John 4:23, 24 - Serve, Worship and Live for God in Spirit and Truth.
John 4:23, 24 (NIV) Yet a time is coming and
has now come when the true worshipers will
worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are
the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is
spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit
and in truth."
John 4:23, 24 (CEV) But a time is coming,
and it is already here! Even now the true
worshipers are being led by the Spirit to worship the
Father according to the truth. These are the ones
the Father is seeking to worship him. God is
Spirit, and those who worship God must be led by the
Sprit to worship him according to the truth.
OVERVIEW
Jesus Talks To The Samaritan Woman At The
Well
Jesus exposed the womans life in order
to bring her to the point of receiving the
living water (4:13-18). Due to Jesus insight
into her private life the woman thought that he
had the divinely given insight characteristic of
a prophet (4:19-20). But Jesus raised the
issue, not of his identity, but of the location and
nature of true worship. Jesus only identified
himself as the Messiah (4:26) after the woman
herself raised the issue of the coming Messiah
(4:25). The Samaritans believed God had designated
Mount Gerizim (this mountain, 4:20) as the
proper place for worship. They had built a temple
there to rival the worship center in Jerusalem.
The Samaritans believed in a coming Messiah who
was to be primarily a teacher, a priest, and a
restorer of true worship on Mount Gerizim. Jesus
articulated the difference between worship that was
expressed in external rituals alone and true worship
in spirit (4:23). The term spirit refers
to the sphere of worship. True worship happens
when a believers spirit is connected with
Gods Spirit, not when a believer is in any
particular physical place like Jerusalem or Samaria.
Gods Spirit is everywhere, therefore worship can
happen anywhere. The term truth implies that
the human worshiper is open and conforming to
Gods revealed ways of worship and life,
specifically Jesus call to repentance and honest,
spiritual worship. [New Bible Companion]
INTRODUCTION
We are designed to worship God in spirit
and in truth. As Jesus spoke to the Samaritan
woman at the well, He sought to help her do this
by imparting to her Gods living water (John
4:13"14).
Jesus sought out this woman personally to
give her abundant life. In the same way the
Father seeks an encounter with each of us that is
real and personal. The Samaritan woman had heard
about God; Jesus said true worship must be face
to face with God. Worship is not religion or
ritual; worship is an intimate and vital encounter
with a Person. True worship includes the full
recognition of who God is: Holy, Sovereign, Almighty,
Loving, Merciful, etc. This recognition brings about
the realization of our own sinfulness.
True worship is life-changing! It creates
within the worshipers heart a hatred for sin.
True worship results in repentance, obedient
submission, and a desire for holiness (Isa. 6:1"8).
True worship generates a desire to show mercy and
to express forgiveness. It includes a joyful
acceptance of all that God has provided by His grace.
True worship is not exclusive. Just as the
Samaritan woman rushed off to tell others of her
encounter with the Lord, so true worship will compel
the worshiper to include others. As a result of
this womans encounter with Jesus, many others
from her village came to know Him as well. The
one who has truly worshiped will have a sense of
peace and a confident expectation of what God is
about to do. True worship produces a transformed
life, reflecting the One who has been worshiped.
[Experiencing God Day by Day by Henry and Richard
Blackaby]
COMMENTARY PEARL
Worship doesn't have to occur only on
Sabbath mornings at church; worship can be a part of
everyday life. Zechariah pictures a day when God
alone will be worshiped - obviously that's a
prophecy yet to be fulfilled. On that day, every item
in the city will be holy because God will fill
everything with his presence.
The true fulfillment is future, but with
God's Spirit residing in your life, you have been
made holy. That means, as you walk through life,
you can experience what it means to worship God
at all times. You can worship God as you change
a baby's diaper. You can worship God as you
wash your dishes. You can worship God as you
answer those e-mails or prepare that assignment.
You can worship God as you wait in the airport
for that next business trip.
Get the picture? You show your love for
God by your worship - and every part of your
life can be an act of worship to him by your
attitudes, your actions, and your focus. Ask God to
infuse your life with worship. Imagine what a joy
each moment can be! [The One Year Bible for New
Believers re Zec. 14:9, 20, 21]
COMMENTARY
I was a pastor in a small country church
in South Africa. We had spent two hours in a
praise-and-worship service one Sunday evening, so when Monday
morning came, I felt spiritually drained and a
little grumpy.
That morning as I was having my daily
devotions out in the garden, the Lord and I enjoyed an
interesting conversation.
"Morning, Lord," I commenced. "Since last
night's service I've been wondering about this
eternity business. People often ask, 'What will we do
in eternity?' I usually reply with the stock
answer, 'We will spend our time praising and
worshiping God.' But, Lord, after last night's session,
I'm seriously wondering whether I could even
spend a single day praising and worshiping. All
this hand raising and clapping stuff! Lord, is
that what it's really going to be about?"
I half expected a stiff clout around the
ear from the Lord. Instead, his reply was so
gracious and gentle. "I understand that you must be a
bit worn out, son! But tell me, what would you
like to do for eternity?"
I thought about that for a while and then
replied, "Well, Lord, you know how much I love
gardening. If there is one thing that would give me
real pleasure, it would be to work in your
glorious heavenly garden. Then I could look forward
to discovering your marvelous purposes for
every living thing. I mean, Lord, why did you
create snails, mosquitoes, and ticks?"
I sensed the Lord chuckle as he replied,
"And what will you do, son, when I show you that
I even have a good purpose for snails,
mosquitoes, and ticks?"
"Why, Lord, I would just jump in the air
and shout for joy, 'Hallelujah! Isn't God
great! "
There was a poignant silence. I sensed
the Lord smile. "I call that worship, my son!"
-Gerald McCann
Lord, teach us to worship you as we enjoy
the majesty of your creation all around us.
Amen. [The One Year Devotional of Joy and Laughter
by Mary Hollingsworth]
It is working together with Christ that is
true worship. Prayers, exhortation, and talk are
cheap fruits, which are frequently tied on; but
fruits that are manifested in good works, in caring
for the needy, the fatherless, and widows, are
genuine fruits, and grow naturally upon a good tree.
2T24
I've heard it argued - usually by
incognito skeptics and critics in online conversations
- that the "you" in God's calling and promises
is almost always plural and that it refers to
the group as a whole rather than the individuals
within the group. In other words, God has related
in Scripture to Israel and the church but not
one-to-one with people. Individuals can experience Him
indirectly and impersonally by getting in on God's plan
for His people as a whole. But an intimate,
personal relationship with Him isn't scriptural.
What complete nonsense. Groups can't have
a heart-to-heart, face-to-face relationship.
Only individual people can do that. That's why we
were made in God's image - to relate to Him. In
Scripture, we see Him coming to comfort Hagar in the
desert, appealing through Paul on behalf of a slave
named Onesimus, or, as in the verse above,
tenderly reaching out to an out-cast woman at a well.
It's true that God has a big-picture plan for
Israel, other nations, and His church, but the God
who made His universe out of amazingly intricate
atoms and cell structures certainly has His eye on
each of us as individual people. He is an
intensely intimate God.
If you wonder sometimes if God is
interested in connecting with others but not with you
or if He's interested in the big picture but
not the details of your life, remember Jesus'
one-on-one interactions with a woman at a well, with
lepers and outcasts, with disciples whom He loved,
and more. Jesus, the exact representation of
God, got personal with people. And He is always
passionate about those who will come to Him in spirit
and in truth.
Lord, You are the God of macro-universes
and micro-organisms, and You have chosen to
relate specifically to me. You do care about the
details of my life and want to meet me in them, so I
present them to You as a place for us to connect.
[The One Year Experiencing Gods Presence
Devotional by Chris Tiegreen]
It is always fascinating to me that we
humans seemed to have split the true religion of
God into many segments and parts. Have you
noticed that too? Some of us are more comfortable
with quiet, calm worship services; others among
us like more spirited, exciting services. Some
people like a minister who speaks calmly with
reason; others prefer a minister who shouts and
moves around a lot. "Different strokes for
different folks" is the way the phrase goes.
Yet, I sometimes wonder if God is really
concerned about our comfort. Rather, he may be more
concerned with our spiritual completeness. And when we
throw out the parts of his complete truth to suit
ourselves, in order to be comfortable, do we not also
throw out vital parts of the whole?
One well-known minister, Edgar DeWitt
Jones, once addressed this issue by propounding the
specifications of what he thought made a good minister:
He should get religion like a
Methodist; experience it like a Baptist;
be sure of it like a Disciple; stick
to it like a Lutheran; pray for it
like a Presbyterian; conciliate it
like a Congregationalist; glorify it
like a Jew; be proud of it like an
Episcopalian; practice it like a
Christian Scientist; propagate it like
a Roman Catholic; work for it
like a Salvation Army lassie; and
enjoy it like a Charismatic.
The question is, why do we have to give
up anything? Why can we not include all the
elements of truth? That way, no one would be
comfortable or uncomfortable all the time, but we could
all be complete all the time. What do you think?
Dear Father, forgive us for treating your
worship like a meal at the cafeteria - just picking
and choosing the parts we like. Instead, Father,
please help us to worship you wholly, in spirit and
in truth. Amen. [The One Year Devotional of Joy
and Laughter by Mary Hollingsworth]
The flow of life surging and pulsing
through me to refresh this weary old world must be
from God Himself. It must be the continuous
outpouring of His Presence by His Spirit which touches
and transforms all around me. Any person naive
enough, arrogant enough, stupid enough to believe
that it is his or her own charm, charisma, or
capabilities that change and enliven others, lives in
utter self-delusion.
One of the terrible tragedies of human
behavior is for people to turn to other human beings
in an effort to find sustenance for their
spirits. They are always deluded, ever disappointed.
Our spirits can only find life in the Living
Spirit of the Living Lord. Our eternal quest for
life-giving water can only be quenched by the eternal
life of God Himself coming to us through the
hidden springs of His own person who indwells those
who are open channels for His life. W. Phillip
Keller [Time With God SB]
ILLUSTRATION
Don't think you are separated from God,
he at the top end of a great ladder, you at the
other. Dismiss any thought that God is on Venus
while you are on earth. Since God is Spirit (John
4:24), he is next to you: God himself is our roof.
God himself is our wall. And God himself is our
foundation.
Moses knew this. "Lord," he prayed, "you
have been our home since the beginning" (Psalm
90:1). What a powerful thought: God as your home.
Your home is the place where you can kick off
your shoes and eat pickles and crackers and not
worry about what people think when they see you in
your bathrobe.
Your home is familiar to you. No one has
to tell you how to locate your bedroom God
can be equally familiar to you. With time you
can learn where to go for nourishment, where to
hide for protection, where to turn for guidance.
Just as your earthly house is a place of refuge,
so God's house is a place of peace. God's house
has never been plundered, his walls have never
been breached. [Grace For The Moment SB By Max
Lucado]
PRACTICAL APPLICATION
Come to Me with your plans held in
abeyance. Worship Me in spirit and in truth, allowing
My Glory to permeate your entire being. Trust
Me enough to let Me guide you through this day,
accomplishing My purposes in My timing. Subordinate your
myriad plans to My Master Plan. I am sovereign over
every aspect of your life!
The challenge continually before you is
to trust Me and search for My way through each
day. Do not blindly, follow your habitual route,
or you will miss what I have prepared for you.
As the heavens are higher than the earth, so
are My ways higher than your ways and My
thoughts than your thoughts. (John 4:24; Isa. 55:8,
9) [Jesus Calling by Sarah Young]
YOUR COMMENTS
If anyone has a paraphrase, commentary or
testimony on this passage of Scripture, either
personal or otherwise, I would be interested in
hearing from you. Thanks in advance and let's keep
uplifting Jesus that all might be drawn to Him. Fred
Gibbs
LINKS WORTH CHECKING OUT
Most Important Decision in Life:
http://www.youtube.com/embed/WGnEuGwvXqU?rel=0
A Man without Equal by Bill Bright:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiVa7UoruIo
Seeking God Made Real:
http://vimeo.com/31489782
Prayer Made Real:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tc8VdMV26VE
Importance of Choice:
http://creationhealth.com/CREATION-Health/Choice [click on video]
Medical Seminar on Healthful Living by David
DeRose, MD, MPH:
https://www.smartlifestyletv.com/lifestart
LINKS FOR BIBLE STUDIES
Lifting Up Jesus Bible Studies:
http://www.liftingupjesus.net/
Amazing Facts Bible Studies:
http://www.amazingfacts.org/bible-study/bible-study-guides.aspx
Glow Tract Video Bible Studies:
http://www.bibleresearch.info/
LINKS FOR BIBLE PROPHECY SEMINARS
The Last Day of Prophecy by Pastor Doug
Batchelor:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmGvdtMCf1aJTiC59-lPtuUMEq_uEn0BK
Prophecies Decoded by Pastor Ron Clouzet:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1A435C5373550657
