living water – Song Dive

The next entry for my Blog is Woman at the Well, which was written Jesse Reeves, Olivia Lane, and Steve Fee. It was first released in April 9, 2021. A link to Olivia Lane singing the song is at the bottom of the Blog. The link also includes a film clip from the TV Series “The Chosen.”

Woman at the Well

I heard a story from the Bible
When I was just a little girl
About a broken-hearted woman
Who met the Savior of the world

Thought it was just another story
One that the preacher man would read
But as I’m sitting here at home
Drinking red wine all alone
I think that woman might be me

‘Cause tonight I feel just like
The woman at the well
Wondering how someone could love me
When I can’t love myself
But You want me as I am and that sounds crazy
I guess maybe that’s why grace is so amazing

Staring at that empty bottle
I swear I caught a glimpse of Him
He met me right there at the bottom
And turned that wine to living water
And taught me how to love again

Yeah, tonight I feel just like
The woman at the well
Wondering how someone could love me
When I can’t love myself
But You want me as I am and that sounds crazy
I guess maybe that’s why grace is so amazing

It’s no longer just a story when I read it (when I read it)
‘Cause I’ve seen Him for myself and I believe it

Just like the story from the Bible
I heard when I was just a girl
I’m the broken-hearted woman
Who met the Savior of the world

This is a song that brought tears of sadness and tears of joy in my heart as I recalled the story in the bible, then listened to the words of this song, and then saw it come to life on TV when I watched an episode of The Chosen. It is amazing when you read the scripture, feel the pain of the woman at the well, the empathy of Jesus, followed by the great joy he has brought to this woman who has been living a life of hopelessness.

The bible has many passages that describe Jesus, the son of God and savior of the world, interacting with people and explaining who he is and his mission upon coming to earth. One of these passages, which is in the book of Matthew chapter 9, tells us about Jesus meeting with a woman at the well. This woman had a life that was in turmoil, she had already been through multiple marriages, and never seemed to find happiness. When you sit in church and hear these stories, they don’t always seem real because they are not necessarily hitting close to home. Even though the message is true, maybe it doesn’t seem to apply to us at the time and is someone else’s story, not yours or mine. We hear the message, perhaps we retain it, and then we go on with our lives.

As we journey down the road in our lives, we perhaps start struggling with seemingly everything going on in our life, and gradually our world starts falling apart. Maybe we are feeling alone and the deeper in despair we fall, we start believing there is no hope. In this song, the individual is sitting home all alone, drinking some wine, and dwelling on all of the times she has failed in her life. The realization comes that perhaps she is just like the woman at the well from the story she heard in church long ago; a totally messed up life with no escape in sight. Maybe she hasn’t gone through the same type of travails as the woman, but she feels she has failed in her decisions and has lost all hope as her despair rages on. She has trouble loving herself, so how could anyone else ever love her. Perhaps she, just as the woman at the well, has gone through multiple relationships, marriages, or failures in life. She feels as if she will never be loved again and that she is unworthy of love.

At just the right time, this example of Jesus’ love in the bible has finally grabbed the singer’s attention, she finally understands that Jesus accepts us just as we are. All he asks is that we accept him and the eternal life he offers each of us. He knows we will change once we accept him, but he doesn’t hold any of our past against us. We are told about his grace and forgiveness in Romans 4:7. “Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sins are put out of sight.”

As the singer sits there alone and looks down into the bottom of the empty wine bottle, she suddenly catches a fleeting glimpse of the face of Jesus. It sounds sort of odd to catch a glimpse of our savior in the bottom of a wine bottle, but it is his way of saying I am with you wherever you go and ready to pull you up when you are ready to leave your misery. It is so much easier when we finally understand that we don’t look up to find Jesus, we look beside us and to the outreached hand. He is ready to give us eternal life, that living water, whenever we are ready to accept his hand. We find this passage in John 4:13-14, “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.”

I believe that all of us, at some point in our lives, have the hopeless feeling felt by the woman at the well. Some of the mistakes we made were our own fault, and some were probably caused by others. The woman at the well struggled with marriages and relationships, some of the issues were perhaps hers and some not. Whatever the situation, Jesus is not concerned about who is at fault. He doesn’t judge us by our past; his eyes are only focused on eternity. I hope you have partaken of the holy water.

Click to Hear Olivia Lane Sing Woman at the Well, Includes Film Clip from the TV Series – The Chosen

The next entry for my Blog is The River, which was written by Colby Wedgeworth, Jordan Feliz, and Josh Silverber. The song was initially released in 2015. A link to Jordan Feliz performing the song is at the bottom of the Blog.

The River

I know a place where we can go
To lay the troubles down eating your soul
I know a place where mercy flows
Take the stains make you whiter than snow

Like a tide, it is rising up deep inside
A current that moves and makes it come alive
Living water that brings the dead to life, oh-oh-oh-oh
We’re going down to the river
Down to the river, down to the river to pray
Let’s get washed by the water
Washed by the water and rise up in amazing grace
Let’s go down, down, down to the river (You will leave changed)
Let’s go down, down, down to the river (Never the same)

I’ve seen it move in my own life
Took me from dusty roads into paradise
All of my dirt, all of my shame
Drowned in the streams that’ve made me born again

Like a tide, it is rising up deep inside a
Current that moves and makes it come alive
Living water that brings the dead to life, oh-oh-oh-oh
We’re going down to the river
Down to the river, down to the river to pray
Let’s get washed by the water
Washed by the water and rise up in amazing grace
Let’s go down, down, down to the river (You will leave changed)
Let’s go down, down, down to the river (Never the same)
Let’s go down
We’re going down to the river
Down to the river, down to the river to pray
Let’s get washed by the water
Washed by the water and rise up in amazing grace
Let’s go down, down, down to the river (You will leave changed)
Let’s go down, down, down to the river (Never the same)
Gotta go, gotta go, gotta go down in amazing grace

Where do you go or what do you do when you just want to escape from everything, to a place of solitude? Sometimes life is just too difficult and we look for that special place or activity that brings us peace and allows us to get away, even for just a short time. This song tells us the best place to go to find the peace we are looking for and need. It is a place to bare our souls without being judged or ridiculed. It allows us to share our deepest darkest secrets and confess our wrongdoings without any retribution. It is a refuge where there is only peace, love, and comfort. What is really awesome about our special place of escape is that we can block out the misery of the world for just a bit, and then walk away feeling as if the dirt and grime from a sinful world has been taken out of our soul and washed our body clean. As we enter our area of solitude, we can almost feel the immediate impact of being there and feeling the only power that can cleanse away the darkness in our soul. The song says we are going Down to the River, but the river is not the water flowing somewhere under a bridge; it is the living water that only Jesus Christ can provide. This is the only water than can makes us whole again and cleanse our soul. The same living water that Jesus spoke of in the book of John, chapter 4.

Once you have experienced the living water, you will never be the same; your life is changed forever. When you open your heart to Jesus and accept him into your life, you always have that living water available and flowing inside of you. The challenge each of us face is that we must take the time to pray and actively engage that living water of peace inside of us. I know that Jesus is always available and always there, but it is in our court to listen to him and engage him; he is always ready and reaching out to us. I believe the primary obstacle we must overcome is making time for him, listening to him, and allowing his love to flow through us. When we go down to the River, we are essentially focusing on Jesus and not on the world around us. I am not sure how anyone really survives without having the River, for it is the only place where there is total forgiveness and no shame or guilt. It is the only place we can go for unconditional love and grace, and be who we really are.

We all have our struggles and our failures. I know I have said things I shouldn’t have said, done things I shouldn’t have done; but I also know that I haven’t always spoken up when I should have or taken action when I should have. We can dwell on the woulda, coulda, shoulda things in our lives or we can take the time to pray and ask Christ for not only his forgiveness, but also for his guidance and direction in our lives. Philippians 4:6 reminds us of what God does for us, “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.” The day he died on the cross, he forgave us for every sin we have committed as well as all future sins. He wants us to come to him through prayer and just talk with him about what is going on in our lives. It is through this open communication that we feel his love, his forgiveness, and his power. If we do not take the time to pray and feel his arms around us, we will never have hope and we will never have peace; we will continue to be overcome by the influence of the world around us. Because of his amazing grace, we are forgiven and that we are worthy to hold his hand and walk with him. He starts the tide of cleanliness rising up inside of us every time we come to the River, our time of prayer and fellowship.

Hopefully you spend time every day just communicating and visiting with God. It doesn’t take special language or special words; you can talk to him like as a best friend or like a father. How long has it been since you experienced the power and love of Jesus Christ coursing through your veins and felt the peace that only he can bring? I thank him for being the River that washes the sin of the world off of me every time I come to him. The River is waiting for you.

Click to Hear Jordan Feliz Sing The River.