In the book of John 4 from verse 1, Jesus was passing through Samaria on the way to Galilee. He came to a town called Sychar near the well of Jacob where he met the Samaritan woman. Jesus asked her for a drink, the woman realised that she came from a marginalised group of Samaritans, and also noted that Jesus was a Jew. She reminded Jesus that the Jews have got no dealings with Samaritans
Jesus ignored her background and the differences between the Jews and the Samaritans. He started teaching her about the Living Waters and a true worship through her questions.
SAMARITANS
Origins
The samaritans came as a result of intermarriages between the Jews left in Samaria and people from Cuthah, Avva, Hamath and Sepharvaim whom the King of Assyria brought from Babylon to settle in that area.(2Kings17v24). Samaria become empty when king of Assyria took its citizens to captive. He then brought other tribes to occupy the city and these foreigners intermarried with the Jews who we were not taken into captivity.
Samaritans and the native Jews
The Jews who never mixed with these foreigners and the ones who returned from Babylon did not accept the Samaritans as pure Jews and they had many differences. Samaritans were idol worshippers. The foreigners who came from Babylon did not only intermarry with the locals but they also brought with them their idols. The idolatry practice by the Samaritans was not pleasing to God and they believed they had lion attacks as a punishment. The king of Assyria sent them a priest (2Kings17v26-28) from the Jewish captives to teach them the laws of God. The samaritans retained their idol worship and only accepted five books of Moses. They then formed a religion comprising of Judaism and idolatry.
There were also tensions between these two types of Jews during the rebuilding of the temple. Therefore they differed in the places of worship. The pure Jews believed the place of worship was Jerusalem whilst the Samaritans believed it was Mount Gerizim.
LIVING WATERS
Jesus started teaching the Samaritan woman about the Living Waters. He told her to realise the gift of God in front of her who can give her the living waters . The woman thought this was the same water as the one drawn from the Jacob's well, she asked if Jesus was greater than Jacob who provided that Well to her ancestors. Jesus did not straight away answer her question of greatness but he went on to describe the type of water he was offering, the type of water which when one drinks,he will never become thirsty again. This time the woman realised that this was not an ordinary water so she became interested with this water.
In accordance to John 7v38, this Living waters is the holy spirit which will be poured out to the believers.
when she showed an interest to the Living Waters, Jesus asked her to bring her husband, we may come up with different views on why this request came from Jesus. It is also noted that when Jesus told her that he knew about her previous husbands and the current one who was not her husband, she confessed that Jesus was a prophet and she went ahead to ask a more advanced question about the place of worship.
Among many of the duties of a prophet was to teach people about the laws of God, this woman now realised that she had meet a prophet and she wanted to learn more from him.
WORSHIP
Jews
The Jews believed Jerusalem to be a place of worship because Solomon built a temple in Jerusalem. He however joined idol worship when he married many foreign wives, he joined them in their places of worship until he lost his Kingdom. (1 Kings 1:1-11).
Jerusalem is also believed to be a traditional place of worship by the Jews because it is where Abraham made an alter to sacrifice his son Isaac, Mount Moriah(2 chronicles v3:1)
Samaritans
The samaritans as already mentioned accepted only the five books of Moses. They chose Mount Gerizim as their place of worship. This was in accordance to Deutronomy 11v29.
Jesus entrusted this Samaritan woman with the vital information about the true worship. He told her that the true worship was one done in spirit and truth.
The place of worship does not matter anymore and this was also prophesied in Malachi 1v11"My name will be great among all nations,from the rising to the setting of the sun. In every place incense and pure offerings will be brought to my name, because my name will be great among nations," says the Lord Almighty.
We learn from the story of the Samaritan woman that Jesus' mission was for the salvation to reach Judea, Samaria and the other parts of the world. (Acts 1v8)
The story also teaches us that God can use anyone available to preach the gospel more especially these days where he said that the labourers are few.
He used the Samaritan woman who was despised because of her Origins and her marriage history. She took the message across and many people came to hear for themselves from Jesus.
We also learn that we can worship God anywhere including our bedrooms. We are no longer required to travel to any chosen place for our prayers to be heard. However we cannot stop gathering together to fellowship with other believers.
Thursday 26 February 2015
Friday 20 February 2015
JOHN THE BAPTIST
We all know the story in Luke1 v5-25 that John was born from Elizabeth and Zachariah when they were both old and when Elizabeth was known to be barren.Angel Gabriel appeared to Zachariah as he was ministering,the angel said he will have a child who will be great in the sight of God and he will be filled with the Holy spirit from God.
The angel continued to say that John the Baptist will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elija.
The coming of John the Baptist was also foretold by other previous prophets like Isaiah (Isaiah 40 v3).
His mission was to preach about repentance and to baptise,preparing people for the coming Messiah. However the priests and Levites did not know who exactly he was. They sent messengers to ask him. As he continued to grow in popularity, they wondered whether he was the Christ, Elija or the Prophet.
Surprisingly John the Baptist denied to all of the tittles suggested including that of a prophet.
PERCEPTIONS
Christ
The priests had a wrong perception of the Messiah or Christ. They thought he will come with power as a warrior to rescue them from the Romans, some bible scholars will argue with me that they had a right understanding of the Messiah because that is how he will appear. However that will be his second if not third coming when he will appear like that. The first coming he came as a saviour, a sacrificial lamb,very calm and patient, the second time he will come to call his children to his banquet and only the righteous will go,the third time he will come as a mighty warrior, the Lion of Judah,he will judge the world of its sins.
Definitely John was not the Messiah because he did confessed freely that he was not the Christ.
Elija
They also thought that John could be Elija coming back again. However Angel Gabriel did not say that Elija will come back through somebody to prepare the way. The angel said; "And he will go on before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elija."(Luke 1v17)
Definitely he was not Elija,only that his anointing and power was that similar to Elija.
The Prophet
They also wondered if he was the Prophet, John answered, no but Jesus said he was even more than a prophet because of his assignment of preparing a way for the Messiah (himself ).
Why is John the Baptist denying to be The Prophet?
John the Baptist was indeed the Prophet foretold in Isaiah 40v3 and Malachi 3v1,
was John contradicting then when he said no, am not the Prophet either? No,
John knew that people had a wrong perception of the Prophet to come,mainly about his role. They understand him to be so powerful that he will deliver them from the Roman rule. They took this from Deutronomy 18v15 because in this chapter, it was Moses telling the Israelites that God will rise up a prophet among you like me. If you recall, Moses delivered the Israelites from the oppression of Pharaoh, so up until the time of John the baptist, the Jews were still waiting for the prophet who will take the role like that of Moses, but if you read Deutronomy, you will understand that it refered to the Christ himself not John. Therefore when John said no,am not the Prophet,he was responding to the literal meaning of it from the point view of the priests, their perception and understanding of the coming prophet.
There are alot of things we can learn from John the Baptist, the following are the few among them;
FOCUS
He was a focused man of God who knew his job discription very well, there was a chance for him to put himself at the highest rank at the time when the Jews were confused about him, remember they were so desperate waiting for the prophet to deliver them from the hands of the Romans. He could have started misusing his popularity at this point.
BOLD
John the Baptist was very bold just like all other prophets before him. He boldly spoke to religious leaders who boasted to be sons of Abraham, he told them to repent and produce fruits like that of Abraham (Matthew 3v7-11)
He also spoke to Herode about his unlawful marriage to Herodias,his brother Philip's wife. That is when he was put in prison and later beheaded.
COMMITMENT
He was very committed to his job. This was not a paying job and nobody was there making sure that he reports for his duties every day, but we read that anyone who wanted baptism went to the wilderness and they got baptised.
HUMBLE
He realised that Jesus was above him when he came also to be baptised. He tried to refuse because that was his master asking for baptism, until when Jesus explained to him that, it was to fulfil all the righteousness, that is when he accepted
This could have been a chance for him just to jump in and start confusing his followers, giving an impression that he is above Jesus since he came to him for baptism.
His followers at one point tried to divert him by attempting to bring in tension between themselves with Jesus disciples over ceremonial cleansing. After they had this argument about ceremonial cleansing with Jesus disciples, the disciples of John came to report a different story to John, they told him the man whom you baptised is also baptising and is gaining so many people (paraphrasing John 3v22)
John maintained his position by continuing to say that Jesus was greater than him because he came from above,if anything they should all go to him because he will baptise them with the Holy spirit, i only baptise you with water for repentance,he said, and I must decrease so that he will increase, otherwise he is saying i can't compete with him.
Everyone has got an assignment here on earth, at the same time forces will come against us and even temptations as we gain popularity but if we are strong and focused we will overcome all of it.
We have seen even good leaders in our society lose focus because of popularity.
Be careful of circles of people who will surround you, praise you, yet they are destroying you by engaging you in an unnecessary fight, that is what John's disciples were trying to do.
The angel continued to say that John the Baptist will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elija.
The coming of John the Baptist was also foretold by other previous prophets like Isaiah (Isaiah 40 v3).
His mission was to preach about repentance and to baptise,preparing people for the coming Messiah. However the priests and Levites did not know who exactly he was. They sent messengers to ask him. As he continued to grow in popularity, they wondered whether he was the Christ, Elija or the Prophet.
Surprisingly John the Baptist denied to all of the tittles suggested including that of a prophet.
PERCEPTIONS
Christ
The priests had a wrong perception of the Messiah or Christ. They thought he will come with power as a warrior to rescue them from the Romans, some bible scholars will argue with me that they had a right understanding of the Messiah because that is how he will appear. However that will be his second if not third coming when he will appear like that. The first coming he came as a saviour, a sacrificial lamb,very calm and patient, the second time he will come to call his children to his banquet and only the righteous will go,the third time he will come as a mighty warrior, the Lion of Judah,he will judge the world of its sins.
Definitely John was not the Messiah because he did confessed freely that he was not the Christ.
Elija
They also thought that John could be Elija coming back again. However Angel Gabriel did not say that Elija will come back through somebody to prepare the way. The angel said; "And he will go on before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elija."(Luke 1v17)
Definitely he was not Elija,only that his anointing and power was that similar to Elija.
The Prophet
They also wondered if he was the Prophet, John answered, no but Jesus said he was even more than a prophet because of his assignment of preparing a way for the Messiah (himself ).
Why is John the Baptist denying to be The Prophet?
John the Baptist was indeed the Prophet foretold in Isaiah 40v3 and Malachi 3v1,
was John contradicting then when he said no, am not the Prophet either? No,
John knew that people had a wrong perception of the Prophet to come,mainly about his role. They understand him to be so powerful that he will deliver them from the Roman rule. They took this from Deutronomy 18v15 because in this chapter, it was Moses telling the Israelites that God will rise up a prophet among you like me. If you recall, Moses delivered the Israelites from the oppression of Pharaoh, so up until the time of John the baptist, the Jews were still waiting for the prophet who will take the role like that of Moses, but if you read Deutronomy, you will understand that it refered to the Christ himself not John. Therefore when John said no,am not the Prophet,he was responding to the literal meaning of it from the point view of the priests, their perception and understanding of the coming prophet.
There are alot of things we can learn from John the Baptist, the following are the few among them;
FOCUS
He was a focused man of God who knew his job discription very well, there was a chance for him to put himself at the highest rank at the time when the Jews were confused about him, remember they were so desperate waiting for the prophet to deliver them from the hands of the Romans. He could have started misusing his popularity at this point.
BOLD
John the Baptist was very bold just like all other prophets before him. He boldly spoke to religious leaders who boasted to be sons of Abraham, he told them to repent and produce fruits like that of Abraham (Matthew 3v7-11)
He also spoke to Herode about his unlawful marriage to Herodias,his brother Philip's wife. That is when he was put in prison and later beheaded.
COMMITMENT
He was very committed to his job. This was not a paying job and nobody was there making sure that he reports for his duties every day, but we read that anyone who wanted baptism went to the wilderness and they got baptised.
HUMBLE
He realised that Jesus was above him when he came also to be baptised. He tried to refuse because that was his master asking for baptism, until when Jesus explained to him that, it was to fulfil all the righteousness, that is when he accepted
This could have been a chance for him just to jump in and start confusing his followers, giving an impression that he is above Jesus since he came to him for baptism.
His followers at one point tried to divert him by attempting to bring in tension between themselves with Jesus disciples over ceremonial cleansing. After they had this argument about ceremonial cleansing with Jesus disciples, the disciples of John came to report a different story to John, they told him the man whom you baptised is also baptising and is gaining so many people (paraphrasing John 3v22)
John maintained his position by continuing to say that Jesus was greater than him because he came from above,if anything they should all go to him because he will baptise them with the Holy spirit, i only baptise you with water for repentance,he said, and I must decrease so that he will increase, otherwise he is saying i can't compete with him.
Everyone has got an assignment here on earth, at the same time forces will come against us and even temptations as we gain popularity but if we are strong and focused we will overcome all of it.
We have seen even good leaders in our society lose focus because of popularity.
Be careful of circles of people who will surround you, praise you, yet they are destroying you by engaging you in an unnecessary fight, that is what John's disciples were trying to do.
Tuesday 10 February 2015
NDINU ODALA(YOU ARE BLESSED )
Often you hear people saying;"that family is blessed" meaning that blessings can be associated with the family you come from. In the book of Luke 11:27 a woman said to Jesus "blessed is the womb that bore you and the breast at which you nursed."Jesus replied to say "blessed rather are the one that hear the word of God and keep it " that means anyone can be blessed as long as he hears the word of God and keep it, you don't have to be born from a royal family, a rich family, just keep and follow the word of God.
Indeed Mary was blessed among the women. However Jesus said, I have a wide family and the blessings shall follow believers in generations to come.
Therefore brethren don't distance yourself from blessings, you belong to the family of God, the blessed family.
Ndinu odala,dalitsikani mwa ambuye (God bless you, stay blessed )
Indeed Mary was blessed among the women. However Jesus said, I have a wide family and the blessings shall follow believers in generations to come.
Therefore brethren don't distance yourself from blessings, you belong to the family of God, the blessed family.
Ndinu odala,dalitsikani mwa ambuye (God bless you, stay blessed )
Tuesday 3 February 2015
THE ACCUSERS DISPERSED
There was a time when Jesus was teaching in the temple courts when people brought in a woman caught in adultery. They started quoting the law of Moses which stated that anyone caught in adultery must be stoned ( John 8v1-11).
Jesus told them that, "If anyone of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." The bible says they started leaving one by one until there was none left to accuse her
In this story the people who brought this woman did not only want to condemn her but also to use her to trap Jesus, but Jesus knew their mind and stopped them from harassing the woman.
The accusers will always come in our life to put us down, the woman was not perfect just like her accusers but they ignored their sins and start pointing fingers at the woman. The devil like accusing, because he does not want anyone to change and receive salvation. They wanted to kill the woman because she was a sinner and they thought Jesus will approve it, they still didn't understand Jesus mission of saving the sinners not condemning them.
Again, Jesus throughout his teachings, he never allowed anyone to judge another person. He said in Luke 6v41, "why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?"
They brought her to Jesus to finish her life without knowing that they are bringing her to her salvation. They gave her a chance to speak to the saviour of the world, may your accusers give you a chance to talk to people of the highest rank, in Jesus name!
People may try to finish you off. It can be at work place, they highlight your mistakes and send them to your boss or head office. If this happens while you are closer to Jesus or if you take the issue yourself to him, he will disperse them and no one will be there to testify against you. This can also turn for your own good. The brothers of Joseph sold him to end his dreams but God turned it for his good. May their evil reports against you turn for your good, in Jesus name!
The people accusing this woman were hiding their sins and wanted to be seen by Jesus as good law enforcers, may those trying to be recognised at the expense of your success be exposed in Jesus name.
They wanted to influence Jesus to make a decision against that woman, to allow them to stone her.
Again may those sending a bad report about you to people who can decide your promotion or any breakthrough be put to shame, let the decision makers discover that they are worse than you, and because your destiny is decided from above, no matter how many will join to destroy you, they will scatter in different directions until none will be left to accuse you.
Jesus told them that, "If anyone of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." The bible says they started leaving one by one until there was none left to accuse her
In this story the people who brought this woman did not only want to condemn her but also to use her to trap Jesus, but Jesus knew their mind and stopped them from harassing the woman.
The accusers will always come in our life to put us down, the woman was not perfect just like her accusers but they ignored their sins and start pointing fingers at the woman. The devil like accusing, because he does not want anyone to change and receive salvation. They wanted to kill the woman because she was a sinner and they thought Jesus will approve it, they still didn't understand Jesus mission of saving the sinners not condemning them.
Again, Jesus throughout his teachings, he never allowed anyone to judge another person. He said in Luke 6v41, "why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?"
They brought her to Jesus to finish her life without knowing that they are bringing her to her salvation. They gave her a chance to speak to the saviour of the world, may your accusers give you a chance to talk to people of the highest rank, in Jesus name!
People may try to finish you off. It can be at work place, they highlight your mistakes and send them to your boss or head office. If this happens while you are closer to Jesus or if you take the issue yourself to him, he will disperse them and no one will be there to testify against you. This can also turn for your own good. The brothers of Joseph sold him to end his dreams but God turned it for his good. May their evil reports against you turn for your good, in Jesus name!
The people accusing this woman were hiding their sins and wanted to be seen by Jesus as good law enforcers, may those trying to be recognised at the expense of your success be exposed in Jesus name.
They wanted to influence Jesus to make a decision against that woman, to allow them to stone her.
Again may those sending a bad report about you to people who can decide your promotion or any breakthrough be put to shame, let the decision makers discover that they are worse than you, and because your destiny is decided from above, no matter how many will join to destroy you, they will scatter in different directions until none will be left to accuse you.
Sunday 1 February 2015
JESUS PAYS ATTENTION
A blind man called Bartimaeus saw Jesus passing (Mark 10v46). He shouted for mercy,for his healing. This man had been sitting by the road side begging. People rebuked him and told him to be quiet.
This all happened on the last day of Jesus in Jericho. He was heading to Jerusalem. Jesus stopped and asked for Bartimaeus to come forward. He asked him what he wanted and he said, "I want to see." Jesus told him,"your faith has healed you."And he received his sight immediately.
Bartimaeus kept on shouting even though people stopped him. He knew that this Jesus was different from the people resisting him. The tradition did not allow people like him to mix with the clean people because the sick were regarded as unclean.
The leprosy were not even allowed to sit on the roadside. They were in total isolation, atleast he was just blind,and he should have just sit there quietly. I could imagine the people angry with his noise, wishing they could seal his mouth with something like adhesive tape, a strong one.
The woman of the issue of blood touched Jesus secretly because she knew she was not supposed to be there. Jesus realized that someone has got a miracle but she is hiding,afraid of the people. He called her back and said to her, "Daughter your faith has healed you"(Mark 5v34). He called her daughter, that shows how close Jesus was to the neglected,the condemned.
Jesus pays attention to everyone who calls upon him. It doesn't matter where the society has put you. Bartimaeus aim was for his voice to be heard by Jesus. He ignored the people stopping him. The woman with the issue of blood made up her mind to get her healing despite the crowd pushing her,she pressed on.
Jesus will pay attention to you just call upon him in prayer. If Bartimaeus did not shout, he would have remained the same blind beggar, remember it was the last day of Jesus in Jericho. He was heading to Jerusalem. Brethren,shout until he stops for you, who knows why Jesus took the route where Bartimaeus was and why Bartimaeus chose to be sitting on that particular roadside. Brethren don't miss your opportunity, you are in a position to receive your miracle, shout!
This all happened on the last day of Jesus in Jericho. He was heading to Jerusalem. Jesus stopped and asked for Bartimaeus to come forward. He asked him what he wanted and he said, "I want to see." Jesus told him,"your faith has healed you."And he received his sight immediately.
Bartimaeus kept on shouting even though people stopped him. He knew that this Jesus was different from the people resisting him. The tradition did not allow people like him to mix with the clean people because the sick were regarded as unclean.
The leprosy were not even allowed to sit on the roadside. They were in total isolation, atleast he was just blind,and he should have just sit there quietly. I could imagine the people angry with his noise, wishing they could seal his mouth with something like adhesive tape, a strong one.
The woman of the issue of blood touched Jesus secretly because she knew she was not supposed to be there. Jesus realized that someone has got a miracle but she is hiding,afraid of the people. He called her back and said to her, "Daughter your faith has healed you"(Mark 5v34). He called her daughter, that shows how close Jesus was to the neglected,the condemned.
Jesus pays attention to everyone who calls upon him. It doesn't matter where the society has put you. Bartimaeus aim was for his voice to be heard by Jesus. He ignored the people stopping him. The woman with the issue of blood made up her mind to get her healing despite the crowd pushing her,she pressed on.
Jesus will pay attention to you just call upon him in prayer. If Bartimaeus did not shout, he would have remained the same blind beggar, remember it was the last day of Jesus in Jericho. He was heading to Jerusalem. Brethren,shout until he stops for you, who knows why Jesus took the route where Bartimaeus was and why Bartimaeus chose to be sitting on that particular roadside. Brethren don't miss your opportunity, you are in a position to receive your miracle, shout!
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