(Translated version, original article written in Chinese by Pastor Mickey Hsiao)

Worship

By singing praises and hymns, awake your soul, open your heart to the Lord, and prepare yourself to welcome the presence of God and receive the Word of God that will be given to you.

Thanksgiving

Petition with thanksgiving to God for a wonderful day and pray sincerely for a focused Scripture reading time! (Do not rush into reading the Bible without starting with prayers!) (e.g., you may start with a simple prayer like this: “Dear Lord, what will you be speaking to me today?)

Scripture Reading

Get the following items ready in advance: your devotional notebook, paper, pen, and/or electronic devotional articles so that you can easily write down the Bible verses, questions, and thoughts you have noticed! You are encouraged to open your Bible and vocally read out the scriptures (Try to practice this reading method daily or once a week)!

Scripture Reading: John Ch. 4 (ESV)

Meditation

Take a moment to quietly reflect on today’s Scriptures. Through such exercises, let God’s Word be gradually written into our hearts and be inscribed to our mind.

Devotional

Read the devotional articles prepared by CBCLWA (*Read the Bible first before reading any devotional materials.)

(vv. 1-45) We saw that Nicodemus from chapter 3 was a ruler of the Jews in Jerusalem; in this chapter, Jesus comes to Samaria and meets a woman by a well. The disciples followed Jesus, whose footsteps would lead them into cities and towns, to appear in the temple, and also to sit by the well. For us, in addition to doing God’s work where He has placed us in our daily lives, we must also be prepared to go out into the world! 

Think about it, if you were to plan a mission trip with your fellowship to share the gospel, what preparations would you make? In addition to some training in advance, it would also be necessary to prepare a Bible, maybe some gospel pamphlets, a handbook, etc. Ideally some small gifts should also be prepared, so that when people are receiving gifts from you, they would be led to consider whether or not they are also willing to receive the gift God has prepared for them. Aside from these, what else can you think of? 

What was the first sentence Jesus spoke when he met the Samaritan woman? Surprisingly, it was, “Give me a drink.” It turns out that if you want to preach to others, you can also start by “requesting” something, instead of just desperately trying to “give” something! Even the Lord Jesus, who has supreme authority and the fountain of life, was willing to “first” open his mouth and “request” water from this woman to open a dialogue. This is an interesting yet subtle point: he is the fountain of living water, and yet asked for water from a woman who came to fetch water. If Jesus had said the truth of worship from the very beginning, “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth,” or immediately asked her directly to, “Go, call your husband, and come here,” how do you think the conversation would have continued? 

This is also a good reminder when applied to evangelism: we should learn from Jesus’ humility, and not just accuse others of their transgressions with an arrogant attitude. We were able to believe in God before them, but we shouldn’t’ use that as an excuse to appear more righteous. Rather, it’s because of the Lord’s redemptive love that we must strive to lead people to be convicted, repent, and believe in Jesus. When we meet new friends, try to lead more and listen to what they say. If they are not willing to speak much and if the situation permits, try doing what Jesus did by the well: first make a “request” (an easy one, of course!), and perhaps a new way can be opened to share the gospel with them! 

(vv.46-54) The Gospel of John specifically numbers the first two signs that Jesus did in Galilee. The first sign was at the wedding banquet in Cana where Jesus turned water into wine. This time we are still in Cana, but it was the son of an official who was healed. This son was all the way in Capernaum, and Jesus performed “healing from a distance”, reviving the son back to perfect health from the brink of death. Aside from these two signs both happening in Cana, we can also see a few more things in common:  

• At the wedding banquet, Jesus said, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. And he said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.” So they took it. (John 2:7-8) 
• This time, to the official, Jesus said, “Go; your son will live.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way. 

We see that first there was something spoken from Jesus’ mouth, then those who heard Jesus’ words were willing to do so accordingly with faith, and then miracles happened before everyone’s eyes! 

From these two events, we can come to understand that if people want to experience miracles, they need to have faith in God’s power and obedience to Jesus’ words before we can see miracles happen. 

Have you ever doubted the power of God? Among the things you have recently prayed for, what has remained unfulfilled by God that you are still waiting for? Does this affect your faith in God? In addition, with regard to the things that Jesus wants you to do, is there anything that you are still making excuses for and reluctant to follow? Is your own procrastination and disobedience to the Lord affecting your experience with what God wants to accomplish in your life? 

Pray

Give thanks to God for His enabling us to read the Scriptures and for our response for living out the Word of God today! (e.g., You may start with a simple prayer like this: “Dear Lord, what/where are you going to lead me to today?”)