This is Namma for Christ with the sixty-third inspirational message dated Friday, February 27th, 2015. The title of this message is: "I Give Myself Away to JESUS - the Only Living Water - John 4:10". This message is based on the below scripture text from the fourth chapter of the Gospel of John (written by the apostle John) as found in the New Testament (KJV) - where he informs the reader what Jesus "told the Samaritan woman" and what Jesus "tells us"..."today":
John 4:10
King James Version (KJV)
10 Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and Who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of Him, and He would have given thee living water.
As taken from the book "Sister to Sister - Devotions: for and from African American Women"- (written by editor, Suzan D. Johnson Cook) below is a devotion written by Rev. Sabrina A. Mangrum. Rev. Mangrum's devotion is entitled: "Only Living Water Satisfies". Her scripture reference is taken from John 4:1-29 (please read when you can). I read this devotion and found it to be both informative and inspirational, which is why I am sharing it with you:
"Only Living Water Satisfies"
John 4 records a conversation Jesus had with a woman at Jacob's well. This woman had come to the well for water, but it is clear that a deeper need brought her to the well alone in the middle of the day. Jesus identifies her problem as having a spiritual thirst that she has sought to satisfy with physical or fleshly things and offers her living water that will permanently satisfy her thirst. As a matter of fact, He tells her that this living water will be a well springing up into everlasting life. Not fully understanding what Jesus is offering but sure it is something wonderful, she asks for this water. Jesus responds by asking her where her husband is. She says, "I have no husband" (John 4:17), Jesus compliments her for her honesty and says she has had five husbands, not including the man she is currently living with.
Jesus begins to address her problem by pointing out that sin is blocking her from spiritual satisfaction. Before Jesus can offer her living water, she must repent of her sinful lifestyle. Her response is to hide behind her religion and get into a discussion of proper doctrine and creed. But Jesus brings her back to the point that her separation from God is the basis for her inability to relate to God. Worship is in spirit and truth. God is Spirit, and you cannot approach God apart from a reborn spirit. This is why Jesus told Nicodemus that he must be born again. This deadened spirit must be brought alive by the Holy Spirit in order to worship or commune with God. Sin is merely the response of someone seeking satisfaction through some other means apart from God. When our spirit communes with and worships God, we will find satisfaction for our thirst and no longer need a sinful lifestyle.
This woman had done like many woman do today. She had sought satisfaction through men. This woman had a man problem. This woman had thought the best way to find satisfaction was to find the right man. As little girls, women are taught to fantasize about their wedding day. They dream of "Mr. Right," and much of their self-esteem is all tied up in how men treat them or think about them. I dare say that if I asked many women the basis of most of the mental and physical scars they carry in their lives, they would point to some treatment by or experience with a man or men.
This woman had not only one failed marriage but five failed marriages. It is amazing how many women have been hurt so many times already by men, but they keep going back, hoping to find satisfaction through relationships.
No one takes a failed marriage to heart more than a woman. Why is it that, more often than not, women take responsibility for why the marriage didn't work? Some men seem to be able to project guilt even when they were the ones who clearly chose to violate the covenant. They can walk away from many years of intimacy and pick up another woman like they are changing a pair of clothes. Women, on the other hand, are left with their souls bleeding and wide open. Some women are sexually molested as children and yet for years bear the guilt as if it were their fault.
This woman had been rejected by five men. She had tried five times to find satisfaction with men. Can you imagine the hurt and guilt she must have been carrying to that well? Jesus may have been the first man she had ever dealt with who cared about her as a person and wasn't trying to use her or take advantage of her.
It is really sad that much of the division, fighting, and competing among women is over men. This woman came to the well alone because she had no friends to go with her. The other women despised her because of her reputation with men. When women stop seeking satisfaction through men first and seek it through Jesus Christ first, there will be more peace among women. Jesus helped this woman to realize that knowing God and worshiping God is far more fulfilling than having any man.
So don't postpone God's purposes and God's ministry for you. God wants you to be complete in Him right now! When the woman at the well understood true worship, she was filled with such satisfaction and fulfillment that she no longer needed her sinful lifestyle. She discovered that the quenching of her deep spiritual thirst came through a relationship with Jesus Christ, the LIVING WATER.
Thought for the day: My thirst is quenched; my soul has been revived; and now I live in Him!
Below is an inspirational song & video (with lyrics) by pastor, songwriter and Christian & Gospel artist William McDowell entitled, "I Give Myself Away".
(I do not own the rights to this song.)
BE BLESSED!
