John 4:24
I’ve had discussion after discussion recently about why studying the Bible in context is important. I mean I just finished an e-course on it, so I kinda love the topic. But, today I read an old story that I have read a million times. The story of the Samaritan woman at the well and once again I was FLOORED by a new TRUTH.
I have never noticed what Jesus says to the woman AFTER he confronts her sin and offers her living water that will quench her thirst for eternity.
She asks Jesus about WHERE she is supposed to worship. She is caught up in an argument that the Samaritans and Jews had been having. The big argument between them is the location of the Chosen place to worship. Where am I supposed to worship? What is the RIGHT answer? Essentially she is asking is my lifestyle right? Is the way I worship right?
Instead, Jesus tells her, “…true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be his worshipers. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship I’m must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:24)
They go hand in hand. As Jesus said to the Samaritan woman in this passage, we must worship in, “spirit and truth.”
Although the Samaritan woman would have been expecting a Messiah, they rejected the rest of the Old Testament besides the first 5 books of the Bible, the Mosaic Pentateuch, so her understanding would be limited. They had their own place of worship and they didn’t associate with the Jews. Yet, Jesus stopped to minister to this Samaritan woman because he cares and loves for everyone. But, what does he tell her? He tells her that soon we will worship in BOTH Spirit and Truth.
As a baby Christian, my Faith was based mostly off my emotional experiences. I had an emotional connection to the Word of God, and I felt the Spirit continually working, this was not wrong, but I didn’t know much about the truth. I was still growing and learning in the Father, as I’ve continued to grow, I see the same old passages becoming clearer, and every time I look at the passages the truth is more evident to me. As I’ve grown, the more I realize that the Spirit and Truth go together, I am led by the Spirit with urges and convictions INTO truth and truth leads me to the Spirit.
![Has a post on social media ever made you immediately frustrated? Maybe you even started to think ill of the author of the post. You feel your chest tighten and wonder, how could they have said that? You are so mad you want to click the unfollow button.
[save for reference for when you’re offended]
An offense can happen when someone sins against us, or even if someone just rubs us the wrong way! Often, it comes out of a “right versus wrong” mentality. We get offended and harbor bitterness. Wounds and resentment create rifts and divisions and we find ourselves clutching our anger tightly in our fists to prove we are right.
It’s okay to feel upset when you are offended or sad, but we can’t let bitterness take root. Instead, we must be quick to forgive. As believers, holding a grudge inhibits our ability to reconcile. And when we avoid reconciliation, we miss out on what God wants to do in and through us.
Typically for me, offense stems from pride or self-righteousness. I have received some pretty offensive comments over time, and my feelings do get hurt. But as Christians, we need to be able to “overlook an offense” just like it says in Proverbs.
This passage says it is “one’s glory to overlook an offense.” #chasingsacred (read the rest of the article on @hosannarevival)](https://www.chasingsacred.com/wp-content/plugins/instagram-feed/img/placeholder.png)