Day 267: For Our Next Unconventional Act: An Endless Hallelujah!
Read: John 4:19 - 26
The woman at the well. What an awesome hallelujah moment this is for
her and us too. Alone with Jesus, being drawn deeper and deeper into a
relationship the very depth of which we cannot yet begin to fathom.
Perhaps we sense something unique about this exchange of pleasantries
that strikes a chord in our own lives when we too felt like we too were
alone, one with only ourselves to talk to, at the well. The well, a place of community. The well, a place of gathering for the entire
village where not just water was gathered for their homes, but where the
villagers came to share the life of their or neighboring villages. Perhaps too this is a place of communal worship.
She knows that she has come face to face with someone who knows more
than she does about truth. Who knows everything about her and ever so
gently told her so. I can guess that there were a few in her village who
said those same words to her only were much more harsh about it. She knows Jesus is a Prophet. Perhaps recognizes a level of authority, a teacher, a great Rabbi by the way Jesus is
dressed and presents himself. She is disarmed. She is exposed. She
senses He wants something from her. But it is not the intimate
details of a derailed life like most anybody else might taunt her with.
She senses something deeper. He wants to know her relationship with God!
"Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you people say that in
Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.” She offers this
response as a means to deflect another's attention away from the depths
of the reality she must struggle to exist in. "I do the best I can but it is not like I am exactly welcomed in many places anymore." Can you see this thought running through her head right now? Can you feel her just struggling mightily against herself, at war with her shame? Can you sense a growing struggle within herself not to unload the depth of this truth upon this great Prophets' shoulders? Everyone else prefers that she just go away. "What could he want of me?"
What did Jesus want from her? If we were the woman at the well, what would Jesus want from us? How would you respond to the questions "What could Jesus want from me at a time like this? How does Jesus expect me to respond? How could
this Jesus expect me to respond at a time like this? How would Jesus
expect me to respond at a time like this? How should Jesus expect us to respond at a time like this? "But an houris coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” An endless hallelujah to our King!
Let Us Pray: Show us how to worship you in Spirit, Father—by your Holy
Spirit and in the inner chambers of our spirit. We know lip-worship
(mere form) and will-worship (mere duty) are not enough, for you are not
honored when our hearts are far from you. By your Spirit, enthrall our
hearts again with your holiness and your grace. Will you please restore
to us the joy of your sovereign salvation for us in Jesus. Bring us back
to the love we had at first - love for you, love for ourselves and love
for others.
Show us how to worship you in truth, Father - in
keeping with the revelation of your Word. The truth about who you are
and who we are; the truth about our desperate need for redemption and
the perfect salvation you have given us in Jesus; the truth about how we
can best love ourselves, our neighbors and serve you, and move our
hearts beyond the tragic truth about how we often prefer our idols to
you. Hallelujah!
http://www.youtube.com/
Read: John 4:19 - 26
The woman at the well. What an awesome hallelujah moment this is for her and us too. Alone with Jesus, being drawn deeper and deeper into a relationship the very depth of which we cannot yet begin to fathom. Perhaps we sense something unique about this exchange of pleasantries that strikes a chord in our own lives when we too felt like we too were alone, one with only ourselves to talk to, at the well. The well, a place of community. The well, a place of gathering for the entire village where not just water was gathered for their homes, but where the villagers came to share the life of their or neighboring villages. Perhaps too this is a place of communal worship.
She knows that she has come face to face with someone who knows more than she does about truth. Who knows everything about her and ever so gently told her so. I can guess that there were a few in her village who said those same words to her only were much more harsh about it. She knows Jesus is a Prophet. Perhaps recognizes a level of authority, a teacher, a great Rabbi by the way Jesus is dressed and presents himself. She is disarmed. She is exposed. She senses He wants something from her. But it is not the intimate details of a derailed life like most anybody else might taunt her with. She senses something deeper. He wants to know her relationship with God!
"Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you people say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.” She offers this response as a means to deflect another's attention away from the depths of the reality she must struggle to exist in. "I do the best I can but it is not like I am exactly welcomed in many places anymore." Can you see this thought running through her head right now? Can you feel her just struggling mightily against herself, at war with her shame? Can you sense a growing struggle within herself not to unload the depth of this truth upon this great Prophets' shoulders? Everyone else prefers that she just go away. "What could he want of me?"
What did Jesus want from her? If we were the woman at the well, what would Jesus want from us? How would you respond to the questions "What could Jesus want from me at a time like this? How does Jesus expect me to respond? How could this Jesus expect me to respond at a time like this? How would Jesus expect me to respond at a time like this? How should Jesus expect us to respond at a time like this? "But an houris coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” An endless hallelujah to our King!
Let Us Pray: Show us how to worship you in Spirit, Father—by your Holy Spirit and in the inner chambers of our spirit. We know lip-worship (mere form) and will-worship (mere duty) are not enough, for you are not honored when our hearts are far from you. By your Spirit, enthrall our hearts again with your holiness and your grace. Will you please restore to us the joy of your sovereign salvation for us in Jesus. Bring us back to the love we had at first - love for you, love for ourselves and love for others.
Show us how to worship you in truth, Father - in keeping with the revelation of your Word. The truth about who you are and who we are; the truth about our desperate need for redemption and the perfect salvation you have given us in Jesus; the truth about how we can best love ourselves, our neighbors and serve you, and move our hearts beyond the tragic truth about how we often prefer our idols to you. Hallelujah!
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Endless Hallelujah - Matt Redman (Worship with Lyrics)
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Matt
Redman - Never Once, New Album - 10,000 reasons, Year: 2011 When I
stand before Your throne Dressed in glory not my own What a joy I
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