AN UNKNOWN, UNWANTED WOMAN

AN UNKOWN, UNWANTED WOMAN

Jesus walked through Samaria.  This was not the normal road.  He took a detour.  The disciples must have been uneasy about this.

He sent them into a town; they would be even more uneasy.

 

He was alone.

But a woman came to draw water.

At noon.

When no one would be there.

To shame her.

 

Jesus asked her for a drink.

She reacted, "You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan, and a woman.

(a shameful, worthless, despised woman).

How can you ask me for a drink?"

 

This unnamed woman! 

Nicodemus, a fine upstanding, educated, well-to-do person.

But this woman!

Unloved, unwanted, unnamed. 
      Worthless. Outcast. 
            Condemned.  Shamed.

 

Jesus! 

What condescension! 

Humility.  Mercy.  Compassion. 
     Kindness.

         Gentleness. 
             Tenderness.

Jesus!

To Jesus she was not the dregs of mankind and society.

This broken, devastated woman was precious to Jesus.

He went out of His way to meet her.

Jesus loved her and violated every law and social custom to speak to her.

This encounter with Jesus and His love for her changed her life for eternity.

I will meet her one day and, right now, I feel ashamed that I would not have loved her and seen the beauty and loveliness Jesus restored to her with His loving grace and goodness.

 

How easy it is for me to "pass by on the other side" to avoid speaking and getting involved with the unclean failures and misfits all around me.

 

Lord Jesus, will You make this old heart of mine tender and compassionate, like Yours, so I can love some one as You loved this one? 
Can I give Your love to someone so they can find new and eternal life in and with You?

CHOSEN

 

 

CHOSEN!



In Him we were also chosen,

having been predestined according to the plan

of Him Who works out everything in conformity with the purposes of His will,

in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ,

might be for the praise of His glory.

Ephesians 1.11-12

 

God has a plan for our life.

This plan uses everything that happens to us.

Nothing is wasted.

 

Everything, good and bad, is used to perfect our lives.
 

 

I am chosen according to the plan You have for verything to work out for Your purposes so that what You do in my life will bring praise to You from those who know and see me--like becoming salt and light.  As You work the Beatitudes into my life, others see the effect of the glory of Your goodness and they express wonder and awe, praise and eventually worship in their own realizations.

  

You have a plan for our lives, for my life.

You use everything in my life to work out Your plans for my life.

You use what You do in my life as an example and as "show and tell" how You work Your plan into the lives of others. 

 

You have used many others along the way to show and tell me how You were working out Your plans for my life through what was happening to me at the time.

 

As Your plans make

 

"all things work together for good"

 

in my life,

 

I can show and tell others how

 

You do it for them.

 

 

Romans 8.28; James 1.2-5; the Beatitudes; Phil. 1.27-2.5, 2.12-13;

Romans 12.1-3

THE EYES OF OUR HEART

THE EYES OF OUR HEART

 

I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened

 in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you,

the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints,

and His incomparably great power for us who  believe.'

Ephesians 1.18-19

 

The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord;

He directs it like a watercourse where He pleases.

Proverbs 21.1

 

 

When we allow God into our heart, He directs us in the way He want us to go.

 

He says,

"I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; 

I will counsel you and watch over you."

Psalm 32.8

 

These are astonishing words!!

Our Creator, God!, takes a personal interest in our personal affairs.

He takes responsibility for being our Teacher and Counselor.  

 

Our only work is to prayerfully read Scripture to understand and obey His will.

 

He works within us to desire His will and trust directions and corrections. 

 

The Holy Spirit opens the eyes of our understanding.

A joyful energy springs forth to increase our desire for even more. 

God redirects our heart.

We realize more and more of what He wants for us.  

                  We want to obey the Lord.

Gratitude and humility combine with confidence, hope, commitment and faith.  Love increases, and we desire to share this with someone.

 

Grace empowers us in many ways-- 

Faith, Trust, Teaching Speaking, Truthfulness, Ministry, and Compassion, Kindness, Humility, Gentleness, Patience, forgiveness.

 

When we search the Scriptures, the Holy Spirit opens our eyes to see great and mighty promises we would never find on our own.

 

 

"Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life,

And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever."

Psalm 23.6

 

As we go, the Lord gives us

      Wisdom and Power for each step of our way,

      Courage when those steps are new to us,

      Strength when they are difficult,

      Encouragement when we feel lost,

      Forgiveness when we fail,

      Compassion and Patience for others.

 

Blessed are those whose strength is in You

who have set their hearts on pilgrimage. 

As they pass through the Valley,

they make it a place of springs;

the autumn rains cover it with pools. 

They go from strength to strength ,

till each appears before God in Zion.

Psalm 84.5-7