The Woman at the Well

Hello Everyone!  I hope you all have had a great start to the semester.  At last weeks IV, we did an inductive bible study on John 4 with the story of the woman at the well.  She came in the heat of the day, an outcast of outcasts.  She meets Jesus not only in person, but spiritually.  He exposes her life of sin, and reveals His saving truth to her.  She is in awe, and she tells everyone in her town about her encounter with him - the very people that probably mocked her and put her off for her sin.

This semester as a group, we want to focus on being a witnessing community.  We want to reach out to our friends and neighbors and family with the good news of Jesus Christ.  For many of us, that's a really scary thought.  The woman at the well shows us a couple of things we can learn about witnessing.  1. She did not let her past get in the way of telling people about her encounter with Jesus.  Your past does not disqualify you from sharing the gospel.  2. Whatever the people thought of her, she did not let their thoughts about her get in the way.  Let the joy and freedom of your relationship with Jesus empower you to share despite what others may think of you.  3. She started by sharing her encounter with God.  Start with your testimony.  Tell people how the Lord saved you.

Reflection

Hello!  It's been a while since we chatted here.  The end of Fall 2013 came with the flurry of winter weather, finals, and the increased desire to get away from school.  I hope that you all have had a great break.  Before we head back to school and get caught up in the business of it, I wanted to encourage each one of you to take some time to reflect on where you have been the last couple months (or even years).  Here are some questions that I hope will help you as you take time to reflect.  I have been asking myself many of these same questions lately:

Where have you been the last few months (or years)?
What have you done to get to this point in life?
Where are you going?
What are your goals for school, life, and your walk of faith?
What would you like to do more?  What would you like to do less (besides studying :) )
What do you think you should be doing?
What things would be nice to do? (i.e. enjoyable, bring you joy, relaxation, necessary you-time)
How much time and commitment is it going to take to accomplish what you want to do?
Are all the things on your list of 'want to dos,' 'nice to dos,' and 'should dos' reasonable, helpful or even necessary?
Are there other things that should be on your list but aren't?
Are you praying for someone, and you want to see God work in their life in a new way this year? What can you pray specifically for that person?
What does God have in mind for you this year?

Take time to write out your thoughts...whatever will help you process, organize and remember your thoughts and goals.  In the Bible, Habakkuk 2:2 says "And the Lord answered me: 'Write the vision, make it plain upon tablets so he may run who reads it.' "  For more encouragement on the topic, I encourage you to read the whole chapter of Habakkuk 2.  So, my friends, reflect, seek God, set goals, walk in faith, and see God do great things in 2014.