Tag Archives: encountering Jesus

encountering God

at the well“Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, worn out from His journey, sat down at the well. It was about six in the evening.  A woman of Samaria came to draw water.” John 4:6-7

“Meanwhile, Moses was shepherding the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian. He led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. Then the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire within a bush.” Exodus 3:1-2

My point this morning is this:  both Moses and the woman at the well had an unexpected encounter with God, while they were going about their daily routine. Neither of them were in the middle of any kind of religious activity when God showed up. They were simply doing what they did every day.

We don’t have to pray that someone will come to church so that they can encounter God. We can pray for those we love to have God encounters right where they are, doing what they do everyday.

Is there someone you know who desperately needs to encounter God? Pray that He will show up, right where they are, during their daily routine. Pray that they will encounter Him in such a way that their lives will never be the same.

It happened too many times in scripture for us to believe that it won’t happen today. Jesus went through Samaria on purpose, even though most Jewish travelers went around it to avoid encountering Samaritans. I believe His encounter of the woman at the well was planned, and purposeful.

In other words, no one accidentally encounters God.

beautiful encounter

“Will you give me a drink?”

A tired, thirsty Savior came to a well to encounter a tired, thirsty outcast of a woman.

I find it to be beautiful.

Hands_through_waterMy eyes take in the beauty of Jesus breaking through the barriers to come for her, and my heart is overwhelmed by the sacred conversation between a woman and God.

I am captivated by His words that reveal what He is most after here at the well.

“If you knew the generosity of God and who I am, you would be asking me for a drink, and I would give you fresh, living water.” 

If you knew who I am.

This is what He’s after. This was no chance meeting on a hot day. This was Jesus, coming to a thirsty woman to offer her the only thing that would quench her thirst. Himself. Not just a sip. Not just a drink of Him on a hard day. His offer is a never-ending drink of God. A drink that would get into her so abundantly it would flow out of her.

Then He revealed what He knew of her. And it is right here that I find a deep beauty in this encounter. He wasn’t just uncovering her sin.

He knew her.

“Back in the village she told the people, “Come see a man who knew all about the things I did, who knows me inside and out.”

Then I hear what His disciples dared not speak out loud.

“Just then His disciples came back. They were shocked. They couldn’t believe He was talking with that kind of a woman. No one said what they were all thinking, but their faces showed it.”

do-not-cross-lineSo like us. Thinking His love should not cross our boundary lines drawn by hatred and religious bigotry.

They had their reasons for thinking that surely His love would not extend to someone they despised.

And we have ours.

I am struck by the beauty of a love that disregards the opinions of men.

A love that refuses to obey our rules.

The woman leaves and this beautiful story comes to a close. Almost.

“I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.”

They saw a Samaritan woman, and would not have looked her way, let alone spoken with her.

He saw a woman who was thirsty.  He saw a harvest.

John 4:1-38 – from The Message

changing forevers

fishingIt was on a beach. Men doing what they do, what their fathers did, what their sons will do. Providing food for their families; making a living. And then God walked by with an invitation.

 “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.”               (Matthew 4:19)

Their invitation is my invitation.  “Come with Me and take part in what I am doing. Stop spending your life on the temporary. You have eternal purpose, and your life can affect the ‘forever’ of other people.”

(My forever was changed because someone dropped their nets and followed Jesus.)

He could have done it alone. He could have fished for men until all who would be caught by grace were in, and then He could have brought this whole thing to the end. Alone. Without us.

Instead, He invited us into it with Him. Because He wants us with Him, doing what He does. Loving unlovable, forgiving, lifting lowly heads, and strengthening weak. Treating outcasts with honor, feeding hungry, healing sick. Fishing. Always fishing. Always wanting us in it with Him. Being hands doing divine work, feet going to the ends of the earth, hearts breaking for the broken, eyes looking with love. Changing forevers. Preparing a Bride.

Us with Him. Him with us. And then I hear the words that draw me deeper, higher, lower. All the way to my knees.  “Christ in you, the hope of glory”.

Christ, encountering those I encounter. The Holy One of God dwelling in me. Loving, forgiving, lifting lowly heads, strengthening weak. Honoring outcasts, feeding hungry, healing sick.

“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me…” Galatians 2:20

Deeper living requires deeper dying and going higher means going all the way low.

This. It is His invitation to me. To you.

This. And more.