Today’s Truth
God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in sprit and truth. (John 4:24, ESV)
In John 4, we see a tired Jesus. He was exhausted and thirsty from the journey he and the disciples had just made from Judea to Galilee. Having sent the disciples into town for food, Jesus sat down by Jacob’s well and talked with a woman of Samaria – ignoring cultural, racial, and social norms of that day. {Jews did not associate with Samaritans and often tried to avoid Samaria all together on their journeys. In addition to that, respectable Jewish men did not talk women whom they didn’t know in public.} But Jesus was clearly not concerned with public opinion as He was on a mission of mercy.
He asked this unnamed woman for a drink then engaged her in a meaningful and purposed conversation. They talked of practical thirst, and then Jesus spoke of living water that satisfies eternally.
Not realizing whom she was talking to or what He was really talking about, this woman asked for a jar full of living water so she would never be thirsty again and so she would no longer have to make constant trips to the well. {I mean, who wouldn't want that? If I never had to buy groceries again I would be one happy girl!}
Then, in order to lovingly introduce her to the Living Water she longed for, Jesus redirected the conversation and asked her to go call her husband and come back. (v. 16)
By asking this question Jesus got all up in her personal business! Why? Because she didn't have a husband and He knew it. She’d had lover after lover.
“I have no husband,” she replied.
Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have said is quite true.” (John 4:17-18)
As light invades darkness, this conversation instantly went from veiled and casual to exposed and personal. I imagine she squirmed a bit under her covering and wanted to hide as she acknowledged that this man must be a prophet.
Uncomfortable, she tried to change the subject by talking about religion instead of her rebellion.
“Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”
“Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” (John 4:19-24)
By telling her that, God is spirit. And we are to worship him in spirit and in truth, Jesus went beneath the surface of religion to bring what really matters to the forefront: worshiping God in spirit and in truth. God seeks worshipers who come to Him in spirit – through Jesus – and in truth.
Stay with me here! This story is about to take an exciting twist!
What did Jesus mean by saying we must worship God in TRUTH? According to the BDAG Greek-English lexicon of New Testament, the root word for truth in this verse is alēthia, which means ‘hiding nothing’.
To worship God in truth means that we are to come before Him hiding nothing! It means that we must bear all to the One who sees and knows all. That we should come as we are, allowing our stained hearts to be made white as snow in the presence of our holy God who dwells in unapproachable light.
Friend, God is not looking for us to be religious and He certainly knows all about the rebellion in our lives that we try to hide. He knows when you flirt with that married man at work or with an old boyfriend on Facebook. He knows when you put away bags and throw away shopping receipts before your husband gets home. He knows when you surrender to eating that entire bag of potato chips – or when you make yourself throw up your meal. He knows when gossip is on your lips and when you harbor unforgiveness, jealousy, anger, deceit and hatred in your heart.
He knows… He knows… He knows…
And he calls us to more. He calls us to a vulnerable, honest faith. To worship Him in humble awareness of our depravity, but with a sacred awareness of His grace and unfailing love that binds us to forgiveness, restoration, healing, peace, hope and joy.
Today, let’s worship Him in spirit and in truth – hiding nothing.
Let’s Pray
Holy Father, Oh, how I try to hide! Forgive me. Please fill me with Your living water and help me to know and live out Your truth. Lead me with Your Spirit, today.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen.

@ op, pls how would you define grace?

Scholar8200:
@ op, pls how would you define grace?

I would simply call it an undeserved favour.......my story indeed.........Our story whether we agree or not.

Mikwus:


I would simply call it an undeserved favour.......my story indeed.........Our story whether we agree or not.

thanks for your response. Mary was declared by the angel to be highly favored & this was expressed by her being chosen to be the mother of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, how will you describe the expression of this undeserved favor in man.

Scholar8200:
thanks for your response. Mary was declared by the angel to be highly favored & this was expressed by her being chosen to be the mother of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, how will you describe the expression of this undeserved favor in man.

Perhaps i don't understand your question, but i would say the gift of salvation is the greatest expression of all..........but in all God has all the answers.

Mikwus:



Perhaps i don't understand your question, but i would say the gift of salvation is the greatest expression of all..........but in all God has all the answers.

it's okay we learn everyday. Does your concepts of grace match the description given in Titus 2:11-12 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts we should live soberly, righteously and godly in this present world. I ask because the concluding part of your initial post presents a different perspective hence my previous questions.

it's okay we learn everyday. Does your concepts of grace match the description given in Titus 2:11-12 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts we should live soberly, righteously and godly in this present world . I ask because the concluding part of your initial post presents a different perspective hence my previous questions (I'm sorry if I'm wrong let me know).The incoming of sin was not part of man's creation by God's purpose to make him more lower or 'vulnerable' . It was a disfiguring that Christ through grace came to correct not only judicially or positionally but internally else all the epistles and the sermon on the mount will be needless. Grace not only brings forgiveness but also (for those who'll seek it) power to be free. And that's why Jesus told the woman caught in adultery go and sin no more and told another sin no more lest a worse thing comes.

Scholar8200:
it's okay we learn everyday. Does your concepts of grace match the description given in Titus 2:11-12 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts we should live soberly, righteously and godly in this present world . I ask because the concluding part of your initial post presents a different perspective hence my previous questions (I'm sorry if I'm wrong let me know).The incoming of sin was not part of man's creation by God's purpose to make him more lower or 'vulnerable' . It was a disfiguring that Christ through grace came to correct not only judicially or positionally but internally else all the epistles and the sermon on the mount will be needless. Grace not only brings forgiveness but also (for those who'll seek it) power to be free. And that's why Jesus told the woman caught in adultery go and sin no more and told another sin no more lest a worse thing comes.

Imagine that you are at a healing service. An alcoholic walks into the church reeking of alcohol. He sits behind the pianist, a nice elderly lady who has been serving in the church for 50 years. Both of them are suffering from rheumatoid arthritis. The healing power of God is present. In an instant, the alcoholic, who has never been in church before, gets healed. The pianist does not.
Most people, on hearing stories like this, would get upset and confused. They might ask, “Shouldn’t God heal this nice, old lady who has been serving Him faithfully all these years, and not that debauched drunkard?” You see, many people still believe that God heals only the deserving.
But that is not how God works. God looks at faith, not works. His power is made manifest in those who trust His goodness instead of their good behavior. So if we go back to the above example, God wants to heal both the alcoholic and the nice elderly pianist. All they need to do is to receive by grace, or unmerited favor, through faith.
The only thing for you to do is to believe God’s “I wills”. The more you believe His “I wills” or promises, the more you will see His heart for you and the more your faith will grow.
We cannot earn the blessings of God. We receive them by believing God’s love and grace toward us. If we receive the greatest blessing—salvation—by simply believing that Jesus did it all for us and not by working for it, what makes us think that the other lesser blessings can be obtained by our works?
Well, your boss may not be that gracious, but your Father in heaven is! When He found fault with the old covenant and established the new covenant (Hebrews 8:7– in His Son’s blood, His “Thou shalls” became “I wills”.
You may be feeling stressed at work today because your boss just gave you a list of things to do. Maybe he told you, “You have to type this letter. You have to meet this client. You have to write this report. You have to…” Wouldn’t it be nice if your boss had, instead, said, “I will type this letter for you. I will meet this client for you. I will write this report for you. I will…”?
You see, under the old covenant, the focus is on you—Thou shall not…Thou shall not…Thou shall not…It is all about your performance, your obedience, your works. But under the new covenant, God says, “I will put My laws in their mind…I will be their God…I will be merciful to their unrighteousness…their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” It is no longer you working for God, but God working for you, in you, through you!

You are correct. We can never deserve God's blessings in fact,man does not deserve a GOD like Him. In deed HE works in us but we cooperate by working out the salvation He works within us Philipians 2:12. That's why we are commanded to walk in the Spirit in Galatians 5:16 else the works of the flesh,which makes us stand condemned, will be seen. Romans 5 :1 reveals that we are justified by faith but Romans 8:1 further clarifies the fact that ,though entrance into grace is by faith, freedom from condemnation can only be sustained for those who walk in the Spirit hence if we say we believe in Christ and claim to be saved but walk in the flesh, we deceive ourselves and may not make it (A careful reading of Romans 6 & 8 will clarify this). Walking in the Spirit is not referring to the glorious Baptism in the Holy Spirit but a life where the Spirit (not the flesh) is in control, such that the fruit of the Spirit is seen.Galatians 5:16-26. The case of Ananias and Sapphira in the NT Acts 5:1-11 clarifies the fact that God expects this newness of life and wont excuse sin in us; judgement may not be swift but condemnation will be its earnest. Christ's death on the cross was not meant to change God rather the grace thus provided was meant to change man. Some refer to Romans 7 as an excuse for their sinful lifestyle while claiming salvation but forget that the Solution was given in the latter verses of the same chapter and Chapter 8 is an expose on that Solution. The same Paul got this victory (described in Romans eight) and was able to write in 1 Thessalonians 2:10," you are witnesses, and God also, how holily and justly and unblameably we behaved ourselves.