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548 | Renewing Your Mind · 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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  We are approaching the new year. Most of us will make resolutions to be better
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  at something or in something than we were in 2025.
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  Many will choose specific areas to improve so that they can become a better
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  version of themselves in the year ahead.
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  Some efforts will fade quickly. Others may linger for a while,
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  but few will last through the entire year.
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  Only those commitments that we purpose in our hearts and determined to see through
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  to completion will truly take hold.
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  Today, it is our prayer that each and every one of us will purpose in our hearts,
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  strategize in our souls, and fully commit to being more for Jesus in 2026 than
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  we have ever been before.
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  This won't happen organically because you can be certain that the devil wants
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  nothing more than to distract and deter you from that goal.
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  Join Kim in this podcast of Woman at the Well Ministries as she takes us on
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  a journey through the scriptures, revealing what each of us needs to do to renew
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  our minds and more fully follow Jesus.
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  Hello, and thank you for joining us in this podcast. It's extremely exciting
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  as we begin to unfold today's message of renewing your mind.
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  We are coming to the last few days of 2025,
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  and there is nothing more satisfying than reflecting upon your life and realizing
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  that the goals that you set were accomplished.
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  But there's also nothing quite as disappointing as setting goals and abandoning
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  them almost as soon as you set them.
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  But there's something very interesting about as we move into a new year, everybody,
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  regardless of how many times they've set them, reset them, set them,
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  reset them, how many times they've fulfilled them, or how many times they have
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  just kind of flittered away.
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  Nearly everybody looks at the new year as a fresh beginning,
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  a new day, a new way of doing something so that we have a life that is more
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  what we like or desire or want than the previous year afforded us.
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  But I'm also struck by the limited number of people who, when they sit down
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  to look at what's going to happen in the new year, whether it's the next one
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  for us right now at 2026 or any of the subsequent ones we live through,
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  How many people do not come to the throne of God and say, what's your plans for me today?
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  What's your plans for me in the new year?
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  How can I be more of what you want me to be?
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  I mean, after all, in Jeremiah 29, 11, he clearly says, for I know the thoughts
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  that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil,
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  to give you an expected end.
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  If he's going to give us an expected end, he has a plan.
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  But so many of us have not crucified our flesh enough to submit ourselves under
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  the mighty hand of God that he would exalt us in due time.
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  You know, it doesn't matter whether you're listening to this message now or
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  you decide to listen in six, seven, eight months or 10 years from now,
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  it's never too late to start afresh.
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  Because I want you to remember that he's very clear that those who are in Christ
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  Jesus are new creatures, that he gives us a new life.
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  And it's important that we consult him about what it is that he wants from us.
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  In 2 Corinthians 5.17, we read these words.
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  Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature.
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  Old things are passed away. Behold, all things are become new.
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  As I begin to look upon that verse and as I begin to think about what it means to renew my mind,
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  understanding that this isn't going to happen unless I purposely and strategically go after it.
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  The first thing I'm reminded of is that the devil doesn't want any of that.
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  So unlike perhaps a goal that we would make that doesn't really pertain to anything
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  that would make us a better Christian,
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  a more skilled weapon for the Lord to use against the devil,
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  or to hone us in some way that we could be a blessing,
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  those are the ones that the devil is really going to distract and try to do what he can to stop.
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  And we can't even usually keep up with the other ones the ones that the devil's
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  not even interested in because our flesh is just weak but in first john 4 4
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  he tells us little children don't worry about this because greater is he that
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  is in you than he that is in the world.
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  I'm reminded of Ephesians 3.20, which says, Now unto him that is able to do
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  exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us.
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  So here we sit on the precipice of a new year.
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  And regardless of when you're listening to this message, you're on the precipice of a new day.
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  You can be different today than you were yesterday because you can choose to
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  submit yourselves under the mighty hand of God.
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  That you may be exalted in due time.
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  But how do we do this? We know it's possible.
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  Because he says in Philippians 2, 5, let this mind be in you,
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  which was also in Christ Jesus.
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  Paul's telling us that we're to have the mind of Christ. How can we have the mind of Christ?
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  He's not going to ask us to do something that's impossible.
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  But we can have the mind of Christ if we renew our mind.
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  That's the only way, because we come into this world a fleshly being,
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  not interested in the things of God, self-serving,
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  kind of lazy, in all honesty, towards anything except that which might be beneficial to us.
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  So we must let God rewire our thoughts and not only become the center of our
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  focus, we must maintain him as the center of our focus.
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  We must fully commit to him.
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  So as we continue through this message, renewing your mind,
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  I want you to continually bathe your thoughts with Philippians 2.5,
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  which again says, let this mind be in you,
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  which was also in Christ Jesus.
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  We can do it because greater is he that is in us than he that is in the world. Let's pray.
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  Our kind and most gracious, your heavenly Father, Lord, I pray that you would
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  be with me in this message.
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  Lord, that you would be prevalent and that I would be removed and that you would
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  speak through these lips of clay and that they would hear the words that you have for each of us.
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  And I pray, Lord, that our hearts would be turned to you, that our minds would
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  be submitted to you, and that we would allow you to have full reign in our heart and in our mind.
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  Lord, be with us, we pray. In Jesus' name, amen.
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  Let's read our text today.
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  Out of Romans 12, 1 and 2, it reads like this.
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  I beseech ye therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your
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  bodies a living sacrifice, wholly acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
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  And be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of
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  your mind, that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
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  I want to just take a quick dive through Romans 12, 1 and 2 to allow us to see
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  what he's really saying.
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  First, he's saying that we're to give ourselves to him a living sacrifice.
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  That means we don't do it once and we're done.
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  That doesn't mean that we don't give him something that we don't want and we
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  slough off and that it's not important to us.
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  It means that we give him our absolute, entire, full, living,
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  dynamic, ever-energizing, renewing body, mind, and soul.
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  We give him our very best.
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  It goes on to say that we need to be holy.
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  He tells us to be holy, for I am holy in multiple places in the scripture.
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  He doesn't suggest that you be holy.
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  He doesn't say it's a great idea to be holy. He says, be holy.
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  This living sacrifice that you're going to give to me needs to also be holy.
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  That means we need to be like Christ.
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  And the only way that we can do that is to have his mind that we're told about
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  in Philippians 2.5, but he has to have our will.
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  For him to have our minds, we have to have his will.
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  And then he says, when you've accomplished this,
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  when you've given me your living being your very best that is holy and following
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  after me, it's your reasonable service.
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  You haven't done anything extraordinary.
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  You've done what I've called you to do.
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  And in 2 Corinthians 5.17 that we read in your hearing earlier,
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  you've done what he has created in you to be able to do old things are passed
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  away behold all things are become new other translations refer to this verse
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  and they say which is your worship.
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  I submit to you that your reasonable service is to worship, and I submit to
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  you that when you present your bodies a living, holy sacrifice to the Lord,
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  that is worship to his creation, that is worship to him, the creator,
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  that is worship to Jesus Christ, the Savior, that is worship that he is bigger and better than we are.
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  That submission, that humility, that humbling ourselves.
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  For something bigger and greater, who is God. But he gets down to business in
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  verse 2, when he says, and be not conformed to this world. There's that holiness piece.
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  The world doesn't have Jesus in them, so the world should not be expected to
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  look and walk and speak and talk like Jesus.
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  But we have the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity,
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  God the Father, God the son and god the holy spirit all
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  three in one not one greater than the other but
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  together they form the trinity which watches over us which saves us which creates
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  us which guides us leads us and direct us and this holy spirit which dwells
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  inside of us well it's what really teaches us and comforts us it's that peace
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  inside of us that connects us to jesus.
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  So we can't be conformed to the world because the world didn't give us what
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  we have, and the world can't take it away.
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  And we're no longer part of the world. We're just in the world.
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  And we're in the world in Matthew 5, 14 through 16 to be the light of the world.
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  We don't hide our light, but we put it out on a candlestick for all the world to see.
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  And Matthew 5.16 says, Let your light so shine before men that they may see
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  your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
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  Jesus loves me, this I know, and I want the whole world to know it.
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  Because I'm not who I was.
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  Praise God, I'm not who I'm going to be. But all along the way,
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  he's working on me. And he's using me.
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  And for each of you who have given up self and who are committed in your heart to walk after him.
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  Who are living a life through the power of the Holy Spirit to be holy and not
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  be conformed to this world. He's using you.
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  But he says be transformed.
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  Transform means to change from one state to another.
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  That doesn't mean from Ohio to Kentucky. That means from worldly,
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  narcissistic, living for the flesh to a God-focused, God-centered,
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  Christ-like mind that we're talking about in Philippians 2.5.
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  He says, and be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
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  And here we find the crux of the matter,
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  the foundational piece that you and I can have, Philippians 2.5 in our life,
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  and we can follow the instructions of Romans 12.1 and 2, and we can have our.
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  Mind renewed because we've allowed the Holy Spirit to take captive our thoughts,
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  and we've centered our mind and our heart on Jesus Christ, and there is no better
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  time than now to make that choice to decide to follow after the one true living God.
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  So in order to renew our minds, to prove what is good and acceptable and the
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  perfect will of God in your life, we must do three things.
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  We must commit to put Jesus first, and we're not going to get anywhere without doing that.
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  Exodus 20 verse 3 says, Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
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  We must set our affection on things above and not on things of the earth,
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  according to Colossians 3.2.
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  We must renew our minds and execute God's plan.
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  And we already spoke about how God's plan was a perfect plan,
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  how God's plan was a good plan in Jeremiah 29.11.
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  So let's talk about committing to put God first, to put Jesus first in our life.
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  We learn in Mark 12 30
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  these words and thou
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  shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy
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  heart and with all thy soul and with all thy mind and with all thy strength
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  this is the first commandment if we want to put Jesus first we're gonna have
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  to love him most we gotta love him with our entire being You know,
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  that living sacrifice that we're giving him?
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  We have to commit in our mind and purpose in our heart and demonstrate in our
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  walk that nothing else is more important to him,
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  that nothing else distracts us from who he is, that we love him most, we love him first,
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  we love him completely, and we love him above all else.
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  Well, that means we're going to make some time for him.
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  It's nothing wrong with having hobbies, but you can't put your hobbies in front of your time with Jesus.
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  You can tell me all you want, how much you love Jesus.
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  But all I have to do is follow
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  you around for a day and sort
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  of keep track of how many
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  things Jesus is allowed to be
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  involved in in your life to see how much time you spend with the king of kings
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  and the lord of lords who says behold I stand at the door and knock and if any
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  man will answer this door I'll come in and sup with him and he with me he is
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  wanting to fellowship with you He loves you.
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  He doesn't ever want to be a part of you, part from you. That's why he has given
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  you the Holy Spirit to dwell in you.
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  Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.
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  And your life and the things that you make time for will show me what's most important to you.
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  I hear often, I can't go to church on Sunday. It's the only time I have with my family.
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  Listen, people, your family needs to be with you around the throne of God. Thank you.
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  There's got to be another day. There's Saturday. There's someday in between.
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  Sometimes we've put material wealth ahead of God because we've bought so many things and done so much.
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  We can't afford to spend time with Jesus because we've got to be working to
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  pay for what we have, and then we don't have time to spend doing the things
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  we've bought, enjoying them. There's nothing wrong with having things.
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  I'm not a prosperity gospel person, but I do believe that God says his people
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  don't want for anything when they are in his will.
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  I think it's great to have recreation.
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  I think it's great to love sports. I think it's great to love to do crafts and to have hobbies.
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  But if our hobbies get allotted time in our schedule and Jesus doesn't,
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  I'm telling you, your hobbies are more important to you than he is.
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  See, we aren't promised tomorrow. We're not promised the next moment,
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  and we can't keep shoving him off because he said, have no other gods in front of me.
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  He said to love me with your whole heart, soul, mind, and body.
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  So as we move into this new time in our life, where is Jesus in your agenda?
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  Where have you scheduled time for Jesus?
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  You've got to commit to put Jesus first.
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  Then you have to renew your mind. Think on the good things of God.
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  In 2 Corinthians 10, 4 through 6, we see that God is who pulls down the strongholds.
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  God's who protects us.
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  And he casts down imaginations, and he casts down things that exalt themselves
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  against the knowledge of God.
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  And he brings to captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.
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  And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.
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  God is saying, obey me, put me first, allow me to be what infiltrates your heart,
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  your mind, your soul, your entire being.
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  And then he tells us very plainly in Philippians 4, 8, these things.
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  Finally brethren whatsoever things are true
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  whatsoever things are honest whatsoever things are
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  just whatsoever things are pure whatsoever things are lovely whatsoever things
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  are good report if there be any virtue and if there be any praise think on these
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  things he has given us the prescription for renewing our minds.
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  Many of us give way too much space in our brain to things of the world,
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  not just sinful, wicked things, but the happenings of the world,
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  which then cause doubt and fear,
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  and perfect love casts out all fear.
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  So when we love Jesus with our whole heart, soul, and mind, and we allow the
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  peace of God, which passes all understanding, to deliver us and keep our hearts
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  and minds through Christ Jesus,
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  then we aren't thinking about doom and gloom.
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  We're thinking about the goodness of God, his blessings. There is a lot to be
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  said for those old timers that sang, count your blessings, name them one by one.
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  And see what the Lord has done. It's impossible to be down and out when you're
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  recounting the blessings of God.
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  And daily he loadeth us with blessings, the psalmist tells us in Psalm 68.
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  Jesus loves me, this I know. And when I focus on who God is and what God has
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  done and what he continues to do and what he's capable of doing.
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  When I look at the things that are lovely, the things of good report,
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  when I think about the things that matter in this world, the tangible blessings of God,
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  the intangible love of God, the intangible blessings of God,
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  when I think on all these things.
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  I have to give him praise.
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  And honestly, he and he alone deserves our praise.
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  You want to renew your mind? Trust in the Lord with all thine heart,
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  and lean not into thine understanding.
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  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
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  Be not wise in thine own eyes, fear the Lord, and depart from evil.
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  Proverbs 3, 5 through 7.
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  Did you see what it started out with?
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  Trust in the Lord with all thine heart. If you put him first,
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  if you love him with your whole heart, soul, mind, and body,
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  you don't have any problem trusting him with your whole heart.
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  I mean trusting him.
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  I mean believing when your back is against the wall, when you can't see a way out.
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  We all know those people who even in the darkest hour and their hardest times are praising the Lord.
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  It's almost as if they don't have enough sense to know they're in a mess.
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  And many of us have had that thought, like, how dumb are you?
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  Do you not see that you're in a trouble.
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  In reality, it's not that they don't see the trouble, it's that the trouble has no meaning to them.
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  Because they are convinced that he has a plan for them, and it's a good plan.
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  They are convinced that where their feet are sitting on the road is the road
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  God has perfectly planned for them.
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  So he's in front of them, he's behind them, he's left or right of them,
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  and he is forever making a way.
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  They realize that the suffering of this world, when remembered over there, will only bring a smile.
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  They realize that he's never left them nor forsaken them.
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  They realize that he will see them through.
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  They understand that joy comes in the morning. They're fully convinced that they are loved.
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  See, they've committed themselves to the Lord,
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  and in doing so they have set the ball rolling for this renewing of their mind
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  and this is the strategy they have used they are thinking on the things god
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  would have them to think on they're remembering the blessings of god and they're
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  renewing their mind as they place their trust in him.
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  In lip service, but they have placed themselves in humility under the mighty hand of God.
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  And they are looking for a city whose builder and maker is God,
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  and they are waiting for him to exalt them.
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  And they're executing God's plan for their life.
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  See, part of the problem is we don't understand that we are God's workmanship.
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  We don't understand that we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto
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  good works, which God has before ordained that we should walk in them in Ephesians 2.10.
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  We have totally lost the idea that he created us for a purpose,
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  and he who hath begun a good work in me will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.
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  But we got to get on board with the plan. We got to embrace what he has for us.
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  And it starts with committing to put him first. It continues with renewing our
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  mind and allowing our focus to be Christ-centered,
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  for our goals to be wrapped around Jesus,
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  for our days to be filled with communication and fellowship with Jesus.
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  And realizing we were born to be the light.
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  And we're not to shade the light with doubt and fear but we're to put it out
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  for the whole world to see and allow him to continue to fuel us.
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  Raise us in his glory, that we would have his mind.
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  In Titus 2.14, he said this, speaking of Jesus himself, who gave himself for
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  us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify unto himself a peculiar people,
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  zealous of good works.
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  Friends, you are on the precipice of the rest of your life, not just 2026 or
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  whatever year you may be moving into.
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  Your next moment could be fully in alignment with God's plan for your next breath.
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  And I believe He's that intimate, that intricate, and that detailed.
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  He created us to do good works, to be a person that was zealous, passionate,
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  purposeful, and excited to do good works.
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  So in this next moment of your life, your next season, Give Him your heart.
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  Give Him your life.
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  Give Him your all. It belongs to Him anyway.
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  Renew your mind by committing to put Him first, by changing your focus and your
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  center and executing the specific plan God has for your life.
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  This next moment could be your step that leads you to your best life possible.
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  Follow Jesus. He never fails. Remember you are loved. Jesus loves you.
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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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  We pray today has been a blessing, and we encourage you to reach out to us through
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  our app, our website, or our Facebook page.
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  You can find our app by searching for Woman at the Well Ministries in your app
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  store or through our website at watwm.org.
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  If you visit our website, you'll be able to subscribe to Bible Bits,
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  a daily devotion written by Kim and delivered Monday through Friday by text message.
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  Woman at the Well Ministries is a nonprofit organization dedicated to serving our Heavenly Father.
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  And it is through your loving and generous support that our ministry continues to bless others.
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  To learn how to partner with Woman at the Well Ministries, please visit our website.
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  Thank you to the Gospel Group Fudge Creek for letting us use their hit song,
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  Happy Girl. We greatly appreciate your prayers.
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  We are praying daily for our listeners.
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  Remember that God loves you. You are loved.