The Next Level

John 4: 28-29, 39-42

Previously in John chapter 4, Jesus met a Samaritan woman at the well and asked her for a drink. He began to share with her about living water, and then confronted her about her sin issue of adultery. However, at the end of their conversation, the Samaritan woman knows she met the Messiah and immediately she left her water jar and ran to tell her Samaritan friends about Jesus.

The woman’s friends left with her to find Jesus and asked Him to stay with them for two days. After the two days, they told the Samaritan woman the most amazing thing,

“We no longer believe because of what you have said, for we have heard for ourselves and know that this is really the Savior of the world.” John 4: 42

When are we going to be able to say that? My faith in God should not be because Bro. Ric says He is real or because Mom and Dad or Grandma says He is real or because someone else spiritual says God is real. I should have faith in God because I know that He has spoken to me and saved me, and because I have heard His calling on my life. Taking our faith to the NEXT LEVEL is believing God because HE SAYS HE IS REAL and because HE SAYS HIS WORD IS TRUE.

It’s just like the old hymn says, “I need no other argument. I need no other plea. It is enough that Jesus died and that He died for me.”

We should need no other opinion; it should be enough for us that God says He is real and that He died for me!

Another Challenge: Take your faith to the next level by trusting Jesus with an issue that only God and you know about. He will show you the way. Make Jesus real to you because HE says He is Real!

A Personal Encounter with Jesus

John 4: 1-26

Wow, I wonder what I would say if I met Jesus at the water fountain one day at school, especially if He asked me to give Him a drink and I didn’t have a cup! Such a thought makes me wonder, would I recognize Jesus, or would I be like the Samaritan woman that had no clue it was the Messiah?

Hopefully I would be able to recognize Jesus, and I would do whatever I could to give Him a drink of water. However, that leads me to think about all of the times that people cannot recognize Jesus in me. We make Jesus unrecognizable in our lives when we let Satan get a hold of our hearts and deceive us into sin.

I can’t imagine how embarrassed I would be if a man at the water fountain began telling me about all of my sin that I thought I had hid secret in the depths of my heart. But the hard truth is, Jesus is not just a man and we cannot hide anything from Him, no matter how much we think we can. Just like the Samaritan woman had a personal encounter with Jesus, every time we open our Bibles, go to church, sing worship songs, or have a prayer time, we can also have a personal encounter with Jesus. We have to be willing to accept His living water and let Him penetrate our hearts so we can get rid of the sin we hold “hidden”.

Therefore, I pose a challenge. Every time you take a drink of something, go to the water fountain, open your Bible, take a shower, or do whatever you do, ask yourself: “Would someone be able to recognize Jesus in me and what would Jesus have to say to me at the water fountain?”