Never Thirst

Photo credit: Phyllis Keating / Image Source: niagrafallslive.com

Jesus answered and said to her, "Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life."
~ John 4:13-14 (NKJV)

To be healthy, the simplest single habit we might adopt is drinking adequate good water. But we all too often substitute other beverages, food, or thirst tolerance. I suspect that our health suffers because we fail to drink readily available water.

How often is the same true of our souls? How often might our failure to have

be attributed to thirst tolerance and substitution spiritually?

Jesus offers His Holy Spirit as a Fountain of living waters. We need never thirst if we will simply turn to Him and drink.

It's not that we don't know all this. We simply need the reminders.

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Copyright 2011, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.

Laying Hold of the Greater

The woman said to Him, "Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water? Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?"
~ John 4:11-12 (NKJV)

Jesus asserts to the Samaritan woman that He can provide living water which is greater than the well water for which He asks her. Can you hear the pride in her scoffing reply, as she asks if He is greater than Jacob, who is also named Israel?

The sibling rivalry among Jacob's sons goes back nearly two millennia. These Jews are named for Israel's son Judah, while the Samaritans trace their ancestry back to Israel himself. And who is the greater one, the father or his son? The Samaritans lay claim to the well of Jacob. What greater resource can this poor Jew offer a Samaritan in the moment at hand?

If you have a moment, determine what you'd define as your greatest human resource, upon which you most rely. It might be your name or your connections, your material possessions or your talent, your spouse or family or friends. (Think of your answer before you read on.)

Do you believe that Jesus offers in this moment something greater than your greatest resource? If you are willing to ask Him, you can receive it.

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Copyright 2011, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.

One Question Quiz

A woman of Samaria came to draw water.
Jesus said to her, "Give Me a drink."
~ John 4:7 (NKJV)

Which is more surprising?
(a) Jesus stepping into enemy territory
(b) The Rabbi alone with a harlot
(c) the God who has everything asking a person for the little they have
(d) the Creator needing a drink

The answer certainly isn't (a). God coming to dwell with man was stepping into enemy territory from day one. Knowing men would eventually kill Him never hindered Jesus from being where He needed to be to do His Father's will.

Is (b) really unusual? More than once, we see Jesus as able to associate with all manner of sinners, because their sin did not tempt Him. He unapologetically did right and spoke truth, knowing people would speak badly of Him anyway, and having no fear of their slander (John 2:24-25).

Consider (c). Does this woman of bad reputation have anything to offer Jesus except that drink of water? There seems to be no surprise that He asks it of her. Why then are we taken aback when He asks us for the little we have?

And so I choose (d) as the most surprising. I shake my head to think that the Creator puts on mortal flesh and allows Himself to become needful of a drink of water.

I shake my head to think that God creates mortals and allows Himself to require our love.

How does God surprise you?

God of Living Waters, You fully command my love. Thank You for rendering my heart helpless before You.

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Copyright 2011, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.

One Man's Ministry

[Jesus] left Judea and departed again to Galilee. But He needed to go through Samaria.
~ John 4:3-4

For those of us who know Jesus as God, we may forget how very human He was, and that His ministry included very ordinary components.

Though we call John "The Baptist," we are told that Jesus the Baptist baptized more people (John 4:1-2). Though Jesus and His disciples sometimes received the hospitality of others, they sometimes did not, utilizing money to buy needed food (John 4:8). And like many other ministers, Jesus worked and traveled hard enough to become weary (John 4:6).

Perhaps most significantly, Jesus evidently considered Samaria more than the most direct route to Galilee, and more than an opportunity to reach Israel's "lost" tribes. His itinerant ministry pressed upon Him the need to go where other ministers didn't go, to reach the people other ministers didn't love.

If you are willing, forget about the globe's distant corners as you ask yourself a question:

Is there a Samaria in your life—a convenient opportunity—to minister to those others don't see? It might be as near as the people inside the church, to whom no one else reaches out with love.

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Copyright 2011, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.

Tripled Surprises

I'm back from the ACFW conference in St. Louis (always an exciting time), ready to continue blog posts from the book of John. As I fell asleep last night, I remembered that John 4 is the next chapter, and my thoughts went to the Samaritan woman at the well.

However despised she may have been in her own culture, it seems she is one of the most beloved characters to Christians. Perhaps we identify with her because we feel shamed by our sin, we feel out of place in the circles where we function, or we long to engage Jesus the way she did.

I woke up this morning with new insight into the story, thinking I knew exactly what I wanted to share from this passage about God meeting us and using us. But when I sat down to actually read John 4, the chapter overwhelmed me with its surprises—far too many for one post.

He left Judea and departed again to Galilee. But He needed to go through Samaria.
~ John 4:3-4 (NKJV)

Like Jesus' side trip into Samaria, I readily decided to detour and simply post a list of those surprises. I was surprised again when the list filled an entire page—too many to even list!

As I counted the items, my mathematical mind wondered if it might perchance arrive at some even number like 20 or 24 (two dozen) or 25. I was a tiny bit disappointed by the random number 27.

But only for a moment. When I speak or teach, I try to always outline in threes, to keep things simple and memorable. No one but you math geeks is likely to appreciate my third surprise in the realization


Some of the surprises in John chapter 4 might be seen as only surprises for the incident's context, while being familiar to us: Jesus visiting Samaria and speaking to a woman; Jesus knowing the woman's past; Jesus' revelations to her. But God's Word is alive, and God Himself is the Master of Surprise. I trust that He has fresh insights and surprises—beyond what I even see in this moment—for the posts to be shared here.

Jesus said to her, "I who speak to you am He."
~ John 4:26 (NKJV)

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Copyright 2011, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.

Saints Alive

(I'm on "vacation" for a week. Details below.)

If I have any obsession in life, it is the Bible.

This living Word of God is life to me. Its words speak to me. Its pulse stirs my blood as surely as my own heart pumps.

If I spend precious hours studying something, it is most likely Scripture-related. Better comprehension of Hebrew and Greek means a clearer comprehension of what an original writer was communicating. Better knowledge of history, geography and archeology gives me better knowledge of context. Better understanding of culture means better understanding of the people, their motives, their actions.

At some point, as I studied the Bible, a funny thing started to happen. The Bible's saints came as alive as His Word. Reading about people such as David and Abigail and Mary (sister of Martha) and Joseph (husband of Mary) and Samuel and Jeremiah started to feel like reading a Facebook status of one of my family members—remote, but with an immediacy that puts me right there with them.

Just as I'm always excited to connect in person with people who are family in Christ, whom I meet via the internet, I started looking forward to the day I would meet these brothers and sisters in the Lord.

Like the internet, the Bible has become a door through which distance and time diminish. The wind of Israel from 3000 miles and 3000 years away is not stale when I breathe it. To know these people whom I shall soon meet, I study the connections between various passages of Scripture. Combined with other biblical studies, and a little conjecture, I am able to fill in details of genealogy and life events and personality.

"Jesus told stories.
We are part of the body of Christ—
the part that tells stories."
~ American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW)

One day, my imagination started considering what the lives might have been like of these people I've come to love. I started writing down the possibilities, like the script of a movie. Without ever planning it or considering what it might mean to be a novelist, I wrote a compelling story in a voice that sounds to me not unlike the NKJV Bible I've read cover to cover, over and over.

Writing biblical fiction has crossed over from something fanciful to serious work. Publishing industry professionals have given me encouraging nods. And despite a number of pleas from me to let this go, the Lord seems to keep prodding me forward.

I cannot presume that those prods mean I will someday be published. But for now, I continue to step through the open doors which the Lord puts before me. This next week I will once again attend the ACFW writers conference, hosted this year in St. Louie.

My prayer is that the Lord will not allow me to miss His best will for me, whatever that might be.

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Copyright 2011, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.

Informed, Conformed, Transformed – Part III, Learning to Breathe

"That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.' "
~ John 3:6-7 (NKJV)

We can read the Bible to be informed, and then either increase in wisdom and understanding—or be puffed up in pride.

We can look to other Christians for their and counsel and example of how to live out Christianity, and then find wisdom—or conformity to mere standards of religion.

What makes the difference? Going beyond being only informed or conformed, and becoming transformed by the power of a new birth through the Holy Spirit. Until the breath of the Holy Spirit enters us by Christ's blood, we are as unable to become spiritual people as a fetus is unable to breathe.

"The true indicator of spiritual well-being
is growth in the ability to love God and people."
~ John Ortberg

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Copyright 2011, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.

Informed, Conformed, Transformed – Part II, Watch What You Watch

Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?"
~ John 3:4 (NKJV)

Humans learn through observation. If the only birth we know involves a baby and his mother's womb, this is all we understand.

A Christian is likely to learn by observing other Christians, being conformed to people he likes, and being conformed to an opposing image of those he doesn't. Whether they're right or wrong isn't necessarily relevant. And being conformed by observing the image of another person risks never being better than another sorry human.

If we are to imitate anyone, let it be Christ, Who is known in the reading of His words.

Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ.
~ 1 Corinthians 11:1 (NKJV)

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Copyright 2011, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.

Informed, Conformed, Transformed – Part I, Knowledge or Knowing?

There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews... [Nicodemus said,] "How can these things be?" Jesus answered and said to him, "Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things?"
~ John 3:1,9-10 (NKJV)

All too often, a person is so satisfied to be informed of the Gospel that such knowledge is considered sufficient. Content to think Heaven is secured through knowledge alone, further learning is resisted. Perhaps one doesn't want to be responsible for knowing too much.

Ignorance is no vice. But the one who chooses to remain ignorant is called "stupid" and "fool" by Scripture.

Belonging to Jesus comes not by knowledge of the Gospel, but in knowing the Savior. Knowing Jesus comes with a cost—but not nearly as high as the cost of gaining a little knowledge and turning away from more:

For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them. But it has happened to them according to the true proverb: "a dog returns to his own vomit," and, "a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire."
~ 2 Peter 2:21-22 (NKJV)

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Copyright 2011, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.

From Wine to Whip

When [Jesus] had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers' money and overturned the tables.
from John 2:14-17 (NKJV)

Jesus' debut miracle of wine manifested His glory. We next see Jesus performing His first cleansing of God's temple—the place for His glory to dwell.

Jesus will return in three years on a donkey's foal and repeat the cleansing. This time He is riding a whip. He has just been baptized with water. In three years He will be baptized with fire.

Jesus' invitation to share His covenant cup of wine and fellowship includes a mandate for cleansing. Baptism comes in both water and fire.

It all comes back to having a purified temple for God's glory to dwell.

Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.
~ 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (NKJV)

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Copyright 2011, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.

Good Wine

"You have kept the good wine until now!" This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory.
~ John 2:10-11 (NKJV)

According to numerous Old Testament passages, quality of agriculture was one means by which the Lord appraised Israel's moral condition. Drought-induced famine indicated His severe displeasure. Weather fair enough for delicate grapes to flourish—and to produce good wine—indicated His approval.

Little wonder that the ancient practice of dancing over grapes in celebration of grape harvest survives to this day.

If God's Word says good wine indicated that the Lord smiled upon His people and took pleasure in their fellowship, what first miracle could have been more fitting, for Jesus to manifest His glory, than turning water into the finest wine?

You have put gladness in my heart,
More than in the season that their grain and wine increased.
~ Psalms 4:7 (NKJV)

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Copyright 2011, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.

Water and Fire

John answered them, saying, "I baptize with water, but there stands One among you ... whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire."
~ John 1:26; Luke 3:16 (NKJV)

"Yes! Cover me with the blood of Jesus. Cleanse my sins and give me spiritual birth. Fill me with the Holy Spirit. Warm me with fire of revival."

So we begin, expecting a comfortable fire after a nice shower.

We learn that "baptism" (Greek baptisma) means "immerse." We are immersed in water and experience death. We are immersed in fire's furnace of affliction are purified by the Refiner.

We think water will drown us and fire will consume us. YHWH says otherwise:

But now, thus says the LORD,
Who created you ... who formed you ...
"Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by your name;
You are Mine.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you.
When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned,
Nor shall the flame scorch you."
~ Isaiah 43:1-2 (NKJV)

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Copyright 2011, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.

Come, Follow, Go – Conclusion Ultimate Conquest

For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
~ Philippians 1:21 (NKJV)

Death reigns as the ultimate enemy of every human. Not even those destined to be rapture saints escape sin's penalty of dying, experienced in day-to-day deterioration of mortal bodies.

By following Jesus into death, we come into His resurrection. Eternal life reigns as our ultimate conquest, both when we leave this world, and amid our day-to-day brawl against sin and decline.

"Every decision has a cost.
Every yes comes with a no."
~ Chuck Borsellino

Whatever our anticipation liberation into the next world, we cannot forget the liberty made available in every acceptance of lesser deaths. For Jesus' followers, to die is gain.

Every yes comes with a no—and every no comes with a yes.

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Copyright 2011, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.

Come, Follow, Go – Part IV Unsafe God

"Is He safe? Of course He's not safe!
But He's good."
~ C.S. Lewis

God is thoroughly predictable. His love, grace, mercy, and absolute goodness do not waver.

God is thoroughly unpredictable. He directed Abraham to sacrifice Isaac; He subjected His own Son to unthinkable abuse and death; He gave His people Israel over to spiritual blindness for a season, facilitating salvation of the Gentile world.

Our Lord promises not safety, but rather an increasing measure of spiritual life in every unsafe "come," "follow," "go." Amid our ignorance of how far today's call to martyrdom may go, it is not wise to run ahead of or attempt to anticipate an unsafe God.

"Most assuredly, I say to you, when you were younger, you girded yourself and walked where you wished; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish." This [Jesus] spoke, signifying by what death [Peter] would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He said to him, "Follow Me."
~ John 21:18-19 (NKJV)




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Photo copyright 2011, Anne Lang Bundy

Come, Follow, Go – Part III How Far Will You Go?

"If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me."
~ from Luke 9:23-24 (NKJV)

"Go into all the world" need not bring fear of the globe's distant corners. The missionary heart called to Timbuktu can hardly wait to get there.

Consider more terrifying places: upon the daily cross, we crucify the flesh where sin and death linger; in the heart's mirror, we behold our unlikeness to the Master and yield to His makeover; at the soul's sacred altars—where we pray "anything but that!"—we destroy idols which enslave us.

Yet "we do not lose heart"! Wherever our Lord sends us, He accompanies us. Wherever His Spirit leads, we discover new liberty.

"Most of God's people are content to be saved from the hell without;
they are not so anxious to be saved from the hell within."
~Robert M. McCheyne

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Copyright 2011, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.