John 4:4-19 – Bob King

The tension between Jews and Samaritans

- Israel split began the tension
- Syria takes the north – intermarry
- south sees them as half Jew half pagan
- religious tensions – their own temple sacked by the south
- different views of what scripture was

Jesus with samaritan woman
Jesus came through Samaria, not because it was something everyone did, but because He had a “divine calling” to do so. There was a woman there who need a drink for the well of living water, not just some stagnant well. But Jesus took the time to talk with her and help her see not just who He was but to expose her need at a heart level.

Jesus took the opportunity of the well to compare the stagnant well they were at with the flowing living water that Jesus can provide. He explains that the eternal life he offers is like a fountain of flowing water that gives “lush, green, full” life to everything around it. But that the stagnant well, like the one they were sitting at, really doesn’t taste that good and only SEEMS to meet our needs although we constantly have to return to it to get more satisfaction.

So, What well are you drinking from? The stagnant well or the flowing water of life?

Will you continually go back to that stagnant well that may give some immediate gratification but ultimately will never give you the complete satisfaction that you are looking for?

OR

Are you willing to trust that Jesus has the best in mind for you and allow Him to lead you to full and complete satisfaction?

Jesus deeply desires to know our hearts like He desired to know her heart.

Just finished reading an awesome book about God and His love for us. Crazy Love by Francis Chan. If you have not read this, you need to. I don’t care if “you’re not a reader” if you know how to read you need to read and fully grasp what Chan is saying here.

AN ABSOLUTE MUST READ!

Just recently received the following devotional from Zondervan and it hit me where I am at. Jim Cymbala makes a really good point here. Especially as we enter a time of year where our focus “we say” is on Christ and celebrating His coming to Earth. If we are really trying to follow God and reconnect with Him than shouldn’t we really look like him?

One of the greatest spiritual self-deceptions is the idea that we are living close to God even though we care little about the people around us. This simply does not square with 1 John 4:8: “Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.” We can study the Bible as diligently as the Pharisees did; we can boast in our doctrinal statements; we can raise lots of money and build impressive church campuses. But if we are not loving others, including those who are unlike ourselves, we are ignoring the truth of 1 John 4:20, which says, “If we do not love a fellow believer, whom we have seen, we cannot love God, whom we have not seen.” It’s as simple as that. (You Were Made For More)