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Rest - Stop Retreat ~ September 2005
Kim Maas, Moorpark, CA
(kimbi59@hotmail.com)
© 2005
Text: John 4:1-42 The Four Sessions: Friday Night: A Re-defining Defining Moment Saturday Morning: The Invitation to Revelation Saturday evening: The Watershed Moment Sunday Morning: Re-entry Session I: Rest-Stop: A Re-defining Defining Moment Text: John 4: 1-42 God has purposely designated this time as a Rest-Stop. He knows you are weary. He knows many of you feel dry. He knows you have been waiting for him to speak, redirect and refresh you. Some of you have little hope left. Some of you have given up. Some of you are feeling a need to reevaluate what you are doing because you are questioning it meaningfulness. But there is a new season upon us. God has a plan, and in the midst of our daily routine he breaks in and changes everything forever…. Isaiah 41:17, 18: When the poor and needy seek water and there is none, and their tongue is parched with thirst. I the Lord will answer, I will not forsake them. I will open rivers on the barren heights and fountains in the midst of valleys. I will make the wilderness a pool of water and dry land springs of water. Isaiah 43:19: Remember not the former things-nor consider the things of Old-Behold, I am doing a new thing. Now it leaps up into being….do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert to give drink to my chosen people. Jesus planned a Rest-Stop for the woman at the well. In the midst of the stagnant routines of her life, at the place and time that she least expected it, Jesus initiated a time with her. It was a re-defining moment. I. The Well: A Defining Destination vs. 6 “Jacob’s well was there” a. A significant name; Jacob’s well: a place esteemed by her culture because of the name and likely considered to be a Holy Site. In contrast stands the woman who came to draw water and who to this day is nameless and defined only by the place. She was insignificant, without a name and without an identity except as defined by the well. How did the well define her? b. A significant place and time: not the closest source and the time in which she chose to draw water was not the opportune time. It is obvious she wanted to be set apart. A well was a place of gathering for women, for sheep and for marriage prospects. It was a community resource for water and fellowship. The woman avoided fellowship and the derision and rejection that often came with it. She had had five husbands and the one she was with now was not her husband. c. A significant definition: The destination defined her as an insignificant woman marked by personal and cultural failure, rejection and isolation. She was anonymous and disconnected from her community. Point: Jesus intentionally arranged a meeting with a woman at the very place that defined her in the reality of her life. Jesus meets us right where the rubber meets the road. He is not looking for actresses and imposters. He is looking for us, as we are, where we are, with all of our stuff. He sees how we have defined ourselves, how circumstances, wrong choices and others have defined us. Our past, our roles, our calling, and our gender define us. We are defined by wounds, healed or unhealed. But this is a kairos time, an opportune time. Jesus always comes at the right time….to re-define what has defined us in the past, to change us in the present and redirect our future. II. The Rest-Stop: A Re-defining Defining moment John 4:4-6: “And he had to pass through Samaria …and Jacob’s well was there; so Jesus wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well.” a. His intention: There was another route, “had to pass through Samaria” because she was there. And she would be at a certain place at a certain hour. b. His humanity: He understood what it was like to be weary. c. His understanding: This woman had an assignment; she was to be instrumental in leading a town to salvation, in revival and needed to be healed and restored in order to fulfill that role and become who she was created to be and do what she was called to do. The well continued to define this Woman all of her life. She has always been and will always be known as “The Woman At The Well.” But now the well is re-defined. It is given new meaning because of Jesus. His presence and his intention…his visitation turned the well into a marker, a memorial. What was once a constant reminder of her personal moral failure, rejection and isolation….of her limitations and the insurmountable obstacles…of a life devoid of hope or joy or purpose…was now a reminder of the love of the Father just for her. Jesus only did what the Father was doing. The God of the entire Universe, who placed the stars in the heavens and the seas in their boundaries, came to meet her and redefine her past to release her to a new future. She had a story…but Jesus wanted to her story to have a different ending. And He is here to do the same for us. This is a Rest Stop that Jesus has ordained to bring a new definition, a new meaning to who we are, what we do and where we are called. What defines you? Your past, your job, your family, your calling? I believe that Jesus desires to bring new, expanded meaning and fresh revelation (a revealing of understanding you did not have before and which comes from God by the Holy Spirit) this weekend. He wants to deal with wounds and trust issues of your past that continue to limit and hinder you from growing and moving forward. He wants to change the way we understand our roles at work, home, and school to breathe new life and meaning into them. Some will receive a calling to ministry and he is going to redefine the way you understood your future. He desires to redefine and expand the meaning of the calling that some have already received and accepted. He says that what you once understood about your calling in this new season will cause you to stagnate and hinder you from moving forward. You will need a fresh revelation regarding your calling in order to see the new doors he is about to open for you. If we will allow Him…He will meet us in this hour bringing a defining moment which will be a turning point and a memorial to His great love for us personally, corporately and intimately…this truly is a new season with a new story and a new standard. Conclusion: The same God who initiated a Rest-Stop with the woman at the well has come to meet you. 1. He comes to meet you exactly where you are at with exactly what you need without condemnation. 2. He comes to meet you in an opportune time designated by the Father to restore and redefine your life. Prophetic act: “On a little daily devotional thing I once had in my kitchen, so I could read it while doing the dishes each morning, there was a quote from Joyce Meyer which I love. It said, “Good morning, this is God, I will be handling all your problems today. I will not need your help!” Some of you have come from work, or school or home after a week of caring from kids, house, husband, bank accounts, real estate deals, deadlines and a myriad of other things. Some of you may have experienced unusual circumstances that have rocked your world.
Session I Reflection: “The journey to the well is a journey of faith. Faith waters dreams. Faith will be needed to stay focused on your journey. God has called you to meet him at the well. He knows what you need to grow past this point and move forward on your journey.” [1] Bishop Vashti McKenzie What do you want to get out of this weekend? What do you want Jesus to do in you, start in you, reveal to you? What could prevent this from happening? Are you willing to allow The Holy Spirit to do whatever work he desires to do in you this weekend? Do you give Him permission even if it hurts? Write a letter to God asking him to give you faith for the journey. Tell him of your desire to grow past this point and move forward. Invite the Holy Spirit to begin right now. Prayer Father, I know this is a time that was arranged by you especially for me because you love me. Reveal yourself to me this weekend in a fresh way. Take my hand and lead me into a defining moment and redefine anything in my life that hinders, confuses, stifles or destroys the work you want to do in me and through me. Refresh me, renew my strength, and bless me. I want to know your love more deeply and experience joy more fully. Thank you that you are not a God who disappoints. May it give you great pleasure to be with me this weekend. In Jesus name, Amen Session II: The Invitation to Revelation: A Revealing Conversation with God Text: John 4: 1-42 There are moments in our lives where we are ripe for a truth. When a small piece of new information, a revelation, will cause a paradigm shift to occur and how we once perceived ourselves, our lives, our circumstance…our spouse (J) is instantly changed forever. They usually come at points when God desires to change your direction and bring you into a new place with himself. A defining moment is a divinely initiated time in the presence of Jesus that brings a fresh revelation of Himself and truths which bring a change…a transformation…a re-definition of who He is, who we are and what his will is for our lives. The Woman at the Well was ripe for a revelation, a truth she had not known before. Jesus initiates the conversation and the revelation is progressive. Jesus never brings more than she is ready for at the moment so as not to jeopardize her arrival at the defining moment so the change may occur. Jesus is not playing a game. He knows her very life and the lives of others who will come to life eternal because of her testimony are at stake. His love for her is evident by his intentional drawing of this woman into a revelational conversation. He gives her, and each of us, an Invitation to Revelation! The whole thing was a set-up, a divine appointment for a re-defining moment….How did it come to this? How did Jesus draw her in? Jesus initiated a meeting in the middle of her desert place to issue the invitation to revelation leading to a defining moment…. Verse 7: “Give me a drink.” 1. Common Ground · He was a thirsty man at a well with nothing to draw the water; she was a woman with a water pot. She has what she needs to serve him. He asked her for something she could give right where she was at with what she had at that moment in time. · Her water-pot is a barren burden. She carries it with her every where and it has become a daily ritual. It is familiar and she hardly takes notice of it anymore. She has resigned herself to the emptiness, the disappointment, the barren expectation. She is a woman with a barren burden and He is the man who can change all that. We all have something to offer in service to Christ….and He asks us to offer it. But Jesus always offers to give us far more than He asks us to give. He comes to where we are in order to reveal his love for us and to reveal our worth; He values what we can give. It is His express desire to fill our emptiness. How often we try to fill our own emptiness… comfort ourselves in an artificial way instead of coming to the Lord. We don’t trust that He will comfort us. Things become safer than people, and it affects our ability to believe. 2. A Request that Reveals In that moment she had a choice to make. Would she obey? Would she assist him and do what she could? After all, even though she has a water pot, it is empty and maybe she feels she has nothing left to give. How can she give out of her emptiness? How could he ask such a thing? Her response reveals her. · Her answer is self-protected, defensive, and indignant, “how is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me….a woman of Samaria?” This is a woman who has been wounded. Why should she help? Had anyone helped her? Jesus was a Jew; Jews treat her kind with contempt why should she treat him any differently? He is a man. Her past rejections and wounds had proved to her that the only person she could trust was herself. She had to protect herself, she had to cover her insecurity and fear of rejection with pride…maybe it was all she felt she had left. How great her need is for love, acceptance and healing. It reveals her need for a Savior! What is the simple request that Jesus is asking of us today? Where are we self-protected because of past wounds? Where are we unable to respond to the simplest of requests because we have been wronged or because we have given into pride? Jesus is not turned off by her response….He is not surprised. The revealing of where she is at is for her! He takes it to the next level, the revelation is progressive…it is line upon line…He is drawing her in to Himself. Verse 10: “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, give me a drink, you would have asked him and would have given you living water.” 1. If You Only Knew: · The woman did not discern her circumstance. Her self-focus kept her from the reality of the situation she now found herself in. She is standing before the Son sent by the Father into the world. As John says just a few chapters earlier… "in Him was life”. · Had she been able to recognize this, she would also recognize that she was in need and standing before her was the One who was waiting to meet that need if she only asked. · If she only knew the gift would be free. Likely nothing in her life to this point had been given simply for her benefit. There were always strings attached. How often do we also find ourselves in situations where our current circumstance, burden, or worry…or past triggers keep us from discerning the reality of the present moment? How often do we look back and realize that that moment was ordained for us and we never get to the place of putting out our hands in humble petition and expectation? How often have we been so intent on what we think we know…or on a certain agenda…that we don’t get what is really going on and what the Lord is intending? 2. The Gift of God: Living water · Natural vs. Living: There were two types of water which Rabbi’s referred to in those days. Water from a well or cistern, or living water which was water flowing from a stream or river. Well water often stagnated or dried up if it depended on the rainy season to be collected. Either way, this water was not considered to be adequate for ritual purification, or baptism. It did not cleanse. Only Living Water took away defilement and made acceptable worshippers out of unclean people. [2] · Natural vs. Supernatural: The woman had been ritually coming to the well for her source of life day after day after day. The natural source never satisfied for long. It was a never ending cycle of emptiness, need, and journey with only a temporary satisfaction. Jesus is revealing there is another source of life. Jesus is redefining and adding fresh meaning. He is referring to the life that he alone is able to give. The living water he gives will cleanse and purify and much more. The life giving water he gives offers Eternity in heaven and sustaining and empowering upon the reception of the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit that brings a flow of life that renews, refreshes and cleanses. · The fulfillment of promise: Isaiah 55 “Come everyone who thirsts, come to the waters.” Isaiah 44:3 “For I will pour out my Spirit upon your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants.” Ezekiel 47 water flowing from the temple and the presence of God….“For this water goes there (to the sea) that the waters of the sea may become fresh…So that everything will live where the river goes. Leaves will not wither and fruit will not fail.” The water flows from the sanctuary. The sanctuary as the prophets understood it was where the name of Yahweh resided. A name in Hebraic understanding was the essence of the person. The water was flowing from the essence of God…from his very presence. Jesus is God, God’s own Son who is of the same essence as the Father, the second person of the Godhead. He was about to pour out His spirit, living water, and it flows out to meet that which is dead to make it fresh; to bring life and to cause it to become life giving. In this verse in John, Jesus is using a metaphor to invite the woman to receive a revelation that He is God. He has a gift of life to give. This gift of life is living water which he will pour into her dead sea-stagnant life-and make it fresh and alive. Wherever the river flows it brings life…the trees are healed and their leaves will bring healing. She will be healed and begin to bear fruit, bring healing to others. She will have the fruit of a testimony, an understanding of who Jesus is in her own life that will bear witness to others of Gods promises and power. The Samaritan woman was being met at the point of her deadness…
What are the rituals or cycles that we are holding on too? What are the comfortable shoes in our lives that we are afraid to exchange for new ones and suffer discomfort for a time? What natural sources do we use to fill our emptiness or to comfort ourselves, or to get us by? Jesus is offering us a fresh source of Living Water that will refresh, cleanse and heal. He is here to meet each of us at the point of our deadness wherever we are stuck…we can be stuck in sin, in a destructive cycle, in an old paradigm. We can be stuck because of a mindset that needs adjusting or simply because we are living in an old victory and God want to bring a new one. The Lord says….Some of you here have been stuck in a one dimensional expression of a prophetic word spoken over you…the word is true but the way it will manifest in your life has changed…if you continue in the direction you are going…you will be off course and find your self outside of God’s will for your life. If this is you…you need to go back to the original word and ask the Lord how he wants to bring it into expression in this new season. Verse 11-12: “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with… Are you greater than our father Jacob?" 1. She is Stuck in the Natural · Her answer reveals she is skeptical and incredulous. She is in essence saying, “You don’t have what it takes to make good on your word.” This woman has been disappointed before; she is not easily fooled anymore. Promises have come up empty for her. She needs proof, “if I can’t see it, I won’t believe it.” · She is looking for water to fill her jug, not her soul. She has yet to realize this is a temporary fix and Jesus wants to bring a permanent satisfaction. When trust has been broken over and over, people begin to rely on the concrete and themselves. They trust things not people. There is no God in the equation. 2. Clinging to Pride · The Greek reveals that she is asking a question requiring a negative answer; are you greater? Of course you’ are not. · “Jacob is our father” refers here to the fact that Jacob is in her Samaritan blood line just as he is in Jewish. He is a revered Patriarch and she uses this to try to gain a one-up on Jesus. The irony is that she still has no clue whom she is speaking to and pretends to be better by nature of her bloodline though she is an outcast because of her reputation. She is clinging to her pride. She actually acts like a snob… Verse 13-14: “Jesus said to her, ‘everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him, it will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.’” 1. She does not have understanding · Jesus knows. He understands completely and keeps drawing her in. He doesn’t get irritated or frustrated; He doesn’t give up on her. He continues to lead her in progressive revelation revealing to her her need for something fresh and new. He is revealing her need for life. He is creating a thirst that will overcome her distrust, self-protection and cynicism. 2. His Gift is Greater · The water he has to offer is greater. This implies that he is greater. He is greater than her tradition, and Jacob. 3. Welling up · The word used here is only used three times in the New Testament: in John 4, in Acts 3:8 when the man at the beautiful gate was healed, and in Acts 14: 10 when Paul commanded the man crippled from birth to “get up.” · The word means “leaping up” · It means that the water he will give is powerful and dynamic. It contains a life force that flows and moves. It has creative power and a life giving source that is never ending. It produces…and overflows into action. · It is the Holy Spirit. · Jesus is saying that the water he gives is neither stagnant nor stale. It will sustain life for eternity. Oh…. the offer He is extending to this woman and to us…an offer of the Holy Spirit to flow in and through us and back out again to others giving dynamic, powerful creative life! Hallelujah! Do you have it? Do you want it? Are you thirsty? Are your ready?! Verse 15: “The woman said to him, Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.” 1. The Asking · Asking for the sake of convenience. She is not asking for Him to fulfill her deepest needs. She wants her life as it is, just easier. · Asking for him to solve the immediate problem, not to tear out the root. She was unaware of the cure for her ills. What are we asking for? We do not want the Lord God to dig too deep...just make my life a little more convenient and leave it the way it is. Give me a new appliance, a new house, a new job, more money. Feel sorry for me…pity me and make things easy. But don’t make me change. Or touch my wounds. Jesus does not deal in pity; he deals in mercy…mercy acts to change things. Luke is a gospel which reveals the mercy of Jesus. He is compassionate and has mercy on his people. In his mercy he meets their true needs. She has not asked aright, but she has asked. With the little revelation she has, she has opened herself enough to ask… Maybe you do not know what to ask for, maybe you will ask with a wrong motive…BUT JUST ASK. With whatever revelation or information or understanding you have at this moment, ask. He is able to give what you have not known that you needed and He will continue to give you more revelation, more understanding, and more healing. At this point Jesus redirects the conversation to her personal life. Verse 16: “Go call your husband.” Jesus challenges her with another request that reveals….and brings her to her defining moment if she chooses to respond · She is faced with the second request by Jesus and a second chance to choose obedience which reveals trust and faith. Can she trust him? Will he reject her? Can she risk it one more time? Will she let her guard down? Verse 17: “I have no husband… Truly you have said.”
· Of all she has said this was truthful. It was what she lived out. What had come before was sarcasm, testing, incredulity and such. It was a parlay of words. · Jesus reveals that He is aware of her life in all its living color · She obeyed…an act of worship by speaking the truth in response. Jesus did not recoil and leave because the first request was left un-obeyed. He continued to engage her until she was able to take that step. Sometimes we think that any little mistake we may make will render us “defective” as Christians…look at the patience and time He spends wooing this woman. He does the same for us. He does not quit. He also does not quit on those we love!
· “I perceive you are a prophet.” Not yet understanding fully…but the conversation continues… Jesus does not correct her…He is pleased with the progress. He is pleased with our progress too.
· Vs20-21 The woman asks a question that has to do with a long standing controversy between the Jews and Samaritans. Jesus responds by not getting hooked into a discussion of right and wrong, but rather points to the nature of worship and the fact that no one can worship “what they do not know”. · This points back to his earlier statement…if you knew the gift and the one who asks you, you would ask him and. She still does not know or she would ask. Asking is a form of worship. It is acknowledging that God has what we need and He is able to provide what we are unable to provide for ourselves. Here Jesus has given a major theological insight to a woman of no consequence in the eyes of society. He speaks to her of the coming kingdom and the kind of worship that will mark those who belong to the kingdom; the kingdom that he has ushered into the world with his coming, the kingdom that is above and beyond this world, the kingdom that restores what has been destroyed and dominated by the devil. Worshipers in the Kingdom will worship in Spirit and in truth, according to the word of God and the Holy Spirit; in purity of heart and reality of their new position in Christ Jesus. This is amazing theology….temples are overruled, God is no longer there. He will dwell in the hearts of his people by his Spirit. Segregation is overruled, all are welcome; every tongue and tribe. There is neither Jew nor Greek, nor male nor female, nor slave nor free. All are equal before Jesus. All religious systems and traditions are overruled and replaced by the word of God and the Spirit of God in the life of the believer. This woman, who has been barred from worshipping God, because of her gender, her race, and her immoral choices, will now be free to worship and freely come into the presence of God. He is speaking to her of freedom and reconciliation to God and the community of faith. Verse 25: “I know that messiah is coming…I am He.” The truth about her life is revealed and he still answered her question, still continued in conversation….accepted her…now she is ready to accept him…the defining moment that redefines her life forever. She stayed in the conversation long enough to receive the revelation. AND Jesus DOES NOT DISAPPOINT!!!!!! Verse 28: “So the woman left her water jar and went away into the town and said to the people…come and see.”
· “The woman became an apostle to her people” (Scholar Craig Blomberg). · Her life would never be the same, or the lives of those around her. She was reconciled to God, herself and her community. · Her past had been redeemed and her life, at that moment and for the rest of it, had been re-defined.
Session II Reflection: Describe the defining moments of your life. What changed because of them? How has God shown you that He loves you and cares about your heart? What are the tears or fears that could keep you from moving forward? Can you identify any area that The Lord would desire to redefine? What about the story of The Woman at the Well spoke the loudest to you? Why? Where do you relate to the Woman at the Well-for example her anonymity, her past, her self-protection, or her tenaciousness to stay in the conversation? What particularly touched you about Jesus’ response to her? Prophetic exercise: Sit for a moment with the Lord. Ask him to give you a picture in your mind about where you are at right now in your walk or growth or ministry. Draw or write the picture down. Ask the Holy Spirit to give you revelation about it. Begin to write what you see in this picture that relates to you. For example: I see an egg. This speaks to me about a work that is in a beginning stage and hasn’t yet “broken out”. It speaks to me that there is something precious developing inside and I need to care for it because it is fragile. When it does break out, I will need to watch over it and protect it from the elements and predators who are probably those who will not understand what God is doing in my life. Share the picture with a friend and ask them what they see or understand about it. You may be surprised at what the Lord shows you! Prayer Father, show me how you see me. Show me where you are working in my life. Prepare me to receive the ministry of the Holy Spirit and a revelation for a defining moment. In Jesus Name, Amen Session III: Watermark: The Defining Moment Text: John 4: 16-18 Have you ever seen a watermark on a piece of paper? It has to be held up to the light, but it is a permanent stain. It is a stain that is purposefully made and actually adds beauty and value to the paper. Wounds and sin bring blemishes which are stains of a different sort. They devalue and mask beauty. Defining moments are those moments in our lives when Jesus comes and cleanses away the blemishes, and by His Spirit, the living water, leaves a watermark on our lives that can be seen when held up to the light. It becomes a distinguishing mark. The mark of Christ is placed on our lives. We are beautiful and valuable. The Bible says God has made everything beautiful in its time. God desires to leave a watermark on your lives Leaders should never lead where they are not willing to go themselves. (Three personal defining moments that have left a water mark on me.) “Go home” When I was 21 years old I married. Having become a believer at the age of thirteen, it had been several years since I had walked with the Lord. I married an unbeliever; a man addicted to drugs and alcohol. The next three years were hell. By mid fourth year, I decided I couldn’t take it anymore. I took my two children, filed for divorce and moved half a state away. I was angry, disillusioned and the farthest from the Lord I had ever been. A woman befriended me; a Christian woman. I started to read my Bible again. Three weeks before my divorce was final, as I was sitting in my apartment, I heard the Lord speak for the first time in my entire life. He said, “Go home and I will take care of everything.” It was nearly audible it was so loud inside me. I stood up and looked around to see if there was anyone in the room and I was startled. I began to argue with Him that my husband had not changed, but He never said another word. I knew I had to choose; His way or my own. I chose His way. I went home. It was four more years before my husband would change and I nearly gave up many times thinking I was crazy and wondering if I had been tricked by God, yet four years later my husband received a visitation from the Lord and was instantly delivered from alcohol and drugs. He has never returned to their use. We celebrate our silver wedding anniversary in November this year. It was a defining moment. It redefined my relationships. "You like being a victim” At the age of 32, after 14 years battling an eating disorder in secrecy, I came to the chilling conclusion that if something didn’t happen I would die. I did not want my 10, 8, and 6 year olds to be without me. I confessed my secret and tried to the best of my ability to yield to God. I began five months of therapy. I wanted to know the truth. I told my counselor so. The defining moment came when she looked at me one meeting and said, “Kim, You like being a victim. You like it because you are so afraid of making a mistake and being to blame that you allow other people to make decisions for your life so that you can blame them if things don’t turn out right.” I was cut to the heart. I knew it was true. I wept for nearly two weeks. Then I began to take responsibility for my life and make my own decisions. The fear of making mistakes, failure and rejection began to break along with the intense anger and periods of depression and self-pity. I was set free. I have never been the same. It redefined my personal life. “You’ve made an idol of your calling” On March 24th, 1994 I received a calling from the Lord during a visitation that changed the course of my entire life in dramatic ways. About 6 years later I was terribly wounded at the hands of church leadership. I forgave and began the healing process. I moved on and continued in ministry over the next several years A little over a year ago, as I struggled to understand why I had not received an appointment to a particular ministry position which was in line with my passion and calling, I attended a worship conference. During worship the first night, as I was singing, I heard the Lord whisper… “You have made an idol of your calling.” I was undone. How did this happen? The wounding all those years before had caused a deep mistrust and I had allowed it to settle in. Though I had forgiven, I no longer trusted. I did not trust men and eventually this transferred to the Lord. This distrust caused me to become self-protecting. I had made myself the soul protector of my calling. After all, the calling was from the Lord and insidiously it crept onto the throne of my heart. It was the driving focus in my life. It took the throne of my heart without any resistance from me, without my notice. It was frightening to me to see how easily I had been deceived and given place to my flesh. For an entire year the Lord dealt with me over this issue, to break, deliver, heal and rebuild issues surrounding trust. This was a defining moment of great magnitude in my life I remember at one point feeling grief over a deep desire I have for a particular ministry and began to pray with tears. Suddenly I had a strange thought….is this desire a desire that God gave me or do I have this strong desire because this was something that has been denied me, stolen from me, or taken from me in the past? Is it a really a desire and call of the Lord, or is it some kind of counterfeit obsession cloaked in a spiritual garment which has kept me going around this same mountain over and over? At that moment I made a decision to give God permission to:
This is what He did for the woman at the well and it brought her a new freedom. The woman at the well was going through the motions of her life, enduring till the end; resigned to her station, situation and stagnation. No longer did she expect things to change, no longer did she anticipate that she would receive anything other than what she got day after day from the source…the life…she had known. Once she dreamed of love, joy, peace, purpose, but these had long since died. She was hardened, not because she wanted to be, but because she needed to protect her heart, if anything was left of it. She could not tell. Day after day, night after night the moments of her life passed in monotonous tone drowning out the feeble whispers of her heart that tempted her to hope that someday things would be different. Then, in the heat of the day, in the nakedness of her situation and in the place that defined her rejection…He came. He rested and waited for her. A.W. Tozer says that God waits to be wanted. She did not recognize him. She did not know his intentions. She did not trust him. He was not like her. He was a man. He was a Jew. He was “respectable.” He was God. And He chose her! “Go call your husband and come here” He asked her to face her past in His presence. He did not condemn the woman but he required an honest answer and a humble opening of herself to Him. Likewise, we are not condemned or criticized, but rather given the opportunity to receive personal revelation if we will come before him honestly and openly. Women with unresolved issues become stagnant. They just keep going around the same mountain. God desires us to be free to move forward. This means resolving unresolved issues. God brings us to the well, to a Rest-Stop, to look at our lives honestly and openly in His presence without polish or adornment, without hiding. He desires to resolve unresolved anger, heal unhealed wounds, comfort us over losses, revive forgotten dreams, and realign our desires. He desires to resolve these issues because he loves us and wants us to live from that love….not for it! Are you willing? Will you give him your tears and fears? Releasing of tears: Glass of water: represents tears. All the tears you have cried without resolution and the tears of the present because of the influence of the past. In the presence of Christ spend some time prayerfully reflecting on your life and in particular the things that continue to be unresolved and painful. (Habits, wounds, anger, losses, disappointments, childhood issues). Ask Him to resolve the issues. When you are ready to release your tears to God and give the unresolved issues into his hands and allow him to bring resolution and personal transformation…pour out your tears and say out loud…"I am ready to move on."[3] Releasing of fears: Stones: represent the fears that hold us back. Take a few minutes to ask God to reveal to you what fear he desires you to release to him tonight. Take turns at your table to name the fear you are releasing and then declare that tonight you are giving it to God and moving forward. Declare that you will no longer cooperate with fear and declare its power over you broken in the name of Jesus. Please come forward for personal prayer and allow the Lord to minister to you. When you have received prayer, you may return to your seat or find any comfortable place in the room to kneel, pray, prostrate and worship. Session III Reflection: Journal what you experienced during the releasing of your tears and fear. Record anything the Lord spoke to you through the speaker, the prophetic acts (physical expression of prayer and God’s direction), the prayer time, the worship time. Ask the Lord to speak to you and record what you hear. Session IV: Re-entryJohn 4:27-30 Hebrews 10:35 Hind’s Feet on High Places: The story of little “much afraid” from the valley who started on a long journey to the mountain top because of a promise given by the shepherd of hind’s feet for high places. She had crippled feet and a lot of fears. The journey was long and arduous. Along the way there were defining moments which are pictured as altars upon which she would lay her fears and finally herself. When the re-defining of her crippled past had been accomplished in the last defining moment of her journey at the top of the mountain, she received a commission to return to the very valley from which she had come with a testimony. A defining moment always results in forward movement · When Peter wept over his betrayal of Jesus, he was restored to Jesus and became the apostle to the Jews. · When Saul met Jesus on the Damascus road, he became Paul, apostle to the gentiles writing almost half the New Testament. · When Moses met God in the burning bush, when Abraham had a visitation, when Gideon was confronted by God…they all experienced a re-defining of who they were and what they were about and then were commissioned into something new. · When Mary, a simple girl, was visited by the Holy Spirit, she became pregnant with the greatest promised manifested on earth, Jesus. · When Mary Magdalene, once prostitute, met Jesus at the tomb after his resurrection, she became the first evangelist. · When the disciples, both men and women, were in the upper room and experienced Pentecost, they received power and gave witness to Jesus and praise to God birthing the church as we know it. · The woman at the well who after meeting Jesus stopped what she was doing in order to do what she was created to do! How shall we go out from here? I. Go without apology. Verse 27: “they marveled that he was talking to a woman” a. Astonishment Marveled: ethaumazo-astonished that Jesus a man of dignity and respect….was talking with a woman. The irony that the disciples did not understand what was going on. b. The woman did not try to explain so they would understand. She did not apologize for being a woman, for being immoral, for taking up Jesus’ time. She simply WENT OUT and spoke up… c. Do not expect people, even people who love God, to understand what God is doing in your life. Some will; others will not. You may not be who or what they are expecting. It does not matter; you cannot waste time on it. d. No time for needing approval-she did not wait to explain herself to the disciples, or make them comfortable with what was going on, or ask them if she could speak. She did not need their approval; she had the approval of God. She had an assignment to fulfill. II. Go Understanding the Time Verse 28: “So the woman left her water-pot and went away into the town and said to the people, ‘Come see a man that told me all I ever did.” a. No time for extra baggage. No time to waste. No more water-pot. It was heavy, it was cumbersome, and it required extra energy. It slowed her down. She had to go. b. Leave the water-pot where you laid it down. Do not take up again what God has set you free from. Refuse to pick it up again. c. The fears, the tears, the unresolved issues. Just keep laying them at the foot of the cross. III. Go with a mind-set of rest Verse 39: “many of the Samaritans from that town believed in Him because of the woman’s testimony.” a. The circumstances had not changed…the townspeople had not changed, the woman did. The same woman who had isolated herself from the community was now shouting her story from the rooftops…come see a man who told me all I ever did. b. She rested from her works-from the work that she had not been called to by Jesus and took up her true work c. She rested from needing to control. She had no idea how the people would react to her testimony. A woman’s testimony had little credibility, much less an immoral woman’s testimony. She had no control over this; her responsibility was to give a witness. A journey toward a mindset of rest is a journey of developing trust in God. In order to develop a mindset of rest we must understand: Trust · Reliance on the integrity, strength, ability, surety of a person or thing. · A confident expectation, a hope · Confidence in the certainty of a future fulfillment Confidence · A belief in the power, trustworthiness or reliability of a person · Assurance Faith · Confidence or trust in a person · Belief in God
IV. Go with Confidence! a. She had gained a confidence…not in and of herself, but in who Christ is and what he did for her. She rested in faith, trusting that he was who he said he was. Hebrews 10:35-39: "Therefore, do not throw away your confidence which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised.For Yet a little while and the coming one will come and not delay. But my righteous one shall live by faith and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls." b. Parrasia- Confidence, Boldness, -it means a confident freedom, a confident hope, brings endurance even in affliction, a boldness of speech. The absence of fear. Do not throw this away! c. Reward-our confidence will pay a return, keep us in trials and keep us moving forward. Is sustains hope! d. Endurance-patient endurance. This is not resignation. It is a dynamic patience which continues in confident trust. Our confidence is not found in ourselves. It is in Jesus who is without limit in His ability to save, heal, deliver, resource, and bring us all the way through to the end in victory! This scripture is located within the context of persecution and the Hall of Faith in the book of Hebrews where those who have gone before us and kept the faith are recorded. All went forward in the faith and confidence that the Lord would do all that He had promised. The woman at the well went out. “Much Afraid” went out. Followers of Jesus are always sent out: We will now go out….. How shall we go out? 1. We go out without apology or explanation for who the Lord is and what he has begun in our lives or what he has called us to do. 2. We go out without the extra baggage that keeps us in a ritual cycle of bondage. 3. We go out with a Mind-set of rest in order serve out of love not for it and in order to break the power of the enemy to make us busy, unavailable and unable to participate in the present. 4. We go out with Confidence in order to persevere in moving forward and receive what is promised. Session IV Reflection: What have you learned from the Woman at the Well? What has the Lord done in your life at this Rest Stop? How will you enter into a mind-set of rest? Write out your testimony of the weekend. Spend a little time in worship and thanksgiving to The Lord for all HE has done.[1] Mc Kenzie, Vashti. “ Journey to the Well :12 lessons on personal transformation”, New York: Penguin, 2002. pg 6. [2] Morris, Leon. The Gospel according to John, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1995. pg 230. [3] This activity taken from “Journey to the Well”. Permission is given to print the Teaching Notes for personal study or sharing with family, friends and/or prayer groups so long as the contents remain unaltered. Any other use of the articles or materials would require written permission. © 2001-2006 - All Rights Reserved.
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