Stuck on the Bottle!
I said, “Look, I have come.
….As is written about me in the Scriptures:
I take joy in doing your will, my God,
….for your instructions are written on my heart.” Psalm 40:7-8 NLT
John 4:27-34 (<<click here to read the passage)
One of my littles was talking with me a few weeks back while she waited to get off the bus and go to school. She has a baby sister who is starting to eat more solid food and her sister really liked her pureed butternut squash. When I asked the older sister if she liked it too, she shook her head “no” but said she liked some of the fruit ones, if I remember correctly.
All of us start out with basic nourishment – a mother’s milk or formula of some sort. We ingest what is best for us at the time but eventually, to grow the way we need to, we move up the food chain, to pureed baby food, and then on to a greater variety of solid food.
If we refused to leave the milk stage, we would be physically challenged to grow and develop as we should. Our bodies and even our brains would not reach their full potential due to a lack of proper nourishment. We would never choose to go that direction and our parents would not allow us to anyway. So that being the case, why do we do the exact opposite spiritually?
The Apostle Paul said in 2 Corinthians 3:1-3,
Dear brothers and sisters, when I was with you I couldn’t talk to you as I would to spiritual people. I had to talk as though you belonged to this world or as though you were infants in Christ. I had to feed you with milk, not with solid food, because you weren’t ready for anything stronger. And you still aren’t ready, for you are still controlled by your sinful nature. You are jealous of one another and quarrel with each other. Doesn’t that prove you are controlled by your sinful nature? Aren’t you living like people of the world? NLT [emphasis mine]
When the disciples returned to find Jesus talking with the Samaritan women they were shocked. v27 When she ran into town, they urged Jesus saying,
“Rabbi, eat something.”
But Jesus replied, “I have a kind of food you know nothing about.”
Then Jesus explained: “My nourishment comes from doing the will of God, who sent me, and from finishing his work. vs31,32,34
The Life Application Study Bible New Living Translation has this to say regarding verse 34:
The “nourishment” about which Jesus was speaking was his spiritual nourishment. It includes more than Bible study, prayer, and attending church. Spiritual nourishment also comes from doing God’s will and helping to bring his work of salvation to completion. We are nourished not only by what we take in, but also by what we give out for God.
Unfortunately, many faithful, church-attending followers of Christ are malnourished…and we have no one to blame but ourselves. We say we pray but we struggle with it. We know we need to read and study God’s word, but we come up with all kinds of excuses not to. We can’t even bring ourselves to get the foundation stones of truth set, so how in the world are we going to genuinely do God’s will and help to bring His work of salvation to completion?
More than a few Christians are infants in Christ, though we’ve claimed to follow Him for decades! But we’re still stuck on the bottle! Lord Jesus, help us to see our need! May we break out of our complacency! May we see our malnourished state for what it truly is! May we have a ravishing hunger for You and all that is Yours! Amen (so be it)!
May 3rd, 2021, Mon, 7:57 pm
Is It a WHERE Question or a HOW Question?
It has been a day of challenges, Father, from beginning to end. And though it has been trying, You have never left my side. I have held my tongue when need be, but I have also spoken the truth when I needed to. Thank You for Your guiding hand of love upon my heart.
John 4:19-26 (<<click here to read the passage)
It’s interesting how our minds work. In my part of the world, established believers, who have grown up in the church, may find it hard to think of worshiping God outside the four walls of a church building. But believers in other parts of the world may think nothing of worshipping God under a tree, in an apartment, or an open field.
During the pandemic, many churches have had to learn how to conduct “virtual” worship. Honestly, it’s been a struggle. Many pastors had to learn how to do it on the fly! Some people had jumped right in and got on board with it all. I rejoice in the fact that I have several new attendees, who to my knowledge have never stepped through the doors of either church! But some people couldn’t get past the idea that they had to sit in front of a computer or watch the small display on their phone. So instead, they chose to sit out on everything.
But here’s the thing, it makes no difference if you worship in a cathedral or the recliner in your own home. The important thing is that you worship.
When Jesus pointed out the Samaritan women’s marital status, she quickly changed the subject. And as is quite often the fact, when she brought up the oft disputed topic of where worship should take place, Jesus gave her a lot more than she had bargained for.
But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way. For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.” v23-24
It is not important where we worship, but it is important that we worship the Father in spirit and truth as true worshipers.
It requires a solid how response, not a where response.
Lord Jesus, help us to understand the importance of worshipping You in spirit and truth. It is a sad reality that often, even when we are in places that we feel are conducive to worship…we don’t. There is neither spirit nor truth. We may sing. We may bow our heads in prayer…but worship is the farthest thing from our hearts and minds. May that understanding of the reality of our lives awaken us to the reality of our need. Amen!
May 2nd, 2021, Sun, 7:21 pm
There Is a River
O Lord my God, you have performed many wonders for us.
….Your plans for us are too numerous to list.
….You have no equal.
If I tried to recite all your wonderful deeds,
….I would never come to the end of them. Psalm 40:5 NLT
John 4:1-26 (<<click here to read the passage)
When I first read through this passage of Scripture it brought a wonderful song to mind. And even though I spent some time running down this path I realized I would need to lay the passage out for the song to mean anything. And now that I have, here is what I started to write.
If I remember correctly, we sang There Is a River as part of our repertoire with the West Virginia District Impact Team of the Church of the Nazarene while I was in high school. It was one of my favorites then and still is today.
It was written by Max and David Sapp in 1969 and it directly speaks of the woman at the well. Here are the lyrics and if you’d like to listen, the Gaither Vocal Band does a pretty nice job!
THERE IS A RIVER
Refrain
There is a river, and it flows from deep within
There is a fountain that frees the soul from sin
Come to this water
There is a vast supply
There is a river that never shall run dry
And there was a thirsty woman
She was drawing from the well
See, her life was ruined and wasted
And her soul was bound for hell
Oh, but then she met the Master and He told her of her sin
And He said, “If you drink this water, you’ll never thirst again”
Refrain
Apr 29th, 2021, Thurs, 8:10 pm
Do You Ever Feel Stuck?
Thank You, Father, for the ability to get out and walk this morning and for this glorious spring day. I needed both!
John 4:1-15 (<<click here to read the passage)
Do you ever feel stuck? Many come to a point in their lives where they seem to be living in a never-ending cycle. Some might feel that it is a downward spiral but for many, it’s described as being in a rut or being trapped in the “rat race”.
Every day is the same. They get up, go to work, doing the same tasks day after day after day, they go home going through their evening routine that doesn’t usually vary a whole lot either, eventually dropping into bed, and they get up the next morning and start the cycle all over again.
There is little joy in the mundaneness of it all…
The woman in today’s passage was stuck in a nonstop rotation of life. Now her partners changed on occasion, but her life changed very little. Even in a society of rejected souls – due mainly to Jews intermarrying with non-Jews centuries ago – she was shunned by the shunned.
Most women of the community came for water in the morning and then again in the evening…but she avoided the interaction and probable confrontation. She had a reputation that made her pretty unpopular. She had had five husbands and now she was hooked up with another guy to whom she wasn’t even married. So, she came at noon for water.
Stuck. Rut. Never-ending cycle. …when will it ever end?
Enter Jesus…
Just talking to her, Jesus crossed all kinds of barriers – she was a Samaritan, she was a woman, she was shunned by the shunned…but known by Him!
Every day at that time she came to draw water, and when Jesus saw her, He said, “Please give me a drink.” v7 A simple request, right? But it raised all kinds of questions from her.
When she asked, “Why are you asking me for a drink?”
Jesus replied, “If you only knew the gift God has for you and who you are speaking to, you would ask me, and I would give you living water.” vs9b-10
She observed that He didn’t even have a rope or a bucket. And I’m sure in her mind she was wondering what He was up to.
But then He threw out the line of hope!
“Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.” vs13-14 NLT
Now that got her attention! But Jesus was just getting started!
However, that will have to wait until tomorrow for there is far too much yet to write!
Apr 27th, 2021, Tues, 9:10 pm
See Between the Lines
Father, it is a beautiful day of new beginnings. I give it all over to You. May you use my life as You see fit for Your glory! Amen!
********
Keeping my eyes on the move is essential to keeping my invaluable cargo safe while driving my school bus. But more often than not, I see all kinds of things that are not threats but just cool things to see!
This morning a fox ran across the road in front of me. Last week a pheasant did the same thing. Rabbits and squirrels are everywhere this time of year. I often see deer. I see a great variety of birds all the time and even saw a Pileated Woodpecker on an old stump a while back.
I see them but do my students see any of them? …very rarely. If I see a deer in a field on a backroad, I quite often will point it out to my elementary kids. But all in all, they are absorbed in their phones or napping or playing/conversing with their friends. Who has time to look out the windows? What would you normally see? Rocks and trees! …as someone near and dear to my heart would say!
A phrase I have used in the past is that, as followers of Christ, it is of the utmost importance that we need learn to see between the lines. Far too often we are self-absorbed. We only see what pertains to us, and pretty much nothing else.
Recently I was watching a show and an FBI agent was talking with a boy about his older sister’s disappearance. They had normally walked to school together, but he had told his mother he was sick and didn’t go with her that day. Just by looking at him, the agent could tell – she saw between the lines – that there was something he wanted to say. When she probed a little bit, he shared that he hadn’t been sick and in turn blamed himself for his sister’s abduction.
That’s a simple example but throughout our daily routines, there is a good chance that our paths will cross with someone who is hurting, someone who needs something that we can provide. And we can do so if we are paying attention…if we are seeing between the lines of their lives.
Many times, those “things” are not easily discerned. We may need to ask a few questions to “prime the pump” if you will. But…if we are not looking, we cannot see. If our eyes are constantly on what interests us, we will fall short of seeing the needs of others. We may think we don’t have time to look out the windows of our lives but oh the things we miss because we don’t! Oh, the lives we could touch if we did!
Do you not say, ‘It is still four months until the harvest comes?’ Look, I say to you, raise your eyes and look at the fields and see, they are white for harvest. John 4:35 AMP
You just never know how the Lord could use you…see between the lines!
Apr 26th, 2021, Mon, 12:20 pm