The Living Water | Pr Gloria Paul

You're listening to a message to go from axt church. We hope this message

will light up your day. Today's message, I'd like to start off with

a question, something for us to think about. Okay, I mean we

leave in this world, right, I'll be your physical beings. We have

different needs, right, and let's just talk about let's think about this question

here. What sustains you on a daily basis? Okay, before we can

talk about God and all that, right, as a human, what keeps

you going on a daily basis? Talk to me? What are your sleep?

You need sleep, that's right. Water you need water, you need

food, anything else you need oxygen. So we're going into this. Sorry.

Money, yes, you have to buy that stuff. Right, you

have to keep going and things are not cheap these days. You have to

work hard for money. What else? Happiness? Love, okay, God's

word. Okay, we're getting more spiritual now great, Well we're great if

we have a great congregation. Yeah, sorry, community, yes, mobility,

that's right. Mobility is important. Prayers, health, that's right.

We need good health to keep doing what we need to do. No one

says social media, video games, exercise. Well, we have a lot

of preachers, yeah, all of you can preach. Yeah, yes,

that's great. Okay. These are all the things that sustains this, okay,

And we all have I believe, different passion that keeps us going,

different interests, right that you do in your leisure time. Right, these

are things that sustains this as a person. Right. But beat the physical

needs that we spoke about, or even food shelter like some of you spoke

about. Right. So this is so what feels us as a human.

That is how God created us, okay, And he created all these different

creations so that we can enjoy it, just like how he brought it when

he showed it to Adam and if when he created the world. Yeah.

Now, let's just talk about a little bit more deeper when we speak about

spiritual because remember we're not just physical beings, but we have that spiritual component

as well, yeah, or even that emotional part of it. And sometimes

when we just feel one side of it, the other side seems to be

lacking. Because we can pursue all the things that the world brings to us.

Beat success, beat money, beat career. Right, all these things

are great and it's good. God always wants us to do well in our

marketplace or wherever his position just to be. At the same time, he

wants to sustain us spiritually, okay, And sometimes you can find ourselves getting

to a place of feeling dry. Yep. I don't know if you felt

that way. I fled that way sometimes when life hits you, right,

when you go through tough times and you're like, how do I pick myself

up? I can eat well, I can do everything else that I need

to do in the world, but yet deep down there seems to be something

that needs to be filled. Right. I can look for all the answers,

but yet, who's that one sauce that sustains me always? Right?

That when I go to this one source, I do not lack in any

way. It keeps feeling me never ending because if you think about it,

even people, even the things at all that we mentioned is now will end

one day, right, It's all gonna end. It's not gonna last forever.

But there's one source that I can tell you that keeps going that never

fails us. I'm sure you all know who is that, right is That

is the reason why we are here today? God? Right? God sustains

this. Yeah, And so that's the message that I'm going to talk to

you today because He has been reminding me about you know, what is it

that can actually give us that energy, that strength to keep running this race

despite whatever hits us in our life? Yeah, what sustains us and keeps

us going right? And so you know, in this whole one week I

had different encounters okay, and caught me in surprise. Not just this one

week, I think the past few weeks, and most of you would know

that I'm still recovering from this whole season of losing my mom. Yeah,

I've been very close to her, and so it's been this whole time of

just going back to God, surrendering to him, right, and so I've

been asking God for leading on some decisions that I had to make right.

And the encounters that I've had in this past few weeks was relating to water.

Some of you mentioned that, right, And you need water, we

need food to sustain and this is the whole physical water. Yeah, So

we're going to talk about this a little bit and I'm just gonna share with

you how this leads on to what He told me about He is our living

water, right, And I'm sure you all know what we need water to

survive. Right, as humans, we need water to drink. Just give

you some facts here, Okay, we are made up of at least fifty

to sixty percent of water as a human. Right, doctors, you can

verify this. Yeah, okay. It brings nutrients to ourselves, regulates our

body temperature. So you're not well, your parents will say, drink more

water, right, we need that. It's a shock absorber for our brain

and our spinal cord. Gaze. There's some facts there. Yeah, And

it regulates the temperature of the earth. That's how important water is. And

not only that. If you read your Bibles, you will see that there

are so many stories pertaining water. Okay, you all know the story of

Noah's ark Okay, how God send the flood, you know, to to

clear the people were very sinful. He was very unhappy with the way they

leave their lives, and he sent the flood, and the whole flood actually

wiped out, you know, the whole society, right, the whole group

of people. But yet he kept Noah and the family safe. Yeah,

so he did. It was his plens, So he used water there the

flood. We had the whole story of God parting the Raid Sea. We

know that story. When he wanted to free the Israelites from the Egyptians,

he used the ocean, the Raid Sea, and allowed them to walk through

it. And so you can imagine if you are one of the Israelites at

that time and you see the waters parted. Okay, you'll be amazed right

seeing how God made away when in our human mind or human eyes, how

is this even possible? But God used that, right, God used that.

And we have the story of the Samaritan. You know the story of

the woman right she was by the well. She was just doing what she

needed to do on a daily basis, collecting water, and then Jesus stops

by and has a conversation with her, and of course people around him was

taken aback, like why is Jesus talking to a Samaritan right down cass You

know, people look down at her because of a lifestyle she was a prostitute

and or at least a lifestyle of choices that she made. But Jesus went

down to her level to speak to her. Why because he knew what she

needed. She had the physical water, definitely water or in abundance. In

fact, she asked Jesus asked her to offer some water to her to him,

right, But yet there was that one water that she was missing,

one type of water that she's missing, which is the living water. Right,

And that is when Jesus tells her, but whoever drinks the water I

give them will never tosse. Indeed, the water I give them will become

in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life. How many of

you won that, right? Water that sustains you, never runs dry,

keeps you going even in the dry moments. You know that the living water

leads your path. Yeah, so we see different examples of our water is

used as a symbol in the Bible. Right, and I would like to

share with you my encounter with water. Okay, some story time, right,

So me and my sister we took we just took a drive down to

Quantaine. Okay, we drove and we just wanted some time for a holiday,

yes, and get away and just a time in the beach right after

a lot of things going on and we'd work it. Thought, okay,

let's just go for a short break. Yeah, so we went. We

went. It was not a holiday season, so we just they'll the whole

beach was to us actually, okay, so I just took time I could

read and do some journaling in front of the beach, right, I think

we have some pictures here. The pictures don't do much justice, right,

If you're right in front, then of course you see the beauty of it.

I think we had Janessen right, went to career recently. Okay,

that's another Did you Island? Did you go there? Did you say no,

you couldn't go there? Okay, yes, all right, so I'm

sure you've all had that encounter of you know, being in front of the

beach, just feeling the breeze, and that's when you reflect about life and

what's the meaning of life? Right, It's just the whole environment, right

that brings that calmness you just enjoy and you just you just thank God for

the creation. Okay, how we created the waters and the weaves, and

and we managed to catch the sunrise. Yeah, so just watching it rising

and and this is the time, you know, I think I teared watching

this because just reminded of how beautiful our creator is, right, that he

created the heavens and the earth, He determined when the sun will rise,

and how much more are we in his sense? In the palm of his

sense, because we are his creation too, right, and so here we

spent so much detail and all of this beautiful things that we can enjoy.

What more us because the word of God tells us that we are created in

His image. How much more precious are we in His eyes? Right?

So if you've forgotten that, I'm here to remind you you are created in

God's image. You're not just appearing out of nowhere. Yeah, you are

created in God's image, immen. So we enjoyed all of this, Okay,

we just took time, didn't have much in our schedule, right,

We rested and felt very rested. Yeah, and then we came back.

Okay, we drove. We came back and when we entered our home,

we realized that there was no water. Okay, there was no water fly

and so we had to make some calls and all that. And then we

went to my cousin's place and it was drawing towards the night. And then

I got a call from my neighbor and said, room are you Ruma Nombo

Sambilankan. I said, yeah, ua ay is flooding. Your house is

flooding. And I'm thinking how how in the world is this happening? I'm

staying in a condor, Okay, how is it flooding? Right? I

can't kind of brain. I couldn't understand. And then we had to rush.

We had to rush. We went and saw the place. It was

ankle level, everything was wet, everything was just all over and and me

and my sister was just so puzzled. Yeah, thinking what to do.

It went sipped in even too my neighbor's place. It was just in a

mess. Yeah, I was just in a mess and I'm like asking God,

what is this? I just couldn't connect, Yeah, what was going

on? And of course later on we found out it was a pipe issue

and the leakage and all that, and I was, of course very frustrated.

I mean, those of you may have heard stories of houses being flooded,

right, it's no joke. You have to really clear things and things

get spoiled and all that. And so the next day, in fact,

before this whole trip to Quanta or write this whole thing, we've been praying

to move out from our current place. Yeah, for those of you may

not know, we moved into this place just recently with my mom and after

she passed away. It's been a little bit difficult for us to stay on

in the same place, and so we've been contemplating with the idea whether we

should or should not move. It's not a very small decision to make overnight,

right, So I've been praying, I'm saying, and I've heard been

hearing a lot of voices like, oh, you should move here, move

there, or you should or should not. And I'm saying, God,

it's enough. Can you please direct me? I want a clear direction from

you. Can you show me if you want us to move, then you

tell us and where should we move? And so as I was just sitting

down after this whole flirt incident, and I was saying, God, what

is this? How do I even begin this whole cleaning up? And God

reminded me, didn't you ask for a sign? Right, didn't you ask

for a sign? You wanted direction? I mean, how the direction comes

in. Sometimes we may not know. Sometimes we want it easier. God

gives your knock and say, okay, this is what you should do.

But well, that's not how life happens, right. Life happens in different

ways. And so it came through that and I felt it in my heart

that okay, this was like a push that God was giving us, because

right away the next day we went around looking for a place and saying,

God, can you just lead us to that one location because we wanted a

change of neighborhood as well, because that might help us without healing and the

memories that we've had. And true enough, I couldn't sleep. I woke

up very early the next day. I just was scrolling through some locations and

it led me to this one place I was. It caught my attention because

of the name of the particular condor, so I called up, I made

an appointment, and just in one day, I found a house. Right.

And there's still a human part of me that was wondering, did I

rush through this whole thing? You know? Could I have just waited and

looked at more options. And I was talking to my pastor the next day

and she said, Glow, do you glory? Do you realize that people

don't just find a house overnight? Right? It's not It doesn't always happen,

That's what she was trying to say. You know, and you mentioned

that it was a house that you've wanted it. You wanted it to be

that way. It was just nice for two people. It was a very

it is a very new neighborhood. So then why can't you believe that it's

God? You give it to you? Right, And that's when things settled

in my heart, Right, things settled in my hea heart. And God

was just telling me just move forward. I am leading you because I am

your living water. And when I heard that, I just cried. I

was saying, God, you are so real. You truly hear the depths

of our hearts. Right, You truly know what we need, not just

what we want, but what we need because He is above father. Yeah,

and I believe it's truly still a testimony in making because it's a new

neighborhood. We don't know what to expect, right, There's always the uncertainties

that were unsure of. But for now I know that this is where he

wants us to be. Yeah, not what I've planned. I mean,

losing my mom was the whole plan that I never had. Different. Dreams

have changed, right, directions have changed, Your decisions have changed everything.

When you lose someone, you change as a person. Right, But one

thing I know remains is God because he has never changed. He's same yesterday,

today, and I know tomorrow as well. And how do you know

that is when you walk with Him. And I can tell you this with

all confidence that there was a point in my life, you know, after

losing Mom, I thought I would never be able to stand in the front

and speak. I thought, Oh no, how how do I do this?

I cannot. I am dealing with this whole loss. Right. I've

told to close friends, I've been told to my pastor. I don't know

if I can actually do this. But if I'm standing here, it's not

my my own strength, but it's God alone, it's God alone. Right.

And if there's anyone here who are feeling in such a way where you're

feeling that I'm not good enough. I don't think I can get through this

week. I don't think I can get through this season, just look at

me as a child of God, as a testimony. Look at me.

It's not just oh, I can do it, but I can do it

because God. I can do it because God. And I believe God is

speaking to someone here today. If you're doubting, just look to God and

say, God, I cannot do this. I can't seem to see hope.

I can't seem to pick myself up? Can you show me? And

he does because I've experienced it. Amen. And that is when he reminded

me, who is your living water? What sustains you? Because you can

have all the success, you can have all the wisdom that the world offers

you, But what leads you, what sustains you? Meaning when everything else

falls, I can still hold on to this anchor, this strong, firm

foundation. And that is why the word of God says, I give you

peace that surpasses all understanding, right, all understanding, because you wouldn't feel

that peace if you have all the understanding, right, because you're really on

yourselves. I have all the answers, I know what to do. I

have it all figured out. So what else do I need? Right?

But when everything else has failed, then you say, God, what else?

And then his peace comes into your hearts. His peace comes and renews

your minds. His peace holds you to not fall down and say you can

still stand up, you can still keep going. Peace that surpasses all understanding,

and that church is the living water, the living water man. Right,

So let's just try to understand what the scripture tells us today about you

know what is what how how does he use the word water right? And

the power of its name. So as we read just now, yeah,

the whole encounter Jesus had with the Samaritan lady and he offered her the living

water. Yeah, that's not gonna be. That's not the story that we're

going to go through to. But there's one example. Okay, but we're

gonna look at another portion from the passage about how Jesus performed is very first

miracle. Can anyone guess what's that? Yes, that's right, Jesus turning

water into wine. Okay, and think about it. Water to wine is

not just a simple task. It's not about just adding some ingredients into the

water and there you go you have wine. Right, You're changing the whole

molecule and then you get the wine. Right, And that's the miracle that

Jesus did. So we're gonna just dive in into this passage. If you

have your Bibles, please turn to John chapter two versus one. Right,

John chapter two versus one to twelve. Are you all there? Yeah?

Right, I'm reading from the NKJV version, so you can just follow as

Wes we read. True. Yeah, so reading from verse one here,

it says on the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee,

and the mother of Jesus was there. Now, both Jesus and his disciples

were invited to the wedding, And when they ran out of wine, the

mother of Jesus said to him, they have no wine. Was four.

Jesus said to her woman, what does your consent have to do with me?

My hour has not yet come. It was five. His mother said

to the servants, whatever he says to you, do it now. There

were set there six water pots of stone according to the men, a manner

of purification of the Jews, containing twenty or thirty gallons apiece. Jesus said

to them fill the water pots with water, and they fill them up to

the brim. And he said to them draw out, draw some out now,

and take it to the master of the feast. And they took It.

Was nine. And when the master of the feest had tasted the water

that was made wine, and did not know where it came. But the

servants who had drawn the water knew. The master of the feast called the

bridegroom. And verse ten he said to them, every man at the beginning

sets out the good wine. And when the guests have well drunk, then

the inferior you have kept the good wine until now this beginning of science.

Jesus did in Canna of Galilee and manifested his glory, and his disciples believed

in him a man God bless the reading of the word. Yeah, so

if you just can imagine with me this whole story where we have married Jesus'

mother, who's there. It's a wedding. Okay, for those of you

have been part of weddings, you know that it's it's always very happy,

a joyful location. You just want to make sure everything is in place right,

and you prepare a few days ahead, in fact, I believe not

even a few days, I'm sure a few months sometimes just to make sure

things are in place. And then they found out that there's this one important

thing that's not there, which is wine. They're running out of wine.

And so Mary approached Jesus for this. And when you read the respond didn't

you think, like, why did Jesus say that? Yet he still did

it, right, so we see that. You know, when Mary says,

okay, we have no wine, she was expecting him to do something,

definitely because she knew Jesus is. But Jesus said to her, what

does your consonant have to do with me? My power is not yet come.

But again he went on turning the water into wine. Let's take some

time to think about it, all right, and let's focus on Mary.

Now, Okay, how Mary responded in this whole situation. The first thing

that we can understand about Mary was her faith and her focus in such a

situation. Right, as we know that in this whole culture, drinking wine

was a very important part of a celebration, and she knew that they needed

to do something about it. And she didn't go to anyone to go and

buy or any other guest that was there. But she went right away to

Jesus. And even with the kind of respond that Jesus said, well,

my hour is not yet come, her respond to him was telling the servants,

right, just do whatever he would ask you to do. Doesn't it

tell you something about her respond, right? She was not trying to just

push Jesus and say no, you do it my way. Yeah, but

she knew who Jesus is, right, She knew who Jesus is. And

remember it, she remembered the promises of God Okay, this is from Luke

one thirty when the very first time the angel approached Mary, and he's going

to read this postion. It says, do not be afraid Mary, for

you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your

womb and bring forth a son, and shall call his name Jesus. He

will be great and will be called the Son of the Highest, and the

Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will

reign over the House of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be

no end. So Mary actually remembered who Jesus is from the very first encounter

she had. Right, And my question for all of us this morning is

how do we actually go to God when we need something right or we just

want him to work in our lives. How is our access to him right?

Think about it? Think about it because the relationship we have, if

it's someone, will determine how we go to them. For example, if

you're going to your parents, you wouldn't hesitate. You don't write an email

to your dad. If you want to ask something right, you'll just go

and say that I need this and you'll talk it. Talk about it because

you know your dad. You know he can provide you know, you know

he's been there always. Yeah. Or you go to a friend and speak

and say, hey, I need your help. You won't hesitate because you

know he or she is someone you can rely and that comes with a relationship.

You won't do that with a stranger out there. Yeah, you won't

go and ask for help because you don't know who the person is. You

don't have the trust. And I believe that Mary could come to that place

of faith and focus, okay, and she could approach Jesus in such a

way because she knew who Jesus is. She remembered the promises of God in

her life. Okay, the word that she received, and she said,

okay, I know who can do that miracle? Now, who can perform

the miracle that we need at this very moment? Right. This reminds us

of how our response matters in situations like this. It does not mean that

we can actually twist God's timing, because he still knows best. His timing

is always the best, right. But it's the question that we just have

to think about on how do we go to him and do we actually go

with faith? Okay? And sometimes when we go to him, we can

also go with saying, God, I only want it this way, But

what if he's saying, no, it's not this way. Is the other

way? Can we also have that faith to say, God, you still

know the best right And I believe when we want to come to that place,

it comes with a deeper relationship to come to a place of saying,

yes, I surrender. I come to God because he says us and he

shall be given. Okay that there are portions of passages that says about that.

But at the same time, I know what He knows what's best for

me. So even if it turns the other way around, I choose to

surrender. Yeah, I choose to surrender. So our response matters. There

are different scriptures that we can read from this. In Hebrews seven, verse

twenty five, it says, therefore he is also able to save to the

uttermost those who come to God through him, since he always leaves to make

intercession for them and serves as our righteous at Bocat. If no one else

is praying for you, remember that someone is always interceeding for you, always

is your advocate. It's always they always remind yourself you feel you're alone,

just knock ahead and say, no, I'm not. I'm not alone.

God is interceeding for me. He's always always watching over me. Right.

In first John two one, it says, my little children, these things

are right you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins,

we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the Righteous. So

Scripture tells us here that if even if anyone sins, we have an advocate,

we have an helper. So even if you find yourselves in places where

you feel like I'm I just lost it. I'm a loser. I did

a mistake, and I don't think I can pick myself out, let me

remind you that the word of God still forgives you. Yeah, the word

of God does not condemn us, but the word of God convicts our hearts.

There's a big difference that we need to understand. The enemy tries to

condemn us. So if you make a mistake, the enemy might say,

right, Nick, why do you do this? You're such a loser,

right, You're good for nothing. Then you know that voice is not from

God, because God will never put his children down, right, never put

his children down. As believers, you've got to be able to discern.

Ask God for the gift of discernment, like, God, can can you

tell me how to know the difference between the enemy trying to pull me down

and when God is convicting my hearts? Because there are times when the Holy

Spirit convicts us to the word right, It says, maybe you know,

have a little bit more faith, might push you a little bit right,

or why don't you trust me, trust me with all your heart, like

you don't rely on your own understanding. So when he tells you those things,

it's not trying to, you know, condemn you, but it's convicting

our heart and saying, why do you take it all on your shoulders when

you can actually trust on me? Right? And that is the word of

God reminds That is what the Word of God reminds us. Right, It

convicts us. And we can see this in Hebrews four sixteen. Let us

therefore come boldly to the Throne of Grace, that we may obtain mercy and

grace to help in time of need. To come boly to the Throne of

grace. We're saying, this is the last song. Just now that there's

nothing there's no separation between us and God. Do you know that you don't

need a pastor to pray for you and say there you get your break through.

You can have a direct access. Do you know that the same power

that I have experienced, each one of you have the power as well living

in you, right, living in you. So when we read the Book

of Romans, it says nothing can separat us from the love of God principalities,

that nothing is a direct access. That is why Jesus went to the

cross. You know, back in the Old Testament times people had to bring

sacrifices to offer to ask for forgiveness. But now we don't have to because

Jesus is sacrifice on the cross. But does it mean that we can keep

on sinning? Of course not right, But we keep growing and get better.

We're all working progress. No one is perfect here, right, We're

all learning and growing. Yep. But one thing to remember is that we

have the direct connection with God, direct connection with Him. Amen. So

again the question goes back to how do we approach our about Father? How

do we go to him? Yeah? I just feel led to read this

portion of scripture for someone here, okay, and this is from the Book

of Sums okay. And I remember when I was going through, you know,

the whole season of after losing my mom. I couldn't even take myself

to read the Bible, just being very honest here, right, it's like

where do I start? Where do I begin? Because when life really hits

you, everything seems to be very bleak. Where do I start? Right?

You can't seem to see the way forward. But the Holy Spirit cap

reminding me to read at least the Book of Sums, because when you read

the Book of Sums, you'll see that it's you see praises. David actually

lives up praises and to God. And there are times where he also gets

very honest and say, God, this is what I'm going through. Can

you be my help? And there's this one passage that I kept going to

and as I was worshiping this now, I was reminded of this Psalms and

I just feel that God is speaking to someone today. Right, And let's

read this together if you have your Bibles. It's from Psalms twenty seven,

right, Psalms twenty seven. Let's just read this whole chapter together. Yeah,

it says here the Lord is my Light and my salvation whom shall I

fear. The Lord is the strength of my life. Of whom shall I

be afraid? When the wicked came against me to eat up my flesh,

my enemies enforced, they stumbled and fell. Though an army may and came

against me, my heart shall not fear, though war may rise against me.

In this I will be confident. One thing I have desired of the

Lord, that will I seek, that I may dwell in the house of

the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the

Lord, and to inquire in his temple. For in the time of trouble,

ye shall hide me in his pavilion, in the secret place of his

tabernacle, you shall hide me. Ye shall set me high upon a rock.

And now my heat shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me.

Therefore I will offer sacrifices of joy in his tabernacle. I will sing,

Yes, I will sing raises to the Lord. Just take a pause

here, And I was just reminded of when you sing praises. Do not

just sing praises in good times, because we can all do that. But

would you still choose to sing praises when you can't even pick yourself up and

say, God, you are still good. Right, you are still good.

And that is what the summers did. Here he says, I will

still lift up praises and to him. Let's make that a lifestyle that no

matter what, I'm going to choose to praise God because I know He never

fails, right, never fails. Let's go on to words eleven. It

says, teach me your way. So, Lord, if you need counsel,

God is there. Don't have to go very far. It's right beside.

You lead me in a smooth part because of my enemies. Do not

deliver me to the will of my adversaries. For false witnesses ever reason against

me, and such as bread breathout violence. I would have lost heart unless

I had believe that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the Land

of the Living. Was fourteen. Wait on the Lord, be of good

courage, and he shall strengthen your heart. Wait, I say on the

Lord. Amen. Right, what else do we need when the word of

God has it all? He's saying, be of good courage. Just wait,

wait on the Lord and he will lift you up. Amen. Yeah.

So, just want to encourage your church that you know we live in

times where no I'm not just talking about our personal lives, but when we

look around us, when we read the news, we get so overwhelmed with

what's going on. But let that not take over our focus. Right,

We have to stay around it because if not, who's going to share the

gospel. If we are going to forget the truth, how are we going

to share the truth to those who do not the truth? Right? So

let's not forget. Let's remain focus on God, our Father. Amen,

right, So turn the person next to you, remember, make God your

focus. Tell them, okay, God is your focus always? Right now.

The next thing that we can see from this passage, going back to

the passage about how Jesus turned water into wine, there are three different things

that we can notice when Jesus actually did this. Yeah. So the first

one, if you notice in the scriptures, right, okay, he says,

yeah, in verse six, now there were set there six water pots

of stone, right, and so then he tells them to actually fill those

water pots. And when you study, right, and going back to Bible

scholars, they say that the number seven actually signifies completion, right, perfection.

But over here we had six pots, right, six pots. And

this just signifies imperfection, right, imperfection. And when we say imperfection,

we're talking about you know, the imperfection of man, the sin and the

weakness that human have. And we all know the story of Adam as well

when you add the forbidden fruit. Right, So what this passage actually reminds

us is that when he fills those six pots, reminding us how he feels

us in our imperfection. Right, all of us have some sort of imperfection

weaknesses that we want to work on, right, and the scriptures reminds us

of the fruit of the spirit. How we all need to develop this.

Yeah, and so just remember to come to him in our imperfections so that

he can actually feel us. And that is what Jesus did in the passage.

You feel those you know, jugs until the brim and they could actually

enjoy the goodness of the wine. Right. And what are those imperfections that

we may have in our lives that you are saying, God, can you

feel me because I just can't seem to do this with my own strength,

or I've going through different challenges. Can you come and take over? Right?

And this is even going back to the story of the Samaritan woman Jesus

filter in her imperfection. Remember when Jesus said, I know this is how

you are. You know you have four husbands, This how you live your

life. And she was marveled by how did Jesus actually know this? And

so he went on to offer the living water. And when she heard the

good news. If you read on the passage, if you have not,

please do that. You will see how she was filled with joy. She

did not just keep it to ourselves, but she ran into the village and

told you everyone else. And it was not only her that knew the good

news, but others. So can you imagine if you have tasted the living

water, what do you do with it? You just sit and enjoy it.

You'll be so good, right that you actually want to tell others,

Hey, have you tasted this? Right? We do it for all the

good restaurants that we visit. Have you gone to this place? Have you

add this food? What more, the living water? When we have tasted

and we have known that it is so good, let's bring that good news

to others. Yeah, let's bring that good news to others. So this's

the first thing that we can see from the passage that he feels us in

our imperfection right now. The second point that we can learn from this is

that water cleans Yeah, water cleanses. You know, it symbolizes when we

when we look at them, you know, the different jars you know that

was used during those days what not even those days as a culture by the

Jewish people before meals, they'll actually have a ceremonial washing. They wash their

lakes, their hands, yeah, and so that symbolized Jesus purifying to purify

themselves every time they step out, and then when they come into their houses

to actually cleanse, wash. Right, And that's the whole story of how

we had Jesus washing the feed of the disciples. Yeah, that's the whole

story that we can dive into one day. But that symbolizes purifying, yeah,

proifying. And so when Jesus changed the water into wine, the that

just kind of show us how Jesus was actually foreshadowing is sacrificial debt on the

cross. You know, He's just trying to show that this is about to

come to pay for people's sin and to connect them to God, Holy God.

Right. And you know, in in Christian contexts, we always do

the act of baptism. You know that, right. Some of you have

taken your baptism just recently. And so when you go into the water full

immersion, and when you come out, you are doing a public declaration that

I'm a new person, right, And that's very biblical because water cleanses us.

So we're coming out and right before the baptism service, you usually have

each one of them to share your testimonies. And I love your testimonies during

the baptism time because these are stories of how they were before the New Christ

and after. They're very powerful stories, right. And so the stories of

that you have before being cleansed and after being cleansed, we become new people,

right, We become new people. Water splashes God's mercy into our focus

and we need that in our lives. Right when you're just running, you

know, the word, God tells us that we're running this race of faith.

And when you're running and running and then you feel just so tired of

life, and then the water of God comes. The living water splashes God's

mercy, God's grace, and he keeps us going. We keep running forward,

right, And that is what the living water does to us. It

cleanses us. All right, how many of you here today need that cleansing?

Ask God, God, can you cleanse me? There are different parts

of my life that I feel like sin that I need to be renewed in

my mind, my thinking. Sometimes it could be the always You have been

hurt in the past, right, people that say things to you and it

just can't seem to believe you, And you're saying, God, I cannot

because we're a human, right, hurt happens, words hit us. But

the living water is able to cleanse us and set us free because He wants

us to live a liberated life. You know that we are not meant to

live a life that is carrying burdens every day. Imagine if you're carrying a

heavy weight every day and doing what you need to do, it'd be so

it'll be so torturing. Right, And the same thing goes with the burdens

of life. If you keep carrying it in your heart, you keep thinking

about it, you're not able to pursue the things that God has called you

to do. Write each one of you, you have a great calling beat

in your workplace, amid of your families, your schools, and if you

want to run freely, just like how a runner can run right free enjoying

the breeze. It's because there's nothing that is weighing them down. And the

same thing is with us as well. If you have burdens that are weighing

you down, say God, can you just take this so that I can

feel lighter? And he does it? Right, What, of course,

is for I care for you. Cast your cares upon me, for I

care for you. So don't do it by yourselves. Our life is not

meant to live by ourselves. Remember that you have God, you have a

community. That's why we have church, That's why we have family. Right,

we need to share. We all partic the communion. Just now,

right, we took the break, We took the cup, and that's a

very important symbol because every time we take it that would have God says,

take it as often right, And every time we take it, we are

reminding ourselves, Oh, this is what Jesus did for me on the cross.

No one else would have done it first. And this is the thing

that makes us very different from every other religion out there, right, because

this is the one God that went to the cross for our sins. Okay,

So let's just get back to this all right, to just reflect,

Okay, our spiritual life, our journey is a very practical thing to think

of. Yeah, And that is why I always like to ponder on questions,

because when we read the word of God, you need to have a

certain structure. Okay, when you read uk, God, what is it

that you are teaching me today? What can I learn from this? Okay?

Don't just glance through the page. Okay, especially if you've been a

believer for some time now, You've got to receive something even deeper from God

and you have to long for it. Yeah. So I'm just gonna ask

you these questions and just think about it. Right. Do you need a

miracle in your life? Okay? Are you believing for a miracle? And

me say miracle, it could be anything. Is it a healing that you're

believing for, salvation of your love ones? Yeah? Or you're just going

to something in your workplace, a change and you're saying, God, I

need your leading, I need your direction. What is it that you're praying

for? Yeah? Or maybe you're just saying, well, I'm just not

feeling good today. Okay, I've made some mistakes. I'm going through some

stuff. I'm just not feeling good, or you're just saying, well,

I don't know how the weak to come would be, looking like I can

just invite the worshiping forward, right, if all these questions are just running

in your mind, can I just remind you when Jesus turned the water into

wine? Right? Did you know that changing water in evolved an entire change

in the molecule makeup of the water, meaning it was not just a coincidence.

Right, It was not just a mix of ingredients to happen, but

it was a miracle that only him could perform, only Jesus could perform.

Right, And if you are believing for a miracle, can remind you that

it was the same Jesus that performed that miracle is living in you, is

in our midst today, right, He is just here ministering to us.

The question is can you believe it? Can you believe and say God,

Yes, I know you can do this for me. I know that you

can come true in my life. Right. And God is just waiting.

He's just waiting for his sons, his daughters to say God, I need

you, and he comes, He comes, and he feels us. Right,

He feels us afresh. And so even as we get into a time

of worship in a bit, right, it just wanted to remind us about

how our God is faithful, Our God is true. Right, He never

leaves us, he never forsakes us. All we got to do is not

to let go of his hand, but to hold on. He's always going

to hold our hands. But the question is always us, right, we

are the variable that sometimes changes, you know. But if you can just

hold on to him, he carries you true, right, carries you true

you know. In Deuteronome three thirty one eight, it says it is the

Lord who goes before you, he will be with you. He will not

leave you or forsake you. Do not be fear or dismayed. Do not

be fearful. God is with you. Amen. Yeah, And as we

read the scripture, just now the passage, you know, there was this

one portion of the passage that sometimes you might have missed out. Right,

let me just read that to you again. In the Book of John.

Yeah, are just gonna close with this John chapter two, Okay. And

in the NKJV version, right, it says here in verse nine, when

the master of the fees had tasted the water that was made wine and did

not know where it came from. Then it says, but the servants who

had drawn the water knew it. So you can imagine the gas. You

can imagage the master of ceremony enjoying the wine, but they're just wondering where

is this good wine from? Did you get it from somewhere? I can

imagine people asking questions like, oh, where do you buy this wine from?

It tastes so good. But the passage here tells that but the servants

knew because they were there seeing Jesus performing the miracle. They saw that there

was just water in the jafface, and then suddenly there's wine and everyone is

enjoying that wine. And it's the same with us. When sometimes we go

through testimonies in life, we experience a breakthrough, we know deep down that

it is God who did it. I wouldn't have done it myself, right.

This thing would have been so impossible if it's my own strength, But

God made it possible. But the question that I have for all of us

today is do we keep that knowing just to ourselves or do we a should

tell others, Hey, I know who changed the water into wine because I

was there and I saw it. Do we keep these testimonies to ourselves or

do we actually boldly share to others? Never underestimate the stories the encounters that

you have with God, because it's just going to make someone's day. You

never know it, right, if you can just say, well, God

just provided. You know, as a student, I needed to pay my

fees and God gave and someone might need to want to hear that story and

you shed and that have the person the confidence, right, Never keep your

stories to yourself. You know, in our church we have been going through

different series or messages just believing that all may know, all may know.

Isn't it a privilege that we all know who God is? And that is

why we are seated here today, right? And all of you have amazing

stories to share, I belief, stories of how you have encountered God.

So let's not just keep it, keep the goodness to yourself. Let's not

just keep the tasty living water that we have tried to ourselves. Yeah,

but let's just share it with everyone who is in our lives. Yeah.

And so I have a challenge for you when you go back to your own

places this week, can you just find one person to share of who this

living water is in your lives? Okay, And if we say sharing here

doesn't have to be preaching the gospel. It could be just having a genuine

conversation in someone ask them, Hey, how you're doing? How is life

treating you? Right? And you never know what this person is saying,

Well, it's not been too good? And you can actually just offer a

prayer, right, Can I pray with you? Or just share your story

that I have had it tough but God came true and you know what,

I serve a God that never leaves, never forsakes. And there you go.

You're sharing with someone. Can we all do that, right? And

each of us if we can just win that one person, imagine how many

more we'll get to know about Christ. We hope you've been blessed by this

message. For more information on our church, please visit as Church Org.

We are also active on Facebook and Instagram. We're believing that this week is

going to be a good week. I hit for you. God bless