It's Not What You Say

Devotion

6-27-10

It’s Not What You Say

John 4:25-38

(Jesus has been talking to the woman at the well, a Samaritan woman, which according to Jewish law was not to be done. This encounter had two things that were looked down upon by the Jews, one, He was speaking to a Samaritan whom the Jews despised and two, He was talking to a woman which was not allowed for men to do. Yet, something amazing happens from this encounter, something bigger than all the laws and traditions of a religious sect of people. As you read the scriptures below see if you can spot the reason this devotion is titled, “It’s not what you say”. )

 

Before you begin, stop and ask the Father to reveal the message He is telling us in His word, ask Him to burden upon your heart the desire to do His will and allow His voice to be heard through you.  Draw near to Him, you will know Him more, you will then become more like Him, your life will then reflect His likeness, and then my dear beloved, it will not be what you say that is heard.

 

John 4:25-38

The woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming (He who is called Christ); when that One comes, He will declare all things to us.” Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am He.”

 

At that point His disciples came, and they marveled that He had been speaking with a woman; yet no one said, “What do You seek?” or, “Why do You speak with her?”

So the woman left here waterpot, and went into the city, and said to the men, “Come, see a man who told me all the things that I have done; this is not the Christ, is it?”  They went out of the city, and were coming to Him.

 

 In the meanwhile the disciples were requesting Him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.” But He said to the, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” The disciples therefore were saying to one another, “No one brought Him anything to eat, did he?”

 

Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to accomplish His work. Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes, and look on the fields, that they are white for harvest. Already he who reaps is receiving wages, and is gathering fruit for life eternal; that he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together.  For in this case the saying is true, ‘One sows, and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.”

And from that city many Samaritans believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, ‘He told me all the things that I have done.’ So when the Samarians came to Him, they were asking Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days.  And many more believed because of His word; and they were saying to the woman, ‘It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves and know that this One is indeed the Savior of the world.’

 

Dear Father,

Draw me to You, reveal Your heart, I want to know You more.  Let Your voice be heard from my lips, let it be Your words not mine.  Show me how to build my relationship with You so that it will be so deep and we will be so close that no matter what comes my way I will feel Your arms holding me, Your love within me, Your comfort around me, Your light shinning from me, Your faith upholding me, Your wisdom guiding me, Your presence upon me and Your will before me. There is nothing I cannot do when I am close to You.  Transform me by giving me a passion for Your word so that I will long to spend time with You and to read and know who You are personally.  For I know Father, that as I come to Your word and read, listen, meditate and apply what You tell me, I will grow closer to You and as I become more personally involved in Your life than I will become more like You, and as I become more like You, I will respond like You would respond, I will overcome that which You have already overcome, I will be strong as You are strong, I will be free as You are freedom, I will have peace as You are peace, I will have courage through Your courage, I will be steadfast because You are steadfast, I will be filled with wisdom because You are wisdom, I will see good in my brothers and sisters and love unconditionally because that is how You see me and love me.  I will not focus on the things of the world but upon the things of eternity.  I will be about Kingdom work because it is Your kingdom I care about. I will not be filled with un-forgiveness, strife, bitterness, anger, pride, self-righteousness, or revenge because in You there is no place for these things. I want to empty out the shadows of my mind and heart, those hidden places that hold on to the past or sit quietly waiting to pull me down and keep me from being able to be closer to You.  They take up too much space and lessen the room for You in my life.  So teach me how to lay them down.  Wash me clean of the filthiness of my flesh and make me whole in the purity of Your Spirit. Then, dear Father, I will be closer to Your heart and desire Your will not mine to be done.  Then Father, it will not be my voice that is heard, but it will be the living Word, Your words of truth, hope and life that come from my heart and roll out upon my lips for a lost and dying world to hear. You know me like no one knows me, even better than I know myself.  So here I am Lord, standing at the well ready to draw upon the Living Water and give a drink to any who are thirsty for life.  For it is not what I say but what You say that will quench their thirst and fill their longings for acceptance and unconditional love through the heartbeat of Hope found only in Jesus.

 

I love You for loving me even when I have wronged You, hurt You, or turned from You.  Thank You for the Water and the Food of Your Word that alone brings me sustainable and everlasting life.

In Jesus name

Amen