1. Great Lent March 2012

2.  Your prayer must be turned inwards, not towards a God of Heaven nor towards a God far off, but towards a God who is closer than you are aware.

3.  “Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, ‘Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?’ They came out of the town and made their way toward him” (vv. 28- 30).  "Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved."(Act 4:12).

4.  The Spirit comes gently and makes himself known by his fragrance. He is not felt as a burden, for he is light, very light. Rays of light and knowledge stream before him as he approaches. The Spirit comes with the tenderness of a true friend and protector to save, to heal, to teach, to counsel, to strengthen, to console.

5.  The woman then left her waterpot, went her way into the city, and said to the men, V28  Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ. Phil 3:8

6.  "...nothing pleases God more than when we hasten to obey His will." St. Simeon the New Theologian.

7.  And many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, "He told me all that I [ever] did." v39  For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. Rom 1:16

8.  "Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?" v29  “My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water” (Jeremiah 2:13).

9. 1) She made a CONFESSION of faith. 2) She experienced a CHANGE of values. 3) She Accepted a Challenge 4) She demonstrated a CONCERN for the lost

10.  Let us return from that Table like lions breathing out fire, terrifying to the devil! St John Chrysostom