None of us are defined by the individual photos that are taken throughout our life, but by the video or the journey we take in our life.
Where are these ladies going? Where have they been? Are they happy? Secure? Safe?
THE REVELATION
PHOTO - snapshot of the day. A day in the life of the Samaritan woman was to go get water from the well. It is amazing how we can be going about our daily routines when we are interrupted with a life altering experience. This day would change her perspective and mission forever.
John 4:7 There came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me to drink.”
4:9 Then said the woman of Samaria to Jesus. How is it that a Jew asks me for a drink? I am a woman of Samaria and Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.
4:10 Jesus answered and said to her, “ If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you Give me to drink; you would have asked of Him, and He would have given you living water.”
4:11-12 The woman said to Him, Sir, you have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from where do you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank there himself, and his children and his cattle?
4:13 Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water shall be thirsty again; but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will be a well of water springing up into everlasting life.”
4:15 The woman said to Jesus, Sir, give me this water that I will not get thirsty and not have to come to the well to draw water.”
The dialogue with Jesus challenged the Samaritan woman’s perspective. She perceived what Jesus was saying to her and offering to her. The divine exchange: She first gave Him what he asked for; a drink. And in return Jesus gave her what she needed; living water. This is also true of us. We are living our life according to our perceptions, thoughts and plans and then God as our Shepherd interrupts our plans with a new concept. Truth from His perspective and with His plan. His Kingdom comes in these moments and we have the opportunity to adjust our lives accordingly and to serve His purposes.
Proverbs 16:9 We can make our plans, but the LORD determines our steps.
There is a danger when we are presented with The Truth that Jesus said in John 5:40 “Ye will not come to me that ye might have life.” and we mistake a willingness to do for a willingness to come to Christ. You may be willing to pray, do things for God, to read the Bible and to talk about God. There are some who are only committed if they can make all the choices their own way ~ the gospel according to them. …But this is not the same thing as completely surrendering all to Jesus, taking His yoke upon you, willing to walk in obedience to become a follower of His ways and being willing to come to Him in His way ~ the gospel according to God.
“Choose you this day whom ye will serve, but as for me and my house we will serve the LORD.”
Joshua 24:14-24
4:16 Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”
4:17-18 The woman told Him that she did not have a husband. Jesus said to her, “ You have spoken the truth that you have no husband; for you have had five husbands; and the one you have now is not your husband.”
THE DECISION
In that moment the woman chose the truth. She could have denied what Jesus said to her, she could have walked away ….but she chose to be authentic before Jesus. She had discernment that the One who was talking with her was different.
When the LORD speaks truth to your heart – what is your response? Do you hide? Deny where you really are? Know where you are and do not want to change? …Or are you open, honest, authentic to where you really are and willing to hear from the One who is Truth? Those that say no to the plan of God cannot go where the people who are saying yes to Him will go.
We don’t have to worry about the end place we are going, we just need to say yes to the journey that God has for us and take one step at a time, starting with the first step. God gives us opportunities to admit our mistakes, realize bad decisions we have made and restore us to where He wants us to be. He is our deliverer and the one who is able to restore us to where we need to be. Take the first step in this journey of walking God’s way of obedience.
4:19-20 The woman said, Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped in this mountain; and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.
Seeking truth can sometimes be difficult because we base our current understanding on so many things, how we were brought up, our culture, our view of God, and a host of other experiences in our lives. The theology that we live our lives with remains until a truth resonates with what our heart is seeking. In this story the woman was holding on to the truth that she knew until she met
The Truth face to face. …And that changed everything!
THE UNDERSTANDING
4:21-24 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, there is an hour coming when you will neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem worship the Father. You worship you know not what; we know what we worship for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now is when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth; for the Father seeks such to worship Him.” “God is a spirit; and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.”
HERE I AM
4:25 The woman said to Him, I know that Messiah will come, which is called Christ; when He comes, He will tell us all things.
4:26 Jesus said to her, “I that speak to you am He”
THY WILL BE DONE
Wisdom is knowing what to do and being willing to change
4:27 The woman left her water pot and went back to the city and invited everyone to come and see a man that told her all things that she ever did – and said, “is this not the Christ?” and those people that heard her with came out of the city to Jesus.
4:8, 31 meanwhile His disciples had gone to get food and had returned and said to Jesus here is your food to eat.
And here is the crux of living out God’s will in our life. It was also the way that Jesus lived out His life – the Kingdom of God in flesh.
John 5:19-20 “The Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father doing; he does. For the Father loves the Son and shows Him all things that He is doing.”
Knowing God’s response to your life is as important to discerning the times and seasons. We can discern that God has a plan but unless we seek Him for how to live out that plan, we will never enter into this life that Jesus demonstrated for us. To watch and do what we see the Father doing. That is the prayer of Jesus when He said Thy Kingdom Come, Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven.
4:34-38 Jesus said to them, “My meat is to do the will of Him that sent me, and to finish His work. …look to the fields, for they are white already to harvest. …he that reaps receives wages and gathers fruit unto life eternal; that both he that sows and he that reaps may rejoice together. And herein is that saying true, one sows, and another reaps. I send you to reap where you have not labored, other men labored, and you enter into their labors.
4:39 and many of the Samaritans of that city believed on Jesus because of the women at the well telling them about this Man that told her all about her life. And many believed because of His own word and said to the woman, now we believe not just because of what you have said but because we have heard Him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world.
The video – is your life journey. It is the whole story.
There are moments in life that cause us to consider our plans.
Isaiah 43:19 For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland. Isaiah 43:19
Be encouraged …there is a Shepherd that guides you and speaks to you saying – this is the way, walk ye in it.
John 10:27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.
…and they follow Me.
