The Rabbi & the Porn Star//Changed

Part 4 of a study on John 4:1-42 (Last part)

Sooo...we're still sitting at the well, right??? And Jesus just answered her question and told her what true love and true worship was, right??? Okay...good...we're caught up now...if not, then read the others first lol.

And she responds back to Jesus, "I know that the Messiah will come one day and explain all of this to us--we've been waiting for Him." Now Jesus finally reveals who He is to her, "I am the Messiah." And now it hits her...the one she's been waiting on for soooo long is finally here. He's sitting right next to her and offering her living water (a new start). So what does she do??? She leaves her water jar beside the well and ran back into the city to tell everyone. She came to the well for some water to satisfy her thirst and she leaves without her water jar because she ran into Jesus and that changes everything.

You see the Messiah was the one that everyone was waiting for because He would come in and rescue His people and make all things new. Still today all of us are waiting for something like that too. If you don't believe me, just listen to some music--it's all in it. But when you run into the Jesus--He does make all things new. He was turning a porn star into a Jesus Lover...how awesome is that.

And she runs back into the city to tell everyone. Cause when you find a love like that you can't keep it to yourself. You got to let everyone who will listen know. She went and told everyone, "I found the Messiah, or actually He kinda found me. And He knew everything about me and He still loved me. Come and see." Sooo...the town does come and see and Jesus stays there two more days. And a lot of people believed saying, "He is the Savior of the world."

So when Jesus comes to you...
One...He offers you a new life, a new start (living water)
Two...He knows absolutely everything about you, the good and the bad, and He is still crazy about you
Three...He will teach you how to really love and how to really worship with all that you are
Four...You will not be the same. He changes you. And He will use you to bring a city to His feet, if you let Him use you.

Have you crashed into Him yet???
Cause when you do...this changes everything!!!

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Sources
The Bible

The Rabbi & the Porn Star//Worship

Part 3 of a study on John 4:1-42

Sooo...the story continues and Jesus is still sitting at the well with the tramp. She's been offered a new life (living water) by Jesus and she also just realized that He knows absolutely everything about her (mistakes and all) and He still wants to be with her. When you run into a love like this, it changes everything!!! When you find a love like that you know you can ask anything in the world...and she does, but it's not what you think. She turns to Jesus and asks, "Why do you Jews believe that the only place to worship God is in Jerusalem?" Okay...I don't know about you, but that's probably the last thing that I would think that would come out of a slut's mouth. But it makes you think...

Maybe she was raised in a religious home
Maybe she was the one who always "went to church"
Maybe she was "hurt by the church"
Maybe she had religious rules instead of love
Maybe that's why she went on her wild spree...to find love

And after she has found her love in Jesus, she asks one thing...and it's a religious question. hmmm.

And Jesus answers her, "It no longer matters whether you worship the Father on this mountain or in Jerusalem. True worshippers worship Him in Spirit and Truth. He is looking for those who worship him that way. God is Spirit, so those who worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and Truth!!!"

I absolutely LOVE this. You know why??? Because Jesus keeps telling the religious people that all their worship is fake because it is without love. And then Jesus tells the slut, the one who has been looking for love her entire life, how to love and how to worship. Jesus is FREAKIN AWESOME!!!

Sooo...worship (love) in spirit and in truth. What does that mean???

TRUTH--that's simple...all that means is...let your love for God be real. Sincerity. Don't be like the pharisee's of Jesus' day and the religious people of our day. Don't be fake. Cut the B.S. and fall in love with God and let that be real in your life.

SPIRIT--this is a word full of meaning...spirit in the greek means "breath." So Jesus is basically doing away with all religious aspects here. No more temple, no more only Jerusalem, no more you have to sacrifice this animal. Jesus says worship is loving God with every breath that you take. Worship is bigger than church walls and church traditions. It encompasses all of life. And we can't do this on our own. We all are dirty. We all still mess up. We all are unholy. That's why He sends His HOLY Spirit. And He BREATHES his breath of life into us because "in Him we live and move and breathe." (Acts 17:28) Sooo...with every breath He gives us we are to love Him with all of it.

Sooo...Jesus answers her question, saying places don't matter anymore. To worship, to love...all you need is the air you breathe. And God is searching for those who love him like that.

CHECK OUT THIS VIDEO!!!



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Sources
The Bible

The Rabbi & the Porn Star//Known

Part 2 of a study on John 4:1-42

Sooo...Jesus is still sitting by the well with the town slut. He just offered her a new life and a new start and a way to be one with God again (Living Water). And she says that's what she's been looking for and that she wants what Jesus is offering her. She wants living water!!! Then randomly Jesus says, "Where is your husband?" To which she responds, "I have no husband..." Then Jesus tells the girl her life's story, "You right, you've had five husbands and the one you're shacking up with now isn't even your husband." Wow!!! How in-your-face is that???

But it is at this point that she realizes something...

He knows absolutely everything about me and He's still sitting beside me. He's still here with me and loving me for who I am...mistakes and all.

Isn't that what what all of us are looking for? Don't all of us want someone that knows every single little tiny detail about us (the good, the bad, and the ugly) and still love us.

That desire has been God's plan from the beginning. When God created man, He said it is not good for the man to be alone...So God created woman (because the first time the man saw her, he said, "Whoa mannnn!!!" lol) But at the end of that chapter God said that they were "naked before each other and were without shame." (Gen 2:25) This is more than just a physical aspect. It covers everything...they knew everything about each other, inside and out, and they were without shame. All of us want something like that. Because...

To be known is to be loved and to be loved is to be known!!!

Known...let's talk about this word. In the Hebrew, the word they used for "to know" is...yada. Which is the same word that they used for SEX...oh yes we're going there. (I'm tired of the church not going there) Since the beginning of time God created us for love and for intimacy. First with Him, then our spouse, and then the world. But at the beginning, when a man loved a women and they made love...they knew each other. Sex wasn't just intercourse, it was having someone know everything about you and still want to be with you and vice versa...You knew every detail about the person you were with and you still want to share your love with that person alone.

As you read the Bible, you can see how we start preverting sex. Instead of knowing each other like God's original plan, we started taking from each other. In Gen 6:2, they stopped using the term "to know" for sex...they started using the term, "to take."

He doesn't really have to know her, he can just take what He wants from her and leave it at that. No commitments...no regrets, right???

She wants to be known by someone, but doesn't believe that kind of love exists. So she settles and starts "giving herself away" so that she can feel loved for at least a couple of moments. But she doesn't know him, she just takes from him so that she can feel better about herself.

It's just sex!!!

But that's my point, when it's just sex then it's that...just sex. There' no love, no intimacy, no connection. We can live without sex, but we cannot live without love. That's why you can be the most popular person at a party, but still be alone on the inside. That's why you can have sex with him and at the end still feel empty. Because sex without knowing isn't sex. Sex without knowing isn't love. Because...

To be known is to be loved and to be loved is to be known!!!

Sooo...she is sitting next to Jesus and she realizes what she's found in Him. She's been looking sooooo long for something like this. For someone to know her...REALLY know her from the inside-out and still love her...and still be there with her through it all...And Jesus is still sitting next to her...with her...the rabbi and the pornstar.

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Sources
The Bible
True Story by James Choung
SexGod by Rob Bell

The Rabbi & the Porn Star//Living Water

Part 1 of a study on John 4:1-42

Soooo...Jesus is sitting by Himself near a well and the town slut comes up to draw some water--Awkward. So what does Jesus do? He goes and talks to her and asks her for some water. Now this is not the norm...come on...i mean the rabbi and the porn star--that would make Entertainment Tonight. But He comes up to her despite her label and asks her for some water.

She says, "You're a Jew, why would you ask someone like me for water?" Then Jesus said, "If you would ask me for water, I would give you living water and you would never thirst again." Now let's stop right here for a second.

Living Water--what is that suppose to mean???

To the Jews, this "living water" was a ritual bath, called the mikveh. Before you could come into the presence of God, you had to be made clean. So at the Temple there was a place where you would come and wash yourself with "living water" so that you could be with God.

So Jesus is sitting with this promiscuous women and offering her...
a new life
a new start
to be able to be made clean again
to be able to be with God again

This is funny that Jesus is offering a dirty Samaritan all of this because according to the Jewish tradition, Jesus would have to take a little dip in the "living water" pool himself, because he was drinking from a jar that was handled by a Samaritan.

So Jesus is sitting next to her, becoming "unclean" to the point that he is no longer accepted in the Church, so that this girl can be made one with God again...AWESOME STUFF!!!

So she turns and looks at Jesus and says, "I want this living water. I don't want to keep coming back to this well. I don't want to be thirsty all the time--always looking for something and never finding it. I want to be satisfied."

So...
You who has been searching for that one thing that's missing
You who wants more to this life
You who walks to the well alone because no one wants you

LISTEN TO THESE WORDS...

"Anyone who is thirsty may come to me. Anyone who believes in me may come and drink. For rivers of living water flow from my heart for you."--Jesus
(John 7:37-38)

To be continued...

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Sources
The Bible
Followtherabbi.com