The Woman at the Well
We are looking at the woman at the well. See John 4. She went to the well with the pot every day - for the
necessities of life. Then she had a God encounter and forgets about the pot.
She left
the purpose she went to the well for because she ran into a bigger purpose. Sometimes God has to reopen old wounds so He can get in and cleanse
that wound and then heal it and close it.
This is what has been happening in my dreams over the past 3 nights. I don’t like looking at it! But God has been bringing up ugly things from my past in these dreams that I have been ashamed of and have not wanted to deal with. So they have become like and underlying current in my life - like a "rip tide."
I had let the busyness of life and many distractions keep these old sins and wounds buried down so deep in my soul that they have been like mountains which have blocked my spiritual progress.
That precious Samaritan woman went and told everyone about the encounter she had experienced that day with Jesus at the well. She left that purpose (of getting natural water) that was mundane = every day life.
God is up to giving us an
encounter with Him that will radically transform us so we can drop what is of lesser value. The woman recognized it was a God moment.
Everything is meant to affect our purpose. Many get
healed and delivered and then go back to routine and the average. But God has a far greater plan for us than to just go from day to day doing the mundane and letting people around us pass by who need an encounter with Jesus - just like we did.
He wants us to drop some clay pot we are carrying. Get
rid of the routine and surrender to God’s plan. He wants us to use what He gives us as a platform for the His work.
Anything that we can do, like this blog that can help others have an encounter with Jesus.
When we have deep encounters with Jesus - our purpose
changes. Drop the clay pot to pick up a different purpose. We need to find out that our worth must truly come from the
Lord. We have to process the things that happen to us in God’s
presence. Think 🤔 about it.
Don’t try to rush on to the next thing. Our encounters with God should really make a difference
in us. We need to receive the full impact of the anointing.
The anointing should make us stronger so we can do what
God has called us to do. Processing things - working through it over and over to help us connect the dots.
There are things we need to do that are not for ourselves
but for kingdom purpose. We need to be faithful with what He has done in our life to use it
for His glory. So often we get involved in mundane things that we don’t know how
to get out of.
When Joseph finally got out of the dungeon, God have him a
strategy for the famine. Then the real purpose that was in place all along was set to cast the vision into action. That whole story of redemption for Joseph’s family -
God’s people.
We need to make the most of the journey God has given us now. We must truly honor moments that God brings our way.
We need to have a strong worth about ourselves to carry
out the work we are assigned to do. It is learning to love yourself and like yourself; to be
who God says you are while recognizing your complete dependence on Holy Spirit.
Many go to the natural rather than the spiritual. We must value what we get from God.
We must ask ourselves the question: "What will cause me to drop the clay pot to get moving for
a different purpose?" And this, "What platform do we have that we are not using?"
How can we use our testimony right now? How can we
accelerate what what God’s true purpose is for us? We need to become more valuable to ourselves so we can be used for
the higher purpose.
What makes us drop our pots to pursue a higher purpose? The woman left her water pot.
An amazing truth to me is that as our pastor spoke this past weekend, he said that we will get healed in the process of pursuing our purpose
and we will be bold and rich! It would be great to forget about some things and not be
preoccupied with ourselves.
When we move to our new place in life - both spiritually and physically, we will look back and
say,”How could I have been so caught up in this or that?” We must have a higher purpose. We can partner with people where we can help make a difference. Ask the Lord to show you where or with whom you can do this.
Do what you can with what you have where you are right
now. We need to get out of our presence (self awareness) into His presence.
Here was a song I was awakened with...
"Breathe on me, breath of God. Breathe on
me sweet Spirit of the Lord."
We learned this past weekend that confession must be done. We really need to bring things out into the light. 💡 This is important! It cleanses our soul. We need to practice this.
We must draw from the truth of scripture - not just the
comforting ones. ****All verses are necessary for our life. Many of us run from the truth and then there is no real
freedom.
As I prayed this prayer, things began to be revealed to me that I needed to deal with on a deeper level...
"Father, I’m asking You to show me the truth that I
need see right now! Thank You for it in Jesus Name!"
God won’t shield us from the truth. We can’t escape the
surgery of Holy Spirit. In fact, it is the surgery we need the most. How many physical surgeries could we avoid if we allowed Holy Spirit to do surgery on our inner man - the soul? Hmmm.
Look at this...
Jonah 2:8
They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy.
When we face the truth, and confess things, we get mercy. There’s a lot in saying “I’m afraid” or whatever the case
may be. We know we are strong when we can handle our weakness. As the Lord tells us to "let the weak say, I am strong." He can make us strong enough to handle what was formerly a weakness in our lives. We just need to be real with what is really going on our heart! ❤️💗💕
Jesus pinpointed the very thing that this woman had long been struggling with - an issue with men. When Jesus told her about all the husbands she had had and the fact that she now lived with a man who was not her husband, He was identifying the very thing that was hurting her life the most. This is can have a devastating effect on our current relationships when we have not truly had the past dealt with and healed through the loving surgical process of Holy Spirit.
Many of us, myself included, have looked for the love of a father in men,
and when we didn’t find it, we just moved on to the next person, hoping they would be the one. But none of them were. Nor will there ever be a man, a person, family member or otherwise who can love us the way we need to be loved. That role was created in our soul to filled by the only One who can truly love us with pure, defiled love. That role is for God our Father. Abba - Daddy.
The Samaritan woman has a similar problem. She went from
one man to the next, never finding what she was looking for until she
encountered Jesus. Once that happened, everything in her life changed and
she never went back for that “clay pot”, aka, the old way of doing things.
❤️
When we really receive God's love, then we will have real
love to give to others - including ourselves.
Many of us have carried so much shame about our past. I know I have. We feel horrified that anyone would know of such things and yet we must confess our faults so we can be forgiven. Sometimes it is done with a person, but most importantly, we must bring it out into the light with the Lord and He will heal it. His Light will shine on that dark spot in our soul and heal it completely - never to be re-opened again.
We think what we have done is too ugly
and we can’t stand the thought of it. But it has to come out in the light so it no longer has a
hold on us. It’s part of our testimony like any girl that has been set free
from a brothel - or anything else that has been a dark blemish in our lives.
True godly love goes far deeper than mere human sexuality. That’s just a
physical contact that is supposed to have a deeper spiritual meaning in a
healthy marriage. It’s an act of giving to other person; not taking from
them what we think we need. We can't look to a man - or a woman to give us something that only God can give - that love and affection.
We can find ourselves gravitating toward people who emulate love and comfort. I see people in our meetings at a church gathering who I have been drawn to because I feel comforted around them, or loved. But it is a cheap substitute for what Jesus can and will provide - if we will let Him.
Once we experience the love of God, not just think we know it, but experience it in our hearts, we will be different - unrecognizable from the way we used to be. We must learn to reprogram our minds through His presence and the word of God. Through worship, prayer and waiting on Him. Through all the deposits that God wants to make in us each day, we can be transformed into His image more and more each day. And He is the image of perfect love that casts out all fear. See 1 John 4:18. It changes how we think. 🤔
His love will be more than enough. ❤️❤️❤️
I opened the Bible on Sunday, after hearing the message about this woman at the well. I turned to these verses...
Romans 11:25-36. It’s about God’s purpose and plan for
the people of Israel. The woman at the well was a Samaritan - she was not a
Jew. Jesus had come to the lost sheep of Israel, but along the way He has this
amazing encounter with this spiritually hungry woman.
After that, she would leave what she had been doing as a
mundane routine with these men in her life, and go all over town telling people
what Jesus has done with her in that encounter.
Then she invited them all to come and see if this is the
One they had long been waiting for. Again, read the verses noted here. God had
a purpose to make the Gentiles a people who would cause the Jews to be jealous
for God.
This woman obtained mercy through the Jews’ unbelief.
Then she was given her true purpose to be a witness to the lost sheep - hence a
dream I had the night before last.
In two nights of dreams, the Lord is tying all these
things together for me to show me another component from the dreams 2 nights
ago. That is to show me how others need my help and I said I would help. Part of the dream was about lost sheep. What is He trying to show you about who you can help along your journey to 3rd John 2 health and prosperity?
Health and spiritual wholeness are God's plan for us. Sin, sickness, disease and poverty ARE NOT God's plan for our lives!
All through these verses we see God’s amazing unfolding
of a grand plan to save His people and His heartfelt desire to save ALL people. He had a plan that was so magnificent to achieve this
amazing pursuit of love.
We are all members of one body and
have been given certain gifts and the grace to carry them out. See Romans 12.
My waking song this Monday morning was this: "I worship You- the reason I live is to worship You." Worship is done throughout the day. It can be in all we do as unto the Lord. We can pray throughout the day as we work and go about our tasks. We can sing. All of these things, including taking a few moments here and there to confess what God's word says about us is so important to keep ourselves built up, stirred up in Him!
After a short time of prayer I was led to just let Jesus
hold me. He was allowing me to see Him holding me in His arms just like I see
our pastor do with people he is ministering to in our meetings. When my husband was waking up, he came and gave me a hug
from Jesus to start our day.
I had dream about things in my past that I have been so
ashamed of. This has had a hold on me enough to have a deep torment in my soul. I took the body and blood as a remembrance of what
Jesus has done for me. I recalled the verses about God’s love, acceptance, affection and comfort for me. He wanted to just hold me this morning and shower me with
affection - the affection I have so desperately longed for all my life.
This junk from my past is to become a testimony of the
great love and forgiveness of God through His Son Jesus. I am reminded of the
Samaritan woman who we were taught about this weekend in our meeting.
Her past experience with men wasn’t working for
her. No matter how many men she had in her life, she was still searching for
something that no man could provide. Until that day when she encountered Jesus.
Next, I opened my Bible - a big thick journaling Bible
and came right to the story of the Samaritan woman. God is so awesome in His ways! He never ceases to amaze me!
My eyes were drawn to these verses...
John 4:29, 39-42
Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I
did: is not this the Christ? And many of the Samaritans of that city believed
on him for the saying of the woman, which testified, He told me all that ever I
did. So when the Samaritans were come unto him, they besought him that he would
tarry with them: and he abode there two days. And many more believed because of
his own word; And said unto the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy
saying: for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the
Christ, the Saviour of the world.
Because she had a testimony of what happened when she
encountered Jesus who knew what she done in her not so pretty past, it caused
others in her town to seek Him and find out for themselves.
Then, when they sought out this Jesus, they too had a life
changing encounter that brought them the salvation they needed. All of this happened in that town that day because of one
woman’s testimony.
Hanny Lynn Stearns
Fish N Loaves Ministries, Inc.
Hannylynn05@gmail.com
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