LESSON 2 - JESUS MEETING WITH THE WOMAN AT THE WELL

[John 4:9 Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans]

The above verse ushers us into our second motivational/inspirational lesson we are trying as much as possible with direction from above to extract from the story about Jesus Christ meeting with the Samarian woman at the well.
Now from the verse, we see clearly the woman setting boundries around her self by the use of her ethnicity or place she is coming from. First she meets Jesus Christ who tried to start a conversation by asking for water only for Jesus to be told that because of where He is coming from, it is not possible for Him to be served the water.

The behaviour/nature/character or attitude of the Samarian woman is still present with us. It is in our homes, schools, work places and even in the church. In the church, we do not want some people to sit by us or we sitting by them. We are selective and want to sit by or with people we already know. At work, some managers or even recruitment officers are not employing some people simply because the applicants are not from their country, town, church etc. We see ourselves not to have any dealings with them.

Sometimes, such words are really hurting. When you were in high school or college, was there a guy or lady that you loved or liked as a friend but you were stopped from going further because of his or her family background or were you stopped from marrying someone because your family did not like the others family? Sometimes, it is not just about not coming from the same family background. I remember when I was in my high school going age I heard some parents telling their children not to associate themselves with other children who are not academically good. In Ghana, some people prefer to marry from a particular tribe and not from others. I am thinking the misunderstanding between the Samaritans/Samarians and the Jews was there before the woman was born or grew. I am sure she was born into it but instead of correcting that when she applied the rule and followed the tradition. Some of us want to continue the ways of our families without even trying to know why. Your parents are not on talking terms with your neighbours. Instead of you asking your parents why they have no dealings with people from some tribe etc, we grow into it and continue the "tradition". Those who were really involved are gone. The innocent are suffering.

We have formed or created artificial boundries around us using a character or nature of being selective and unnecessary seperation tactics placing ourselves in a "high" position whiles seeing others as either inferior or "not our class" as the foundation. The boundry or wall you have built around you is driving people away. The poor, needy, sick, oppressed, disappointed, widow, orphan as well as the good or blessed ones are around waiting to come to you. God sent His son Jesus Christ to save us all. He came for all of us with no limitations. The sinful, righteous, sick, healthy, poor, rich or wealthy, tall, short, fat, thin and humans from all walks of life were welcome. Jesus was not selective when feeding the 5000 men with 5 loaves of bread and 2 fishes so if really God created us in His own image and that the spirit of God is in us, why should we greet some people at the office whiles passing by others without even saying a word and even trying as much as we can not to have anything to do with them? Why should we distribute or share food during festive seasons to some particular people leaving the rest out knowing very well they are in need? Why should you drive your kids to school and pass by fellow children who are in the same school with your kids walking or standing by the road side simply because you as a parent you have nothing or no dealings with them?

Lesson 2: Setting boundries around us do us no good. Not only does it limit us in our exploration but it prevents us from receiving the good things others have for us.

LESSONS FROM THE WOMAN AT THE WELL - PART I (JOHN 4 : 1 - 42)

I have been out for some time. Any, I am back and thank you all for your continous visit to the site and reading through some old post. I am back and God also bless you all for your prayers and sweet words diuring my birthday. I appreciate it very much.

For the coming weeks, we are going to try as much as possible by the Grace to extract some lessons from the meeting of Jesus Christ with the Samarian woman at the well. This can be found in John the chapter 4 verses 1 to 42 but for our studies, we will be starting from verse 7 which says;

(4:7) There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink.[KJV]

What I will like to talk about is the habit of asking. Honestly I am a victim myself because I fear to ask sometimes. Jesus here felt free to ask even though He could have called for water anytime to drink. We read in Matthew 7:7 which tells us to Ask and it shall be giving unto us. We all have needs and problems but sometimes even though we know this exact person can help us, we fear to ask. We feel we will be disgraced if we are not given. There is nothing wrong if we ask. We are just not to take advantage of it. We are to ask for the right thing at the right time.
There is nothing wrong with asking and as I said we are not to be afraid to ask if we are in need. There are some of us who wont ask no matter what. There is a local wise saying here in Ghana that says "if you sell your sickness that is when you get its medicine to treat it".
If you ask, that does not mean you are poor or you will be regarded as poor in the eyes of your helper. You see people hungry, thirsty, sick, wishing to ask for salary increament, having problem with studies etc but they will never ask for help.
Sure, all fingers are not equal. We can not own everything in this world or have a bit of everything so as to live independent and no man in this world is an Island so feel free to ask for help when you need it. I tell you, you also have something someone badly need somewhere.God created Eve to be the helper of Adam and out of them we all came so we are all helpers to each other. Never fear to ask especially if you see someone in the position to be able to help you.

....to be continued.......

Lesson 1: Do not fear to ask for help.

BIRTHDAY BLOG

Today March 15th marks another milestone in my life. God has been good to me. He has kept me alive and blessed me with another year.

I am grateful to God for all He has done for me. He has blessed me and remained faithful to me even when I was unfaithful, He loved me when I was full of hate, He cared for me when I was uncaring, He has shown mercy when I was not. God has never taken His eyes off me and has protected me when I thought I was open to hurt, pains and shame. He has taken the shame away, appointed me when I was disappointed, placed a robe and a crown on my head when I was in rags and placed a seal of owner over my life.

I thank God for the life of all of you my blog readers. Its been nice having you on board. Your comments have been encouraging and you have all played a big role in keeping this blog alive and active. To all my friends on blogger, twitter, formspring, skype, facebook etc, I say God bless you and thank you for the role God is using you to play in my life.

God bless you all and may His favor be your portion.

Regards

CAN ANYTHING GOOD COME OUT OF NAZARETH?

John 1:46 And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see. KJV

This word came into mind today as I sat at the back seat of a 33 seater bus on my way to work trying to complete my sleep. This question comes our way in life. I want us to see it a little out of the biblical context and relate it to our personal, family work and social lives.
Nathanael asked this Philip, Can any thing good come out of Nazareth? I think Nathanael should have known Narareth very well to say or ask this. He may know the types of personalities, the people, work and things that happen in Nazareth and was sure nothing good could have come out. He may have also compared Nazareth to other cities and drawn a conclusion that there was nothing good going to come out or it was not going to attract anything good thing. Finally he was proved wrong and to confirm this, he was invited by Philip to come and see it for his own eyes.

In life, we meet this question. It is either we ask ourselves, we asked about others or other ask about us. It is one of the questions we ask ourselves before making our final decisions. In marriage or relationships, we ask ourselves whether anything good can come out of the relationship or whether anything good can come out of each other. At the work place, recruitment managers look at our resume and ask the same question, can anything good come out of this applicant or this employee? At school, above average and average students do ask the same question about the below average and the poorly performing students, when things are not going on well in life with us, we sometimes ask ourselves and so do even some of our parents. Some parents do have their choices when it comes to the children they gave birth to themselves and ask if anything good can come out of those they don't really like.
A question likle this makes us feel looked down upon. It makes us feel inferior and brings sadness to our heart. The future is unknown and with a thousand years being like one day and one day being like a thousand years before the Lord anything can happen at anytime to transform a life. Our position up there shouldn't give us the edge to ask our fellow mates down there such questions. We need not to look down upon them but give then encouraging words. The position you are in and thinking you are at the highest level, someone is higher than you, better than you and there is something better coming out of the person.

Yes, there are a millions of good things that can come out of Nazareth, that can come out of you, your son, daughter, employees, that applicant, that fellow student and your country. Instead of we taking delight in demotivating and beigh quick to condemn whiles killing their spirits, let us cheer them up and see the positives whiles we give each person equal chance to prove the little he or she can do. The person you are looking down upon today could be the employer of your children tomorrow and surely you are going to invited to come see it with your own eyes where the Lord has brought them.