John 4:13 Jesus replied, “Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. 14 But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.” 15 “Please, sir,” the woman said, “give me this water! Then I’ll never be thirsty again, and I won’t have to come here to get water.” 16 “Go and get your husband,” Jesus told her.17 “I don’t have a husband,” the woman replied.
The Samaritan woman had to deal with her sin and Jesus offered not only everlasting water, but everlasting peace with a new life that is made right with God. Sweet repentance was a necessary ingredient in this whole thing and the life change from it caused a great change in her direction, as it does in ours. The freshness of a forgiven life causes radical changes in all who receive it. GUARANTEED...
And so the story goes.....One evening the town council met for its semi-annual meeting. As they reviewed the budget, one man's eye caught the salary figure being paid the obscure keeper of the spring. Said the keeper of the purse, "Who is the old man? Why do we keep him on year after year? No one ever sees him. For all we know the strangeranger of the hills is doing us no good. He isn't necessary any longer!" By a unanimous vote, they dispensed with the old man's services. For several weeks nothing changed. By early autumn the trees began to shed their leaves. Small branches snapped off and fell into the pools, hindering the rushing flow of sparkling water. One afternoon someone noticed a slight yellowish-brown tint in the spring. A couple of days later the water was much darker. Within one week, a slimy film covered sections of the water along the banks and a foul odor was soon detected. The millwheels moved slower, some finally ground to a halt. Swans left as did the tourists. Clammy fingers of disease and sickness reached deeply into the village.Quickly, the embarrassed council called a special meeting. Realizing their gross error in judgment, they hired back the old keeper of the spring . . . and within a few weeks the veritable river of life began to clear up. The wheels started to turn, and new life returned to the hamlet in the Alps once again.
It could be, we as Christians are talked out of believing God for great things so our expectations lower a little more every day. When our faith (expectations) or the results of the power of God are minimized, so are the results. The more our faith decreases, and the more we shut God out of our lives, the more the water becomes tainted and poisoned. Perhaps you have bought into the lie that God is not active in the situations of life anymore and you have become stagnant, and sin has grown more and more in your life and the refreshing water of the spring of eternal life doesn't refresh you on a moment by moment basis any more. Then something needs to change and if you are ready for change perhaps the helps listed below will stir your heart again and bring you back to an active faith that is realized as real through giving your life afresh and anew to Jesus. Here are some things to think about to come and get your water tasting good again.
Repent. (def) - sincere regret or remorse. This is a tough word to deal with at times because in salvation it is associated with surrendering your life totally to Jesus and turning away from the world and all it offers. For me repentance is such a positive experience but you have to get to a place of repentance, and if you are not living a Spirit-filled life then you might fight the repentance needed for change. I look at the picture of repentance as me walking the wrong way and God putting His hand on my head and saying "I'm here, so turn back to me and we can get back on course." Who could refuse this type of love? Psalm 139:O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me. 2 You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my thoughts even when I’m far away. 3 You see me when I travel and when I rest at home. You know everything I do. And yet, God loves us and still reaches out to us and with just a touch changes everything.
Rely Totally on God's Word and Nothing Else! Hebrews 12:1 For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. You need to immerse yourself in the Word of God and begin to study it as the source for all your life. If you are single person it will show you who to marry and how to conduct yourself as a single person. Many people bring up that Jesus was a single adult but He is actually married to His bride, the church, and we need to do church as that bride. Submitted to the will of the husband, Jesus our Lord. 1 Corinthians 13:1 If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.2 If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing.3 If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing. Much like a marriage should be the church as a bride should be committed to love in everything it does. If we do anything for any other reason than love then the act is tainted and the pool of refreshing water will no longer be tasty from the bride of Christ. This keeps religion from creeping into the fellowship of God and all decisions will be made from the basis of love and not from the basis of politics and traditions. Politics is just church people trying to get their own way and it is never out of love.
Throw Off the Old Excuses. Hebrews 12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. I can come up with thousands of excuses not to get right with God and so the spring in my life continues to get more ugly every day. But the day I lay down the excuses and surrender, then God can do a new thing in my life. Isaiah 43:19 For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.
Begin Serving Again. James 2:14 What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? 15 Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing,16 and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do? 17 So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless. A lively faith produces good works, good works don't produce faith because the heart of the matter of serving is centralized in the love of God. Our service is done from the inside out and not the outside in. If we work to please God we are missing the point and before long we think we are more righteous because we "did" something and God is calling us to "be" someone He can use. You may not realize this but serving can become an idol in our lives if it is not sourced from the love that only God can give us. And that is possible because God is love!!!
Be accountable. Here is where the enemy (satan) gets heavy in the mix and you need other Spirit-filled believers to pray for you, love on you, and challenge you to greatness. Paul saw this very thing in the church at Ephesus and here is some of his words of wisdom. Ephesians 4:17 With the Lord’s authority I say this: Live no longer as the Gentiles do, for they are hopelessly confused.18 Their minds are full of darkness; they wander far from the life God gives because they have closed their minds and hardened their hearts against him. 19 They have no sense of shame. They live for lustful pleasure and eagerly practice every kind of impurity. 20 But that isn’t what you learned about Christ. 21 Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, 22 throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. 23 Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. 24 Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy.
One of the awesome characteristics of our awesome God is His way of taking a repentant sinner and immediately giving them a new spring that is refreshing and clean. In the story of The Keeper of the Spring the old man was underestimated in how important he was to keeping the spring pure and beautiful. The Holy Spirit is the necessary ingredient to making all of this happen and continue to draw us closer to God. Never underestimate the power of God through the Holy Spirit. Also, don't be afraid of the Holy Spirit. He is here to convict, comfort, correct, and make us new every day. Jeremiah, the writer of the book of Lamentations says it well in Lamentations 3:22 The faithful love of the Lord never ends!
His mercies never cease.23 Great is his faithfulness; His mercies begin afresh each morning. 24 I say to myself, “The Lord is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!” If you know much about Jeremiah you will remember he was attacked again and again because he spoke the truth of God to a Godless generation and that parallels with how our world is today. So believe that you will be an agent of change in this lost and Godless world we live in and you will not be able to handle it without the power of the Holy Spirit. When speaking about salvation in regard to the rich entering heaven Jesus made a truly profound statement we should hold onto where He says in Matthew 19:26 Jesus looked at them intently and said, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But with God everything is possible.”
Tomorrow I will post the third part of this series where we will learn how to expand the spring once it is cleaned up. Oh what a great truth God has for us, so be sure and tell others to tune in to these great truths and I am believing a remnant of believers are ready to step up and join with me in advancing the kingdom of God. So tune in!!
The Pilgrimage Continues...
David Warren
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