The Living water: Lesson Four

"They shall fear You,

as long as the sun and moon endure,

Throughout all generations.

He shall come down like rain upon the grass before mowing,

Like showers that water the earth.

In His days the righteous shall flourish,

And abundance of peace,

Until the moon is no more."

Psalm 72:5-7

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Good day! Let's pray to God....

"Thank You, Lord, for another glorious day. I come to pray to You to thank You for all Your blessings in my life. Please help me to remember what You ahve done for me and from where You have brought me.

Please forgive me of sins. I confess that I have sinned against You and pray that You will purge me of these sins and cleanse me today through the reading of Your word.

I pray for these ladies here reading this study. Once again, I ask that You go to them and be with them. I pray that the Holy Spirit will fill them and renew them.

I pray for their concerns and worries that You will put that peace that passes all understanding in them and guard their hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

In Jesus' name......Amen.

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Being a teacher is an awesome responsibility that I have come to know these last few years. Seeing young students sit before me trusting that what I am telling them is truth, fact, history, and helpful is convicting. This fact keeps me on my toes. I know how easily it would be for me to mislead them, indoctrinate them with my views, or just lie to them for spite.

All these things are occurring in many schools across the country at every level.

When I read about Jesus, the Master Teacher, I am in awe of how He taught and how He treated His disciples. He, being Sovereign, had a plan, of course, from the beginning of time, but how He taught and used every instance to teach a lesson is truly admirable. He was and is TRUTH.

Let's read about the Master as He meets the woman at the well........

John 4:9-

"Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, 'How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?' For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans."

The translation of this last part of the verse is: "Jews use nothing in common with Samaritans"

The woman sees that Jesus does not have his own vessel for drawing water. She assumes He wants to use hers...and that is what amazes her.

Samaritans were more lax in their understanding of ritual cleanness (Commentary, New Geneva Study Bible, 1995).

The disciples were taught to treat Samaritans differently:

Acts 10:28

Matt 10:5,6

Luke 9:51-54

So, we see that it was truly amazing that Jesus would speak to her.

Jesus not only spoke to the woman, but He asked to drink out of her vessel....an unclean vessel.

Please read:

Rom 9:22

It is up to God how He creates and uses vessels that He makes.

2 Cor 4:7

God uses us, earthen vessels, for His good will.

Sometimes we suffer:

2 Cor 4:8-11

So that God may be glorified and Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh....our earthen vessels.

It was understood that Jewish men were prideful. Many Jews would rather cross the Jordan river twice than go through Samaria. She recognized Jesus as a Jewish man. His appearance wasn't aything special....no "glowing halo" around Him and no red hair with blue eyes to set Him apart.

Please read:

Is. 53:1-3

Yet, Jesus was remarkable in what acts He did:

Is. 49:1-2

He is a weapon of God

Is. 40:10-11

Ez. 34:11-14

The Good Shepherd

Micah 5:2

The Ruler of Israel

Is. 40:28-31

As God, He never faints nor gets weary

What a remarkable God He is!!

The woman at the well noticed something different about this Jewish man. Do non-Christians notice something different about us or are we the same as they?

Jesus gave us an example....a perfect example....of how to be in this world.

Jesus seeks out His own...like the Good Shepherd that He is. He seeks them out and brings the hurt or lost lambs to Himself.

Ez 34:1-10

Unlike the irresponsible shepherds who abuse their position

Ez 34:11-15

He is the loving shepherd who returns His sheep to the fold.

The Samaritan had no idea she was among her Shepherd....her Messiah. But she was about to discover this truth.

We know that we have the Good Shepherd with us. Because we are not Jewish, but Gentiles, we are adopted into the flock:

Please read:

John 10:14-16

To His side

Is 40:10-11

He will feed His flock and gather the lambs with His arms and carry them in His bosom, and gently lead those who are with young.

I love this picture of our Savior. He truly did save us from the "beasts of the field" who sought to devour us. He provides for us through the covenant:

Provisions

Protection

Presence

We are His and He is ours.

The Samaritan woman, we will soon discover, was lost. She was out there searching from man to man for her "thirst" to be quenched. But soon she will have that Living Water for all eternity.

Praise God that we have that water.........we are no longer lost.

John 10: 27-30

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Life Application

I heard one missionary tell a story on the radio about how he was trying to evangelize Muslims in an African country.

He spoke about how he would go door to door inviting people to his little church for Sunday service. Many people would listen, but one man always slammed the door in the missionary's face time and time again day after day. But the missionary did not stop going to that man's door.

One day, the missionary changed his approach. He asked the man why he was so angry with him and why he kept slamming the door shut.

The man went on to explain how during the Crusades many Muslims were murdered in the name of Jesus. He said he hated Christians because of what happened during the Crusades.

The missionary stood there for a moment, then said, "What if I broke into your home and stole your coat. Then I took that coat and wore it while I did horrible things like murder and robbery? And the police, your neighbors, everyone thought it was you who did these horrible things because of the stolen coat...How would you feel?"

The man just listened.

"You see," said the missionary. "That is what happens when people use the name of Jesus to do horrible acts on others. They steal His name and wear His cloak to do horrible things. That is what happens."

Again, the man just listened. Then the missionary invited the man to come to church, but the man closed the door once again.

A few days passed, then one day the man did show up for church services. He came a few times and asked many questions. Finally, one day he surrendered to Christ and became a new creation!

When he saw the missionary afterwards, he walked up to him, smiled, and said, "You wear the cloak of Christ well."

I pray that we will wear the cloak of Christ well too.

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Until next time........

"Let us not trifle with God or trivialize His love. We will never stand in awe of being loved by God until we reckon with the seriousness of our sin and the justice of His wrath against us. But when, by grace, we waken to our unworthiness, then we may look at the suffering and death of Christ and say, 'In this is love, not that we have loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the [wrather-absorbing] propitiation for our sins.' (I John 4:10).'"

-John Piper

(The Passion of Jesus Christ, 2004, p.21.)

Blessings,

Ruth