The Samaritan Woman

Last night, I had the awesome opportunity to get together with a couple friends and have a study on a passage of scripture. Each person came prepared to the study by reading the chosen passage fully and in detail. Unfortunately, I didn't do my homework. i hadn't even looked at the passage once before going. I was even contemplating the idea of not going. I hadn't gone for weeks to the study and for some reason last night, I felt that I just had to go. I felt that if I did not go, I would be missing out on something great- something valuable that I could use in my daily walk. Boy was I glad I went!

If the title hadn't given it away to you yet, the passage we focused on was John 4 verse 4-42, the account of the Samaritan Woman. As usual we started off with the first verse in the passage-verse 4. Little did we know that by this little verse is where we would stay for the next hour. At the end of the study, I was simply amazed. I have no other words to describe how amazing it was just to see how much I learned from this one teeny tiny so often overlooked verse.

John 4:4 you ready for it? Here it is:

4."And He had to pass through Samaria."

"What?" you say. "You spent one hour, on...THAT?" Trust me, if I were reading by myself I definitely would not have spent an hour on that verse. I would have looked right past it and ran straight to the part where He met the lady. Each person present at the study brought different truths to the table that they gained during their personal study. Here is a compilation of all the wonderful lessons I was glad I didn't miss out on.

The first observation is that Jesus Had to pass through Samaria. That tiny word- Had, gives a world of meaning to that sentence. Jesus was on his way to Galilee and just like today, there are more than one ways to reach a certain area. Normally, Jews would travel on another road with the sole purpose of avoiding Samaria. The Samaritans..they were, well...Samaritans. Ew, filthy, wicked, immoral. The very name-Samaria means "Watchtower", or "Guardianship". And the place where Jesus went, Sychar, well that means "Drunken". The Jews wouldn't dare think of associate with a Samaritan let alone travel through their country. It was a preposterous notion! So what do we see our Lord doing and why is He doing this strange thing? You can see here that He's going against the norm. Think about it, when wasn't He doing a strange thing like going against all preconceived notions of how things were supposed to be done? But why exactly would he take the road through Samaria? The answer is quite extraordinary- For one soul. Yes, for ONE SOUL. 

Jesus had a purpose in mind for taking the road that He did. Jesus was willing to break any barrier be it racial, traditional or cultural all for the sake of one soul. He is God. He knew what the circumstance would be. He knew that the Samaritan woman would come to draw water at that exact well, at that exact time. And He knew that through her, the message about the Messiah could be spread to others in that town just like her.

 

Like Jesus, do we ever pay attention to our circumstances and with perspective? Let me expand on that statement. Jesus knew the circumstance right? He knew what was going to happen and what was happening. And we already stated that He had a purpose in doing what He did- to spread the good news and ultimately bring glory to God. Although we don't know what will happen, we know what's happening. In daily encounters or conversations, God could be lining one up for you in your circumstance but we may not have the right perspective to handle it in the right way. So a heart that might be open to receiving the Gospel would be left out in the cold world while we fail to realize our circumstance with the right perspective. (I hope you have understood that I'm talking about sharing Christ to others) Jesus did exactly that with the Samaritan woman. 

But many times its so hard for us to talk to others about Christ. We already touched upon the fact that Christ was willing to break any barrier (racial, cultural or traditional) for the sake of one soul. What we must realize is that when God looks at people, He doesn't see a person. He sees a SOUL. That one's lost, that one's mine, that soul is saved, that soul is perishing. When Christ saw that woman at the well, He saw a perishing soul. What's more? When He saw that perishing soul, He didn't rush up to her exclaiming, "I am the Christ!! Believe in me and be saved!!" No, our Lord asked her for a sip of water. In our day to day life, if we're looking to share Christ with others, we can't expect to share Christ with that person and nothing else. We must see the soul but at the same time, love the person. Most people won't even accept a cup of water from a stranger let alone someone who is known to be immoral. It's amazing that Christ is willing to sit, talk, share a cup of water with her. He showed his love to her before explaining who He was. If we have any hope of bringing souls to Christ, we must also show Christ-like love to them. 

Christ had the wisdom to speak to her. He knew exactly what to say to her, something familiar to her of-course. The mountain where she worshiped is a well known topic to her. He didn't talk about far fetched things that would be hard for her to understand. When talking to people about Christ, we must try to talk in a way that the hearer will understand. 

Christ came to Samaria. Christ met her where she was at, even though the hour was late and He didn't expect her to come in search for Him.When sharing the Gospel with others, don't expect a homerun every time. You may be one piece on that person's journey. But hey, remember that you're being used-and God will honor you for that desire to be used. 

So some take home challenges I got from this:

Christ took the path through Samaria for a reason. Even though it was uncomfortable and out of the norm, He took it. My prayer should be to be comfortable with uncomfortableness. 

Christ had the wisdom to deal with people and the right words to say. I can get that same wisdom as long as I'm in the book and out of the picture.

Christ knew the circumstance and handled it with perspective. I should pray and actively look for the circumstance (opportunities to share) and have the right perspective (I may not get a home-run but I'll still be in the game).

I don't know whose reading this, but whatever I just wrote, hopefully it encourages you as much as it is encouraging me. I hope that by writing this post, I can look back at this throughout the week and remind myself of all the great truths I learned last night from this one tiny verse. I don't wanna be 90% interpretation, 10% observation and 0% application. If you remember me after reading, please say a prayer that I can actually use this in my day to day life. Also, I want to add that none of what I wrote above were my ideas or what I came up with. Let me remind you, I've read that one verse plenty of times before and never have I spent an hour dwelling or meditating on that verse. This is simply what the Spirit revealed to the people at the study last night. It's truly a blessing from God to be surrounded with and learn from people who are actively seeking the heart of God. Last night showed me exactly how much juice can be squeezed from one verse and trust me there was more to be squeezed. It's truly is a testament to how rich the word of God is.

My Life: An Update

I'm sitting. It's late Thursday night, early Friday morning..however you want to look at it. Couldn't sleep. Serves me right for drinking two glasses full of iced coffee. I finally got the right ratio of coffee, milk, ice and sugar that suits my taste. There's thunder outside. I can hear the rain against my window pane. If I leave my room, I'll hear the rain hitting the roof. It's pouring outside. Drip..drip..drip..splash...swoosh...THUNDER. Cue lightening. aaand now the rain just increased from a full out monsoon to even fuller outier monsoon. I lit a candle. Never buy the aroma therapy candles from bath and body works-the "scent" doesn't linger nor fill the air. Thunder. The rain has let off a bit now.

About two weeks ago, Saturday morning, while studying for a micro exam, I decided to take a break. I flipped on the TV and a golf tournament was on. Before giving in to my natural instinct to flip the channel and never return to CBS 3, I stopped to watch. Guess what, I actually enjoyed it! Now I wasn't sure if I had become delirious after studying for hours (ok fine, an hour) so I decided I would watch the following week-which I did. I enjoyed that game also! I think I have a new found appreciation for the game. I can honestly say that I hope golf is on this Saturday. aaand that's just a tid bit of what's been happening in my life recently. More posts to come!

How to read the Bible and How to eat an Orange

Ever since I could remember, I've always been taught to read the Bible. Every morning, I would get asked whether or not I read the Bible before I started my day. I found myself reading the Bible just so I could say that I read it. Recently, I was conversing with a friend about reading the Bible. We both came to the agreement that while we were always taught to read the Bible, we were never taught how exactly to read the Word of God. I found myself reading the Bible like a leisurely reading book- admiring the amazing stories and nodding my head at the truths I found. It wasn't until I started regularly attending a bible study that I learned how exactly I should be reading the bible. One friend of mine described reading the Word of God as peeling an orange. Stay with me here, I know it sounds crazy, but the analogy works here.

"What is the proper way to eat an orange?

A wise old man from Florida once said the only way to eat an orange was to cut a hole through the top of the orange. Once the top part of the orange had a hole in it, you had to squeeze or suck all the juice out of the orange. Once the orange had been drained of all its juice, then the orange can be peeled and the actual fruit can be eaten.

Just like the proper peeling of this orange, the Bible has to be properly peeled in order to get the most juice out. If the Word of God is being read or studied, one must try to squeeze the juice out of each and every single verse, not quickly try to peel it apart. The verses must be savored, each sip of the juice must be enjoyed thoroughly and to its fullest. Then one can move on to further peel back all its goodness and digest the fruit of the matter."

When I heard this I thought, wow how true! Each verse has so many nuggets of gold within it that to simply skim through a verse doesn't allow one to squeeze all the juice out of it. What's amazing is that no matter how many times you sit down to eat this orange, it will never ever run out of juice! Praise God for His ability to reveal something new to us each time we sit down to read a verse no matter if it is the 50th time reading that same verse. 

Thank you Lord, for providing us with an instruction manual for life and the instructions for how to read the manual itself.

Psalm 119:105-
Your word is a lamp to my feet 
And a light to my path.

How to Slay Sin, Part 4

How to Slay Sin, Part 4

Thought For The Week- One encounter with you.....

One question has been on my mind constantly for the past two weeks. In a way, I'm happy that this simple question has wrapped its fingers around my thoughts.

"If an encounter with you was a person's only spiritual encounter, what would they see?"

I've been chewing on this thought for a couple weeks now and what I've realized is that many people that come in contact with me are in fact having their encounter with a little Christ but are they truly seeing Christ? Or am I getting in the way? Sadly, for a majority of the time, the latter part is true. 

The person that comes to mind is: Joesph. Wherever he was, people saw that he was a child of God. They knew there was something different about him. Gen 39:3- "When his master [Potiphar] saw that the LORD was with him and that the LORD gave him success in everything he did, Joseph found favor in his [Potiphar's] eyes and became his attendant." (emphasis mine) Notice the word saw. Such a tiny word with a world of meaning. Potiphar saw that the LORD was with Joseph. He didn't hear Joseph say that the LORD was with him, he saw it. This captures my attention as much as it did for Potiphar and his entire household. Joseph was in Egypt, far away from the land of his forefathers- the people of God. I'm almost certain that Joseph was Potiphar's one chance at a spiritual encounter with the true and living God. Even the prison warden in jail knew there was something different about Joseph. They saw that the LORD was with him.

If a person saw me, would they see something different? Would they see that the LORD was with me? Or would they just see me claiming that Christ is with me?

I know that for my last post, I just posted verses up that were on my mind. Somehow, I'm finding that string of commonality in all of my thoughts which leads me to realize that these are just a few of the many things I need to work on.

If I were to write a few sentences summarizing the connection I've made, it would be this: 

Remembering that I am only dust is a humbling thought that should lead me to live a more careful life-not full of showing others my righteousness or what I have done for Christ but showing others what Christ has done for me. Also, I like toast, green tea and honey.

Matthew 6:1–18 (NASB)

Giving to the Poor and Prayer

1 “Beware of practicing your righteousness before men ato be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven.

2 “So when you 1give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they amay be honored by men. bTruly I say to you, they have their reward in full.

3 “But when you 1give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,

4 so that your 1giving will be in secret; and ayour Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.

5 “When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to astand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners 1bso that they may be seen by men. cTruly I say to you, they have their reward in full.

6 “But you, when you pray, ago into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and byour Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.

7 “And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their amany words.

8 “So do not be like them; for ayour Father knows what you need before you ask Him.

9 “aPray, then, in this way:

‘Our Father who is in heaven,

Hallowed be Your name.

10 ‘aYour kingdom come.

bYour will be done,

On earth as it is in heaven.

11 ‘aGive us this day 1our daily bread.

12 ‘And aforgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

13 ‘And do not lead us into temptation, but adeliver us from 1bevil. 2[For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.]’

14 “aFor if you forgive 1others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.

15 “But aif you do not forgive 1others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.

Fasting

16 “aWhenever you fast, do not put on a gloomy face as the hypocrites do, for they 1neglect their appearance so that they will be noticed by men when they are fasting. bTruly I say to you, they have their reward in full.

17 “But you, when you fast, aanoint your head and wash your face

18 so that your fasting will not be noticed by men, but by your Father who is in secret; and your aFather who sees what is done in secret will reward you.

My Life: An Update- Toast, Green Tea & Honey

For the past month, I've been on winter break from school and the one thing I can say that I cherish is having time to sit down and enjoy breakfast. In the hustle and bustle of the normal school day, often times breakfast is forgotten and a quick cereal bar or energy shake takes its place. If there's one thing I liked about break, it's having breakfast. Many people have shared with me their morning breakfast routines. One friend of mine recited to me their daily morning breakfast as: 1 waffle with butter and syrup, 1 scrambled egg and coffee. Another said: forget everything else, just hand me the coffee. My own breakfast to do list? None...well none until yesterday. I've discovered that I really like the combination of toast and green tea with honey. Green tea by itself to me tastes absolutely horrible...just horrible. However, when its combined with toast and butter, it's just plain ol' good. I wonder if I'll carry this breakfast into next week when classes start. It's a strong contender next to my usual cereal or waffle breakfast. Whatever may be, I really hope to schedule in time for breakfast this coming semester. I'm actually sitting here right now eating toast and green tea with honey and it's close to dinner time!

Now let's talk about honey. I think I've fallen under the spell of the honey bee orrr Winnie the pooh fever. I really like honey! Of course its this whole "having breakfast during break" thing that has made me discover that I like honey but I never really realized how indescribably good the taste is. It's light and sweet and golden and just reminds me of the Bible. Huh? The Bible you say? Why of course! Honey is all over the bible. God promised to the Israelites the land flowing with milk and honey. John the Baptist ate locusts and wild honey...yum! no seriously if he ate pure wild honey, then anything he might of paired it with might have tasted good ;) Eating honey really takes me back to biblical times where I can imagine the people of God sitting around a table eating supper and passing the honey and the flat bread or that roasted lamb around the table. It sure must have been tasty. Honey just reminds me of the provisions God makes for his people and just how sweet his blessings really are. I don't really know why I'm ranting on about toast and green tea and honey but all I can say is I thank God for toast, green tea, honey, and most of all showing how great his provisions and blessings are to his people through a simple breakfast.