Week 39 Friday Today’s Text and Thought of Encouragement: “He knoweth the way that I take; when He hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.” Job 23: 10 K.J.V. “The hand of God weaves the tapestry of life; we see but the tangled threads and ragged ends; to us it seems but a confused mass of orderless raveling’s. ‘It doth not yet appear what we shall be,’ but He knows what threads of trouble and temptation to weave into our lives, and how to weave them. A Master Artist stands on the other side, and will show unto us at the great turning-day the pattern we were following.” Author Unknown “He knows, and He can understand, To weary hearts that though should be A fountain in an arid land, A rainbow over the stormy sea. Time has gone on rapid wing, The past is dark, the future dim, We know not yet what life may bring; He knows – and we can trust to Him.” R. S. W. Today’s Study Text: “Simon Peter (to Jesus), ‘Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Matthew 16: 16 K.J.V. EXPLORATION: “Received and Accepted” “This is how much God loved the world: He gave His Son, His one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need “perish.” By believing in Him – the Son – anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn’t go to all the trouble of sending His Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again.” John 3:16, 17 The Message New International Version “Acceptance” – Willingly received. Approved. “Who do the people say that I am?” Jesus Matthew 16:13 Mark 8:27 Luke 9:18 How would I answer Jesus’ question if He asked me, “Who do you think or say I am?” “I say, the acknowledgement of God in Christ – Accepted by thy reason, solves for thee, All questions in the earth and out of it, And has so far advanced thee to be wise.” Robert Browning INSPIRATION: “Jesus said unto her ‘If thou knewest who it is that saith to thee, ‘Give me to drink’; thou wouldst have asked Him, and He would give you living water.’” John 4:10 King James Version New International Version In my younger years, there was a very popular song called, “Walk a Mile in My Shoes.” The words encouraged us by saying, “before you criticize and accuse, walk a mile in my shoes.” If ever there were someone’s shoes we needed to walk in before we jumped to wrong conclusions, it’s the woman at the well. Let’s review her situation. She was a foreigner. A lowly woman. She had been married five times – not a good track record. And now she was living with a man who wasn’t her husband. Relegated to getting water when nobody else came to the city well – she showed up right as a Jewish man decided he needed a drink. In the verbal exchange she had with Jesus, we find out she did know there was a God for she knew about worshipping Him. But quite obviously her knowledge was limited. And she had no idea at all who she was talking to; Jesus made that clear when He said to her, “If you knew who I was.” Within a time span of a few minutes, this five-time divorced, foreign woman was confronted with deciding whether she believed in God and if she would accept the living water His Son was offering her. Now I ask you please to put yourself in this woman’s shoes for a moment. Your life is a mess. You’re on the scrap heap in the minds of many people in town. You are a marital failure. You have a lousy track record. There are black marks in your past history. In fact, just write your life off as a gigantic failure. What happens? God confronts you in the gift of His Son at a well on a hot day and offers you “living water.” How would you have reacted? Does something seem strange – a little off-beat? In all honesty, I can’t say I would have had the faith and insight this woman had. So before I criticize – I would say after stepping into the shoes of the woman at the well – no wonder Jesus told his disciples when they returned with food that He wasn’t hungry anymore. His Spirit had been fed by a woman who believed in Him when others didn’t. In fact, in John 4:25, 26, K.J.V. we find out just how much Heavenly wisdom this woman had when she confided to Jesus, “I know the Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when He is come, He will tell us all things.” And right there at a well in Samaria Jesus said to the woman, “I that speaketh unto thee am He.” Jesus told her who He was – because she believed His words. As this woman found out, “She who believes on the Son hath everlasting life” (John 3:36). How enlightening that to those who accept Jesus – a deeper revelation of His life and mission is given. God did not send His son to earth to become a noted historical philosopher, giving seminars on behavioral modification … God gave us His Son to be our Deliverer, bringing the universe back into unification. By accepting God’s love and by accepting the gift of His Son, we begin a journey of transformation that guides us into ultimate acceptance of who we are in God’s eyes. May we never deny or ignore the treasured gift of the Son sent by a loving Father to His earthly children. “The whole of history is incomprehensible without Jesus.” LaVie de Jesus 1863 AFFIRMATION: “How beautiful, meek and charitable is Jesus … beautiful from all eternity, He is the splendor of His Father, the unspotted mirror and image of His goodness … How loving and gentle He is … especially with poor sinners whom He came upon earth to seek out in a visible manner, and whom He still seeks in an invisible manner everyday.” Louis de Montfort The Love of Eternal Wisdom “Blessed and happy and to be envied are those who have never seen Me and yet have believed and trusted and relied on Me.” John 20:29 Amplified Bible Your friend, Dorothy Valcàrcel, Author When A Woman Meets Jesus Dorothy@Transformationgarden P. S. 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Posted on: Fri, 26 Sep 2014 02:45:35 +0000
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