Woman at the Well

 This monologue was Written by Chris Kinsley & Drew Francis. When I first heard this it moved me to tears as I felt so much like that woman. So I felt compelled to record my own version. It's based on this piece of scripture;

A woman, a Samaritan, came to draw water. Jesus said, "Would you give me a drink of water?" (His disciples had gone to the village to buy food for lunch.)
 The Samaritan woman, taken aback, asked, "How come you, a Jew, are asking me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?" (Jews in those days wouldn't be caught dead talking to Samaritans.)
 Jesus answered, "If you knew the generosity of God and who I am, you would be asking me for a drink, and I would give you fresh, living water."
 The woman said, "Sir, you don't even have a bucket to draw with, and this well is deep. So how are you going to get this 'living water'? Are you a better man than our ancestor Jacob, who dug this well and drank from it, he and his sons and livestock, and passed it down to us?"
 Jesus said, "Everyone who drinks this water will get thirsty again and again. Anyone who drinks the water I give will never thirst—not ever. The water I give will be an artesian spring within, gushing fountains of endless life."
 The woman said, "Sir, give me this water so I won't ever get thirsty, won't ever have to come back to this well again!"
 He said, "Go call your husband and then come back."
 "I have no husband," she said.
   "That's nicely put: 'I have no husband.' You've had five husbands, and the man you're living with now isn't even your husband. You spoke the truth there, sure enough."
 "Oh, so you're a prophet! Well, tell me this: Our ancestors worshiped God at this mountain, but you Jews insist that Jerusalem is the only place for worship, right?"
 "Believe me, woman, the time is coming when you Samaritans will worship the Father neither here at this mountain nor there in Jerusalem. You worship guessing in the dark; we Jews worship in the clear light of day. God's way of salvation is made available through the Jews. But the time is coming—it has, in fact, come—when what you're called will not matter and where you go to worship will not matter.
 "It's who you are and the way you live that count before God. Your worship must engage your spirit in the pursuit of truth. That's the kind of people the Father is out looking for: those who are simply and honestly themselves before him in their worship. God is sheer being itself—Spirit. Those who worship him must do it out of their very being, their spirits, their true selves, in adoration."
 The woman said, "I don't know about that. I do know that the Messiah is coming. When he arrives, we'll get the whole story."
 "I am he," said Jesus. "You don't have to wait any longer or look any further."
 Just then his disciples came back. They were shocked. They couldn't believe he was talking with that kind of a woman. No one said what they were all thinking, but their faces showed it.
 The woman took the hint and left. In her confusion she left her water pot. Back in the village she told the people, "Come see a man who knew all about the things I did, who knows me inside and out. Do you think this could be the Messiah?" And they went out to see for themselves.  
John 4:7-30 (The Message)

Come Home

Inspired

I will make them and the places around My hill a blessing.  And I will cause showers to come in their season; they will be showers of blessing.

Also the tree of the field will yield its fruit and the earth will yield its increase, and they will be secure on their land.  Then they will know that I am the LORD, when I have broken the bars of their yoke and have delivered them from the hand of those who enslaved them.

Ezekiel 34:26-27 (NASB)

That is all

Letter to God

Love (uncovered)

Writing, is her only release.

Ink to paper, flowing

like her thoughts, spilling

onto the sheet, like blood,

as her heart falls onto the page.

In a million pieces.

"They tore out my heart and

stomped that sucker flat"

How true were his words?

Bashed and bruised,

is the poor little bloody mass,

As she picks it up, to be returned

to the empty chamber,

that was once full of

Love.

Naïve and foolish she was then,

to trust and believe in what she

thought would always be true.

Lasting for eternity, like the

sun that shines, filling the vacuum

with hope and happiness.

Mending the foolish lump and soothing

it's scars.

Only to be torn apart

again, by empty promises

"Love is blind"

Caused by the shields and barricades,

protecting her heart from the spitefulness of

others. Eventually it is unarmed, to

reveal the fool's paradise of

infinite, eternal

Love.

Shattered. Exposing the disconcerted object

to reality.

"Revenge is sweet"

And doesn't she know it.

Transformed, into a seething mass of

hatred, her heart recklessly wreaks

distress, on the unfortunate,

exposed and foolish.

Bursting bubbles, causing their emotions and innermost

desires to come,

crashing to the ground.

Pieced back together,

morphed and twisted, a bitter distortion. Stunned

by the harsh truth.

Only to return to that viscous circle, riding

forever, on the emotional roller-coaster.

Aka

Love.

I wrote this poem when I was 15/16 and I have to say that it was the story of my life for almost a decade. It's about someone who gives her heart away too easily. Someone who looks for a saviour in a partner. Someone that puts her trust in unstable situations, believing false promises. Someone who tries to be worthy only to let herself down.

Living life this way leads to heartache and misery. The love of a partner is not steadfast, pure and faithful like the love of God. Our only saviour is Jesus Christ not Joe Bloggs.

This girl, sad, bitter, crazy from heartache and failure ends up taking it out on other people, causing them the same pain that she received and so it continues.

I don't live in this cycle any more.

Two years ago, I realised that God loves me. I realised that I didn't need to live that way, that He doesn't want me to live like that any more. That He has amazing plans for me, to give me a hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11) And so I accepted Jesus into my heart. And from that day he has mended it, moulded it and made it beautiful again.(psalm 34:18)

See, God has always loved me, and he loves you.  He created us out of love, to be in relationship with Him. He wanted to walk and talk with us freely and for us to be like that with each other too. Loving, comfortable, easy. But then sin entered the world. You know the story of Adam and Eve, when they ate the apple from the tree of knowledge? That was the first sin and from then on we are all sinners. He told them not to, and they did. We've all lied, cheated, lusted, whatever. Even little sins are sins. (And I sinned too, BIG style!) But the consequence of sin is death, hell. Separation from God. And sin has a consequence on earth too; sadness, hopelessness, worry, guilt... (Separation from God)

Recognising this problem, God, out of love, has offered us a way out. Jesus.

He lived on earth, as a man but without sin, a perfect example of how we should be. Then he offered up His own life as the ultimate sacrifice for our sin. Not just death but separation from God, the only time Jesus had ever been completely separated from His father. 

"This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, His one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn't go to all the trouble of sending His Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in Him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust Him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person's failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to Him" (The Message).

You have a choice. You can ignore this and carry on as you were before in that awful cycle I wrote about above. Or you can accept this truth, and start living with God, for God and let Him heal your heart and your mind, see Him working in marvellous ways in your life and experience love, joy, peace and hope like you never have before!

Let me know, if you want to know more!!

Where do you sow?

For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption,
but the one who sows to the spirit will from the spirit reap eternal life.
Galatians 6:8

Often, the mere suggestion of sowing and reaping brings about a lot of wincing, foot shuffling and fingernail inspecting but I'm not about to talk about money, reading this won't cost you a thing, so sit back and relax.

Sowing isn't just about what you do with your money, it's also about what you do with your time, your thoughts, your speech, your focus. Where do you cast your eyes, who do you listen to, where do you go for fulfilment?
We are in a battle against 3 enemies, the devil (and his minions), the flesh and the world. We all know that the devil's bad (if you think he's just misunderstood then you're crazy).  But who likes to admit that their flesh is evil and craves sin? (FYI sin is anything that separates us from God, not jut sex)
This verse is a warning against selfishness, you may not even recognise it happening in your life, but you'll definitely notice the consequences. I know that whenever my focus has strayed from God to me, when I have lived by myself, for myself that I have ended up a pretty unhappy bunny. And in this state, I'm not exactly spreading joy and love to those around me. Looking far back to before I was a Christian I remember, clearly, the corruption that I reaped, that I spread to others for my own fulfilment. But that could lead onto a whole other story, entirely.

Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are:
immorality, impurity, sensuality,
idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions,
envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these...
Galatians 5:19-21
 
But there's good news. The one who sows to the spirit will from the spirit reap eternal life.
Focus on God, put your hope in God, Trust Him, have praise on your lips and a thankful heart, know His grace, love and mercy. Read the word, listen to Him! Live for Jesus and you will reap eternal life. When you live for Him you bear spiritual fruit.

But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience,
kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness, self control;
Galatians 5:22-23

I know I'd much rather be the fruitful person than the former. Who do you think is happier and does more for God's kingdom? Following the deeds of the flesh may give temporary gratification but our hope in God is eternal. He is solid, loving and faithful.

I waited patiently for the Lord;
And He inclined to me and heard my cry.
He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay.
And He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm.
He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to out God;
Many will see and fear
And will trust the Lord.
Psalm 40:1-3