JUST SHALL LIVE BY FAITH

 MEDITATION John 4:45-54

1. The Galileans received him for the miracles he did in the marriage of Cana. ( V45)
2. There was a nobleman in Capernaum and his son was sick. ( v46)
3. He be sought Jesus to come and heal his son as he was sick unto death. ( V47)
4. Jesus said if they don't see miracles they will not believe (V48)
5. He again called Jesus to come and heal his son or else he will die. (V49)
6. Jesus told him to go his way and that his son is living. He believed the word of God and he went his way. ( V50)
7. And as he was going home his servants met him on the way and told him that his son is living. (V51)
8. Then when the nobleman asked the time when his son recovered it was the same hour when Jesus spoke those words. (V52,53)
9. This is the second miracle Jesus did in Galilee. (V54)

LIFE APPLICATION:
1. There was this nobleman whose son was about to die coming to Jesus for a miracle.

Receiving Miracles from GOD:
I am summarising this life applications as steps to follow in receiving miracles from God.

1. Hearing the word of God:

The nobleman could figure out that Christ is the giver of life and he knew that CHRIST can help him out hearing people talk about Christ.

Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.
John:6:68

The WORD of CHRIST gives eternal life.

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;
1 John:1:1

2. Believing what we hear:
Faith comes by hearing and by hearing the word of God.

So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Romans:10:17

3. As this faith grows in us by hearing and hearing the word of God it has the ability to move mountains.

And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.
Matthew:17:20

Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done.
Matthew:21:21

Faith needs to grow. Again I EMPHASIS  on this. FAITH GROWS ONLY BY HEARING THE WORD OF GOD.

 Jesus deals with this man's faith in (V48). The WORD of GOD says, many have got their dead risen up by Faith.

Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection:
Hebrews:11:35

My brother, My Sister; how is your faith? Is our faith wavering?

But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.
James:1:6

God does not want us to stagger in faith
He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God;
Romans:4:20

And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.
Matthew:21:22

Ask, believe and pray. You will receive what you need.

4. By faith we win the battle in the Spiritual realm:
By faith, we move God's heart to avenge for us. (V49)

And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them?
Luke:18:7

I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?
Luke:18:8

If God can see this kind of faith in us he can never stop but avenge us speedily.

5. When the battle is won in the spirit realm, the word of God is spoken..(v50)  this is the spoken word of GOD. The RHEMA.

He sendeth out his word, and melteth them: he causeth his wind to blow, and the waters flow.
Psalm:147:18

So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.
Isaiah:55:11

This word goes forth to accomplish what it is spoken for.

6. In the physical realm, we ought to believe and obey. (V51) The nobleman believed and went and received his son alive. ( V51-54)

What do you need in LIFE? Do you need a miracle? Nothing moves the heart of God like Faith.

Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith.
Habakkuk:2:4

The JUST SHALL LIVE BY FAITH. Dear Child of God, don't give up on God. Don't waver in faith. He is our abba father. He knows the deepest desires of our hearts even before we utter a word...

If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?
Matthew:7:11

God wants us to be filled with good things in our life. He is a good, good father. He does not wish anything bad for his beloved children. So ask of him and you will receive that your joy may be full.

If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
John:15:7

May God bless you...

You are hired.

Meditation John chapter 4: 35-44

1. Jesus said the fields are white and ready for the harvest. (V35)

2. He said the one who reaps will receive the wages and will gather fruits for the eternal life. So both the sower and the reaper rejoices. ( v36)
3. One person sowed but other one reaped. ( v37)
4. Christ is sending us to reap what we never laboured sowing... thus entering into the other person's labour. ( v38)
5. Many Samaritans believed Christ for his prophesy on
 that woman. (V39)
6. So the Samaritans be sought him to stay with them and he stayed there for two days.  ( V40)
7. And many heard him speak and got convinced that he is Christ the Saviour   ( V41, 42)
8. Then Christ departed into Galilee. (V43)
9. He said No prophet is honoured in his own country. ( v44)

LIFE APPLICATION:

 Here Christ talks about a spiritual harvest, ie, saved people populating the kingdom of God.  (V35)

I would divide this life application into two parts.

1. The need to be saved:

The WORD of GOD says,

The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.
Jeremiah:8:20

Yes, My dear brothers and sisters, there is a time to be saved. If we miss it, we will lose our souls. Today is the day! This is the time of harvest.

Look below these verses to understand more,

When God turns the captivity of his people, there is an harvest.

Also, O Judah, he hath set an harvest for thee, when I returned the captivity of my people.
Hosea:6:11

Jesus says in another parable that the Harvest is the end of the world and the reapers are the angels.

The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.
Matthew:13:39

And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe.
Revelation:14:15

I will explain you further how God counts each soul as the sheaves of wheat waiting to be reaped.

A. The seed is the word of God.
But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.
Matthew:13:23

Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.
Luke:8:11

B. The seed enters our hearts and if we are a good ground we understand it and are born again.

Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.
1 Peter:1:23

C. After we are born again we grow to give fruits worthy of God's glory.


But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.
Luke:8:15

So God expects us not only to receive the word of God but to bear fruit for his glory with patience.

A day of harvest is coming when we will judged for our deeds.

Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and will gather the wheat into his garner; but the chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable.
Luke:3:17

The sower and the reaper:

God wants to hire some labourers for his kingdom. The seed of the word has been sown by the sower . The sower being Christ himself.

He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man;
Matthew:13:37

Ask ye of the LORD rain in the time of the latter rain; so the LORD shall make bright clouds, and give them showers of rain, to every one grass in the field.
Zechariah:10:1

God rains his Spirit that each of the seeds grow into a grain ready for harvest .

Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.
James:5:7

2. The need to reap:

Now Christ emphasises here the need for labourers who will go forth to reap for the kingdom of God.

Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few;
Matthew:9:37

Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.
Matthew:9:38

So Paul says that we are these labourers in God's husbandry each one of us washed and cleansed by the precious blood of Christ are hired for this reaping job.

For we are labourers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building.
1 Corinthians:3:9

We are to labour for the kingdom of God for the divine purpose of God to be fulfilled.

And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
Mark:16:15

This is what Paul writes that it is not an option for us to speak the gospel, but it is a mandate.

For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of: for necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel!
1 Corinthians:9:16

More than anything he also emphasises us to live out this word.

Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel.
1 Corinthians:9:14

So what do we get when we labour for the Lord?

1. We gather fruits for the eternal lives. (V36)

Now he that ministereth seed to the sower both minister bread for your food, and multiply your seed sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness;)
2 Corinthians:9:10

And when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits of it.
Matthew:21:34

The husbandman that laboureth must be first partaker of the fruits.
2 Timothy:2:6

But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.
Romans:6:22

We have fruit unto holiness and we will have eternal life... that both the sower and the reaper can rejoice. (V37)

We are not sowing, we are only reaping those that CHRIST has already sowed. So we are only entering into another person's labour. (something nothing to be PROUD about)

 May God send forth more labourers to finish the good work Christ has started in us.

LIFE APPLICATION 2:

Everyone who heard Christ speak wanted him to abide with them. The WORD of GOD says he stayed in Samaria for two days and people who headed of him believed in him more. ( v39-42)


The WORD of GOD says,
Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
John:15:4

As the word of God says let us abide in Christ that we can bear much fruits worthy of God's glory, that when Christ comes we can rejoice with him.

Do we want CHRIST to abide in us and we in him...? Let us examine our lives.
To GOD BE THE GLORY...Amen.

Broken cisterns -

 MEDITATION on John chapter 4: 25-34

1. The woman said that when the Messiah comes he will tell them about all things. (V25)
2. Jesus said that he was the Messiah they were waiting for.( V26)
3. By then his disciples came and marvelled at him talking to that woman, but nobody asked him why he was talking to her. (V27)
4. She left her pot there and ran into the city telling the men to come and see Christ and that he told her everything she did. (V28,29)
5. And all the men came to see him. ( V30)
6. Meanwhile the disciples asked of Christ to eat food. (V31)
7. BUT Christ said there is a meat that they knew not and that is to do the will of God who sent him and to finish his work. ( v32-34)

LIFE APPLICATION:

1. Many times we wait for a Messiah to come and tell us what to do. But we least realise that the Messiah has already come and he is amongst us. (V25, 26)

A. Many of us know but yet we choose to forsake the living waters.

For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.
Jeremiah:2:13

B. We also can hew out cisterns that cannot hold the living waters.

We are those Earthern vessels that God fills with these living waters and if there are holes and leaks in the form of sin, we can never hold these living waters in us.

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.
2 Corinthians:4:7

C. And if we choose to forsake these living waters we will be ashamed.

O LORD, the hope of Israel, all that forsake thee shall be ashamed, and they that depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living waters.
Jeremiah:17:13
So let us be cautious not only in filling our vessels but also keeping them full too.

2. Jesus confirmed to her that he is the Messiah they had waited for.

And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.
Daniel:9:26

He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.
Isaiah:53:8

Compare these two verses... Jesus was the Messiah who was cut off from the land of the living.

When she could comprehend that Christ is the Messiah she left the water pot and goes into the city to bring people to him. (V26)

This is why the word of God tells us not to harden our hearts when we hear his voice today.

While it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation.
Hebrews:3:15

LIFE APPLICATION 3:

Christ speaks about meat more precious than the physical one. Let us look forward to such a meat... ie. To do the will of God and to accomplish it in our lives.

The WORD of GOD says,

For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.
Romans:14:17

So let us feed our spirit man with the Spiritual meat and drink. May the good Lord minister unto our Spirits more....

Worship God in Spirit and in truth

 MEDITATION John 4:15-24

1. The woman asked Christ for the living waters( v15)
2. Christ asked her to bring her husband (v16)
3. She said she does not have a husband. Jesus read her life and told her about her marital status. (V18)
4. The woman perceived Christ to be a prophet (v19)
5. Then she wanted to know how to and where to worship God. (V20)
6. Christ answered  that there comes a time when people will worship God in spirit and in truth. (V23)
7. God is spirit and Christ said that we must worship him in spirit and in truth. (V24)

LIFE APPLICATION:
Yesterday we meditated on the living waters. We can see various steps of how CHRIST led this woman to the living waters ie, the infilling of the Holy Spirit.

Dear reader, I would recommend you to check your life deep inside who you are where you are standing  when compared to this Samaritan woman. Continue  reading to know more about how to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

1. The woman recognised her need for the living waters and asks it  from Christ.  (V15)

Many of us are thirsty for the living waters. Our soul is like a parched ground, empty inside. We go back to physical help, or temporary solutions as this woman going to the well to draw water every time, only to thirst again and for more. We try to fix it with medications. We try to fix it with drugs.  We try to fix it with food. We try to fix it with Yoga and exercise and why not, even with sleep, but in vain.  The vacuum in us is growing more and more. Basically we are looking out for the right thing in a wrong place. We are looking out for spiritual need in the physical realm. This is why we end up feeling more empty  and drained. So let us ask CHRIST the giver of the living waters today to fill us that we thirst no more, spiritually.

Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
Matthew:5:6

2. The first thing Christ does to anyone who wants this living waters is to deal with their sins. (V16)
Are you struggling with hidden  sins?  Bring it to the light of Christ.  Are you Holy in your thoughts regarding your spouse? If you are not married, how is your LIFE? Trust me BROTHER, Trust me sister, DO not cheat yourself that you can walk away with your sins and still enter heaven, because the word of God says,

Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,
1 Corinthians:6:9
Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.
1 Corinthians:6:10

If God is speaking to you today of any of these sins deal with it in God's presence.  This is the second  step to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

3. The next step comes the revelation about Christ.  We have meditated in my previous post, that a person who had an encounter with Christ can never be the same. The Samaritan woman perceived him to be a prophet.  (V19)

How do you perceive Christ? Have you ever tasted and seen him to be good. Is he your healer? Is he your delivered? Is he the one to give you peace? Do you walk with God? Do you want to know more of who he is?

Oh, my dear brothers and sisters, if you are in this stage, you cannot stop but worship God. (V20) you can simply not stop but worship God when you really know who he is. And this is where is the breakthrough as we start worshipping him in Spirit and in truth. (V23,24) the living waters flow through us and our Spirit man becomes more alive and flowing. All these starts with salvation (v22)

This is how the Samaritan woman received the living waters...that she went and told about Christ to everyone and brought many to CHRIST, being a powerful testimony for him.

Let us also ask of this living waters... and God will fill us with more....

GIVE ME A DRINK - Meditation john 4: 7-14

1. A woman came from Samaria to draw water from the well, to whom Jesus asked to give him a drink( v7)
2. The woman asked him how he can ask water from her as he was a Jew and she was from Samaria ( v 9)
3. Jesus answered if she knew who he was and the gift of God then she would have asked him for the living waters. (V10)
4. The woman asked Christ how he can give her water as the well is deep and he had nothing to draw with. ( v11)
5. She asked him if he was greater than Jacob as he gave drink not only to himself but also to the cattle and children. ( v12)
6. Jesus said to her that whoever drinks this water ( physical) shall thirst again. but whoever drinks of the water Christ gives shall never thirst again. (V13)
7. Because the water that CHRIST gives shall be like a well of water springing up to eternal life ( v14)

LIFE APPLICATION:
1. Jesus asked the woman " Give me to drink".
Christ is asking of something he expects to be within the Samaritan woman. What is it?
Many a times our soul is like a parched ground. Have you ever felt something missing in your life, deep down inside...??
Do you feel empty inside when you possess every kind of blessings you can name??
This is how it feels when our soul is dry like a parched ground,
 thirsting for the living waters.
Christ refers to the Holy Spirit as the living waters, drawn from the wells of salvation.  Let us look into the scriptures below,

For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring:
Isaiah:44:3

Here the Holy Spirit is referred to water.

Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.
Isaiah:12:3

Here salvation refers to the wells deep inside of us.

This is what CHRIST referred to , when he asked for a drink from the Living waters.

Let us see more examples:
Christ wants his bride to not only draw water for him but also for multitudes

Behold, I stand by the well of water; and it shall come to pass, that when the virgin cometh forth to draw water, and I say to her, Give me, I pray thee, a little water of thy pitcher to drink;
Genesis:24:43

And when she had done giving him drink, she said, I will draw water for thy camels also, until they have done drinking.
Genesis:24:19

Rebecca chosen by the servant as a bride for Isaac is a Revelation of how CHRIST chooses his bride too.
 A chosen generation filled with springs of living waters, filled with the Holy Spirit, whose waters flow outside and quinches the thirst of many.

And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.
Isaiah:58:11

Yes, when the Spirit of God fills us and we are led by him continuously we will be like a well watered garden with springs of water which fails

LIFE APPLICATION  2:
1. Same like Nicodemus she could only see the physical side and was asking how Jews can interact with Samaritans. (V9)
2. Jesus talks to her about Salvation as the Gift of God. (V10)
For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Romans:6:23

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Ephesians:2:8
4. Christ further explains that the water that CHRIST gives, meaning the Spirit of God springs in us as a river that never dries up.

There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High.
Psalm:46:4
And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.
Revelation:22:1

God puts this river into us... that we will be beaming with this living waters.
He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.
John:7:38

So today is the day! Is your soul like a parched ground? Dry and empty? Ask of christ and out of your belly shall living waters flows that you will never be thirsty again. (V10)

BESIDES THE JACOB'S WELL - MEDITATION John 4:1-6

1. Jesus left Judea and went into Galilee when Jews started telling that he made more disciples than John ( V1-3)
2. He had to go through Samaria (V4)
3. Jesus came to a city called sychar - which had an historical significance,
The ground was given by Jacob to Joseph (v5)
4. There was also Jacob's well and because Jesus was weary with his Journey, he sat ON the well and it was the sixth hour (v6)

LIFE APPLICATION:
1. How do we react to Honour and fame?
The WORD of GOD says, praise is like a furnace that refines Gold. It trieth our inward man. It brings to light the kind of Person who we are.

As the fining pot for silver, and the furnace for gold; so is a man to his praise.
Proverbs:27:21

How do we react to praise.? How do we react when honour and fame comes our way.
A. Do we change it to praises unto God or do we rob his glory? The WORD of GOD says, he will never give his glory to anyone.

I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.
Isaiah:42:8

We are called to show forth God's praise.

This people have I formed for myself; they shall shew forth my praise.
Isaiah:43:21

How do we treat people when we are moving forward?
1. Let others lift us up and not ourselves:
Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth; a stranger, and not thine own lips.
Proverbs:27:2

2.  Christ moved away when he was lifted more than John the Baptist. How are we? Let us allow the Holy Spirit  search our hearts.....
(V1-3)

Significance of the Well of Jacob:
1. The house of Jacob and his generation was chosen by God to be blessed and to inherit the Kingdom of God.

Similarly we are chosen by God to be blessed.

And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; In the day when I chose Israel, and lifted up mine hand unto the seed of the house of Jacob, and made myself known unto them in the land of Egypt, when I lifted up mine hand unto them, saying, I am the LORD your God;
Ezekiel:20:5

2. Jesus walks into the place where Jacob had given a land as inheritance to Joseph.( V5)
Similarly. We have a spiritual inheritance in Christ.

Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:
Colossians:1:12

3. Jesus CHRIST sat on the well of Jacob.
Well signifies the fountain of living waters... which we will meditating throughout this chapter.

The WORD of The God says, the thirsty land will have springs of water.

And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: in the habitation of dragons, where each lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes.
Isaiah:35:7

4. Jesus Christ is the master of this well: whomever comes to him, shall receive this living waters.

They shall not hunger nor thirst; neither shall the heat nor sun smite them: for he that hath mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall he guide them.
Isaiah:49:10

Like a shepherd Christ leads us to the still waters as from him flows the living waters

And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.
Revelation:22:17

If  you feel, your life is like a dry parched land...Jesus wants to flow these living waters through you.
I pray that God will take us besides the still waters, as we move on this exciting journey of meditating John 4.

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
Psalm:23:2