Jesus is Intentional- Monday Messages from the Heart

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Jesus is Intentional

Editorial--SPA--How does intention go into the story of when Jesus met the Samaritan Woman at the well?  Since I'm a word nerd, intentional means “done on purpose or deliberate.” In the beginning of John chapter 4, Jesus is heading to Galilee, and he decided to go through and stop in Samaria.  At this time, Jews and Samaritans didn’t get along. The Jews had despised the Samaritans due to their intermarriage with gentile people and the building of their own temple, so the Jews would cross the Jordan river rather than traveling through Samaria. Jesus being a Jew, it would be nothing out of the normal for him to not take the route through Samaria. Jesus however didn’t do what other people would do, because well, he’s Jesus. He didn’t do what other people did because he was the living God.

That day Jesus decided that he needed to go through Samaria.  After getting a little way, Jesus decided to take a rest and wait at Jacobs Well. As Jesus waits, here comes a woman in the middle coming toward Jacob's well. Normally people would come in the morning and evenings, not in the middle of the day, especially in the heat. We don’t know why. We do know as the passage goes on that she had many husbands. Maybe she came alone in the middle of the day to avoid others? Maybe because it was known that she was currently living in sin? We don’t know all the details of her past, but what we do know is that Jesus, a Jewish man met her at the well. Most Jewish men wouldn’t speak to a Samaritan, especially a Samaritan woman with the past she had. Jesus knew she was going to be there. Jesus was intentional about the route he took. Jesus had a special message for her, and I believe he was fully intentional about why he chose her.

It’s amazing how incredibly intentional our Jesus is. He intentionally met her at the well. Right where she was at a point in her life where she didn’t even want to come to the well for whatever reason when others did. Jesus was then intentional with all that was about to be revealed to her. Jesus still intentionally meets us right where we are. He will come to you if you call upon his name. He is intentional about his love for you and was intentional about giving his life for you. This shows us how intentional our God is. When he created us in his image, it was done intentionally because it was done with a purpose. You were intentionally created, because you were created on purpose with a purpose. Jesus knew that day that he had a purpose going there to the well to speak to a woman that many wouldn’t have. Jesus broke barriers and made everyone seen, because Jesus was intentional.

Doesn’t that encourage you to be more intentional in all you do? More intentional in how you love, how you serve, how you act? Does it show you how intentional you are with your time with Jesus? I know it encourages me. This story speaks to me in many different ways, but time and time again it reminds me of how incredibly intentional the God we serve is.

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• What ways are you going to be more intentional with your relationship with Jesus this week

• Where else could you be more intentional at in your life?
   
• What other stories in the Bible show you how intentional God is?

Monday Morning Prayer

Lord, 

I thank you for how incredibly intentional you are. I would like to grow this week in how intentional I am in my time with you and being more intentional with others when it comes to letting my light shine and sharing the good news about Jesus. Show me any area that I need to be more intentional in and I ask that you continue to show me the ways you are still being intentional in my life and in the others around me. 

In Jesus's Name,

Amen