The Living Water: Lesson Twenty-Four

Behold, a king will reign in righteousness,And princes will rule with justice.

A man will be as a hiding place from the wind,

And a cover from the tempest,

As rivers of water in a dry place,

As a shadow of a great rock in a weary land."


Isaiah 32:1-2


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Let's begin our time with prayer......


"Holy Father God, our LORD and Savior. I praise Your name this day because You are like a river of water in a dry place and a shadow of a great rock in a weary land. You know how hot the sun can get because You created it and walked under it here on earth. You know how precious a river of water and a shadow can be to us here in the desert. Thank You, Lord, for being our Provider....our Jehovah Jireh.


I seek the forgiveness of my sins because I know there are many times when I put my trust in this world or in myself instead of trusting in You. I know there are times when I do not follow You nor come to You but instead look within myself. This is sin and I pray that You will wash me clean and renew me.


I pray for each lady here this day reading this study. I pray that she will come to You with all her cares in this world. I pray that she will learn to follow You and not her own ways.

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



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John 4:30



"Then they went out of the city and came to Him."





How wonderful it must have been for Jesus to see all the people coming to Him from the city to see if He was the Messiah, the Christ.


Please read:


Matt 4:19-20


Like the Samaritan woman left her waterpot, they left their nets.


Matt 11:28


Matt 4:23-25


Matt 9:35-38


So many people needed Jesus. Here we see that the people of Samaria, at least this city, Sychar (or Shechem) was very meaningful to the Lord. Remember how we looked at this place in the Old Testament:


Gen 33:19


Gen 48:22


Now we have Jesus, the very Promise of God fulfilled, meeting the people of Sychar to save them.


Matt 12:30-31


We are to gather up and not scatter.


Matt 19:13-15


We are not to hinder those who come to Jesus.


Jesus would later commission His disciples to go out and make disciples of nations for Him:


Mark 16:14-20



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"Then they went out of the city...."






Leaving Sychar, it was almost like they were leaving the Old Testament, the Old Covenant, and entering into the New Covenant, the Promise Fulfilled. Coming to Jesus sometimes means leaving what we know.....leaving our comfort zone and going to Him.



Rom 4:19-22


Abraham left his country and went to where God told him to go.....he waited for the Promise of the Lord in a son: Isaac....then when he lived to see that Promise fulfilled, he was willing to sacrifice that son in obedience. And how did the Lord reward him?



But, so not be fooled, there is cost invovled in evangelizing in the Lord's name:



Matt 5:11-12


Matt 10:21-28


But look at the rewards:


Matt 20:29-34


Matt 9:1-2


Witnessing great miracles and healing and forgiveness of sins! He is that river of water in a dry place and that shadow of a great rock in a weary land. This land can be so unforgiving and it is guaranteed to only get worse. But we know we have that living water in this desert and we have the shelter of the Shadow of God in this weary land.



I have often felt called to go to Romania and teach the gospel to young teenage girls there. I may have a chance to go to Slovakia next year to teach at a youth camp there....then perhaps the Lord will send me to Romania. But I know that there will be a cost: both a financial one and a physical one. Terrorism still remains rampant all over the world. We saw how South Korean Christians were taken hostage and some were killed all for serving our Lord. Am I willing to take that chance and leave my son without a mother??


I know Jesus would be my hiding place from the wind and a cover from the tempest.


Heb 13:5


Gen 28:15


But I know it is an awesome responsibility and that is why it requires prayer. I covet your
prayers on this!!





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Life Application




".....and came to Him."






The woman said, "Come, see a man....." and the people came to Him. This is just one of those wonderful pictures in the Bible of how the Lord moves His sheep to come to Him.

But we know that not all who saw Jesus were changed. We looked at that a couple of lessons ago. Now let's look at some who were changed:


Please read:


Luke 24:13-35


Their eyes were restrained, so they did not know it was Jesus who was speaking to them.
So how did Jesus open their eyes?


He spoke to them scriptures: God's word opens our eyes!


He went through all the scriptures with them concernign Himself, broke bread, blessed it, and gave it to them.


Matt 4:4


John 6:48


Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him. Praise God! He has given us "the bread of life" and now we can partake of that supper as well and see Him when He removes the restraining veil from our eyes.


Just like the woman at the well....her eyes were opened and she saw Him as He was.


The Life application of this verse is for you to really see what is happening here:


The woman spoke, the people listened, left the city, and came to Him.


Speak the word of God, then watch the Holy Spirit move the people to leave their place of comfort and come to Him. Remember how I wrote about how the Samaritan woman met Jesus face-to-face and heard His voice, yet we are more blessed because we have the Bible in our hands. We have the complete revelation of God within our reach. That is why we are held to a higher accountability than the Samaritan woman:


Luke 12:42


Because we have been given so much.


Take this knowledge of the Word and our Lord and share it with other. Gather those seeds, don't scatter them. Reap the harvest the Lord had put before you. Then you will know true comfort and true rest....that eternal rest that awaits us:


Heb 4:9-10



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




"Sin is such a powerful influence in our lives that we must be liberated by God's power, not by our willpower. But since we are sinners we must ask, Is the power of God directed toward our liberation or our condemnation? That's where the suffering of Christ comes in. When Christ died to remove our condmentation, he opened , as it were, the valve of heaven's mighty mercy to flow on behalf of our liberation from the power of sin."



-John Piper (The Passion of Jesus Christ, 2004, p. 77)







Blessings,
Ruth