waiting on him and the rewards for waiting on him.
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  In the book of Isaiah, it's a highly quoted piece of scripture,
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  one that many Christians know and many Christians hold on to and one that gives
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  us great hope and is very uplifting and encouraging.
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  Isaiah 40 and verse 31 says this,
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  but they that wait upon the lord shall renew their strength they shall mount
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  up with wings as eagles they shall run and not be weary and they shall walk and not faint.
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  Those that wait upon the Lord and do it God's way receive the strength and the
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  resources they need to get the job done.
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  Unfortunately for many of us, we take it on our own selves.
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  We do it in our own strength, and we fall way short of the expected outcome,
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  the intended outcome, and the potential outcome.
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  Not because God wasn't faithful but
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  because we weren't faithful to him and we didn't
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  trust him Mary and Martha had a
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  personal relationship with Jesus and we're going to see as
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  we walk through this scripture that they each react to him differently and that
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  reaction to him is directly associated and linked with their personal relationship
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  with him and we're going to see that they speak to Jesus and Jesus speaks to
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  them and he answers for them their questions.
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  And he provides for them all that they need and he is glorified and magnified beyond compare,
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  and far beyond measure than it would have been had it been done mary or martha's way,
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  so as we begin to look at this scripture what i ask you
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  to do is in your heart and in your mind i ask you to
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  take a close look at how you walk through the day take a close look to see if
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  you're running ahead of God and if you're getting up and slamming out the door
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  without even reading his word or studying what he has to say or having a conversation
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  with him to get your instructions for the day I assure you you're going ahead of him.
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  I want you to see if you're an impatient child of the Most High God.
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  Are you one that just has to have it now? And if he doesn't provide what you
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  think he should provide, you go out and do what you can to get it.
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  We need to learn to wait upon the Lord. Then we too can receive the blessings
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  that Mary and Martha received. Shall we pray?
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  Our kind and most gracious to your heavenly Father, Lord, we just thank you
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  for this and other opportunity to come before you. We thank you for your love
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  and your grace and your mercy.
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  We thank you, Lord, that you do have a plan and that you know what is best for
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  us and that you're willing to let us follow you and that you lead and your way is always right.
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  It's always perfect, and it's always the best for us.
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  Lord, I ask that you would open up my heart and my mind, and you would allow
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  me to hear you clearly, that I might speak the words that you give to me.
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  I ask that you would remove from us all distractions, all impediments,
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  and that you would keep the devil far from us, and that Satan would have to
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  get behind us and flee from us.
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  Lord, open up your scriptures to us and show us things we've never seen before.
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  And all these things we ask in thy most precious and holy name we pray and all of god's people said.
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  Amen we're in the 11th chapter of the
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  book of john picking up at verse 15 jesus
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  says and i am glad for your sakes that i was
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  not there to the intent you may believe nevertheless let
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  us go unto him what we see
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  here is that jesus is speaking to the disciples
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  and he's just spoken of how lazarus was asleep
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  and they thought he was just taking a nap and
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  Jesus says no he was dead and what he
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  was realizing was that he was going to come and he was
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  going to make this Lazarus raised from the dead so for practical purpose he
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  was sleeping because it was a temporary condition but for reality he was dead
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  and so he wanted to make it very clear to the disciples what he really meant
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  because he wanted them to see everything that was going on.
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  He wanted them to understand the miracle that was getting ready to unfold in
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  front of them. He didn't want them to be confused.
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  He didn't want them to be misunderstanding the event.
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  He was very clear to them and explained to them in ways that they could understand
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  what they were just about to see.
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  And what he says is, I'm glad that I wasn't there because by not being there
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  you're gonna believe because you're gonna see something you've never seen before.
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  You see, sometimes, my friend, that shadow in your path, that moment of somewhat difficulty.
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  May be there that your strength would grow, that you could believe that you
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  would know more of who he is, that your faith would be increased,
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  that you would become more of what he intended you to be.
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  Sometimes we go through things. They try us and they cause us trouble.
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  But he said he would never leave us nor forsake us
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  we're never alone he said that we could do all things through
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  his strength we have what we need to persevere and
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  he said he would supply all of his needs all of our needs
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  according to his riches and glory we have what we
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  need to move in the direction he's called us to
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  move and sometimes we have that obstacle
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  not to be a stumbling block but a stepping
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  stone to greater faith and jesus
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  is taking the time to explain this that he
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  would like to strengthen their faith you see
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  he was glad there was an occasion that it could happen because in
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  hebrews 11 6 he says but without faith it
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  is impossible to please him and you must believe that he
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  is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently
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  seek him faith isn't something
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  that's an option folks and faith faith isn't
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  something that stops as soon as we just
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  grab the salvation get the personal relationship and
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  walk out the door and say i'm done no jesus
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  christ comes and lives inside of you in the form of the holy spirit and in second
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  corinthians 5 17 he says behold all things are passed away and all things to
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  become new and we're a new creature in christ jesus and we begin to grow in
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  him and he teaches us and he leads us and he guides us.
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  And our faith begins to grow as we see where he's brought us from,
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  where he's taking us through, and where we're headed towards.
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  We begin to see life a different way because this is in our home.
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  We have a home not made with hands, eternal into the heavens,
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  and we begin to be focused on those things above.
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  We set our affections on things above and not on the things of the earth.
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  God makes a difference in us, and that difference begins to grow as our relationship
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  begins to grow and as our relationship begins to grow our faith increases,
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  and faith is the key
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  that unlocks heaven's door
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  and we need to really look at who christ is to hear what he says to see his
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  careful explanations of the things that go on in our life so that we have greater
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  faith that he might reward us with the blessings that he has for us.
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  Then said Thomas, which is called Didymus unto his fellow disciples,
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  let us also go that we may die with him.
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  Then when Jesus came, he found that he had lain in the grave four days already.
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  This confirms that Lazarus is long dead.
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  There's no way that he was just sleeping. There was no trickery here,
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  if you're inclined to believe that.
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  There was no fake staging
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  of lazarus's death lazarus has been laying dead for days now bethany was nigh
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  unto jerusalem about 15 furlongs off and many of the jews came to martha and
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  mary to comfort them concerning their brother.
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  Many of the people knew that Mary and Martha had claimed to have a relationship with Jesus Christ.
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  And I believe they were coming to see the show.
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  They were coming to wonder why Mary and Martha, with this great relationship
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  with Jesus Christ, suddenly find
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  themselves in need of healing of their brother and he doesn't show up.
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  I don't imagine that every one of those people that came to see Mary and Martha came well intended.
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  I don't imagine that they really come
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  with comforting words i imagine some of them come
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  saying hey i thought you were buddies with jesus i thought
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  he was some big healer and physician i thought there
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  was something special about him suddenly he's
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  not there but i want you to see that
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  as mary and martha walk through this scenario this story
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  this real life happening in their life this
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  event that is hitting them face to face that the people around them were fully
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  aware of their relationship with jesus and it confirms that because they were
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  coming they were coming to be there they obviously were prominent people at
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  least to the extent that the people around them knew them.
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  So here's the scenario. It's four days Lazarus is laying dead.
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  All the townspeople and people from far and near have arrived to so-called give
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  their comforting words and to be there for Mary and Martha.
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  Verse 20 says, Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met him.
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  But Mary sat still in the house. they're
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  two sisters both with a personal relationship
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  with jesus christ both facing the
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  same problem jesus comes
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  into town and martha's all
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  about action she's all about hearing him
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  and running towards him she's all about moving
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  towards jesus she's all about getting herself together and going towards christ
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  she's all about not sitting and doing nothing she's all about taking the relationship
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  that she has with jesus and using it and moving forward mary is all about stillness.
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  And staying in the house and being still.
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  If you're not careful, you'll begin to think that Mary was blowing off Jesus.
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  That maybe she was a little bit upset. That maybe she was a little bit frustrated over the events.
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  And so she wasn't going out to meet Jesus. After all, he had waited to come
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  to see Lazarus and to do what she needed to do.
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  So perhaps she would just wait until he got to her. Because what's the use to go see him now?
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  If that's the take you take on mary's
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  stance right here i ask you to look again
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  and read the entire story because i insert
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  this concept i believe mary
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  was worshiping god and jesus and reverencing him
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  just as much as martha was because in
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  psalms chapter 46 and verse
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  4 and verse 10 chapter 46 and
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  verse 10 he says be still and
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  know that i am god in ephesians
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  6 13 he says having done all stand martha
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  is acting upon the faith that she has
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  inside of her and she runs to jesus she's all
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  about being around him she's all about being in front of
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  him she's all about worshiping him a very
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  active way mary is all about
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  reverencing him letting him understand that she's content in whatever state
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  she finds herself in letting her know that letting him know that she is willing
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  to stay there until he calls her willing to wait for him to give her the signal to move.
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  Two different people.
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  Two different reactions.
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  One situation and one Lord.
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  Verse 21 says, Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.
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  Here's Martha. She's ran out to him. He's four days late, I'm sure,
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  as far as she's concerned.
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  But she reiterates to him the faith she has in him.
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  Again, if you think she's telling him off, saying, hey, man,
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  if you'd have just been here four years ago, we wouldn't be in this mess right now.
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  That's not what she's saying. She's not saying you're four days late.
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  She's saying listen things haven't gone the way i
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  want them to things didn't go the way i wish they would but
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  i know in my heart and i believe with all i
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  have that had you been here you are
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  god you do have power you are the great physician you are the miracle worker
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  you are the wonderful the counselor the mighty god the prince of peace you are
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  emmanuel god with us i know who you are And just because the circumstances in
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  my life are not what I want them to be,
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  I'm not changing what I feel about you because my faith in you is not circumstantial.
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  My faith is strong and it's from deep within because I know you and I have a
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  relationship with you. How about you?
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  When troubles come your way, when struggles bombard you.
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  What's your reaction? Are you running to Jesus and saying, listen,
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  I just want to be near you. I want to be around you.
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  I want to wrap my arms around you. I want to be moving. I want to make sure
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  I'm doing what you want me to do. But God, I know you're right.
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  I believe Romans 8, 28, that all things work together for the good to them that
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  love the Lord, that are called according to his purpose.
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  I understand that I must love you the same regardless of the circumstances.
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  I understand that I don't have a circumstantial face.
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  I understand you're still God. Or are you the one going, what is this deal with
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  this man we call Jesus? I need him and he's not here.
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  Or suddenly you just turn your back on church altogether or on God.
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  Because something has you up a myth tree. And you didn't get what you wanted
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  or you didn't have life to work out the way you thought it would.
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  Listen, let me tell you, we've all been there.
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  I walked into a hospital room after day, after day, after day,
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  after day. looking at my father laying in a hospital bed.
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  And in my heart of hearts, I wanted nothing more than to walk into that hospital
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  room and have my father say, come on, Kimmy, we're coming home.
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  I wanted nothing more than to see my dad get up and walk out.
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  I wanted nothing more than to one more time tie his shoes. I wanted nothing more than his healing.
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  And you see, that wasn't in God's plans. I walked in there one day on the 15th
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  day of October of 1999, like I'd done several, several days and weeks before.
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  And I sat down at the edge of his bed and I did what I'd done every day.
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  I prayed and I sang and I read scriptures.
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  And then the death angel came. But you see, I saw my father sit up and I saw
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  his eyes open up and I watched a smile come on his face from ear to ear. and he left this world.
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  Wasn't a happy person. I had lost my life. I had lost my best buddy.
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  I had a hard time understanding how that was right.
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  And let me tell you what, I am not proud of it.
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  But like many of you at that moment in time, I begin to wonder just how smart God was.
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  And I begin to wonder just how right he
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  was and the devil come flying in when
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  I gave him an inch and for a moment in time I
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  thought I prayed Lord and you said ask anything in my name and I'll give it
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  to you and I prayed and I was living righteously and I had given my life to
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  him and I was serving him with every capacity and I thought for a minute I thought
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  if this is how you treat the ones that love you then so what I forget this is not for me.
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  But then a still small voice beckoned in my heart.
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  The Holy Spirit spoke to me and he said, my ways aren't your ways, but I am God.
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  I wish that I could tell you that that was all I needed to turn me right side up and move me forward.
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  But for the next several weeks and perhaps several months, I served him out
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  of obligation. I served him because that's all I knew.
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  I served him because it had worked for me for 25 years, and I didn't know any
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  other way, so I was going to continue to serve him, but my heart was broken.
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  And one night on a still early morning,
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  that same still small voice in my heart came and said, I answered your prayers
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  I was there I held your hand I spoke peace to your heart.
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  Gave you joy and a peace that passeth all understanding and
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  i gave him healing he's not
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  sick anymore and it was his time
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  and kim my ways are not your ways but you
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  got to believe that i am right there wasn't any more wrestling with god at that
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  time there wasn't any more things i had to say his scriptures that he opened
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  up to me that night were crystal clear i lived on romans 8 28 until I could
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  finally believe all there was in it.
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  I walked it. I talked it. I did everything I could waiting for it to come into my heart.
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  I prayed for everything that I could, that my faith would be increased.
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  And you see, my friends, I had run to Jesus just like Martha.
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  But instead of being like Martha and telling them, I know you're right.
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  I don't like it, but I know you're right. But I went to him going, do you remember me?
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  Do you know who I am?
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  That's what I did. See, that's what you're doing when you go to him and say,
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  you got it wrong this time.
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  Or when you go to him and you just doubt his move.
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  Mary waited patiently. And in the next lesson, we're going to pick up there.
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  Marcia ran, but she ran in belief. relief.
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  Where are you at right now? Are you ahead of God?
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  Have you decided he needs to come to you for consultation?
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  Where are you? The greater blessing waits because he says in Isaiah chapter
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  40 and verse 31, but they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength.
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  They shall mount up with wings as eagles. They shall run and not be weary.
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  They shall walk and not faint.
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  There's a greater blessing awaiting you in the center of his will. Thank you.
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  Believe that every man, woman, boy, and girl must come to Jesus just like the
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  woman at the well in John chapter 4.
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  Our highest priority is helping you experience the reality of God in your everyday life.
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  Whether you're listening in our app, on your favorite podcast platform,
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  or on our website at watwm.org,
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  we invite you to sit down with us as we open the scriptures to learn more about
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  who God is and to strengthen your daily walk.