Activate God’s Purpose

JOHN 4:4-15. So Jesus left the Judean countryside and went back to Galilee.

4-6 To get there, he had to pass through Samaria. He came into Sychar, a Samaritan village that bordered the field Jacob had given his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was still there. Jesus, worn out by the trip, sat down at the well. It was noon.

7-8 A woman, a Samaritan, came to draw water. Jesus said, “Would you give me a drink of water?” (His disciples had gone to the village to buy food for lunch.)

9 The Samaritan woman, taken aback, asked, “How come you, a Jew, are asking me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?” (Jews in those days wouldn’t be caught dead talking to Samaritans.)

10 Jesus answered, “If you knew the generosity of God and who I am, you would be asking me for a drink, and I would give you fresh, living water.”

11-12 The woman said, “Sir, you don’t even have a bucket to draw with, and this well is deep. So how are you going to get this ‘living water’? Are you a better man than our ancestor Jacob, who dug this well and drank from it, he and his sons and livestock, and passed it down to us?”

13-14 Jesus said, “Everyone who drinks this water will get thirsty again and again. Anyone who drinks the water I give will never thirst—not ever. The water I give will be an artesian spring within, gushing fountains of endless life.”

15 The woman said, “Sir, give me this water so I won’t ever get thirsty, won’t ever have to come back to this well again!” ***CORRECTION: Two fish and five loaves. Please read. John 6:8-13

“Courage is the choice and willingness to confront agony, pain, danger, uncertainty, or intimidation.”. -Wikipedia “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.” -Joshua 1:9. “For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” -2Timothy 1:7. “Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD!” -Psalm 27:14. “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” -Proverbs 3:5-6. “He is not afraid of bad news; his heart is firm, trusting in the LORD.” -Psalm 112:7 “I have set the LORD always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.” -Psalm 16:8. Courage is, “the ability to do something that frightens one.” Courage is, “strength in the face of pain or grief.” -Definitions from Oxford Languages. “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” -Isaiah 41:10. “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.” Ephesians 6:10

It’s time for you to go deeper, search deeper, see deeper and hear deeper. I dare you to recognize and see who you truly are. I dare you to truly function in the way you were built by God and in God. I dare you. Take that step. This is not the time to fit into the systems of the world. This is not the time to be dumbed down by the systems of the world. This is the time to go back to, to come back to, your Creator God, and discover, recognize, comprehend and embrace who He says you are. This is not the time to follow the crowd. What has that done for you? What have people’s agenda, or, your own agenda, done for you? Get into God’s agenda, experience, know, see and understand the difference. You deserve to experience God ordering your footsteps. He deliberately chose to create you. It means He has a deliberate plan and blueprint for you. What are they? You owe it to your precious soul to find out. You owe it to yourself. Don’t deny yourself, that beautiful truth.

God never promised that we would not go through pain, agony, tragedy, trauma and confusion. BUT, HE DID PROMISE, to go through it all, with us, BECAUSE WE ARE HIS CHILDREN, HIS CREATION! “But now, this is what the LORD says - he who created you, Jacob, (put your own name there), he who formed you, Israel, (put your own name there), Do not fear, for I have remembered you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze…..Since you are precious and honored in my sight, and because I love you…” Isaiah 43:1-4. There is always a reason why we are going through what we are going through, but our attitude while we go through, will determine how we come out of our troubles and how our battles will end. “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” -James 1:2-4. While we are asking why, about our tragedy, grief, disappointments, pain and agony, God is using them, if we permit Him to do so, to chasten, sharpen and mould us into a much, much better versions of ourselves - the image of God, Himself. It hurts but the fire needs to burn away the bad roots, the river and the floods have to wash off and carry away what has become rotten within us. So, hang on my brother and my sister, let us allow the trials to do their work in us. Let us have faith, and mature in the fire, rivers and floods, and come out of it as pure gold. It will end, we will heal, and we will better after it, better than the way we got into it. Refined. So while we ask why, in our agony and confusion, let’s not lose hope, but keep our eyes, ears, minds, hearts, spirits, emotions and bodies, set and fixed on God.

In a world where people actually feel entitled to what they call, “CANCEL”, other human beings, where will people go with their torment and desperate problems? Canceled, because you spoke the truth. Canceled, because someone doesn’t like the way you look. Canceled, because of where you were born. Canceled, because you don’t speak the same dialect. Canceled, because you look different. Canceled, because you don’t meet someone’s so called standards. Canceled, because someone decides not to like you! Well, all of us might as well be canceled! Thank God, that Jesus does not think the way we do. Thank God, Jesus has compassion and mercy overflowing. Thank God, Jesus does not cancel anybody, instead, He came and died for us and rose again to secure us and make us complete. So, wherever you’ve been, whatever you’ve done, whatever has been said and conclusions have been drawn, study and follow the example of the Canaanite woman in, Matthew 15: 21-28. Bring your desperate requests to Jesus. Push through and give room to Jesus to answer your requests. Yes, you are good enough and no cancellation from any man or woman or culture and tradition can disqualify you. They did not give you a soul, Jesus did, and He cares for you. He is The Answer to your desperate problems. This woman set the example, and Jesus used her to teach a lesson to “cancelers”and demonstrate to her His mercy - the kind that only He can give. Forget the naysayers and look up to Jesus. Bring your request. You don’t have to wait until December 2021 ending or New Year 2022 beginning. Do it now. “Jesus gave in. “Oh, woman, your faith is something else. What you want is what you get!” Right then her daughter became well. -Matthew 15:28. Her desperate request was to see her daughter delivered. Society had cancelled her, but that did not stop her from getting, or stop Jesus from giving her, her miracle. How desperate are you? Men and women canceled her but Jesus found her worthy.

Barren. Fruitless. Dry. Rejected. Wasteland. Not delightful. Desert. Abandoned. Wilderness. Badlands. Emptiness. Masks. Facades. Arid. Pillar of Salt. None of these words or phrases should have to describe our future or our destinies. God is telling us to look ahead, look forward, look into the land that is milk and honey, not look back to what has the appearance gold but it’s really all just glitter and no substance. God does not want us to look back to the ashes but to look forward to the beauty we gain in and through Him. He wants us to look forward to the fulfillment of life in Him and with Him, and the future only He can provide for us. Who were you? Who are you? Who are you going to become? Let your latter life become greater than your former life. What’s done is done, put it behind you and walk through the new door that God has opened for you. A door that will take you from glory to glory, splendor to splendor. Will there be giants? Yes. Will there be challenges? Yes. Will there be troubles?Yes. But, will God be right there with you, ensuring your victory? YES. You cannot look back and look forward at the same time. You have to choose one. It’s a deliberate choice. When you choose God, through Jesus, here’s what you become. Delightful. Prosperous. Fruitful. Not forsaken. Not barren. Not desolate. Not dry. Not rejected. Not abandoned. Not empty. Chosen. Peaceful. Steady. Calm. Rejoicing. A splendor. A royal diadem. Read, Isaiah Chapters, 61 and 62, and you will comprehend. You will know that God will vindicate you, restore you and rebuild your ruins, never leaving you, as you hold on to Him. You will see your value in Him. He will give you a new name, and you will gain the power to drop the names and labels you have acquired along the way. God wants to give you a new beginning. Take it and don’t look back. God is giving you a new chance, a new opportunity. Take them and look ahead. Don’t turn back. Don’t become a pillar of salt. Don’t become a wasteland.

Come 2022, and beyond, there are gifts that you will need, gifts that you will be searching for, the kind that only God can provide. You’ll be searching for love, true intimacy, true friendships, honest people. You will be looking for gifts that really matter to the heart, mind, soul and spirit - gifts that are irreplaceable. Gifts that bring salvation, deliverance, liberty, freedom, peace, love, joy and understanding. Gifts that will take a type of sacrifice borne only from unconditional love. Do you know of anyone on this Earth, who will lay down his or her life for you? “But God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” -Romans 5:8. The things that you believe in, the things that you have acquired, do they still leave you hungry and thirsty; empty? Are you worried about your future or where you will end up? “I am the live Bread that came down from Heaven. If anyone eats of this Bread, he will live forever.” -John 6:51. Are you feeling confused and lost? “For the son of man came to seek and save to save the lost.” -Luke 19-10. What does your personal world look like? Is it surrounded in darkness? “Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” -John 8:12. Where, in what, and in who, is your faith in? “Waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and savior Jesus Christ.” -Titus 2:13. Is everything, everyone, around you constantly changing? “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” -Hebrews 13:8. What type of people do you follow? Who do you idolize or look up to? Will they, can they, lay their life down for you? “I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” -John 10:11. Are you searching for true peace? “Jesus said to her, “I have said these things to you that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” —John 16:33. Do you need salvation? “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under Heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” -Acts4:12. As we celebrate Christmas, and as the New Year rolls in, I pray that as many as will, will receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. For He is The Irreplaceable Gift to Mankind. He is the gift of peace, love and salvation, that we are searching for. He is not hidden. He is right where you are. “Because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” -Romans 10:9. Nothing, no one, can replace the offering and sacrifice of Jesus. “For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” -1 Timothy 2:5.

Have you ever thought of yourself as a gift? Have you ever dreamt, thought or envisioned you become a gift to humanity? It’s quite difficult to wrap our minds around that. It’s quite humbling, actually. Yet, it is so powerful! Why? It is the realization, the magnificent and enlightened knowledge of our potential, who and who we can become. It is an eye-opener, the kind that makes us walk in the revelation of WHO created us, WHO formed us and WHO took the time, to breathe His BREATH into us. It is powerful because you begin to understand that you are indeed a gift of God, to the world, and that you CAN function in the divine capacity of that gift, and as that gift, and be a blessing of God, upon this Earth. “God spoke: “Let us make human beings in our image, make them reflecting our nature so they can be responsible for the fish in the sea, the birds in the air, the cattle, And, yes, Earth itself, and every animal that moves on the face of Earth.” God created human beings; he created them godlike, Reflecting God’s nature.” -Genesis 1:26-27. It is most powerful, when you really embrace WHOSE nature and likeness you are created in, and the reason WHY HE CHOSE to create you, and bring you into this world, as a gift. “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” -Ephesians 2:10. Be the gift that you are. The world awaits you, and even YOU awaits you!

“My spirit is broken, my days are extinguished, The grave is ready for me.”-Job 17:1. Sadly, unfortunately, this is how millions of us are feeling. We have given up, and we just want to die; we just want the grave to pull us in and swallow us. Our world, our experiences, have given us bitter food and sour vinegar to drink, and we cannot take the pain anymore. There are millions who want, in fact, who invite, that one last breath. But deep down, that’s not what they really want. They just want the pain to go away! And it can, yes it will, if you just yield your spirit, heart, soul, mind and body, to God’s Holy Spirit to touch you and heal you, and to breathe new life into you. “He heals the broken-hearted And binds up their wounds.”-Psalm 147:3. Healing is available for you. Supernatural healing. Look up to God, not around, for man! Bring your wounds to God. He knows how to take them away. Don’t succumb to the invitation of the grave. Your time is not up. Live! Live! Live!

We need to face some very tough, uncomfortable and painful questions, if we don’t want to live a life destroyed by our own hands, or by the hands of others. We also don’t want to live a life where we are responsible for destroying another human life. Do you want to be responsible for stealing from another person’s life, soul, spirit, mind and body? Do you want to be responsible for allowing someone to do the same to your life, soul, spirit, mind and body? What is the value of your life to you, and what is the value of another person’s life to you? What do you live for? Who do you live for? Why are you here? What kind of human are you? Who is stealing from you? Who are you stealing from? Are you depriving yourself, and are you depriving others? There is a better way to live. “Therefore Jesus said again, Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. The thief comes to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” -John 10:7-10. Better to be sheep to, and of Jesus, eating the pasture He provides, going in and out in true freedom, than to be a goat with no Jesus-pasture, trapped in real darkness and lies. Let’s stop this cycle of stealing from our own lives and from the lives of others. Let’s stop this cycle of permitting others to steal from us. Where has this cycle of stealing gotten us? Nowhere. Nowhere, at all.