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322 | Throwback - Given By God - Finding Purpose in Unexpected Places · The Woman at the Well Ministries Podcast

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  Music.
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  Hello, friends, and welcome back to another podcast of Woman at the Well Ministries,
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  where we believe that all of us have to come to Jesus like the woman at the
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  well in John chapter four.
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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,
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  we invite you to sit down with us as we look to the scriptures to learn more
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  about God and to strengthen in 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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  Today you may find yourself in a place you would rather not be.
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  Perhaps you are in the presence of some people you neither respect nor care to be around.
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  However, you have been placed there for a reason.
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  Today's verse says it all. He has
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  placed you where you are to show Him to others and to lead them to Him.
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  Join us in this program given by God as Kim Miller of Women at the Well Ministries
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  takes us through Isaiah 55,
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  4, which says, Behold, I have given Him for a witness to the people,
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  a leader and commander to the people.
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  Hello and welcome to this broadcast of Women at the Well Ministries.
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  And what a pleasure it is to really get to talk about how precious we are to the Lord.
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  The Bible says in Zechariah 2.8 that we are the apple of his eye.
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  And the Bible tells us that he never leaves us nor forsakes us.
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  And it says that his eyes go to and fro watching us all the time because he
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  never sleeps or slumbers.
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  And we are the intent focus of an almighty God.
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  And nothing in our life just
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  happens and there isn't anything like happenstance or coincidence but the bible
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  says clearly in jeremiah 29 11 that he has a plan for us to prosper us and to
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  give us a hope and an expected end he understands the paths that we are to take.
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  And he leads us and he guides us in those paths.
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  And if we follow him, then we are going to follow him in the life that he intended
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  to us to have, which was an abundant life.
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  He said that he came that we might have life and that we might have it more abundantly.
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  Now, that doesn't necessarily mean that he has intended for us to have material
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  wealth or earthly treasures.
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  But it does mean that he has a plan
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  for us and it's to bless us and to give us what he would give us so that we
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  would have what we need and our lives would be in such a blessing state that
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  we would be able to understand what it's like to enjoy life, even down here.
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  You see so many people get kind of
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  wrapped around the axle of thinking that if
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  they don't have all kinds of things that they must be unhappy but
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  some of the happiest people i know in the world are people
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  whose lives are very simple and their
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  lives aren't cluttered with the things of the world some of the most godly people
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  that i know certainly have lives that are not cluttered with the things of the
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  world and their heart isn't torn between what God would want them to have and
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  what they actually want themselves.
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  And so I say all that to say this is there's a place in our life that we have
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  to come to where we allow God to be God, not just of the universe, but of our own lives.
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  We need to surrender ourselves to him and walk in the ways that he would ask us to a walk.
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  And when we do that, what we find is that he has a distinct purpose for each
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  and every one of us, but he also has a collective purpose for all of us.
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  The collective purpose that God has for us is that we would go out and be a
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  light in a dark world and that we would spread the gospel of Christ to others.
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  And the gospel of Christ is the love of Jesus that is shed abroad in the hearts
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  of man, that we might be forgiven of our sins because of his work on Calvary.
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  And it's his finished work.
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  He doesn't need any of us to add anything to it or to take anything away.
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  But he completed the task of paying for our salvation on the cross of Calvary.
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  All it requires of us is that we accept that free gift through belief in him.
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  But when we do that and we become a part of the family of God,
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  he has a role for us to play.
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  A role for us to play to help others come to the kingdom of God.
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  A role for us to play to assist those who are brothers and sisters in Christ.
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  And a role for us to play that will enable us to have the life he intended for us to have.
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  And when you get to this verse in Isaiah chapter 55 and verse 4,
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  he says, behold, I have given him for a witness to the people,
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  a leader and a commander to the people.
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  Think about where you are right now.
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  Think about the job that you're in and the people that you come in contact with
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  on a regular basis at work.
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  Think about the place you worship.
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  Think about the neighborhood that you live in.
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  And begin to realize that God
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  has placed you where you are so that you could be a witness of who he is.
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  It's interesting to me that I speak to people who go to church and call themselves
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  Christians, and they'll be discussing maybe wanting to change a job or getting
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  a whole new job or quitting their job.
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  And I talk to them about what their concerns are and it's usually,
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  well, I'm not sure I'll make it or I don't know if I'll make enough money to
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  provide for me and my family.
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  Rarely does anyone ever say to me, I'm seeking the Lord's guidance on where
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  he can use me the best in his service.
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  You know, the devil will offer you a lot and he
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  would love to take you away from the place that God
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  has purposely put you so that those around
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  you could see him and so he may offer you
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  fame and fortune along with that.
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  He most likely will offer you something that will will cause
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  you to spend way more time in those
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  efforts than the efforts that you'll spend for him
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  for god and that's all part of what
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  the devil does is he entices you away but this
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  verse clarifies what we
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  learn in jeremiah 29 11 and that he has a
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  plan for us and and this one clarifies what the plan for this is and i believe
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  that matthew chapter 5 when he says that ye are the light of the world gives
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  us a plan for what god thinks we all should be and so let's go back to that
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  reflection that we have about where you might work,
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  can you honestly say that everyone that you work with is a born-again child of God?
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  If you can say that, you are most blessed.
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  But even if you can say that, can you say that everyone that you work with is walking close to God?
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  It would be nigh unto God impossible for you to be able to answer both those
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  questions honestly and say, yep, we have no need to move any closer because
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  all of us need to move closer to the Lord.
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  But some of us are placed in positions where a worldly atmosphere watches your godly witness.
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  And sometimes that's uncomfortable.
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  Sometimes you almost feel persecuted because you're not like them.
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  Even people who are nice to you will sometimes say a little jab or a little
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  this or a little that sort of just gets to you a little as they're pointing
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  out that you're different.
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  Nobody really wants to be different, but the Bible says that we are to be a
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  peculiar people, zealous of good works.
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  So as Christians, we should be very different than those that are in the world.
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  And then it says here, not only to be a witness, but a leader.
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  A leader is someone who has a clear vision and
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  can come back and articulate that vision to someone else in such a way that
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  they are motivated and inspired to embrace that vision with the same vigorous
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  enthusiasm that you have.
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  And we're told that we're to be a leader.
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  So if I'm going to lead somebody somewhere, first of all, I need to know where I'm going.
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  So it's important that we not only have our calling and election sure, as the scripture says,
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  but that we have a good understanding of what the scriptures say heaven is like,
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  and perhaps even a better understanding of what the scripture says hell is like,
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  and a clear understanding of what it is that we need to do in order to secure
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  our reservation and a home.
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  Not made with hands, eternal into the heavens, where the sun never sets,
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  there's no sickness, no sorrow, no pain, no death, and where Jesus is the light.
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  It's important that we know that, and in 2 Timothy 2.15, we're told,
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  the study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be
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  ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
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  And as we look at this scripture where we're to be a leader,
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  we need to have an understanding that we can be able to give to someone else
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  the reason that we are serving a risen Savior.
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  The Bible says that we should be able to give to every man the reason for the hope that is within us.
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  That doesn't mean you have to be able to quote X number of scriptures.
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  That doesn't mean you have to understand Genesis to Revelations.
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  That doesn't mean you have to have title of preacher or teacher or pastor behind
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  your name or in front of it.
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  It means you have to understand who it is you serve in such a way that you see
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  God in all of his glory so that when you speak to someone else about who God is,
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  you're contagious with your enthusiasm and you influence others towards Christ
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  because they see the difference that he makes in your life.
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  You are a living And God has placed you where you are so that those around you
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  can see him in action because you're his feet extended.
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  You're his hands. You're his eyes. You're his ears.
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  And you have the responsibility to pray one for another.
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  And those include the people who are in your circle around you in your neighborhood,
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  in your church, in your family, at your work, at the grocery store, in your community.
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  Those that God places in your path even if you don't know their names you can
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  remember their faces and when you come to the Lord in prayer you can lift them
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  up it's not a coincidence.
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  Whomever you saw today it's not a coincidence who God allowed you to spend time
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  with and so as Christians we need to recognize that responsibility that we're
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  to be a leader and a commander to the people and that we've been given by God
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  Almighty as a witness to others in such a way that we ask him every day, Lord,
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  teach me what I need to know.
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  Show me what I need to say.
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  Speak through me, Lord, that others may find you today.
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  Oh, what a wonderful calling it is to be a leader for Christ and to be his witness
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  to a lost and dying world.
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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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  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 a woman at the well ministries in your
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  app store or through our website at watwm.org.
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  We're on Facebook at facebook.com slash watwm. If you visit our website,
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  you'll be able to subscribe to Bible Bits, a daily devotion written by Kim and
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  delivered Monday through Friday by text message.
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  Woman at the Well Ministries is a nonprofit organization dedicated to serving
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  our Heavenly Father, and it is through your loving and generous support that
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  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 Pledge 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.
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  Music.