Are You the Real Deal?

Did you know our world is dying for love? Do you have friends who do not know the love of God? Jesus met a Samaritan woman from Sychar at a well. He was tired from traveling, and the disciples went into town to get food.

He began to talk with the woman by asking her for water. She asked him important life questions and He offered her living water, which means the love of God, which flows from  His throne and through His followers by the power of His Holy Spirit. The things Jesus said seemed strange to the woman, but Jesus let her know He knew all about her and still He showed love to her.

She ran to the city and told others about Jesus and the love she felt. They came to see Him for themselves and they too experienced His love. This story, found in John 4, demonstrates four qualities of God's love:

Experience - God's love knows.

Example     - God's love shows.

Expands     - God's love grows.

Expresses   - God's love flows.

Think About It
Jesus showed us how to be the real deal by loving an unlovely woman. She didn't come to the well in the morning as other women did. She was an outcast and came in the heat of the day. People didn't care for her, but Jesus did. There are unlovely people in our world. Discuss with your parents or teachers how you might show love this week, how you can be real, like Jesus.

Pray About It
O Lord, help me to love like Jesus so people will come to realize how much you love them. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Dialogue with Jesus

Experience God’s love through conversations Jesus had with Nicodemus,the Woman at the Well, Martha, Zacchaeus, Peter, the Roman Centurion, the Rich Young Ruler, Simon the Pharisee, the Adulterous Woman, and more.

Dialogue with Jesus is fifty-two devotions for families, written to teach children how to pray. Bible stories come alive and inspire questions, acceptance, love, and faith.

A book for families, but it can be used for teaching by home schooling mothers, Sunday school teachers, and in mentoring relationships.

Each devotion includes:

• A retold Bible story with Jesus' words in red
• A "Think About It" section, which applies Bible truth
• A "Pray About It" section with simple prayers kids can learn.

This book is a work in progress, born in the Mentoring Track at Mount Hermon Christian Writers Conference. Find similar devotions on my Talking with Jesus blog. 

Please leave your suggestions how I could make this a great devotional book for families.

Living Water

While driving along the Feather River in Northern California, I thought about the River of Life in Revelation 22. It must be beautiful with the Tree of Life rising on each side which bears twelve different kinds of fruit. Hard for me to imagine.

After a winter of heavy rain and snow, the Feather is fuller, faster and more captivating. White water rushers over boulders and descends into glorious waterfalls. The rushing water seems to be alive and I questioned, "Is this what living water is like?"

Jesus said to the Samaritan woman at the well outside of Sychar, that He had living water, water that would spring up into eternal life. She said, "I want some of your water," because she didn't want to have to keep coming to the well several times a day for water to clean her house and cook her food. She didn't want to have to come for water to bathe her family.

But Jesus wasn't talking about physical water. He talked about nourishment for her soul. She understood when she realized Jesus knew all about her sinful life but showed her love. She tasted the living water but couldn't keep it to herself. Like the water in the rushing Feather River, the living water bubbled up inside her and she had to run and tell others in town about the man who knew all about her, yet, loved her.

That's how God's love is. Once we experience it, we can't keep it to oursleves. We have to love God and love others. That's how God's kingdom grows and grows. Do you know God's lavishing love? If you do, you know what I mean. If not, my prayer is for you today, that you will call on Jesus' name. That's all you have to do. He is waiting to show you His love just as He did the woman at the well.