- Key Verse
..."Anyone who is thirsty may come to me ! Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, 'Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.' " (When he said "living water," he was speaking of the Spirit, who would be given to everyone believing in him. But the Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus had not yet entered into his glory.) (John 7:37-39, NLT)
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Central Truth
Jesus is reluctant to reveal his true self to the people.
Reflections
In this passage Jesus begins to perform miracles and to show who He really is. These actions cause a lot of confusion among the people. They do not believe that He is who He says He is. They question whether or not He is the true Messiah. He knows the timing is wrong to reveal His true self, He knows it is premature to do so. He believes that the people are not ready to know Him in the way He is intended to be known because of the timing.
Have you ever felt it just was not the right time to let people know who you really are? I too have struggled with revealing my true self to people for fear of how they will receive me and how they will judge me. I wonder if they are just not ready to know the truth.
Jesus knew but He still let the people know that a promise would be fulfilled at a later time (once He entered into his glory). Jesus was a brave man to put Himself out there like that. I am not sure I am ready to do that. If I were to take a cue from Jesus I would introduce myself slowly, make my observations and wait on the Lord who will reveal when the time is right. And in His revealation I too will be uncovered. Jesus wants us to understand who He is and what He means to us. Just like Him we desire to show others who we are in Him. We are thirsty and desire to drink of the Spirit which will give us the strength to reveal our true selves.
Discussion Questions
1. Why do we hide ourselves?2. What is keeping you from revealing your true self?
3. Who do you want to become?
4. In what ways can God help you grow so you may reveal your true self to others?
Dorothy Beebe
April 15, 2010 01:28 PM
Join the Journey Thursday, 4-15-07 Marcia Knight Discussion Questions 1. Why do we hide ourselves? 2. What is keeping you from revealing your true self? 3. Who do you want to become? 4. In what ways can God help you grow so you may reveal your true self to others? Thanks Marcia, for sharing the journey with me today. I love your devotional because it asks some really challenging questions. I will accept the challenge with (hopefully) truthful and brave answers. 1. What keeps us from revealing ourselves? Most of us want to protect ourselves from people we don’t know – the unknown- or like Saul in the old testament, we hide from responsibility, or like Adam and Eve, we are ashamed of the things we’ve done wrong and are hoping to avoid making God have to judge and punish us. 2. Fear is the main emotion that keeps me from revealing my true self. The Lord says that perfect love casts out fear and since He is perfect I can reveal my true self to Him. I am practicing this trust of His love in a new way at Celebrate Recovery. The Lord is encouraging me there through other women in our group to explore the true Dorothy and receive courage from God’s love to express what I really feel. My doubts are not silent here and my wanderings from the Lord have light to stand in while the Holy Spirit helps me to change the things I can and accept the things that I can’t. The things I cannot change I leave before the Lord and let His grace make me sufficient. Praise God that I am becoming more open and connected with everyone in my life. 3. I want to become one who is truly fulfilled in Christ. I want to trust Him so completely that I can rest silently while waiting for His direction. I want to be humble enough to stop my own activity and take up His activity. When He powers all that He gave me, I know that I will be like Him in my own unique person, time, and space. I will know Him and will have put away childish ways, and He will say, “Well done thou good and faithful servant.” 4. God helps me grow through obedience and trust of His love revealed through Jesus life, sacrifice, and resurrection. He also reveals Himself to me through His Holy Spirit in me and in my brothers and sisters in Christ. Then He mixes all this revelation together with my attempted trust and obedience in a custom designed trial. Then, Praise God, I get to know Him as I experience His love flow through me. Thanks Marcia. May the Lord bless our journey today! - Love, Dorothy Beebe -