Encounter

In John 4, Jesus is traveling through Samaria and comes across a Samaritan woman at a well. He asked the woman for a drink and it came as a surprise to her. Soon she comes to realize who she just had an encounter with...

4:10
Jesus said, "If only you knew the free gift of God and who it is that is asking you for water, you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water."

4:13-14
Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give will never be thirsty. The water I give will become a spring of water gushing up inside that person, giving eternal life."

4:15-18
Jesus told her, "Go get your husband and come back here." The woman answered, "I have no husband." Jesus said to her, "You are right to say you have no husband. Really you have had 5 husbands, and the man you live with now is not your husband. You told the truth."

The woman comes to realize this is the Messiah she has been talking to. Many Samaritans came to believe Jesus was the Messiah because of this Samaritan woman. He even proved He was the Messiah by telling her He knew she had 5 husbands. She had been searching for a love to satisfy her and it's evident she was not finding it because she would go from man to man. But with one encounter with the living God, she was changed. She was so changed that she left that meeting, went back to town, and turned many hearts towards Christ simply by telling them of what He did for her and the life He offered. In verse 15, she even asks Jesus for the water of eternal life so that she may never be thirsty again. I remember my first real encounter with Christ. I had already been a believer, but never really just experienced His presence. I don't think I can even really explain what it was like except that God felt so close and so real. I felt him so passionately inside me. An encounter just makes it seem like all that I have believed before about God was just so much more real. This relationship is real; God is real and he wanted to encounter me. He wants to encounter all his children every single day. He is not a far-off God. What could be more proof that is God is alive than that of an encounter with him? And he doesn't even want it to be a rare thing. With every new day, God wants to speak with, walk among, and dwell within us. He is a relational God, just as we are relational people being created in his image. It's an encounter that can make a drug addict throw away the drugs in one moment. It's an encounter that can transform the porn addict because they've finally found the One who is all-sufficent. There is power in Jesus; life-chnaging power which sets God's children free. If you have never had such an encounter with God, ask him to come because he's waiting like a gentleman for your permission to enter. If you have encountered him, boy, is it monumental. Diligently seek his face with each new day asking God, "Father, what are you saying today? What do you want to reveal to me?"He will surely come; he is faithful.

John 4:23
The time is coming when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, and that time is finally here already. You see, the Father too is actively seeking such people to worship him.

Have a great week!
❤ Ariel Christine