God’s Approval

Posted on by korgrocker

“Your approval means nothing to me, because I know you don’t have God’s love within you.“
John 5:41-42 NLT

Jesus wasn’t at all concerned about what people thought about Him. He was on Planet Earth for one reason – to fulfil the mission given to Him by His Father in Heaven. He was coming to the end of His conversation with the Jewish leaders after they had picked Him up for telling the healed man to “take up your bed and walk”. Their petty attention to something trivial like carrying a sleeping mat on the Sabbath was the precursor to a significant introduction of what Jesus’ mission was all about. Jesus was not going to be bounced into saying or doing things just to please other people. Jesus saw right into the souls of these leaders and could see that they didn’t love God at all. In spite of their rank and status He consigned them to the group of people carrying the “need to repent” label. 

So much of what we do or say in our societies has to be carefully thought through. Will what I say offend the other person? Will disagreeing with my boss affect my career prospects? Or worse, will what I say lead to a charge related to hate speech, just because I don’t, or won’t, affirm another person’s ideology? Rightly or wrongly, our speech and behaviour is seasoned by a sensitivity to those around us, but Jesus was a counter-cultural figure who faced head on the societal norms, and particularly those that got in the way of His mission. His scathing analysis of the hypocrisy of the Jewish leaders, and particularly the Pharisees, was well documented. On one occasion He said to the Pharisees, “You brood of snakes! How could evil men like you speak what is good and right? For whatever is in your heart determines what you say” (Matthew 12:34).‭‭ Today, in the UK, such a statement would end up in the “hate speech” category I’m sure, even though Jesus was correct in His assessment of the spiritual health of the people His comment was directed to. 

We pilgrims are on a mission ordained by God, echoing Jesus’ commands, following His ways, and to also “seek and save the lost”. In the process of this, we will end up challenging the margins of our secular society. For example, a street preacher has to be very careful, particularly as parts of the Bible contain Scriptures that are considered offensive to certain groups. As we interact with others, the mention of sin and evil will not necessarily be well received. People like to hear the Scriptures that they agree with, but the Bible is the whole package and we can’t remove the verses that we don’t like. 

Fearing how other people think about us, or might react to what we would like to say, can potentially be a problem to us, particularly if we are always looking for the approval of others. But we need to remember that our security is in God. Proverbs 29:25, “Fearing people is a dangerous trap, but trusting the Lord means safety“. Hebrews 13:6, “So we can say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper, so I will have no fear. What can mere people do to me?” We have no need to be dictated to by what others think of us, or how many “likes” we acquire on our Facebook posts. In the end they will make no difference to our status in God’s eyes, and our future with Him in Heaven. Jesus didn’t need man’s approval, and neither do we.

Father God. We love You and Your ways. That is enough to sustain us through the minefields of sensitivities in the societies in which we live. Please help us to be bold, but loving and gracious to those around us. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Be Astonished

Posted on by korgrocker

“So Jesus explained, “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and shows him everything he is doing. In fact, the Father will show him how to do even greater works than healing this man. Then you will truly be astonished.”
John 5:19-20 NLT

What can be more astonishing than to see a man, who had been paralysed for thirty eight years, healed of his affliction? But Jesus attributed the miracle to His Father, who, He said, showed Him what to do. And Jesus then said to the Jewish leaders, “you ain’t seen nothing yet!”, or words to that effect. Sadly, we know that the astonishment soon to be present in the minds of the religious folks of His day didn’t translate into their acceptance of their Messiah, but, rather, it led them down a path that resulted in His crucifixion.

How was it that Jesus could say that He only did what His Father showed Him? In our natural states, we have the opportunity at times to work with someone who is skilled at what he does. Apprenticeships are a good example of such a relationship. So, we have a bricklayer who shows an apprentice the way to lay bricks in straight lines, or a plumber who communicates all the tricks and good practices of his craft backed up by vocational training at a school or college. In our schools, teachers show pupils practical and theoretical methodologies in the subjects being studied. And through it all the person being trained develops the skills for themselves by practicing at every opportunity. In my primary years, I was taught how to play a piano. My small fingers developed the required dexterity as I practised the scales and arpeggios, and by learning to play musical pieces, translating squiggles and blobs written on a piece of paper into sounds corresponding as the piano keys were pressed. I did what my teacher showed me.

But when Jesus said “For the Father loves the Son and shows him everything he is doing. In fact, the Father will show him how to do even greater works than healing this man” He wasn’t referring to His vocational training. This wasn’t like the carpenter’s shop, where Jesus took on and developed the skills of His natural father, Joseph. Jesus was referring to His Heavenly Father, who, He said, showed Him the works that He was to do. How was Jesus taught how to heal the paralysed Pool man? The answer lies in the relationship Jesus had with His Father. And, of course, Jesus was God as well as human, so He could do the things that God does. The Father/Son relationship was maintained through prayer and presence. Occasionally, the Scriptures recorded the audio of Father speaking to His Son. Mark 1:11, “And a voice from heaven said, “You are my dearly loved Son, and you bring me great joy.“” On another occasion, recorded in John 12:28, Jesus said, “Father, bring glory to your name.” Then a voice spoke from heaven, saying, “I have already brought glory to my name, and I will do so again.“” Jesus was constantly in touch with His Father. 

We pilgrims have the benefit of the presence of the Holy Spirit, and through Him we too can do astonishing acts. John 14:12-14, “I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father. You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father. Yes, ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it!” And there have been many occasions when God has done astonishing things through pilgrims like us. We look up the biographies of men and women like Kathryn Kuhlman or Smith Wigglesworth and are astonished. But none of the great miracle workers woke up one morning and started to do mighty works like Jesus. First came the relationship with our Heavenly Father. And because of our humanity we have to develop the faith to do the things God has in mind for us. Small steps of faith at first lead to greater things later. But we pilgrims humbly acknowledge that it is all about God and His glory, and not about us at all. We too only do what God has asked us to do, something that requires a trained listening ear to hear Him. And people will be astonished.

Dear Father God. It is so humbling to find that You have entrusted Your great works to human beings such as ourselves. Please help us as we take faltering steps into the land of astonishments. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Hearing His Voice

Posted on by korgrocker

“Then the man went and told the Jewish leaders that it was Jesus who had healed him. So the Jewish leaders began harassing Jesus for breaking the Sabbath rules. But Jesus replied, “My Father is always working, and so am I.””
John 5:15-17 NLT

The sins of the Jewish leaders were starting to mount up. Not satisfied with telling the Pool man off for carrying his sleeping mat, they continue to interrogate him to find out who had dared to tell him to pick up his sleeping mat, violating their interpretation of the Sabbath day rules. When they found out it was Jesus, they sought Him out and John records that they started to “harass” Him. John’s account doesn’t say what form the harassment took, but I expect it was low level and something Jesus just shrugged off, for the time being. There was coming a time when He would confront their hypocrisy, and He would choose this moment carefully. But Jesus told the Jewish leaders that “My Father is always working, and so am I”. A factually correct statement of course, but one not appreciated by the Jews. Who is this person, they thought, who elevates Himself to the same level as God?

Jesus was a counter-cultural figure in the strict religious times of two thousand years ago. In His society, when it came to things about God, the Jewish faith called upon thousands of years worth of rabbinical teaching, interpretation of the Law and prophetic messages, and ended up with a rigid liturgical and belief system that would not tolerate anything that contradicted it. In that society, a religious elite emerged who did very well by leveraging the religious system for their own benefits, and by so doing kept the population in check. So, anyone who challenged their system was inevitably going to end up harassed, and Jesus was the arch-challenger. Everywhere Jesus went during His public ministry had a pharisaical following waiting to pick up on anything they disagreed with, and there was a within the Jewish leadership a faction who were plotting to kill Him. 

The Old Testament prophets were mostly resented by those around them in their times because their God-given messages were designed to challenge the sinful state that God’s chosen people had achieved. Some of those prophets suffered terribly for delivering their God-given messages. For example, Jeremiah ended up beaten and placed in the stocks on one occasion. On another he was threatened with death. Hebrews 11 gives us a good idea of the treatment of prophets. Even today, anyone who stands up and proclaims God’s message to a wayward church is deeply resented. So, a message about the sanctity of marriage and the Biblical basis of it being between a man and a woman is unwelcome in some denominations. Such prophets are accused of not moving with the times. Hmmm…

We pilgrims know God is always working, just as Jesus said. From Psalm 121, we read the encouragement that God watches over us – “He will not let you stumble; the one who watches over you will not slumber. Indeed, he who watches over Israel never slumbers or sleeps” (Psalm 121:3-4). Why do we fret over things that might happen, when our Heavenly Father is constantly watching over us? We wallow in a mess of “what-if’s” forgetting that God is on our side and looking out for us. And Jesus Himself declared that He was always working, like His father. In His public ministry, Jesus never seemed to have a moment’s rest. He travelled much around Galilee and Judea – someone estimated He could have walked more than three thousand miles in the three years between the carpenter’s shop and the cross. His hours of work seemed to consume all of His waking hours. But Jesus never seemed to be stressed out by the demands made of Him. He just did what His Father told Him to do. John 14:31, “but I will do what the Father requires of me, so that the world will know that I love the Father. Come, let’s be going“.

There is always God’s work to be done by us pilgrims as well. But we need to do only what God requires of us. And no more. So finding a Christian stressed out by his church duties begs the question if there is someone here trying to exceed his mandate on this earth. But we pilgrims have a mission here on earth, to make disciples of the Master, Jesus Himself. The Great Commission, a high level strategic command, is followed by a tactical relationship between us and God, as the details are worked out in our lives. We listen for the Holy Spirit whispers in our souls, leading us to only “do what the Father requires”.

Dear Father God. We get so caught up in the busy-ness of our liturgies and denominations, that we often miss that still small voice of Your Spirit. Please forgive us, we pray, and lead and guide us where we should go. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Three Things

Posted on by korgrocker

“One of the men lying there had been sick for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him and knew he had been ill for a long time, he asked him, “Would you like to get well?” “I can’t, sir,” the sick man said, “for I have no one to put me into the pool when the water bubbles up. Someone else always gets there ahead of me.” Jesus told him, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk!” Instantly, the man was healed! He rolled up his sleeping mat and began walking! But this miracle happened on the Sabbath,”
John 5:5-9 NLT

I wonder what that man did every day, just lying there by the pool? Was his mind in neutral, in a living but comatose state? Or had he made friends with those around him, conversing with them every day? But without any meaningful stimulation, what was his mental state? And who fed him and tended to his personal needs? But the man at the Pool was obviously mentally alert and open to the possibility that he could be healed if he could only get to the water in time. What a tragedy – thirty eight years wasted. 

Jesus asked the man, “Would you like to get well?”, but the man’s response was one describing the practical difficulties caused by his disability. Imagine his limited efforts to crawl or squirm his way to the pool edge to reach the bubbling water before anyone else could get there. Imagine his despair when, once again, someone got there before him. Imagine the constant strain of having to look for the tell-tale stirring of the waters. But along comes the Saviour, compassionate and caring, with three instructions that transformed the man’s life. “Jesus told him, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk!”” 

There is so much to see behind these words. It wasn’t just the physical healing that made a difference. Once again we see that it is the whole person that Jesus heals. The man’s legs and other parts of his body suddenly had all the muscles, flesh, nerve tissues, and bones restored to them. He would have felt the new surge of energy and the lack of pain, but there was still his mental state that needed to be healed. After thirty eight years his mind would have needed time to adjust to the new situation. But we are told in John’s account that the man was instantly healed. And in accordance with Jesus’ instructions he stood up, rolled up his sleeping mat and started to walk.

People even today sometimes get caught in a rut. It needn’t be a physical disability, like the man at the Pool. It could be one of self pity, or feelings of helplessness through a relationship that has gone sour, or a job that has become full of drudgery or hardship. But Jesus has the words we need to enable us to stand up and move on. He always has a way for us to follow, to get us out of a situation. He always has the words we need to hear in times of stress and anxiety. These words may be difficult to hear and our response may well be one of fear, but through faith we know that God can heal us just as well as He healed the man at the Pool. 

In Romans 8:11, Paul wrote, “The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you“. We pilgrims, have the Holy Spirit living within us, giving us life and all the resources we need. After all, if the Holy Spirit was powerful enough to raise Jesus from the dead, He will have no problems with whatever ails us. So in faith we bring our problem to the Saviour and respond in obedience to whatever He tells us to do. 

Dear Father God. Thank Your for Your Son, Jesus, who came to this world for our benefit, for our salvation. Your grace and love is endless. Thank You. Amen.

Do You Want to Get Well

Posted on by korgrocker

“After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porches. In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water. For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had. Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, “Do you want to be made well?””
John 5:1-6 NKJV

To be sick, blind, lame, or paralysed in the days when Jesus lived in Palestine was a terrible and hopeless condition to be in. There was no remedy from the medics, such as they had, or anyone else. But there was a glimmer of hope in the gloom. Apparently, someone had discovered that the turbulence caused by the spring that fed the Pool of Bethesda had healing powers, because they believed it was caused by an angel, who came down from Heaven and stirred up the waters. Whoever made it into the Pool first was then healed. As a consequence, the Pool was populated by a “great multitude of sick people”, all there in the hope that they would be the first to make it into the Pool. The verses today don’t say how often the waters were stirred up, but in a society without any other alternative, there was no other choice.

In modern times, there is another spring of water with, it is claimed, healing properties. This spring is at Lourdes, in France, and many Catholic visitors go there to bathe in its waters, also in the hope that healing powers can be found. There have been many documented miracles, enough to attract thousands of sick visitors every year. To many of these people, Lourdes is a last resort. They have been told that there is little or no hope that they will get better from whatever ails them, and these people have much in common with the sick people lying around the pool of Bethesda. From Wikipedia, “According to Catholic tradition, the location of the spring was described to Bernadette Soubirous by an apparition of Our Lady of Lourdes on 25 February 1858. Since that time, many millions of pilgrims to Lourdes have followed the instruction of the Blessed Virgin Mary to “drink at the spring and bathe in it”.”

Picking up the account in our verses today, we see that during His visit to Jerusalem, Jesus visited the Pool of Bethesda. We are not told why He went there, but, in the knowledge Jesus only did what His Father commanded, He was there for a purpose. We also don’t know if His disciples were with Him, though John must have been to include the story in his Gospel account. But by the Pool, Jesus found a man with an “infirmity”. We don’t know what this was, but it was such that he was practically helpless, needing someone to help him into the pool when the waters bubbled up. But then, Jesus asked the man a strange question, “Do you want to be made well?” Surely the man wanted to be healed because otherwise why was he there? I have met two ladies with illnesses or disabilities who have responded to prayer for healing. One was made totally well, but the other, although apparently healed, quickly lapsed back into her previous state. The first lady bravely faced into the consequences of her healing with the loss of disability benefits and consequent financial challenges. The second lady realised that through healing she would lose her identity as the “lady in a wheelchair”, as well as the loss of a full time carer and other financial benefits. The first wanted to be healed. The second didn’t. But they were both healed through prayer and by a miracle of God’s grace.

The man at the pool had been in a desperate paralysed condition for thirty eight years, and amongst all the people sitting or lying around the Pool, he was the only one that Jesus sought out. Why was that, I wonder? The quick answer is that I don’t really know. There have been suggestions, such as Jesus might have known the man from a previous encounter, or that for most of the people there, God had already supplied a miraculous solution for the first person to enter the water after it bubbled up. Of course, Jesus may have healed others, but John’s Gospel account doesn’t record any.

We pilgrims know that God, regardless of our human state of health, can heal us. He does so through the medical profession, but He also heals through miraculous encounters with the Holy Spirit. Through our faith in Him, we trust Him with our life on this earth, and the life to come. There is no other way.

Dear Father God. You are the One who heals us, and we give You all the glory for the occasions when that happens. Please forgive us for our lack of faith. Amen.

Come and See

Posted on by korgrocker

“The woman left her water jar beside the well and ran back to the village, telling everyone, “Come and see a man who told me everything I ever did! Could he possibly be the Messiah?” So the people came streaming from the village to see him.”
John 4:28-30 NLT

Something remarkable suddenly happened after the disciples returned from their quest for finding their lunch. The Samaritan woman left her water pot by the well and rushed off in the direction of the village, which was about a kilometre away. Water pots were valuable items so to leave one behind was practically unheard of. And then she ran, we are told in John’s account. No-one ran in that climate, at least in the middle of the day. But it was the message that made an impression on the village of Sychar. Why should anyone have taken any notice of her, particularly in view of her reputation? But because of her message, which must have been totally out of character, those people who were available “came streaming from the village to see” Jesus.

It is a sad reflection on the society in which we live, that if I rushed out into the street where I live and started to shout out a message of what Jesus had done for me, then the most likely outcome would be that the police would be called and I was subsequently cautioned for disturbing the peace! There may even have followed some form of encouragement to go and see a doctor or psychiatrist. But in 1st Century Samaria, there was a significant response to what the woman had to say. People there responded to the message.

So in 21st Century society a different way of communicating excitement about Jesus has to be found. But how do we pilgrims connect with this cynical and sceptical generation? The people around us mostly consider that they are too sophisticated or intelligent to believe in this Jesus. Their minds have been corrupted by science and technology to believe lies. The people have become hardened against hearing the whisper of the Holy Spirit. The people’s consciences don’t work in the way they should anymore. Instead, false religions are springing up to deliver the words that they want to hear rather than the message they need to respond to. False religions that deny the existence of God and replace Him  with their man-made ideologies and idols. But Peter warned believers about this, in 2 Peter 4:3-4, ”For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear. They will reject the truth and chase after myths.“

We pilgrims pray for this generation, and keep on praying. And our prayers reverberate around Heavenly places right to our Father’s throne. We pray for hearts to be softened, and for the Holy Spirit to cut through all the lies and deception that prevail. We lift up our friends and family into God’s presence with our prayers, believing for miracles of conversion, believing that God can change hearts of stone into hearts of flesh once again. “Come and see” is the message we proclaim, because Jesus brought healing and salvation to us believers. But when those around us look at us, what do they see? Is it worth coming for? Are we closet Christians who are hunkered down waiting for the time when we cross the Great Divide into God’s presence? Or have we left our “water pots”, things that are precious and even necessary in this life, to cry out “Come and see”. Only Jesus has anything worth saying in this life, and we pilgrims are the only ones who can encourage those around us to join us in His presence.

Dear Father God. In a generation that is inventing its own religions, we know that there is only one way to You. Please help us reach those who are desperately searching for the truth, but are looking in all the wrong places. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Ancestors

Posted on by korgrocker

“Jesus replied, “If you only knew the gift God has for you and who you are speaking to, you would ask me, and I would give you living water.” “But sir, you don’t have a rope or a bucket,” she said, “and this well is very deep. Where would you get this living water? And besides, do you think you’re greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us this well? How can you offer better water than he and his sons and his animals enjoyed?””
John 4:10-12 NLT

The dialogue between the woman and Jesus continued, with the woman bringing in the importance of ancestry. But the content of the exchange is interesting – Jesus is talking about the “living water”, the Holy Spirit, and the woman still has the pool of water at the bottom of a well in her head. So superficially they might have been talking about water, but the two scenarios were totally different. The woman’s sceptical thoughts burst out into the accusation that because Jesus didn’t have the necessary accoutrements to bring the water to the surface, he therefore couldn’t access it. And anyway, she accused Him of making a claim to be greater than the man, Jacob, who found the well in the first place, many years before. 

Such misunderstandings in a conversation are common. The act of being able to articulate our thoughts to another person is a skill we acquire from childhood, but knowing the other person is an important factor in a conversation, because over time both people get to know what the other person thinks about, particularly when they talk about subjects that are familiar to them. This can be observed between a married couple who have been together for many years, for example. Amusingly to an observer, they will even finish each other’s sentences. Up to this point in the conversation between Jesus and the Samaritan woman the connection between physical water and spiritual water had not been made.

How do we pilgrims communicate the Good News about Jesus, and all that He did for mankind? At Jacob’s well, Jesus used a common commodity important to the people in that culture to start a conversation. He could have sat by the well ignoring the woman, which would have been her expectation because of the hostile relationship between Jews and Samaritans. But the poor woman had to carry water in a heavy pot daily some distance back to the village of Sychar. If there was anything that would have grabbed her attention it was the possibility that she could be relieved of that burden. 

So we pilgrims pray that God will reveal something about who we are speaking with to form a relational bridge over which the Gospel can be delivered. Something to grab their attention and open up the conversation. I find that dog walkers are always ready to talk about their pets. Someone tending a planter outside our community centre will often respond to a question or comment about the plants or shrubs. But sometimes God will reveal something supernaturally about the person – but more of that in a future blog.

Paul wrote in Colossians 4:3, “Pray for us, too, that God will give us many opportunities to speak about his mysterious plan concerning Christ. That is why I am here in chains”. Paul didn’t hold back at all, and ended up in all sorts of trouble because of his zeal to share the Gospel with whoever he met. In the UK at the moment, street preachers are being arrested for sharing the Word of God on our streets, wrongly as it turns out but there is increasing hostility to the Gospel in our secular society. It won’t be long until this becomes a crime, along with other demonstrations about the Kingdom of God. We have a window of opportunity to start a conversation with a stranger at a modern equivalent of Jacob’s well. In a coffee bar or restaurant. In a supermarket. At the petrol station. In the office or classroom. And we pray for the communication skills that will transform the ordinary into the supernatural.

Father God. We pray that through Your Spirit we will have the words we need to say at just the right time. and we pray for the people we meet, that Your Spirit will go before us, opening hearts and minds. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Living Water (1)

Posted on by korgrocker

“Soon a Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Please give me a drink.””
“The woman was surprised, for Jews refuse to have anything to do with Samaritans. She said to Jesus, “You are a Jew, and I am a Samaritan woman. Why are you asking me for a drink?” Jesus replied, “If you only knew the gift God has for you and who you are speaking to, you would ask me, and I would give you living water.”“
John 4:7, 9-10 NLT

‭‭Jesus was sitting by Jacob’s well near Sychar in Samaria, when a woman came out of the village to draw some water. And we read that the woman was surprised when Jesus asked her for a drink, because Jews don’t have anything to do with Samaritans. They hated them but I wonder if that feeling was reciprocated? Jesus told a parable about a Good Samaritan, which we can read in Luke 10. As a summary, an expert in Jewish Law asked Jesus a question about the greatest commandment, and according to the Law, after making God the first priority, Jesus said that we should treat our neighbours as well as we treat ourselves. The lawyer asked a loaded question about who the neighbours were, trying to be clever I suppose, or trip Jesus up. The example in parable form that Jesus gave him turned a Jewish custom on its head. A Jewish man had been attacked by robbers and left for dead. Two Jewish religious officials came by but refused to help. But then a Samaritan man treated him, continuing to care for him in a local inn for the rest of the day. The next morning, the Samaritan gave some money to the innkeeper to care for him until he was better, promising to provide more money the next time he passed, if necessary. Then came Jesus’ question – who was the best neighbour to the Jew robbed by bandits? The lawyer would not even say the dreaded word “Samaritan”, but just said “the one who showed him mercy” (Luke 10:37). 

But Jesus wasn’t fazed by the woman’s frosty response to His question “Please give me a drink”. He immediately took hold of the narrative and turned the conversation around from one about a drink of water from the well, to one focused on the Living Water that was a gift of God. Jesus spoke about this “Living Water” again, when He attended the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles. We read in John 7:37-39, “On the last day, the climax of the festival, Jesus stood and shouted to the crowds, “Anyone who is thirsty may come to me! Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.’” (When he said “living water,” he was speaking of the Spirit, who would be given to everyone believing in him. But the Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus had not yet entered into his glory.)” 

John’s explanation about the living water being the Holy Spirit was very clear, but such “water” was a spiritual element not understood by the natural people of His day. But we pilgrims know the living water of the Holy Spirit as it infuses and refreshes us. We are indeed a blessed people, who have benefitted, and continue to benefit, by the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. So the question is to Christians everywhere – have you received this gift? Jesus offered it to the Samaritan woman, and offers it to everyone today. But there is a catch – the prerequisite is that to access living water, we have to believe in Jesus. There is no other way.

Father God. I pray for a new infilling of Your living water today. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Please Give Me A Drink

Posted on by korgrocker

“Jacob’s well was there; and Jesus, tired from the long walk, sat wearily beside the well about noontime. Soon a Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Please give me a drink.” He was alone at the time because his disciples had gone into the village to buy some food.”
John 4:6-8 NLT

So, we have a well, Jesus, tired from the journey and sitting by it, and a Samaritan woman coming out to get some water. Nothing remarkable about any of that, until we realise that Jesus asked the Samaritan woman for a drink. And worse, there was only the two of them at the well that hot day. In those days Jews didn’t even talk to Samaritans, trying their best to avoid any sort of contact with them. And then there was the social etiquette of a man talking to a woman not known to him, something else forbidden in that rather misogynistic culture. But why was a woman coming out to draw water from the well in the middle of the day anyway. This task was normally reserved for the cooler times in the day, with groups of women coming out together. A simple scene but one that to an onlooker would have seemed a bit strange. 

Jesus was obviously tired and thirsty and asked for a drink. We of course remember the first temptation that Jesus endured while He was being tempted by the devil in the wilderness. The devil knew that he had the power to turn stones into bread and this would have applied to water to drink as well. But Jesus replied with a quotation from Deuteronomy 8:3b, “ ….  people do not live by bread alone; rather, we live by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord“. ‭‭So without a doubt Jesus didn’t need to ask for a drink. He could have spoken the word and a jug of water, cool and refreshing, could have immediately appeared before Him.

I wonder what the Samaritan woman was thinking. As she walked out of the village, she could see this figure, obviously a Jew, sitting by the well. Would she have been feeling rather unsure and even vulnerable? After all, there was no-one else present. What was He sitting there for? Was He waiting for someone? All sorts of thoughts would have been going through her mind. And then there was that question, polite and to the point, “Please give me a drink”. That was the question that started a remarkable conversation between Jesus and the Samaritan woman, that culminated in a revival bursting out in the village of Sychar.

We pilgrims often come upon other people not known to us. In the supermarket. At the bus stop. In the work place. But for all we know, God has a message for them, something tailor-made just for them at this point in their lives, and He wants us to provide it. Often there is a bridge over which a conversation can be started. I recently spoke with a lady who was walking a dog along a woodland path. The dog was an unusual breed, so I asked her about it, and where it had come from. There then followed a tragic tale of an estranged son who had died on his own and prematurely in his early thirties from a congenital heart problem, and all she had to remind her of him was his dog. I believe God brought about that meeting that day because I was able to encourage her with a few words of comfort.

But none of us know what is around the corner. Are we heading for a well and water experience today? Is there someone God wants us to encourage? It may not be with a Gospel message but it could be with a cheery response, or a listening ear. The Holy Spirit will guide us in God’s ways and plans if we are open enough to hear His voice.

Dear Father God. You have plans for each one of us and often You ask us to share Your love for them. We commit to hearing Your voice today and every day. In Jesus’ holy name. Amen.

Words of Eternal Life

Posted on by korgrocker

“The wind blows wherever it wants. Just as you can hear the wind but can’t tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can’t explain how people are born of the Spirit.” “How are these things possible?” Nicodemus asked. Jesus replied, “You are a respected Jewish teacher, and yet you don’t understand these things?””
John 3:8-10 NLT

I wonder what Nicodemus was thinking during his time spent with Jesus that evening two thousand years ago. The conversation was following a path that he never expected. A cosy chat turned into a teaching session that blew Nico’s theology right out of this world. He had never considered the concept of being born again spiritually, but here was a man who he acknowledged had been sent by God to teach the Jewish people, and who was now telling him things that he was struggling to get his mind around. His anguished response “How are these things possible?” just about summed up his dilemma.

Jesus introduced Nicodemus to Kingdom truths that did not fit into his theology and he was confronted with the need to accommodate new God-ideas. Ideas that would set him at odds with his leadership colleagues, and that would change his life forever. He was probably thinking that if he believed what Jesus was saying then his ability to teach the truth was incompatible with traditional Jewish beliefs and compromised his role as a teacher. We never found out what happened after he left Jesus but perhaps he started to introduce what he learnt to his Bible classes. A subtle change in direction perhaps. But we don’t know. 

Over my years as a Christian I have found that God has gently introduced me to truths about Him and His kingdom, and how they must impact my life day by day. Verses from the Bible suddenly illuminate with His life and message. Revelations from Holy Spirit-inspired spiritual nuggets of gold that highlight the difference between the two kingdoms, the kingdom of this world, and the Kingdom of God. A crossroad on my journey to eternal life is exposed, and so often one way seems to go round in a circle and I find myself back to that point, the same crossroad, in my journey once again. 

I often think about Peter’s response to Jesus in John 6:68, “Simon Peter replied, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life””. That was the message for Nicodemus and he had a choice about what he was going to do with the words that he heard. At the crossroads we all experience, perhaps we cry out that the way God wants us to take is too hard. But God is in no hurry and, as He did with the Israelite slaves in the wilderness, patiently leads and guides us to the promised land. Moses set before the Israelites a spiritual T-junction, as we read in Deuteronomy 30:19, “I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live!” We have a part to play for our future – life and blessings, or death and curses. What choice will we make today, I wonder?

Dear Father God. Please help us to make the right choices in life, no matter what it costs. In Jesus’ name. Amen.