3/9/2012

John 4:10 Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”

What was driving Jesus to talk to this woman? It was not her physical need of water but her spiritual need of Living Water. In Romans 15 vs. 27 it talks about not only our responsibility to fulfill the spiritual needs of others but also the physical. However, sometimes physical needs are very obvious and Jesus is emphasizing on this woman’s spiritual need at the moment.

This is an extremely important truth especially as I am serving in Costa Rica right now. Yes, we are called to fulfill the physical needs around us; but, most importantly, what are we doing about people’s spiritual needs? If I make a meal for someone, am I more concerned about the pasta being “just right” or if the recipient gets prayer, a word of encouragement, or whatever the Lord puts on my heart. Am I attune to His spirit directing me…looking to see what He would have me do?

Application: All too often, I am completely wrapped up in meeting the physical needs of others. God, I pray that I would be more attuning to your heart and the things that you desire to accomplish through my every action of the day.

3/12/2012

John 4:12 “Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?”

This verse struck me in a new way. Here this woman is talking to God of all gods and Lord of all lords, yet she is in doubt considering Jesus greater than Jacob.  Jacob is a familiar picture, a relatable life story that has been passed down from generation to generation. It was a culturally accepted fact that Jacob was a great and mighty man.

Are there things in my life that I have doubt about what the Lord is telling me because it goes culturally against what I have learned? Does it make me challenge what I have generally thought of as “my right” or “just the way to do things”? Being here in Costa Rica has challenged my thoughts on what should be my aspirations in life…about material wealth…and about sharing what you have.

One of the things the Lord has really impressed upon my heart is the importance of living simply. Our life should not be about seeing how much we can hoard for ourselves but what is the best way to live out Christ’s life.

Application:

I am going to write out some of the truths I have learned being here in Costa Rica and be open to how they may challenge my original thoughts of what was “normal”, “right”, or “just the way things should be done”.

3/13/2012

John 4:13-14 Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, 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.”

How sweet to think…everything on this earth is only meant to last a little time, yet God is meant to last forever. Everything that God gives us it to fill us NOT leaving us unsatisfied. God fills us with His living water that gives us the strength to do all that is before us every day. It is what drives us to step out of our comfort zone to share His name with others. This living water from God is what sustains us when we don’t feel filled in other areas of our life through friendships, a “good” job, or money in abundance. All these things we think will make us happy and fulfilled. They may give us happiness, but is happiness what we really want. Happiness is totally dependent on circumstances; isn’t God’s joy that sustained Paul through all of his life’s trials that we want supporting us in this race to the pearl gates of heaven?

Application:

God, thank you for this living water that you provide through your Word bringing life into my soul and heart. I pray, God, that when I desire to be filled, that I look to you and NOT to these earthly things around me that satisfy me for a short while leaving me just as in want again later.