A great day at Sychar's well...

It has been a long time since I wrote a post on this blog. One of the things I am happily finding is that the Lord continues to reveal Himself to me almost to the point that lately I don't have time to write it down. One of the things I always find a challenge is that I have so much to share with no venue to share it other than this blog but lately I have so much that I just don't know where to start, so I haven't started.
Those who have been to this blog before will know I promised to share simple thoughts on the Tabernacle and I haven't completed that but the Lord still chats with me about the wondrous truths of Jesus Christ shadowed in the Old Testament and I will definitely return to this soon.
You know I think it important to receive the truth that the Bible, the Word of God, is really totally and completely about the Word of God, The Word made flesh, Jesus Christ, and throughout every page we can behold His glory, full of grace and truth. As you read the Bible don't write off the Old Testament as here Jesus is seen shadowed in types but the truths held here are just so beautiful. Seek Him out in every verse. When you read ask the Holy Spirit to reveal Him for He is everywhere in everything because He is the everything of God, God revealed and expressed; the heir and creator of all things, the radiance of God's glory, the exact representation of God's nature, the upholder of all things (Hebrews 1: 2, 3).

Anyway enough on that.
This morning I was reading a book and it sent me to a section of the Bible, John 4. This is the story of the Samaritan woman and her interaction with the Living Water, Jesus Christ. Now there is a lot that could be said about this I'm sure but I was impacted by two simple thoughts and I trust they might impact you today.
The first is the statement Jesus made in verse 10. 'Jesus said to her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, 'Give Me a drink,' you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water."'
If you KNEW the GIFT OF GOD! Who or what is the gift of God? Easy answer. Jesus Christ He is the gift of God.
Now many a gospel message has been preached on this verse encouraging people to 'know' Jesus and this is right but there is so much more here. I am pretty sure that most people who have taken the time to read this are probably already believers in Jesus so I want you to receive the truth of this statement for you, now, today.
My prayer is that you might KNOW HIM in all that He is for you right now, today.
Let me ask you something.
What do you need? Or dare I say it, what do you want?
Recently I visited a little church. I was so blessed by the preaching because the preacher didn't preach the favour of God that is appropriated by me by my striving via this strategy or that strategy as is the case in so many places (sadly). Rather she declared that the Bible, the book of promises is in fact a book of provision.
On my phone I have a list of scripture that the Lord has blessed me with through other people as they have been inspired by the Holy Spirit and I had entitled the file 'Promises'. After this morning I changed the title of this file to 'Provisions'. What do I mean by this?
Beloved, whatever you need or want Jesus is the PROVISION not just the promise. A promise suggests that something is yet to come, it is promised but it is yet to arrive and we, the receiver, can have no way of knowing when the promise will be realised. This is a wholly unsatisfactory situation for me and is not the nature of God. Why? Because my precious friends Jesus Christ is the provision of God and all that He promised was realised in Jesus 2000 years ago. He promised restoration, freedom, hope, glory, blessing, favour, provision, healing,...I could go on and on and on...whatever you need today or want was realised in the GIFT OF GOD...the question is DO YOU KNOW IT?
Let me direct you to another well know scripture, sadly misrepresented on many church pulpits today. In 1 Corinthians 11 the writer, Paul, talks of the truth of the Lord's Supper, the New Covenant meal instituted by Jesus Himself the night of His betrayal. In verse 27 he talks of eating and drinking unworthily and goes on in verse 29 to speak of not judging the body of the Lord rightly and then says in verse 30 that this is the reason many are weak and sickly among you, weak and sickly because we don't correctly discern His body.
Now this passage has been used  by many to heap condemnation upon the people of God, to drive blood bought righteous people, righteous by the blood of Jesus, into a place of self examination seeking whether or not they are unworthy. Oh please, beloved, how many times do we have to crucify the Lord? If you only KNEW the truth of Him then you could embrace your freedom from every stronghold of the enemy of God and truly be free. The Bible is clear that Jesus, my Jesus was wounded for my transgressions, He was bruised for my iniquities, He was chastised for my peace and He bore the stripes for my healing. BY HIS STRIPES I AM HEALED! Is this just physical healing? No. Is this just salvation? No. Beloved, rightly discern His body and so eat rejoicing in the absolute TRUTH that His body bore the stripes for your healing, total and complete, everything! He is EVERYTHING. He is every provision you will ever need for whatever it is that you need or want. HE IS OUR PROVISION, already ours, not just a promise but THE provision. Oh, hallelujah!
Why do you think the Lord's Supper is consigned in our churches to an afterthought, partaken maybe once a month and then often as an interruption to our sermon? Because we don't correctly discern the Lord's body and so many are weak and sickly among us and many live under constant condemnation, bound and bent, oh yes Christians but not walking in true freedom but bound by our own doing when freely available to us is liberty in the already done, the finished work of our Lord, Jesus Christ. So as Jesus said if you 'knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, 'Give Me a drink,' you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water."' My prayer today is that you will KNOW HIM.

The second thing that impacted me from the Samaritan woman story was this. When Jesus arrived at the Sychar's well He was tired and hungry. The disciples went off to the town to get some supplies and while they were away Jesus met the woman. You know this was a divine appointment revealed in the wonderful precision of the Bible in that He 'had to pass through Samaria' (John 4: 4). He didn't 'have' to at all, in fact most Jews would avoid Samaria like the plague but Jesus had to go that way, why? He had a woman to meet! But that's another post.
When the disciples returned Jesus was refreshed and sustained to such an extent that the disciples seemed to think that He had rung for a takeaway and the Domino's scooter had beaten them to it! But the fact is that Jesus was sustained by His administration of His love to the woman who deserved nothing but received 'living water', the eternal nourishment and refreshment of the Grace (the unmerited favour) of God, Jesus Christ.
Now the staggering point of this truth is this. Many a preacher today would go on to give you a nice burden by telling you that your nourishment and sustenance is only in 'doing' the will of the Father but this isn't the point at all. The point is this, rejoice with me in this, that when we draw from Jesus He is sustained all the more, He is an endless, complete and wonderful source of eternal sustenance and the more you draw the more there is to receive, more refreshment, more restoration, more freedom, more favour. So much but we do not receive it because we don't know Him. I think of Mary at the feet of Jesus, sitting there being fed. The more she fed the more she received.

So, beloved my prayer is today that you will KNOW Him and that knowing Him you will receive Him as your endless provision. He gave His life at the cross to restore all that our first father gave away and nothing is left out. The Bible is clear when it declares for you today that 'He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?' This isn't just about us getting what we want this is everything about KNOWING the truth of Jesus and the wonder of the Grace of God.
With your face unveiled receiving the truth of the provided One we are 'transformed from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.' This is 2 Corinthians 3: 18 which is often quoted but I want you to see the previous verse. It says that 'where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.' LIBERTY! Liberty from what? Liberty from everything that is not of God, liberty from everything not glorious, beloved know Him in truth. He is EVERYTHING for every situation in your life and I do not believe anything is excluded.
Rejoice in this, receive Him and praise Him for He alone is worthy.

Blessings to you today. Have a great day.