The Living Water: Lesson Nine

"For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink in My name,

because you belong to Christ, assuredly,

I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward."

Mark 9:41

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Let's thank the Lord for this day.....

"Holy Father, I come before You again this day to give You praise for all that You have done for me. I thank You for this day and all that is in it. I thank You for Your presence in my home, my life, and my heart. Without You I am nothing.

I acknowledge my sins against you and confess them now. I pray that You will search my heart for secret sins and wash me clean through Your blood that I may serve You.

I pray for each lady here this day, that You will encourage her to stay in Your word and serve You through the ministry of her home. I pray for her marriage and her children. I pray for her strength to get through each day. And I pray for her to have Your peace.

In Jesus' name.........amen."

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Ordinary People

When we read about the ministry of Jesus, we read about the people He chose to be His disciples. They were ordinary people of no prominence. Fishermen, tax collectors, and even a man who lived in the wilderness.

Even Jesus himself chose to inhabit an ordinary body:

Please read:

Isaiah 53:2-3

"...He has no form (or stately form) or comeliness (splendor);

And when we see Him, there is no beauty (appearance) that we should desire Him..."

Jesus chose an appearance that would draw no special attention to Himself. He looked like a 1st century Jewish man would look. Remember how the Samaritan woman saw him: a Jewish man traveling and weary.

Let's think of the Samaritan woman. We know she was not rich because she did not have servants to draw her water for her. She did not have a good reputation because she was drawing water at an odd hour of the day instead of when the women came to draw water. And she knew that being a Samaritan meant she would not be treated well by the Jewish men.

Yet, the Lord chose her.

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John 4:14-

"But whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life."

Please read:

Is 12:3-6

Fountain of water or wells of salvation- what do you picture when you read these verses?

Contrast a fountain of water with a well of salvation. To you, is there a difference?

Jesus used words to describe what He gives: a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.

Sounds dramatic, doesn't it? I see water...springing up and out when I read this passage. Contrast with the well of water that sits and is there for us.

Neither one is necessarily better than the other, but they do put different pictures into your head.

Jesus shows the Samaritan woman that, indeed, He is greater than Jacob. Jacob's well is good, but it is not best for her. The water is good for her temporal needs, but not what will give her that eternal satisfaction that she desires.

Material things and people will satisfy up to a point. Only the things of God can give us eternal satisfaction. I believe that for this reason there is no physical description of Christ in the Bible. God knows that we would worship the image only and not Christ. We would erect statues or worship paintings of the likeness of Christ instead of Him. Look at what people do when they think they see Jesus in a tortilla!

God chose to come to this world as an ordinary person and He chose the ordinary of this world to do His good works.

Please read:

1 Cor 1:26-30

Our bodies are always craving because of sin: we find no complete satisfaction from anything of this world because it is temporary.

Ps 90:14

Ps 91:14-16

Is 58:11

Ez 7:19

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"..the water that I shall give..."

Jesus clearly wants this woman to understand the divine origin of the gift that He is about to give to her. Twice He says this for emphasis.

Rom 6:23

We would be wise to always remember the origin of our gift of salvation!

Rom 5:5

Is 55:1

Jehovah Jireh- the Lord Provides.

We serve an honorable God who keeps His promises. If He gives us the gift of eternal life- His covenant promise- then we know it is true. The supply of water that Jesus gives shall not diminish. It will always spring up into everlasting life!

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Life Application

The Abundant Life

What this Samaritan woman is about to receive is abundance of life. More than she has ever known to this point.

Jesus knows her needs and He knows what will satisfy her to overflowing just like He knew you before He called you to Hiw own. He watched you and saw what it was you were looking for to satisfy your thirst and hunger. As you went from place to place and person to person, He watched and waited for His perfect timing. For some of us, we were little children when He called us. For others, you were grown women. But He watched all of us and knew what we needed.

Jesus alone is the origin of that satisfaction.

Please read:

Ps 145:14-16

He knew our deepest desires

Ps 145:17-21

And still does:

Ps 37:3-4

Because He knows that to have Him is the Greatest Good

Ps 103:1-5

And that His mercy is everlasting

Ps 103:15-18

Having justified us freely by His grace

Rom 3:1-24

As our propitiation

Rom 3:25

And as both the just and justifier

Rom 3:26

Rom 4:5

But before He reveals Himself to this woman, He must prepare her completely to meet His holiness.

Think back to how God prepared you to meet Jesus, the revelation of who He is. From where did God bring you and to where are you going for Him?

God's fountain of water springs up overflowing with eternal life.

Is that not better than Jacob's well??

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Until next time..........

"Repentance does not bring a sense of sin, but a sense of unutterable unworthiness. When I repent, I realize that I am utterly helpless; I know all through me that I am not worthy even to bear His shoes. Have I repented like that? Or is there a lingering suggestion of standing up for myself? The reason God cannot come into my life is beacuse I am not through into repentance. 'He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and fire.' John does not speak of the baptism of the Holy Ghost as an experience, but as a work performed by Jesus Christ. 'He shall baptize you.' The only conscious experience those who are baptized with the Holy Ghost ever have is a sense of absolute unworthiness.

I indeed was this and that; but He came, and a marvelous thing happened. Get to the margin where He does everything."

-Oswald Chambers (My Utmost for His Highest, 1935)

Blessings,

Ruth