A Perfect Work

The woman at the well, her heart now opened to receive, responds to Jesus’ revelation of truth by saying something else that she knew for sure.

She said to Him,

“I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When He comes, He will explain everything to us.” – John 4:25 (HCSB)

And, Jesus addressed her one last time,

“I am He…the One speaking to you.” – John 4:26 (HCSB)

With these words, Christ opened the flood gates and living water thrust into the heart of this Samaritan woman – the effluence of the Holy Spirit of God from His heart to hers. The power of the Good News of Christ Jesus bringing healing to her soul, cleansing her by the “washing of the water by the Word” (see Ephesians 5:26), this indescribable “water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb” (see Revelation 22:1)  flowing into her like a cascading waterfall.

Jesus, as man, weary, sat at the well; Jesus, as God, knew that there was to be found in Samaria the sheep that was lost. Seven times He spoke and seven times the Samaritan woman received the Word of God. 

How perfect is Divine wisdom, how infinite in its working? Like the seven days of creation, at the well were seven utterances to a new creation…seven Words of Salvation. 

This woman, once condemned by self and man, experienced the love of the Son of God, and a heart convinced by the Spirit of God. It was her end yet at once her beginning, a new beginning in Christ (see 2 Corinthians 5:17). 

Oh what joy fills your heart when you come to the realization that every word you’ve received was from Messiah, and every moment spent was with Christ, and everything that transpired was of God’s making! 

In this state of euphoria, the woman abandoned every plan that she had made, leaving her water jar behind, she ran back to town to tell every man and woman of her divine encounter, encouraging each one to “Come and see for yourselves”. From her testimony and the message of Christ many believed and were saved (see John 4:28-43). 

That day at the well, Jesus did what He came to do, the will of God. He finished His work, a perfect work.

Amen†

A Perfect Work

Shelley Johnson March 29, 2017

Revelation of Truth

Beloved, what is keeping you away from embracing the gift of God? With what, or whom, are you occupied? You become so occupied with the things of worship, that you can’t recognize the “things of God” (see 1 Corinthians 2:11). So overly concerned are you with “where to worship”, you completely fail to see “Whom to worship”.

Like the woman whom Jesus “had to go through Samaria” to meet, you too know many things – she knew that Jesus was a Jew and that Jews “have no dealings with Samaritans”; she knew that the well was “very deep”; she knew that “father Jacob” gave the well and that he, his sons and his livestock drank from it; she knew that she had no husband; she knew where the ancestors worshiped and where the Jews say “one ought to worship”. 

This woman at the well knew many things concerning the worship of God, but did not know “the gift of God”. She did not know the saving grace, mercy, and love of God; she did not know that she was lost and in need of salvation; she did not know to Whom she was speaking, Jesus Christ, the Messiah – she did not know God.

Knowing the rules, rituals and traditions of the church is not knowing God. Knowing the Bible from cover to cover is not knowing God. Knowing things about God and the acts of God is not knowing God. 

Jesus, with His sixth utterance, steers the woman away from all her religious observances to what is truly divine – He points her in the direction of true worship…

Jesus said to her, “Believe me, woman, the time will come when people will not worship the Father either on this mountain or in Jerusalem. You Samaritans do not really know whom you worship; but we Jews know whom we worship, because it is from the Jews that salvation comes. But the time is coming and is already here, when by the power of God's Spirit people will worship the Father as He really is, offering Him the true worship that He wants. God is Spirit, and only by the power of His Spirit can people worship Him as He really is.” – John 4:21-24 (GNT)

Jesus shows the woman that it’s not about what, when, or where, it is about and only about, Whom – her question and yours should be “Whom to worship and how do I worship Him?” Worship must be spiritual, not religious, not occupied with “self”. True worship goes beyond what you do with your five senses, true worship must engage your spirit. 

God requires and desires you to worship Him not in the flesh but “in spirit and truth”.

Before, the Samaritan woman’s eyes had been opened, but now, this revelation of truth spoke right to her heart (see Hosea 2:14).

Amen†

Revelation of Truth

Shelley Johnson March 27, 2017

Revealed

In the Gospel of Luke we read where two disciples on the road to Emmaus, encounter Jesus but do not recognize Him, even after speaking with Him at length. It was only after Jesus took bread, blessed it and gave it to them, that their eyes were suddenly opened to see Him (see Luke 24:13-35).

And, the ninth chapter of the Book of Acts relates the story of Paul’s (then Saul) encounter with Jesus Christ. Saul, a relentless persecutor of Jesus and everyone who believed in Him, was on his way to Damascus when Jesus revealed Himself saying, 

“Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?...Then the Lord said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.” – Acts 9:4,5 (NKJV)

Have you ever experienced such an encounter? Has Jesus Christ revealed Himself to you? Jesus reveals Himself to us in various ways and none of us will encounter Him the same way. Early on in her conversation with Jesus, the woman at the well was “like the deaf adder that stops her ear” (Psalm 58:4), then as if the living water touched her soul, she confessed, “I have no husband” (John 4:17).

“…if we confess our sins, God will forgive us. We can trust God to do this. He always does what is right. He will make us clean from all the wrong things we have done.” – 1 John 1:9 (ERV)

As if her confession broke the power of her restraints, what Jesus said next became for her a water shed moment – a point of turning where Jesus begins to reveal Himself to her.

“Jesus said to her, You have spoken truly in saying, I have no husband. For you have had five husbands, and the man you are now living with is not your husband. In this you have spoken truly.” – John 4:17-18 (AMPC)

With this fifth statement, she realized that Jesus was no ordinary man, she thinks that He a prophet because somehow He knew her, her life, and her circumstances. She still hadn’t recognized Him for who He truly was.

Can you relate? You’ve had an encounter, you think it might be Jesus but you can’t say for sure that it is because you don’t know Him intimately or for that matter, well enough to say without a doubt, “This is Jesus”

The beginning of the Samaritan woman’s transformation and ours starts with the realization that we are desperately in need of something so much greater than what we believe we know, and who we think we know. When we realize that nothing and no-one but Jesus can satisfy that need in us, is when we recognize Jesus for who He truly is and cry out, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16 AMPC).

Amen†

Revealed

Shelley Johnson March 24, 2017

“Go…”

Jesus’ fourth utterance to the Samaritan woman can be described as a gentle command. This is what He said,

“Go call your husband and then come back.” – John 4:16 (MSG)

“Go…”, what is it about that one single word, when spoken by the Lord, makes you feel that you don’t have an option? This woman at the well is not the only person Jesus ever commanded to go.

To the adulterous woman He said, “…go, and sin no more.” (John 8:11 KJV)

To the blind man He said, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam…” (John 9:7 KJV)

To the once demon possessed man He said, “Go home to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He has had compassion on you.” (Mark 5:19 NKJV)

To the man healed of leprosy He said, “…go your way, show yourself to the priest…” (Matthew 8:4 NKJV)

When Jesus commands you to go there’s no staying. He is calling you to act – every time Jesus has told someone to “go” it always requires them to not just go but to go and do something. And it was no different for the Samaritan woman, but Jesus’ “Go…”command to her was an action she could not fulfill because she had no husband (John 4:17).

Jesus, aware of the woman’s condition, did not speak in vain; by this command, He had gone straight to the heart of the matter. His words would have, undoubtedly, affected her deeply. With one sentence, Jesus opened her eyes so that she may be able to see the truth of her condition for herself. Jesus did not condemn her, instead He pointed her in a direction that caused her to begin to see her fault.

If Jesus commands you “Go…” and you remain, then you’re not ready to move forward with Him, you’re not ready to move on to the next step. The command to go indicates progress. The Samaritan woman was progressing from a state of unbelief to belief.

The beginning of the Samaritan woman’s transformation and ours starts with the realization that we are desperately in need of something so much greater than what our present condition indicates. When we realize that nothing and no-one but Jesus can satisfy that sense of need in us, is when we realize our need for Jesus and in response to His command “Go…”, cry out, “I’ll go. Send me!” (Isaiah 6:8 MSG).

Amen†

“Go…”

Shelley Johnson March 22, 2017

Jesus creates the sense of need

Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again. But whoever drinks the water I will give him will never be thirsty again. For my gift will become a spring in the man himself, welling up into eternal life.” – John 4:13-14 (Phillips)

Recently, a friend of mine took up the challenge to drink one gallon of water a day for thirty days. That’s a lot of water, but I’m sure that on day thirty-one she still became thirsty. No matter how much water you drink – pipe borne, bottled, sparkling, or filtered – you “will be thirsty again”. 

That’s what Jesus impressed upon the woman at Jacob’s well. All the water that man can give you, from the deepest dug well, you’ll be thirsty again and again but He had water to give that would “become a spring” in her, continually bubbling like a flowing fountain. She’d never be thirsty again.

Intrigued, the woman knew that was the water she wanted, that was the water she needed. Jesus had created in her the sense of need.

The woman said, “Sir, give me this water, so that I may stop being thirsty—and not have to come here to draw water anymore!” – John 4:15 (Phillips)

Oh what a turn of events! She was now asking Him for water – Jacob gave the well through long and hard labour (John 4:12) but drinking from it, one will be thirsty again. This is not the water that Jesus offers. His water is no ordinary water, Jesus has a hidden source of spiritual water which He wants to give to you.

This was now Jesus’ third statement, and still the woman hadn’t seen the spiritual meaning in what Jesus was saying to her. Like the ones on the Emmaus Road (see Luke 24:13-35), she too was slow to recognize that she was in the midst of a divine encounter, but that was about to change.

The beginning of the Samaritan woman’s transformation and ours starts with the realization that we are desperately in need of something so much greater than what our long and hard labour can accomplish. When we realize that nothing and no-one but Jesus can satisfy that sense of need in us, is when we realize our need for Jesus and cry out, “give me that water!” (John 4:15 GNT).

Amen†

Jesus creates the sense of need

Shelley Johnson March 21, 2017

What Jesus said next…

Jesus, in conversation with the Samaritan woman at the well, was breaking all the rules. He had crossed the line of acceptable Jewish social behaviour, “for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans” (John 4:9 KJV).

Like the woman, many people have no dealings with Jesus. In actual fact it’s not natural for any of us to have dealings with Jesus, and that’s the root of many of our problems. We all have inherent needs that we believe can be satisfied by a carnal solution, we do not recognize that these needs are not grounded in the physical but are deeply rooted in the spiritual.

The Samaritan woman did not understand that, and neither do we. We feel a yearning, a thirst for something but just cannot put our finger on it; we do not know what it is that we truly need and more than that we do not know the One who alone can satisfy that need. Like Martha, in Luke 10:42, we don’t see that “only one thing is needful”. 

That day at the well, the woman took everything that was said to her literally, using human reasoning to grasp what Jesus said next...

“Jesus answered her, If you had only known and had recognized God’s gift and Who this is that is saying to you, Give Me a drink, you would have asked Him [instead] and He would have given you living water.” – John 4:10 (AMPC)

Indeed if we genuinely know God and recognize His indescribable gift and His beloved Son, in whom that gift may be received, we would be the ones asking Him to give to us instead. We would be reaching out to Him for that which only He can give – His living water. 

The beginning of the Samaritan woman’s transformation and ours starts with the realization that we are desperately in need of something so much greater than our carnal minds could imagine. When we realize that nothing and no-one but Jesus can satisfy that yearning and thirst in us, is when we realize our need for Jesus and cry out, “how then can You provide living water? Where do You get Your living water?” (John 4:11 AMPC).

Amen†

What Jesus said next…

Shelley Johnson March 20, 2017

“I thirst”

The Bible tells us that, “Jesus, knowing that all was now finished (ended), said in fulfillment of the Scripture, I thirst.” (John 19:28 AMPC). This was one of seven sentences Jesus uttered from the cross, where He suffered every kind of physical pain and mental anguish; from the unspeakably severe to the seemingly tolerable thirst, Jesus Christ bore it all for us on that cross.

Jesus said “I thirst” as a final reminder to us that we never have to be thirsty again. A final reminder because Jesus had already told us so in John chapter four, when He said to the Samaritan woman at the well, 

“I offer water that will become a wellspring within you that gives life throughout eternity. You will never be thirsty again.” – John 4:14 (VOICE)

Just as Jesus had uttered seven sentences from the cross, He made seven statements that day at Jacob’s well, which changed a woman’s life forever. That unnamed woman’s conversation with Jesus applies to all of us. 

“Seven” signifies a completed work, divine completion, a perfect work accomplished or finished – “It is finished!” (John 19:30), words spoken by Jesus just after He said “I thirst”, seemed like the end, but it was the beginning of something new, it was the commencement of salvation.

Wasn’t it also the commencement of the Samaritan woman’s salvation when, as she was about to draw water from the well, Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” (John 4:7 ESV)? That first statement initiated an encounter like no other. 

In those days, for Jesus, a Jew and a man, to utter anything to her, a Samaritan and a woman, was inconceivable and defied the day’s code of moral conduct. But Jesus did not conform to this world’s patterns but came to transform by doing God’s perfect will (see Romans 12:2; John 6:38) – He came to save and save He did. Jesus, on His way to Galilee, did not have to pass through Samaria, but He knew that there was need for salvation.

Jesus’ command for water gained the woman’s attention, arousing her curiosity enough to want to know more and He did not disappoint. Jesus’ seven statements to that woman revealed to her, and reveals to us, needs that only Jesus can satisfy. God knows our needs (see Matthew 6:8) and His command for us to give to Him exposes our inability to comply and our desperate need for someone who is able but that ability does not lie in man. You see the water from Jacob’s well satisfied for a time, because man’s provision can only meet the needs of the flesh but the water Jesus provides is living water, able to quench thirsty souls, a “wellspring within”.

The beginning of the Samaritan woman’s transformation and ours starts with the realization that we are desperately thirsty for more than water from man’s well. When we realize that nothing and no-one but Jesus can satisfy that thirst in us, is when we realize our need for Jesus and cry out, "I thirst!".

Amen†

“I thirst”

Shelley Johnson March 20, 2017