Power Walk Ministries

Guest (Male): This is the Power Walk Ministries broadcast with Reverend Paul Cannings. Today we continue with our series about the Samaritan woman. We see Jesus taking her from the immediate situation to the eternal, and her focus changes, challenging us to see that even though Jesus is not in the physical with us today, God still invites us all to come to him for living water. Let's listen now as Dr. Cannings brings us the message titled, The Journey.

Dr. Paul Cannings: Life has a way of taking us through so many twists and turns that it makes us thirsty sometimes: thirsty for knowledge, thirsty for solutions. It causes us to want these quick resolutions. We go to church hoping the pastor gives us a word for the day. We get prayer partners. We are looking for these solutions in churches that will bless us so that we can be blessed and get out of the financial pressures we are in. We are in the immediate, in the moment, just needing quick results, quick resolutions.

The problem is we're dealing with a God who is eternal. He is focused on eternal life, not just living. This is what's taking place here in this story that we've been talking about all week: the Samaritan woman. We'll continue to discuss her because this woman has a great heart. I understand we're quick to run to the five husbands and one living boyfriend right away. She's this bad woman. She's had a bad past. She's made decisions, moral decisions that have not been great.

There's a whole lot about this woman that comes out in this text that is awesome, but she's into the immediate. You need water. I am at this well, speaking to a man by myself, which is not good, and you keep asking me for water and you're a Jew. Jews don't have dealings with Samaritans, and the way the Jews describe Samaritan women with her background even makes it worse that he's not even supposed to blink at her, not even take the closest road towards her.

Jesus Christ says, "I must go through Samaria." He picks the road that doesn't go around Samaria, that goes through Samaria, and he gets there early to meet her. Jesus Christ, as clever a teacher as he is, is working with what her immediate need is to take her to where she needs to go. John chapter 4, verse 10: How do we get this living water? Living water will tantalize this lady because she's in a well that collects water. It doesn't have a spring under it.

If it doesn't rain, they are thirsty, and you die faster from a thirst than you would die from hunger. They're in a dry climate, dry and dusty. This well is not the best in the sense that it has to rain to have water in it. That's why it's so deep, to make sure it doesn't get polluted. If you tell this lady, who has to wait for rain and walk here in the evening probably, or a later time, probably coming at the worst time because she doesn't come when the other ladies are coming, she's got to find a spot which I'm believing is most times in the sun. It's the bad spot where nobody comes to this well.

She's meeting a traveler and she has to go down 138 feet to get it. He is literally saying with this spring of water, you don't even need all of that. She's going, "What are you talking about? This is the worst time of the day for me." Jesus Christ uses that to bring home these points. We've already discussed the first part of verse 10. Jesus answered and said to her, "If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink."

I'm not going to take the water from you. You must give it to me. It's a decision you must make. That would all change if you know who I was. You would just want to give me this water. Thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. This is not making any sense to this lady. That's why she responds in verse 11 the way she does. The woman said unto him, "Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. From whence then hast thou that living water?"

You're not making any sense. You need water from me. If I knew who you were, makes no sense. You're a Jew. I'm already telling you that you're a Jew. No, you don't know who I am. You are looking at the present, the circumstance in this particular situation, and you're looking for a fix right now. I'm not into the fix right now. That's why he says, if you knew me, I would have given you living water. So you would have been the one taken care of, not me, if you know who I was. That just made it more complex for this lady.

You're the one who needs help. You're telling me you can help me? How are you going to help me? You can't help me. She's in the present. We talked about this, and I just want to quickly mention it. You can't come to Jesus using common sense. He would not make sense because Jesus Christ is talking about a whole new way. He is a new way. You are a new creation. It's not going to make sense. You can't come to Christ with common sense.

In my life, the minute I'm using common sense starting out, not to apply the concept that God is teaching but starting out in my mind, I keep saying I've sinned. Stop. She's constantly coming to this with common sense and it's not making any sense. He's trying to get her to transition, but he uses the water as the pivot. He says, I would have given you living water. I don't need the string. I don't need the leather bucket, and I don't need the jar. I would give you living water.

To us in our context, that doesn't make any sense. We kind of know because we read in the New Testament of living water. We go to John chapter 7, he's saying water has to do with the Holy Spirit. When he's talking to Nicodemus, he was talking about water. 2,000 years down the road, we can look and say it's living water. But in her mind, living water is this spring that's coming up under there. She wants that spring.

Living water for them is huge because they could water their crops, they can take care of their families, they can cook. That's why they had this huge living water celebration in Jerusalem. You can find that in Zechariah chapter 14, verse 8 and Ezekiel chapter 47, verse 9. This living water overflowing in Jerusalem, and they're looking for the day where the water would flow through in the book of Ezekiel and this water would just keep flowing and they would always have water.

Jesus Christ pivots and now we have a transition in the conversation. The woman responds as we read in verse 11, and in verse 12 she says, "Art thou greater than our father Jacob," still in the present, "which gave us this well?" The history of this well has always had water. We get water out of this well. The history goes way back to Jacob. We have water. Are you going to tell me you have a better water than Jacob?

She's in the present, who gave us the well and drank thereof himself and his children and his cattle. It took care of his family. We have families. It can take care of our family. So we have a history here. Sometimes we can't hear not just because of the culture (I'm a Jew, you're a Samaritan, and I'm a woman, you shouldn't be talking to me because of how you all describe Samaritan women). I've got a well that's a collection well. She's all into that.

Sometimes we go as far as bringing in family. My mama came to this church, how are you going to teach me? My granddaddy was the pastor before you became the pastor. All these different things we throw in rather than just focus on how do I get this living water. That's the issue. Getting the living water is experiencing the ministry of the Holy Spirit as a refreshment every day.

I love the way Hebrews chapter 10 would say it's a new and living way. It's always fresh. He's always bringing verses back to mind. John keeps bringing this out and Paul magnifies it even more. John would talk about how he gives us peace. He's the Spirit of peace. He's the Spirit that will produce in us, bringing the Word of God back to our remembrance. Chapter 14, he's a Spirit that will guide us into what the Word means for day-to-day life. He's the Spirit that will convict us when we sin.

John is talking about all these different things and how this living water keeps us fresh. Paul would bring it to the fruit of the Spirit. It gives us peace and joy and love and long-suffering and kindness and patience. He brings out all this fruit that comes out from the Spirit because it's living. This woman's life is barren. Jesus Christ says, let's focus on that. You keep talking about your family, and he doesn't even respond to that one. He just continues focus on this living water because he knows where her heart is.

That's what I love about this. He knows where her heart is. He could fix the damage of the past. He could give her a great present and a future. So the past, he could remove as far as the East is from the West, so that's irrelevant. What's relevant is the fact that he knows she's ready. He knows this field is ripe, needs a laborer, and she's a pivot to changing the whole village. He says in verse 13, "Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again."

Forget this situation. Let's get to the living water. You keep coming here. By the time you get home, you're thirsty again. Let's talk about this. Verse 14: Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him. The Spirit comes because Jesus laid down his life for a friend. The only way that friend can have a relationship with Jesus Christ is when the Holy Spirit takes this person from a sin nature to a spiritual nature.

God is a spirit being. When the Holy Spirit quickens the spirit that died because of sin and brings our spirit back to life and then keeps working with that spirit in us, not changing our personality, the way we talk, what we like to eat—none of those kinds of things. He changes our character. He changes the way we think through life issues. This is this person, he says, I can give you if you believe in me.

It's not about the immediate issue. It's about a journey. You've got to get to know him in order to experience him day by day. Christ, what does that mean? We must accept him. We must believe that Jesus died for sins and rose from the dead. Jesus Christ is the only way to God. He's the only one, God is life, who experienced death and got up. 500 witnesses saw it. We believe that in our hearts with a commitment to learn about him, to grow in him, to apply him.

Now this person must be like a babe who thirsts for milk. As they thirst for the Word of God and grow in the Word of God, the Spirit becomes more and more relevant, and now this living water starts to be a fresh spring in their lives every day. Stay focused on the journey, that a race we must run with our eyes fixed not on the immediate situation, but what that immediate situation leads us to experience, and that is Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit for his glory.

Guest (Male): Thank you, Dr. Cannings. Jesus knew where this woman's heart was and that he could heal the damage from the past and totally transform her present and future. Please call us at 281-260-7402. That number again is 281-260-7402. Please also visit us online at powerwalkministries.org to browse through our ministry resources.

Dr. Paul Cannings: We're excited that God has blessed us to be able to provide this ministry to you. I sincerely mean that. We know you have many options, so we're glad that God has placed it on many of your hearts to pray for us, to support this ministry. We pray if you're not, we pray that you would consider supporting us. We understand these are some tough times. We would appreciate if God so blesses you that you will support this ministry.

We also have a bimonthly devotional. A bimonthly devotional that goes out. All you have to do is go to our website and you would find where you could sign up for our email addresses and bimonthly we will send you a devotional so that we continue to serve you by the grace of God. Thanks for praying for us, thanks for being engaged with Power Walk Ministries. Prayerfully you'll become a Power Walk partner. God bless.

Guest (Male): Thank you, Dr. Cannings. Once again, our web address is powerwalkministries.org. Our mailing address is PO Box 920517, Houston, Texas 77092. Now as we leave you, remember, if you will open your heart, Christ can change your character and give you endurance for the journey. Have a blessed weekend.