April 6 2011
Hi everyone
A fleeing Al Qaeda guerilla, desperate for water, was plodding through the desert when he saw something far off in the distance. Hoping to find water, he walked toward the object, only to find a little old Jewish man at a small stand selling neckties.
The Arab asked, "Do you have any water?"
The Jewish man replied, "I have no water". "Would you like to buy a tie? They are only $5."
The Arab shouted, "Idiot Jew! Israel should not exist! I do not need an overpriced tie. I need water! I should kill you, but I must find water first."
"OK ," said the old Jewish man,… "it does not matter that you do not want to buy a tie and that you hate me.”
I will show you that I am a kind and generous person. If you continue over that hill to the east for about two miles, you will
find a lovely restaurant. It has all the water you need. "Shalom!...."
Muttering, the Arab staggered away over the hill.
Several hours later he staggered back, near collapse he tells the old Jewish man:
"You Putz....Your brother won't let me in without a tie."
Many people are looking for water to live. This water is not only of a physical kind but also a spiritual kind.
The story of the woman of Samaria found in John 4 is a story about a person looking for water. In the first instant, she is getting water for her personal use. She meets Jesus and her life is turned upside down by the water that He offers.
The dialogue between Jesus and the woman shows the sort of drinking holes that the woman was using.
Well of Cultural Divide
The Samaritan woman said to him, "How can you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?" For Jews do not have anything to do with Samaritans.
We live in a world where culture and race play a big part in our living. The growth of immigration where many people from different creeds, colour and religion have come to our shores, has placed a different mix in the melting pot of our nation. Where in the past we had seen a melding of peoples, now we are seeing separate communities growing up holding fiercely to their own culture and mores. We are now seeing a clash of culture where racism and violence is becoming more prevalent.
The woman lived in a culture where there was a divide between Jews and Samaritans. Jesus came to her and formed a bridge for her to connect with Jesus. He asked her for water and so doing broke down a barrier of race and culture. As Christians we are called to build bridges to other cultures so that the good news of Jesus can be shared with them as Jesus did with the Samaritan woman.
Do you drink from the well of the Cultural Divide?
Well of Facts
The woman said to him, "Sir, you don't have a bucket, and the well is deep. Where are you going to get this living water?
The woman sees that Jesus does not have a bucket. So how can he get this water? It was obvious. The facts speak for them selves! He has no bucket! But often the facts from our perspective do not give the full picture. From an earthly point of view, it may be true but from a God perspective, the facts may not be all the facts. One needs to factor in the hand of Almighty God and the supernatural perspective.
Do you drink from the well of Facts?
Well of The Easy Way Out
The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water, so that I won't get thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water."
The woman saw the possibility of making life easy: no thirst and no manual labour. We all would like the easy way to handling our challenges. But there is no easy way to gain what we want. It does require hard work and hard praying. It does mean walking through the desert to get to the other side. It means carrying a cross!
Do you drink from the Well of the easy way out.
Well of Looking for Love in the Wrong Places
The woman answered him, "I don't have a husband."
Jesus said to her, "You are quite right in saying, 'I don't have a husband.‘ For you have had five husbands, and the man you have now is not your husband.
The woman’s marital life was like many a Hollywood movie star with a myriad of broken relationships and marriages. While it is easy to be critical of this multi-marriage lifestyle, the bottom line is that they were looking for love and acceptance. We do not know the details of the five failed marriages of the woman at the well. We do know that marriage relationships were in the hand of the family and the male. We do know that marriage was skewed against the female. Whatever the details, she did not find what she was looking for. In the end it was a defacto relationship that she found herself in.
The increase in internet relationship sites is a testimony that people are looking for love but they are not finding it. There are a myriad of tests you can do to discover your “perfect’ mate. Yet long term happy marriages are still struggling to be the norm.
People look for love and think that the answer is sex. They too are disappointed.
Do you drink from the well of Love in the Wrong Place?
We all drink from various wells: the well of self sufficiency; the well of money; the well of diversion etc.
For many Christians they live off the water from the well that they found years ago. But those wells do dry up from life’s difficulties.
Jesus encourages us to drink from Him every day through time set aside with him; drawing on His strength for the battle ahead; reading His Word; talking to Him etc.
If we are going to have an abundant life, we need to find the truth that the woman found in Jesus that turned her life upside down in such a way that she could not contain it. This does not mean that there will not be difficulties. It just means that when you feel thirst and dry, you know where the well is and how to drink from it.
Jesus said “"If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink! The one who believes in me, as the Scripture has said, will have rivers of living water flowing from his heart."
Do you drink from the Well that never runs dry?
Walking Free continues to see God bringing healing and wholeness to people’s lives. We still minister to 15-20 people each month who have different issues but the one God who can heal their issues. We have seen improvement each time that we have prayed. One lady who had a past involvement with the occult felt the shackle on her leg come off after one prayer ministry. We continue to get new clients at the pace that we can handle which we are very thankful to God about.
We are gathering a small group of people who are interested in the healing ministry. We now have 7 people who shown interest. Many of these need prayer themselves but they all are seeking God about their involvement. One gentleman, John, from Twin Towns, is very excited as he goes around meeting people and praying for them in their need as the Spirit leads. He just recently prayed for a lawn bowling friend who has been diagnosed with cancer and felt the Spirit come as he prayed. We meet each fortnight to pray.
We have now two invitations to minister in India. The first invitation is developing well as we hope to go in early November. It will be a week ministering to local pastors (3 day conference) and local people. We are looking forward to meeting our host, pastor Devadas and his people. We are looking to see what God wants to do. We still need visas and finances for us to go. Please continue to pray.
This week we now received a second invitation which we are now praying into. This ministry is also to villages, 300 kms south west of Pastor Devadas’ villages. It involves three evenings of preaching/healing; a one day pastor’s conference and working with children in an orphanage. We will need the Lord’s guidance and permission about this. Please uphold us in prayer as we seek to understand what the Lord may be saying. If you have any insights from God about this, please email me.
We are slowly getting everything in place for our visit to USA. We look like preaching in a church in Saratoga, Wyoming where my friends attend. We are conscious that this is not just a holiday where we switch off from ministry but also an opportunity to serve our Lord in some capacity either on the bus trips or visits to family and friends.
The local church at Twin Towns is slowly developing. We still are praying for more people to come into the life of our church. We now have a website that is up and running. The house group has been challenged by “Experiencing God” by Henry Blackaby. We are still looking for a worship pastor to add a deeper dimension to Sunday worship.