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Are you willing to stop thirsting?

Are you willing to stop thirsting?
Words of Faith 9-29-16
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy © 2016
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
Faith Fellowship Church - Melbourne, FL
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John 4
[15] The 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."
[16] He told her, "Go, call your husband and come back."
[17] "I have no husband," she replied.
Jesus said to her, "You are right when you say you have no husband. [18] The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true."
[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."
[21] Jesus declared, "Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. [22] You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. [23] Yet 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. [24] God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."
[25] The woman said, "I know that Messiah" (called Christ) "is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us."
[26] Then Jesus declared, "I who speak to you am he."
[27] Just 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?"
[28] Then, 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?" [30] They came out of the town and made their way toward him.

The marvelous conversation between Jesus and the Samaritan woman continued. Like the peeling of an onion, Jesus gently removed layer after layer until He touched her soul.
Yes. She was interested in water, but first she would have to look at herself carefully. Jesus confronted the Samaritan woman as gently as possible with the reality that she had been looking for love in all the wrong places. But once confronted, she did everything possible to dodge Him.
First, she started with denial. “Husband? What husband?” We are familiar with the routine. If I pretend I didn’t do it, then maybe no one will notice. Or, if I pretend it is not sin perhaps it will go away. The problem with denial is that it usually leads to a more harsh exposure. Sin stacks up. “You are correct that you have no husband, you have had five and the one you are with in sin is not your husband.” Wow. That is a lot of truth just to get your attention!
Next the Samaritan dropped back to the world’s oldest defense, religion. “Okay, so you are a prophet, what do you think about the correct place of worship?” Religion is often our favorite smoke screen. When all else fails, debate theology and you will be safe!
We love to send up the red herring. What about creationism? What about the pagans in Africa? What about…? When the Lord begins to get close, we often shift to religious debate. Religion is a place where we can argue about our viewpoints and never really get honest with God about the problem of our sin.
The Samaritan woman was prepared to debate the correct location of Temple and probably anything else in order to keep the Lord at arm’s length. But Jesus would have none of it. Jesus cuts through it all with what He called “Spirit and Truth”. All the rest is of little importance. “Are you worshiping in the Spirit of God and in Truth?”
By now her defenses were crumbling fast. The Samaritan woman made one last effort that sounded spiritual. Even “sounding spiritual” can be a smoke screen! “The Messiah will explain all this…” It was Jesus’ final revelation that stripped away every façade, every dodge and every smoke screen. “Messiah? Oh. Nice that you mention Messiah. That’s me.” Oh man.
Nailed. Dead to rights. Nowhere left to run. No more talk. No more excuses. No more smoke screens. It finally comes down to you and Jesus and whether you will accept the water of His Spirit that wells up unto everlasting life. Are you willing to stop thirsting?
We don’t really hear a response. No prayer. No altar call. But we can feel the fresh wind of freedom coming off the page. Nothing is more freeing than getting rid of all that sin and bitterness and self-protection. She left her water jar (probably signifying that she was coming back) and went to proclaim her discovery to any who would listen. She did not preach or get religious. She simply invited any who would listen, "Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?"
First question. Have you had a heart to heart with the Lord Jesus? Have you talked with Him about your sin? Have you been putting up smoke screens? Avoiding the Lord? You can’t avoid Him forever. Religion won’t cut it. Only the water that He provides can quench the deep thirsting of your soul.
Second question. Are you inviting others to come and see this One who has changed your life? Who will you invite to meet Jesus this weekend?

Lord, thank You for Your patience. Thank You for Your gentleness. Thank You for Your persistence in pursuing me. Show me whom You would like to meet You that I might make the introduction. In Jesus’ name.

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© Jeffrey D. Hoy 2002, 2016
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy - Faith Fellowship Church (EFCA)
2820 Business Center Blvd.
Melbourne, Florida 32940 (321)-259-7200
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
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The Words of Faith devotion is published five days a week by E-mail excluding Federal holidays. Please feel free to forward this devotion to a friend who might be blessed by this devotion. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is quoted from the New International Version (R) of The Holy Bible. Copyright (c) 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Words of Faith (c) 1997, 2010 Jeffrey D. Hoy. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to forward this copyrighted material or use portions of it with appropriate notation of the source for non-profit purposes.