Transcription
Welcome, YouTube family. My name is Joanna, and thank you for tuning in today. If you haven't already, please subscribe to our YouTube to stay up-to-date each week. We believe God has a powerful word for you today. So, let's dive into this amazing message.
If you were taking notes, the title of my sermon is "He Waited." He waited. And who are we talking about? We're talking about Jesus. Jesus waited. We ain't talking about your boyfriend, 'cause you know how he do. Ah, I'm playing. Let me be nice. Um, that, do I need to deal with that? Do I need to change my sermon right here? Do I need to, do I need to minister to that in the room? Dang, we shouldn't have came to church today. Lucky for you, I got a different sermon. But he waited. Jesus waited. He waited. You guys will understand what that means at the end of my sermon.
But what I'm talking about today is some of you guys in this room, you are depleted. You are tired. You are spiritually dehydrated. You're spiritually just disconnected, fatigued, weary, weary, worried, anxious, and all the things, right? All the things. And I just want you to know Jesus has a plan for that. Not only does he have a plan for that, he has a prescription for that. That today, I believe that the Lord wants you to leave today whole, healthy, replenished, on fire. I believe that he wants you to prosper and be in good health, even as your soul prospers. There's a soul prospering. That means that your soul is having good things that's coming out of it. Peace, joy, love, good things coming out of your heart. And we live in this tension because we know what the Bible says. We know what Jesus says. So why aren't we having what Jesus said?
Why are we depleted? Why are we struggling with sin? Why are we struggling with our identity? Why are we struggling with our mental health? If Jesus really is good, if he really is God, if he really has all these promises, and if he's really gonna do all the things that he said he's going to do, why are we struggling so much?
What's happening? That some of us, when we said we would believe in Jesus, we're struggling harder now than before we believed in Jesus.
What's happening? So today, I want to help you guys find that place of peace, that place of tranquility, that place of strength, that place of joy. A lot of moms in this room, and to be a mom is a wonderful thing, but it's a depleting thing. It's a tiring thing because as a mom, you give, give, give. You give to the kids, you give to your husband, you give to work, you give to the house, you give, give, give. And sometimes you stop and you're like, "Do I ever put anything back in me? Do I ever prioritize me? I loved everyone else, but did I love me? I serve everyone else. But did I serve me?" Sometimes it's me. You feel the same way. I provide. I work. I do all these things for my family. But sometimes I am tired. Sometimes I gave all I can give, and I don't know if I got anything else to give. I believe that the Lord wants to restore you, and he wants to heal you, and he wants to make you whole. Can we give him a shout of praise for that?
So, we're going to read about a person today that Jesus went out of his way to meet to make sure they was replenished, to make sure they was hydrated, and they had everything that they needed. And if he did it for this person, I believe he'll do it for you. Go to John 4. John 4. We're going to pick up at verse three. Before I read, I thought I should mention that, um, you know, like on your shoe, you have like the little silver things that go like around like your shoestring. Well, one of those things fell on my shoe, and I put on my shoe. First service, I was preaching, and I felt it hit my foot, and I'm like, "Dang." And I'm in church, and it's, it's in my shoe. I need to stop preaching to take it off. So, um, I had to go all the way through service with that in my shoe. And surely between services, I would take off my shoe and get the thing out, but I didn't do it. And it's still in my shoe right now. So, uh, we're going to keep preaching 'cause I ain't going to take off my shoe and be a ghetto preacher up here. All right. So, I'm going to preach through it. And don't feel bad for me because back in the biblical days, they had to preach with no amplified microphones. They preached in the heat. They didn't have AC. And if they can preach through that, I can preach through this metal thing in my shoe. Come on, somebody.
"You can't preach with this metal thing in your shoe. You don't need to be preaching anyway."
I just thought I should mention. So if I do like a weird limp or something, it's 'cause I stepped on that metal thing. Let's go. John 4, chapter 3. We can't take ourselves too, too serious now, right? It says, "He left Judea and departed again to Galilee. But he needed to go through Samaria. But he needed to go through Samaria. So he came to a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now, Jacob's well was there. Jesus, therefore, being weary from his journey, sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour, which is 12:00 p.m. their time. A woman of Samaria came down to draw water. Jesus said to her, 'Give me a drink.' For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. Then the woman of Samaria said to him, 'How is it that you, being a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a Samaritan woman? For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.' Jesus answered and said to her, 'If you knew the gift of God and who it is, and who it, and who says to you, "Give me a drink," you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.' Then Jesus said to the woman, I mean, then the woman said to him, 'Sir, you have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well with his sons and livestock?' Jesus answered and said to her, 'Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again. But whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst, but the water that I will give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.'"
Come on, somebody. You got to shout when the Bible start preaching now. Come on. You got to shout. The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water, that I may never thirst, nor come here to draw." Jesus said to her, "Go, call your husband and come here." The woman answered and said, "I have no husband." Jesus said to her, "You have said, 'Well, I have no husband,' for you have HAD FIVE HUSBANDS." Woo! Jerry Springer. And the one whom you now have is not your husband, and that you, and that you spoke truly. This is like a, a mory, like you were not the father type situation. Verse 19. Uh, my mama shouldn't have had that when I was growing up. Verse 19. The woman said to him, "Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet."
Okay, let's jump into this. So, I'm going to show you a couple things, uh, that that took place here. There was tension between Jews and Samaritans. There was, there was racial tensions. There was barriers, and there was, there was, there was tensions, and the Jewish people saw the Samaritans as half-breeds. They were half-breed Jews. They wasn't full Jews. They had a little weird doctrine a little bit. They worshiped in a weird way. And the Jews wanted nothing to do with Samaritans, all the way to the point the scripture said, "Hey, Jews and Samaritans have no dealings." In other words, we don't mess with y'all. Y'all don't mess with us. Y'all stay on this side. We'll stay on this side. Y'all do what y'all do. We'll do what we do. And here's the issue. When they would travel, many times to go through Samaria was a shortcut. The Jews were so serious about not seeing the Samaritans, they would take the long way around to get to where they was going. So they didn't go through Samaria. So they didn't see the Samaritans because they had no dealings. The Jewish Sanhedrin, the Jewish Pharisees, the scribes, the Sadducees, all of these guys that was ministers of the word, they would go around Samaria and they would not go through this place because they wanted nothing to do with these people. And then those people wanted nothing to do with them. And there was this racial tension, there was beef, there was barriers. So Jesus said something so polarizing. He said, "I must go through Samaria."
"Jesus, how do you must go through a place that everyone else avoids? How do you must go through a place that everyone else avoids?"
And I want to tell you, if you feel like you've been a person that's been avoided, a person that people wouldn't come to, a person that people wouldn't minister to, I want you to know that Jesus is saying, "I must come to you. I must come to you that's in despair. I must come to you that's in pain. I must come to you that's rejected. I must come to you that's lost. I MUST COME." Jesus said, "I must come to the place that no one else would go to." Because Jesus said, "I'm coming to reach everybody. Not just some people, everybody. Not just certain types of people, but everybody. I must go through Samaria." Jesus said, "I'm not avoiding you. I'm coming straight through to Samaria."
And Jesus went to Samaria. And not only did he go there, he went there and he went and he sat down on a well. And as Jesus sat down on this well, he sat there and he waited for the Samaritan woman to come to the well. He sat there and he waited on her. And I could just see Jesus sitting there right there waiting. And as he waited on her, I believe Jesus was like, "Girl, hurry up. I got to get to the cross. Like, where you at? Like, like, 'Where is this lady at?'" And he's sitting there. He's waiting on her. And then she came. And then Jesus ASKED HER SOMETHING SO BIZARRE. He said, "Give me a drink." And this lady thought Jesus was trying to holler at her. Jesus like, "Have you lost your mind? I'm trying to save you." He said, "Give me a drink." She thought he was flirting. And then SHE SHE SAID, "HOW is it you being a Jewish man and I'm a Samaritan woman? How do you ask me for a drink?" What did she start do? She started to put up barriers. Why? Because there was barriers that would keep these two people from talking. The first barrier we would have is there was a racial barrier. You are a Jew, I am a Samaritan. The second barrier was a gender barrier. You are a man and I am a woman. There's, there's, there is barriers that was blocking these two people from talking. So she said, "How do you ask me for a drink?"
So the question is, why did Jesus ask her for a drink? I'll tell you why Jesus asked her for a drink. Jesus asked her for a drink is because whenever you meet with someone and there is barriers and there's division there and there's racial tension, what you have to find is common ground.
And Jesus found COMMON GROUND. And what was the common ground? The common ground was H2O.
It was H2O. And, and for those of you that failed science class, that's water. That's everybody. My God. Um, it's water. They had water in common. It was water. And why would they have water in common? It's because just because I'm a Jew and you're a Samaritan, we both drink water. Just because I'm a man and you're a woman, we both drink water. Just because we worship different, we both drink water. Just because we believe different, we both drink water. Water is an equalizer. Why? Because everybody needs water. The king needs WATER and the peasant needs water. The rich NEEDS WATER and the poor NEEDS WATER. EVERY person needs water. Even Jesus needed water.
And Jesus said, "I'm going to meet you on common ground, and I'm going to meet you around this concept of water. And I'm going to use this water to show you a deeper world. I'm going to use this water to give you a deeper revelation." So, he found common ground with her over the concept of water. HE FOUND COMMON GROUND OVER WATER. And, and all of a sudden, he started telling her about water. And then SHE ASKED HIM FOR A DRINK. And then she said this to Jesus. And Jesus said something so profound. He said, "If you KNEW WHO I WAS, you would have asked me for a drink."
And I just want to take a moment to say the same thing to you. If you knew who Jesus was, YOU WOULD ASK him for a drink. And many people are in this room right now. And because you don't have a revelation of who Jesus is, you're not asking him for A DRINK. There's somebody in this room that was drunk last night, and you was drunk because you actually needed a drink from Jesus. There was somebody that smiled in the lobby, but they suffered in silence on the way to church because they need a drink from Jesus. There's somebody that was watching pornography this week because they need a drink FROM JESUS. There's somebody in this room that wanted to end it all because they needed a drink from Jesus. Perhaps someone laying next to you that you think is perfectly fine. They're suffering in silence and having anxiety attacks and panic attacks and depression attacks because they need a drink from Jesus.
But maybe they didn't ask Jesus for a drink because they don't know who he is.
So who is he? Who is he that this lady should have asked him for a drink? Who is he? I'll tell you who he is. Because if we slow the story down and we look at the scene closely, we would notice something. When the lady came with her bucket to draw water, she saw a man sitting on the well. But if she would have had spiritual eyes, guess what she would have saw? She would have saw a well sitting on the well.
That's good. Because it wasn't a man sitting on a well. It was a well sitting on a well. And what she was faced with was two wells.
That had two different assignments. One of the wells was designed to pacify. The other well was designed to satisfy.
And the QUESTION THAT HE WAS ASKING her is the question that I'm asking you. Do you drink from THE WELL THAT PACIFIES or do you drink from THE WELL THAT SATISFIES? Do you drink from THE WELL THAT PACIFIES or do you drink from THE WELL THAT SATISFIES? Because many of us drink from the well that pacifies. And that's why we have to keep running back and running BACK AND GOING BACK. She had to keep coming back with her bucket. Why? Because it would only satisfy her temporarily. And we run to things that would only satisfy us temporarily. Yeah, you can have the alcohol, but it only works for a little while. Yeah, you can have the drugs, but it only works for a little while. Yeah, you can buy the car, but it only works for a little while. You can get the house, but it only works for a little while. And Jesus said, "You keep going to THE WELL THAT PACIFIES, NOT TO THE WELL THAT SATISFIES." He said, "I'M THE WELL THAT SATISFIES. I'M THE WELL THAT SATISFIES DEEP DOWN IN YOUR SOUL. I DON'T JUST MINISTER TO THE SURFACE. I MINISTER TO THE SOUL. I ACTUALLY QUENCH YOUR REAL THIRST, YOUR REAL DESIRE, YOUR REAL PAIN, YOUR REAL ANXIETY. I'M NOT THE WELL THAT PACIFIES. I'M THE WELL THAT SATISFIES."
And if YOU KNEW WHO I WAS, YOU WOULD HAVE ASKED ME FOR A DRINK. And if you knew who he was, you would ask him for a drink. But many times, we're drinking everything else besides the living water of Jesus because we don't know who he is.
We don't have a revelation of who he is. We don't have a revelation of his goodness. We don't have a revelation of what he can do. And I want you to know that he can do what you can't.
He can satisfy your soul.
He can do what the drugs can't. He can satisfy your soul. He can do what the relationship can't. He can satisfy your soul. He can do what the pills can't. He can satisfy your soul. You can watch pornography until your eyes start to tear, but it would never satisfy you because it's not him.
Only he satisfies. Church, he's the only one that satisfies. And if you're feeling lonely in this room, only he can quit loneliness. If you're feeling worried, only he can quit worry. If you feel like you're not enough, only he can make you feel like you're not enough. And sometimes we're looking for something in this world that pacifies because we was missing something. We were missing love and affection from our parents. And maybe you had parents, but you didn't just need parents, you needed a hug.
And no one has ever hugged you properly. And now you walk around and you feel lonely because you never got hugged and you were never embraced the way you needed to be embraced. Or maybe you did get hugged by your parents and by your family. And maybe you were loved, but you weren't taught. And they didn't train you. And now you're looking to be taught and you're looking for direction and you're looking for clarity because you was given a hug but you wasn't given a compass. And now you're on your own and you don't know which way to go. What are you looking for? What are you looking for to satisfy you? Why are you drinking from this well? What are you running back to? Because we keep running back and forth to this well because we're looking to get something. But something we have to realize is the well doesn't satisfy.
And you know it because you drink from it and all you do is find yourself drinking from it again. I know you probably struggle with your identity, man of God. So, you sleep with woman after woman after woman after woman. How did it work out for you?
Did it fix it, or are you looking for your next fix?
You drink bottle after bottle after bottle. Did it fix it? Are you looking for your next fix?
You bought the bags. Did it fix the insecurity? You put on the makeup. Did it fix what you felt about yourself on the inside? And we keep running back to this well. And we keep drinking from this well only to leave worse than when we came.
Only God satisfies. And Jesus was telling her, he was like, "Hey, I know you think you're thirsty, but you keep coming back to this well." And he said, "If you would drink from me, I have something that would cause you to never thirst again." Church, I want to tell you something. He has a water that if you just got to drink of it, you would never thirst again. You would never lust again. You would never struggle again, if you just drink from his well.
And what's happening is we're drinking from wells that can't satisfy.
We're trying things that can't satisfy. So now we need the better job, and now, and, and now we need more money, and now we need more status, and now we need more fame, and now we wear stuff to tell us who we are because we don't know what our own name means.
He said, "Only I satisfy." And guess what the lady said? She said, she said, "Well, give me this water, that I may never thirst again and never come to this well again." The reason why she asked, she said, "I'll take this water." He got her attention, and she desired the water. But the reason why she desired the water is because she didn't never want to come back to the well again.
But not because she didn't want the water in the well. She didn't want the shame that surrounded the well. Because she came to the well by 12:00. That was the heat and the beam of the middle of the day. All the other women came to the well in the morning before the sun got there.
Which means if she was there at 12:00, it's because she was avoiding the other women.
And why would she avoid the other women? It's because what Jesus called her out on, he said, "The one you got ain't your husband, and the last five ain't your husband either."
Translation, Jesus was like, "You out here." Not out here, out here. You know what I'm saying? Chia is worse than here. Here's put together. Here's bad. She went out here. She was out Chia. And why wouldn't she want to be at the well with all the women? Because the women of Sychar, which is the women of her city, I bet every time she went to that well, they reminded her of who she was. Yeah, that's that. Mhm. Yep. She was with John. She was with Tim and all of them. Tim's cousin too. She crazy. And every time she came there, you get away. Nope. Nope. You go over there. We don't, don't. We going to get. We're going to drink. You drink last.
And finally, she said, "I'll come in the middle, in the heat of the day, because I would avoid them." So she said, "Hey, if you got some water that would stop me from having to come out and be embarrassed and be shamed. Hey, where is THIS WATER? I'LL TAKE SOME OF THIS WATER." And she wanted the water because she, she, she wanted to get away because she was in shame. And she was in shame. And Jesus said, "You would have asked me for a drink." And she says, "Sir, you have nothing to draw with, like I don't see how you can get this water." And then Jesus said something so profound. He made a pivot. He went from the surface to the soul.
And he said, "Bring your husband here." She said, "I don't have a husband." He said, "I know. And you've, you've had five husbands." In other words, you went from guy to guy to God. He said, "The one you have now ain't your husband, and you have five others." What was Jesus saying? Jesus is saying, "You had a total of six men." And he said, "I want you to know something today at this well, you met man number seven." Ah, I'm the seventh man. And seven is the number of completion. Because I'm about to complete you, not deplete you. I'm about to MAKE YOU WHOLE. I'M ABOUT TO RESTORE YOUR SOUL. I'M ABOUT TO HYDRATE YOUR SOUL. I'M ABOUT TO GIVE YOU WHAT YOU NEVER COULD GET. I'M GOING TO GIVE YOU WHAT NO MAN COULD EVER GIVE. I'M GOING TO LOVE YOU IN A WAY YOU COULD NEVER BE LOVED. You went for number one and two and three and four and five. Oh, but today you going to meet number seven. I'M THE SEVEN MAN. And I don't KNOW HOW MANY TIMES YOU RAN AFTER RELATIONSHIPS, BUT NUMBER SEVEN IS HERE. I DON'T KNOW HOW MANY TIMES YOU RAN AFTER DRUGS, BUT NUMBER SEVEN IS HERE. I DON'T KNOW HOW MANY TIMES YOU RAN UH TO THE GYM SO YOU CAN LOOK BETTER, and that's great, but you did it because of low self-esteem. Number seven is here. I got news for you. Number seven is here.
And number seven is completion. And Jesus WAS TELLING THIS LADY, I'M ABOUT TO COMPLETE you in a way that you've never been completed. I'M ABOUT TO SERVE YOU IN A WAY that you've never been served. Number seven is here. And she said to him, "I perceive that you are a prophet." And then he began to minister to her. He began to serve her, and her life was radically changed. And then she would go out to the city and say, "Come see a man that told me everything I ever done."
Now, I want to show you something in this story. I want to show you something because the story started off with her saying, "You are a Jew, and are you greater than our father Jacob?" What did that show her? What did that show me? "Are you greater than our father Jacob?" She responded like a triggered person.
Come on.
And why did she respond so hostile? It's because this lady had been attacked time after time again. And because she's been attacked, she was sarcastic. "Are you greater than our father Jacob?" You're sarcastic because you've been attacked. So she said, "You're just a Jew. I don't know you." And she responded in sarcasm. He started talking about this water. She went from sarcasm to sir.
Come on.
Then she called him sir. Oh, sir. Then he told her about her situations and her entanglements, and she was like, "You're a prophet."
Then he gave her this living water, and she said, "You're the Christ." And I'm just thankful for a God that would be so patient that he would tolerate me not knowing him in my sarcasm.
I'm grateful for a God that would be so patient that he would allow me to evolve to the revelation and call him sir. I'm thankful for a God that's so patient that he would wait on me as I evolve from sir to "you're a prophet." I'm thankful for a God that's so patient that as I evolve from him being a prophet to him being the Christ, he would sit there and wait for me and answer my questions and reach out to me. I'm grateful for the patience of God. Are you grateful for the patience OF GOD? Because you wasn't always like you are now. You didn't always pray. You didn't always worship. You didn't always READ YOUR WORD. YOU DIDN'T ALWAYS COME TO CHURCH. And some of us got to remember where we came from. 'Cause there was a point where we cursed God. And there was a point we wanted nothing to do with God. And there was a point where we didn't see him properly and serve HIM CORRECTLY. Oh, but I'm thankful for a God that will wait on me. But he waited on me. HE WAITED AS I WORKED THROUGH MY QUESTIONS. HE WAITED AS I WORKED THROUGH MY FRUSTRATIONS. HE WAITED AS I WORKED THROUGH CLARITY. He waited on me. And I want you to know that he's waiting on you. You're not here by mistake. Somebody may have brought you because it's Mother's Day, but you are here on purpose. And he waited on you.
He waited on you to get to this moment. He waited on you to get here this morning. Some of you guys are here for the first time. And I just want you to KNOW THAT HE WAITED ON YOU.
He waited. He waited. He waited. And he waited on this woman.
So now she's at compliance. She was like, "Hey, if you got this water, you have nothing to draw with." And the reason why she said that is because when Jesus gave her spiritual affirmation, she was looking for spiritual comfort, physical confirmation.
And as God gets ready to quench your thirst, don't look for it physically because he's going to do it spiritually.
He's going to do it spiritually. That he is the well. And he said he would give you springs of living water down on the inside of you. He said, "I'm going to put a well on the inside of you." He said, "Not only am I the well that if you come to me to get a drink, I'll make you one, too." My God.
I'll make you a well. That you would have everything on the inside that you would have to run back and forth for validation. You wouldn't have to run back and forth for approval. You won't have to run back and forth to feel like you're enough. You would have to run back and forth to feel like you're good enough. Because I remember when I started my journey, and I started following God, and I started preaching this this gospel, it started from a broken place. It started from a place I want to prove that I can do it. I want to prove that I'm not, I'm good enough. I want to prove that that I can make it happen. I want to prove that even with the world against me, if God be for me, who could be against me? And that's a nice scripture, but it was kind of out of context. And I had something to prove. And now I have nothing to prove.
Because he's proved it.
He's he's approved of me. I'm accepted by God. You're accepted by God. And he don't want you to try to perform for acceptance. That when Jesus was baptized, before he ever did a miracle, he said, "This is my beloved son, in whom I'm well pleased." I want to take a moment and let you know something. God's pleased with you.
Even in your despair, he's pleased with you.
Even in your sin, and even in your brokenness, God is pleased with you. And you don't have to perform for acceptance. You can actually grow out of acceptance. God is pleased with you. Can we give him a shout of praise?
So, so Jesus said, "I have this water that you would never thirst again. You will never thirst again." In other words, I have permanent satisfaction for you. Permanent satisfaction for you. Permanent satisfaction for you. That that you're going to come to me. I'm not going to pacify. I'm going to satisfy permanently. What would it be like if you was permanently satisfied? What would it be like if if you didn't have to keep running back and forth to the same things over and over trying to find your identity, trying to find your worth, trying to see if you're enough? He says, "I have a water that will cause you to never thirst again." And this lady was thirsty, but when she got some of Jesus' water, she actually ran to the people that she was hiding from. She ran. "Come see a man that told me everything." "Come see a man." And then the Bible says that people all over Samaria believed in him because of this lady's testimony. Then he stayed with them for two days, and then they believed him because of his own words.
What happens when you get a drink from the living well? What happens when you get a sip from living water, and all of a sudden you're running to what you ran from?
That's what happens when you get a drink from Jesus. He puts a well. It's living water. It's not dead water. It's living water. It's not this dead water that's in a well that's dirty and nasty and all murky. No, this is living water. It's refreshed. It's restored. It's like a river. It keeps running. It's alive. Why? He says, "I'm going to put this on the inside of you, and it's going to keep springing up into eternal life. You're not going to get depleted. You're not going to be charged one day, then the next day you're back depleted and down." Why? Because it's a well springing up into eternal life. It keeps refreshing itself and resetting itself. And you're going from glory to glory, from glory to glory, to joy to joy, to peace to peace. This is the well that Jesus wants to put on the inside.
Will you take a drink from the well? Because if you knew who he was, you would ask him for a drink. I don't care what you think your problem is in this room. Your problem is you need a drink from the well.
Now, if you have your Bibles, go to Jeremiah chapter 2 and go to verse 13. And it reads, Jeremiah 2, verse 13. Guys are there? Say ready.
Okay. It reads, "My people have committed two sins." My people have committed two sins. They have abandoned me, the spring of living water, and they have dug their own wells, which are broken wells that cannot hold water.
So he said, my people have committed two sins. They have abandoned me, the well of living water. You've abandoned him. Where in your faith did you abandon Jesus? There was a point where you were on fire. There was a point where you were desperate for God. There was a point where where you were in your word. You were praying. You were at church. You was involved. You were all about Jesus. And then you got tired, and you got depleted, and then you abandon him. "I don't have to read today. I don't have to go to church this week. God's not that serious." "Oh, I know God. Oh, I know those stories. Oh, yeah. I know all about that." And you abandon him. And Jesus calls it a sin. Why? Because abandoning Jesus opens the door to sin.
Secondly, he said, "Because you've abandoned me, now you've committed the second sin. You started digging up your own wells."
You started digging up your own wells. And now all of a sudden, you started going to places you shouldn't go to for satisfaction. You started going to places you shouldn't go to to quench your thirst. You started digging your own wells. And you have to think about those wells. What is those wells that you're digging? Because Jesus wants you to know that the wells are broken and they can't hold water.
Maybe you're anxious. Maybe you're depressed. Maybe you're frustrated. Maybe you want to give up. Maybe you guys are fighting every night in the house because you're both drinking from broken wells. And now you say, "Well, she's not enough no more. He's not enough." Maybe it's because you're drinking from the wrong well.
Because if you don't get Jesus right, nothing else is going to be right in your life.
So, you're drinking from broken wells. And this is why you're depleted, and this is why you're dehydrated, and this is why you're frustrated, and this is why you can't find happiness is because you are drinking from broken wells. And you have to go back to the living water. You got to go back to your first love and say, "Jesus, you're the only well that I would drink from. You're the only well that satisfies. You're the only well that could quench my thirst." Who's drinking from a broken well?
And this lady, let me show you how powerful this is. She came to get physical water. And after Jesus gave her spiritual water, guess what she did? She dropped her water pot. She dropped her water pot and she went in the city and started ministering. I want to ask you a question. What's your water pot? What's the thing that you keep bringing to try to fill up to find validation and to quench your thirst? Because I want to encourage you to do something this morning. Drop your water pot. Maybe it's you feeling like you need to look better. Drop your water pot. Maybe it's you feeling like you need more money. Drop your water pot. Maybe you need the best vehicle. Drop your water pot. Maybe you need to feel significant. Drop your water pot. Maybe you got to feel like you're better than everyone else. Drop your water pot. What is the water pot? What is the thing you keep drawing from? Because you're DRAWING FROM A BROKEN well.
And it'll never satisfy you, and it'll never fill you, and you know it's true because you tried it, and look at you now.
Look at you. I just want to tell you it'll never work. Uh, the Bible says, you know the scripture that says, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." It's actually supposed to be phrased this way. It's not like an ability. We actually use the scripture out of context, like, "I can do all things," like I can do something, and we use the scripture as like an ability thing, but it actually means, "I can endure all things through Christ who strengthens me." Not that you can go and score a touchdown 'cause you, you don't, you can't catch. Not that you can go win a race and not fast. We got this in our locker rooms and got blew out by 40. I'm like, "Jesus, YOU WERE RIGHT HERE ON MY LOCKER." Wrong context. Jesus was actually saying, "You can endure that loss that y'all going to take on that field 'cause I strengthen you." So though you GOING TO GET BEAT BY 40, you can take it 'cause I strengthen you because you're drinking from the right well. That's what he was saying.
I'm like, dang, ain't my favorite verse no more. Like I thought, man, that was my verse. That was my comeback verse, man. I lost some, I lost some victories to that verse. I was mad. But Jesus was like, "Even though you lose, you win." You know what I'm saying? Like what it means? "I can endure all things." And I just want you to know when you drink from the right well, you can endure all things through Christ who strengthens you.
You can get through it. Some of you guys have had heartbreak. You can get through it. Some of you guys have had loss. You can get through it. Some of you guys have been alone. You can get through it. Some of you guys have no support. You can get through it. Some of y'all have no family. You can get through it. Some of you guys have been used and abused up, and you can still get through it. Some of you GUYS HAVE BEEN THROWN DOWN LIKE it was worthless trash, and you can still make it through it because CHRIST STRENGTHENS YOU. And this is why Paul said, "I know the secret to life. I've had much. I've had little. And I've always been content because Christ strengthens me." When I drink from the well, there's nothing else in this world I need because I got to drink from the living well. Nothing else matters.
When you take a drink from the well. But you are depleted because you're drinking from a broken well. Give him a shout of praise.
So, so why did Jesus meet her at the well? Why did Jesus meet her at the well? The same reason why he's going to meet you at the well. Because there's one thing the well is always going to do, it's going to always bring you back to it.
Jesus knew that no matter what this woman did, she would have to come back to the well because thirst says you have to come back.
And whatever you're thirsty for will always have you running back to it. If you're thirsty for identity, you will run back to the porn site. If you're thirsty for validation, you would work so hard that you neglect your family. What are you thirsty for? If you're thirsty for love and to be seen, you're going to find yourself laying next to monsters and strangers and people you don't even know. If you're thirsty to get rid of your pain and not process it, you're going to drink more bottles than you can count. What are you thirsty for?
And Jesus knew where to find her.
And he knows where to find you.
At the well. Because if you don't have a well on the inside of you, you're gonna always return back to the well.
But I want you to not miss a detail in the story. And the detail that I don't want you to miss is Jesus sat at the well and he waited for her.
He waited at the well. He waited for her to come to the well. And I just want you to know that he does the same thing for you.
That he's waiting at the well. I don't know what your well is, but he's a well that's waiting at the well so you can decide if you want to drink what pacifies or what satisfies.
He's waiting at the well. While you were in alcoholism, he was sitting waiting at the well.
While you were popping pills to forget the mistakes you made, he was waiting at the well. When you was rejecting him for idol gods, he was sitting waiting at the well. When you wanted nothing to do with him, he was still sitting waiting at the well. When you was laying in the bed next to people that didn't care about you and didn't love you, guess what he was doing? He was sitting waiting on you at the well. When you was trying to find your identity in all the things of this world, guess what? He was waiting on you at the well. As my MD player comes up, Jesus was always sitting there, and he was waiting at the well. And I want you to know something this morning. He is still sitting at the well waiting on you. He's waiting at the well. He's waiting at the well. He's always been waiting at the well. He sat and he's waited on you. My question is, when you return to the well, which one will you drink from?
Because he's waited. And do you know that some of those wells could have killed you?
My God. Do you know that you were in an abusive relationship and you was just one chokehold away from not being here, and he WAS STILL SITTING WAITING on you at the well?
You was one drink FROM BEING SPIKED AWAY FROM YOU NOT BEING HERE. AND HE WAS STILL WAITING ON YOU AT the well.
You were just a couple thoughts away from ending it all. And he was still waiting at the well. I want you to know something. When everyone else left because they didn't believe in you and they didn't see nothing else, Jesus was still sitting waiting at the well.
So my question is, what will you do with the well at the well?
Will you keep pushing by him and keep drinking from the well and drawing from the well you've been drinking from? Or will you drink from the well who provides eternal life? A spring of water on the inside of you, a well that you would never thirst again. I want you to know something. You was never designed to live spiritually and solely thirsty.
You was never designed to live that way. It's not God's will, and it's not his purpose. And what happens is we start digging up our own wells and drink from them, and then we create theology like, "Everybody goes through something. Everybody has hard times. Everyone struggles. Everyone, everyone goes through dark seasons."
Not when they got a well on the inside of them.
Well, preacher, how could you be so sure? Because he said, "If I drunk FROM IT, I'LL NEVER THIRST AGAIN."
SO, we just have to decide who's a liar. Is Jesus a liar, or is your circumstance lying? Because Jesus said if you drink from his well, YOU WILL NEVER THIRST AGAIN. Everyone stand to your feet. Let me pray for you.
Wow, what a powerful message. We hope it blessed you. Make sure to share with your friends, your family members, and your co-workers so that they can be blessed as well.