The Juniper Tree Journey

It's been raining pretty constantly for the past two days.  It looks like the sun is coming out this morning, which is helpful because I've been rebuilding our front deck and I need to treat it with some weatherproofing.  It's amazing what you can do when you put your mind to it; I've never built a deck in my life, but with a little advice from a contractor - and the right tools - I've rebuilt the bottom staircase and I'll start on the top one today.  The best part is that I'm saving thousands of dollars in the process.  One of the guys from the church team is coming to help me this morning, so we should be able to finish the front deck today.  The lighter colored wood in the picture is the part I've replaced.  Not to bad, eh?

I get a lot of thinking done when I'm working with my hands like this.  Last Sunday I preached on the Promised Land from the story of when Joshua and the people crossed the Jordan river.  This Sunday I want to move on to three or four promises that Jesus made to us that are truly amazing . . . if we believe them.  My brother John and I were talking a couple of days ago about how most of us give lip service to believing God, but when push comes to shove we're really not willing to trust Him with the the most important issues in our lives.  This morning I was reading about Jesus' conversation with the Samaritan woman at Jacob's well, and for the first time I saw the story in new light.  Jesus offered her living water, and told her that whoever drinks it will never thirst again.  When she replied that she does want His water, he told her to go and get her husband.  As I read it I paused at this point, because it seemed strange to me that He didn't say, "Trust in me", or "Follow me" - He just said ,"Go get your husband" knowing full well through the Spirit's revelation that she was living in immorality and had had five husbands.  Then it hit me:  If we really want the Living Water, we have to be willing for Jesus to speak into our lives and deal with our "stuff".  At least she was honest, and her honesty led to an encounter with the Messiah. 

I heard a message recently where the pastor said that every encounter with the Lord involves three elements: The Spirit, Truth and Worship.  All three of those are present in this story, and if I look back in my life I can say that every time I've had a supernatural encounter with God all three of these were involved.  But, it stands to reason that if I'm not living in an attitude of worship, or I'm not filled with the Spirit, or I'm not willing to be shown the truth in my life - then I simply will not experience the Living Water that Jesus is talking about.