Woman at the Well

June 2, 2010

Woman at the Well

I was blessed to share the Word at our Heart to Heart Women’s Fellowship this last weekend at the Marriott in Downey, California.  As usual one can prepare one way, and the Lord has us deliver the Word in another format. Here is the complete message I prepared for the Women about the “Woman at the Well”. 

Just a note: throughout the week I had looked for a vessel to use as a prop to illustrate the container the “woman” carried to the well.  I did not find one. As I sat at the back of the room, while worship was underway, and waiting, (I was up next), the Holy Spirit urged me to go out of the room, and find a container. I knew I had better be in obedience. So I stepped out of the conference room, and as I was in conversation with the Holy Spirit about the need for a vessel, which went something like this:

Alma: “We already had this conversation, and I did not find the appropriate container. I thought we could bring the point across another way.”

HS: “ask for the vessel”.

Alma: “what vessel?”

Just as I turned a corner, I spotted the perfect pot – vessel – water urn – type container. My heart was thrilled, “oh thank you Lord, Holy Spirit, for providing the perfect vessel.” I knew I had better ask permission to use this container, so I headed to the front desk with trepidation, to ask for such a thing.  The Manager was very nice, and walked with me to the site where the container was located, and we discussed the use for this vessel, and I shared a little bit of the message with him. He took a deep breath and said “this one is very expensive, but let me see what other vessel, I can find for you.” He was gone for just a minute, and as he turned the corner, my heart dropped, it was not at all the kind of container I needed.  The Manager, was very proud of himself, as he said, “this looks like something Women relate to, all sparkly and with crystal.”  It was a long cylinder like vessel.  I thanked him, and went on my way, telling the Lord and the Holy Spirit, that this wasn’t even close to what I had in mind, and the other one was perfect.  This one was a clear tube like vessel, not at all “New Testament” like, and it had only crystal chips in it, and was empty without water.

HS: “Is that what you see? I see a vessel of transparency waiting to be filled. The crystal water is pure.”

Alma: As usual I stopped in my tracks, and blessed the Lord for His Holiness, and the awesomeness of “Him” overwhelmed me.  You see, I had seen the vessel I needed, but God had a message for the Women with that container. So I opened my message with what had just occurred. (As I prepared the written form for this post, the Holy Spirit dropped into my spirit, that the last references to water in the Bible are found in Revelations, and speaks of water as being pure and as clear as crystal. Read along:

Revelation 22:1-2

“And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.”

And Revelation 22:17

“And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.”

I began with the conversation I had with the Holy Spirit and the Lord, and was asking Him to prepare me and use me according to His will.  I began asking Him to prepare me and give me Words and a way to deliver His Word, and was comparing different Women Speakers which I am greatly blessed by, and asking for a small portion of their anointing.  I was quickly reminded of Melinda telling me to “quit asking for other people’s mantles, you have your own.”  The Lord on the other hand said this, “stop comparing yourself. If I could use David a Shepherd boy, and Peter, a gruff fisherman, and Jonah, the reluctant Prophet”, and (here’s the clincher), “and could even use a Donkey” (Numbers 22 – Balam and the Talking Donkey), “then, I can use you.”  (Thanks Lord!)

As I continued to prepare for this day, I asked the Holy Spirit to lead me. Each time, I studied His Word, I opened in prayer and asked Him to prepare the message.  I anointed my eyes to “see”, my ears to “hear”, my nose to “breathe in His fragrance”, my head to have the “Mind of Christ”, and my mouth to “speak” His Word.   The Holy Spirit gave me this Word – Sapari (means “tell me” in Hebrew) and speak “IN HER WORDS”. Well what would she say? I asked the Holy Spirit.  “There is a Redeemer.”

John 4: 1-42 (New International Version) – In this Chapter we read and hear the familiar story of Jesus speaking with a Samaritan Woman.

Let’s read – John 4:1-6  

1”The Pharisees heard that Jesus was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John, 2although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. 3When the Lord learned of this, he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee.  4Now he had to go through Samaria. 5So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour.”

I interject here” Can you imagine the “Jewish” headline news – Jesus in “Samaria” Let me give you a little history – The Jewish people saw the Samaritan people as not being “true blood Jews” and only followed a “form” of Judaism. The Samaritans had formed their own temple, and were divided. In simple language, Samaria was a city of COMPROMISE.

I want to draw a parallel here, let’s talk about “broken pieces.”  The Holy Spirit prompted me to go back to the Kairos archives from “Tiffany Heart – Alabaster Box” from Issue 2, before the blog was set up.  It was in my heart that what I had been through, would be a word of refuge for someone else.  May it minister to you and help you through your dark place and know that you just as I have been redeemed.  

Here is my story:

There once was a girl who had been given talents extended by God’s grace.  She never took the credit for that which God had provided.  She was wholesome and happy with her life.  She didn’t care for status or title, and was known only as Rose.

She served her family, and friends with joy.  She enjoyed her work very, very much.  Everything she did she strived to do her best.

Her life was an open book.  Alas, Rose had a transparent heart. Life was good as she knew it.  She didn’t have romantic love, but it would come to her transparent heart, and then surely it would pulsate with joy and she would feel the crimson shades of love in her heart.

She longed to find love and knew that it would come one day.  She didn’t believe you had to go out and look for it, because if it was meant to be, then love would find her.  She had always been told that she was selfless. Her full name, Alma Rosa, could be translated into pure soul, innocent soul.  Surely she would be blessed by love.

Then came the day when everything changed. 

She met a man.  He was clothed as Prince Appeal.  He was older, and had lived a full life, and told her he had been on great adventures.  Her heart was swept away.   She gave her heart to this man.  She felt her transparent heart pulsate with crimson love. 

Her transparent heart turned out to be easily manipulated, and weak. She came to find that Prince Appeal was really Baron Malevolence himself.  There was no crimson love in his heart, only gray famine, for he lived without hope and without Grace itself.

The day came when her crimson heart shattered, and the transparency in her heart was so, that she could not have foretold that Baron Malevolence would hurt her so, because she trusted him blindly. Baron Malevolence had a heart so black that he could not even fathom that she would take hold of her roots and self, and rise and call them by name, and break through the fortress he had built in her mind, and his strongholds. The once crimson heart, woven with transparency, shattered into a million pieces. 

Although the heart of Rose was broken, and her exterior-self had fissures that would seemingly spew great waves of sorrow, much less be able to contain her heart, she bravely picked up the shattered pieces of crimson and transparency which had formed her heart, put them in her box of alabaster and held them close, cooing and rocking back and forth, trying to reassure her spirit and broken heart, that somehow morning would come and the sun would shine for her, for she had read that Joy cometh in the morning.

She grappled through the dark tunnel and down a hollow shaft and made it to daybreak. She saw a marker on the road, which had the address of Romans 8, paths 38 and 39, which indicated that “neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord”.

Just then, the sun pierced through the darkness she had come to know and she was temporarily blinded by the intensity of the sun and the hot tears streaming down her cheeks.  She was in emotional chaos, as the sun’s warmth shocked her senses, as she realized that she had lived in cold forbidding shadows far too long.  She had compromised everything she knew, and she realized that any compromise at any level had only resulted in further compromise, until there was no real self left.

As she leaned against the marker on the road, waiting for a carriage to take her from the God-forsaken village behind her, she found her foot on the ROCK OF AGES, and she remembered the words which had been ingrained into her self and heart.  They had been hidden in her heart, and just as she had learned in times of trouble, she was not alone.  She remembered the words of a faithful servant Paul who served the Lord of the FORTRESS of the LIVING WORD.  The words seemed to resonate in her head and entire self, and shook her to her core. Yes, she would go there, for she also knew HIM by name, but wasn’t sure if HE still wanted to call her by name.

There in the middle of the most lowest moment of her life, bereft of all she had thought to be true, Rose humbly recognized GRACE, and in the middle of her pain, reached out and cried for GRACE, and instead of crying why me, why this, her trembling lips said, THANK YOU, thank you for saving me from this wretched existence.  I don’t understand now, and I don’t know how I am going to make it through this, but I still know you, and I ask you to let me recognize that your GRACE is sufficient. 

With BLESSED ASSURANCE by her side, she made it to the citadel, which was at the foot of the FORTRESS of the LIVING WORD, where she found sanctuary for her broken heart, tired spirit and defeated body. The address read: Jeremiah 31:3: Because I love you with an everlasting love. 

Rose’s pain was great and she would often go down the lane, to the garden of Deuteronomy 4:29: If you seek me with all your heart, you will find me…  She would hold her heart and look at it and be struck that she would never be able to put it together again.  She tortured her mind questioning her reasoning and how she had come down this down-trodden path and circumstances.

As deep as her sorrow was, she could not let herself wallow in her own sorrow.  Who was she to say, that this was the end for her.  She didn’t dare be so presumptive, as to decide that there was no more for her.  After all, wasn’t she relation to the kingdom?  Was she not destined with a purpose?

As she kept her crimson and transparency in her box of alabaster, some of the shattered pieces took on a hue of purple and blue, but there was really no form to her heart.  So off she went to the Potter’s House, he lived in the fork in the road of Genesis 1:27, in the Village of Psalms 139: Building 13 and 14.  Rose asked the Potter to somehow give her heart its shape.  “For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.”

As the months passed on into years, with the help of her family and beloved pet, some of the pieces took on a tinge of yellow, orange and pink, but always with a slight tinge of gray.

As the days and months passed the edges of the pieces took on a little black and silver, which served to bond the broken pieces.

As she struggled to regain her sense of self, and barged on, facing new beginnings, she set out to find Jeremiah who lived in building 29, apartment 11, and he said, my plan for your future has always been filled with hope.  Upon meeting him, some of the pieces of her heart took on a hue of green, as she gladly made friends with HOPE.

Before she knew it time had passed, and as she looked around she realized that although tiny tears sometimes leaked through the fissures, she realized that she had been saved by GRACE who resided in the land of John 3:16.

She rode on the wings of Angels, with those she had met on the way, Charity,

Simplicity, and Grace.

She learned how to call GRACE by name, and as GRACE stood by her, she dared to open her box of alabaster and look at the transparent heart.  At these times, she would often put on her garment of Psalm 34:18, when you are brokenhearted, I am close to you.  He had given her a garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness, he had taken all the burnt ruins (BEAUTY FOR ASHES) and given her the oil of JOY FOR MOURNING provided through Grace in the mountain top of ISAIAH 61:3. She poured this oil of joy in her alabaster box.

Her heart seemed so fragile, as she lifted it up for GRACE to take a look, and then GRACE took her hand and held her arms out toward the sun, not letting her falter. GRACE washed the bonded fragments with the oil of anointing.  The fragments, with a chip here and there of course, had allianced themselves into a splendid tapestry with hues of crimson, gold and purple, royal colors. There was pink, orange and yellow and green too, and yes there was a bit of transparency for good measure.  There were areas where you were not sure what hue it was and the colors formed prisms and sunburst of color.  

Rose gasped as she looked at the once shattered pieces, for they had melded back into the shape of a heart, and as she held it up toward the sun, the light pierced through the tiny fissures and illuminated her self.  As Rose tapped on the heart gently, she learned that it was quite resilient, the shattered pieces had been through the fire and fashioned into a tiffany-like tapestry with ribbons of light.

She knew that this heart had been hard to come by and she had paid a great price.  She held it up to the sun and toward GRACE, and she paid particular attention to every shade and blush of color in her heart, her tiffany heart.  She was in awe of the reflections of GRACE. Her perspective was directed by the WORD.

Grace told her to appreciate the brilliance and beauty of the tiffany heart, and she knew that the coming together of these prisms of light had cost her, and she knew each tint and hue had been forged, and she knew that she did not have any uncertainties, because having known someone like Baron Malevolence and then going to the opposite extreme, had shown her the bounty of kindness, generosity and compassion not only in her self but also in those she loved.

Rose would take the box of alabaster and her tiffany heart and place them in a prominent place and give the heart its due, and allow the sunlight and GRACE to shine through to bless others.  She had come to live under God’s wing and placed her life, her hopes, dreams and future in him. Her spirit sang joyfully, while her heart smiled.  Her soul had been healed.  She had forgiven those who had hurt her, because her joy was full indeed.  She was destined with a purpose.

She came to live in the house of Jeremiah 29:11: “‘For I know the plans I have for you,  ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’”   She knew that prosperity is not measured in wealth or monetary gain, but in loved ones and things not palpable.

 

This is part of my story.  If you are going through or have gone through anything similar, I would say hold onto God, but that is not enough, rather cleave to God because he is the only one who can keep the waters from taking us under.  Trust in God’s word as you scale the mountain, use his promises as a foothold or the crevice in the rock to get your bearings. Cleave to God, as your life depends on it, because it does, eternal life.  Maybe the darkest moment, or that mountain that seems to high to climb, or the bitter tears or anxiety, maybe these things are the very things that will bring you into your victory, and into new levels of faith.

Let’s also consider forgiveness, because it was part of the lesson. I don’t want you to think that it was easy or that I did it to be holy.  In the beginning, it was the only way I could preserve my own sense of self-worth.  You know not forgiving others, can lead to hate, and that is a cancer that will eat away at you.   It later became about forgiving, because we will not be forgiven for our wrongdoings.  It took time but the Lord brought me to a place where I could pray for that person who had hurt me.  God’s word says that we must bless those that curse us, pray for those that mistreat you (Luke 6:28 –New American Standard Bible); also (Matthew 5:44 – King James version) – But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.

In seeking forgiveness from God and seeking to forgive others, I clung to Psalm 32. I encourage you to read this beautiful Psalm.  In the midst of your journey, let God be your “hiding place”. An excerpt from Psalms, 5,6,7-King James Version reads as follows: “I acknowledge my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou forgivest the iniquity of my sin. Selah.  For this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found: surely in the floods of great waters they shall not come nigh unto him.  Thou art my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble; thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. Selah.

I want to tell you that in my period of disobedience and living with one foot in Church and the other “testing” the waters, you can lose yourself as I did, and not realize it.  You compromise once, twice, and soon right and wrong do not trouble your conscience.  God’s grace is amazing because he can take the mess we make, and use it for his glory.   

Perhaps the thought has crossed your mind, and you have said to yourself, how embarrassing, how can she share something like this?  I will tell you why, how else can I reach someone who finds themselves in a similar situation.  In order to reflect God’s grace and mercy you have to share how “real” God has been in your “real” situation.  I knew in writing this story that I might be judged, but I remembered that King David chose the mercy of God, rather than that of man, when he failed God.   Our goals and our perspectives need to be set by the Word of God, rather than that of the world.  I hope that this will help you move forward through the darkness.  Don’t miss what the Lord has planned and promised to be true and rightfully yours. 

You know if you refer to the meaning of numbers in the Bible, I believe it is called Numerology in Theology, the number “7” equals rest, completion, finishing, the year of restoration. When completing this story of the Alabaster box, it struck me that this is the seventh year of my restoration journey.  I do not consider that a coincidence. I believe I was to share this story for such a time as this, it was destined with a purpose.

Take a listen, and may it touch your heart…

Heal the Wound.wmv from njesusname

As I read and studied about the Samaritan Woman, and considered the “Word Journeys” –I remembered my story as told above, and the Holy Spirit reminded me of how the scales dropped from Paul’s eyes on his Damascus Road Journey.  Perhaps, like the woman at the well…when you step out of God’s will for a minute, you stay longer than you intended to stay, and you do more things than you intended to do.  You compromise.  That compromise is called sin. You fool yourself into thinking that you are seeking freedom but you are only going into bondage.   So, it was for me, a “slow fade.”

 

Let’s continue the story we see in John 4:7-9:

7When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” 8(His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)  9The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.[a])

This woman, much like us, met Jesus, Her Reedemer, in a simple everyday moment while she went through her daily activities and household obligations.  She is shown as a WOMAN WITHOUT A NAME, without an identity, just one more woman of society, a woman in the city.  Just one woman of many women.  Perhaps, you can identify with her – a woman who has matured through adversities and challenges.

The Holy Spirit prompted me to look further at where the “well” was located. So I answered, this portion of the Bible (John 4) tells us that the well, Jacob’s well, was in a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. (Just as it says in the Bible).  What else do you “see” asked the Holy Spirit. Hmmm.  I asked myself – well where are wells situated?   Well I thought, this portion is letting us know that this was a well-travelled road.  A well-travelled road has roads that meet. A well-travelled road has many travelers, therefore it is trampled. Therefore, we see this woman at a Crossroad on trampled ground. I was prompted to look up:

Crossroads (from http://www.thefreedictionary.com/crossroads)

• a place where two or more roads meet
• road that intersects another road.
• a small usually rural community situated at an intersection of two or more roads
• a place that is centrally located
• a crucial point (see synonym – crisis)

 

 

Trampled (from http://www.thefreedictionary.com/trampled)

• To beat down with the feet so as to crush, bruise, or destroy; hurt, violate
• To treat harshly or ruthlessly
• To inflict injury as if by treading heavily

The Hebrew Word is Ramas – trampled – oppressor, stamp upon, trample under feet, tread down, upon.

Katapateo – Greek word (New Testament was written within 100 years of Christ’s death). Trampled here means:

• to tread down, trample under foot, to trample on
• metaph. to treat with rudeness and insult
• to spurn, treat with insulting neglect

 

Wow. The Samaritan Woman was standing at the crossroads on trampled ground. Can you relate?

Well, let’s continue what else we read in John 4:9 – 26: The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.[a]) 10Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”  11″Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 12Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?”  13Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”  15The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”  16He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”  17″I have no husband,” she replied.   19″Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”   21Jesus declared, “Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.”  25The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”  26Then Jesus declared, “I who speak to you am he.”

If we read between the lines, we see Jesus talking to an audience of one in a private encounter, face to face, on a one to one basis. That’s just how He comes to us. This woman had the courage to not only begin a conversation with Jesus, but to finish the conversation. It was on open dialogue – where she gave, as well as received. That is how our conversation with our Lord should be, a two-way open conversation.  There is no condemnation. She put aside her empty vessel, and shared her cup with Jesus.  We also see that she becomes uncomfortable with the conversation, and like so many, when confronted with the message of eternal life, we try to control the conversation, we hide behind religion or claim something is “politically incorrect” (legalism).  But we cannot compromise the message to fit into what we need it to be. We can’t compromise Salvation to fit what we want to confess, how we want to live, and how we want to worship, or even study as His Word.

The Samaritan Woman began her conversation as speaking with an ordinary man, and her awareness progressed as we see in the conversation, addressing him first as a “Jew”, then “Sir”, and finally as a “Prophet”.  If we continue our conversation with our Lord, the Holy Spirit will reveal His Person to us, and just as the Samaritan Women was the first woman to recognize Jesus as Christ, and the first to “run” with the message, when she understood that “I who speak to you am He”. 

Back to the conversation John 4:27-38:

 27Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?” 28Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, 29″Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ[b]?” 30They came out of the town and made their way toward him.  31Meanwhile his disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat something.”   32But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.”  33Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?”   34″My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. 35Do you not say, ‘Four months more and then the harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. 36Even now the reaper draws his wages, even now he harvests the crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. 37Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. 38I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.”

The portion above tells us that the disciples are surprised upon their return. They are not surprised because she is a Samaritan, but because she is a Woman. The disciples were not aware of her sin. She was a lowly person just because she was a Woman, and Jesus was wasting his time.  Jesus does not see us that way. He sees a precious child before him, and wants to draw us into conversation. It is in the conversation that we see this woman go through the process of believing and faith. Such is her faith, that this can only be the Messiah who opened her eyes to see herself as Jesus sees her, that she was not afraid to go and tell others..come see a man… It seems to me, just as in the story I shared with you about myself, that this woman, also had the scripture hidden in her heart (verse 25 reads – The woman said, “I know that Messiah” {called Christ} “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”)  Therefore, I conclude that the Word (scripture) was hidden in her heart, and she drew on this heart knowledge.     

Okay, let’s take a look at the disciples, the believers, the followers of Christ (us). They are preoccupied with the “little things” and had not recognized that God’s Word has been planted, and that as this woman ran with the message, a great harvest was coming. A harvest of souls from one woman’s faith. Come and see a man…(she was sowing). We read that in John 4”39-42:

 39Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” 40So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. 41And because of his words many more became believers.   42They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.”

The Holy Spirit reminds me of Job’s Words (a favorite portion of scripture of mine) Job 19:25-27:

New International Version (NIV) reads:

 25 I know that my Redeemer [a] lives,
       and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. [b]

 26 And after my skin has been destroyed,
       yet [c] in [d] my flesh I will see God;

 27 I myself will see him
       with my own eyes—I, and not another.
       How my heart yearns within me!

Amplified Version reads:

25For I know that my Redeemer and Vindicator lives, and at last He [the Last One] will stand upon the earth.(A)

    26And after my skin, even this body, has been destroyed, then from my flesh or without it I shall see God,

    27Whom I, even I, shall see for myself and on my side! And my eyes shall behold Him, and not as a stranger! My heart pines away and is consumed within me.

I can imagine the Samaritan Woman saying those same words to herself.  Her heart must have leapt within her when she heard Jesus say “I who speak to you am He”   Let us stop a moment and listen to the following YouTube Video and may it also minister to your heart.

Nicole C. Mullen – I Am from  0WinterSun

Let’s continue..

The Holy Spirit draws me back to the beginning of this portion of scripture… John 4:4 - Now he had to go through Samaria.  The Words “had to go” flashes like a sign.  Jesus had this great need to go to Samaria (had to go). It is obvious that the Samaritans would not come to meet Jesus, so he took the Word, Himself to the crossroads. The Samaritan Woman does the same thing. She does not stand there waiting to see who comes by to see who she will share with..no, she left her empty vessel at the well, and ran with the Word.

Again, I want to remind you that the Samaritan Woman finished the conversation. She listened, she questioned, she responded, and then she put action to what she heard.  It is a Heart to Heart conversation. The Word of God shows us that she left her water jar there, her burden. She went out as a witness ..come and see a man…

My story, your story, the Samaritan’s woman story, in our stories…the enemy was counting on us being weak, broken and lying in a heap.  Broken women, perhaps even a wounded generation of women.  Of course there were and have been tears, but they were and are tears of recognizing redemption and knowing that his healing power was over me, over us. “…weeping may endure for a night…but joy cometh in the morning” (Psalm 30:5).

The Samaritan Woman had God’s word in her heart. She knew about the Messiah….She had the Word hidden in her heart. Maybe she had also hidden these words in her heart…Isaiah 54:4-6 (NKJ version) – 4 “Do not fear, for you will not be ashamed; neither be disgraced, for you will not be put to shame; for you will forget the shame of your youth, and will not remember the reproach of your widowhood anymore. 5 For your Maker is your husband, the Lord of hosts is His name; and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel; He is called the God of the whole earth. 6 For the Lord has called you like a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit…”

Wow. The Holy Spirit gives me two more Words

Maqam is an Arabic word that means “a place from which to rise“

Hebrew “koom”  – (quwm) – is the word, “arose”. It means “to rise, abide, accomplish, be clearer, confirm, continue, decree, help, lift up (again), make (establish, (make to) stand (up), stir up, strengthen, succeed.”

That’s right. The Samaritan Woman arose from trampled ground and decreed…”come see a man”.  This woman could have left the crossroads and been ashamed that Jesus had “read her mail” (or email), or believed the lie of the accuser, that she had no future, and continue to stand on trampled ground.  My sisters, go, go, go, take the message…tell your story of redemption…”a place from which to rise”…share with others the healing love of our Reedmer, and his acceptance, and how he can establish us.  This is a story of a forgiven bruised women healing others. Be that woman. We are all works in progress, but you might be able to help someone drink deep and let them rest from that trampled road, from their point of crisis, from the dry place . Like me, whatever you have been through is not only for you, but for a village, a city or maybe just one other person…let’s say… ”come see a man.”

Let’ Pray – Father, so many times I have dishonored you.  I have grieved Your heart, yet you continue the conversation with me.  I am amazed that You continue to seek after me, that you continue the dialogue.  Give me ears to hear your end of the conversation, and give me an open heart and mind as I come before you.  Take my weariness, my mangled mind, and wounded heart, and my empty cup. Fill my cup. Thank you for enabling me to rise up from trampled ground. I step out on faith. I can only do this through your unconditional love.  Thank you that you have called me your beloved, your chosen, you child.  Teach me to learn from your wisdom and not to lean on my own understanding. With the authority given to me by your blood, the blood of Jesus, I bind up the accuser, and all disappointments and hurts, and broken spirit and broken heart and bruised womanhood.  Like the Woman at the well, heal me and fill me my cup as I continue to seek you and continue our conversation.  I give you my past, you have my present, and prepare my future.  In trusting you, I surrender my life.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Woman at the Well from lalaland481

Woman at Well from ccwvids

Daughter of a King from 1LdsMapy07

Be Blessed…Alma

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