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Isaiah chapter 43. That's in the Old Testament, kind of close to the middle of your Bible

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probably. Isaiah 43 verses 19 and 20. We'll read the text and then we'll pray. We'll jump

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in. Isaiah chapter 43 verse 19. Look, I am about to do something new. Even now it is

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coming. Do you not see it? Indeed, I will make a way in the wilderness, rivers in the

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desert. The animals of the field will honor me, jackals and ostriches, because I will

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provide water in the wilderness and rivers in the desert to give drink to my chosen people.

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Let's pray. Father God, we come to you today and I pray, dear Lord, that you would be with

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us this morning. God, perhaps there are some that in some way can relate to these words

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that we have just read. Dear Lord, there are seasons in our life where we are in a bit

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of a desert, so to speak, dear Lord. There are times in our life where we feel that we

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cannot go on, dear Lord, that we do not have the strength, that there is no hope, that

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we are in a stranded land with no water, dear Lord, with no hope for survival, dear Lord.

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Sometimes we feel that way in our lives. We feel that way spiritually, dear Lord. So God,

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maybe there are some today who are in that desert place, or God, perhaps there will be

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a time in the future. God, I pray that whether we are there today or will be in the future,

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God, that we find strength from you, that we find strength from your word, dear Lord,

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that we have the power to carry on, to know that you will not abandon us, dear Lord, that

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you do not leave us. But dear Lord, even in the midst of our deserts, you provide rivers.

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So I pray, God, that your Holy Spirit would speak to us today, that we would receive from

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you what we need to hear from you, dear Lord. I pray that you would hide me behind the cross,

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take away any pride or fear that I have this morning, that I would be able to preach and

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teach your way in a word that brings glory to you. In Jesus' name I pray it. Amen.

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On September 24, 2010, there was a gentleman by the name of Ed Rosenthal who decided to

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go for a hike. Now, you've probably never heard of Ed Rosenthal, and it is likely that

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you will not remember his name much longer than a few days from now, if you remember

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it then. But his story is good. I believe it's good in that it's a good connection

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for us. It's a story that perhaps is good application for us that we can relate to in

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some way. Ed Rosenthal had just closed a big business deal. He had just closed a big real

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estate deal, and as a bit of a celebration, he decided to do something that he had done

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in the past often. He traveled to Joshua Tree National Park in California, which is located

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partly in the Mojave Desert region. Now, of course, the desert, it gets really hot in

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the desert in the night and really, really, excuse me, really cold at night and really

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hot during the day. It's a pretty rough terrain in this area of Joshua Tree National Park,

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but nonetheless, it's a place that attracts many travelers, many hikers that come and

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hike up to these different peaks for the views and just the beauty of the desert scenery.

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As a celebration for the big business deal that he had just closed, he decided to go

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for a hike at a place called Warren's Peak, a place that he had traveled to the top of

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before. It was a short travel, only about three miles, only about an hour and a half

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hike to the top of the peak. He intended to go up there and eat lunch, and then he was

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going to come on his way back down, a short little trip. But this day was different than

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the other days. He decided because it was a short trip, he wasn't going to take much

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with him. Just whatever he was going to eat for lunch would be sufficient. He didn't take

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any other supplies, only a small amount of water because after all, he was only going

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to be gone for three hours or so. However, after he got to the top of the peak and began

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to view and look around and see all the beauty of the surrounding area, he decided to come

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back down. However, on his way back down, he took a wrong turn. Pretty quickly, he realized

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that he was lost. He realized he wasn't sure where he should go. He would go back up to

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the top of the peak and he would look around to try to see if he could figure out which

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direction to go. But he couldn't really make heads or tails of where he was. He had gotten

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turned around just that quickly, just taking that one wrong path had gotten him in a spot

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where he wasn't sure which way he needed to go. So he looked down in the distance and

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he saw a trail that was down there that he could barely see. So he decided that he would

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do his best to pursue that trail. He went his way down the mountain and on occasion

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he would get to spots where he would have to jump 10, 15 foot down the mountain to this

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next spot knowing that he couldn't get back up where he just came from. So once he made

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this decision, there's no going back. And he continued his way down the mountain and

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down the mountain until he found that trail only to discover that it wasn't a trail at

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all. What it was was a dried up creek bed. And then he realized he was in big trouble.

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He realized he was in trouble because what little food and water he had was gone. He

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had no idea where he was. And so what started out as a three hour tour turned into a day's

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long struggle. The next day he would get up and he would continue on his way until he

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would see a couple of hikers in the distance. He could barely make them out but he could

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see them in their yellow and red clothes and he proceeded to pursue them to try to get

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help only to find that as he got closer, it was only a couple of cactuses with flowers

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growing on them in the middle of the desert. Further and further away from where he started,

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he began to get in bad shape so weak he could barely move in the middle of the desert. He

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was burning up during the day and he was freezing at night and at one point found a shade tree

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that was just big enough for him to sit beside. But as the sun moved and the shade moved,

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he continued to try to stay in its shade and the sun would hit his legs and he was burnt

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and he was miserable and there was nothing to eat and nothing to drink. He found a few

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dates to eat but couldn't eat them. His mouth was so dry it was like peanut butter he said

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trying to eat those dates. And days went by, two days, three days, four days until finally

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he was almost too weak to keep moving. He's in the middle of the desert. The sun is beating

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down on him when he sees a canyon. He was able to crawl into this canyon and able to

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find a spot of safety and security there, a spot in the shade and his days were about

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done. He could go no further. He lost the strength to walk by this point. He had been

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in the desert for five days trying to do all he could to survive but no longer could he

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move. Knowing that his life was soon to come to an end, he began to write on his hat messages

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to his daughter and to his wife. He began to write out his will and he began to write

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out the things that he wanted his family and his friends to know because he knew that this

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would likely be the end of his life. And he laid there for five days and on the fifth

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day of laying in the desert, of his mouth being parched, of his body being weak, of

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him not having enough strength to move another inch, he decided there was one more thing

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he would do and he prayed to God. He said, God, would you send, would you just send a

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little rain, would you let it rain on me? And after he said that prayer, there in the

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middle of the Mojave Desert, the rains began to fall. Two weeks even gathered the rain.

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He said he simply opened his mouth and let nature feed him, let nature quench his thirst,

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let nature try to take care of him in that moment to give him some relief. And he said

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in that moment he knew for a fact that God was real. And the next day, he heard the sound

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of helicopters flying overhead and Ed Rosenthal was rescued to tell us his story. Now I thought

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about that story, I thought about this passage. There are so many times in our life that spiritually

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speaking we find ourselves in kind of the same situation. There are days in our life

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that we are on the peak. There are days in our life that we can see all the beauty around

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us and things are as good as they can be. We just closed the big business deal. Our

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life is good, our life is great. And just as quickly as we are on the peak, sometimes

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it's only a few days later that we find ourselves in the valley, in the canyon. So many times

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in our life we make a wrong turn. So many times in our life we make a wrong choice.

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And we choose to sin and very quickly, it happens so quickly, we don't, we don't even

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think about it. But sin happens so quickly and bad choices happen so quickly and we think,

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oh I'm going to be okay, I know where I am, I've been here before, I'm going to be okay.

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But so quickly our life, when we take the wrong path, can get us to a place that we

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find ourselves lost and hopeless. And every time we continue to make those bad decisions

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and continue to sin, we jump down to that next level and we lose sight of the peak,

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we lose sight of the good times until eventually we're doing all we can to survive. We see

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this story often in the Old Testament with God's people. So many times God is good with

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them and they're having a mountain top experience where God has delivered them and God has provided

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for them and all is well for God's people. Only for all of a sudden they're enemies to

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move in. Only for all of a sudden they're sinned to take hold of them. The story of

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God's people in the Old Testament is not so different from our stories today. There are

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times in our life that we are good, that we're on the peaks, that we're on the mountaintops.

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But then life happens. Sometimes it's our sin, sometimes it's just life circumstances,

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but very quickly we find ourselves in a deep dark place. In the context of this passage,

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God's people found their self in a deep dark place. They had sinned against God. God's

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people we see in the Old Testament were going into captivity. For 70 years they were going

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to go into Babylonian captivity, but God was going to restore them. For those who would

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call out to him, for those who were faithful to him, God was going to restore his people.

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And we see this promise here in Isaiah chapter 43 in these verses we read. He says, look,

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I'm about to do something new. Even now it is coming. Do you see it? Indeed, I will make

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a way in the wilderness, rivers in the desert. When we get to a place in our life where life

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has just gotten heavy for us, where our sin is just burdening us down, there are times

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in our life that we just feel like we are in a desert. There are times in our life where

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we feel like we cannot go on anymore. I suspect many of God's people felt this way during

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their time of captivity, but God was faithful to them and God said, look, I'm going to provide

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a way. In the midst of this desert season of your life, he says, I'm going to bring

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rivers in the wilderness. I'm going to provide for you. I'm going to take care of you. And

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that's what we see at the end of verse 20. He said, I will provide water in the wilderness

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and rivers in the desert to give drink to my chosen people. There is nothing in this

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world that is better than when we are hot and when we are parched and to drink water.

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There is nothing that will quench our thirst in that way. And when we talk about our spiritualized,

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when we talk about our walk with God, when we talk about our sin, when we talk about

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our struggles, the only water that can quench our thirst is that living water that comes

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from Jesus Christ. And the story of Mr. Ed Rosenthal, God was right there whenever he

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called out. God was right there and he heard his call and he provided water to him to quench

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his thirst. So for us today, God will provide for us if we will call out to him. Perhaps

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there are some of us today that have found ourselves in that desert place. Perhaps today

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you feel that you were in the bottom of the canyon. Perhaps today you feel that you are

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too weak to go on. Perhaps today you say, my life has fallen apart. I've made too many

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bad choices. I'm so far away from the peak of the mountain. I can't even see good times.

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I can't even think about good times. But I want to tell you today that if you would call

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out to the Lord today, that even though your heart may be in a desert place, that God wants

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to quench your thirst. That God wants to provide rivers in your wasteland. He wants to provide

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rivers in the desert for his people, for those who would call out to him. Perhaps today,

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officially speaking, you feel like Ed Rosenthal. You feel like you cannot go any further. But

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perhaps today is the day that you need to call out to the Lord. You just need to say,

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God, I cannot do it anymore. God, I need you to quench my thirst. I need you to provide

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for me. I need you to strengthen me. I need you to comfort me. I need you to forgive me.

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I need you to help me, God, because I cannot move another muscle. And you may be surprised

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to find that when you call out to the Lord, that he hears your prayer. Perhaps Ed Rosenthal

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was pretty surprised to find that God heard his prayer that day, but yet his thirst was

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quenched in the middle of the desert. And so it is for us today that Jesus Christ is

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living water and that through Jesus Christ, our sins are forgiven. Through Jesus Christ,

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we can find hope in the deepest, darkest places in our life. Through Jesus Christ, we can

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find deliverance. Through Jesus Christ, we can be rescued from our sin. We can be given

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eternal life, but we must call out to him. We must put our faith in him. We must say,

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God, I cannot go any further. It's a shame that so many times it takes us getting into

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the worst of the worst places that we could possibly be to call out to God, almost as

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if God is a last resort. And maybe today, for some of you, God is your last resort.

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And maybe today that's why God has brought you here. Perhaps today you are in that desert

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place. And if you've never called out to God before, I hope that today that you would call

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out to God for your hope, for your deliverance, for your provision, for your salvation, because

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there is hope in none other but Jesus Christ. God can make a way for us even in the deepest,

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darkest deserts. Even when we cannot go on any further, Jesus has paid it all to give

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us the strength and the comfort and the deliverance to make it through our deserts in life. If

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you've not put your faith in Jesus Christ today, I pray that you would. If Jesus Christ

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hasn't quenched your thirst and quenched your soul today, I pray that he would. If you're

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in a desert place today, perhaps today is the day that you simply need to call out to

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God and allow him to bring restoration to your soul. Let's pray. Father God, we come

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to you, we thank you for these words, dear Lord. We thank you for this simple promise

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that you gave to your people way back in the book of Isaiah. A promise, dear Lord, that

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even in the midst of the worst places and the deserts, dear Lord, that you are going

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to deliver them, that you are going to provide for them. Dear Lord, I pray that we would

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find hope and that we would find strength in that same promise today because your words

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are just as true for us, dear Lord, that in the midst of our lives, in the midst of our

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sins and our struggles, in the midst of just life circumstances, dear Lord, to know that

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you provide for us, that you give us waters in the desert, dear Lord. Dear Lord, maybe

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there are some today that are just struggling. They're just in a desert place, dear Lord.

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And I pray that you'd meet them where they are. I pray that they would seek you today,

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dear Lord. If there's somebody in that shape today, I pray that they'd call out to you

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because God, there is no other source of water other than through Jesus Christ and God, he

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is the source of living water. And so, dear Lord, I pray that today that we would drink

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from the well, that we would drink from the well that never runs dry in Jesus Christ,

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dear Lord. Maybe there are some here today and they're already yours, but God, maybe

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through some of their choices and just through things that come up in life, they've just

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kind of taken the wrong path, dear Lord, and they thought they knew where they were going,

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but dear Lord, they've ended up in a place that is not where they want to be. God, I

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pray that today that they would just come to the place of water in Jesus Christ. Dear

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Lord, maybe there are some today that do not know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.

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Maybe their whole life is a barren desert and they've never seen any hope in the distance,

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but maybe today, dear Lord, through the promise of your words, through the glory that is Jesus

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Christ. God, I pray today that they would see that there is hope in the midst of the

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wilderness, in the midst of the desert, dear Lord. I pray that if there are some that have

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not put their faith in Jesus Christ today, that today, God, they would call out to you.

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That they would seek to serve you and to follow you and to come to Jesus Christ, to live for

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Him, dear Lord, the one who has died for them. Dear Lord, I pray that you'd be with us today.

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I pray that you'd restore us, dear Lord. You're the only one that can take a desert and make

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it flourish, dear Lord. You're the only one that can take a place that's so barren and

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so dry and turn it into something beautiful, and you do that through Jesus Christ. So dear

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Lord, I pray today that we would call out to you, that we would seek you, that even

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if we can't move another muscle on our own, dear Lord, that we would just call out to

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you, dear Lord, that you would rain down on our hearts this morning, and that we would

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experience you and that we would trust you. And I ask these things in Jesus' name, amen.