Who was she?

We don't know to this very day; a woman who toted her water pot on her shoulder across the burning sand toward the well just outside the village of Sychar. She was a very lonely woman...one might almost say a leper in spirit, unclean in the eyes of all the villagers.

Women came to draw water in the cool times of the day, just after dawn and before sunset; this woman is not with the others at watering time. She treks in the heat of the day, when she could be almost certain to find the well side empty of people. Her wretched history made decent folk avoid her, while the not-so-decent made her the butt of off-color jokes.

She was not really a person in anyone's mind. The religious used her as a mirror to show off their righteousness, as someone they could preen their feathers over and say, "I don't know how she can act as she does-you wouldn't find me doing things like that, thank God." The men used her as an object for their pleasure...no one really knew her or cared who SHE was. And that is how she has remained through the centuries, "the woman at the well," the anonymous "woman of Samaria."

She would have been surprised to see Jesus sitting on the well and the young teenager John, loitering a ways off. She could tell by their appearance and dress that they were Jews, and their dusty clothes betrayed a long journey in the heat. But Jews were Jews, and Samaritan were Samaritans. They never spoke except to hurl obscenities and curses to each other; teenagers on the border towns added rocks to their oaths. There was a question in her mind as to what they were doing in the middle of unfriendly territory.

When he saw her coming, the teenager quickly turned and stared over the desert. "Typical Jew," she muttered under her breath.

-- -- --COMMENTS-- -- --

How do professing people go about getting in good with the workers?

First, they must be hearty parties. Attending meetings is their FIRST priority. They attend every single meeting - and never miss a single gospel meeting. If married, and one is sick, the other still goes taking the children. They look for extra ways they can help the workers. They go to the convention work days. They go to all four days of convention--not just the weekend. They find out where the meetings are when they are out of town, and go there, and on vacation as well.

They invite the workers over to their home a lot--and don't wait for the workers to tell them they are coming over. They make the workers feel very welcome and show interest in them and their mission. A few give the workers a key to their home to use at any time.

They follow most all the outward rules/regs. They write letters to the workers. Generously giving workers money or a car will curry much favor also.

These actions are NOT proof that someone is trying to make brownie points. I believe/knew some who were/are genuinely interested in the workers, while there are others who suck up to them. Same way it is in life in general with people. The motives are in the heart... 6/97

I shook my head in disbelief.

This couldn't be the right place.

After all, I couldn't possibly be welcome here.

I had been given an invitation several times, by several different people,

and had finally decided to see what this place was all about.

But, this just couldn't be the right place.

Quickly, I glanced down at the invitation that I clutched in my hand. I scanned past the words,

"Come as you are. No jacket required."

And found the location.

Yes, I was at the right place. I peered through the window again and saw a room of people whose faces seemed to glow with joy. All were neatly dressed, adorned in fine garments and appeared strangely clean as they dined at this exquisite restaurant.

Ashamed, I looked down at my own tattered and torn clothing, covered in stains. I was dirty, in fact, filthy. A foul smell seemed to consume me and I couldn't shake the grime that clung to my body. As I turned around to leave, the words from the invitation seemed to leap out at me...

..."Come as you are. No jacket required."

I decided to give it a shot. Mustering up every bit of courage I could find, I opened the door to this restaurant and walked up to a man standing behind a podium. "Your name, sir?" he asked me with a smile. "Jimmy D. Brown," I mumbled without looking up. I thrust my hands deep into my pockets, hoping to conceal their stains. He didn't seem to notice the filth that I was covered in and he continued, "Very good, sir. A table is reserved in your name.  Would you like to be seated?"

THE BUZZARD::
If you put a buzzard in a pen that is 6 feet by 8 feet and is entirely open at the top, the bird, in spite of its ability to fly, will be an absolute prisoner. The reason is that a buzzard always begins a flight from the ground with a run of 10 to 12 feet.

Without space to run, as is its habit, it will not even attempt to fly, but will remain a prisoner for life in a small jail with no top.

THE BAT::

The ordinary bat that flies around at night, a remarkable nimble creature in the air, cannot take off from a level place. If it is placed on the floor or flat ground, all it can do is shuffle about helplessly and, no doubt, painfully, until it reaches some slight elevation from which it can throw itself into the air.

Then, at once, it takes off like a flash.

THE BUMBLEBEE::

A bumblebee, if dropped into an open tumbler, will be there until it dies, unless it is taken out. It never sees the means of escape at the top, but persists in trying to find some way out through the sides near the bottom.

It will seek a way where none exists, until it completely destroys itself.

PEOPLE::

In many ways, we are like the buzzard, the bat, and the bumblebee when we are trapped in religiosity.

Our God is An Awesome God 

What are the reasons many children rebel when they grow up?

They may have learned to behave right, but they never really learned to "convert" their thinking.

If their thinking isn’t "converted," when they have the freedom to behave the way they want, they naturally act according to an old way of thinking.

Now, by "convert" we don’t mean they change religions. Rather, we mean they "change" the way they think. They switch from thinking like humans and now, think like God.

But how do you help your child think like God?

Obviously, the work of the Holy Spirit in their life is required first. Without the Holy Spirit’s help, any attempt to think like God is futile. Worse, it opens them up to idolatry, just as Satan thought of himself as God. That’s not what we mean when we say “think like God.”

• Instead of thinking we “are” god, thinking “like” God means we think so highly of God and His thoughts, that we want to emulate Him.

In order for your children to think “like” God, they first need to know who God is.

10 Tips for Kinder Speech

Judy Gruen

Kindness is difficult to give away because it keeps coming back.

In our media-driven society, it's easy to forget the awesome power of words. Words have enormous power to hurt or to heal, to make or break reputations, to uplift or degrade another human being.

In this way, the words we speak literally change the world and how we view the people in it.

Here are 10 ways to improve the world and ourselves through channeling our power of speech for the good.

(1.) Avoid Gossipmongers
Ancient Jewish sages said, "Gossip kills three: the teller, the listener, and the subject." The damage spreads like wildfire, with chronic tale-bearers ultimately becoming negative, someone others mistrust. The gossip victim's reputation is sullied, often unfairly. And the Talmud says that the listener is most damaged of all, because he alone had the power to turn away or change the subject, helping to stop the defamation of a third party. Remember, they don't call gossip "dirt" for nothing.

Nature's Beauty

The winding highways and farm roads of central Indiana are punctuated with small towns.

Many of the houses in these towns are a century old or more, dating back to an era before vinyl and aluminum siding.

Maintaining one of these houses can be a full-time hobby as winter's cold and summer's heat tag-team to chip and crack even the best paint-job.

One house in particular caught my eye several years ago. This big two-story home had been meticulously painted......................ON THREE SIDES!

The FOURTH WALL, the back of the house, still sported the old, peeling paint which had once graced the entire home.

My first thought was, "work in progress,".......a big job takes time to do right and I guessed that the homeowner would soon be finishing up.

I was wrong!!!

As weeks stretched into months, I wondered each time I drove past: "Maybe he's waiting on better weather," I thought, "Maybe he ran out of money." I finally gave up looking........the last time I noticed, the FOURTH WALL was still unpainted.

Taming Your Tongue

By Deborah Smith Pegues

(Click Book Cover for Purchase)

Have you ever said to yourself, "I can't believe I just said that?" Unfortunately, there are times when we all regret words that we have spoken in haste, without thought to the harm our words might cause to another. We need to carefully watch not only what we say, but also our intentions.

Are we showing an interest in another's concerns, or are we meddling?

Are we sharing a prayer request with another friend, or are we gossiping?

Perhaps you need a "TONGUE FAST" so that the words you speak are carefully chosen!

Psalm 39