Well ...

This is NOT a New Years Resolution.  (Don't get me started on my thoughts about New Years Resolutions - attempts to strive harder, be more, achieve greater ... agh!  I'm pretty sure I have other blogs in my Archive list about my inner thoughts on the subject.)

However, this year I did start a new journey toward discovery, born out of a deep desire to know the One I've committed my life to in a brand new way.  "40 Days with the Holy Spirit" by R.T. Kendall has led me to know the third person of the Divine Trinity of God - the Holy Spirit.  In my religious upbringing, I heard next to nothing about Him.  In my years in a mainstream denomination, the Holy Spirit was neglected in those circles as well ... feared, strange, and something fanatical.  Now, in the last year, I've entered into a romance with this third person ... the Holy Spirit ... that has brought new life, fresh water, and bubbling enthusiasm that can not be contained.

One thing I know and have experienced in the past, but now on a regular basis, is the way the Holy Spirit "speaks" to my Spirit.  That's one of His roles ... to bring wisdom and revelation.  So this morning, the Holy Spirit spoke to my little ol' heart while reading a very familiar paragraph.

There is a woman worn by life called "the Samaritan woman".  She comes to the watering hole to get her water ... coming at a time when others have left and she won't be the object of their cruel affections.  She has a past, after-all.

She meets with and has a conversation with Jesus.  He's real.  He's open.  He's direct.  He's not judgemental, harsh, or pious like her fellow countrymen.  

It's here I had this "revelation" from the Holy Spirit.  It's after she has her encounter with Jesus that she leaves her water jug behind and runs to the village to tell others what she has experienced.

What had she come to the well for ... water.  What did she leave at the well ... water.  Hmmm.  What she had come in search for she left behind after she had an encounter with Jesus.

Real life application here for me, a Wife, Mom, and Traveler on this planet:  the very thing I "come to the well" for is no longer needed after I've had an encounter with Jesus.

For me, "coming to the well" is a place of being worn out, needing a place to hide, being totallly "done".  I may think I need ... rest, food, a friend, a drink, a phone call, a work out, a spa day, a hug ... when what I need is Jesus. How many mornings have I held my cup of excellent coffee, sat in my chair, and stared out my window in search of answers to my deepest questions.  I may sit there, calling out to God to solve some problem, answer some prayer, provide much needed comfort.  That's my water jug.  When after an encounter with Him ... which looks like the Spirit wrapping Himself around my aching heart and bringing wisdom and love and acceptance and reducing fear and anxiety and stress ... I no longer need what I came in search of ... I have more than I need because of the encounter.

I love that Jesus told this woman He would give her "living water".  Living means alive.  When I know my Spirit has heard from God ... through the person of the Holy Spirit ... it's then I feel most alive.  The jugs I've brought that needed to be filled ... get filled ... and overflow.  Problems may not be solved ... questions still left unanswered ... but they pale in vast comparison to the experience of the encounter ... the experience of having met the "Living Water" that fills my deepest needs in the deepest places of my heart.

40 days and counting,
christina