{"id":141,"date":"2015-03-13T01:27:24","date_gmt":"2015-03-13T06:27:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/musings.butchevans.com\/?p=141"},"modified":"2015-03-13T01:27:24","modified_gmt":"2015-03-13T06:27:24","slug":"hearing-is-believing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/musings.butchevans.com\/?p=141","title":{"rendered":"Hearing is believing!"},"content":{"rendered":"

It is often said that “Seeing is believing.” \u00a0I want to show you a truth in God’s word where we find that it is not seeing<\/em> that is believing, but hearing<\/em>. \u00a0In the 4th chapter of John, we find a story that is quite familiar to many of us. This chapter is where we find the story of the Samaritan woman at the well. I do not want to focus on the part of the story that is so often told. Rather, I want to take a look at what happens AFTER that story that is so well known. After Jesus had spoken with her about the living water and revealed himself to be the Messiah, we find in verses 28-30 this response from the woman:<\/p>\n

So the woman left her waterpot, and went into the city and said to the men, \u201cCome, see a man who told me all the things that I have done; this is not the Christ, is it?\u201d They went out of the city, and were coming to Him.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

There are a number of miraculous events that lead to a revival in that Samaritan city when Jesus showed up. \u00a0It was highly unusual for Jesus, a Jew, to even speak to a Samaritan, much less spend the amount of time he did while at the well with her. \u00a0When the woman left the well and went into town to talk to the men of the city, it was unusual for them to listen to her as well, but they did. \u00a0Not only did they listen, they RESPONDED to the news she brought. \u00a0This is what we read through verse 30 of John 4 above.<\/p>\n

Let’s take a look at a bit more of what happened AFTER this. \u00a0John 4:39 reads:<\/p>\n

From that city many of the Samaritans believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, \u201cHe told me all the things that I have done.\u201d<\/span> <\/strong><\/p>\n

You see, because of the woman’s testimony, there were a number of people who believed in him. \u00a0This is an important point to consider. \u00a0Have you ever taken the time to evaluate your own life and think of the specific things that Christ as done for you? \u00a0I don’t mean the “churchy” phrases like, “Jesus died for my sins” or “Jesus loves me.” \u00a0I mean REAL and meaningful events in your life that you can point to and say “Jesus did _______ for ME!” \u00a0It is one thing for us to remember “formulas” like the “Romans Road to Salvation” or the “ABCs of Salvation” that begin with quoting scripture to the lost friends among us and end with a pattern prayer. \u00a0Yes, these things are important, but do you have a PERSONAL testimony of what Christ did for YOU? \u00a0This woman did. \u00a0And notice the HUGE impact that she had in the lives of her neighbors, friends and family. \u00a0Take the time to take a personal stock of God’s hand in your life. \u00a0If you have never done so, it is worth thinking about. \u00a0How many of you remember the old hymn,<\/p>\n

Count your blessings, name them one by one,<\/strong>
\n Count your blessings, see what God hath done!<\/strong>
\n Count your blessings, name them one by one,<\/strong>
\n And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.<\/strong><\/p>\n

(Can I just give a shout out for the old hymns? \u00a0I miss singing these sometimes.) \u00a0If you cannot look at your life and see the hand of God in a real and meaningful way, you may want to consider WHY that is the case. \u00a0God did not save you to leave you alone. \u00a0Rather, your salvation was a FIRST STEP in a relationship with the God who loves you. \u00a0As you begin to recognize those things in your life, share them with your family, friends and neighbors. \u00a0This is what draws people to want to learn more about Jesus. \u00a0It is the same today as it was when Jesus walked into that city in Samaria.<\/p>\n

Look at what happened next in the story. \u00a0Verses 40 and 41 read:<\/p>\n

So when the Samaritans came to Jesus, they were asking Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days.\u00a0\u00a0Many more believed because of His word; <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Again, notice that while the woman’s personal testimony was enough to make some of the men in the city believe, it took a little longer for others. \u00a0These men had to spend a little more time hearing from Jesus before they believed. \u00a0It was, however, the woman’s testimony that caused them to take interest in learning from Him. \u00a0John 12:32 records these words of Jesus,\u00a0“And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.”<\/strong> <\/span>\u00a0Our job is only to share our story. \u00a0Lift him up before our friends and share with them how important he is in OUR lives. \u00a0Jesus can do the work of drawing them toward salvation.<\/p>\n

Notice what the men said to the woman AFTER they met and believed Jesus for themselves. \u00a0This is verse 42:<\/p>\n

and they were saying to the woman, \u201cIt is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves and know that this One is indeed the Savior of the world.\u201d<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Folks, this is the final truth. \u00a0We do need to share our story with those around us. \u00a0We need to lift up the person of Jesus and share with others what he has done for us. \u00a0But in the end, it is not what WE say to them that will bring about salvation. \u00a0As these Samaritan men said,\u201cIt is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves and know that this One is indeed the Savior of the world.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/strong>Christians, LIFT HIGH THE NAME OF JESUS! \u00a0He will not let them down and everything he does in your life, he can do for them. \u00a0Isn’t that something that you want for your friends and family? \u00a0This goes well beyond the decision on their part that determines the difference between heaven and hell. \u00a0This salvation that Jesus brings is about a RELATIONSHIP with him. \u00a0Share YOUR relationship with your friends and allow them to see, in a real and personal way, why they need to investigate this Jesus for themselves.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It is often said that “Seeing is believing.” \u00a0I want to show you a truth in God’s word where we find that it is not seeing that is believing, but hearing. \u00a0In the 4th chapter of John, we find a story that is quite familiar to many of us. This chapter is where we find […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Hearing is believing! http:\/\/wp.me\/p3Mji6-2h","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-141","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bible"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3Mji6-2h","jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/musings.butchevans.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/musings.butchevans.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/musings.butchevans.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/musings.butchevans.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/musings.butchevans.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=141"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/musings.butchevans.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":143,"href":"http:\/\/musings.butchevans.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141\/revisions\/143"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/musings.butchevans.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/musings.butchevans.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=141"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/musings.butchevans.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}